November 5, 2007
Weis passes on chance to win, Irish nation erupts
To say that some of the most loyal Notre Dame fans are angry would be the most liberal euphamism one could imagine.
To put it more accurately... "BUG-EYED mad. Pissed off. Spitting bullets." Yeah, that might be more accurate, or at least that's how Jay put it... until he removed his post at the Irish blog of record (at least for my money), The Blue-Gray Sky.
(In the interest of full disclosure, I feel obliged to mention that BGS has always been nice to Fanblogs and we have always had a huge man-crush on them.)
But - as Brian at MGoBlog notes - nothing ever really disappears on the Internet. MGoBlog located the "missing" post and republished Jay's sentiments in their entirity.
(Warning: bad language follows. This is an R-rated post -- please skip it if you are sensitive. If you choose to read it, please picture Chevy Chase in Vacation or Steve Martin at the rental car counter in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and you should get the sense and tone of my exasperation here.)
BUG-EYED mad. Pissed off. Spitting bullets. Even after a night of sleeping on it, I wake up supremely angry. Maybe even angrier than when I went to sleep. So mad I can't even see straight.
I can't figure it out. You have a chance to WIN THE GAME IN REGULATION and you just pass on it. You just waive it. It's the singular worst call of the Charlie Weis era. My foundation of trust is shaken to its core. Any slack Charlie had with me for this shitty season was just squandered and used up.
Jay goes on to absolutely scew Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis. I'll summarize it... one of the alleged smartest minds in football passed on a 41-yard field goal chance to win... but you should read the whole thing.
The sad part of all this is... Jay is right. Despite "working blue" with the liberal use of the seven words you can't say on television, the post is 100% dead-on.
Notre Dame had the ball at the 24-yard line on fourth down with seconds remaining, and Weis opted to go for the first down rather than kick for the win the game. I don't know if you can put the loss completely on Weis's shoulders, but you can certainly tag not winning on the coach.
And even Weis can't defend the decision, instead talking circles around the call.
Q. This may be picking at it or something, I don't know. But how close were you to saying 41 seconds left, regardless how long a shot this is, we should just try this and try to make some sort of moment and roll the dice?COACH WEIS: My intent was to kick the field goal on fourth down. That's why I ran the stretch play to the right on third down. But when we got tackled for a loss, I had made up my mind if we got the ball anywhere close to the 20, we were going to try the field goal. But when you're now still at the 24, 24 and a half, it wasn't a consideration anymore.
Perhaps Coach Weis has forgotten the immortal words of the great Herman Edwards... You play to win the game!"
You play to win the game. Period. Charlie Weis chose not to. Period.
Hat Tips: Brian @ MGoBlog, Ben Ford, and everyone at Blue Gray Sky
Comments:
gatorstud said:
posted on November 5, 2007 10:50 AM — 69.95.111.248 — link — abuse?
i woke up saturday morning and recieved a phone call from an irish freind in south bend and asked if i wanted to take my kids to the notre dame - navy game, he had three extra tickets because his wife was taking the two girls to a recital and couldn't go...so i said what the heck, a chance to take my kids to NOTRE DAME STADIUM, the house that rockne built......
i dressed them accordingly in blue and gold, i was wearing my traditional gator hoodie and off we went.....my sons came to a complete stop when he saw the field for the first time...all he could do was just stand there and stare......i had to nudge him to keep moving towards our seats......we were seated in the southern endzone and was greeted by many freindly irish faithful who had come outo cheer for their irish and continue the streak.....and yes...i caught crap for my orange and blue attire, but all in fun...
i kept talking to my son about all the history and tradition that was, is, and always be NOTRE DAME......
and then to watch charlie weiss just throw that game away.....was just an undescribable feeling.....and i am not an irish fan.....the shock in those fans faces said it all...to not go for the field goal....was simply horrendous....to throw the ball with a little over a minute left was a stupid decision in itself...why stop the effin clock...why.....run two more times...run the clock down to 6 or 7 seconds..and give your team a chance to win....if the kick fails..then you still go into ovetime.....
BAD COACHING, lost that game for the irish.....
back to my kids......my ten yr. old twins had to endure all kinds of language and displays of hatred after the game, not directed at them, but towards charlie weiss as we walked back to our car.....and all my son could muster up is....
why wouldn't the coach want to win the game???????
that is the question charlie will have to live with in this game.....WHY.....your team put themselves in an opportunity to win the game and he let them down......43 yr streak lost on a 4th and 8 from the 25....and he has to explain that horrible play calling to ever irish faithful.......
and one ten yr. old.......
jmho...
go gators...and hokies
Lennie Collins
posted on November 5, 2007 11:11 AM — 67.67.197.165 — link — abuse?
said:
What is it gonna take for the Irish to realize that Charlie Weis is not the man for the job. The LONGEST win streak, College or Pro, over one opponent 43 GAMES ended on his watch! I guess if Duke beats 'em that might?
Mr2Bits said:
posted on November 5, 2007 12:08 PM — 66.89.151.21 — link — abuse?
As I watched this transpire, I stood there wondering what the hell this fat ass was thinking. After he didn’t go for a 41 yard field goal, I knew the Irish just lost the game. The only thing that ran through my head was all the Irish fan interviews at the beginning of this abysmal season saying, "I don’t care what happens this season, as long as we beat Navy".
gatorstud said:
posted on November 5, 2007 1:23 PM — 69.95.111.248 — link — abuse?
phily irish, irishburgh, jeff from san diego....come on out.....
you all defended your irish when they were getting smacked down about bcs money allowment......come on out and talk about your irish now....tell us what you guys think about this loss.....we need to hear from irish fans on this.....
go gators...and hokies
Diggs the Mountie said:
posted on November 5, 2007 2:07 PM — 76.114.231.180 — link — abuse?
Guy guys guys! Hold up here a second. Front-Butt-Chuck just seems to have outsmarted himself here. C'mon I mean even genius's have bad days from time to time;)
This guy is no Head Football Coach.......end of story.Philly Irish said:
posted on November 5, 2007 3:20 PM — 151.191.175.231 — link — abuse?
That game on Saturday was terrible. There is no excuse for Notre Dame this week. I think that they are going to have to go back to Clausen for these last three weeks so they have a better idea as to what to expect from him next year. I still have faith in Coach Weis, but I can't defend his decision to go for it on 4th and 8 from the 24. You have to try to kick the game winning field goal in that situation. I still think that ND will be a good team next year. Go Irish!
OU-Ron
posted on November 5, 2007 3:43 PM — 216.201.209.146 — link — abuse? said:
@12, Philly, I have to give it up to ya, if you're still a fan of Charlie after that awful display of coaching, then nothing will ever change your mind. Good luck, because ND fans will need all they can get if that lard ass stays on as their coach..
Lennie Collins
posted on November 5, 2007 3:54 PM — 67.67.197.165 — link — abuse? said:
Notre Dame fans will rather put up with not only losing but does not want to admit that Tyrone Willingham was not given enough time. I am almost sure that next year Notre Dame will be good will be heard in the 2008 season!
Philly Irish said:
posted on November 5, 2007 4:00 PM — 151.191.175.231 — link — abuse?
OU-Ron:
I'm not defending Coach Weis on the Navy game. That was brutal to watch. I've been giving him the benefit of the doubt because so far this year the Irish have been playing teams that had more experience and superior talent. That was not the case against Navy so a large amount of the blame has to fall on Charlie's shoulders. I'm just saying that as bad as things are right now I still have faith that Coach Weis will get things turned around next year. If he doesn't he won't be back in 2009.
TampaGator said:
posted on November 5, 2007 4:23 PM — 205.188.116.136 — link — abuse?
In defense of Notre Dame:
Ya' see...
...wut had happend wuz...
...well, it's like this, ya' see, Navy has such a great...
Ah forget it. There's no defending it. He may as well have called an intentional interception. (Maybe he wagered against ND, who knows...).
Weis appears to be in way over his head, and the only thing saving him is that 10 year monstrosity (extension). I simply do not see Notre Dame eating that contract (not a fat joke, but I'm sure some of y'all can find a way to turn it in to one--or should I simply say, NPI).
It was a hell of a game anyway, and if you're goin' to lose to Navy for the first time in 4+ decades, may as well do it in a year that you're 1 for the season.
Notwithstanding my quasi-fandom (or is it fanfare, whatever) for Notre Dame, I was happy as hell for Navy--who wasn't? That damn monkey had practically grown roots in USNA's back!
Go middies, go Irish, and...
GO GATORS!!gOSU27 said:
posted on November 5, 2007 4:37 PM — 207.74.25.36 — link — abuse?
WHAT WAS WEIS FRICKIN THINKING!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
that makes me so madi never minded the ole irish myself and that just pissed me off.
im fine w/ navy breaking the streak, but what a stupid way to go down. their kicker had hit a 48 yarder earlier in the season idk what held him back
Zac said:
posted on November 6, 2007 1:49 PM — 209.36.193.14 — link — abuse?
I once watched a program titled, “What On Earth Were You Thinking?” It illustrated real 10 life circumstances (Some had to be re-enacted.) involving some of the most flaming idiots to ever contaminate a gene pool.
The circumstance which garnered the distinction of being #1 involved a traveler who got a room at hotel which featured a pool and Jacuzzi. After a swim, our hero took a dip in said Jacuzzi.
Alone, and apparently board, he noticed the suction port, and decided to entertain an experiment. He positioned himself directly in front of the suction port and inserted his (I’ll let everyone at this point use his or her imagination.) into the suction port. Once “nature began taking its course”, he discovered his (Insert imagination at will) was stuck and couldn’t get it free.
He stood there in this pool unable to do anything more than call for help, until finally a hotel attendant arrived. Racked with complete disbelief at what this moron had done, the attendant caught a similar case of dumb-ass.
There was an emergency shut-off breaker, which the individual could have thrown, which would have at least secured the suction. Instead, our new hero went straight to the phone to call 911.
Ramblin Gator (Post 14), you think you lost a little diet Coke? It’s been said the 911 dispatcher pissed herself, she was laughing so hard.
Eventually, an ambulance was dispatched to the scene. One of the paramedics thought to immediately shut down power to the Jacuzzi. Our original hero was set free, and unfortunately released back into the gene pool, along with the moronic attendant.
Now, WHY, you ask, did I go through all that on a college football thread discussing a bad call on 4th down, in FG range, to win the game? gOSU27 (Post 20) – Did I answer the question? The point is, after that call, if Weiss belongs anywhere, it’s on that program. Nuff Said!!!
scmarines said:
posted on November 7, 2007 3:45 PM — 165.166.57.234 — link — abuse?
I have always like Notre Dame, but you fans are unbelievable. Most years the Irish are overated before and during the season. This year they return 4 starters on Offense and 5 on Defense. They have 2 RS Fresh QB 1 True Fresh. A OL that needs experience and ya'll thought they had a chance. Get real man, Mary isnt going to save you every time!!
NDSUX.COM
posted on November 10, 2007 5:38 AM — 65.65.208.14 — link — abuse? said:
WHAT BOWL WILL ND PLAY IN THIS YEAR? HOW ABOUT THE TOILET BOWL!!! YOU IRISH FANS SHOULD HAVE KNOWN CHARLIE HAD PROBLEMS AND NO COMMON SENSE WHEN YOU WATCHED HIM IN A BOWL GAME AGAINST THE OSU A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO EAT SNOT ON THE SIDE LINE WHILE ALL THE CAMERAS WERE WATCHING HIM. HIS NOSE WAS RUNNING, INSTEAD OF CLEANING IT WITH TISSUE OR A TOWEL, BIG CHARLIE LICKED IT UP, COULD NOT LET GOOD FOOD GO TO WASTE! I SAT THERE IN AMAZEMENT THAT A GROWN MAN DID NOT HAVE SENSE ENOUGH TO BLOW HIS NOSE ON NATIONAL TV!! NOTRE DAME GOT EXACTLY WHAT THEY DESERVED! GO AIR FORCE!!!!!!!
posted on November 10, 2007 11:31 AM — 64.12.116.136 — link — abuse?War Eagle Atlanta
said:
#25: You're an idiot. When you make your post in all caps, it's reminiscent of a 14 year old. No one is going to read it.
Also, if you're going to hate on a team, act like a man and quit hiding behind your ND sux moniker. Fly your team's colors so that others might be able to return the favor.
I'm no fan of ND, but you're just a coward. Why don't you just move along now?
Icarus' Wing said:
posted on November 11, 2007 1:17 AM — 76.211.128.130 — link — abuse?
have been a loyal Notre Dame fan for over 25 years now and have been through the highs and the lows during that stretch. Although it has long become a forgone conclusion that this season cannot be salvaged, I would like to comment on Charlie Weis. First of all, I agree with #24's assessment re: the experience and comparative lack of athleticism of the ND players. That said, Charlie and his entire staff have probably resorted to smoke and mirrors in practices and meetings in terms of preparing the players each week. This season has been very difficult to endure and, mercifully, it will come to an end soon. Because I am not a fair weather fan, I will continue to support the Irish with my usual fervor. However, I am expecting next season to bear major fruit and if it doesn't, I'll have to join those who'll be lobbying for Charlie's removal. GO IRISH!
Please note that all comments are subject to the Fanblogs Comment Policy.
gatorhippy
said:
posted on November 5, 2007 10:23 AM — 209.16.115.5 — link — abuse?Charlie's ass is frying on the hot seat like the cheeseburgers he holds so dear...