Signing Day 2010 - Northwestern, Notre Dame, Illinois

From our friend abroad, Alec Kinczewski, who loves prep-to-college like I love the NFL Draft :

To cover Northwestern's recruiting class I'm very encouraged. While it doesn't have the 5-star and 4 -star players of other programs, there's one tell tale sign that our program has its act together: there were only 17 scholarships.

Why so few when other schools often sign 25-30? Because no one transfers or drops out of NUs program. While some don't bloom, being able to send out seniors on special teams gives NU a special advantage: for the old timers, that's their big event and they care about it.

Additionally it shows that we don't have the same discontents as other programs, and as I've learned in the Army an office cancer must be given the Moses treatment (banished and forgotten... of course that didn't work out too well for Ramses).

Additionally, the NU class has 13 guys who were team Captains and a collective GPA of 3.5, so as Fitzgerald says in the link these are the guys our program needs.

I still reminisce to how excited I was when Brett Basanez signed with NU (after an epic career at St. Viator including one of the all time great IL HS football games against Joliet Catholic in the playoffs). Who is NU's QB in waiting right now?

Now those three star players take me into my evaluation of Notre Dame's class: it isn't about who you recruit but what you do with them. Kelly made a reputation for developing talent at Cincinnati. I don't think he ever had a top 50 recruiting class there.

Now he has a top 20 (much lower than any of Charlie's) and a couple years of stocked up talent. I'm very curious to see what he does with Charlie's leftovers. While Charlie wasn't known for talent development, he did show how guys like Golden Tate can grown into studs, too bad he couldn't do it with more players.

As for Illinois, they're now in the crapper for all aspects of their football program, lets run up the score against them at Wrigley this fall!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-spt-0204-northwestern-main-football--20100203,0,1895805.story

The Downfall of Notre Dame

I came across this article today. It does a really nice job of summarizing the downfall of Notre Dame. The nice thing about it is it requires minimal reading as it is pretty self explanatory. I'd suggest taking a look!

Notre Dame's Two Tone Floor Overkill?

I know it's been a recent trend for hoops courts to feature a different shade of wood inside the 3 point lines and outside the lines. Notre Dame has taken this trend to a new level. As you can see in the picture, Notre Dame's floor features a different shade in the middle of the floor in the shape of a clover. Is this cool or overkill. I personally think it is overkill, but will wait to pass judgement until I can see the floor on TV.

Would you Rather: See Notre Dame or Chicago Bears Win this Weekend

As I am writing this article, I know I am going to get killed by Fodor, Ryan, Jamie and if Colin still reads the site, Colin.

So I heard an interesting question today; would you rather see the Bears win in Atlanta or Notre Dame beat USC? Instantly I know all of you are thinking, BEARS and move on.

But sit and think about this for a second. I will give you four solid reasons why I would rather see Notre Dame win this weekend then the Bears.

1. Bears Can Recover



First off, The Bears can recover from the loss. Yes I want to see the Bears go 15-1 overall on their way to the Super Bowl, but Atlanta is a good team and will be playing at home. The Falcons are 9-1 in the Georgia Dome in the Mike Smith era. So a loss for the Bears in Atlanta wouldn’t be the end of the season. Last year was frustrating and heartbreaking in the Dome, and it ultimately cost us a place in the playoffs. But had we won the last game against Houston, we would have made the playoffs. So even with a loss here, the Bears can recover from.

2. Too Much Tim Tebow



I don’t know about you, but I tired of Tim Tebow just shortly after his first jump pass in freshman year. (I like how people are mentioning him winning his third national championship this year, even though he wasn’t the starter (former Bear Cris Leak was) and was more or less along for the ride in the first one.) I could write lots and lots about my annoyance of Tim Tebowmania, but what does he have to do with Notre Dame Southern Cal? Well if Notre Dame wins, Jimmy Clausen now becomes a legit Hiesman contender and could keep the trophy away from Tebow for the second staright year. Tebow is not having as good of year as he did the previous two, but neither are any of the other major contenders. If Clausen plays well, he could be the QB to take home the Trophy

3. I hate Southern Cal



There are few teams in professional sports I dislike year over year as much as Southern Cal. I think the Cowboys, would be the only team close. I do respect Southern Cal for being brave in their scheduling (even if they always plan on having an extra week to prepare for a big game) but man, they are just annoying. A loss for Southern Cal would ruin any chance this team has for a national title. SC still has a long way to go with a win, but this would end it for good.

4. Love them or hate them, Notre Dame is fun when they are prominent



People love talking about Notre Dame regardless of their feelings toward the school. Notre Dame has been a general non factor most this decade even with a couple of good seasons and BCS berths. Having Notre Dame in the mix and cheering for them or against them (like me and Southern Cal) is fun.

So there you have it, start ripping me, I can take it. Honestly, if I like to see them both win.