The Notre Dame Fighting Irish lost to the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans 34-27 Saturday afternoon in South Bend.
The Irish appeared to be on the cusp of being blown-out when Trojans running back Joe McKnight scored to make it a 34-14 game with only thirteen minutes remaining in regulation.
However, instead of going into the fetal position, Notre Dame (4-2) valiantly battled back and cut the deficit to one touchdown.
Unfortunately for fans of the Irish, that is as close as Notre Dame would come to defeating USC (5-1) for the first time in eight attempts.
“Anybody who says there’s no fight in the Fighting Irish is missing the boat,” said embattled Notre Dame Head Coach Charlie Weis, 53, who was given $40 million and a five-year contract to coach the Irish.
“Down three scores to these guys…there’s a lot of hurtin’ puppies in that locker room right now. But there’s plenty of fight in this team, I guarantee you that.”
There may be “plenty of fight in this” Notre Dame squad that is entirely stocked with Weis’ recruits.
Still, a loss is a loss and Weis is now 0-5 against one of the Irish’s most hated rivals.
“It’s just a heartbreaker,” Notre Dame junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen said. “Period.”
The Irish will host the Boston College Eagles Saturday in a game that they simply can’t afford to lose.
Following the game against the Eagles, Notre Dame is scheduled to play Pittsburgh, Navy and Stanford.
If Notre Dame somehow manages to go undefeated henceforth, they will likely earn an invitation to a BCS bowl game for the third time in Weis’ five-year tenure.
Despite the fact that Weis seems to have his program on the upswing, it may be time for Notre Dame administrators to find a new leader for their football team.
When Weis was hired in 2004, he boldly proclaimed that his “brilliant” offensive mind would provide the Irish with a “decided schematic advantage” against their opponents.
Since that time, Weis, whose Irish are currently unranked, lost a school record 15 games over a span of two seasons in 2007 and 2008 and he has been defeated in his last seven matchups versus top-10 teams.
It is simply false advertising to claim that Weis is some kind of a spectacular offensive guru on the sidelines.
In reality, Weis is an average offensive coordinator who has next to zero motivational skills.
College football coaches who thrive in their profession are more often than not inspirational leaders who are able to arouse the emotions of their teams.
Weis does not possess those imperative qualities.
The benchmark for all college coaches is USC honcho “Big Balls” Pete Carroll. Carroll, 58, who owns the highest winning percentage (85.2%) among all active coaches, has a vibrant personality that is ideal for teaching college athletes.
Weis is nothing more than sarcastic and outdated.
Pete Carroll may never leave the USC program and he certainly is not a candidate to replace Weis.
But, Jon Gruden, who helped lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a victory in Super Bowl XXXVII, has some of Carroll’s traits both on and off of the field.
Gruden, 46, was fired by the Bucs in January and he currently is employed as a color commentator on ESPN Monday Night Football.
“Chucky,” a graduate of Clay High School in South Bend, Indiana, has consistently said that he is a professional coach and he does not desire a position in the collegiate ranks.
Although Notre Dame should no longer be considered an elite college football program, Notre Dame is still Notre Dame and leading the Irish on the gridiron is absolutely still a glamorous job.
Gruden’s father, Jim, served as an assistant coach to Dan Devine for the Irish from 1976-1979.
Needless to say, Gruden has ample ties to both South Bend and its fabled university. Gruden will absolutely receive numerous job offers from NFL owners once the 2009 season concludes.
Yet, what job would possibly be more lucrative than coaching the Notre Dame Fighting Irish?
Provided that Gruden will relent and listen to overtures, Notre Dame’s hierarchy needs to lure the Super Bowl-winning coach to South Bend at any costs.
If “Chucky” does not become the head coach of the Fighting Irish, the horrors will likely continue in South Bend under Weis.
The New York Yankees bludgeoned the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 10-1 in Game 4 of the ALCS Tuesday night at Angel Stadium of Anaheim to move within one victory of their first trip to the World Series since the 2003 season.
Yankees ace lefthander C.C. Sabathia allowed only one run on five hits and two walks over eight stellar innings to help New York take a commanding 3-1 lead over the Angels in the best-of-seven series.
“He was spectacular again,” Yankees Manager Joe Girardi said of Sabathia, who is now 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA in his three postseason starts this year. “To be able to shut this club down like he did, again, is no easy feat.”
Angels Manager Mike Scioscia agreed with Girardi’s assessment.
“Game 1 and this game, C.C. is the story,” said Scioscia of the 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner who went 19-8 with a 3.37 ERA this year. “He pitched a terrific game for them.”
Sabathia, 29, who signed a seven-year contract with the Yankees worth $161 million last December, has not always fared quite so well in the postseason.
Prior to this autumn, the San Francisco Bay Area native owned a 4-3 record with a 5.45 ERA pitching in the playoffs.
While he was still a member of the Cleveland Indians, Sabathia particularly struggled in the 2007 ALCS versus the Boston Red Sox.
In two starts in the series, Sabathia was rocked by the Sox and he went 0-2 with an unseemly ERA of 10.45.
Sabathia’s porous outings paved the way for Boston to erase a 3-1 deficit to the Indians and win the series in the decisive seventh game.
“I had an opportunity and unfortunately didn’t get it done,” Sabathia recently conceded of his dismal performances two years ago.
Still Sabathia always believed he could flourish in October.
“I never had any doubt about me being able to perform on this stage, to pitch well in October, but it seemed like people did,” said Sabathia. “I feel great and hopefully I can keep it going.”
It is indisputable that embattled Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has dominated this postseason.
Nevertheless, Sabathia has been the definition of an ace and the Yankees absolutely would not be where they currently are without him.
“He (Sabathia) does what the ace is supposed to do,” Yankees catcher Jose Molina said of the three-time All-Star selection. “He gives confidence to a whole team.”
Girardi has publicly established his plan to utilize a three-man rotation henceforth primarily to ensure that Sabathia can make the maximum amount of starts he possibly can.
The Yankees have won 26 World Series championships and they are the most storied team in the annals of North American professional sports.
The Bombers have employed many more true greats than any other franchise in Major League baseball history.
Still, at this point, Sabathia has to be considered one of the Yankees greatest free-agent acquisitions ever.
From a pitching standpoint alone, Sabathia has already surpassed Mike Mussina as the greatest hurler that the Bombers have ever attained on the free-agent market.
“This team’s good,” Sabathia said of this version of the Yankees that cruised to a record of 103-59 in the regular season. “We have great players, Hall of Fame players. We’ve got all the confidence in the world.”
When a team can potentially send a pitcher the caliber of Sabathia to the hill three times in a seven game series, it’s easy to have “all the confidence in the world.”
Sabathia is already a “great” player.
If Sabathia continues to perform for the Yankees like he has to date, one day he could be a “Hall of Fame” player as well.
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez was showering when Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins hit a double to win Game Four of the NLCS 5-4 Monday at Dodger Stadium.
“I was taking a shower,” said Ramirez, 37, a 12-time All-Star selection and nine-time Silver Slugger Award winner. “I came out and saw it on television. Then everybody started coming in and they turned the television off.”
Dodgers Manager Joe Torre decided to remove Ramirez from the outfield for defensive replacement Juan Pierre in the ninth inning.
Torre, who has inexplicably become friendly with his star hitter, admitted that Ramirez should not have deserted his teammates in such a crucial moment of the season.
“It probably doesn’t look good,” Torre said. Manny Ramirez is one of the greatest hitters in the history of the sport of baseball.
Ramirez is a career .313 hitter and he has amassed 546 home runs and 1788 RBI since he made his Major League debut in September of 1993 for the Cleveland Indians.
Additionally, Ramirez helped the Boston Red Sox win two World Series championships in the 2004 and 2007 seasons.
In the Red Sox 2004 championship triumph over the St. Louis Cardinals, Ramirez was deservedly granted the World Series MVP Award.
However, despite his litany of accomplishments on the diamond, Manny Ramirez is a pathetic teammate and he epitomizes everything that is wrong with sports today.
Ramirez’s poor actions have been well documented and they are often excused as simply “Manny Being Manny.”
Within the past year-and-a-half alone, Ramirez assaulted the Red Sox traveling secretary, Jack McCormick, 64, over a large game-day request for tickets and he slapped his former Boston teammate, Kevin Youkilis, during a heated exchange in the dugout.
After those classy incidents, Ramirez flatly quit on the Red Sox, a team that he signed an eight-year contract worth $160 million with in December 2000.
Boston’s hierarchy rightly shipped Ramirez, a cancerous clubhouse presence, to the Dodgers in a three-team trade last July.
The Dodgers brass ignorantly determined this past March that they would sign Ramirez to a two-year contract worth $45 million.
Two months later in May, Ramirez was suspended 50 games for violating Major League Baseball’s Performance Enhancing Drug policy.
Manny Ramirez is a bully.
Manny Ramirez is a quitter.
Manny Ramirez is a bad teammate.
Many Ramirez is a cheater.
One thing Manny Ramirez should not be, despite his overwhelming statistics, is a Hall of Famer.
If Manny Ramirez is one day awarded a plaque in Cooperstown, the entire village will plummet in market value.
Hopefully, for the good of the game of baseball, Ramirez will soon retire and “Manny Moments” will be a thing of the past.
Former two-time WBA World Heavyweight champion John “The Quiet Man” Ruiz visited Boston Thursday to donate boxing equipment to the South Boston Boxing Club after the gym was burglarized in early-September.
“The main reason I came here today is my brother (Eddie, a coach at the South Boston Boxing Club) told me what happened at this gym and how everything had been taken,” said Ruiz, 37, a Puerto Rican-American who was born in nearby Methuen, MA.
“I was taken aback by what happened here. I couldn’t understand how anybody could do that to kids. I really can’t put how I felt into words. It’s time to move forward though. I wanted to do what I could to help the gym and the kids.”
Ruiz (43-8-1, 29 KOs), who currently resides in Las Vegas, was at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut last week where he served as a special guest at the American Association of Professional Ringside Physicians annual convention and awards night.
After he made his appearance in the “Constitution State,” Ruiz voyaged north to Beantown.
“I want to thank John and Team Ruiz,” said Tommy Lee, the Director of the South Boston Boxing Club.
“I got the call on Labor Day about the gym being broken into and all our new equipment being stolen. I told Eddie (Ruiz) the next night. He didn’t say much but the next night, he told me he spoke to his brother and the champ wanted to donate equipment for the kids. That shows what type of guy John Ruiz is. He’s always had a stellar reputation in New England boxing and he’s known as one of the nicest guys in boxing. John stepped up to replace the equipment. And he did it for these kids.”
Outside of the New England region, Ruiz has long been considered an unpopular pugilist because of the “clinch and grab” tactics that he is known to employ in the ring.
Whether or not he is an exciting or boring prizefighter, it is apparent that John Ruiz is a kind and generous individual who wants to make a positive impact in the world.
“The Quiet Man” and his benevolent actions made that point clearer than his words ever could have.
The Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament began Saturday night in two separate European states.
In the opening bout of the tournament, “King” Arthur Abraham brutally knocked out Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor with six seconds remaining in the 12th round at O2 World Arena in Berlin, Germany.
Abraham (31-0, 25 KOs) dominated Taylor (28-4-1, 17 KOs) from the outset and he would have easily won the match via decision had he not flattened the native of Arkansas during the fight’s waning moments with a straight right-hand to the chin.
Taylor, 31, has now lost four out of his last five fights and it is apparent that he is more spent at this juncture of his career than a 65-year-old prostitute.
It is readily evident that the beatings Taylor suffered at the hands of Kelly Pavlik (35-1, 31KOs) have badly diminished his physical capabilities and it is time for the 2000 bronze medalist to seriously consider hanging up his gloves.
On the flipside, Abraham, 29, an Armenian-German who wowed his hometown supporters with his brilliant performance this past weekend, is a genuine force in the ring and his future in prizefighting is exceedingly bright.
In the second bout of the tournament, Carl Froch retained his WBC super middleweight title with a split-decision victory over Andre Dirrell at Trent FM Arena in Nottingham, England.
Froch (26-0, 20 KOs) used his brute strength to successfully counterbalance the superior speed that Dirrell (18-1, 13 KOs) is renowned for and he was able to narrowly prevail in front of his fellow Englishmen.
Froch, 32, who pulverized Taylor last April, has a menacing presence in the ring and he should be considered a genuine favorite to win this tournament upon its completion in approximately 18-months.
Conversely, Dirrell, 26, the winner of the middleweight bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics, will quickly rebound from his first and only professional defeat.
Dirrell has a tremendous set of skills and his loss to Froch should simply be considered a minor setback.
In summary, Abraham looked like a “King” and Froch will remain a worthy adversary for any opponent he faces henceforth.
Dirrell will learn and improve from his loss and Taylor should be advised to retire before he inflicts “bad intentions” upon his own body.
Although only two pugilists emerged victorious this weekend, the entire sport of boxing won because of the solid action that was displayed in both bouts.
Keywords: Boston Red Sox, Boxing, New York Yankees, Notre Dame Fightin Irish, USC Trojans
