He's got Phillips in the corner!...He's giving him the business!

Is this your reaction lately when people see your 

Notre Dame gear?

What the Hell is going on?

Life is funny sometimes when you're at the top,

people only want to tear you down...

When you're down, they talk about how good it 

is for everyone when you're up!

This has been an interesting few weeks, but

my mom always told me these things happen 

in threes!

1. BCS National Championship Game:

You know I thought the refs really affected the complexion

 of the game on our first drive...nope Ronaiah Tuiasosopo 

has done more damage than Yeldon and Lacy could have

done in five games!

2. Brian Kelly interviewing with the Eagles:

This is a part of business that most people don't understand,

but that's because they've never been in a position of power 

where they could play two companies off each other.

3. TEO-GATE

This one is gonna take a while to get over....Look, 

the only thing I find more fascinating than the mind of a 

"fan" is the mind of someone "religious".   My kids will live

what I feel will be a very charmed life in comparison to how I was raised

 With that being said...at no point will I teach them 

to trust until that trust is broken!

This is a very unfortunate thing that happened to a very 

caring, and let's say "naive" kid.

But this is the point where the DAMEFAN tells all of 

you to take a moment and....

Chill the F out!

Have you forgotten what the hell happened this season!

What is going on with recruiting?

How much talent we are returning?

How much talent we are sitting on?

Coaches are getting more money!

Facilities are getting upgrades!

Stadium is getting work!

RELAX!

Trust me...here is 9 minutes...NINE MINUTES

that will tell you it can ALWAYS be worse!

And what's funny is I live in a town where these fans 

are NOT too embarrassed to talk trash...talk about a HOAX!

There are hundreds of thousands getting hoaxed by this 

daily here!

Notre Dame is exactly that, but it's more like this

 NOTRE
DAME

Whatever we do...it will get blown outta proportion!

We had a kid de-commit because Kelly interviewed...

That's the story that ESPN had...

BUT

They didn't tell you...

He then committed to a program where the head coach was 

interviewing with the Bears the SAME WEEK!

It's Notre Dame!...you're never gonna get an 

honest story from the press...cause nobody 

likes stories about good things!

We are the only program in the country where 

the word ALLEGED means GUILTY!

Over the next three weeks I'm going to break 

down our games in the order of difficulty and 

tell you why we might get another shot at 

Saban next year!

Top 3 toughest games for ND next season?

Stanford-Oklahoma-Michigan State

Let's start with: 

Stanford:

Goodbye both Tight Ends,

Ertz and Toilolo are both leaving what is a young

quarterback and what had become a safety blanket 

 through the season.  They combined for 95 

catches last year and 10 TDs.  This, combined with the 

loss of Stepfan Taylor (Stanford's ALL time leading rusher)

could make the Stanford offense a bit sluggish next year!

BUT...that D with Murphy, Skov and Gardner returning will 

be tough!

Oklahoma:

Landry Jones...see ya!

They also had 3 premier underclassman leave in 

Kenny Stills... their leading receiver is gone!

Tony Jefferson... their leading tackler is gone!

Tom Wort... their best LB is gone!

With all the losses on the offense and defense 

this game is not against the Oklahoma of old!

Michigan State:

Bright Spot?...2nd year QB!

Not so bright?...2nd year QB!

MSU was 108 in total offense last season and 

that was with Bell who averaged 138 yards per game!

Also TE Sims is history as well, as is MSU's best 

defensive player in Gholston!

But this week is about wrapping up what 

is sure to be a top 5 recruiting class 

and putting some more talent in place

to make the IRISH MOB exactly 

that!

My pick?...the kid I want to be the icing at the 

top of this IRISH Chocolate cake! (Sorry Lou!)

EDDIE VANDERDOES

This kid is a MONSTER!

At 6'3 315 lbs, he's a house and fits right into 

place when Lou get's picked in the first round 

after next season!

Anyone who watched the Army All American game knows 

this was the best D lineman there!

And from what I'm hearing...we are in very good shape 

with him!

USC has become a dumpster fire with people jumping ship 

like they just hit an iceberg!

So next time you feeling like this:

Realize that we have MANY more things to 

be excited about, than we do to be upset about!

So stop...pour yourself one of these:

Pop this into the DVD

And realize...We're in pretty good hands!

GOD BLESS & GO IRISH!

Licking our wounds & trying to get that taste outta our mouth!

WOW!...was I wayyyyyy off on my 

assessment of that match up!

First of all, let's start with giving Bama props!

That is a well oiled machine and other than getting caught

off guard along the way by Johnny Football....pretty much

did what they wanted, when they wanted for the past 

4 seasons...

Let's put some things into perspective.

What Bama has done winning 3 outta the past 4 

is not impressive...it's LEGENDARY!

Let's look at how it stacks up...

In the past 40 years this is how many 

National Championships have been won

by other programs!

Michigan 1

LSU 2 

(one was Saban's)

Ohio State 1

Texas 1

Notre Dame 3

Oregon 0

It's hard to win ONE!

BAMA HAS 3 in 4 YEARS!

That's more than Michigan-Ohio State-Oregon

 COMBINED!

We arrived on Saturday..hit the pool, had some drinks

 and then hit up South Beach!

South Beach is what happens when Project Runway 

and the Real Housewives had intercourse...and had

25,000 kids!

CRAZY!

It was great meeting everyone...and thanks to 

all the folks that bought drinks, and shared the same

optimism that I had until....about the time the 

refs put it in our ASS on our first drive!

Now...don't get me wrong...at no point am I making ANY 

excuses for this game....Our boys played hard...many played great,

some played like they hadn't all year!...(that was not a positive!)

But...I would have LOVED to see how certain members of 

our defense would have reacted if Bama scored on us...and 

BAM...we scored on Bama...

Eifert's first down...SCREWED

Fumble on the punt...SCREWED

Would it have mattered?....I'm not saying we would have 

won...but would we have been down that bad at half?...

I'd say no!...

Louis Nix...absolute BEAST...loves ND, hates to lose!

Stephon Tuitt...LEGEND waiting to happen..college and NFL!

And that brings me to the offense....WOW!

Most of you watched this game and saw no 

positives...me?..I saw the FUTURE!

I saw a quarterback that the National Champions 

could not get to..and could not control or contain!

60% completion ratio...270 yards 1 TD and 1 Rushing TD

THEY COULD NOT TOUCH HIM!

Oh...did I forget..this is his FIRST year starting!!!

Give me those numbers before the game...I'd say "Great...we win!"

Daniels-Jones-Niklas...etc..

This offense will be IMPOSSIBLE to stop next season!

Were there bright points...yeah...Did the end result suck..yeah!

But can you see us back in that game next year?...YEAH!

This program's arrow is pointing UP like no other!

Next season you will finally see the "Kelly Offense" 

So we got home....depressed...sad...and BAM!

SWIFT KICK TO THE NUTS!

Brian Kelly interviewing with the EAGLES?

Now...if you didn't see this coming..you're an idiot!

If you handled it like Kelly did...your still kinda an idiot!

This whole process was handled wrong...and right all at the 

same time...did it have to happen?...YEAH

Could it have been handled differently?...YEAH!

End game?...THE SAME!

This all began with Charlie Weis...and ended with 

a new contract for our REAL coach!

Charlie came in and won a few games...then parlayed 

that into NFL teams trying to take him...and BEFORE 

Jack Swarbrick was there...convinced the powers that be,

that it was better for the program to give him a HUGE long 

term deal....Smart?...NOPE!

Now..once bitten and twice shy Notre Dame has a 

REAL head coach...but there is only one problem!...They 

aren't paying him!

CLICK ME!!!

Okay..what do:

Kirk Ferentz-Iowa

Mike Gundy-Oklahoma State

Gary Patterson-TCU

Brett Bielema-Arkansas

Brady Hoke-Michigan

Gary Pinkel-Missouri

Paul Johnson-Georgia Tech

James Franklin-Vanderbilt

Gary Anderson-Wisconsin

All have in common?

They all make more money than 

Brain Kelly!

All with less success coaching....and 

have not sniffed the National Championship!

In fact..the BIG slap in the face...is 

BUTCH JONES!

Kelly has mentored Jones for years!

He has followed Kelly from Central Michigan

to Cincinnati and now to his own 

big gig at Tennessee!

Making more than Brain Kelly!

With higher paid assistant coaches.. more trainers

and more support!

This is what all the drama was about!

If you want to compete at ND, with the big boys you 

need... CONSISTENCY!

You can't have programs trying to hire away your 

staff...you can't have programs with better 

facilities and nutritional and strength programs!

You can't have LESSER coaches making 

more money, with better suport, at smaller, 

less important programs!

This wasn't about Brian Kelly wanting a NFL gig!

This was about Brain Kelly wanting Notre Dame 

BACK!

We are at the door step to being a player 

EVERY year at the National Championship 

table!

So....sit back relax...and let the man work!

GO IRISH and GOD BLESS!

Could the drought be over?....See ya Monday at 8!

Like water on the highway on a hot summer day...we've 

seen this before...but as the car got closer we 

realized it was just an mirage!

Bob Davie?... coordinator

George O'Leary?...cautionary tale

Ty Williingham?...snake oil salesman

Charlie Weis?...coordinator

We thought we were close...

In 05 the IRISH were seconds away 

from a Fiesta Bowl win on a 3rd and 

nine with 1:45 left in the game and 

down by 7...

We just didn't have the D line to 

make the stop...and lost..

Hope, like spring flowers was growing!

But when your starting Safety and Linebackers are

much smaller than your starting QB?...

We wondered?...can we really outscore everyone?

NO!

But the MIGHTY QUINN brought interest again

in the Notre Dame brand...and from the ashes a new  

hero emerged...the problem?...he had all the weapons...but 

not enough on the other side of the ball...and on the tails of 

a coach that spent more time golfing than recruiting!

We once again lost more than expected...We lost the 

opportunity...the chance of having a 

"HEAD COACH"

That would have used a 

Clausen-Tate-Gray-Allen-Rudolf-Floyd

ATTACK!

We could score on ANYONE...but ANYONE 

could score on us!

Our NFL defensive talent was limited...We would strike gold

here and there with an Ian Williams or Tommy Z or Justin Tuck,

but the across the board...the talent was there!

So back to the chalk board we went...pride in hand and hopeful

but with very little to hang our hat on...

But then...it happened!

We were looking, and ready to hire!

Option 1?...Health Issues forced him into retirement..

We passed!

We knew we needed a LEADER...a GENERAL

someone that could not only draw up the blue print,

but build the MACHINE!

We needed guidance...strength and someone 

that had been there before..that NO stage was 

too big for him or his staff...

We needed...

BRIAN KELLY

"NOBODY does it like Notre Dame!"

From day one, he did the job and never looked back!

He dealt with defections to the NFL, swayed by past 

Generals not having the best interest of the Irish in 

their sights!

He dealt with the tragedy of death, an employee

and student of the audio/video dept. when the media

 searched for a witch to hunt..

He broke down and rebuilt, what WAS a country club

atmosphere, along with the sense of country club

entitlement. 

He molded himself...a high flying offensive guru

into a DEFENSE first minded mentor!

He realized..that the ND glow was not gone...but

just in need of POLISH!

But what he did mostly, was take what he had...add 

who would fit...and mold CHAMPIONS!

That will be on display Monday at 8!

Because this is our time!

So pour yourself a favorite spirit!

If you have a "lucky shirt"...or "special spot on the couch" then

get it ready!

If you're wearing the same socks or haven't shaved since our last loss!

 EMBRACE that you're starting to look like Merlin Olson!

Ryan Wykle

Because ALL those Christmas cards...all those babies pjs,

all the trash you've heard from your friends, and 

all the HATE that has been spewed about ND!

Is about to be served up with a nice hot glass 

of KISS MY A$$!

And when that last down is played...and the crystal ball 

is raised into the air...I'm gonna find a local pub, 

light up a cigar...sip some Jameson, raise

my glass to the heaven and say...

"See Beno...You were right, Kelly is the man

and Notre Dame is special!"

We miss ya buddy!

Beno Cook

9/1/31-10/10/12 

RIP

GO IRISH & GOD BLESS!

See ya at the game!