Hindsight...it can be a real BIT#H!...

In every persons past there was a moment...a decision

that will forever HAUNT them.  

Garth Brooks put it best in one of his songs,

"Sometimes I thank God...for UNANSWERED

prayers..."

This is what it is, most of the time...but sometimes the 

soap opera that is college football, has some bitter sweet

"I told ya so" moments...here are some of my favorites!

Now...for all you tree hugging..."they are only kids

at age 17 or 18.." 

If they can do this at 17 or 18...Then..

They can make a decision and keep that commitment!

So save your whining for the wussies!

NUMBER 1:

Aaron Lynch

My favorite part of this was the complete 

EXPLOSION that happened upon his leaving of the 

program!

"Notre Dame lost it's best defensive player!"

Really?...

Lynch was one of those kids that the grass not only 

looked greener...but just easier!

He has to be COMPLETELY kicking himself in his own

a$$ right now!

NUMBER 2:

Ronald Darby

Who drank the Florida State koolaid and it 

led him to a 14 tackle season with ZERO picks!

Imagine what the coaching staff could've done for him, 

when they made 3 of our defensive secondary players 

that were converted offensive players look like 

All Americans!...wait..one was an All American!

NUMBER 3:

Chris Martin

Where do I start....I really thought this kid 

was destined to be HUGE in college football!

Little did I know it would be for Drama and not

pass rushing...I think he may have more upside

than Lynch...but fell into bad advice!

I ran into him not to long ago...fresh off being 

committed to Notre Dame...then Cal...then

Florida..then Colorado...and now Kansas!

All he said to me was,

"I should have never left ND"

The list goes on and on...but they will forever be 

etched into our minds as the "one the got away"

But remember for every Anthony Barr there are

several...

Tee Sheppard

Deontay Greenberry

Justin Trattou

Shaq Evans

Omar Hunter

This is the beauty of Stephon Tuitt and Louis Nix!

  

Nix committed when we had NO COACH, and is now 

coming back after receiving a first round draft grade!

I just watched a re-cap of the entire season and it brought 

tears to my eyes seeing Stephon Tuitt, so choked up with 

emotion after the USC win that he could barley say...
"We're going to the National Championship!"

This was the promise that was made by Coach Brian Kelly 

and his staff...

He told recruits.."We are here to play for the 

National Championship!"

He told recruits..."If you are the best man...you will play!"

He told recruits..."I'm gonna educate you...mentor you and 

develop your talent!"

And to the fans...he said..."I'm the right guy for this job!"

And you know what....HE WAS!

He did EXACTLY what was expected of him and 

in a timely manner!

He fixed the culture...the work ethic and the 

performance!

It's funny...I think Garth's song was  right when we 

considered Meyer and Stoops!

You DO need to thank God for 

Un-answered prayers!

Home Depot 2x Coach of the Year

AP Coach of the Year

Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year

BRIAN KELLY

Thanks Coach!

GOD BLESS and GO IRISH!

Are we being fooled?....

As with all aspects of our daily world the only

constant is "change".

Now to see change coming, you must embrace research!

Research the "weather forecast" for clothing choices

or vacation destinations!

Research "reviews" for your choice in movie options!

Research "company financials" for stock purchases!

And...when the topic of College Football comes around?

ALWAYS....ALWAYS research the team and what 

Vegas has up their sleeve...Cause if you think that 

Vegas ALWAYS favors the team they think is gonna 

win...then you have no idea how much Casinos cost!

I think we might have a bit of a "bait and switch" on 

our hands when it comes to the BCS National Championship!

Back in November when EVERYONE was telling me 

how UNBEATABLE K-State and the Ducks were

I kept preaching...YOU GOTTA DO RESEARCH!

I kept saying.."They will be exposed!"

Well...CBS Sports was listening!...November 6th 

this article was released and caused quite the up roar!

It was in essence a blind test of saying..

"Take your fandom out of the equation!...Look 

at this like these are 5 black and white teams!"

Well..unless you're an idiot...Your first choice

 was always 

C=Notre Dame

and second choice was 

E=Kansas State

Never would you choose team A or D unless you 

were picking with your heart and not your head!

A=Bama & D=Oregon

This was the ONLY way to get the fans in the 

city I live in to make an "educated" choice!

This I think, is what Vegas is BANKING ON!

Animal Planet did a story last year on the 

DUMBEST animals in the world!...

CHICKENS were number 1 on the list!

In fact, if a chicken is left in the rain and they look 

up into the rain, they are too dumb to look away 

and will drown!

But a 25 foot tall Chicken can still do damage!

Here's the issue...HUMANS were on the list also!

That's what Vegas banks on...you not thinking for yourself,

damages you and profits them!

So lets do a 

BLIND DAMEFAN TEST

and see if you're at the top end of dumb?

=Chicken

or at the top end of smart

=Researched Human

Now to be fair!...FAIR...We took the 

top 6 opponents of Notre Dame and Alabama 

for our study!

See...my thought, being WAY smarter than 

the average human, has always been that Bama, on 

paper, benefited TREMENDOUSLY from

W.Kentucky-Florida Atlantic-W.Carolina

Arkansas-Auburn

5 games that were almost all shutouts!

Bama scored 45 pts per game while only giving 

up 1.4 pts per game!

 That doesn't even count Ol'Miss & Mizzu and Tenn!

Now I know what your thinking..

"How did you get the 5th and 6th opponents for Bama without

picking D1 AA teams?" 

It was hard!

DEFENSE

TEAM A:

Points Per Game: 10.3 

Total Yards Per Game: 285

Run Yards Per Game: 89

Passing Yards Per Game: 196

TEAM B:

Points Per Game: 20.5

Total Yards Per Game: 332

Run Yards Per Game: 102

Passing Yards Per Game: 230

Analysis?...If you score 21 Poins on team B YOU WIN!

And vs their top 6 opponents?...almost all 6 did!

Now go research each team...and one allowed only 10.7 points per game

ALL YEAR...vs their tough games..and vs their less tough games!

YOU DON'T SCORE MORE THAN THAT PERIOD!

They don't care WHO you are!

But team B?...cant' say that!

So....Who has the better Defense? ______

And when you look at the numbers...the REAL numbers

Team A is not just better...but MUCH BETTER!

Points Per game:10.2 points less per game!

Total Yards Per Game: 47 yards less per game!

Run Yards Per Game: 13 yards less per game!

Passing Yards Per Game: 34 yards less per game!

Now...for fun...Here is:

TEAM C:

Points Per Game: 18.8

Total Yards Per Game: 329

Run Yards Per Game: 155

Passing Yards Per Game: 208

Oh..and Team C's top 6 opponents record was 59-15 

with a stronger Strength of Schedule than A or B!

TAKE A SECOND TO STUDY THIS!

TEAM A=NOTRE DAME

TEAM B=ALABAMA

TEAM C ready?=MICHIGAN STATE

In my opinion...Bama might be the 3rd toughest Defense

we've faced ALL SEASON!

Behind Sparty and The Cardinal!

This game is not a shoe in...it's not un-winnable!

It just is what it is....a good game vs a good opponent

that in my opinion we are just slightly better than!

So I feel the IRISH will expose the Sheep 

wearing the wolves clothing!

As long as we don't lay an egg like we're a chicken!

 Even Nuns THOUSANDS of miles away know!

Big Shout out to my boy 

ANDREW METTLE

for the research!

AND...for all you haters!....METTLE is a 

Michigan Fan...so he doesn't have a dog in this fight!

But he can pull the ladies!

His prediction....ND by 10!

Merry Christmas

GO IRISH & GOD BLESS!

Have you noticed the "TIDE" turning?....

Changing our mind is a God given right...it happens

all the time...but sometimes it happens for an agenda!

This is what I've been seeing lately...have you?

Durning the season I'm always amazed at how un-informed 

the analysts on ESPN are.

Not just un-informed but down right WRONG!

This season in almost every game we were 

"about to be exposed!"

Then the next week came, and that team was 

suddenly "over rated". 

But it seems lately...with the additional time on their

hands...they've managed to watch some tape!

Guy's like this idiot!

Weeks before the seasons end...we would be 7th in the 

SEC...now?..."ND will keep this game close!"

What changed Pollack?....The fact that Georgia's 

rush defense is pathetic and still almost beat Bama?

Heck...Trevor Matich said "It just takes ND doing 

what they've done all year...not make mistakes!"

Of course there is Vegas...just daring the Alabama nation 

to take that 9 1/2 point worm at the end of that 

ZILLION dollar hook!

Gonna be A TON of trailers repossessed if they do!

Heck..they did the same thing with Oklahoma for 11 1/2!

How much did that make them?

MILLIONS!

This game will be determined by inches!

This game will be determined by turnovers!

This game will be determined by who's been tested!

I know we have!

I know our boy's have been tested...respect neglected,

and never selected!

So there is A LOT of angst sitting in the Notre Dame locker room!

There is A LOT of "told ya's!" waiting to be handed out!

This game is not about "LUCK" this game is about

 what was "EARNED"...and what was earned is 

a shot at the title!

But you know what?...That's fine!

I'd rather they ALL pick us to be beat by 50 points!

That's what has made this season so great... REDEMPTION!

The chance to talk all that trash to your buddy at work, the 

guy at the gas station with the worn out Trojan hat, or

that family member who married into the family and 

suddenly is a HUGE SEC fan!

The entire world will be watching as the IRISH do, 

what weeks ago, most thought was impossible!

But not everyone thought the TIDE was the shoe in...

The October 22nd Sports Illustrated.

Notice the top right hand corner?

The "Case for Notre Dame"

-"The Irish would have a chance to keep 

the score low, then sneak out a win on a 

turnover, of which they have forced 15 so far"

-"Notre Dame is athletic enough up front to stuff

the run and generate a formidable pass rush on McCarron

without having to rely heavily on the blitz."

Of course all of the SEC thought SI was smoking 

what the cover boy had in his apartment, but the 

educated reader...saw more!

Remember!...this article was written BEFORE

the Irish CRUSHED Oklahoma!

Now the benefits of this are?

MONSTERS!

Imagine the backfield next season!

GA III
WILL MAHONE

AMIR CARLISLE

and?...BRYANT!

All that running behind the best O line class 

in the country and only losing 2 starters from the 

previous years line!

GOOD LORD!

And the staff is FAR from done!

The next two weeks, from what I'm hearing, could take 

this class from GREAT to OH SH@T!..real fast!

Oh..and the Travel Channel has contacted us in hopes

of cross promoting the upcoming SUPER FAN 

Notre Dame special!...

Sign up now!

SEEKING SUPERFANS FOR NEW TRAVEL CHANNEL SHOW
Are you a die-hard fan of Notre Dame Football? Does your extreme devotion put other fans to shame? Travel Channel is seeking superfans for a new TV series, and one lucky fan will win the ultimate fan experience. If you live and die by Notre Dame Football, then we want to hear from you! Email us at travelsuperfancasting@gmail.com with subject line “Notre Dame.”
NOTE: At this time, we are only seeking Notre Dame fans who will be in Miami, FL on January 7th for the BCS Championship. 

In closing the next 3 weeks are gonna be the longest 

in my Notre Dame fandom!...but at the same time

the 14 bowl practices are SOOOO nice!

And all of you wondering...

There will still be plenty of this next season on the 

Irish Defensive line!

GO IRISH & GOD BLESS!

In the weeks to come we will be holding a silent auction

to benefit the families and victims of the 

Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy!

Lord bless them and hold them in your arms!

ANYONE that would like to donate money or 

an auction item please email damefanblog@yahoo.com

This is what I'm putting up for the auction!

GIVE ALL YOU CAN, then go home and hug 

your kids!

GONNA BE OUTTA TOWN TILL SATURDAY!

BE BACK ON SATURDAY!

STAY TUNED!

SPORTS-BAR 101...Sometimes you gotta educate!

The old saying that it's better to keep your mouth 

shut and let people "assume" your stupid...

Then to open your mouth and REMOVE all doubt!

Was never taught to idiots!

Okay...let me set the scene for ya, it's five o'clock

on a Thursday in one of the WORST sports

cities on the planet.  I'm at a "wing joint"

not known for their "scholar" patrons...but

well known for their grilled chicken salad!

So there I was...reviewing contract status via

the Ipad when two guys came in and sat at the 

two open stools to my left....the Bud Lights started

getting tossed back...and out flew the comments!

"Notre Dame is gonna get KILLED!"

"Bama is tested!"

"Notre Dame's Defense is NO WHERE as 

good at Bama's!"

And the one that broke my silence?...

"Notre Dame has played NO ONE!"

I was a bit confused!

So I decided to be like an "apostle" of God's team to do 

some educating.

ME-"Excuse me fellas...I can't help but hear your football discussion!"

"Mind if I ask how you came upon your conclusions?"

IDIOT-"Well...what do you mean?..."

ME-"It's just you two seem like highly educated people, just 

wondered...Mind if I ask a few questions?"

IDIOT-"Shoot!"

Here is our interaction...

1. Who had a tougher schedule?

"BAMA!"

NOPE!

Bama 35th ND 30th

2. Who had more wins vs top 30 teams?

"BAMA!"

NOPE!

ND!

3. Who's got a better Offense?

"BAMA's is WAY BETTER!"

NOPE!

Bama's offense is 40th in the country in total O

Notre Dame is 49th in the country in total O

.57 yards per play separate the 2!

4. Who has the better Defense?

"BAMA's D destroys people!"

NOPE-ND!

Bama has allowed almost TWICE as many

Touchdowns as Notre Dame!

5. Who has the coaching advantage?

"BAMA!"

Really?...Saban is a STUD!

But Kelly is the only 2 time winner of the 

Home Depot Coach of the year!

I think we are good!

6. How has Bama done in their "big" games?

"What do you mean?...they killed people!"

Really?

Vs LSU 

Bama gave up:

73% comp. ratio

435 yards of offense!

140 yards rushing!

2 turnovers!

Vs A&M 

Bama gave up:

75% comp. ratio 

418 yards of offense!

165 yards rushing!

3 turnovers!

Vs Georgia 

(the 79th ranked rush D!)

Bama gave up:

61% comp ratio

Almost 400 yards offense!

113 yards rushing!

2 turnovers!

So he stopped...drank the last swig in his 

beer looked at me and said..."Oh..."

I responded with "So do you REALLY think

Notre Dame is gonna get killed?"

His response..."Yep!"..LOL!...

So I drew this on a napkin and asked if 

math was his strong point?

"Is this your math?"

CONVERSATION OVER!

What Bama has shown the "educated" fan is VS "inferior"

teams...they are INCREDIBLE!

Vs teams with same "level" talent?

NOT SO MUCH!

We are not playing the AURA of BAMA!

We are playing 2012 Bama team!

There is a HUGE difference!

They have struggled and BARELY won the 3 

toughest games they've played this season!

This is what we are up against as Notre Dame fans!

It's the media that has already given Saban the 

Crystal Ball..and insecure fans of other teams

that have ALWAYS had fear of the mighty 

SEC!

Well...All I can say is there is A LOT of people

praying to whoever they can for a Notre Dame loss!..

EMBRACE THE HATE!

GO IRISH & GOD BLESS

***Email me your favorite interactions with the 

haters you've met!...

Dawg or Elephant?.... Does it really matter?...

Life is funny sometimes, your friends, significant other, 

co-workers...everybody has an OPINION!

Everybody "thinks" they know!

But in life the only constant is change, and MAN

have we seen that first hand the past 12 weeks!

Every week it changes!

Well ________ was over rated...just wait till they 

play________!

From:

NO WAY they survive this schedule!

To:

WHO HAVE THEY BEAT?

This is the best passing game they will face!...NO!

Wait...THIS is the best passing game...NO!

Wait...Now THIS really is the best passing team!...

Well now ND is in trouble...cause this team is PHYSICAL!

Now...we think this team was...not as physical

as we might have thought...but just wait!

Every week they tell us how we can't...every week we 

show 'em how we can!

Yet we are still...what?..over rated?

We've done what?...not shown you anything?

This to me is all laughable!

What do we have to do?...We scheduled what NO ONE 

was willing to schedule...

We beat WHO NO ONE thought we could beat!

We did WHAT NO ONE thought could be done!

And now?....No respect!

That's fine!....just wait and see bi@ches!

But let's look at what the "respectable" have done?

Let's start with

Now you know...I know...Saban knows...Kelly knows!

This is only an even match up when it comes 

to football!

They over-sign!

They cut players!

They graduate NO ONE!

They like to play in the gray...so to speak!

JUCO-JUCO-JUCO

So what has that accomplished?

11-1

The INCREDIBLY

UGLY:

Western Kentucky?

Florida Atlantic?

West Carolina?

Missouri? 

The REALLY

UGLY:

Ol'Miss?

Auburn?

Arkansas?

Tennessee?

The 

RESPECTABLE:

LSU? 

Almost lost won by 4!

Michigan?

They beat themselves with hype!

Texas A&M?

LOSS!

So why the crowning?

They have played 5 teams with winning records!

2 of those had 10 wins..they lost to 1 of them!

1 team went 6-6 and EVERYBODY else was under .500!

So explain to me...why we can't beat Bama?

Next...

The fighting ginger of the Dawgs!

This resume is even weaker if you can believe that!

Now Georgia has become the "ESPN media darling!" for 

some reason the past 2 weeks?

Why?...I'm still trying to figure that one out!

Still NOBODY can blow a game like Mark Richt!

(well maybe an intern for Petrino?..too soon?)

I've seen AMAZING games just completely botched 

by this guy!

But what has this highly "RESPECTED" 

team done?

PURE CRAP:

Buffalo?

Florida Atlantic?

Georgia Southern?

Kentucky? (29-24?)

(seeing a pattern here?)

POOP:

Missouri?

Tennessee? (51-44?)

Auburn?

Georgia Tech?

Ol Miss?

Vanderbilt?

RESPECTABLE:

Florida

(play that game 10 times and see what happens!)

South Carolina

MUD STOMPED!

Georgia has played 2 teams with more than 10 wins!

One they got killed by, the other is Florida!

They have one 8 win team and a couple 6-6's!

Then 6 teams that are UNDER .500!

Mix in some Sun Belt and MAC bottom feeders

and BAM!....you got NOTHING!

This team has done the mirror image of Bama?

This is my dilemma!

I can't understand why Notre Dame is not being 

treated like WORLD BEATERS compared to 

what I just discussed?

You have to remember one thing when you're in the 

position that ESPN and the media has put you in

Georgia and Bama...

BIG TREE...FALL HARD!

GO IRISH and GOD BLESS!

The higher the peak...the better chance of slipping!

Every great journey in life comes with obstacles.

Those obstacles can come in the form of:

Injuries,

Suspensions,

Doubt,

HATE,

Defections!

(Lynch...LOL!...omg!)

This has been our journey for the past 11 games.

We've ignored the chaos and embraced the journey at hand.

But now it has entered one of the MOST dangerous 

areas of any great journey....the PEAK!

We are 4 quarters away from what most of us have 

waited for almost two and a half decades for!

The journey my friends, is within grasp and now 

we have to ask ourselves...

Can we complete it?

What stands in our way?

THIS COLOSSAL DOUCHEBAG!

And his Southern "Cali" Trojans!

You know at the beginning of the season, every analyst basically 

chalked this game and Oklahoma up as losses for the Irish!

But...thanks to Jack Swarbrick...there's a new Sheriff in town 

and he's bringing the pride back to the IRISH NATION!

The Trojans are...and I DO NOT want to come off 

over confident in this...but these are NOT EVEN CLOSE to 

being the "Get my mama a condo!" Trojans of the 

Poodle Carroll era!

They are 7-4 and when you look at them...and really dissect 

this season you can see why!

Offense

(now these are with that poor bastard 

Matt Barkley who Kiffen cost MILLIONS 

for coming back and not going pro!) 

is 27th in the country!

DEFENSE

Not sure you can get numbers on them,

THEY'VE NOT BEEN SEEN FOR WEEKS!

Rush-49th

Pass-67th

Scoring-48th

Tackling-LAST

Not bad!...but!!! Who have they beat?

Hawaii

Who is 1-9 

Syracuse 

Who are 6-5 

Oh, and the Orange hung 30 on them!

Cal

Who is HORRIBLE and just fired their coach 

after a 3-9 campaign!

Utah 

Who is 4-7

But they hung 28 pts on USC!

Colorado 

Who is...ready?...1-10

Arizona State

Who is 5-5 

and...the BIG SIGNATURE WIN?...

Washington!

In a hard fought 24-14 victory!

Their wins are against teams with a combined record 

of 27-45!

Seven games that kinda make you...feel like...Well..

Unimpressed!

BIG TIME!

Now most people at this point would say,

"Every good team they've played they lost to!" 

And..that's not exactly true!...They figured out how to lose to 

bad teams also!

Losses:

Stanford

Yeah...the Stanford we beat...that was "overrated" 

until they beat Oregon!

Oregon

Yeah..the "quack attack" that I told you how 

to beat last week...and that's exactly how they got beat!

UCLA

Now... before you start tugging on UCLA's private

parts...remember..they lost to 3-9 Cal!

Now...on to the embarrassment!

ARIZONA?

The fighting Rich Rods!

Yeah...they lost to them!

So what do we have in store for the Condoms?

PAIN!

Good ol' fashion, beat you down till you can't respond 

PAIN!

This is not another day at the office for Notre Dame..this 

is VINDICATION!

This is JUSTIFICATION!

This is showing EVERYONE that we do belong, and 

we will prevail, and NOTHING will stop us 

until we have proven our journey to be one that,

WE determine the outcome of!

ESPN-COLIN-MAY-HERBSTRIET

You can talk...and talk...and talk...but we 

are a team of DESTINY!

I was at that Pitt game..when Cierre fumbled into the endzone,

I sat there and put my hands in my face...and thought...

"Here we go again!...This is where it all comes apart!"

And then....Then the ROAR of the crowd...as if 

Touchdown Jesus himself had pushed that kick right!

At that point...I knew...something was happening here!

I don't wanna talk BAMA...I don't wanna 

think Heisman!

All I care about is BEATING, and

BEATING BADLY ,the Trojans!

GOD BLESS and GO IRISH!

Have a GREAT THANKSGIVING!