I'm back to tackle a subject I've tackled before: college football vs. professional football. I originally wanted to do this for my 200th post, but what I did instead was quite appropriate. To review briefly, the NFL used to be my favorite sport. Football in general has dropped behind baseball, but the NFL has also dropped behind college football. That started when I transferred to Notre Dame, but I was still a bigger NFL fan than college fan while I was at Notre Dame. Really it was the Jets that made me a bigger college fan. But that was due mostly to Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan. By the way, last year I was worried that the Jets would somehow end up with Jameis Winston. If that happened, I was out. I would still be an NFL fan, but there was no way I was ever going to root for that guy. Anyway, Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan are gone and we avoided Jameis Winston, so can the NFL move back ahead of college? Let's break it down.
Professional Athletes vs. Student Athletes
I'm partial to student athletes. The problem is that not every school is Notre Dame. What percentage of SEC football players are legitimate students? It's probably pretty low except maybe at Vanderbilt. College football isn't as bad as college basketball where you have Kentucky and Duke with players that have to act like students for only one semester (yes, Duke has become just about as bad as Kentucky), but it's still bad.
Edge: NFL
Regular Season
College has the obvious edge here, but one of the best things about college football can also be one of the worst. In 2013, Notre Dame's season was over by the end of September (two losses). So it's awesome that the games mean so much, but it can also make life as a college fan pretty miserable. On the other hand, you have the NFL where the regular season matters more than other professional sports except for baseball, but it still doesn't matter that much. The 2002 Jets started 1-4 and then ended up winning a playoff game (41-0 against Peyton Manning, still the last home playoff game for the Jets). The 2011 Giants went 9-7 and then beat the cheaters from New England for the second time in four years in the Super Bowl. I mean that was wonderful, but yeah, I'll take having every regular season game matter.
Big Edge: College
Method of Determining the Champion
College has come a long way. They used to vote for the National Champions. In 1993, Notre Dame beat Florida State during the regular season. Both teams won their bowl game and finished with one loss and yet Florida State was voted National Champions. Now we have a four team playoff with the teams chosen by a committee. It's a big upgrade. In fact, I don't know if I'd made any changes. Brian Kelly wants an eight-team playoff, which would be very good for Notre Dame this year. However, it would make the regular season less important and you'd get a lot of two-loss teams and possibly even three-loss teams competing for the championship. I wouldn't like that. I don't think it's perfect, but I don't know how to fix it. Notre Dame dropped from 4 to 6 in the rankings after an ugly win against Boston College. As my brother Sean pointed out, in the NFL all you have to do is win. There's a 12-team tournament where all the spots are determined by record and tie-breakers. Simple. There's no debate. Everybody knows the rules and how to make the playoffs.
Edge: NFL
Postseason
This is closely related to the last topic, but not exactly the same. College has made some great changes. I love the New Year's Six. College has reclaimed New Year's with the six biggest bowls. And it's nice to have two of those bowls having a hand in determining the National Champions each year again. It's also nice to have the bowls on during my Christmas vacation. In fact, I'm a little disappointed that I'm going to miss the Miami Beach Bowl on December 21 because I have to teach and then coach a basketball game that day. But really, the only reason I'm interested in it is that it's played in a baseball stadium. It's 11-2 Western Kentucky against 8-4 South Florida. The game is pretty much meaningless. And so are most bowl games. Was I supposed to be happy two years ago when we won the Pinstripe Bowl? I mean, it was fun, but I wasn't happy with our season. One thing that college needs to figure out is how to get the National Championship Game off of Monday night and have it played on a Saturday instead. The NFL gets the postseason right. All the postseason games matter. And they're all well-attended, unlike a lot of college bowl games. I also really like the first two weekends of the NFL Playoffs when you have two games on Saturday and two games on Sunday. One thing that would make it better would be if we were always off the day after the Super Bowl (I'm not totally opposed to Super Bowl Saturday, but I'd rather just be off on the Monday), but at least the Super Bowl starts at 6:30 and not 8:30.
Big Edge: NFL
Not Having a Huge Gap in the Season
We have almost four weeks between the last game for Clemson, Alabama, and Michigan State and their playoff games (almost five for Oklahoma). It used to be even worse. In 2006 and 2007, Ohio State had more than seven weeks between their last game and the Championship Game. And people complain about two weeks between the Conference Championship Games and the Super Bowl.
Edge: NFL
Rules Differences
I don't mind the rules differences. I like that the rules aren't the same. One foot down in college, two in the NFL. A ball carrier being down when on the ground in college, down by contact in the NFL. The different hash marks. I'm partial to college's wider hash marks because the field looks nicer and field goals are more difficult, but I can live with the NFL's hash marks. I also think the NFL's long extra points are silly, but I'm good with either set of rules.
Small Edge: College
Overtime
This is the exception to the rules differences. Football has kickoffs and punts. College overtime doesn't. In football you have to earn good field position. Unless you're in overtime in college. If you want to make sure both teams have a possession fine, but don't take all special teams except for field goals out of the game.
Big Edge: NFL
Day of the Week
This one is easy. Saturday is just the best day of the week. It's not even close. I don't have to go to work that day or the next day. It's wonderful. Sunday is the end of my weekend. If there's stuff I put off because I wanted to watch college football, I have to do it on Sunday. And I have to go to work the next day.
Big Edge: College
Weekly Schedule
I don't like Monday night games. They end late and I still have four days of work after that left in my week. So that's not helping the NFL. Both have games on Thursday nights that I don't really like either. College has Friday night games which I don't mind, but they're usually not particularly interesting games. But let's just focus on college's Saturday schedule vs. the NFL's Sunday Schedule. On Saturday the games start at noon. You usually don't have great games at noon, but you might have something interesting. At 3:30, you get most Notre Dame home games, an SEC game on CBS and maybe something interesting on ABC or ESPN. Then at night you get lots of games on ABC/ESPN and probably Fox also. Usually the best games are at night. I love when Notre Dame wins in the afternoon and then I can just drink beer and enjoy the night games. It's the best. If you're lucky you might get a good Pac 12 game starting after 10:00. Good times. The NFL, on the other hand, ugh. At most you're getting 14 games on Sunday (except for week 17) because of the Thursday and Monday games. You have a Sunday night game. So that leaves 13 games for Sunday afternoon. For some reason, the NFL has decided to play the vast majority of these games at 1:00. This weekend for example, we have eleven 1:00 games and two 4:00 games. This is inexcusable. If you're playing 13 Sunday afternoon games, at least four of them should be at 4:00. If you only have two or three late games, you're left with a decent chance that none of those games are good. And then you have one game at night that might or might not be good.
Big Edge: College
My Teams
Notre Dame vs. the Jets. I mean, the Jets had Joe Namath and Curtis Martin, but...
Big Edge: College
Verdict: I had ten categories. (Did I miss anything?) Of those categories, we have the NFL with the edge in three and a big edge in two. College has a big edge in four and a small edge in one. If we're awarding one point for an edge and two points for a big edge (and none for a small edge), college wins by a score of 8-7. I actually think three points would be more appropriate for a big edge, which would give us college by a score of 12-9. Yeah, I like college better.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Fenway Football
This is my 200th blog post (this was number 100). I had another idea for it, but maybe I'll save that for 201 (the blog post that is seen once and then disappears forever). This is about a trip to my second favorite city in the world to visit a presidential library and historical sites and (more importantly) to see my favorite team (of all the teams I root for) play a football game in my favorite baseball stadium. So this is appropriate for blog post 200.
I had most of the day on Saturday to myself. I decided to start the day at the Kennedy Presidential Library. It didn't have as much as I the other presidential libraries that I've been to. There was not much on the economy. The recreation of the Oval Office seemed to be a miniature version (whereas the others seemed to have full size Oval Offices). The stuff on the Cuban Missile Crisis was out of commission. It looked like there was a small section in the regular exhibits that was closed and then there was also a bigger temporary exhibit that was also closed. I definitely would have wanted to see those. And there was very little on the assassination. There was just a dark hallway toward the end that said "November 22, 1963" on one wall and TVs showing some of the news coverage from that day and the following days on the other wall. I walked through it at first and expected there to be more past the hallway, but you just get to the section on his legacy then. But I did go to the museum at Dealey Plaza, so that was probably as good as it's going to get in terms of the assassination. And I did appreciate the fact that the museum is not overwhelming. At the others I've been to there's so much to read that you can't take it all in. I did learn some good stuff. Like how carving a message into a coconut saved Kennedy's life during World War II and how he was in Europe right before World War II started. At the end, I tried to sign the electronic guestbook and quote the South Park Kids by saying "You know, I learned something today," but I kept getting an error message.
So here are the power rankings of the presidential libraries that I've been to:
5. Jimmy Carter- It's really not a bad museum, but it's Jimmy Carter.
4. John F. Kennedy- It left me wanting more.
3. Harry Truman- It's a very solid library.
2. George W. Bush- I might have Truman ahead of Bush, but I enjoyed this more because I lived through his presidency and you can walk around the Oval Office and sit at his desk.
1. Ronald Reagan- The setting, Air Force 1, the Berlin Wall (the Kennedy Library also had a piece of the Berlin Wall), Reagan's grave, it's awesome.
After that, I headed north to check out some things along the Freedom Trail. Some of them I had seen with John back in 2009 or 2010. First I walked past the Boston Tea Party Museum. I didn't go in because I was a little pressed for time and I didn't really feel like paying to see it. You can see people going on boats and reenacting throwing the tea into the harbor. I went to the graveyard where Benjamin Franklin's parents, Sam Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, and the victims of the Boston Massacre are buried. Next I went to the site of the Boston Massacre. From there, I stopped at the Union Oyster House on John's suggestion, which is America's oldest restaurant. It only goes back to 1826, so it wasn't around during the Revolution, but Daniel Webster used to drink brandy there. It has a weird, really old downward slanting bar. If you order chowder, they set up coasters to keep your bowl from sliding down the bar and into your lap. There is a flat section of the bar on the edge closer to the bartenders that you can use to keep your drinks on. I had a Sam Adams Colonial Ale, which is apparently not available anywhere else. It was pretty good. My last stop was the Old North Church, which is famous because of Paul Revere's ride. It's a weird looking church on the inside. The pews are all in little boxes that look like penalty boxes.
I went back to my hotel to watch a little football and charge my phone. I went a 4:00 mass at St. Francis Chapel in the Prudential Center. I definitely don't prefer night games, but being able to go to mass before the game is definitely a benefit. Speaking of that, what's the best start time? I like to do two things besides watch football on Saturdays: go to mass (so I don't have to worry about getting up and going on Sunday morning) and drink beer. I prefer to drink beer while watching other football games after Notre Dame has won. By that logic, noon games are the best. The home 3:30 games work when I go to the game because I can go to mass after the game, but I don't really drink much after those because I don't have a place to stay on campus anymore. The night games allow me to go to mass, but there isn't much football left after the Notre Dame game is over (you might get lucky and get a good Pac 12 game at 10:30). If I had to pick a start time, I'd want our games to start at 1:00. Back in 2005 (my first year there), we didn't have all our home games at either 3:30 or 7:30. They started at 2:30, 1:30, and 1:00. Now I think those 2:30 games were really 3:30 because South Bend didn't know what time zone it was in back then, but I think the 1:00 game really was at 1:00 (the Navy game was in November when South Bend was on Eastern time). A 1:00 start would also mean that there wasn't total overlap with the noon games or the 3:30 games. But alas, we're stuck with all 3:30 or 7:30 home games and mostly night road games.
Anyway, I walked from mass to Fenway. I wanted to get in early because I didn't have a ticket. John told me what gate to go to. The first guy working there stopped me and asked for my ticket. When I went to a Red Sox game with John over the summer, I just went in with him when he showed up for work. This time was different. I had to be like, "Um, I'm with that guy" as I pointed to John and his mustache. But I was allowed in. I applied in the lottery for tickets and didn't win. The week before the game, I got an email from Notre Dame saying that some tickets had become available. I texted John to see if it was going to be any issue for him to get me in (especially after the attack at the soccer stadium in Paris) and he said it wouldn't be a problem. So this was the second major sporting event that I went to without a ticket and both times were thanks to John. It was also his last event working at Fenway, so the timing of this game was perfect.
I was one of the first fans in the stadium so I had plenty of time to walk around and check out the set up for football. The field was going kind of from the third base side out to right field (as opposed to Yankee Stadium where the field goes out to center field). After walking around, I decided that standing on the right field roof was as good of a view as I was going to get. But I hung out for a little bit right behind the end zone in right field where I had some good views of the Notre Dame offensive skill players warming up.
I got myself a Sam Adams Octoberfest before heading up to the right field roof. By the way, I very much underrated Octoberfest on my Beer Power Rankings. My friend Bobby once said, "I love Summer Ale and everything it stands for." I totally agree. I don't love everything Octoberfest stands for (even though my appreciation of the fall has grown greatly in the last ten years), but it is an excellent beer. Anyway, I broke one of my rules this day. I had three beers that were all very spaced out. If I'm going to have three beers in a day, I'd rather have them in a short period of time. That way I'll start feeling a little something from the alcohol. But when I space it out, I just drank a decent amount of alcohol without feeling anything from it. But how often do you get to drink a Sam Adams beer that's only offered in one place in Boston? And how often do you get to drink an Octoberfest at a football game at Fenway Park in late November? The third beer would be a victory beer after the game. By the way, I think my last Summer Ale on tap this summer was at Fenway in August.
Anyway, I'm not going to spend much time talking about the game. If you saw it, you know why. Before the game started, I heard a big roar coming from the bar that was a couple hundred feet from where I was standing. I knew right away that it must have been because Michigan State beat Ohio State. During the game, I was paying attention to Baylor-Oklahoma State on the scoreboard. Thankfully, Baylor won. What didn't work out for us was Oklahoma holding on by one point against TCU. TCU went for two at the end to win an didn't get it. What I learned a couple days later was that they also went for two and didn't get it early in the third quarter. Two extra points and they win. If that's what keeps Notre Dame out of the playoff, that's going to hurt. By the way, it was really cool how they set up the scoreboard on the Green Monster. They had the score for our game, out of town scores, and they also had the scores of all previous Shamrock Series games. The picture of Brian Kelly on the Green Monster was a little ridiculous, though.
We won 19-16 while losing the turnover battle 5-1. And turnovers weren't even the reason it was so close. The two touchdowns that Boston College scored late weren't off turnovers (although we probably would have scored a lot more if not for the turnovers). I watched most of the first quarter by myself. Then John got done working and joined me. I got on the scoreboard at one point during the first half. Neither John or I reacted quickly enough to take a picture of it, but John can verify that I was in fact shown on the Fenway Park scoreboard. I think the camera that showed me was at least 200 feet away by the bar I mentioned earlier. At halftime Wilhelm and his father met up with us. The band saluted the Boston Celtics and the Boston Red Sox. They made a basket and hit a home run over the Green Monster as part of the halftime show. John was entertained by the performance. John took us over to the Green Monster for a little bit in the third quarter. I've seen Wilhelm a lot lately. I went back to after I graduated for the Navy game in the season that must not be discussed. The next time I saw him was more than five years later at the National Championship Game. Our next game after that was Oklahoma in 2013 (which I didn't blog about apparently, understandable). At that point, I said we needed to stop going to games together if we were going to lose every time. The Shamrock Series in Dallas got things turned around. Since then, we've been to wins against Navy (also no blog post), Stanford, and now Boston College (plus I visited him in Texas for a Ranger game). Late in the game they announced the attendance and John said something like, "It's a little more than that." This one wasn't pretty, but whatever, we won. After the game, John and I went to a barbecue place for some delicious food and victory beers.
I read a lot of negative feedback about the game at Fenway. I think that was entirely because of how poorly we played. If we win this game by four touchdowns, everybody would be talking about how awesome it was. I'm sure there were a lot of seats with bad views and it's way too small to accommodate the demand for tickets so I wouldn't do this often. I would say maybe once ever 20 or 30 years (whereas I'd like to play at Yankee Stadium once or twice every ten years). Here's how I'd rank the Shamrock Series games I've been to:
4. FedEx Field against Maryland in 2011- It's a distant fourth, but these might have been the least offensive uniforms we've worn since we started doing stupid things with the uniforms.
3. JerryWorld against Arizona State in 2013- It was a lot of fun and I'm sure some people would rank this higher. It's the best opponent we've had for a Shamrock Series game (although Miami is historically better).
2. Yankee Stadium against Army in 2010- I love the history of Notre Dame and Army at Yankee Stadium, even if it's not the same Yankee Stadium.
1. Fenway Park against Boston College in 2015- Boston College used to play their home games at Fenway Park until the Red Sox kicked them out. There hadn't been football at Fenway Park since 1968. It took Notre Dame playing a home game there with "Notre Dame" and "Fighting Irish" painted in the end zones to get football and Boston College back to Fenway. This game was just making fun of Boston College. I love Fenway Park and I love Boston.
Surprisingly, this was my first game ever against Boston College. We played them 19 out of 21 years from 1992-2012. The two years we didn't play them was when I was a student there. My record when attending Notre Dame football games is now 29-11. In games I haven't attended since the start of the 2005 season, Notre Dame is 61-37. So Notre Dame has a .725 winning percentage with me and .622 without me. The lesson, as always, I need to go to more games.
Some fans don't like the Shamrock Series in general. I've been to four games and really enjoyed each experience. I would like to get some better opponents. I would be willing to offer schools a more even split in tickets as long as the game stays on NBC (this last one was on NBC Sports Network, I don't know how we let that happen, I don't know if that's the way it's going to be for future Shamrock Series games). I've thought about where I'd like to see the game played. Next year we're going to San Antonio (the first repeat site) to play Army. I have some interest in going to San Antonio, but probably not to see us play Army in a crappy dome. Put me down as doubtful for that one. After that, no other sites have been announced. So here's my wish list of places where we haven't played the Shamrock Series:
St. Louis- But only if it's played in Busch Stadium. The Cardinals have a great franchise and the football stadium there is a crappy dome. We could play a Big 12 or SEC team.
Houston- Playing football in Texas is never bad for recruiting. Again, a Big 12 or SEC team.
Cincinnati- Easy for lots of fans to get to. Maybe play West Virginia or a Big 10 team there.
New Orleans- Again, playing in the South. SEC or Big 12.
Denver- I would want to play BYU or Air Force there.
Toronto- I guess we could play a Big 10 team there.
Seattle- Oregon is the team I'd want to play in Seattle.
Philadelphia- We just played there for a Temple home game. We could probably play an ACC team there.
Those weren't really in any particular order. Here are my top 5:
5. Atlanta- I am fairly convinced that this one will happen some time after Atlanta gets its new stadium. It would have to be a year when we don't play at Georgia (we a series with them coming up) or at Georgia Tech. It's always good for recruiting to play in the South. We could play an SEC team or an ACC team there.
4. Los Angeles- I don't think this will happen since we play in Los Angeles every other year. But I'd want to play at Dodger Stadium (I'm not even sure they could fit a football field in there, but they did play soccer there) against UCLA or any Pac 12 team.
3. Dublin- We did play in Dublin, but that was a Navy home game, not a Shamrock Series game. I'm not in a rush to go back. Maybe 10-15 years from now, but it was awesome. We could probably play anybody there as long as we space it out enough from the last game we played there.
2. Green Bay- Brian Kelly mentioned wanting to play at Lambeau Field in a press conference. I absolutely agree. That's the one NFL Stadium I really want to get to. We could play any Big 10 team there.
1. Rome- The guys on one of the many Notre Dame podcasts I listen to mentioned this one time and they seemed pretty convinced that it's going to happen, but that's the only time I ever heard anything about it. Boston College should definitely be the opponent if it happens.
Of course, New York, Chicago, and Washington could always host Notre Dame. I would say New York (as in Yankee Stadium, not the Meadowlands) and Chicago should both get a game every ten years. And playing in Dallas is always a good idea for recruiting.
Anyway, I hope everybody enjoys my eighth favorite day of the year (although it's probably now behind New Year's Eve/New Year's Day now that college football once again owns New Year's). I'll be drinking Summer Ale with dinner. Saturday is a huge day. Go Oklahoma State! Go Irish!
I had most of the day on Saturday to myself. I decided to start the day at the Kennedy Presidential Library. It didn't have as much as I the other presidential libraries that I've been to. There was not much on the economy. The recreation of the Oval Office seemed to be a miniature version (whereas the others seemed to have full size Oval Offices). The stuff on the Cuban Missile Crisis was out of commission. It looked like there was a small section in the regular exhibits that was closed and then there was also a bigger temporary exhibit that was also closed. I definitely would have wanted to see those. And there was very little on the assassination. There was just a dark hallway toward the end that said "November 22, 1963" on one wall and TVs showing some of the news coverage from that day and the following days on the other wall. I walked through it at first and expected there to be more past the hallway, but you just get to the section on his legacy then. But I did go to the museum at Dealey Plaza, so that was probably as good as it's going to get in terms of the assassination. And I did appreciate the fact that the museum is not overwhelming. At the others I've been to there's so much to read that you can't take it all in. I did learn some good stuff. Like how carving a message into a coconut saved Kennedy's life during World War II and how he was in Europe right before World War II started. At the end, I tried to sign the electronic guestbook and quote the South Park Kids by saying "You know, I learned something today," but I kept getting an error message.
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| Kennedy's Oval Office |
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| One of Kennedy's golf clubs that wasn't bought by J. Peterman |
So here are the power rankings of the presidential libraries that I've been to:
5. Jimmy Carter- It's really not a bad museum, but it's Jimmy Carter.
4. John F. Kennedy- It left me wanting more.
3. Harry Truman- It's a very solid library.
2. George W. Bush- I might have Truman ahead of Bush, but I enjoyed this more because I lived through his presidency and you can walk around the Oval Office and sit at his desk.
1. Ronald Reagan- The setting, Air Force 1, the Berlin Wall (the Kennedy Library also had a piece of the Berlin Wall), Reagan's grave, it's awesome.
After that, I headed north to check out some things along the Freedom Trail. Some of them I had seen with John back in 2009 or 2010. First I walked past the Boston Tea Party Museum. I didn't go in because I was a little pressed for time and I didn't really feel like paying to see it. You can see people going on boats and reenacting throwing the tea into the harbor. I went to the graveyard where Benjamin Franklin's parents, Sam Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, and the victims of the Boston Massacre are buried. Next I went to the site of the Boston Massacre. From there, I stopped at the Union Oyster House on John's suggestion, which is America's oldest restaurant. It only goes back to 1826, so it wasn't around during the Revolution, but Daniel Webster used to drink brandy there. It has a weird, really old downward slanting bar. If you order chowder, they set up coasters to keep your bowl from sliding down the bar and into your lap. There is a flat section of the bar on the edge closer to the bartenders that you can use to keep your drinks on. I had a Sam Adams Colonial Ale, which is apparently not available anywhere else. It was pretty good. My last stop was the Old North Church, which is famous because of Paul Revere's ride. It's a weird looking church on the inside. The pews are all in little boxes that look like penalty boxes.
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| Sam Adams |
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| Sam Adams Colonial Ale at the Union Oyster House |
I went back to my hotel to watch a little football and charge my phone. I went a 4:00 mass at St. Francis Chapel in the Prudential Center. I definitely don't prefer night games, but being able to go to mass before the game is definitely a benefit. Speaking of that, what's the best start time? I like to do two things besides watch football on Saturdays: go to mass (so I don't have to worry about getting up and going on Sunday morning) and drink beer. I prefer to drink beer while watching other football games after Notre Dame has won. By that logic, noon games are the best. The home 3:30 games work when I go to the game because I can go to mass after the game, but I don't really drink much after those because I don't have a place to stay on campus anymore. The night games allow me to go to mass, but there isn't much football left after the Notre Dame game is over (you might get lucky and get a good Pac 12 game at 10:30). If I had to pick a start time, I'd want our games to start at 1:00. Back in 2005 (my first year there), we didn't have all our home games at either 3:30 or 7:30. They started at 2:30, 1:30, and 1:00. Now I think those 2:30 games were really 3:30 because South Bend didn't know what time zone it was in back then, but I think the 1:00 game really was at 1:00 (the Navy game was in November when South Bend was on Eastern time). A 1:00 start would also mean that there wasn't total overlap with the noon games or the 3:30 games. But alas, we're stuck with all 3:30 or 7:30 home games and mostly night road games.
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| Lots of Notre Dame fans at this mass. |
Anyway, I walked from mass to Fenway. I wanted to get in early because I didn't have a ticket. John told me what gate to go to. The first guy working there stopped me and asked for my ticket. When I went to a Red Sox game with John over the summer, I just went in with him when he showed up for work. This time was different. I had to be like, "Um, I'm with that guy" as I pointed to John and his mustache. But I was allowed in. I applied in the lottery for tickets and didn't win. The week before the game, I got an email from Notre Dame saying that some tickets had become available. I texted John to see if it was going to be any issue for him to get me in (especially after the attack at the soccer stadium in Paris) and he said it wouldn't be a problem. So this was the second major sporting event that I went to without a ticket and both times were thanks to John. It was also his last event working at Fenway, so the timing of this game was perfect.
I was one of the first fans in the stadium so I had plenty of time to walk around and check out the set up for football. The field was going kind of from the third base side out to right field (as opposed to Yankee Stadium where the field goes out to center field). After walking around, I decided that standing on the right field roof was as good of a view as I was going to get. But I hung out for a little bit right behind the end zone in right field where I had some good views of the Notre Dame offensive skill players warming up.
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| After all the wide receivers went out for a pass, DeShone Kizer would go out and make a catch himself before doing it again going the other way. |
I got myself a Sam Adams Octoberfest before heading up to the right field roof. By the way, I very much underrated Octoberfest on my Beer Power Rankings. My friend Bobby once said, "I love Summer Ale and everything it stands for." I totally agree. I don't love everything Octoberfest stands for (even though my appreciation of the fall has grown greatly in the last ten years), but it is an excellent beer. Anyway, I broke one of my rules this day. I had three beers that were all very spaced out. If I'm going to have three beers in a day, I'd rather have them in a short period of time. That way I'll start feeling a little something from the alcohol. But when I space it out, I just drank a decent amount of alcohol without feeling anything from it. But how often do you get to drink a Sam Adams beer that's only offered in one place in Boston? And how often do you get to drink an Octoberfest at a football game at Fenway Park in late November? The third beer would be a victory beer after the game. By the way, I think my last Summer Ale on tap this summer was at Fenway in August.
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| Octoberfest at Fenway |
Anyway, I'm not going to spend much time talking about the game. If you saw it, you know why. Before the game started, I heard a big roar coming from the bar that was a couple hundred feet from where I was standing. I knew right away that it must have been because Michigan State beat Ohio State. During the game, I was paying attention to Baylor-Oklahoma State on the scoreboard. Thankfully, Baylor won. What didn't work out for us was Oklahoma holding on by one point against TCU. TCU went for two at the end to win an didn't get it. What I learned a couple days later was that they also went for two and didn't get it early in the third quarter. Two extra points and they win. If that's what keeps Notre Dame out of the playoff, that's going to hurt. By the way, it was really cool how they set up the scoreboard on the Green Monster. They had the score for our game, out of town scores, and they also had the scores of all previous Shamrock Series games. The picture of Brian Kelly on the Green Monster was a little ridiculous, though.
We won 19-16 while losing the turnover battle 5-1. And turnovers weren't even the reason it was so close. The two touchdowns that Boston College scored late weren't off turnovers (although we probably would have scored a lot more if not for the turnovers). I watched most of the first quarter by myself. Then John got done working and joined me. I got on the scoreboard at one point during the first half. Neither John or I reacted quickly enough to take a picture of it, but John can verify that I was in fact shown on the Fenway Park scoreboard. I think the camera that showed me was at least 200 feet away by the bar I mentioned earlier. At halftime Wilhelm and his father met up with us. The band saluted the Boston Celtics and the Boston Red Sox. They made a basket and hit a home run over the Green Monster as part of the halftime show. John was entertained by the performance. John took us over to the Green Monster for a little bit in the third quarter. I've seen Wilhelm a lot lately. I went back to after I graduated for the Navy game in the season that must not be discussed. The next time I saw him was more than five years later at the National Championship Game. Our next game after that was Oklahoma in 2013 (which I didn't blog about apparently, understandable). At that point, I said we needed to stop going to games together if we were going to lose every time. The Shamrock Series in Dallas got things turned around. Since then, we've been to wins against Navy (also no blog post), Stanford, and now Boston College (plus I visited him in Texas for a Ranger game). Late in the game they announced the attendance and John said something like, "It's a little more than that." This one wasn't pretty, but whatever, we won. After the game, John and I went to a barbecue place for some delicious food and victory beers.
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| My view for more than half of the game |
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| Part of the band's performance. The pitcher pitches it and the batter hits it over the Green Monster. |
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| John and me |
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| Me and Wilhelm |
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| This was our view from the Green Monster after Chris Brown made a nice touchdown catch. |
I read a lot of negative feedback about the game at Fenway. I think that was entirely because of how poorly we played. If we win this game by four touchdowns, everybody would be talking about how awesome it was. I'm sure there were a lot of seats with bad views and it's way too small to accommodate the demand for tickets so I wouldn't do this often. I would say maybe once ever 20 or 30 years (whereas I'd like to play at Yankee Stadium once or twice every ten years). Here's how I'd rank the Shamrock Series games I've been to:
4. FedEx Field against Maryland in 2011- It's a distant fourth, but these might have been the least offensive uniforms we've worn since we started doing stupid things with the uniforms.
3. JerryWorld against Arizona State in 2013- It was a lot of fun and I'm sure some people would rank this higher. It's the best opponent we've had for a Shamrock Series game (although Miami is historically better).
2. Yankee Stadium against Army in 2010- I love the history of Notre Dame and Army at Yankee Stadium, even if it's not the same Yankee Stadium.
1. Fenway Park against Boston College in 2015- Boston College used to play their home games at Fenway Park until the Red Sox kicked them out. There hadn't been football at Fenway Park since 1968. It took Notre Dame playing a home game there with "Notre Dame" and "Fighting Irish" painted in the end zones to get football and Boston College back to Fenway. This game was just making fun of Boston College. I love Fenway Park and I love Boston.
Surprisingly, this was my first game ever against Boston College. We played them 19 out of 21 years from 1992-2012. The two years we didn't play them was when I was a student there. My record when attending Notre Dame football games is now 29-11. In games I haven't attended since the start of the 2005 season, Notre Dame is 61-37. So Notre Dame has a .725 winning percentage with me and .622 without me. The lesson, as always, I need to go to more games.
Some fans don't like the Shamrock Series in general. I've been to four games and really enjoyed each experience. I would like to get some better opponents. I would be willing to offer schools a more even split in tickets as long as the game stays on NBC (this last one was on NBC Sports Network, I don't know how we let that happen, I don't know if that's the way it's going to be for future Shamrock Series games). I've thought about where I'd like to see the game played. Next year we're going to San Antonio (the first repeat site) to play Army. I have some interest in going to San Antonio, but probably not to see us play Army in a crappy dome. Put me down as doubtful for that one. After that, no other sites have been announced. So here's my wish list of places where we haven't played the Shamrock Series:
St. Louis- But only if it's played in Busch Stadium. The Cardinals have a great franchise and the football stadium there is a crappy dome. We could play a Big 12 or SEC team.
Houston- Playing football in Texas is never bad for recruiting. Again, a Big 12 or SEC team.
Cincinnati- Easy for lots of fans to get to. Maybe play West Virginia or a Big 10 team there.
New Orleans- Again, playing in the South. SEC or Big 12.
Denver- I would want to play BYU or Air Force there.
Toronto- I guess we could play a Big 10 team there.
Seattle- Oregon is the team I'd want to play in Seattle.
Philadelphia- We just played there for a Temple home game. We could probably play an ACC team there.
Those weren't really in any particular order. Here are my top 5:
5. Atlanta- I am fairly convinced that this one will happen some time after Atlanta gets its new stadium. It would have to be a year when we don't play at Georgia (we a series with them coming up) or at Georgia Tech. It's always good for recruiting to play in the South. We could play an SEC team or an ACC team there.
4. Los Angeles- I don't think this will happen since we play in Los Angeles every other year. But I'd want to play at Dodger Stadium (I'm not even sure they could fit a football field in there, but they did play soccer there) against UCLA or any Pac 12 team.
3. Dublin- We did play in Dublin, but that was a Navy home game, not a Shamrock Series game. I'm not in a rush to go back. Maybe 10-15 years from now, but it was awesome. We could probably play anybody there as long as we space it out enough from the last game we played there.
2. Green Bay- Brian Kelly mentioned wanting to play at Lambeau Field in a press conference. I absolutely agree. That's the one NFL Stadium I really want to get to. We could play any Big 10 team there.
1. Rome- The guys on one of the many Notre Dame podcasts I listen to mentioned this one time and they seemed pretty convinced that it's going to happen, but that's the only time I ever heard anything about it. Boston College should definitely be the opponent if it happens.
Of course, New York, Chicago, and Washington could always host Notre Dame. I would say New York (as in Yankee Stadium, not the Meadowlands) and Chicago should both get a game every ten years. And playing in Dallas is always a good idea for recruiting.
Anyway, I hope everybody enjoys my eighth favorite day of the year (although it's probably now behind New Year's Eve/New Year's Day now that college football once again owns New Year's). I'll be drinking Summer Ale with dinner. Saturday is a huge day. Go Oklahoma State! Go Irish!
Monday, November 2, 2015
Hockey in a Basketball Arena
I went to my second college hockey game since graduating on Sunday. The first one was at Fenway Park in January 2014. So I've seen Notre Dame play hockey in a baseball stadium and this game was in a basketball arena that also happens to be the new home of the New York Islanders. I'm thinking about taking a trip back to campus this winter to see them play at the Compton Family Ice Arena. We'll see.
Notre Dame was playing UConn at Barclays Center at 2:30. It was actually game 2 of a doubleheader. The first game was Army and Bentley. I was going with Kyle and we definitely didn't have any interest in the first game. So we met at Barclays Center about 40 minutes before the Notre Dame game. The crowd was small. The Notre Dame box score didn't list attendance. My guess is that it was 2,000, but that might be high. Most of the concession stands were closed. I had a cheeseburger that was very very lackluster. It was okay, but there was nothing special about it at all. The beer selection at Barclays Center is not great (get some Brooklyn stuff in there), but I had a Blue Point Toasted Lager.
I really wanted to go to this game not so much because I care about the hockey team (I'll be interested if we make it to the Frozen Four, but that's about it), but because I wanted to see hockey at Barclays Center. Ticket prices weren't too bad. Kyle and I decided to shell out for really nice seats. We were around the blue line in row 7 for $61. I figure if I go to any Islanders games this year (I don't plan on it) or any time in the next few years, I won't be getting seats like that for less than $100. What we really should have done though was just buy cheap tickets and then moved to better seats. There were plenty of seats open and nobody was checking tickets. But whatever. The setup for hockey is not particularly good. The arena wasn't built for hockey so they have to take out seats on one end to fit in the hockey rink. The ice is off center (which you can notice by comparing center ice to the scoreboard in the middle of the arena). It's kind of weird, but it's not that big of a deal. The really bad thing is if you're sitting on the end where they have to take out seats. You can't see one of the goals if you're sitting on that side. Most of the seats aren't too bad for hockey, but those seats are horrendous.
As for the game, Notre Dame dominated UConn. We beat them 2-1 the night before. This night it would be 8-2. I thought UConn was outplaying us early on, but scored the first goal about nine minutes in and never looked back. It was 3-0 after the first period and then 5-1 after two. Our seventh goal came on a delayed penalty ... on us. UConn pulled the goalie for the extra skater and made a bad pass that went all the way down the ice and into the goal. I don't know if I've ever seen that happen before. One thing that I learned is that Notre Dame has a player that was drafted by the Rangers in 2011. He's a senior at Notre Dame now. He's listed on the Rangers' website on the "In the System" section. I assume the Rangers haven't signed him to a contract, but still have his rights. Fogarty scored one of the eight goals. If he ever makes it to the Rangers, he'll take Ryan McDonagh's spot as my favorite player.
So yeah, it was good to see Kyle and I enjoyed hockey at Barclays Center. I'm sure an Islander game is a different experience with many thousands of people more in attendance, but I got some idea of what it was like. If you go to a game, make sure not to sit on the end where they take out seats. If you do that, your view of the game should be fine. Just be ready for a not very good beer selection.
Notre Dame was playing UConn at Barclays Center at 2:30. It was actually game 2 of a doubleheader. The first game was Army and Bentley. I was going with Kyle and we definitely didn't have any interest in the first game. So we met at Barclays Center about 40 minutes before the Notre Dame game. The crowd was small. The Notre Dame box score didn't list attendance. My guess is that it was 2,000, but that might be high. Most of the concession stands were closed. I had a cheeseburger that was very very lackluster. It was okay, but there was nothing special about it at all. The beer selection at Barclays Center is not great (get some Brooklyn stuff in there), but I had a Blue Point Toasted Lager.
I really wanted to go to this game not so much because I care about the hockey team (I'll be interested if we make it to the Frozen Four, but that's about it), but because I wanted to see hockey at Barclays Center. Ticket prices weren't too bad. Kyle and I decided to shell out for really nice seats. We were around the blue line in row 7 for $61. I figure if I go to any Islanders games this year (I don't plan on it) or any time in the next few years, I won't be getting seats like that for less than $100. What we really should have done though was just buy cheap tickets and then moved to better seats. There were plenty of seats open and nobody was checking tickets. But whatever. The setup for hockey is not particularly good. The arena wasn't built for hockey so they have to take out seats on one end to fit in the hockey rink. The ice is off center (which you can notice by comparing center ice to the scoreboard in the middle of the arena). It's kind of weird, but it's not that big of a deal. The really bad thing is if you're sitting on the end where they have to take out seats. You can't see one of the goals if you're sitting on that side. Most of the seats aren't too bad for hockey, but those seats are horrendous.
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| This was my first look at the ice. You can't see the goal on the near side. |
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| Our view for the game was very good. |
As for the game, Notre Dame dominated UConn. We beat them 2-1 the night before. This night it would be 8-2. I thought UConn was outplaying us early on, but scored the first goal about nine minutes in and never looked back. It was 3-0 after the first period and then 5-1 after two. Our seventh goal came on a delayed penalty ... on us. UConn pulled the goalie for the extra skater and made a bad pass that went all the way down the ice and into the goal. I don't know if I've ever seen that happen before. One thing that I learned is that Notre Dame has a player that was drafted by the Rangers in 2011. He's a senior at Notre Dame now. He's listed on the Rangers' website on the "In the System" section. I assume the Rangers haven't signed him to a contract, but still have his rights. Fogarty scored one of the eight goals. If he ever makes it to the Rangers, he'll take Ryan McDonagh's spot as my favorite player.
So yeah, it was good to see Kyle and I enjoyed hockey at Barclays Center. I'm sure an Islander game is a different experience with many thousands of people more in attendance, but I got some idea of what it was like. If you go to a game, make sure not to sit on the end where they take out seats. If you do that, your view of the game should be fine. Just be ready for a not very good beer selection.
Thursday, October 15, 2015
October 15
October 15. It brings up some emotions. If I had been old enough to appreciate October 15, 1988, it probably would have been the greatest day of my life. Number 4 Notre Dame was hosting number 1 Miami in the afternoon. Catholics vs. Convicts. But of course, as Lou Holtz said, “They called it ‘Catholics vs. Convicts.’ I didn’t like that. Because not everyone on our team was Catholic.” It was the fifth game the two teams had played in six years. In the previous four games, Miami won all four by a combined score of 133-20. Wow. I hadn’t even realized that until I started working on this post. But this day would be different. It started with the pregame fight and Lou’s pregame speech (Rocket Ismail's version is the best, see the first video below). Miami scored with 45 seconds left to make it 31-30. Pat Terrell batted down the pass to preserve the win for the Irish, who would go on to win the National Championship.
The day was just getting started. It was Game 1 of the World Series at night. The A’s led 4-3 at Dodger Stadium with the best relief pitcher in baseball on the mound for the ninth. Dennis Eckersley got the first two guys out. Baseball Reference says that the A’s had a 96% chance of winning at that point. But Mike Davis drew a walk, which brought up Kirk Gibson as a pinch hitter. He hit a 3-2 slider out to win the game for the Dodgers and they would go on to win the World Series in five games. This is probably my second sports memory. My first is going to Shea Stadium in September 1988 for a Dodgers-Mets game that was rained out. I probably didn’t watch Gibson’s home run live. In fact, I might not have watched any of that World Series live. But I do remember knowing that it happened.
I had no knowledge of Notre Dame-Miami in 1988 and as I said, I probably didn’t watch Gibson’s home run when it happened. But I do remember another October 15 much better. It was ten years ago today. Number 9 Notre Dame against number 1 USC at Notre Dame Stadium. USC had won 27 games in a row.* Miami’s regular season winning streak had been 36 until we beat them in 1988. Tyrone Willingham had lost to USC three straight years by 31 points each year (he was consistent). But with a new coach, we completely believed that we were going to win (it's hard to believe a Charlie Weis team played as well is we did that day). I thought I knew the formula. Charlie Weis was on Bill Parcells’s staff for Super Bowl XXV when the Giants upset the Bills. The Giants dominated time of possession (40:33-19:27) and showed the Bills a defense they had never seen before (a 2-3 instead of their usual 3-4). I also said that we'd win if we didn’t turn the ball over. Not turning the ball over went out the window early as Brady Quinn threw an interception on our second possession. Anthony Fasano had a big fumble deep in USC territory in the third quarter. We did dominate time of possession, though (38:40-21:20). But we did not show USC a defense that they hadn’t seen before.
Here’s what I remember about the first three quarters of that game (perhaps not in chronological order): Seeing the grass blow in the wind because we had let it grow so long to slow down USC’s players. Brady Quinn’s interception early. Tom Zbikowski’s punt return. Reggie Bush being the best player on the field.** Chanting “Ballroom Dancing” after at least one of Matt Leinart’s two interceptions. Anthony Fasano’s fumble. Jeff Samardzija’s touchdown.
We took a 21-14 lead on Tom Zbikowski’s punt return touchdown in the second quarter. USC tied it in the third. We kicked a field goal to go up 24-21, but then Reggie Bush** ran for a touchdown to give USC the lead with 5:09 to play. I was still confident. I remember telling people that the Legend of Brady Quinn was about to start. And he did lead a beautiful drive. He scored on a quarterback draw with 2:04 left to put us up 31-28. I remember thinking that we might have scored too quickly.
USC got the ball back. Leinart threw an incomplete pass and then was sacked by Trevor Laws for a loss of ten. On third and 20, Leinart completed an eleven yard pass to Reggie Bush**. It was fourth and nine. We were one play away from winning the game. And then everything went wrong. Leinart completed a 61 yard pass to Dwayne Jarrett that Ambrose Wooden was so close to breaking up. Wooden caught him and made the tackle at the Notre Dame 13. Obviously, he had to try to stop him from scoring, but we actually would have been better off if Jarrett had scored. But we still had a chance. An incomplete pass and two Reggie Bush** runs gave USC a first down at the Notre Dame 2.
Everybody remembers the Bush** Push two plays later, but it was the play before USC scored that still kills me. Leinart scrambled and fumbled. The clock ticked down to zero and I was among the students that stormed the field. I saw Leinart’s fumble go out of bounds and I figured that time would be put back on the clock, but I wasn’t going to not storm the field when everybody was. Of course, they put seven seconds on the clock and Bush** pushed Leinart into the end zone to give USC the win. But let’s think about what could have happened when Leinart was hit on the play before:
Leinart holds on to the ball: clock expires.
Leinart fumbles the ball in bounds and Notre Dame recovers: we take a knee and the game is over.
Leinart fumbles the ball in bounds and USC recovers: clock expires.
Leinart fumbles the ball out of the end zone: touchback, we take a knee, game over.
All of those things would resulted in us winning the game. Instead, the fumble went out at the one and stopped the clock. USC benefitted from fumbling. That’s what always killed me about the end of the game.
As for the push, I can’t get too upset about it. Bush** had to try it. They lose if he doesn’t. If Darius Walker had done it to Brady Quinn, there’s no way that penalty gets called against Notre Dame in Notre Dame Stadium (well, maybe Big Ten officials would have called it). I don’t even remember if I saw that play. I was on the sideline in front of the student section after being ushered off the field.
I had my dad tape the game. I rewatched it later, but I could only watch one quarter at a time. It was too much to take all at once. Even watching the highlights today was difficult. I always said I needed to be there in person for us beating USC to get over that game. In some ways, beating them in 2012 with a spot in the National Championship Game on the line for us was enough. And I was there in 2013 for a win over USC (a really crappy game for both teams, but we won). But I’ve only been to one other game that was comparable in terms of being a big game and we got blown out. That’s what I still want to see in person. I need to see a good to great Notre Dame team beat a great opponent (preferably USC, but I’ll take anybody).
So the Dodgers play another big game on October 15 tonight (the other thing I need to see is the Dodgers winning a World Series, but I’ll settle for watching that one on TV). Notre Dame has another matchup with USC on Saturday. Hopefully both will go my way. Go Dodgers! Go Irish!
*Wins 21-27 of that streak never happened.
**It must be noted that Reggie Bush was a professional football player playing college football.
The day was just getting started. It was Game 1 of the World Series at night. The A’s led 4-3 at Dodger Stadium with the best relief pitcher in baseball on the mound for the ninth. Dennis Eckersley got the first two guys out. Baseball Reference says that the A’s had a 96% chance of winning at that point. But Mike Davis drew a walk, which brought up Kirk Gibson as a pinch hitter. He hit a 3-2 slider out to win the game for the Dodgers and they would go on to win the World Series in five games. This is probably my second sports memory. My first is going to Shea Stadium in September 1988 for a Dodgers-Mets game that was rained out. I probably didn’t watch Gibson’s home run live. In fact, I might not have watched any of that World Series live. But I do remember knowing that it happened.
I had no knowledge of Notre Dame-Miami in 1988 and as I said, I probably didn’t watch Gibson’s home run when it happened. But I do remember another October 15 much better. It was ten years ago today. Number 9 Notre Dame against number 1 USC at Notre Dame Stadium. USC had won 27 games in a row.* Miami’s regular season winning streak had been 36 until we beat them in 1988. Tyrone Willingham had lost to USC three straight years by 31 points each year (he was consistent). But with a new coach, we completely believed that we were going to win (it's hard to believe a Charlie Weis team played as well is we did that day). I thought I knew the formula. Charlie Weis was on Bill Parcells’s staff for Super Bowl XXV when the Giants upset the Bills. The Giants dominated time of possession (40:33-19:27) and showed the Bills a defense they had never seen before (a 2-3 instead of their usual 3-4). I also said that we'd win if we didn’t turn the ball over. Not turning the ball over went out the window early as Brady Quinn threw an interception on our second possession. Anthony Fasano had a big fumble deep in USC territory in the third quarter. We did dominate time of possession, though (38:40-21:20). But we did not show USC a defense that they hadn’t seen before.
Here’s what I remember about the first three quarters of that game (perhaps not in chronological order): Seeing the grass blow in the wind because we had let it grow so long to slow down USC’s players. Brady Quinn’s interception early. Tom Zbikowski’s punt return. Reggie Bush being the best player on the field.** Chanting “Ballroom Dancing” after at least one of Matt Leinart’s two interceptions. Anthony Fasano’s fumble. Jeff Samardzija’s touchdown.
We took a 21-14 lead on Tom Zbikowski’s punt return touchdown in the second quarter. USC tied it in the third. We kicked a field goal to go up 24-21, but then Reggie Bush** ran for a touchdown to give USC the lead with 5:09 to play. I was still confident. I remember telling people that the Legend of Brady Quinn was about to start. And he did lead a beautiful drive. He scored on a quarterback draw with 2:04 left to put us up 31-28. I remember thinking that we might have scored too quickly.
USC got the ball back. Leinart threw an incomplete pass and then was sacked by Trevor Laws for a loss of ten. On third and 20, Leinart completed an eleven yard pass to Reggie Bush**. It was fourth and nine. We were one play away from winning the game. And then everything went wrong. Leinart completed a 61 yard pass to Dwayne Jarrett that Ambrose Wooden was so close to breaking up. Wooden caught him and made the tackle at the Notre Dame 13. Obviously, he had to try to stop him from scoring, but we actually would have been better off if Jarrett had scored. But we still had a chance. An incomplete pass and two Reggie Bush** runs gave USC a first down at the Notre Dame 2.
Everybody remembers the Bush** Push two plays later, but it was the play before USC scored that still kills me. Leinart scrambled and fumbled. The clock ticked down to zero and I was among the students that stormed the field. I saw Leinart’s fumble go out of bounds and I figured that time would be put back on the clock, but I wasn’t going to not storm the field when everybody was. Of course, they put seven seconds on the clock and Bush** pushed Leinart into the end zone to give USC the win. But let’s think about what could have happened when Leinart was hit on the play before:
Leinart holds on to the ball: clock expires.
Leinart fumbles the ball in bounds and Notre Dame recovers: we take a knee and the game is over.
Leinart fumbles the ball in bounds and USC recovers: clock expires.
Leinart fumbles the ball out of the end zone: touchback, we take a knee, game over.
All of those things would resulted in us winning the game. Instead, the fumble went out at the one and stopped the clock. USC benefitted from fumbling. That’s what always killed me about the end of the game.
As for the push, I can’t get too upset about it. Bush** had to try it. They lose if he doesn’t. If Darius Walker had done it to Brady Quinn, there’s no way that penalty gets called against Notre Dame in Notre Dame Stadium (well, maybe Big Ten officials would have called it). I don’t even remember if I saw that play. I was on the sideline in front of the student section after being ushered off the field.
I had my dad tape the game. I rewatched it later, but I could only watch one quarter at a time. It was too much to take all at once. Even watching the highlights today was difficult. I always said I needed to be there in person for us beating USC to get over that game. In some ways, beating them in 2012 with a spot in the National Championship Game on the line for us was enough. And I was there in 2013 for a win over USC (a really crappy game for both teams, but we won). But I’ve only been to one other game that was comparable in terms of being a big game and we got blown out. That’s what I still want to see in person. I need to see a good to great Notre Dame team beat a great opponent (preferably USC, but I’ll take anybody).
So the Dodgers play another big game on October 15 tonight (the other thing I need to see is the Dodgers winning a World Series, but I’ll settle for watching that one on TV). Notre Dame has another matchup with USC on Saturday. Hopefully both will go my way. Go Dodgers! Go Irish!
*Wins 21-27 of that streak never happened.
**It must be noted that Reggie Bush was a professional football player playing college football.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Happy October!
I have some quick (or possibly rambling) thoughts on college football before I get to baseball. The best thing about college football is also the worst thing about college football. Notre Dame lost a game in early October and now we have no room for error. Even going 11-1 might not be enough to make the playoff. I'm not worried about 11-1 for now. We just need to take care of business the next two weeks. Beat Navy and USC and it can still be a really good year. But I have a bone to pick with Brian Kelly. He went for two after cutting Clemson's lead from 18 to 12 early in the fourth quarter. I'm surprised the reaction to that decision hasn't been more negative. Even though it hasn't been more negative, I haven't really heard anybody make a great case for going for two there (I think Herbstreit came the closest during the game). Here's the case for going for two:
You've scored a touchdown and you have two more possessions left (it turned out to be three, but that's not a crazy assumption). It's all about a fourth down in field goal range on the next possession. I field goal only helps you if you can make an extra point and a two point conversion on two touchdowns. So if you go touchdown, extra point, field goal, touchdown, and then miss a two point conversion on your last possession, that field goal was useless. But if you go for it after the first touchdown and get it, the field goal makes it a seven point game. If you don't get it, you avoid a useless field goal. You know you have to score two touchdowns.
The chart said to go for two. Here's my response:
The chart is wrong. Nowhere in that line of reasoning does it take into account the fact that the other team can score again also. The other team getting a field goal is a reasonable possibility (it's not like not going for two because a safety could mess up your plans). And there's no guarantee that you're going to have a fourth down in field goal range on your next possession. Don't go for two until you know you need to. If you just keep scoring touchdowns (which you probably have to when you're down that much), either you go for two when you need to or if everything goes well, you don't need to worry about it at all.
Enough of that. Let's talk baseball. Clayton Kershaw had a fantastic finish to the season. He had his second best start ever, a one-hitter against the Giants to clinch the division. He might not win the Cy Young, but he's still the best pitcher in baseball. Zack Greinke doesn't give you the last two starts against the Giants that Kershaw gave you. Here are Kershaw's career numbers against the Giants: 16-7, 227 and a third innings pitched, 1.54 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 243 strikeouts, 5 shutouts (out of 12 in his career). That's insane. His WHIP against the Giants is the best all time for one pitcher against another team with at least 150 innings pitched (Koufax against the Mets is second, Koufax against the Astros is third). His ERA against the Giants is the fourth best all time (Koufax against the Mets is first).
There's only one thing left to do for Kershaw. It's time for him to dominate the playoffs. Let's review his postseason performance. He's 1-5 with a 5.12 ERA. Not good. But we do need to dig a little deeper. We might as well throw out 2008 and 2009. That's his rookie year and two years before his first Cy Young. Then he wasn't back in the playoffs until 2013. He had two starts against the Braves. He went a total of 13 innings and gave up one earned run on six hits and four walks. Very good. Then he pitched two games against the Cardinals. In the first, he went six and gave up one unearned run on two hits and a walk. He came out for a pinch hitter because the Dodgers were losing 1-0 (which ended up being the final score). So he had three very good starts and then Game 6 happened. Four innings, seven runs, he was terrible. Last year wasn't good, but again we need to dig deeper. He started Game 1 against the Cardinals. He gave up a run in the first and a run in the sixth. Then he couldn't get out of the seventh. You'd like Kershaw to be able to get out of that and he didn't get the job done, but Mattingly also left him in too long. And Mattingly left him in too long because the bullpen was terrible. I'm not excusing Kershaw, but that game wasn't as bad as his line in the box score would lead you to believe. In Game 4, Kershaw was great for six innings (one hit, two walks, no runs). And then he couldn't get the job done in the seventh. If I remember correctly, Hanley Ramirez didn't get to a ball that a non-terrible shortstop would have gotten to. Again Mattingly left him in too long because he didn't trust the bullpen. He gave up two singles and a home run to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead. So really only one of his last six playoff starts was a complete disaster. I hope this is the year that he wins a World Series MVP.
What about the Cy Young? I broke it down a month ago. Let's revisit it. I went through the numbers today. Here's some relevant information (with NL ranks in parentheses):
|
|
Greinke
|
Arrieta
|
Kershaw
|
|
ERA
|
1.66 (1st)
|
1.77 (2nd)
|
2.13 (3rd)
|
|
WHIP
|
0.84 (1st)
|
0.86 (2nd)
|
0.88 (3rd)
|
|
Innings
|
222 2/3 (4th)
|
229 (2nd)
|
232 1/3 (1st)
|
|
Strikeouts
|
200 (11th)
|
236 (3rd)
|
301 (1st)
|
|
Opponents' BA
|
.187 (2nd)
|
.185 (1st)
|
.194 (3rd)
|
|
Opponents' OBP
|
.231 (1st)
|
.236 (2nd)
|
.237 (3rd)
|
|
Opponents' SLG
|
.276 (2nd)
|
.271 (1st)
|
.287 (3rd)
|
|
K/BB
|
5.00 (7th)
|
4.92 (8th)
|
7.17 (2nd)
|
|
Complete Games
|
1 (9th)
|
4 (1st)
|
4 (1st)
|
|
Shutouts
|
0
|
3 (1st)
|
3 (1st)
|
|
No-hitters
|
0
|
1* (2nd)
|
0
|
|
FIP
|
2.76 (5th)
|
2.35 (2nd)
|
1.99 (1st)
|
|
xFIP
|
3.22 (10th)
|
2.61 (2nd)
|
2.09 (1st)
|
The asterisk for Arrieta's no-hitter is because he gave up a hit to the Dodgers that was scored an error (it's amazing that one no-hitter was only good for second in the league and that Max Scherzer is clearly outside the top three Cy Young candidates). Kershaw also threw a one-hitter. So who wins? I don't know. You could make a legitimate case for any of the three. And you could put any of the three in third place. If you place a lot of emphasis on strikeouts, Greinke is in trouble (although it's interesting that he's a lot closer to Arrieta in total strikeouts than Arrieta is to Kershaw even though he's not as close in rank). If you place a lot of emphasis on FIP and/or xFIP, then Greinke is in trouble again. And Kershaw is probably your guy. I don't place a lot of emphasis on those stats. An out is an out. A strikeout greatly reduces the risk of something bad happening (you're much more likely to reach base on a batted ball than a strikeout), but sometimes it's not the best thing (a double play is almost always better than a strikeout). Strikeouts also drive up pitch counts. As for FIP and xFIP, they're theoretical statistics. They don't tell me about what actually happened in actual games (I include them because they're easy to understand). The other thing going for Kershaw is that he's the only one that's in the top three in every category there (except for no-hitters). But when you look at what actually happened in baseball games this year, Greinke was the best. Greinke has the best ERA since Greg Maddux 20 years ago and the fourth best WHIP since 1920 (check this out for more information). He also had in ERA under 2.00 after every start of the season. And he pitched at least six innings in every start (something Arrieta and Kershaw can't say). So here's my ballot:
1. Zack Greinke
2. Jake Arrieta
3. Clayton Kershaw
I won't be disappointed if Kershaw wins though. And I have no idea if that's how it will actually shake out.
I don't plan on posting again for a while. Ideally, my next post will come after the Dodgers win the World Series. But the Notre Dame-USC game and some other stuff could definitely lead to a post or two.
Go Irish! Go Dodgers!
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