Ian O'Connor, former USA Today sportswriter, currently employed by Fox Sports of some type, does not like Charlie Weis. Nor does he like Notre Dame. No big deal, because he is entitled to his opinion. So am I. I figure that its time someone wrote about him, or more directly, about his misconceptions about Weis and the Fighting Irish.
Here is his first article, way back in 2004 when Willingham was fired and Weis was hired. The title of this 2004 article is "Sorry Charlie, but Hope Luck of the Irish is All Bad". (Notice the first article is in the pages of USA Today, a major national publication). Read the article here, its very interesting.
The basic premise of the article is that he's pissed off that Notre Dame has fired Willingham, being an Irish Catholic former fan of the University. He then follows the age old and extremely tired argument about Notre Dame selling its soul and becoming a football factory, no longer being any different than any other big football school. So cliche, so overdone, not taking into account the big picture of Notre Dame.
Here is a quote that sums up what I have a problem with in this first article (discussing Kevin White's words after the firing of Willingham):
White said Willingham had dominated the line of scrimmage from Sunday to Friday, shaping Fighting Irish athletes into responsible and academically oriented young men. But then the AD talked about the one day of the week — Saturday — where none of that mattered, the only day of the week when Notre Dame keeps score.
O'Connor references the quote from Kevin White in which he said that Willingham was a great coach and leader of the program from Sunday to Friday, but not Saturday, implying that Willingham did everything right but win. O'Connor claims that Notre Dame now only cares about "Saturday" and winning, making us no different than major college programs.
My question to O'Connor is this - why can't you believe that Notre Dame strives for excellence Sunday through and including Saturday? Notre Dame is different because both on the field and off the field do matter. The school does not tolerate less than excellence in any arena of measurement. Yes, winning matters at Notre Dame. It matters a lot. But don't suppose that academics, ethics, and grades don't matter either! Yes, this sounds very idealistic, but its true.
The element of faith is mixed in with all that we do at Notre Dame. This faith element often creates a misconeption of arrogance to many outsiders, who do not understand that faith gives us the confidence and independence - also known as the Grace of God - to strive for success in everything from water polo to chemistry to football.
O'Connor's most recent article - on Fox Sports Network, no longer USA Today - again reaks of a dislike of Weis and Notre Dame, a dislike rooted in the Willingham firing. The title is "We're still waiting for Weis to prove himself." This article really says nothing more than he thinks Weis is unproven, overrated, and that he is still rooting against Weis and the Irish. A quote:
So far, the coach has done little to add to the mythology of Notre Dame football, and a lot to harden the myth of his own genius.
I don't have much problem with this article. Honestly, its pretty fair, unlike his first article. O'Connor says he thinks Weis is arrogant, not a great coach, and goes through the timeline of all the arrogant things Weis has said. All the facts that he presents are fair and truthful.
This article adds no new insight or opinion, just some things Weis said combined with a restatement of O'Connor's self proclaimed "rooting against the Irish. His article is akin to an awkward 10 year old boy standing atop the tree trunk on the playground, proclaiming to all the other school children that Johnny, the self described best 4-Square player, is losing his current match to Bobby. Sweet. Nobody cares. In reality, Johnny is otherwise like able and the match that he is losing is still only in the 1st quarter.
I'm entertained by writing like O'Connor's, because a lot of people dislike Notre Dame but aren't quite as transparent as Ian is. At least you know which side of the road he stands on. It's sad that there is a decent chance that O'Connor's writing about ND is the only way he can get attention nowadays.
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