Did Notre Dame bail on bowl game for fear of getting embarrassed?
Hey, I get it – it’s been a rough year in South Bend. The team was yet again a disappointment, expectations weren’t met and the head coach was fired after months/years of speculation that he would eventually be kicked to the curb.
But if you’re Notre Dame, why not accept a bid to go to a bowl game this year?
On Friday, ND athletic director Jack Swarbrick said that the school has decided against going to a bowl game with a 6-6 record, citing that without a head coach and offensive coordinator, the school wouldn’t have an experienced play caller for the game. Swarbrick also pointed out that the school would likely have lost money because their only option would have been a minor bowl.
The offensive coordinator excuse is logical, but the bit about losing money holds little water given how much loot Notre Dame just threw at Charlie Weis to get the hell out of town.
That said, one would think that the Irish seniors would want to strap it up for one last game together and try to go out as winners. If it were up to the players, I would have to assume that they would want to play – especially players like Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate, both of whom might be heading for the NFL draft in April.
So what’s the real reason Swarbrick decided against a bowl?
How about fear that the program would get beaten one last time before the year lets out. Chances are, if the Irish accepted a bowl bid they would have played a MAC team like Central Michigan, which, sorry Irish fans, is better team than Notre Dame is right now. Granted, it would be in CMU’s favor that ND wouldn’t have an experienced play caller for the game, but it would still make sense that Swarbrick wouldn’t the Irish to put a capper on their ’09 season by losing to a MAC team – any MAC team.
Maybe Swarbrick is making a smart decision and one based on the long-term good of the program. After all, if you know your team isn’t going to be at full strength, why risk injury to the players? And why not spend that time trying to find the right head coach instead of playing in a meaningless bowl game?
But to me, this decision wasn’t about money or a play caller or even about fear of players getting hurt. It was about Swarbrick not wanting his program to get embarrassed one last time before the calendar hit 2010. Why suffer any more abuse than you already have?
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Posted in: College Football
Tags: Central Michigan, Central Michigan vs. Notre Dame, Charlie Weis, Charlie Weis fired, Golden Tate, Headlines, Jack Swarbrick, Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame, Notre Dame bowl, Notre Dame bowl game 2009, Notre Dame declines bowl, Notre Dame no bowl, Notre Dame scared to play in bowl
I would have let these kids vote on it – not the school make the decision. Too bad it’s not a major Bowl bid … who’s fault is that ?
They absolutly did the right thing, the season was a mess and we all know it. They have no coach and those kids playing know it and they also know that they were the ones playing. They played bad, the coach is gone and with it the season.
See you next year.
Notre Dame quit. It’s that simple. The arrogance to skip out on a bowl for WHATEVER reason is inexecusable but that’s Notre Dame. They rarely play by the rules. Whether it’s refusing to join a “conference” to growing the grass a little longer in the hopes of beating USC (remember that bush league stunt?), Notre Dame can’t finish the game. Whether that’s a 60 minute football game or a football season, they have just broadcast to the world what they are: quitters. Too bad you didn’t like your season. Too bad you made a horrible decision in signing Weiss to a 10-year deal in his FIRST season with ANOTHER COACH’S recruits….Notre Dame and its entire program just decided to up and quit because the going got rough. Play like a champion today? I think Notre Dame just needs to learn how to PLAY and finish what they started.
College Football Fan…If long grass is going to slow down one team, don’t you think it’s going to slow down both since, well, last time I checked they both play on the same turf? That was just an excuse for the USC crybabies for why they didn’t blow out ND. The refs handed them USC game so they really should stop whining 4 years later.
ND did the right thing by not accepting an invite to the “nobody gives a shit bowl” with no head coach and no offensive coordinator. I didn’t realize that there was a rule that every team had to join a conference. The clowns that run the BCS keep making the rules up as they go along anyway.