September 2008 Archives

A few items from Charlie's noon presser:

-- Lou Somogyi asked about freshman cornerback Robert Blanton and his "chirping". "I'll give you an example from just yesterday," Charlie answered. "He had an interception in a one on one yesterday, so he intercepts the ball and he runs about ten yards to where the offensive guys are and then he just dives over the line like he was diving into the end zone, okay, and spikes the ball.

"Now, you don't think that aggravates the offensive guys? It does, but I tell you what, I thought it was hilarious, sitting there watching that, because he's simulating scoring and he's simulating interception and simulating the scoring."

-- I asked him about the shoestring, touchdown-saving tackle that Kyle McCarthy made in the first quarter versus Purdue that saved the Irish from being down 14-0 early (the Long Island Iced Teas would fail to score at all on the possession:

  "Yeah, that was not a small thing," Charlie said. "They ended up with no points on that. That's 7-0. So they are going down the sideline, (Kyle McCarthy) knocks them out of bounds and they end up missing a field goal in that drive right there. That was a critical play.

"There's a lot of plays that people, you know, when you go back and rehash it, you look at it and you remember, but there are a lot of plays that happen in the game where you don't know -- like I said to them after Michigan State, you don't know which one play might have been a difference in the game. He doesn't come over and touch him, that guy is walking in for a touchdown and that's 14-0. That was a perfect example, John, of plays that could have made a difference in the game that you barely remember until you go back and watch the game again."

(Honestly, I didn't even know Charlie knew my name. In fact, I've been reading between the lines on that response and I'm pretty sure Charlie invited me over to the house for pizza and to watch the A.L. Divisional Series. Your thoughts?)   

-- On true freshman tight end Kyle Rudolph, who played the entire game last Saturday: "He's one of the hardest-working freshmen I've ever been around," Charlie said, adding later, "He knew we were counting on him."

-- On Notre Dame entering games expecting to win, as opposed to hoping to win: "This has been a reclamation project we've been working on here for the last ten months...This goes back to the 'dive right in' mantra that a lot of people thought was corny. But now we've got a lot fewer guys dipping their toes in the water...guys like Mo Crum, I already knew he was in. David Bruton, I knew that he was in. David Grimes, but now you're getting more and more, and the more that you have in, the easier it ends up being."

We hate to repeat ourselves, but what you are seeing from Big 12 quarterbacks this season is historic. After five weeks of play — and all of it, we caution, non-conference play — nine of the conference’s 12 quarterbacks find themselves among the nation’s top 20 in passing efficiency.

That is simply, as the kids say, “ridic.”

While Heisman pundits stump for either Missouri’s Chase Daniel or Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy (who, by the way, is in his third year as a starter) actually has the highest passer efficiency rating in the conference (second in the nation) and has rushed for more yardage than either of the two.

McCoy has 14 touchdown passes and only one interception, and while so many players this season have taken to hurdling would-be tacklers, McCoy’s bull-rush into a Rice defender, sending him ass-over-teakettle, is his signature moment of the season thus far.

So, a quick list of teams that have one loss:

USC

Georgia

Notre Dame

Florida

Ohio State

...and Wisconsin

Not saying that the Fighting Irish are in that class yet at all, but I bet they have more underclassmen on their starting offense and defense than anyone on this list.

Also, it seems to me undeniable that the Irish turned a corner on Saturday. I believe that's the phrase you'll hear over and over again in the coming days. I attended the Friday pep rally and can't recall a flatter one. There were no special guests, just a desultory talk by David Bruton, a somewhat better one by Mo Crum, and a satisfactory one by Charlie Weis.

The crowd just wasn't into it and here's why: the basic feeling was, Give us a reason to believe in you. A lot of us who were watching on Friday are quite surprised at how well Notre Dame played on Saturday in the second half. Again, it's only a pep rally, but we were surprised. 

And, by the way, I appreciate the efforts of Juan Muldoon, alias The Mexichaun, but I fear for his safety. Juan, you see, believes it's a solid idea to have the football team themselves lead cheers. What I think he misses is that they get ordered around all week long by their coaches. They don't like being put on the spot by a spritely dude in a green outfit.

I was sitting with a first-time visitor to Notre Dame when Juan ordered the team to stand up and perform a "Go Irish!" cheer. He told the defense to yell, "Go!" and the offense to yell, "Irish!" They stood up and, credit Pat Kuntz, he got into it. He realized that there are a lot of first-timers at a pep rally and they want to see pep from the football team.

But a lot of players, especially some high-profile sophomores, never moved their lips. This was like asking a 15 year-old to sing in public. Which it wasn't that far from being, after all.
My friend was disappointed in the players. "Look at that," she said. "They've got one-in-a-million lives. They should be more grateful for it. They should be getting into this."
I disagreed with her. "The players' job is to play," I said. "And I just think they don't appreciate being ordered around by the mascot."

Bruton finished his speech by starting the "Crank Me Up!" cheer. When he sat down Muldoon ordered him back to the mic to do a more traditional cheer. Bruton stared him down and said, somehwat comically but with no small amount of annoyance, "You're short."

The crowd laughed...uncomfortably. I love the Mexichaun's energy...but I hope someone talks to him this week about how he needs to stop poking the bears with a sharp stick. 

I just landed in Philly on my way back home from Tampa Bay. Hunkering down with my Dunkin Donuts, St. Louis Rams linebacker Chris Draft returned a call. 

"What's going on," I asked.

"Just watching the news about my coach getting fired," Draft answered.

Well, nobody's saying they didn't see this coming. When "win or be fired" ultimatums are being issued as they reportedly were about Rams coach Scott Linehan over the weekend, it's all over but the earnest conversation.

Did the speculation about Linehan's status hurt the Rams' performance?

"No. We weren't worried about that. We just had to win. It was on us. Speculation's not good but the way that you alleviate that is to win," said Draft.

The Rams took a 14-6 lead into halftime against the Bills then got outscored 25-0 in Linehan's last half as their head coach.

"We took a step in the right direction yesterday, the offense ran a lot smoother," said Draft. "We were together. Jack (Steven Jackson) ran the ball well, Torry (Holt) had his catches, Donnie Avery ran well. We were flying around on defense. Then we give up big plays here and it's still 31-14.

"It's pretty obvious, the only thing matters is winning and losing," Draft continued. "At the end of the day, we still went 3-13 last year. They don't put an asterisk next to it because of injuries. It doesn't say, 'They were 3-13 but had 19 people on IR'. That's what it is. You can't get around the fact in the last year and change, we are 3-17."

1. Can the Cowboys Weather Adversity?

When Dallas beat Philly two weeks ago, I wrote that the only team capable of stopping the Cowboys is the Cowboys. That remains the case. Losses - like yesterday's to the Redskins - happen. How you react to them says a lot about the direction you're headed. Says a lot about how you'll perform when the pressure gets turned up to boil. And how did the Cowboys most talented, vocal and hyped player respond yesterday to a loss in the fourth game of the regular season? Terrell Owens acted like a baby. As usual. The most narcissistic, needy player in professional sports whined that - despite being the focal point on more than a third of Dallas' plays, he wasn't featured prominently enough. When the going gets tough, T.O. gets whiny. Hopefully, it doesn't get to this. Maybe if Owens had held on to the touchdown pass that ricocheted off his hands during Dallas final drive he'd have felt better about his contributions. Tough catch? Sure, But if you're going to whine about touches, you better have made every play that came your way. It will be entertaining to see the Cowboys now defend Owens by saying that great players are supposed to want the ball and Terrell just wants to win. Enablers all of them. Someone needs to grow a pair down there and point out what's obvious. Owens is a great talent and a bad teammate no matter how charming, disarming and physically gifted he is. He's in it for T.O. Maybe Wade Phillips will do it. Right. Undoubtedly, dealing with Owens correctly will be a job left to head coach Jason Garrett in 2009.

2. Are Kiffin, Linehan Similar Situations?

No. The difference? Kiffin's players generally him in high regard. Said Raiders tight end Zach Miller after Oakland's loss to the Chargers, "(Kiffin) coaches his butt off every day. He's always out there. (Firing speculation) is a distraction that guys aren't focused on. In the locker room, we're focused on winning games." The way the Rams and Raiders lost on Sunday were eerily similar: the Rams led 14-6 at the break and lost 31-14 to Buffalo; Oakland was up 15-3 at the break and got outscored 25-3 after halftime by San Diego. Linehan, from his firing of assistants in the offseason to his benching of Marc Bulger Sunday, was not respected by a wide swath of players because he was viewed as spineless. The Rams have talent on their roster. Far more than the Raiders do. Linehan will be hard-pressed to get another head job after his St. Louis performance. Kiffin will get another crack. But when the ax does fall - and it seems inevitable - Kiffin needs to be mindful of how he speaks about the players Al Davis provided him with. Maybe too many of them are overmatched. But it's bad form to rip guys for a lack of talent when their effort is there. And it has been in Oakland.    

3. Which QB Situation Will Get Stickiest?

There are plenty to choose from. Matt Leinart and Kurt Warner in Arizona after Warner's six-turnover performance led to a 34-0 Jets lead by halftime. An injured (possibly) Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay and the choice between rookies Matt Flynn and Brian Brohm to relieve him. Pick machine Brian Griese in Tampa with Jeff Garcia on the sidelines. Rookie Kevin O'Connell in for Matt Cassel in New England if Cassel flounders in San Francisco. Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn in Cleveland? I'm going with Quinn and Anderson in Cleveland although I think if the Bucs had lost Sunday, there'd be a poopstorm going on about Griese and Garcia right now.  

4. Do You See Anquan Boldin's Point of View?

 With 34 seconds left in the Cardinals-Jets game, Anquan Boldin got hit in the head by Jet Eric Green and got a glimpse (when Boldin came to) of his football mortality. Boldin's been an unhappy Cardinal since teammate Larry Fitzgerald got a $40 million contract with $30 million in guarantees that dwarfed Boldin's four-year, $22.67 million deal (extension) that has him locked up until 2010. Is Boldin making good money? Certainly. But his earning power could have been gone in that instant. I'm generally against renegotiations but when the market's changed as substantially as it has since the new CBA went through, guys can make a better case now that - in their dangerous line of work - being paid the going rate sometimes trumps their decision to sign a contract pre-CBA.  

5. When Was the Last Time Muhsin Muhammad Played Like He Did Sunday?

On December 5, 2004, Panthers receiver Muhsin Muhammad had 10 catches for 179 yards against the Saints. Sunday, he had his most productive game in catches and receptions since then, going for 147 yards on eight catches against the Falcons.

Three Leftovers from Tampa's 30-21 win over the Packers.

1. I can't believe how well Derrick Brooks played today. He had a pick that led to a score, forced a fumble that was returned for a score (although the tackling form he employed on Ryan Grant - crown of head first on the football - on that play leads to paralysis) and was the driving force behind the Bucs allowing Grant 20 yards on 15 carries. Said Jon Gruden "We had a long discussion this week with Derrick and knew he has been nursing and working through a tough injury (hamstring). What he played like today was the Derrick Brooks that everybody recognizes. He made plays sideline to sideline. There is a lot of strength left in Derrick Brooks." 

2. Initially, Mike McCarthy called Aaron Rodgers' injury a "shoulder bruise" but added that he didn't know the extent of it. Given the way he landed on it during a third-and-8 scramble - ball outstretched and shoulder kind of inverting as he hit the ground (not landing on it) - it could be an AC joint injury. And yes, I am a doctor. Rodgers said: I was not sure if I dislocated it or what. It hurt pretty bad. I was getting diagnosed on the sidelines and we got the interception so I went back out there and threw the touchdown pass to Jennings. I was in some pretty intense pain. We got the lead back and I tried to throw on the sidelines but I just couldn't do it. The doctor sat me down but, as bad as it hurt, I wanted to try and give it one more go."

3. The Packers have the Falcons next week and they took a number of injuries - Rodgers, corner Will Blackmon, defensive end Cullen Jenkins, safety Aaron Rouse and safety Nick Collins (who is very, very impressive every time I watch him). That said, Packers coach Mike McCarthy was as angry as I've seen him during this game. He said, "We're making the same mistakes which really bothers me. It's unacceptable for us to do the fundamental things wrong every week. We need to get it fixed."

Maybe it wasn't a major shock that the Crimson Tide upended No. 2 Georgia in Athens on Saturday night, but that 31-0 halftime lead certainly caught my attention. And so when I awoke this morning I searched a few websites but have yet to find the headline I so hoped to see:

O! 'Bama!

After all, any other headline would Palin comparison.

********************

Charlie Weis, during his Sunday afternoon presser, talked about how Purdue running back Kory Sheets nearly fell into him on the sidelines in the second half of yesterday's game. One of his assistants--I have to double-check whom, but I believe it was Ruben Mendoza (update: it was assistant strength and conditioning coach Rick Perry--blocked Sheets out of the way to prevent him from touching Weis, whom as you know is nursing a torn ACL and MCL.

Weis said that Sheets got up a little surprised, and he said, "Kory, he's just trying to protect me." According to Weis, Sheets replied, "Okay, got you, coach."
Then someone asked Weis what he tells his staff in terms of making sure he is protected during the game. "I told them, 'I get hit, they get fired.' Pretty easy."

**************

Hail Haile!

For my fellow distance-running geeks: Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie became the first person ever to finish a marathon in below 2:04, running a 2:03:59 on Sunday in the Berlin Marathon. He was already considered the greatest distance runner of all-time (Gebrselassie owns the world record in the 1/2 marathon as well). This just confirms it.

***********************

Okay, I'm off to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Later.

LSU rookie Matt Flynn is in for Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers appeared to hurt his shoulder on a scramble in the third quarter. It was just announced that Rodgers is being sat out as a "coach's decision...he may return".

I guess that means he's got medical clearance to play but head coach Mike McCarthy is going with Flynn.  

Fox just showed a replay of a third-and-8 scramble by Rodgers on which he lunged forward and stretched the ball out, appearing to wrench his shoulder a bit when he landed.

Meanwhile, Brian Griese just got picked for a TD by Charles Woodson and the score is now 21-20 Packers with 13 to go.

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers just threw a touchdown pass to Greg Jennings and left the field with his right arm limp and tucked in against his side. Backup Matt Flynn warmed up before Rodgers threw a few passes and appeared to say "It's fine"

Kind of an adjustment for the Packers to go from the most durable quarterback in NFL history to one who injures himself throwing a touchdown pass without getting hit.

The score is 20-14.

The aging Tampa linebacker (aren't we all...aging, I mean not Tampa linebackers) just forced a fumble on Ryan Grant that was returned for a touchdown by Jermaine Phillips to make it 20-7.

The Pack is flat like a flat thing today.

Not sure who the third quarterback for Arizona is today - Matt Leinart or Brian St. Pierre - but Kurt Warner's gotta be coming out soon.

In his last 12 snaps, he has two picks and two fumbles and Michael David Smith at profootballtalk.com says he saw Warner bang his hand during the opening drive.

The Jets just put up 34 second quarter points on the Cardinals.

How?

Here..

New York scored on the third play of the quarter on a 12-yard pass from Favre to Coles to make it 7-0

Three plays later Darrelle Revis picked off a Kurt Warner pass and returned it to make it 14-0.

The Cards held the ball for seven plays, punted, and the Jets needed just four plays before they scored another Favre to Coles TD.

On the first play of the next drive, Warner got picked again and the Jets got a field goal at the end of an eight-play drive that made it 24-0.

A strip-sack fumble led to another Favre to Coles TD and finally, with 10 seconds left in the half, Warner fumbled again and the Jets tacked on another field goal with two seconds left.  

On Warner's last 12 snaps, Warner's fumbled twice and been picked twice.

The Bucs have moved ahead 10-7 and are about to get more as they just converted a fourth-and-2 from the Packers 22.

This drive - the third consecutive one to begin in Packers territory - began with the second pick of the day for Aaron Rodgers who is 6 for 14 for 77 yards with a td and those two picks. He's 1 for his last 7 attempts with 2 minutes left in the half.

After a deflected pass from Aaron Rodgers got picked off by Derrick Brooks (who's having a massive game) the Bucs got even with a touchdown pas from Brian Griese to tight end Alex Smith.

In unrelated news, did you get a load of the Jets throwback unis today? Gang Blue and Gold is up 20-0 on the Cardinals who - generally speaking - don't travel well.

Buccaneers kicker Matt Bryant made the tackle on the opening kickoff today. That he's on the field is a wonder. Bryant's 3-month-old son Tryson died Wednesday morning.

My personal take is: Play, don't play, whatever it takes to get you and your family through this day, this week, the future. There is no handbook to consult.

Whether he's playing out of a sense of obligation, duty, release or habit isn't relevant. He may not know exactly why he chose to play other than it felt the right thing to do (I hope to talk to him after the game).

All that said, it's a helluva thing.

It isn't even close. This is by far Notre Dame's best quarter of the season because they've been doing it without benefit of their opponent's mistakes. Three offensive drives, three touchdowns.

The latest came on a 4th-and-7 30-yard touchdown toss from Clausen to Grimes. The Greyhounds brought the house at Clausen and he was able to located Grimes in single coverage running a post route. I hear people criticize Clausen nearly daily, but I don't understand why. On this play, for example, he lofted the ball high so as to allow Grimes to run under it. That's Grimes' 2nd touchdown of the season.

The headiest play of the drive, though, was by left tackle Michael Turkovich. The Purdue defensive end jumped way offsides, but Turk did not move. As the Appletini player tried to get back onside, Turk leaped out of his stance. That wasn't a reaction, at least I don't believe it was. That was just a solid awareness of the rules. When Turkovich flew out of his stance, he compelled the referee to toss the flag on the Purdude for causing Turkovich to fly out of his stance.

Funny thing about Clausen's TD toss. After he threw it, Clausen walked downfield to the celebration as matter-of-factly as if he were walking to class. No excitement. No leaping up-and-down. Almost too cool...until he came across Michael Floyd and the two of them hugged.

Another nice touch...Clausen walks out past the yard-line numbers on the PATs and slaps hands with every member of the PAT team. Brandon Walker kicks so much better when the preceding play is a touchdown and not a third down.

Did you see that? A light just went on with the Notre Dame offense.

The Irish have put together their two most impressive offensive drives since BQQB was taking the snaps. The Irish scored again on a nice play-action pass to an open Kyle Rudolph (his first ND TD) as the Irish go up 28-14 (21 unanswered points).

Notre Dame now has as many first downs (8) in the first 8 minutes of the second half as they had all of the first half. Ourmando Allen has 124 rushing yards on just 13 carries and Rudolph's TD makes it 12 of 13 this season scored by underclassmen.

Purdue just hit a nice slant-in pass to Greg Orton who either scored (it looks as if he did) or was dragged out at the inch-line. Either way, it's about to be 28-21, Irish.

The way the ND offense is moving right now, I don't even think they care. They just want to get on the field and chew up some more yardage.

He's Armando!

The Irish just opened the 2nd half with their most impressive offensive drive of the season. Five plays, 81 yards, the shortest gain being an 8-yarder.

It began with Clausen making a beautiful throw between the short and deep zones on the sideline, laying it in to David Grimes for a 24-yard gain. Next up was a quick out to Golden Tate for 12. Then three straight rushing plays to Armando Allen that went for 8, 21 and then 16 yards. On the 16-yard TD run, Allen was untouched.

That's Notre Dame's first 3rd-quarter points of the season.

That's the most balanced the Irish offense has looked all season.

And, if you're yawning at home (and you're not, suddenly), that's Notre Dame's 12th touchdown of the year and the 11th scored by an underclassmen.

Credit that drive to a beautiful throw by Clausen and the offensive line's best performance yet of the season.

Armando now has 83 yards on only 10 carries.

*************

By the way, shortly before halftime I'm pretty sure I spotted Pat Kuntz yakking on the sidelines. That's what happens when you throw down too many Boilermakers. Also, up here in the booth, Kuntz made a tackle and our press box P.A. dude called him...well, mispronounced his name. The one name on this roster you should never mispronounce.

Nice play by Purdue's Greg Orton, who at one point had the football in his right hand and Terrail Lambert's helmet in his left. Orton made a nice catch on a slant-in, then cut outside and stiff-armed Lambert's facemask, taking the helmet off in one motion.

Also on that drive, QB Curtis Painter had a pass tipped on 2nd down, and Raeshon McNeil was in position to intercept the pass. But the Purdue receiver shoved him from behind and made the catch. I know some rules of pass interference go out the window on a deflected pass, but are you allowed to clip? What else can you do? Eye-gouge? Iron Lotus?

Maybe that's the way the rules go, but Purdue was able to get a clip and an offensive facemask in during their second TD drive. As I said, that may just be the rules. 

Purdue is like, 6-8 on 3rd down conversions thus far.

Let me say it now: Michael Floyd is INSANE! He just made another tremendous catch, his fourth of the first half. This kid is is the best receiver on this team already. That was a 38-yard reception, the longest of his career.

Irish just tied it up on--what else?--a fade route to Golden Tate, Warrior. If you're snoring at home, that's Notre Dame's 11th TD (against zero field goals) of the season and the 10th scored by an underclassman. I've stopped keeping track of how many fade routes the Irish have scored on, but it's at least three.

14-all between two teams who really both prefer to pass the ball. And neither side has a sack so far. 

I've been in love before, but never in as much love as Mike Haywood is with the fade route.

Brandon Walker jut missed a 30-yard field goal attempt. Right now Sarah Palin exudes more confidence.

It could be worse, Irish fans. After Purdue's Desmond Tardy somehow eluded three Irish defenders along the right sideline (special blame goes to David Bruton and Steve Quinn for being innocent bystanders), safety Kyle McCarthy raced across the field to make a shoestring tackle at the 10-yard line.

Last night at the rally du pep David Grimes had a great line about how there are three types of people in the world: "There are people that make things happen, people who watch things happen, and people who wonder what happened."

On that play, it was Tardy and McCarthy who made something happen; Bruton and Quinn who watched it happen; and me up in the press box who, as I have too many times this season, was left to wonder what the heck is happening."

Without McCarthy's hustle, it's 14-0, Purdue. It still may be soon.

Golden Tate doesn't have a touch yet, even though Irish coaches have him identified, literally listed, as their top playmaker. Might wanna do something about that.

Notre Dame has failed to score in three of its four first quarters of this season. That's just wrong.

Duke beats Virginia 31-7 to go to 4-1 on the season. The Blue Devil first-year head coach is David Cutcliffe, who originally was Charlie's first offensive coordinator here in '05. Cutcliffe left before the season began for health issue.

Irish have just tied it up. True freshman cornerback Robert Blanton made a nice pick at about the Purdue 45 and then made an even prettier downfield run to score the touchdown. Honestly, that's the best run we've seen anyone in a gold helmet make since Zibby's called-back interception return in the first half against Stanford last season.

And, if you're snoring at home, that's Notre Dame's 10th touchdown of the season and the ninth that has been scored by a freshman or sophomore. Blanton, like classmate Michael Floyd, scores a TD the very first time he catches a ball in his collegiate career. 

I dont' know about you, but I wouldn't have as much a problem with the Irish wideouts synchronizing their watches before each play if the team were completing passes.

The Irish came out five-wide empty backfield for their opening offensive series and Jimmy Clausen threw three incomplete passes. What I don't understand is why Clausen lines up under center on those plays when everyone knows he's passing. Clausen seems to prefer the shotgun, anyway.

Sam Young, for the second consecutive game, committed a penalty on the opening drive. This time it was a false start on 3rd-and-10.

Sure thing? Mike Anello, who made a great diving tackle on Kory Sheets on the opening kickoff.

Purdue just scored to go up 7-0. It was 3rd-and-9 at the Irish 22 and the Vodka Tonics did an end around to Sheets. True freshman Steve Filer was in position to make the tackle but simply failed to wrap up Sheets, a fifth-year senior. Welcome to college, Steve.

Greetings from South Bend, where every day is like sun day.

Sunny, clear and beautiful today. 77 degrees. A perfect afternoon unless you happen to be wearing a helmet and shoulder pads, in which case it may be a little warm.

A few quick notes before we kick off...

The Mets are about to blow a chance at the playoffs for the second straight year. I need to vent.

***

1:44 pm - Johan Santana begged for the chance to start and he's got the ball. Good move here, and loved that he asked to pitch on short rest. It's the kind of thing you'd expect from Mike Mussina, only the exact opposite.

1:45 - Good sign: they got Hanley Ramirez out. He kills the Mets. As do most of the Marlins. They're such a pain in the @$$.

1:48 - Nasty slidepiece to strike out Baker. Could've done without the foul balls to jack up with pitch count though.

1:50 - Damn, there goes the no-hitter. Gonna go out on a limb and say that the Mets will never EVER throw a no-hitter at Shea Stadium. Call it a hunch.

1:52 - Comebacker that Santana knocks down and throws the runner out. No runs in the first for the Marlins. Just want to point something out: maybe the most enjoyable thing about watching Johan Santana is that he's an athlete. Dives for groundballs, runs after pop-ups, takes full cuts when he's at the plate. Love it.

I think there was once a Super Friends episode in which some evil villain attempted to destroy the planet by controlling the weather (no, his name was not CEO of Peabody Energy). It feels as if that's what is happening here in South Bend. Or you could just call it Indian Summer.

Two weekends ago we got the most rain in a 48-hour period (just shy of a foot) that South Bend has ever received, and now we're dealing with 86-degree temps outside. Ever since autumn arrived it has felt a lot like summer. I know: enjoy it while it lasts.

Today I spotted Will Yeatman walking to class wearing a canary-yellow polo and white pants. He either thinks it's still summer or still San Diego. Either way, it's nice that he is even still here.

USC has lost the last two times they have visited the Beaver State, which is one reason that they won't lose this evening in Corvallis-in-Wonderland.

By the way, did you know that the backup QB for the Trojans this week is some dude named Garrett Green? Somehow he leaped right past Aaron Corp and Mitch Mustain on the depth chart. If we don't see him tonight, then I like USC and large. 

On to the other picks on a Supernatural Superserious SuperSaturday Soothsaying Screed.... 

Four days have passed since the Indiana State Excise Police went Dean Wormer on the women's lacrosse off-campus kegger. The good news, thus far, is that the Notre Dame Office of Residence Life has not gone Dean Wormer on the 16 varsity athletes who were arrested.

No news is good news at this stage. The Notre Dame administration is walking a tightrope on this one. On one hand, they don't want to alienate the local gendarmes who protect and serve this community. On the other, busting this party was the equivalent of calling a ticky-tack foul, or perhaps of flagging a punt return team for a questionable clip (at the 8:10 mark here) that would have had no effect on the outcome of the game.

(An aside: Coach Weis, Coach Haywood--I know you have better things to do, but perhaps someone close to you is reading this...check out the play at the 4:02 mark...can you picture what Golden Tate Warrior or Michael Floyd might be able to do on that route?)

Whenever I do make it to practice for the 20-minute media observance period (in which we get to watch players stretch and begin some routine drills...it isn't as if we get to watch them run a "bomb play"....that's from an old Gerry Faust vignette, in which the beloved former coach ran up the sidelines asking aloud, "Do we have a bomb play?!?")...anyway, when I do make it to practice, I cannot help but notice a tall player wearing No. 87.

Just huge. A little thin in the lower body for a major college football player, I think to myself, but otherwise, on a field full of giants, this player stands out.

The Goliath of whom I speak? Freshman tight end Joseph Fauria. This weekend, due to the lingering "held out of competition until further resolution" status of Will Yeatman, Fauria may indeed see some playing time. He's not as polished as classmate Kyle Rudolph, but it could be interesting.

The City of Detroit is in need of a new pinata this morning.

Matt Millen, the Lions GM who said in February that the Lions record during his tenure was "beyond awful," finally got the boot. The move comes after years of often hysterical agitating by Lions fans to get Millen canned.

It also comes one day after Bill Ford Jr.said that, if he had the authority, he would have fired Millen by now. Bill's father, William Clay Ford, is the owner.

(Dinner exchange last night at the Fords:

Billy: "Daddy, please let me axe that horrid man Millen! You never let me do anything and all my friends make sport of me because of my short pants and his horrid, horrid managing in general!"

WCF: "It's time you became a man, William. We fire Millen first thing in the morning."

Billy: "Oh, Daddy! You ARE the best. And I love the Ford Flex crossover more than words!" )

The Lions record during Millen's tenure was 31-84. Not coincidentally, they didn't make the playoffs during Millen's time running the ship aground.

The Lions only failed to lose fewer than 10 games once during Millen's reign. That was last year when they went 7-9. Despite a furious effort to get to 10 losses after a 6-2 start, the Lions failed to live up to their standard of ineptitude.

Millen's horrific first round drafting record will be his enduring GM legacy. During the bleakest period there was quarterback Joey Harrington (No. 3 in 2002), wide receiver Charles Rogers (No. 2 in 2003), wide receiver Roy Williams (No. 7 in 2004), running back Kevin Jones (No. 30 in 2004) and wide receiver Mike Williams (No. 10 in 2005).

Rogers was out of the NFL by 2004, Harrington was unemployed until this past week when he signed with New Orleans as a backup. Jones scored three touchdowns in four seasons for the Lions and is now a backup in Chicago and Mike Williams played two seasons for Detroit and is out of the league at 24. Roy Williams remains with the Lions and is pretty good. 

In 2005, after a Lions fan was tackled while holding a "Fire Millen" sign at a Lions home game, "Fire Millen" signs started popping up at Tigers games, Red Wings games, Michigan games and even in the Gil Thorp comic strip (so says Wikipedia).

It was a movement. And now it's done.

My dealings with Millen have been limited. I spoke to him at the NFL Owners Meetings each of the past two Aprils and he was without pretense or swagger. We spoke about a writer, Alan Greenberg, who covered the Raiders when Millen was a linebacker there and who I covered the Patriots with. Greenberg died suddenly in March 2007. Instead of saying, "Oh, that's too bad..." Millen asked me for the address of Greenberg's wife and was visibly moved by the news.

In short, he seemed a hard guy to dislike. But a guy whose football personnel decisions were easy to hate. And he understood that, too.

"If I was sitting at home and I was a Lion fan, you've got to blame somebody," Millen said in February. "I'd blame me, too. ... That's part of my job is to get blamed. I'm OK with that. But it's also part of my job to win. We haven't done that."

Notes from Charlie Weis' noon presser:

-- As noted below, Weis opened Tuesday's presser by noting that he will be holding tight end Will Yeatman "out of competition" until his situation is "further resolved". You might infer from the tone Weis took that he was not overly upset with either of his two players over what happened this weekend. Yes, that's me reading into it and Weis never explicitly stated that, but there was nothing in his manner to indicate admonishment or anger. Yeatman and Golic will still practice with the team today.

If I had to predict (and I don't, but I will), I'd say that Notre Dame is not going to come down too harshly on any of the 16 varsity athletes arrested. Busting up a house party in which no neighbors phoned the police to complain about a disturbance seems slightly overzealous to me. We'll see if the Notre Dame administration agrees. But for now, at least, the Irish tight end is not at a dead end.

-- Asked by Rothstein how this opens things up at the tight end position, Charlie said, "The deptch chart has changed. The obvious guy who comes up front is (Joseph) Fauria. In fact today, instead of practicing on scout team, he'll be up with the big boys."

Fauria is the nephew of former New England Patriots tight end Christian Fauria. The freshman from Encino, Calif., is huge at 6-7, 245 pounds, and there's a good chance he'll be the 9th true freshman to see game time this season. he was the tight end on Dayne Crist's Notre Dame High School team last season.

Check out the touchdown celebration by Buccaneers tight end Jerramy Stevens during Sunday's Bucs win over the Bears. It comes at 3:15 on the video entitled Brian Griese highlights.

Now read this January Seattle Times story detailing the loathsome existence Stevens has led since before starring for the University of Washington.

The story really puts the post-TD antics into an even more chilling light. I'm covering the Bucs and Packers this weekend and hope to ask Stevens what the gesture symbolized.

Minnesota, which won one game last season, is 4-0. UNLV, which has had four consecutive two-win seasons, is 3-1. Northwestern is 4-0 for the first time since JFK was president. Duke, which won a total of two games the past three seasons, has matched that total in its first three games. And Vanderbilt, which last had a winning season in 1984, is 4-0 and ranked 21st in the Associated Press poll (and 25th in the Coaches’ Poll).

In a season in which a Colt (McCoy) and a Bronco (Mendenhall) have already shined, these five perennial also-rans have been true mavericks. How do you explain it? Different cures for different ills.

First, sure, these are non-conference schedules that Ty Willingham would kill for. Only six of their 19 collective opponents are BCS conference programs, and of those, only one exterior to this group (Northwestern played Duke and won) has a winning record. That school is Utah, which is responsible for the sole loss these five teams have in sum.

And yet, credit these five for surfacing from the depths.

At Minnesota and Duke, credit an infusion of coaching talent. The Golden Gophers are thriving under new defensive coordinator Ted Roof, picking off Rusty Smith passes in a 37-3 defeat of Florida Atlantic on Saturday. The Blue Devils are averaging 30 points per game under new coach David Cutcliffe, whose offensive acumen is sorely missed in Knoxville.

Northwestern, which is actually a legitimate mid-pack Big Ten program, can thank senior skill-position players such as tailback Tyrell Sutton and quarterback C.J. Bacher.

And UNLV owes much to the big-play capability of wideout Phillip Payne, whose late TD catches -- on virtually the identical fade route -- spurred overtime wins against Arizona State and Iowa State.

No sleeper has been more rousing than the Commodores, though. With only five starters returning from last season’s 5-7 team, Vandy seemed poised for its 26th consecutive losing season. Already, though, Vandy has compiled two wins in the nation’s toughest conference, the SEC, and need only go 2-6 (with games against Mississippi State and Duke) the rest of the way to earn their first bowl bid since 1982.

Can Vandy actually finish 7-5? To do so they’ll either have to beat a team currently ranked in the Top 25 or similarly unbeaten Kentucky. Or, as a last resort, there’s in-state bully Tennessee, which is off to its second 1-2 start in as many seasons.

1. If Lane Kiffin's fired, do the Raiders get even worse?

It's amazing to me that, after a week in which the hammer was allegedly poised to drop on the Raiders coach, he and his staff still got Oakland ready to go cross-country and give the very decent Bills all they could handle in a 24-23 loss. That tells me that Kiffin - while not an expert politico - is a very good head coach. And he's got his team's ear and hearts. If Al Davis fires Kiffin now he's showing how little regard he has for his players, his fans and the rest of the league. What motivation - aside from the paycheck - do the players have to play with "Pride and poise" when the owner's ready to mail in the season. Give a player an excuse to give less than his best and he'll take it every time, Bill Parcells used to say. Fire Kiffin and watch what happens.

2. Can the Patriots Get Right? 
One of the hallmarks of Bill Belichick's early days with the Patriots was the way in which they shored up problem areas quickly and made weaknesses disappear. It's what makes the guy perhaps the best coach of all time. Winning with less. The way the Dolphins shined a light on Matt Cassel's inability to get the ball downfield and the leadfootedness of the Pats defense will give upcoming Pats opponents areas to try and exploit. Watch now as Belichick schemes to anticipate upcoming opponents efforts to attack those spots. New England as its presently constituted is not as bad as it was on Sunday against the Dolphins nor as good as it was a week earlier in New York. And - as I've written over and over - they weren't as good for the last third of 2007 as they were in the first 10 games. Not even close. They are a (without Brady) a good team. Even with Brady, they are a very good but flawed team which got as close to perfection last year because they have the best coach, quarterback, wide receiver combo since Walsh, Montana and Rice.   

3. Can I honor my pledge to stop the early-season proclamations?

Even though I've come to learn that you can't make a reasonable assessment of where teams are until they've played four games, I've been tremendously kneejerk through the first three weeks. After Week 1, I was ga-ga over the Jets and believed the Redskins to be irreparably bad. After Week 2, I was goo-goo over the Patriots and even more fawning over the Cowboys. I am far from alone - in fact, the writers and analysts able to reserve judgment are in the minority these days. And I have a theory why this is and it has to do with the "splash factor." Make an early declaration and hope it holds up. It gives us a good, strong, decisive story and - if we happen to be right - lets us pound our chests about how we knew it first. But it kills our credibility. We're supposed to be the ones gathering stats, facts and anecdotes and applying our years of covering the league and noticing trends as they unfold to give reasoned analysis. We're not supposed to be slapping backs and climbing out on limbs at the coffee machine on Monday morning. A lot of my analysis gleaned from the preseason and training camps has been good - I liked the Bills and didn't like the Browns; I thought the Patriots and Colts were going to be off a bit. I liked the Eagles. But that stuff came after a few weeks of consideration. It wasn't based on snapshot observations. For instance, as bad as the Steelers looked Sunday against Philly, that was simply a bad matchup for them. Bad game plan, bad execution. They're better than they showed. And if they played the Eagles this Sunday, the outcome would probably be a bit different. Nothing is as good or as bad as it seems. Except the Rams.

4. Can Romeo Crennel Withstand the Storm?

The Browns are reeling and Derek Anderson is playing like a guy who couldn't beat out Charlie Frye for a starting job. The call is on for Romeo to go to the bullpen for Brady Quinn and the offseason defensive investments aren't paying dividends for the 0-3 Browns. This is a familiar situation that teams on the rise deal with. They inspire optimism with a flash season and then, when guys backslide a little and hit a wall the following year, people want them to go around the wall instead of climbing over it. The Browns need to stay true to themselves now and their offseason plans. Whether Crennel and the rest of the organization has the stones and the clout to do it is the question now.

5. Where to in Week 5?

Where would you, faithful reader, like to see me go in Week 5?

A) Tennessee at Baltimore

B) Pittsburgh at Jacksonville

C) Minnesota at New Orleans

D) Hell

If you read Notre Dame's student newspaper, The Observer, you'd have noticed that on the previous two Mondays, following home football games, there has been a front-page story concerning the number of underage students who had been arrested the previous Saturday for alcohol possession or public intoxication.

Tomorrow morning front-page Observer story is going to much bigger news.

Junior tight end Will Yeatman and freshman offensive lineman Mike Golic, Jr., (whose dad was a standout Notre Dame defensive lineman and team captain in the early 1980s and who is now a co-host of ESPN2's "Mike & Mike in the Morning") were two of 41 students arrested for misdemeanor alcohol charges at around 2 a.m. Sunday morning.

Yeatman is 20. Golic, 18. The pair were attending an off-campus party at a home in South Bend and were charged with underage consumption of alcohol. Members of Notre Dame's soccer and lacrosse teams were also there.

The consequences could be particularly dire for Yeatman, who had one catch in Notre Dame's 23-7 loss at Michigan State on Saturday afternoon. Last January Yeatman, who was also a freshman All-American lacrosse player for the Irish, was arrested for driving under the influence on a campus sidewalk. He was suspended both from the lacrosse season and spring football while taking a plea agreement in which the charges for drunken driving would be dismissed if he were to stay out of trouble for the year.

On Sunday evening Charlie Weis issued a brief statement: "I was made aware of the situation late (Sunday) afternoon and am currently looking into the matter."

Now everything for Yeatman is in jeopardy. His future at Notre Dame. His future on both teams. And his criminal record. Everything, at this moment, is up in the air.

Police made 34 arrests on the Notre Dame campus during the season-opener with San Diego State. The following Saturday they made 29 arrests. Not all of the arrests were for alcohol-related offenses, but most were.

This is a difficult tightrope for any university community to navigate. Last night in East Lansing, Michigan, there were waiting lines outside every bar. Earlier in the day tailgates overflowed with students carrying cases of LaBatt's or even full coolers. Many of these students were 21 or older, but likely just as many were not..

College students are going to drink beer. They just are (just like NBA rookies--and veterans-- are going to smoke weed). I don't mean to be flippant about this. The consequences for Yeatman in particular are potentially life-altering, after all. But raiding a house and arresting a bunch of underage students for drinking beer will do nothing to deter it from happening the following weekend.

Strangely enough, considering all the hysteria that emanated from the photo that circulated on-line earlier this summer, Sunday was Jimmy Clausen's 21st birthday.   

If I never agreed with Charlie Weis about anything else-- but I do-- I would always elevate him slightly higher for his response to a question posed earlier this afternoon about Yankee Stadium and tonight being its closing night:

"It breaks my heart," Charlie said.

Mine, too.

I'm not just sad. I'm angry. I'm mad at everyone who has written a eulogy for Yankee Stadium in print or on-line, angry at everyone who feels compelled to compile our favorite Yankee Stadium moments.

Bugger off, I say.

Listen. If you happen to catch the flu and all your friends and family gather 'round to plan your funeral, wouldn't you be a little annoyed? Especially if they all had a younger version of you waiting in the wings who, sure, may not be as charming or charismatic, but comes with cupholders at every seat and wider concourses (G.A., you are my new Yankee Stadium). 

This doesn't have to happen. Never had to happen. And the Yankees are a poorer franchise for letting it be so. While at the same time, yes, a much wealthier franchise. Which is what matters to them here.

The Steelers have 118 net yards heading to the fourth quarter (34 on the ground) but, because of their own defense are still in the hunt down 10-6.

Donovan McNabb is in the locker room with a chest injury and isn't starting the second half. Perhaps he lost a nipple. He did take some punishment in the first half as well but there was no obvious play on which he was hurt. He took the final kneeldown of the first half.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

McNabb's first pass of the day to hit the ground came on a third-and-8 throw to the end zone to tight end L.J. Smith. McNabb tried to fit it in a tight window from the 13 and Smith had to hit the deck to try and make the catch. He had it for a moment before Troy Polamalu landed on him, jarring the bar loose.

The first quarter closed with Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb getting sacked while in the commission of a flea flicker. The score is 3-0 Steelers thanks to a Jeff redd field goal that capped a 12-play drive. McNabb is 9 for 9 to start the game. He's hot.

Kneejerk reactions from the one o'clock games ...

* There was some bad quarterbacking on display out there. I'm sitting in the press box at Lincoln Financial Field in Philly. There are about 12 monitors tuned to all the different games out here. At one point, I saw New England's Matt Cassel and the Bears Kyle Orton (Hears a Who) throw picks on screen passes about four plays apart. There was also Tyler Thigpen going 14 for 36 for 138 yards with a touchdown and three picks for Kansas City. You'd love to be laying your well-being on the line every week for that team, right?

* Meanwhile, can the Raiders loss to the Bills 24-23 at the gun get Lane Kiffin fired. From a practical perspective, a one o'clock East Coast game would be convenient for a change. It's only 1 p.m. Sunday on the West Coast when this one ends, a full week before the next game and the team would have ample time to deal with distractions and preparation.

* I don't believe this 38-13 pasting of the Patriots is enough to get Matt Cassel whisked off the stage in favor or Kevin O'Connell. But it puts that possibility in play.

* The Bills and Giants secure gripping last minute wins to stay at 3-0 (who liked the Bills? EYE LIKED THE BILLS!) The Vikings throw the bloodthirsty wolves a hunk of meat and beat the Panthers, 20-10 to grab their first win.

Prior to the Patriots taking the field today, the stadium screen featured a montage of people declaring the Patriots season to be over without Tom Brady.

Among the non-believers? Jerome Bettis and Deion Sanders. The Patriots exploded from their locker room and took the field in appropriate frothiness.

Currently, they trail the Dolphins 28-6. Miami is 1-20 in its last 21 games. The Patriots are 21-0 in their last 21 regular season games.

Jimmy Clausen just completed a pass to Golden Tate, Warrior, and was roughed up by Michigan State's Adam Decker on the play. Nice little drive by the Irish here.

It's funny how the Irish offense moves the ball once they admit to themselves that they're just Texas Tech with gold helmets.

The difference between this 4th quarter in Sparta and 2006. Two years ago the Irish were heading in toward their band. This time they're heading toward the Sparta student section.

And just as I type that, on the first play of the 4th quarter, Jimmy Clausen lofts a fade route to Michael Floyd who, playing the role of Derrick Mayes (or Duval Kamara) outfights the Sparta cornerback for a touchdown. Right in front of the White Sea.

It's early in the year, but the Irish have outscored opponents 28-0 in the 4th quarter this season. 

13-7, Michigan State. And we have 14:51 remaining. And if you hadn't noticed, the Irish defense has been what I like to call "stout" all afternoon.

Until this play.

Hoyer to Mark Dell for 28 yards. Wide open.

A buddy of mine, an Irish alum, wonders how come Armando Allen gets so many carries when--though admittedly speedy-- "the next tackle he breaks will be his first."

My friend continues: "What is the definition of insanity again? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Maybe that should be the saying on the back of The Shirt."

Methinks Charlie is either calling the plays or Mike Haywood's headset is out.

Notre Dame opened the game with six straight rushing plays for seven yards. The seventh was also a rush, Golden Tate's 24-yard reverse

The Irish (who have yet to give me reason to dub them the !rish) opened the 2nd half with seven straight pass plays, operating out of an empty backfield with five wides (Tate, Allen, Rudolph, Parris and Floyd). Clausen completed six of the seven passes. Alas for Notre Dame (a school named for a lass...that just came to me), Michael Floyd fumbled the ball after the catch on the seventh play and the Irish handed it over to MSU at the 14. That's their second turnover in the red zone, by my count.

There's your game-changing play, by the way. Irish just 14 yards away from making it 10-7 early in the 3rd. If MSU makes it 17-0, well....

On the plus side, Kyle McCarthy may still lead the nation in tackles by day's end.

And Michigan State goes up 13-0 as Notre Dame's South Bend-But-Don't-Break defense held once Sparta got to the nine.  

Michigan State just went up 10-0 on a one-yard run by Javon Ringer. Notre Dame has Coley O'Brien warming up on the sidelines at quarterback.

The Spartans needed nine plays to go 22 yards for the touchdown, converting a 4th-and-1 at the 13. The drive began when Otis My Man Wiley intercepted his second pass of the day.

Now the Irish are back on offense and using the no-huddle. You're wondering why they don't do the no-huddle more often, too, aren't you? They seem to have much better rhythm when doing so.

Johntourager L.A. writes in that she's at the Manhattan Open women's beach volleyball final (that's Manhattan Beach, not the Big Apple) and that it's even sublimier than East Lansing. I don't know abou that. Besides, we have meal tickets for bratwurst.

The Irish are going four-wide, with Tate, Parris, Floyd and Rudolph. I think Charlie's a little miffed at Kamara, who was the intended receive on both of Clausen's picks.

You know what Notre Dame needs work on? A lot of work on? Screen passes.

The defense, by the way, has played very well this afternoon thus far.

But Clausen just got sacked again--loss of nine yards, and both have been by defensive end Brandon Long. Most likely they'll go into halftime down 10-0. 

This is funny. Notre Dame is about to punt. Michigan State has two men on former walk-on Mike Anello, the left gunner, and one guy on David Bruton, Notre Dame's best player, who is the right gunner. As Sampson said, "That's good scouting." 

Very entertaining first quarter. Don't let the 3-0 score fool you.

The Irish began with seven consecutive run plays...the first six may have all been to set up the 7th, a fake inside handoff-then-revers to GOLDEN TATE who motored up the left side for 24 yards. That's Notre Dame's longest gain rushing of the young season. A few plays later Jimmy Clausen hooked up with Tate on a down-and-out route for 30 yards.

Unofficially, I'd say Tate must have Notre Dame's five longest plays of the year (the 38-yard TD versus San Diego State; the 60-yard reception versus Michigan; the 48-yard TD catch versus the Wolverines; and today's two plays).

Correction, with the help of Pete Sampson of Irish Illustrated: Golden has ND's four longest plays and their longest rush.

Speaking of Golden, this comment appeared on Deadspin's "Hugh Johnson Project" earlier this afternoon:

There has to be a word for all the praise being heaped on Golden Tate by the ND faithful. "Rained?" No, that's not it... "Bathed?" No.. that's not it either. -

Oh, that was another first quarter in which the Irish did not score. That makes six of the last nine 1st quarters.

What also happened...

Otis My Man Wiley intercepted a Clausen pass intended for Duval Kamara in the end zone.

Brian Also My Man Smith forced a Javon Ringer fumble (recovered by John Ryan). 

And Michigan State hit people really hard and, as always, started jawing about it before the play was even over.

My new favorite Spartan player: Left tackle Rocco Cironi, who stands 6-6, 308 pounds. Yo, ROCCO!  

Notre Dame looked straight outta 2007 on its opening offensive drive, but the defense showed up, holding Ringer to 2 yards on 2 carries. Freshman defensive tackle Ethan Johnson batted down a 3rd down pass.

Irish have the ball again and have run it again on first down. And on second down.

Charlie, by the way, is standing at the other end of the sideline from wherever the line of scrimmage happens to be.

Irish run on 3rd down, too.

Mike Haywood has called six consecutive running plays to start the game. And they have seven yards rushing

Suddenly Charlie's leg is throbbing.

Notre Dame just took the field. Charlie Weis is limping in behind them. He should make it to the sideline some time in the second quarter.

The Irish look a little flat. Just reading body language, etc. It may be signify nothing. The MSU students are into it, though. I hope ABC shows the White Sea student section. Quite, well, uniform. Or uniconform. 

Michigan State won the toss and they'll defer. The Irish will take the opening kickoff for the first time this season. Armando Allen and Golden Tate are back deep. I like that Notre Dame's return men are named Armando and Golden. Biff and Lumpy just don't sound as quick.

Allen returns it 25 yards. Kamara and Floyd are your starting wide receivers. The first play is a rush up the middle by Hughes, loses 1 yard.

Second down, Irihs pu tin two tight ends, same result. And then Sam Young gets called for unnecessary roughness after the play.

3rd and 24...looks a little like 2007.

Sitting in Spartan Stadium on yet another super sunny day in the Midwest (feel free to start humming "Pink Houses" right about now).

It's about 90 minutes before game time, and while most fans have yet to file in, the Michigan State student section is nearly completely filled. All the students are clad in white shirts. A sea of white. It's kind of funny to see a nearly empty 85,000-seat stadium and then look into one corner and see thousands of students jammed together like the Faber College marching band in the alley. Defies all the laws of osmosis.

Gameday notes: David Grimes fans, don't count on seeing No. 11 for the Irish today. Looks as if the Irish are going to hold him out of the lineup... Charlie Weis will be standing on the field without a cane or a crutch. Joe Paterno of Penn State is up in the press box at his game. JoePa gets a pass. He's 80 years old, his team leads 38-3 and in an hour or so he'll be the first FBS coach to 376 victories. So there.

The other day, my buddy Dave proposed a completely unrealistic, yet fantastic scenario: Someone puts a bag of money in front of you. If you take the money, none of your favorite teams will win the title this year. If you refuse the money, the team of your choice will be world champs. The big question is: how high of a sum could you walk away from?

So many factors go into this decision – how big of a fan you are, income, debt, kids, a materialistic wife, how successful your team has been recently, # of beers you’ve had in the past 2 hours, etc – and it’s hard to say what the biggest variable is. It’s probably different for everyone.

Good morning.

Satisfaction? Satisfaction is wheeling your Schwinn World Tourist through the lobby of your hotel as the male and female members of Seton Hall's cross-country team stare at you dumb-founded. What's the opposite of dumb-founded, by the way? Smart-founded?

As I wrote before, yesterday may have been the most sublimely wonderful weather day I've ever experienced in South Bend. I can totally picture Irish freshmen from California or Florida, or from my home state of Arizona asking, "Why does everyone complain about the weather here?"

Just wait, kids. Just wait.

Last weekend Lou Holtz and  approximately 70 members of the 1988 Notre Dame football team descended on campus. The '88 team is the last Irish squad both to finish undefeated and the last to win the national championship.

Although I'll go to my grave believing that the 1989 team was better. Most of the key members of the '88 team were back and had you flip-flopped the schedules I think the '88 team would have had trouble beating Miami in the Orange Bowl. After all, that was the '89 team's sole loss and there was no shame in losing to Miami in the OB back then. The Canes won 57 games in a row there from the mid-80s to the mid-90s.

The point being this: Notre Dame fans may not want to look beyond this year yet (hey, the Irish are 2-0 as I type this). And next year the Irish may resemble their '88 selves, though I don't think they'll be national-championshp caliber yet. But the 2010 Irish will be a force, arguably the most talented team since the '89 or or '93 squads.

Believe me, I realize that we're getting way, way, way, way, way, way ahead of ourselves here, the bloggers' equivalent of asking "Are we there yet?" when we haven't even gotten out of our own subdivision yet, but check out this speculative depth chart I've compiled for 2010:

We begin today with an amazing bit of tid from the Los Angeles Times:

Rick Neuheisel's UCLA Bruins lost by 59 points at BYU last Saturday.

Pete Carroll's USC Trojans have lost 14 games in seven seasons by a total of 59 points.

*******************

After all the inner turmoil I had earlier this week regarding "Mull-hawk" versus "Kuntz-skin Cap", Notre Dame D-lineman Pat Kuntz appeared at post-practice access with a shaved head last night. "I was sick of scaring people," Kuntz told us, adding, "the old look was in honor of Magua from Last of the Mohicans."

(I'm working on a script for "Second-to-Last of the Mohicans", by the way).

Favorite question of this session. Someone asked Kuntz, whose pate, as mentioned, is now bare, "What kind of 'do are you going to have next week?"

Afternoon, gang. Coming to you from inside the Goog as I await the end of practice...

A few bits o' tid from the past two days' pressers:

--Best moment of yesterday was Charlie Weis gving us a brief, unadorned glimpse into the personality of sophomore wide receiver Golden Tate. "He catches that touchdown and he looks at me and he says: I cannot be stopped," said Weis of Tate's 1st-quarter 48-yard TD bomb. "He's saying it in jest. But I'm looking at him, only Golden would sit there and say come to the head coach and say: I cannot be stopped."

It was a terrific moment of both levity and candor, the kind that humanizes a program.

Just so we are clear here, I am NOT blogging naked right now.

Charlie Weis limped into the noon press conference today, looking somewhat uncomfortable but not using a cane, four-pronged walker or crutches. "I went off the codeine yesterday," he would tell a few of us informally.

Once again, and it needs to be said, Weis handled every aspect of Saturday's injury with class. He was courageous (remaining on the field while both in obvious pain and while the rain poured down in buckets) and self-deprecating (the "feel like an athlete. First time in my life!" quip) and while there will always be people he, and the Irish, will never be able to please, or appease, Saturday was a shining moment for him.

And by the way, Weis' injury was news on Sunday and on the Monday banterfests on ESPN. The play, gruesome as it was, merited being shown. Then. Now, to keep showing that footage is a lot like showing a snuff film.

You realize, by the way, that Weis grew up not far from Joe Theisman, another 1970s-era Notre Dame alum.

Howdy from once again sunny South Bend...

A few random items for this morning:

--If you're giddy about Notre Dame's budding four-game win streak, here's a list of the nation's longest win streaks extant:

Brigham Young..........13 games (last loss took place Sept. 15, 2007, a 55-47 defeat at Tulsa)

                     Up next: Wyoming

Georgia.....................10 games (last loss: October 6, 2007, at Tennessee: 35-14)

                     Up next: at Arizona State

USC..........................7 games (last loss: October 27, 2007, at Oregon: 24-17)

                     Up next: at Oregon State

Four schools with 5-game win streaks: Auburn, East Carolina, Texas Tech and Wake Forest

Seven schools with 4-game win streaks: Alabama, LSU, the Irish, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Penn State and Utah

It's 37-31 here in Dallas and lemme take a break to say I'm a lucky little man. Yesterday, Pats and Jets and all the attendant drama/storylines. Tonight this game. Last week, Jints and Skins and then Miami and the Jets on Sunday. Next week, Eagles and Steelers. I'd do it for free .... let's just leave it at I'm lucky ...

This is the most entertaining half of football in the long and proud history of the National....Football....League....Or at least in 2008. Gimme a second and I'll whip out some numbers.

The teams combined for 708 yards in the first half (192 total yards from scrimmage for Philly; 222 for Dallas; 194 kickoff return yards for Dallas; 74 for Philly; 25 return yards on punts and picks for Philly, 1 for Dallas).

Credit me for the effort.  

That's a fumble. What a living cementhead DeSean Jackson is. He preened into the end zone and dropped the bal back into the field of play before it crossed the plane of the goal line after gathering in a TD bomb from Donovan McNabb that should have made it 27-21 Eagles with 7:46 left in the half.

You can say rookie mistake but at what level of football are you told to do that.

Eagles ball at the 2. Never seen anything like it. Or this game for that matter.

Falcons safety Lawyer Milloy issued an apology via email and his attorney Manny Arora in the wake of his DUI arrest Monday morning.

"I apologize to my family, my teammates, Mr. Blank, Coach Smith, Thomas Dimitroff, and our great fans for the incident that occurred following Sunday’s game at Tampa Bay."

 Milloy is one of the Falcons leaders so - for a team trying to mend its ways in the post-Vick era, his arrest is a tough blow.

Discretion is the better part of valor, Brett Romo. After mishandling a snap in the end zone, Romo tried to make something happen. There's a tenet in quarterbacking that, once you turn your back to the defense, the play is pretty much shot. Romo had his back turned then tried to make a play. That's a touchdown, Eagles and despite a 72-yard touchdown and a 98-yard kickoff return, the Cowboys are down by 2.

IRVING, Texas - The wireless instantnet is UP in Texas Stadium and whoa, what a start.

Who had 38-35, Cowboys? This guy.

Now, to the action at hand. Greg Lewis just got away with a jersey pull on Anthony Henry at the goal line and the Cowboys got called for pass interference at the 1.

Given that the zebras missed two egregious facemasks on the Cowboys in about four plays, it kind of balances out. Maybe. Eh, the Cowboys got screwed, who'm I kidding.

Two plays later and the Iggles are in with a nice little screen to Brian Westbrook to make it 14-13.

--Like you, I'm wondering whether John Ryan will remain on the punt coverage unit next Saturday in East Lansing.

--I for one am in favor of Coach Weis doing all pressers from now on while on pain killers. After all, it works for House. Charlie was funny Saturday afternoon, which is ironic because at one point he actually said, "I'm sorry I'm not funny."

--South Bend received a total of 10.75 inches of rain over the weekend. More than six inches of that total fell on Saturday, which is a record. I feel for Galveston, especially after witnessing what simply the remnants of Hurricane Ike offered here. The mighty St. Joe/ threatens to o'erflow/and take me/ in its undertow. Considering how persistent the rain was here from Friday evening through Sunday evening, it's astonishing that even one half of football was played without audience precipitation.

He's got New England about to stretch the lead to at least 19-10 after just taking a heady timeout on third-and-6 inside the Jets 20 with 5:27 left.

He's really done a terrific job all things considered.

It's been an overall decent performance from Matt Cassel but he just got his knee driven into the turf and was doodling around with his kneecap between plays. On the ensuing play, someone went the wrong way on a handoff to Sammie Morris resulting in a loss of 3.

The Jets are about to get the ball back with 1:24 left in the half trailing 6-3.

On a third-and-9 from his own 21, Brett Favre bought time and Laveranues Coles turned his short crossing route back toward the right sideline and the two hooked up for a 54 yard gain.

Then on a third-and-5 from the Pats 20, Favre hit Chansi Stuckey with a low dart that was good for the first down. Snapping the ball before the Pats could challenge, Leon Washington picked up 11.

Now Brian Schottenheimer is running the ball at Vince Wilfork three straight times on first-and-goal from the 5 and the Jets got stuffed three in a row.

The strength of the Pats defense is the front 3. What point were they trying to prove? That Faneca, Woody and Mangold would blow Seymour, Wilfork and Warren off the ball? Yeesh. Jets settle for 3.

On his first drive today, Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel was efficient, leading the Pats to a field goal that made it 3-0.

Jay Feely missed a chip shot field goal to end the Jets first drive.

1. Rod Marinelli and Scott Linehan: The race is on to see which overmatched head man gets canned first. Linehan's got the edge as his team lost 41-13 to the Giants but Marinelli made a late push with the Lions losing to Green Bay 48-25

2. Tarvaris Jackson: He went 14 for 24 for 130 yards with no picks. The bigger sin, though, was on a day when Adrian Peterson ran for 160 and the Minny defense held Joseph Addai to 20 yards on 15 carries, Jackson could only get the offense five field goals as the offense went 2 for 13 on third down.

3. Reggie Bush, Saints: Took time out to taunt a pursuer during a 56-yard punt return touchdown then had to watch as the Redskins went over the top to Santana Moss to make Bush choke on it.

4. Carson Palmer, Bengals: 25 for 51 for 228 0 TDs and 3 picks in two games.

5. Herman Edwards, Chiefs: Now Kansas City's 0-2 and - having lost to the dysfunctional Raiders 23-8 - appear in the running for the worst team in the league.

It's hot with a side order of humid here in the Meadowlands with the kickoff to the Jets-Patriots just minutes off.

It's 90 degrees with a heat index of 96.

Announced in the stadium is that "the official characterization of the weather is 'partly cloudy.' "

In the words of Robert Plant, "Been a long time since I rock-and-rolled."

Been a long time since Notre Dame has made so many plays in one game. In one season. David Bruton just ended Michigan's latest drive by picking off a pass at the Notre Dame 5 and then returning it to midfield. That's Brutons' 3rd turnover of the season that he's been involved in, inside the 5 yard line, in the final 20 minutes of the game.

So many things for the Irish to be happy about today, besides the obvious:

1) They committed no major turnovers (one pick that was akin to a long punt)

2) They did not give up a sack...yet.

3) No penalties on offense

4) A lot of big plays made by sophomores: Golden Tate, Robert Hughes, Brian Smith and, yes, Jimmy Clausen.

Sad news: a teacher from Oaks Christian, Clausen's high school, was one of those who died in the Los Angeles train wreck from Thursday. I won't release the name on a blog, but I imagine Clausen must have known him.

Off to do the postgame show with Paula Faris...the Faris-t of them all.

Huge, huge play. First play of the fourth quarter.

Michigan quarterback Steven Threet took the shotgun snap, bobbled it, and as he was trying to pick it up in the scrum, the ball got kicked backward about ten yards. Irish linebacker Brian Smith was the first to the ball, retrieved it at the 35, and ran it back toward the student section untouched.

Notre Dame 35, Michigan 17. Huge game-changer. That was the Wolverines' 6th fumble on the afternoon. On the ensuing kickoff, Mike Anello (Are there special teams All-Americans?) forced another fumble but UM got it back. Seven fumbles for Michigan today.

The best thing the Irish have done today? Not beat themselves...with penalties, or sacks or turnovers. They've fumbled twice, but regained both.

Charlie Weis is back on the sidelines, using a pair of crutches and looking anything but comfortable.

Upon further review it was John Ryan, his own player, who took him out on the play. Now I'm hearing that Charlie has a torn ACl and torn MCL. He'll need major surgery...which is just what he doen't need... another operation on his leg.

Curiously enough, former Irish head coach Dan Devine broke his left leg while making his coaching debut with the Green Bay Packers in 1971. Devine was hit by ex-Packer Bob Hyland in the 4th quarter and taken to the local hospital. Green Bay wound up losing to the New York Giants 42-40. The year was 1971. This was four years prior to Devine taking over at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame Stadium denizens are trying to cope with the dowpour...the stands look like a regular pancho villa. From what I can observe royal blue is by far the most popular pancho color in Michiana. Actually, this morning at Walgreen's I spotted '88 captain Mark Green in the store asking if they had any more panchos. Alas, only three remained and all were childrens' sizes.

Not that you should be looking for moral victories today if you are a Notre Dame fan, but once more the Irish' leading offensive players are sophomores. This time, the difference is that all of them are having terrific days.

Defensive lineman Ethan Johnson, a true freshman for Notre Dame (No. 9), is having one of those active days on defense. He's always around the ball.

We're about to find out which Irish and Wolverine players are mudders. If only this press box had windshield wipers.

Update: David Bruton is a mudder. Second consecutive game where the Irish defense forced a fumble within six yards of the end zone in the north end of the stadium in the second half. A huge momentum-changer. Michigan was moving and would have been within four points still in the 3rd quarter.

Notre Dame have turned into the Divine Clock Eaters in the second half. They're trying to shorten the game, which is fine, but they'd do themselve a favor with another score.

Robby Parris is seeing his first playing time of the season this half, by the way.

Irish head coach Charlie Weis got taken out on a hit by a Wolverine defender late in the first half. He remained on the field with a splinted left leg, but was carted off. At this point you probably know more details about the injury (as you can hear the NBC broadcast) than I do.

What is it about Big Ten teams felling coaches? Two years ago it was Penn State's Joe Paterno suffering torn knee ligaments after being taken out by a Wisconsin defender. And now Charlie by a Wolverine. It looked pretty painful--his left leg snapped back and, besides, Charlie has difficulty with blood circulation in that leg.

It's only coincidental, but as I type that the Notre Dame band is playing "It's My Life" as they spell out BONJOVI...arguably Charlie's favorite artist

Key First Half Stats

David Bruton, Notre Dame......11 tackles

Golden Tate, Notre Dame...158 all-purpose yards

Sam McGuffie...Michigan, 89 rushing yards on 15 carries (5.99 yards per carry)

Notre Dame O-Line....Zero sacks allowed...Zero penalties...rushing game is averaging 5.2 yards per carry

Time o' Possession: Michigan 19:57, Notre Dame 10:03

You can assess all the stats, but the fact is that this is the first entertaining game played in this stadium since UCLA 2006. And even though the Irish lead by 11, I don't foresee the Wolverines disappearing in the second half. However, it is beginning to rain steadily. Stay tuned. Or wired. Whatever.

Someone at Air Force Academy is watching this game and asking, "How come that kid isn't playing for us?"

Honestly, he's Chad Hall/Shawn Carney/Dee Dowis reincarnate.

Cal loses at Maryland...and Oregon is trailing at Purdue 20-3...and UCLA is losing 42-0 at BYU. Way to travel eastward, Pac-10.

At the half... Notre Dame 28, Michigan 17. Shocked! Shocked, I say.

Jimmy Clausen, taking the snap at his own 15, just threw a slant-in to Golden Tate who got hit, stepped out of it, juked a defender, then headed upfield. At about midfield he stepped out of an ankle tackle, then kept going until he was dragged down at the 25. It was quite...Samardzijan.

That's Jimmy Clausen's longest pass of his career. In fact, the longest play from scrimmage since John Carlson's 62-yard TD reception versus Michigan State two years ago.

28-10, Notre Dame, after a few nice runs by James Aldridge down to the 1. Robert Hughes finished it off.

It's an amazing first half for the Irish. Consider...

1) This equals the most points the Irish scored in regulation in any entire game all last season (the Navy game went into overtime, but it was 28-all at the end of regulation.

2) Clausen still hasn't been sacked.

3) Golden Tate actually has more all-purpose yards (116) than Superback (not to be confused with Nickelback)

4) None of the Irish recruits have left the stadium.

5) The Irish offense have yet to commit a penalty.

Michigan is about to score....Did you have the over in this one? Then you're probably very happy right now.

Wolverines (you know, I never even saw Red Dawn) seem fairly easy to defend. Just find No. 2, Superback.

McGuffie is an easy player to like. He keeps moving his feet and he is a patient runner, waiting for a hole to develop. Zoltan (I refuse to reference Adam Sandler) Mesko extended a drive on a fake punt. Michigan looked to have gotten back in the game with a nice TD pass that the refs said touched the ground first. Karma return for the Grimes play last season at Stanford.

Notre Dame gets the ball on downs and the Irish go deep on successive plays. The first, to Michael Floyd, draws a pass interference penalty on UM's Donovan Warren. The second finds Golden Tate behind coverage for an easy TD, and the longest completion of Jimmy Clausen's career (48 yards). Notre Dame up 21-0...I don't believe the Irish have ever scored that many points in a first quarter under Charlie.

******************

Coming to the end of the first quarter....Notre Dame leads 21-7, even though Michigan has had the ball more than 12 minutes of the period... the 21 first-quarter points are the most since 2004 versus Washington, when the Irish won 38-3...but if you think this game is over, it's far from it. Michigan has a Superback, after all, and the Irish do not.

Oh, and it's about to rain. You can feel it.

Memo to Terrelle Pryor: You are probably happy in Columbus, but this offense was SO built for you to operate. The reason Michigan isn't as dangerous as it could be is because their QB, Steven Threet, is not a threet to run. If you were back there, whoa.

And Threet just threw a pass out to the flat to Superback, who was nearly tackled by his own offensive tackle, Perry Dorrestein, but ricocheted off him like a pinball. Superback for the TD, 40 yards. 

Notre Dame has won the toss and has elected to defer until 2009...wait, that's Mike Anello's law school acceptance. Anyway...

Lou Holtz actually did walk out to midfield with the three Notre Dame captains for the coin toss--he's bigger than David Grimes.

Trick play I foresee Notre Dame running on this day, in honor of the pregame festivities: "Statue of Lou-berty" play. See, because they dedicated a statue of Holtz outside Notre Dame Stadium this morning.

Okay, let's get our game face on (thanks, Bob Knight). Michigan fumbled the kickoff near the goal line and has first and ten at their own 9.

Here's the coolest position in football: Superback, as played by Michigan freshman Sam McGuffie. In his first two carries McGuffie has 16 yards.

Michigan quickly has two first downs, but then Superback (I'm just going to refer to him by that) lost two on a slip, followed by a chop block. Second and 27.

FIRST TURNOVER: Michigan attempts a screen/quasi lateral, fumbled by Brandon Minor. Recovered by Brian Smith. First down, Notre Dame, on the UM 11. As my buddy G.A. called it, "Lateral damage."

And Michael Floyd is starting, as is Duval Kamara. Robert Hughes also starting.

On 2nd down, the skill players are Armando Allen, Floyd, Golden Tate and David Grimes.

Clausen fumbled, but he recovered it after a scramble gain of 4.

And, after a pass interference flag in the end zone, Robert Hughes barrels in from 2 yards out.

Aaaaaand, on the ensuing kickoff, Michigan's Michael Shaw fumbled and super-special-teamer Mike Anello recovered. On 3rd-and-goal Clausen lofted a fade corner route to Duval Kamara, who leapt over 5th-year senior DB Morgan Trent for the score.

OHMIGOD, Notre Dame is up 14-0 after four minutes, exactly, of the first quarter. Last week the Irish needed more than 50 minutes to score that many. Of course, Michigan is handing them the football in the red zone. This is exactly what Rich Rod did not want. To let the Irish feel good about themselves, to get the student section into it, to get the defense all fired up and stuff...the entire contest has been played up near the north end zone.

Just arrived at Notre Dame Stadium. No longer raining here and as it turns out they field was covered by a tarp this morning. So someone was smart and you have to think the cessation of precipitation and the dry field is a big plus for the Irish.

To address my man Jake who posted a comment following the previous entry: First, great to hear from you, my man (even if it was twice). Second, you are free to loathe the Trojans but a) they play in the Coliseum, not the Rose Bowl and b) they play a tougher non-conference schedule than most schools. In the past few years Pete's team has visited Virginia, Auburn, Arkansas, Virginia Tech (in D.C., though) and of course, Notre Dame. And they're one of only five schools to have never faced a I-AA opponent. But you can still hate 'em if you like.

Maryland, which lost to Middle Tennessee State, is Turtle-Waxing Cal, which won 66-3 at Wazzu, 21-3. This is why you have to love college football. Passion and attitude.

So, in honor of the 1988 national championship team, a few thoughts... 

Good morning, gridiron fans.

About 6:30 a.m. here in South Bend and it is raining domesticated animals. I arose early to run a 10-K here, saw the deluge coming down (Is that CNN's Gary Tuchman standing outside my window?) and decided to stay in bed. So, yeah, I'm a wuss ("I'm melting! I'm melting!"). And, besides, I've got Irish Insights scribe Rothstein sleeping on my floor again.

(UPDATE, 8 a.m.... Absolute downpour without cease--but not a downpour of Absolut, which would be interesting...even if the rain does let up by 3:43 p.m., the field is going to be soaked today--as far as I know, the Irish don't cover it...the Swamp is not located in Gainesville today...this will be the first truly bad weather game of Charlie Weis' tenure)

The Wolverines and Irish don't have that luxury (I mean, of not playing in the rain; they do have the luxury of a Rothstein-free room)

So, the rivalry. Charlie Weis, five months ago, said, "The hell with Michigan" to a group of Notre Dame alums/boosters. Now he says that it was an obvious homage to the late and legendary Wolverine coach Bo Schembechler, who used to say, "The hell with Notre Dame."

Earlier, last winter, ESPN "personality" Dana Jacobsen, a Michigan alum, spoke at a roast of "Mike & Mike" in Atlantic City. Jacobsen used stronger langauge in reference to both Notre Dame and Touchdown Jesus (Weis was there; one of the Mikes is Golic, a former Irish football player). Jacobsen was reportedly more lit than the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree that evening. Fortunate to still have her job, Jacobsen reportedly wrote Weis a letter of apology.

All of these such doings--including Michigan undergrad Michael Phelps invoking a "Go Blue!" during an SNL promo-- I like to refer to collectively as Michenanigans. So shall it ever be and why not? It's what makes the rivalry fun. 

A few trifles before we move on to this week's picks....

--I do like that "Crank Me Up" (see previous entry) was getting cranked up at practice yesterday. I imagine two Holy Cross priests strolling past Cartier Field during a football workout and perhaps one of them being able to discern the lyrics in just the first stanza of the tune, which go thusly:

Yeeah, PT Cruiser Baby, Yeeah
AiYo, we want everybody to crank this(matronly bleeper) up
(N-word), Crank this (fecal matter) up LOUD (N-WORD)!

Priest 1: "Did he say 'PT Cruiser'?"

Priest 2: "I believe he did."

Priest 1: (locating a student manager) "Pardon me, son, but do you happen to know the author of those lyrics?"

Manager: "Pastor Troy."

Priest 1: "Pastor, you say? Hmm." 

Notre Dame offensive right guard Chris Stewart was not at practice today, and true freshman Trevor Robinson has taken the spot. More details to come.

**************

Hours later now... Chris Stewart missed practice today because of a nagging injury. "He rolled up a little bit," Charlie Weis said after practice. I believe that's coachspeak for, "he twisted an ankle or a knee." Kind of the way Joe Torre used to always say that his players missed a game or so because they had a "balky back", which is an ideal way to provide information while saying nothing.

More notes from Thursday afternoon's practice...

Another beautiful morning at Notre Dame (It's Always Sunny in South Bend?...which reminds me, only four more days until the season premiere of How I Melt Your Mother). A few notes for you this morning...

--As you may know, many members of the 1988 football team that won the national championship are returning to campus this weekend. You may wonder, given the 20-year span from that team to today, whether any of them have sired second-generation gridiron talent. Why, yes, thanks for asking. Perhaps the most prominent progeny would be 6-4, 230-pound runnning back Anthony Barr of Loyola High School in Los Angeles (very close to the UCLA campus, and thus Beverly Hills, Hef's mansion, etc., etc.).

    Anyway, if you don't recognize the last name Barr from the 1988 roster, you're correct. Barr is actually the son of former running back Tony Brooks, the "thunder" to Ricky Watters "lightning" (my designations) on that team. Last Friday evening Barr carried the ball 16 times for 232 yards and two TDs (remember, he's only a junior) in a 23-7 win against Mira Costa. Watching the game in person were NFL Hall of Fame QB John Elway (whose son is a freshman quarterback at Arizona State) and Pete Carroll, who can never have enough tailbacks. 

Just returned from the 1:30 p.m. Jimmy Clausen and David Grimes presser at the Goog. If nothing else, this pair presents a great visual: Grimes sporting the cornrows and Clausen with the blond Prince Valiant 'do. If only their voices were as independent-minded as their hairstyles.

Clausen and Grimes are polite and articulate, as are all Notre Dame football players during midweek pressers. It's just that there's always a lot of straight-outta-the-bus-ride in Bull Durham quotes to be had. Still, a few quotes and morsels of information were harvested, such as...

Finally was able to attend my first Charlie Weis press conference yesterday. For those of you who only see Weis in sound-byte fashion on "College Football Live" you may not get an accurate representation of him (if you want a truer one, visit und.com, which streams his press conferences).

Anyway, one fallacy about Weis is that he abhors the media. That isn't what I see. He may say that he does, but on a day like Tuesday, when he's in a decent mood, I gather that he genuinely enjoys the give-and-take with us. He's a sports fan at heart, after all.

Good morning.

A beautiful Tuesday morning here in South Bend following a full day of rain here on Monday.

This morning's question: If you had to rank the four I-A (i.e. FBS) schools that are located in Indiana, where would you put the 1-0 Fighting Irish? Would you rate them ahead of 2-0 Indiana? The Hoosiers' two wins have come against a I-AA school (Murray State) and another (Western Kentucky) that was a I-AA school just two seasons ago. But they have outscored opponents 76-16 while becoming the nation's No. 2 rushing defense and No. 11 rushing offense.

How about Purdue, which beat its only opponent, I-AA Northern Colorado, 42-10? Or Ball State, a 2-0 team that defeated Northeastern 48-14 and Navy, 35-23. Cardinal quarterback Nate Davis is currently fourth in the nation in passing efficiency and wideout Dante Love is second nationally in both receiving yards and all-purpose yards.

Tom Brady's on the shelf. Bill Belichick just finished his press conference and here are the highlights...

* Belichick slapped down reports that the team was working out Chris Simms and/or Tim Rattay. He said the team hadn't brought anyone in yet and indicated there was nothing imminent. "It's simply not true," he said.

* "You feel badly for Tom. Nobody's worked harder and done more for this team than Tom has so it's a tough setback for him."

* "I think we all just have to do our jobs. Each guy has a job to do and they need to do it as well as they can. Really, that doesn't change. He played one position, he played it very well and there'll be somebody else playing their position now."

* Belichick would not confirm that the injury was a torn ACL, saying "We don't have a lot of details."

* Asked if the hit was dirty, Belichick said, "It doesn't really matter what I think. Officials officiate the game I'm sure they'll handle it. We always tell our players its their responsibility to hit the quarterback above the knees and below the shoulders."

Don't look now but the nation's leading tackler plays for Notre Dame and it isn't Maurice Crum or David Bruton or even Pat Kuntz. His name is Kyle McCarthy and his 14 tackles for the Fighting Irish on Saturday was the brightest spot in an otherwise disquieting season opener. Not only did McCarthy lead the Irish in tackles--only Troy's Bear Woods, who is no relation to Tiger Woods nor Bear Byrant, is averaging as many thus far-- but his forced fumble at the goal line versus San Diego State's Brandon Sullivan was, in Charlie Weis' words "the game-changing play of the day."

Absolutely. McCarthy, a senior strong safety who is listed at 6-1 (6-1?!? Maybe in Timberlands) only previously started one game his entire Irish career. He entered yesterday's game with 29 career tackles and in just one game he nearly halved that total.

On Sunday Weis mentioned the fumble that McCarthy--with an assist from Bruton--forced early in the 4th quarter. Weis noted that he hoped that seven or eight games down the road the Irish could look back at that play as the landmark moment that set them on the path to a successful year. I don't know about that, but I do believe that that forced fumble (at worst SDSU was likely going to get a field goal and go up by nine, or two scores, with about 11 minutes to play) spared the Irish of their most embarrassing defeat in decades. Kyle McCarthy, whose younger brother Dan is a freshman safety on the team, waited a long time to become a full-fledged starter, but he made the most of it yesterday. And while McCarthy may be a senior, he has another year of eligibility remaining, so I imagine he will remain in South Bend another year...after all, he still has some growing to do before he's actually 6-1. 

MIAMI GARDENS, Florida - Even before they'd finished celebrating their own season-opening win the New York Jets were well versed in what happened to Tom Brady in New England.

"Everybody I talked to said it's a torn ACL," said one Jets player. "Players AND coaches. When we came in here that's what people were saying, 'Brady's got a torn ACL.' "

The Jets play the Patriots next week in the Meadowlands and the balance of power is significantly altered if Brady is lost for a significant amount of time.

A torn ACL would lead to a significant amount of lost time.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said after the Patriots beat the Chiefs in New England, "I don't have any update on Tom. They're looking at him, doing some tests on him. I don't have any information yet. Not that anybody would be interested in that."

Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss said the play by safety Bernard Pollard that led to the injury was dirty.

"I don't really want to get into it, but me personally, I think it was dirty," Moss said (thanks to Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe and his excellent blog on that get). "Like I said, I didn't really see anything. I was running down the field. When I came back in (and watched it), it looked dirty to me. I've never been a dirty player. I honestly don't even know how to play dirty. I just play the game. Any time you see something like that, that looks foul, it looks dirty, it opens your eyes. So, me personally, it looked dirty."

If Brady has a torn ACL, his season is over. And the play on which Brady was injured looked a lot like the one on which Carson Palmer tore his ACL in the 2005 playoffs. Palmer was iffy at the start of the 2006 season but did make it onto the field. .

An end zone pick by Darrelle Revis on third down with less than 10 seconds left sealed it up for the Jets who are 1-0 in the Brett Favre era.

For the second time this drive, Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington burned a timeout after a teammate went to the wrong side of the formation then was sprinting back to the correct side.

The second time, it appeared running back Ronnie Briwn was on the wrong side. As Brown ran to get into position, Pennington called the timeout and Brown seemed to gesture to Pennington that he was premature calling for the break, while Pennington gestured back at the clock.

The talent gap between the Dolphins and Jets is becoming more apparent as thegame wears on. The Jets just made it 20-7 as Thomas Jones turned the right corner from 6 yards out and scored. That capped a nine-play drive for the Jets who have gotten a nice debut from Brett Favre (12 for 19 for 180 yards and two touchdowns).

Chad Pennington's 9 for 17 for 77 yards with a TD.

On fourth-and-13 from the Dolphins 21, the Jets are going to go for it because - presumably - the injured leg of Mike Nugent (hurt on a 32 yard miss in the first quarter) is preventing him.

And Favre shakes off a nasty rush - absolutely should have been sacked - and flings a 22-yard touchdown balloon to Chansi Stuckey as he was getting drilled by two other Dolphins.

There's your other Favre highlight.

Chad Pennington just got the Dolphins even with a 5-yard dart to Anthony Fasano to cap an 11-play, 78-yard drive and make it 7-7 early in the second.

So far, the two quarterbacks have similar numbers - Favre is 4 for 8 for 77 yards with a touchdown; Pennington's 6 for 12 for 60 with a score.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady went down with a left knee injury in Foxboro as Chiefs safety rolled into Brady's leg after Brady delivered a pass downfield. Brady, according to Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe, went directly to the Patriots locker room for X-rays.

Brady's backup in New England is Matt Cassel, a player who's been unimpressive for the past two seasons. If Brady is injured seriously, the balance of power in the AFC shifts drastically.

Brett Favre just audibled to a play-action throw on first down from his own 44 and found Jerricho Cotchery running down the left numbers behind the Miami defense. Bomb, hauled in at the Jets 8ish and touchdown.

Favre, standing by himself on the dirt of the Marlins infield leaped and put both arms in the air as a lone yellow balloon blew from the stands and onto the field near him.

After picking up a first down with a 3-yard scramble on third-and-2, Brett Favre and the Jets weren't able to connect on their second third down as -- on third and long - Laveranues Coles broke off his route on the left sideline and Favre threw downfield.

MIAMI GARDENS - The Jets and Dolphins came out for the flip and there were embraces all over the place for former Jet Chad Pennington from his old teammates.

Brett Favre and Chad Pennington had a warm hug as well. It was awful nice.

The Dolphins won the toss and elected to receive.

Moments after veneralbe and venerated Officer Tim McCarthy gave his pre-4th quarter temperance advisory ("Remember, traffic after the game is no circus, so don't clown around"), Irish safety Kyle McCarthy may have saved Notre Dame's first game--if not season--with a fumble-causing tackle inside the one yard-line on Brandon Sullivan. If Sullivan scores, or does not fumble, the Aztecs likely go up 20-7 with eleven minutes to play.

Instead, McCarthy's hit jars the ball loose and David Bruton recovers in the end zone. A long pass to Golden Tate results in a touchdown and the Irish take a 14-13 lead.

By the way, on the next Irish possession Michael Floyd was WIIIIIIDE OPEn on a fly route up the left sideline and Clausen passed to Tate instead. Tate made a nice catch but couldn't tip-toe along the sideline well enough to remain inbounds. It looks as if the Irish are going to pull this one out. But it was way too scary. I'm headed down to the field.

Let's count the major mistakes that the Irish have made through 2 1/2 quarters, shall we?

1) Maurice Crum extending one San Diego State drive with two dumb 3rd-down penalties in the first quarter (though those errors did not come back to bite the Irish).

2) Robert Hughes fumbling on 2nd-and-goal from the 3 yard line in the 2nd quarter.

3) Duval Kamara allowing a slant-in pass to bounce off his hands, leading to an interception (SDSU scored on the ensuing drive).

4) Eric Maust fumbling a picture-perfect snap on a field-goal attempt.

5) The Irish waiting too long to put Michael Floyd in the game.

6) Blowing a perfect opportunity early in the 3rd quarter by throwing an interception into the end zone on first down, after Kerry Neal's pick on the previous play gave you a gift on the SDSU 20.

7) Lining up offside on an SDSU 4th-and-3. SDSU gets a first down, a second life, and goes down and scores a go-ahead touchdown.

8) Armando Allen, at the end of his nicest run on the afternoon, is absolutely clocked by Corey Boudreaux and fumbles. That's Notre Dame's 4th turnover on the afternoon.

You can get lost in these details, but what it all comes down to is that Notre Dame does not play--at least not on offense, ironically--with purpose. We hear terms like "nasty" and "violent" and yet here is an Aztec defensive line, outweighed by an average of 40 pounds per man, that will likely hold the Irish to less than 150 yards rushing this afternoon. How do you explain that?

Does this coaching staff truly inspire its players to be the best that they can be? Not in my eyes they don't.

Then again, I may just be in a bad mood because they no longer deliver Bruno's pizza to the pressbox at halftime.

Just asking, but has anyone seen Pat Kuntz today? Also, is there any doubt that San Diego State has been the better team through three quarters this afternoon? This is the same team that lost to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo one week ago? My good friend Paula Faris reminds me that Notre Dame was 28-point favorites in 1995 when they lost to Northwestern in their season-opener at home. They were 21.5-point favorites today.

 So the Irish did pry open the lid on that Michael Floyd box. The Irish, after a nice punt block by Sergio Brown, faced 3rd-and-10 at the SDSU 21. After one missed field goal and another in which holder Eric Maust muffed the snap, it would have been too excruciating to witness yet another field goal attempt.

But Floyd, on the first pass thrown to him in his college career, bailed out the Irish. Jimmy Clausen lofted a corner pattern to Floyd who caught it by going skyward and turning back against his body for a 22-yard TD catch. Still, Irish fans should be plenty disturbed not only with the halftime score (7-7) but by the fact the Notre Dame's offensive line is not blowing the Aztecs off the line.

The Irish only had 52 first-half rushing yards and that is without yielding a sack. The Aztecs allowed 263 rush yards a week ago. Granted, Cal Poly runs an option and so they're more geared to running the piggy. But still, the Irish should be dominating the game between the tackles and they are not. What are they planning to do when Michigan visits?

This is a young Irish team, but that's not a good enough excuse.

Kerry Neal just intercepted a screen pass, giving the Irish offense another gift in terms of field position. Let's see if designated play caller Mike HeyWeis is able to capitalize on that. Aaaaaaaand the answer is NO, as, while I was typing that, Clausen threw an interception on a jump-ball route to Duval Kamara.

This is all so hauntingly familiar.

 So the Irish did pry open the lid on that Michael Floyd box. The Irish, after a nice punt block by Sergio Brown, faced 3rd-and-10 at the SDSU 21. After one missed field goal and another in which holder Eric Maust muffed the snap, it would have been too excruciating to witness yet another field goal attempt.

But Floyd, on the first pass thrown to him in his college career, bailed out the Irish. Jimmy Clausen lofted a corner pattern to Floyd who caught it by going skyward and turning back against his body for a 22-yard TD catch. Still, Irish fans should be plenty disturbed not only with the halftime score (7-7) but by the fact the Notre Dame's offensive line is not blowing the Aztecs off the line.

The Irish only had 52 first-half rushing yards and that is without yielding a sack. The Aztecs allowed 263 rush yards a week ago. Granted, Cal Poly runs an option and so they're more geared to running the piggy. But still, the Irish should be dominating the game between the tackles and they are not. What are they planning to do when Michigan visits?

This is a young Irish team, but that's not a good enough excuse.

Kerry Neal just intercepted a screen pass, giving the Irish offense another gift in terms of field position. Let's see if designated play caller Mike HeyWeis is able to capitalize on that. Aaaaaaaand the answer is NO, as, while I was typing that, Clausen threw an interception on a jump-ball route to Duval Kamara.

This is all so hauntingly familiar. 

This is surprising. Or alarming. Or shocking.

Notre Dame is being outplayed by the sole FBS school that lost to an FCS school last week. The Aztecs are controlling the clock and have been able to get better pressure on Jimmy Clausen than the Irish have on Ryan Lindlay.

And now Clausen just threw an interception, though it was a ball that ricocheted off Duval Kamara's hands, one he should have caught.

We're six minutes from halftime, the score is 0-0, and a lot of people in the student section are standing with their arms folded. Nothing has looked smooth for the Irish offensively, with the exception of a drive that ended with Robert Hughes fumbling at the Aztec 3.

And now the Aztecs are about to take a 7-0 lead following a 43-yard pass play to Darren Mougey. Wow.

It may be time to open the lid on that Michael Floyd box.

Irish won the toss but elected to kick.

ND kickoff team: Terrail Lambert, Barry Gallup, Jr., Harrison Smith, Jamoris Slaughter (!), David Bruton, Sergio Brown, Mike Anello, Darius Fleming and Ryan Burkhart. One two freshman on that unit: Fleming.

On first play from scrimmage Ian Williams jumped offsides. SDSU gained one first down but then punted. And here comes the Irish offense, both wideouts split right. Irish running back is Armando Allen, Aztecs' top tackler is Russell Allen. We'll hear a lot of "Allen, tackled by Allen" this afternoon.

************

And we're back...there's 4:04 remaining in the first quarter and SDSU has controlled the ball despite only running it once today. Of SDSU's 23 plays, 22 have been passes. Ryan Lindley could throw 80 passes today. Mo Crum has committed two drive-sustaining penalties on 3rd down, but the Irish eventually held. The first true freshman to play for the Irish on defense, by my count: defensive end Ethan Johnson.

Clausen has attempted just two passes for so far, completing one: to David Grimes.

************************  

Kyle Rudolph just caught his first career pass, a 5-yarder on a short flare to the right flat.

Irish drove down to the 29...now trying a 48-yarder. Wide left. With 0:54 remaining in the first quarter, there's no score...let the murmurs begin.

Quick-hitting facty facts for you...

While four of five Notre Dame offensive linemen are returning starters, only one is returning at the same position.
Here's the starting lineup from the last game of 2007 at Stanford:

Left Tackle...............Sam Young

Left Guard................Michael Turkovich

Center.....................Dan Wenger

Right Guard.............Eric Olsen

Right Tackle............Paul Duncan

and for today...

LT.................Turkovich

LG................Olsen

C..................Wenger (who only started the final two games here last year)

RG................Chris Stewart

RT.................Sam Young

Duncan is a senior this year. He just simply got beat out by Turkovich and Stewart

Quick-hitting facty facts for you...

While four of five Notre Dame offensive linemen are returning starters, only one is returning at the same position.
Here's the starting lineup from the last game of 2007 at Stanford:

Left Tackle...............Sam Young

Left Guard................Michael Turkovich

Center.....................Dan Wenger

Right Guard.............Eric Olsen

Right Tackle............Paul Duncan

and for today...

LT.................Turkovich

LG................Olsen

C..................Wenger (who only started the final two games here last year)

RG................Chris Stewart

RT.................Sam Young

Duncan is a senior this year. He just simply got beat out by Turkovich and Stewart

Saturday morning in the Notre Dame pressbox and I'm sorry, but heaven is a sunny September Saturday in the Midwest. The kind of day that puts you in a San Diego State...of mind.

Last night... at the Rally du Pep: Standing next to my good friend Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune, for whom attending such an event is like McCain attending an Oprah taping. Also hanging with the webtastic Paula Faris, whose daughter turned one yesterday. The rally begins and we notice that this may be the most diminutive leprechaun Notre Dame has ever had. Then I notice he doesn't have red hair. In fact, well, let Charlie Weis say it. He tells the packed arena at the JACC: "Only at Notre Dame can you have a Mexican leprechaun."

I scribble a word down on my notepad. Show it to Hamilton. He chuckles. The word: MEXICHAUN (straight to the blossary with that one, no?). So I look him up this morning and this young man has the type of name that belongs on the front of a spring break cantina: Juan Muldoon! Seriously. Juan Muldoon. I love it. Try the Sonora-style mojitos!

Is it just me, or at some point in the last year has John McCain become older than his mother?

 Gameday is just a day away. I walked around Notre Dame Stadium yesterday, which each year becomes more and more aesthetically pleasing. I'm looking forward to the unveiling of the "Dr. Lou" statue, the first statue with its own lisp feature. My favorite Lou-ism of the week, by the way: "Behind every successful man stands a mother-in-law who cannot believe it."

Anyway, as I mentioned in a column earlier this week, Saturday marks the 50th game since Notre Dame last scored 50 points. And while Charlie Weis would likely never mention that he's gunning for a half-dollar on Saturday's scoreboard, not even at tonight's pep rally, it's the kind of goal he should set out for his offense tomorrow. He should tell them that, as Maximus did at the outset of Gladiator, he is eager to "unleash Hell" and that he won't call off the dog(s) until the Irish score that many.

The Zorn Era's starting a bit slowly. The only first down the Skins have managed in the first 19 minutes came on a penalty.

Meanwhile, Eli Manning just got fumed at Amani Toomer for breaking off a route at the goal line when he met up with Fred Smoot. Manning threw the ball anticipating Toomer to do, well, something. But Toomer seemed completely perplexed at what to do when he came head-up with Smoot and just slowed down. A near pick resulted.

1. I think Ed Hochuli's even bigger this year. It's just a matter of time before he lobbies to have the refs in tank tops - at least in the early games.

2. The simulcast technology online is tremendous. Even with a merely OK connection here at the stadium, it's doing pretty good. Try out the end zone cam. Excellent for running plays.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - It's in the high 80s and humid in Northern New Jersey as the kickoff to the 2008 regular season is 120 (or so) minutes away.

One thing you'll see tonight is a tribute to Gene Upshaw. The late NFLPA president and Raiders Hall of Famer is memorialized on the Giants Stadium turf with a 15-foot black circle in which his initials, "GU" are in white and his number "63" are beneath.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The 2008 NFL season begins tonight (not a freakin' second too soon for everyone who wearied of the Spyate-Favre-OchoCinco-Playermisbehavior-driven offseason).

By dint of their winning the Super Bowl (I bet you din't think I knew how to use the word "dint"), the Giants get to host this thing. The Redskins will be (hopefully, in the minds of Giants fans) playing the part of Angola, NBC will broadcast and I'll be in the press box happy as hell to be there.

I have absolutely no faith in Jim Zorn having a successful first season on the Redskins sideline. None. Zero. He's overmatched, hired in a hurry and working with players that don't necessarily fir the West Coast offense.

Tonight, we start to find out whether I'm all wet.

So watch for....

1. The tempo of the Washington offense

Good morning, all.

It is a rainy Thursday morning in South Bend, where I plan to be Shanghai'd for awhile (in Shanghai, yes, they call it being "South Bended"). We are going to experiment with a feature I'll call The Daily Domer in which I'll give you the lowdown on as much as I can from a Notre Dame gridiron standpoint. Your obligatory password, which grants you free all-access to this blog, will be "Give us this day, our Daily Domer..." (so, yes, your invocation is also your invitation).

Let's get right to it:

--Consecutive sellout streak in jeopardy. San Diego State returned not a few of its ticket allotment ("Dude, we can either go ride some major swells and scarf fish tacos or we can take a flight to Indy-freakin'-ana this weeekend") for Saturday's game, so Notre Dame Stadium's consecutive sellout streak of 199 games is in jeopardy as I type this (at 8:11 a.m.). Of course, the tickets will go on sale at 8:30 a.m. so that by the time you read this, the game will most likely be sold out again. 

Officially, the school is listing the game as a sellout already, which, by my standards, is a logical sellout. If tickets are yet to be sold for the contest, how can it be a sellout? For the record, the Irish have sold out 247 of their last 248 games at Notre Dame Stadium (Saturday's contest will be the 400th game played there). The blemish on the list is a 1973 game against Air Force, scheduled to be played in October, but which ABC requested be moved to Thanksgiving Day. There weren't a lot of students on campus on Thanksgiving Day, understandably. 

--

WEEI in Boston reported this morning that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has a cracked bone in his foot.

John Dennis, co-host of the Dennis and Callahan show on EEI (disclosure: I'm an occasional paid blabber on said station) couched his revelation by saying there's a "circle of four" people in Foxborough who have first-hand information on injuries. The four include the player, head coach Bill Belichick, trainer Jim Whelan and the doctor doing the examining.

With that as a backdrop, Dennis added, "There are several people outside of that circle of four who have first-hand knowledge of what happened and here's the story that I'm hearing. On or about August 15, Tom went and took an MRI. People familiar with that MRI said theat there's a cracked bone in Tom Brady's foot. May be slightly cracked. May be a hairline crack. May be ...I don't know the difference between a hairline fracture and a stress fracture but whatever the case may be, he's going to play through it, he is playing through it, he's practicing through it, but this is the reason we haven't seen him in games."

Earlier this week I mentioned on this blog that Brady's injury is a bruised instep that - as Dennis said - won't prevent him from playing. Given Brady's practice participation since August 15 and based on what I'm hearing, there is no broken or fractured bone. It's a deep bruise. And while it may seem moot because it's probably going to hurt the same either way, at least the integrity of the foot structure (how's that for sounding doctorly) isn't compromised.

Oh baby, you really can't make this stuff up.

So the Lions met with Cincinnati outcast Rudi Johnson, and while they're in the middle of closing the deal, Rudi's bags were stolen outside of Matt Millen's office. Thanks to surveillance cameras, we know that the thief was the man who Rudi was hired to replace: Tatum Bell.

Per the source, Bell took the bags to the house of a female acquaintance.  When confronted on the matter, Bell offered up some cockamamie story that he thought the bags belonged to someone he knew.  The girl, however, said that she hadn’t seen Bell in several months and he showed up out of the blue and asked her to keep the bags for a while. (Profootballtalk.com)

Seriously, what a league.

Monday, the best player in Jaguars history - veteran running back Fred Taylor - had to go into his team's locker room and explain a disorderly conduct incident to reporters.

Taylor said a lot of things - all of them conciliatory - about getting in a "petty" dustup in Miami at 4 a.m.

"Sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, (I) want to apologize to the Weavers and this organization for this type of press. It's never really good when it's in the negative light."

Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio said - again on MONDAY - "I think it's a lesson and a reminder to be respectful and avoid silly things like that."

So much for avoidance.

At 2:30 a.m. this morning, Jags offensive lineman Richard Collier was shot multiple times while sitting in his car outside a club in Jacksonville. His condition is stable but critical, according to Jags owner Wayne Weaver.

Since details are still emerging, let's proceed with the assumption Collier was completely blameless in the incident (and unless he had the car pointed at his assailant and the transmission in drive, shooting him was excessive no matter what indignity he'd done to the shooter).

But what Collier and every one of the other eight Jags arrested since January 2006 (Collier had been arrested before, falling asleep in a McDonald's drive-thru last year) have to take blame for are decisions that deliver them to places of risk.

Like being out past midnight. And being out past midnight where mood-altering substances are legally or illegally ingested (drugs or alcohol).

Did Richard Collier have a God-given and Constitutional right to be where he was Tuesday morning? Absolutely. But do the odds of something bad or tragic happening increase exponentially when you're in those places at those hours. We know the answer.

I've been out like Collier, Taylor and every other player who gets in trouble - drinking at bars later than I should. It ain't against the law. But it's a lot riskier than staying at home and - depending on the intensity with which you do "go out" - the likelihood of something bad happening rises accordingly.   

Human nature and better judgment are at cross purposes. Especially if you're a profesional athlete. You're young, rich, celebrated and - most likely - away from home. What sounds more entertaining: reruns of "The Office" or going to a club with your friends and having people send adulation your way? It's what our culture and society tells us to aspire to isn't it? So why stay in?

The Collier shooting, the trouble for Taylor and other Jags and all the other legal dustups around the league are going to inevitably cause people to say that Roger Goodell's emphasis on better behavior isn't working.

And those people would be right. Unfortunately, too many of them will stop at believing the NFL's not tough enough. That's not it. The truth is, the lure for young men to go out at night in public and drink is too high. And until the NFL enacts a 40-and-over age restriction, it's not going to change.

It is never a good sign at halftime when, as a quarterback making your first collegiate start, the ESPN announcer reminds viewers what the NCAA record is for most interceptions thrown in one game (9, by John Reeves of Florida versus Auburn in 1969). But that was UCLA Bruin quarterback Kevin Craft's situation.

By halftime of Monday night's nationally televised prime-time contest at the Rose Bowl, Craft had already thrown four interceptions--one of which had been returned for a touchdown. Here was Craft imploding on national television, and you'd have to think that among young American males, only Sarah Palin's future son-in-law was having a worse day.

And how had Craft even arrived at this point? He was supposed to be UCLA's 3rd-string quarterback, after all, behind Patrick Cowan and Ben Olson. But last spring Cowan and Olson, who have started before for the Bruins--and been knocked out before with season-ending injuries--were injured in the same practice. And so last spring Craft, who had only enrolled at Westwood earlier that day, suddenly found himself the Big Man On Campus before he'd even had a chance to buy his books.

It's even stranger than that. Craft started five games as a freshman at San Diego State two years ago. If his father, who was the Aztecs' head coach at the time, had not been fired, Craft would almost surely be preparing to face Notre Dame in South Bend on Saturday.

Instead, because UCLA quarterbacks have "Spinal Tap Drummer" syndrome, Craft was wearing powder-blue and confounding his "relentlessly upbeat" head coach, Rick Neuheisel, the entire first half. Craft finished the half 7-18 passing, with those four picks.

As my old college coach would undoubtedly yell out, "Watch it!"

It's long since been impressed upon Tom Brady that, in the NFL, anything you say can and will be used against you by your opponents.

So after sitting out all four preseason games for the Patriots, Brady opted to keep open the chance that the Kansas City Chiefs will have to deal with Matt Cassel (GASP!) instead of Brady in Sunday's season opener.

Fat. Freakin'. Chance.

The reason Brady sat out preseason games 2 through 4 was so that he'd be ready for the regular season. And if any of those preseason games actually counted, Brady would have played in those too.

Brady's injury, while still officially undisclosed, is a bruised foot. Ever bruised your foot? It hurts because there's not a lot of muscle and cushioning down there (unless your last name is Flintstone). And running around on a bruised foot doesn't help it heal quicker. So you just leave the thing be as much as you can.

Which is what Brady and the Patriots have done the past month.

There is absolutely no chance that Brady's current condition will keep him from playing Sunday.