A couple of weeks ago I trashed Notre Dame pretty hard for thinking about scheduling Army to play at the new Yankees Stadium. Basically I thought it was a bullshit idea and it had no recruiting or fan viewing advantage for Notre Dame and their followers. I still hate the idea by the way and hope Notre Dame continues to play only one service academy every year in Navy. But with all the shit ideas Notre Dame comes up with (playing Washington State in San Antonio this year, WTF?) it's refreshing to read that their athletic director Jack Swarbrick is waking up to the possibility of scheduling the Texas fucking Longhorns in 2013!!!
QUESTION: As we understand it, there are potentially some financial issues that could hinder you in making the Army game happen in Yankee Stadium. But can you talk about the prospects of a game between Notre Dame and Texas in 2013 — and we’re assuming that would be at one of the two campuses?
I’m not really in a position to talk about the prospects of that game in any particular year. What I can say is that we would love to play Texas. We love playing the schools that have had a comparable history. But also that share our values.
I think Texas is one of the great athletic programs in the country. Not just now, but for many years. I’m a huge fan of the program, their coaches, and (athletic director) DeLoss (Dodds) is one of the giants of our industry. So, if we can figure out how to play Texas at some point, we would love to do it.
Now this idea makes my balls tingle. Notre Dame already has the Oklahoma Sooners on a home and away meeting in 2012 and 2013 as well as adding Brigham Young, Arizona State, and Rutgers. Adding Texas would be great because it shows to their students, alumni and the nation that they will play anybody, anywhere. This is what Notre Dame was built on, playing the big boys all around the country. A matchup with the Longhorns would also get high school football recruits from the great state of Texas interested in Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish have a 14-5 record in the state of Texas and are 4-0 playing in Austin.
This is a win-win proposition for both Notre Dame and Texas. Texas passed Notre Dame into 2nd for most wins in college football (Michigan is 1st) in 2008 so there is some sort of bragging rights rivalry that could be made between these two programs. These games need to happen because if Swarbrick is as concerned as he makes it out to be about college football tradition being important in their future football schedules than he needs to know that the nation and Notre Dame people want to see them play Texas, not Army. Make it happen.
I don't see how they can compare the two schools. ND is ND a academic powerhouse not a football house. Gradation rates above 90 percent. Texas is just the opposite with about 40 percent grad rate, which by the way is about the 5th worst of all college football teams. I think this match up is a waste of time much like I think USC and the joke schedule with Oklahoma. The only way for ND to compete with the big boys is to drop there entry GPA to 2.0. If that isn't going to happen than they should continue scheduling games with Rutgers and Buffalo,and call Nd what they really are, an average football team.
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