Hitting Refresh

It has been 322 days since the Irish last experienced the feeling of victory. Let that sink in . . . the last win was November 2006 against Army at home. This game certainly wasn't pretty (from what I hear - more on that in a minute), and the stat line was atrocious, but the way college football is going this season, we'll take it.

This was the first Irish football game that I was unable to watch on live TV in quite sometime. ABC opted to regionally televise the Irish, preventing most of the country from getting the game broadcast without pay per view. My thumb is still sore from hitting refresh on my blackberry countless times, on a night that saw a refresh of the Irish Football season.

Yes we had 140 yards total offense. Yes, we beat up on their third string walk on QB after we knocked out their starter. Yes, the Irish forced 7 turnovers. And yes, I was utterly confused when refreshing the play by play sequence on my blackberry, especially when we recovered a fumble at the UCLA 1 yard line, and then had 3 offensive plays for a loss of 7 yards (certainly UCLA had the ball and was advancing right?)

I don't care. A win is a win (El Kabong doesnt care either).

The reality is that the Irish are a 1-5 football team that doesn't do anything great and certainly will be favored in only a few more football games this season. Right now, par for the course would be 5-7, which might even be a longshot right now. Despite all this, I can only name a few victories more satisfying than this one, and certainly no victory more satisfying since maybe Pittsburgh or Purdue in 2005.

Beating Boston College or USC would be huge upsets, and the Irish are going to need some bounces in our favor to contend in either game. But the way this college football season is going, nothing will surprise me. Congrats to the Irish on avoiding tying the longest losing streak in Notre Dame history, and knocking the "monkey" off their back.

Enjoy highlights of the game from Oldie, via youtube:

Holy Wagers - October 6th Weekend

Lets keep the picks going strong for the Pope! Just to review, the season totals thus far through 3 weeks for the Pope are as follows:

• College Record > 8 - 2


• Pro Record > 3-4-2


• Net Betting Units Up (Down) > + 5

All games are one betting unit, unless noted. The "Most Blessed" Pick of the Week is two units. Now on to this week's picks:

College Games

Oklahoma -11 vs. Texas > The favorite has covered the last 9 years in this game, in a series that hasnt featured many close games. OU is the favorite, Texas has injuries at QB, and both are coming off losses. OU was a national championship contending team and will show that talent in this game. Prediction: OU 38 Texas 14

Ohio State - 7 vs. Purdue > I got to watch Purdue play last week, and they had an awful second half against the Irish. We passed all day on them, and even outgained the mighty Purdue offense in total yards. I think in the horseshoe, this Purdue team will lay down like a cheap tent on national television. Prediction: Ohio State 45 Purdue 20

Hawaii -39.5 vs. Utah St > Hawaii is at home, and needs to keep rolling big to have a chance at a BCS bowl. Hawaii has covered against these guys the last two years, including 63 to 10 last year. Hawaii is especially good this year, while Utah St is especially bad. Not close - Hawaii 70 Utah St 24. [Note: This is a high spread, yes. But remember I picked Arkansas -36 last week and they covered that spread by more than 20 points against North Texas. Its worth a look]

THURSDAY NIGHT SPECIAL!!!! ***South Carolina -3.5 vs. Kentucky*** [Most Blessed Pick of the Week] > The talk is all about Kentucky, but they are human my friends. Columbia is very tough place to play, and tonights crowd will be extremely roucous. The bigger story than Kentucky, to me, is can South Carolina impress in front of a national TV audience. South Carolina has only lost to LSU, but gave them a decent game. Kentucky's defense gives up to many yards on the ground, and their offense will sputter a bit with all this hype and pressure finally hitting them. You heard it here - South Carolina 35 Kentucky 21

Pro Games

Steelers -5.5 vs. Seahawks > Pitt is very tough at home, especially coming off a loss. Seattle is good but the cross country travel and the ghosts of Super Bowl 40 will not let them get off the ground in this game. Steelers 31 Seattle 21

Ravens -3.5 @ 49ers > The Ravens burned me last week against the Browns. Not this week, playing agianst their old QB Trent Dilfer for the 49ers. I just dont see the Ravens losing this game, as the 49ers offense does not match up well against the Ravens D. Ravens 24 49ers 17

Cardinals -3.5 @ Rams > The Cardinals are playing good offensive football, especially with Edge James. The Rams will be starting Gus Frerotte . . . no, thats not a misprint. Bulger is out and the O-line is decimated. The away team has won the last 4 meetings between these guys. Cardinals 28 Rams 21

And remember . . . Barney loves Soulja Boy

Saint & Heretic of the Week - September 29th Weekend

Saint of the Week - Golden Tate (True-Freshman WR for the Irish)

Golden made a few plays in the game that changed our offensive look in many ways. After really having zero passes that would be considered "deep" passes, Golden made 3 in one game. Two of his catches were nothing short of spectacular, showing fantastic timing, great leaping ability, and nice hands. The only way one can really explain how a true freshman can do what a lot of upper classman cannot is talent. He barely knows the offense and certainly doesnt know much about the nuances of playing WR in college. I'm excited to see what Coach Weis can do with this cat once Golden develops more of an understanding of the position. Enjoy his Purdue highlight clip:

Golden Tate . . . what a name. A Notre Dame name. Hopefully his progress the rest of this season will continue, as we desperately need a deep threat at WR. Who's next to breakout? The 6 foot 4 Duval Kamara, who some might argue already has. In reality, we've seen some great short routes from him, but nothing deep yet.

Runner up for Saint of the Week - Mike Gundy. Hilarious and awesome. I enjoyed this guy's rant. His passion was unquestioned and so was his loyalty to his team and players. Lots of sportswriters (not all) are arrogant academic liberals that twist facts to their own tune, creating a story out of nothing. Gundy may have gone a bit overboard, but sometimes a bit overboard is exactly the best way to send a message. Enjoy this video as well:



Heretic of the Week - Urban Meyer

This guy made a play that I absolutely despise in football. The timeout right before a field goal for the opposing team is kicked, yet the kicker is not stopped and kicks a meaningless kick anyway.

This rule is stupid, and has to go. Too many times you see the first kick go through, but then nerves or a bad snap or whatever mess up the second kick. The Cleveland Browns in week 2 made a kick that was ruled a time out play, only to miss the second kick and lose the game. Allowing this is stupid and its up to the NCAA and NFL rules committees to make the change. I cannot totally fault Urban I guess, but as an Irish fan I dont like him for obvious reasons. This play gets me madder and madder each time I see it occur and hurt a team trying to win a game, on the road especially.

Holy Wagers - Week 3 Results

Post- week 3 picks, here are the season pick standings for the Vatican (click here to see my picks I made last week for week 3):

• Wins = 11


• Losses = 6


• Push = 2


• College Record 8-2


• Pro Record 3-4-2


• Net Betting Units = +5 (for the season)

I lost my Most Blessed Pick of the week in Michigan, but won 3/4 games. Unfortunately the most blessed pick was 2 units, so that loss only gave me +1 unit for college and -1 unit for Pro, net, for week 3 of my picks. Michigan won by 12 but was 5 points short of covering.My favorite pick that worked out was Arkansas -36 over North Texas, as they won by more than 50 points.

This was my worst week yet, but I still broke even on betting units and was 4-3 on the picks. Not bad. Lets keep it going for the Pope.

Divine Diatribes - Irish week 5

There are many different emotions that I feel after this week's Irish loss to the Boilers. On one hand, we are 0-5, and really havent had a chance to win any of the games (arguable). We have given up at least 30 points in every game, and our rushing attack hasn't really had a great game yet. We are atrocious on third down offense, and our third down defense gave the Boilers 6 first downs because of stupid penalties. We also gave up a 3rd and 27 on defense that almost caused my HDTV to become injured.

On the other hand, the Irish outgained the very good Purdue offense in yards for the game. In the second half, after a Weis halftime tirade, we won the half 19-10. We saw the emergence of a playmaker in WR in freshman Golden Tate (pictured) and Duval Kamara. Our defense essentially shut Purdue down in the second half, throwing out the poor special teams field positions and the crazy 3rd and 12 penalties to keep their drives alive. We showed spark, fight, and had some big passing plays. We looked like the team that I expected for this year - a bend but not break defense with an improving offense that could keep us in 75% of our games.

I sure hope the second hand feelings end up being reflective of what we see the rest of the year. We have 3 more tough opponents in a row, and many it would be nice to steal a win (or two) from those guys. Not likely though, unless our special teams and defensive penalties drastically improve, while improving our play across the board on offense and defense.

Go Irish, beat Bruins.

Unfortunately the Titans were off this week. With as hot as we've been, I kinda wish we could have played someone this week and gotten another win. Next week we get the Falcons, so we should be able to win that game if we play like we can.