There Can Only Be One: College Football Style

I'm not a real big fan of the NBA, however I like their ads for the Playoffs: "There Can Only Be One", with a split shot of two faces. Well since it is down time for Notre Dame athletics, especially after the Fighting Irish baseball team crapped out the last few weeks of the season (Thanks Dave Schrage!); I've decided to make my own ads for the upcoming College Football Season.

If you want to make your own, please share with the rest of the Fighting Irish Nation, and take a look at what others have done on this NBA site: http://www.nba.com/therecanonlybeone/.

Enjoy and have a safe and Happy Memorial Day!







Here's a few good ones that everyone should enjoy.

IBB Weekly Motivator: Week 8

Wouldn't be something if Bob Davie was calling this game on ABC? ND's last three Head Coaches in Seattle battling it out. Does anyone want to place their bets on this happening?

California Dreaming for Kevin White?

What would the off season be without rumors? Well according to CBSSportsline.com journalist Dennis Dodd, Notre Dame Athletic Director Kevin White could be a possible candidate as the next Pac 10 Commissioner.

"If you playoff proponents want a ray of hope, here it is: Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen is rumored to be stepping down next year. (His choice, by the way) Hansen, along with the Big Ten's Jim Delany, is part of the blockade against a plus-one. The new commissioner might be able to slowly melt some cold presidential hearts within the conference.

Watch for the Mountain West's Craig Thompson to go after the job. That makes sense, but there is another name in the rumor mill that will blow your doors off: Notre Dame AD Kevin White.

Hansen is the longest-tenured major-college commissioner having been in his position since 1983."

If Hansen does indeed call it quits in 2009, White would be the frontrunner. 1.) His familiarity with the conference and his ties with those schools should help. Dr. White's tenure as the head of the Arizona State athletic department didn't get unnoticed whatsoever, as he helped improve facilities and the NCAA violations. 2.) Family will be close by too! White's son, Danny, is an Associate AD at Fresno State and is expecting their first child. That would be the first grandchild in the White family.

Other possible candidates for the Pac 10 besides White and Craig Thompson might be Ohio State AD Gene Smith. And speaking of Smith; if White does bolt South Bend for the sunny skies of California, he would easily be the Fighting Irish's first and most obvious choice. Smith was a former player that was part of the 1973 National Championship squad and a coach under Dan Devine from 1977-1981.

If Smith doesn't pan out, there's a huge list of folks that would be itching at the chance to come to South Bend. Below is just a short list of the most obvious choices for Fr. Jenkins.

Athletic Director Candidates
Smith is the only choice in my opinion, but the rest will be considered because of university ties.

Barry Alvarez (Wisconsin): Assistant football coach under Lou Holtz
Joel Maturi (Minnesota): ND Alum
Steve Orsini (Southern Methodist): ND Alum
Mike Bobinski (Xavier): ND Alum
Bubba Cunningham (Tulsa): ND Alum and former Associate AD
Larry Williams (Portland): ND football captain under Gerry Faust and former ND employee

Once again this is only rumor and speculation, but in this crazy world of Intercollegiate Athletics, moves are made in a blink of an eye!

To Cheat or Not To Cheat, is that the Question?

Spygate is just not going to go away anytime soon, as long as, Senator Arlen Specter has anything to say about it. After the latest in the he said/he said, more and more is coming out about Notre Dame Head Coach Charlie Weis' role in the whole scandal.

In a recent ESPN.com article it states,

"An offensive player would memorize the signals, watch for them on the sideline and pass them on to assistant coach Charlie Weis, who would then inform quarterback Tom Brady."

So far no word has come out of university on Weis' implications to situation. Whether this is true or not, I have a few issues regarding this whole spgygate:

1.) Why now? If Matt Walsh had all this information why did he decide to unveil this during the time he did? Why did he keep all these tapes? Walsh's answer was that he was using that for his resume. Okay, I'm not buying that one bit. You mean to tell me, hey here's some of my work that I did for the Patriots. It's me filming signals from the opposing team. Yeah, that I don't understand either.

2.) Cheating, everyone does it, and just not in football either! I don't believe for one second that the Patriots are the only team in the National Football League to do this. How about stealing signs in baseball? I don't see anyone getting all in an uproar about that, do we? We don't see Arlen Specter sticking his nose in that situation because his home state teams (Phillies and Pirates) suck!

3.) Why does it matter to Notre Dame? Seriously, does it really? All we do know is that ND's offense the first two seasons under Weis was amazing. What he did with a team that didn't do much whatsoever under Willingham were setting school records left and right. So saying that Weis got the Notre Dame job because he benefited from cheating is pure and utter bullshit! Obviously he has some offensive play calling skills to produce those numbers with that "lack of" talent all the media said the Irish had during his first two seasons in South Bend.

And we won't rehash last season, because that too was pure and utter bullshit!

In the end, what spygate really is, is one old bag of wind trying to get his last 15 seconds of fame in trying to bring down the best sports franchise in the world. When it is all said and done, Bill Belichick will get some type of suspension, Matt Walsh will look like Brian McNamee (Roger Clemens BFF), and Weis will be part one of the best turnarounds in college football!

All in the Family: Reggie Bush Developments Could Spell Trouble for USC

Poor, poor Southern Cal. With all the attention of Reggie Bush and now O.J. Mayo is receiving, it's like kicking a poodle, err, I mean dog when it is down. Whatever the outcomes may be, it definitely does not bode well for the Men of Troy.

Bush might actually go to trial in March 2009 and possibly drag Pete Carroll's program through the mud. It's about time, because no way in hell is a program that good, squeaking clean!

The farther the Bush case is distanced from 2004 and 2005, the better for the Trojans, but the damage assessment scenarios remain unchanged.

If it's determined USC had nothing to do with an alleged off-campus money grab from a dubious hanger-on, the NCAA won't hit USC with major sanctions. If USC is involved, well, that would be a good day for Notre Dame and UCLA fans!

The secret in Trojan football is to win first and ask questions later.

IBB Weekly Motivator: Week 7

Here's a look at USC's new marketing poster for Admissions! Instead of Fight On, it should be, "Prepare for 15 to 20!"