Notre Dame radio analyst says something stupid

Submitted by Brown Bear on
I heard this live and couldn't believe he said this on air. As heard on the Mac and Spiegel on WSCR 670 am in Chicago “I’ve always felt like, to have a successful team, you gotta have a few bad citizens on the team,” Pinkett told The McNeil and Spiegel Show. “I mean, that’s how Ohio State used to win all the time. They would have two or three guys that were criminals. That just adds to the chemistry of the team. I think Notre Dame is growing because maybe they have some guys that are doing something worthy of a suspension, which creates edge on the football team. You can’t have a football team full of choir boys. You get your butt kicked if you have a team full of choir boys. You gotta have a little bit of edge, but the coach has to be the dictator and ultimate ruler.” http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/08/29/allen-pinkett-notre-dame-needs-c… If formatting sucks I apologize as I am posting this from my iPhone.

CRex

August 29th, 2012 at 2:15 PM ^

Notre Dame might have wannabe criminals, but their starting QB can't outrun the cops (or taxi drivers) and some of their players might "have people", but we've yet to see anything else.  

Maybe with some questionable recruiting Kelly can get them past the white and nerdy level.

BILG

August 29th, 2012 at 3:50 PM ^

His commentary was pretty on point and he gave Denard serious props as a dangerous playmaker.  And as Shaedenfrude-esque as the entire clip is, he really didn't say anything that wasn't true last year.  By classic QB standards (completion %, touchdown/interception ratio, throws on target) Denard was a poor thrower.  Hopefully that changes this year of course.

snarling wolverine

August 29th, 2012 at 4:47 PM ^

He didn't do a very good job of describing the play to his audience, though.  Remember, he's a radio announcer.  Try listening to it with your eyes closed.  For several seconds, you can't tell what's going on while he starts blubbering on about how "this is hard to believe."

Yost Ghost

August 29th, 2012 at 10:10 PM ^

poor thrower has become the meme and I'm not sure it's justified. Consider:

WMU: 9/13 (69.23%) 98yds 0TD/0INT

ND: 11/24 (45.83%) 338yds 4TD/3INT

EMU: 7/18 (38.89%) 95yds 2/1

SDSU: 8/17 (47.06%) 93yds 0/2

Minn: 15/19 (78.95%) 169yds 2/0

NW: 17/26 (65.39%) 337yds 2/3

MSU: 9/24 (37.50%) 123yds 1/1

Pur: 9/14 (64.29%) 170yds 0/1

Iowa: 17/37 (45.95%) 194yds 2/1

ILL: 6/10 (60%) 92yds 0/1

Neb: 11/18 (61.11%) 180yds 2/1

OSU: 14/17 (82.35%) 167yds 3/0

This looks to me like a kid adjusting to a new offense. His numbers are actually down from 2010 but you can see the numbers get better as the season goes on. Over the last 8 games of the season he only has 2 games below 50% and 3 games above 65% the other 3 are low to mid 60's.

DRob 2011 - 142/258 (55.04%) 2173yds 20/15 139.7 rating

Henne 2007: 162/278 (58.27%) 1938yds 17TD/9INT 130.5 rating

There was no meme about Henne being a poor thrower yet his senior season numbers were only slightly better than DRob's last year. Not sure I call that justified.

inthebluelot

August 29th, 2012 at 7:30 PM ^

is that ND always considers itself beyond reproach and morally superior to everyone else. With that said, how do you justify a 50 year old man making such a crass and obviously inappropriate statement like that while calling a game? I can't think of an instance where I have seen or heard something like that during a live broadcast. Simply unforgivable.

FrankMurphy

August 29th, 2012 at 5:55 PM ^

I love how he didn't seem to have any confidence ND would win the game, even with us pinned at our own 20 with 23 seconds left. When Denard completes the long pass to Gallon, he doesn't even seem surprised.

TXmaizeNblue

August 29th, 2012 at 7:19 PM ^

Could not have been scripted better!!!!  I love it every time I see it.

I've never heard a broadcaster so pissed off when he says at the end "80 yards, 3 plays".  That is fricken hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!

robbyt003

August 29th, 2012 at 2:20 PM ^

I understand the point he was trying to make, but he did a horrible job of saying it.  No, you don't want actual criminals on your team you idiot.  But yes, you do want guys with a mean streak (who stay out of legal trouble).

jtmc33

August 29th, 2012 at 2:28 PM ^

Although I agree that good football teams need players who "have an edge," I don't agree that you need to be a criminal in order to "have an edge."

But, hey, if he is suggesting that ND players need to go out and break the law and risk suspension in order to bond and better themselves as a team... I'm all for it

drewz05

August 29th, 2012 at 2:29 PM ^

team chemistry is important, but you would think it would be more important to have a coach who knows WTF they are doing and doesn't look like he's about to spontaneously combust whenever something goes wrong.  Just a thought...

Stephen Hawking

August 29th, 2012 at 2:38 PM ^

The McNeil and Spiegel show is on 670 the Score, not am 1000 (ESPN). However, it would be easy to mistake the two because ESPN Radio has been slobbering all over the Irish the last few days. I try to make it a habit of not listening to ESPN while I'm driving around.

bronxblue

August 29th, 2012 at 2:39 PM ^

Well, ND had a repeat-offender at WR and a QB who drunkenly fought with the police over the summer, and went 8-5.  I'm not saying they need Dahlmer at ILB, but I'm not sure how many more "bad seeds" they need to get into the BCS top 12.

BayWolves

August 29th, 2012 at 2:43 PM ^

Then how would he explain Stanford. They are truly a bunch of do gooders who run you over like a Mack Truck. I have yet to see criminal convictions from the Cardinal.

Also, Notre Dame fans, staff, and administrators regularly make moronic comments about everything under the sun including race, grades, admissions, and their perceived unappreciated greatness fro playing Navy every year. ND is full of the bull stuff.

LSAClassOf2000

August 29th, 2012 at 2:51 PM ^

“I don’t want any mass murders or rapists. I want guys that maybe get caught drinking that are underage, or guys that maybe got arrested because they got in a fight at a bar, or guys that are willing to cuss in public and don’t mind the repercussions of it. That’s the type of criminal I’m talking about.” - Allen Pinkett

This is Notre Dame - there are  standards, after all. 

There are plenty of great teams throughout the history of sports that had guys who were edgy, or indeed, complete assholes, but that's still a far cry from having, or even wanting, outright criminal behavior from people on the team. I would actually contend that people such as those Pinkett is describing erode chemistry, become a distraction and can potentially cause teams to perform below their capability. They will destabilize the team, the staff and may very well end up being a component in the  downfall of a coach. 

Then again, I would rather hope that this was Pinkett making a poorly constructed allegory, the "criminal" merely representing the notion of "edge". Further, as some have  mentioned, Notre Dame regularly plays and sometimes loses to a school or two without a distinct criminal presence.