Tar Heel Country

The Irish head to Chapel Hill, NC to take on the improving North Carolina Tar Heels, Saturday at 2:30pm. The Tar Heels are ranked #23 in one poll, unranked in the other, and both teams are 4-1 and improving quickly from last season's subpar efforts.

 

When the Irish have the ball . . . watch the North Carolina defensive line. While the UNC secondary leads all of college football with 12 interceptions in 5 games (!), its because they rarely ever blitz, dropping 7 men into coverage on most all pass plays. If UNC can get pressure with their front 4, then the Irish will be in trouble, as Jimmy will be trying to pass into a lot of coverage. Another key is the Irish running game, which is the obvious way to make a pass defense minded team pay. Play action will help, as well Jimmy hitting his check down TE and RB pass routes, which worked well last week. Specifically watch former 5 star DT Marvin Austin, an Irish target nabbed by Butch Davis. He is playing really well, so hopefully our OLine can keep Jimmy standing, which they have done superbly all year.

 

When North Carolina has the ball . . . watch the Irish run defense. The Irish run defense stiffened up tremendously in the second half against Stanford, and this must continue. I am not a believer in UNC's QB Cam Sexton's ability to consistently throw an accurate ball. With our strength being in our secondary, we need to make them pass and force a few turnovers. Stopping the run, then forcing quick and shorter passes (via the Blitz) has got to be the game plan for the Irish defense. This is not rocket science, but stopping the run can also mean scoring enough points on offense to where UNC has to pass to catch up. That's where we must make them pay. Unlike Michigan St., UNC does not have an overpowering running game, but is actually balanced on offense. Unfortunately, they have 2 major playmakers at WR that burned the Irish in 2006 (Brandon Tate and Hakeem Nicks). Both are fast and average about 20 yards per catch. That's about like Golden Tate's numbers, so defending these guys while keeping the damage minimal will be huge.

 

Prediction time . . .

 

Prediction 1  -  Jimmy Clausen will pass for a tough 250 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

 

Prediction 2  -  Armando Allen burst onto the scene with 5 catches out of the backfield; more importantly, his 125 yards on the ground propel the Irish offense

 

Prediction 3  -  Notre Dame defense forces 3 turnovers, including 2 INTs and 1 fumble, all by QB Cam Sextion.

 

I hate to bust on Cam Sexton, who is a good QB. Its more about the blitzing Jon Tenuta defense finally figuring out how to get to the Quarterback, which they did for 5 sacks last weekend against Stanford. I think the pressure gets to Sexton, who is geeked up with all the rest of North Carolina for their biggest home game in quite some time.

 

A close, good football game, which the Irish win largely due to turnovers. The pundits continue to doubt Notre Dame, saying the defense is benefiting from a large amount of turnovers. The Irish don't care, as they celebrate their most respectable win in two years . . .

 

IRISH  28   UNC 20

 

(Vatican Smoke's record on picking Notre Dame's games this season  =  5-0    vs the point spread 2-3)

Tree Removal

A great win by the Irish over the Cardinal, 28-21. The game was actually not as close as the score indicated, largely due to the mishaps in the Irish kicking game. Brandon Walker missed from 40, 42, and then in the 2nd to last play of the game, the Irish chose not to kick a 30 yard field goal, opting to go for it on 4th down instead.

The story of the game is the rapid and astonishing development of Jimmy Clausen. Hyperbole and exaggeration have not been uncommon to Clausen, a high school phenom that came with much hype when he entered college. The hype is starting to make sense, as Clausen has thrown for 600 yards and 6 TDs against no INTs in his last two games. 350 yards and 3 TD performance against Stanford was a clinic, hitting check down RBs and later going deep, with some rockets over the middle to the Tight End. This kid is not going to be good, he is good. At this pace, every Irish QB record (I'm looking at you Brady) will be broken. Now if we can just get a running game . . .

Our friend Chris Marinelli, from the post below, had a tough game, as the Irish "200 blitzes with 1 sack" defense that he predicted would be "mashed", got to the Stanford QB for 3 interceptions, a fumble recovery, and 5 sacks. 5 sacks, a number worth repeating. Tough day for this loose mouthed offensive lineman that apparently was an Irish hopeful in high school, yet did not receive a scholarship offer. Good luck the rest of the season.

The defense again played well enough to win, holding every opponent this season to under 24 points. The defensive pressure didn't yield sacks until this game, but there is no doubt that teams are passing the ball a bit earlier than they would like against the Irish, taking many 3 step drops. The rushing defense is still sub par though, and eventually this will catch up with the Irish. Lets hope not.

A recap of this game cannot be complete without mention of the classless and temper-tantrum prone coach, Jim Harbough. This classless guy says that he "wears his emotions on his sleeve", which I guess means that he acts like a baby and a moron, but uses his emotions as his excuse. After the game, Clausen walked up to Harbough and extended his hand saying "Good game coach", in front of numerous reporters. Harbough just kept walking, even when Jimmy then exclaimed, "Coach - are you just gonna walk away from me like that?". Harbough later said he didn't see Clausen, to which Clausen responded, "Uh, yeh. Right", smiling.

Stanford and ND are more alike than I would like to admit, but it feels good to have another victory over them. A good developing rivalry here as Stanford continues to improve. Now, here are some YouTube highlights of the game. Enjoy

Cut Down the Tree(s)

Stanford. Trees, Cardinal(s), whatever. I have never particularly disliked or even cared about them, so long as ND beat them in football. Now that I have reflected and researched the upcoming game this weekend, ND vs Stanford, at Notre Dame Stadium (1:30pm Central on NBC), I have two reasons for disliking Stanford, as of about 5 minutes ago:

 

1. They made Tyrone Willingham a good enough candidate to win our coaching job. He continued Davie's rotting of the program, and hopefully Weis can save us from what would have been certain death had we let Willingham stay any longer (ie. see the Washington program now and the next 5 years). I blame Stanford for building up his fake legend.

 

2. Trash talk from Offensive Lineman Chris Marinelli. Who is that? Exactly. No one has ever heard of the guy, yet he is talking trash this week in the press, about a team (ND) that easily beat his team last year at Stanford. Here are some snippets of what Yung Chris said (and I stress Yung):

 

"But on the same token it's going to go bad for them at one point and we are going to gash the (expletive) out of them, I promise you that. So keep bringing it, keep bringing it. They have one sack all year on 200 blitzes."

"They can keep bringing all the stuff they want", Marinelli added. "We can pick up blitzes. Our defense, blitzes more than anyone in the country, too. So we are ready for that. That's no big deal.

Marinelli is not impressed with the Notre Dame field and stadium. He saw action as a redshirt freshman late in the 2006 game that the Irish won 31-10 in South Bend.

"I hate it, playing up there," Marinelli said. "The field, excuse my language, the field sucks. The stadium sucks. I think the area sucks."

The 6'7, 297 pound tackle from Boston, Massachusetts didn't stop there.

"I grew up with a bunch of Irish and Italian Catholic people back home. And all the Irish Catholic people, all they talk about is Notre Dame this, Notre Dame that. And they've never even been there, ya know. So I hate those guys, I hate that school.

"We are going out there to mash them up and that's all there is to it."

Clown. Complete clown. Granted, Chris is from Boston, which means he speaks through exaggerations and talks without thinking, like most other TeaTowners. Seriously Chris Marinelli, I cannot wait to see you and the Tree MASH us up on our own shitty field, in our shitty stadium, and in our shitty town. I really hope you personally get picked on all game, and then your flight home gets delayed so you have more time to make excuses about how much everything sucks, all while having more time to visit our shitty airport.

 

Ok, I have vented and feel better. Stanford won 4 games last year, and lost 21-14 to the Irish at home, despite two touchdowns scored by the Irish being called back. I know that we should win this game by two touchdowns, but I am not sure if this young team can put together back to back solid efforts. Stanford is well coached, on the field at least (not with media relations, however). I expect a close game that the Irish win late with a big turnover or a big play. A scare, but a win.

 

Prediction #1   -   Irish  27    Stanford  24

 

Prediction #2   -  Irish have 3 sacks, with the final sack forcing a turnover late in the game that scores the winning touchdown, while trailing 24-20.

 

Prediction #3   -  Chris Marinelli does not speak to the press the rest of the week, nor after the game.

 

Have a great weekend everyone. And GO IRISH!!

Irish 38 Purdue 21

The Notre Dame defense continues to play plenty good enough to win, now giving up only 18.5 pts per game through 4 games. The offense finally clicked, with 3 TDs and 275 yards from Jimmy, and 200 yards rushing. Easily, the best game since 2006, maybe 2005. Hard to believe, but still the more true. Here are some highlights via YouTube. Enjoy

Lost in Translation: Euro Soccer

The Pope is currently pontificating in Germany in order ensure that the Papal audit goes well in the German division. So I figure, that being such a sports fan, why don't I give the local sport a try? My hotel being situated on the property of the Veltins Arena couldn't have made it any easier. Veltins Arena is one of the most modern soccer stadiums in Europe, hosting FIFA World Cup games in 2006, as well as being home to one of the premier teams in the German League (the Bundesliga), FC Schalke 04 (the 04 is for the year they were founded, 1904). So the Pope has now gone to 2 matches in 4 days, and has some thoughts.

 

Initially, I sought to compare sports in Europe to the American sports. Since there is only one sport in Europe that means anything (football = soccer), it really became a question of how to translate European Football to an American sports fan. I think certain tendencies and characteristics of all our American sports helped me more easily understand European football.

 

So here is your American sports translation guide to European football. A trait of Euro football is explained via comparison to its American sports equivalent:

1. Pageantry & Passion of Euro Football   -   College Football    -    Flags swinging in the stands during the game, singing, and a cheer for every call, pass, near goal, goal, corner kick, and set piece (free kick). Go to a Notre Dame game and count the number of cheers that every single student knows and uses throughout the game, depending on the situation. There is even a section of fans at the Veltins arena that never sit down  -  and they even jump and dance at various points of the match. Nothing in all of American Sports is similar to the crowd and energy, passion, etc, except college football, where stadiums and student sections cheer and dance in an manner that has been proliferated through its participants for years. A tradition like no other, college football and European soccer.
2. Commercially Driven Stadium Experience    -    NFL Football    -    I walk into the Veltins (one of the top selling German beers) arena. Advertisements everywhere, commercials on the big screen, jerseys with sponsors names on it  -  American sports hasn't gone the jersey route yet, but we have commercialized everything else in the NFL. Even the concessions (beer please) felt extremely similar, as numerous middle aged and likely middle class men anxiously wait for their next beer and to return to their seats. On field entertainment during halftime was very similar to NFL games I have attended - fans get their chance to kick one ball from midfield to win money.
3. Frustrating and very Subjective Officiating    -    NBA Basketball   -   My least favorite part of the game of soccer is the power of the whistle. The number of questionable calls and their potential impact on the outcome of a soccer match is absurd, and the only thing that is comparable is the NBA and its oftentimes subjective officiating. The NBA officials don't have nearly as much impact with one whistle though. The "star treatment" by officials is an NBA specialty nowadays, and Euro soccer gets some of this as well. Fake falls, or doing anything with the body to fake contact and a foul, are much too common in Euro soccer. I saw at least 4 to 5 players fall without being touched! They didn't just fall, but to add insult to (fake) injury, each player writhed around on the ground in pain, only to hop right up and continue playing after a short 30 second visit from a trainer. Disgusting, and there is very little direct American sports translation for this horrific stunt. The closest thing would be NBA officials and a player faking a "charge" in basketball. Maybe a WR falling down when a defender touches him, on a pass that's not catchable.
4. History   -   Baseball   -   The teams over here are very proud of their history, especially when the club or team was founded. Most teams were founded in the late 1800s or early 1900s, which was a period that is only comparable in America to baseball, which popularized about the same time. An NFL or NBA comparison is impossible, as the leagues were barely relevant until the 1950s or 1960s really. College Football certainly has been around, but was not as big a deal really until the 1910s or 20s.
5. Numerous Divisions of Minor Leagues    -    Baseball   -   The German Bundesliga has 7 divisions. Just about every town and even village has a team of some sort. There are 3 national divisions, with the top teams being in the 1st division (commonly referred to as the Bundesliga). There are even 4 leagues for each "Region" of the country  -  N, S, E, and W Germany all have divisions that are lower than the 3 National divisions. Very similar to Minor League baseball, which has 3 levels of major minor leagues (A, AA, and AAA), as well as numerous semi-pro and rookie leagues. Teams have "farm" teams and bring players up here in soccer just like in baseball.
6. Opposing Teams Fans on the Road   -   Numerous examples   -    How about Alabama or any SEC team's fans at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, LA? Or maybe Cowboys fans in the upper deck of the old Veterans stadium in Philadelphia? The only difference is that opposing teams in Euro soccer are placed all together in the corner, surrounded by 8 foot tall plexiglass, with spikes on top of the glass to prevent climbing over. Yes, spikes - on top of the fence enclosing the opposing fans - to keep other fans from climbing the wall. Soak that in. Of course, about half the stadium's security guards are typically near this section. No such luxuries are provided to Alabama fans in Baton Rouge, or Cowboys fans in Philly, and I guess I kind of like it that way.

To sum up my feelings  -  Euro football is very entertaining and is a great sport. American sports fans will always struggle to digest with the fake injuries or fake falls by some players, and power of the officials to near completely decide a game. A fake or exaggerated fall then creating a free kick call from an official  -  a kick which results in a goal and a game being won 1 to 0  -   would not be acceptable for an American fan. Especially considering that once the team scores they goal, they pull all their players back and don't even attempt to have an offense.

 

There you have it, you now know everything about European soccer from an American sports point of view. Its an incredible and unique experience that should be tried by American sports fans that have the chance  -  remember, its the most popular game in the World.