The Extra Point

Eyes on the Prize

Here's a nice little blub about Charlie from Maisel that you might not see anywhere, as it is banished to subscriptionland over at the Worldwide Eater.

Weis Fixed On The Prize
He may be loud and he may be big, but even Charlie Weis can be inconspicuous. On the night that Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn did not win the Heisman Trophy, the Fighting Irish coach stood behind a pillar at the far end of the lobby outside the Nokia Theater. If you came down the stairs into the lobby and craned your neck to the left, you might have seen Weis, which is how he liked it.

When public figures like Weis are in a public setting -- that is, one they don't control, complete with civilians -- they lurk on the edge of it. To dive in would be to surrender their time and their shield. Speaking of which, I can remember being in South Bend some years ago for a banquet at which then-coach Lou Holtz would speak. He stood in the second-floor lobby of the athletic building, self-pinned against a trophy case, sipping a diet Coke and girding himself to go on stage.

So Weis is off to one side, and I walk up and re-introduce myself and congratulate him on going 10-2. And here, from memory, is what he said:

"Listen, it's a polite thing to say, and politically correct, but if I'm happy with a 10-2 record, I'm going to get fired," Weis said. "The two losses were not close. We're not where we want to be. But I'm telling you, with the players we have coming in, including a couple of recruits that nobody knows are going to commit to us, we're going to be a lot better. A couple of years from now, you are going to remember that we had this conversation tonight."

"All right," I said. "I'll remind you. No, you remind me."

"I won't have to," Weis said. "We'll just look at each other, and you'll know."

You can't hear tone of voice online. On the screen, Weis might sound arrogant in that exchange. He didn't in person. He is fixed on a prize, and he intends to claim it.

One other thing: that's why journalists love unscripted moments. That's the real Charlie Weis.

Heads Up!!!!

Chest Bump! Brady Quinn, winner of the Maxwell Award.

It seems that Paris has switched allegiances

Notre Dame has gotten a lot sexier in the Charlie Weis era, and now we've got the arm candy to prove it. We encourage your comments.

Technical Difficulties... and Apocalypto!

Without a playoff, College Football is like great sex, a lot of arguing, and no finish.

Well, for some reason there have been problems with the website lately, as I posted something a few days ago that was just posted today. While we try to figure out our issues over here, just enjoy the fact that USC lost again, and will not be playing for the title. I'm much happier to see SC lose their shot at the tile than Michigan at this point, considering their recent string of dominance. When I watched the ND game last week there were a couple of UCLA fans sitting next to us, the only people in the bar sharing our pain. Tonight I share their joy.

This has to be the year with the most teams losing their hold on the #2 spot in a season. SC lost their hold on #2 not once, but twice. How much do they miss Norm Chow now?

Now the BCS chaos and arguing that we love to hate to love, or maybe I should I say hate to love to hate, begins again. Wait, I'm confused. Hate...to love...to hate? Hmmmm... Too much BCS talk, makes brain hurt! The pundits and talk show hosts rejoice, as they now have another week's worth of material, which they have been rehashing for a month. Remember when people were arguing about Notre Dame getting into the MNC game instead of an undefeated Rutgers--maybe we should just wait until the season is over before talking about it endlessly for months.

Apocalypto! By Mel Gibson! To digress for a second, the name above or below the title should make you want to see the movie... not avoid it. Not that I would really want to see a movie called Apocalypto anyway, it sounds like a satanic ice creamed pop.

I'm a raving lunatic

Wow. What a bad game. I can't really say too much right now, it still hurts when I think about it, so I'll try not for a little while. Let's just say that I looked something like this afterwords.

I won't say anything more about that. But I will link to another awesome video that the best Heisman site out there pointed out. I didn't think many ND fans would be too concerned with the Heisman at this point.