Don't get me wrong...
This Saturday's matchup between #5 Notre Dame and #8 OU is a big deal (and I didn't need ESPN to tell me that by featuring the Fightin' Irish on College GameDay for the 2nd time in 3 weeks).
The outcome of this game will largely determine Kelly's chances at leading his team to the promised land come January, and Norman, OK will undoubtedly serve as archetypal proving grounds upon which will the fate of the season rests.
I find this game riveting due to the fact that OU has been considered much more of a football powerhouse than Notre Dame has of late, and it presents the proudly independent Fightin' Irish with an opportunity to show the world they can hang with the big boys in any conference (let's not forget the recent dismantling that left the Big 10 (B1G?) in shambles at the hands of Notre Dame, along with the destruction of recent Pac 12 powerhouse Stanford, and the forthcoming annihilation of everyone's favorite Pac 12 pretty-boy-poster-children (albeit Spoiled poster-Children), in addition to the inevitable embarassment of our new friends in the ACC... all within the same season). When all is said and done, adding the Big 12 to our Kill List just might boost our resume enough to make Mark May shut up (actually... probably not).
What I do not feel as this game approaches, however, is any sense of animosity towards OU (other than disapproval of the relatively loose academic and moral standards with which their football program has been run historically). Maybe I'm too young to appreciate the history of the ND v. OU series (which means the players, and even Kelly probably are too) but nothing gets me particularly riled up when I hear "Boomer Sooner!" or see the Sooner Schooner take the field (not gonna lie... that part is actually pretty cool).
As you may expect, I was beyond surprised to learn that OU fans apparently HATE NOTRE DAME! Now, I'm not sure if Sooner Boosters hate the Fightin' Irish more than the average ND Hater, but I'll let you decide for yourself with this collection of bulletin board material collected from newsok.com:
David Allen from Mustang, OK: “My own dislike with the Noters stems from what I call the Notre Dame spot. If they need a few inches for a first down against Slippery Rock, the refs oblige. Instant replay has curbed some of this activity.”
Not sure where he was going with that "Slippery Rock" reference, but here's a fun fact: David won the Mustang, OK Spelling Bee with his close-enough spelling of "the Noters."(Also note the classic Oklahoman usage of "oblige")
Mike Shockley from Oklahoma City, OK: “My hatred of Notre Dame comes from the fact that they haven't been relevant in football since the early ‘90s and are still considered a powerhouse or blue blood. The amount of media attention and money that the football program raises is unbelievable considering they have largely been terrible save a few years here and there.”
Which is it, Mike? Powerhouse, or Blue Blood? Do you know the difference? Oh, and two words: television ratings...
Mark Hall from Owasso, OK: “It is partly the breaking of the streak. The biggest reason is that they are treated specially. The BCS had special rules for them. And if they had just joined the Big Ten, then the Big Ten wouldn't have taken Nebraska. Then maybe Nebraska joins muscle with OU and others to get a better deal with Texas and a league network of some sort. Instead, Notre Dame thinks that their football program is so special it should stand alone.”
C'mon, Mark! You just made me throw up in my mouth a little bit when you mentioned Notre Dame in the B1G. Sorry I'm not sorry we couldn't succumb to such filth so you could leach off your arch-rival for a "better deal." Have some self respect!
Rex Renfrow from Atlanta, GA: “It is Touchdown Jesus. It is the homer announcers on CBS (NBC). It is the over rated hype they receive. Whatever, I hate Notre Dame.”
I'm not sure if those are sentences. I'm also not sure why OKNews decided to throw a resident of Atlanta in the mix, but at least it shows how irrelevant we are on the national scene... oh wait... Seriously though, hating on Our Lord and Savior TDJ?! Blasphemy! (And just to clarify it for you, Rex, our lucrative television contract is with NBC, which as a corporate entity is distinct from CBS.
Jeff O'Dell from Ada, OK: “I'm a third generation hater. I learned this from my Grandpa, who hated Texas (naturally) Notre Dame and USC. Notre Dame because of OU's poor record against them and the fact that they ended the 47-game win streak. For me it's also the elite private school aspect of Notre Dame that helps me be a hater.”
This one is so Oklahoman (naturally), I can't even touch it.
Matthew Allen from Oklahoma City, OK: “As a younger OU fan, my dislike for Notre Dame stems from the following: They're killing us in the series; they bookend The Streak; they are the benefactors of some of the most unfair, antitrust violating, undeserved, borderline cheating treatment out of any program ever. Their SPECIAL BCS rules are the biggest scam happening in college football right now, and people act like it's just A-OK. Like it's a part of the landscape. Why do they get better rules than everyone else? Why don't people talk about this more?”
Whoa! I didn't think they taught their young'uns big words like "benefactors" or "antitrust" (or "lanscape") in good ol' Oklahoma... Let's be real though, Matthew... people do "talk about this more" so I think you can relax with the capital letters now.
Caymen Bishop (location unknown): “I am a big OU fan, but I am not mad at the 1-8 record, or them snapping our losing streak, or because they're Catholic. I hate Notre Dame because they didn't let Rudy play until the last game. That just really frustrated me. JUST LET THE KID SUIT UP FOR HIS SENIOR SEASON!”
Wouldn't Caymen (cool name, I'll give him that) be glad if we had in fact snapped their losing streak? I'm pretty sure he is referencing the aforementioned 47 game OU winning streak the Fightin' Irish broke. I'm glad he felt the need to assure us that he doesn't hate Catholics, though. Finally, I think he might be missing the point of the heartwarming story / almost entirely fabricated cinematic masterpiece that is Rudy.
Score Prediction:
Fightin' Irish: 24
Sour Sooners: 14
irish catholic filth waxing erudite is hard to stomach. The unindustrialized catholic world compared to the Protestant-created sanctuaries of prosperity and stability where untermenschen show up after the hard work is done are testament to that. Brave Irish declared themselves neutral in WW2 yet sent emissaries to the Nazis to conspire against the WASPs who defeated the catholic phenomenon of Fascism. Fact: Fascism was never politically viable in any predominantly Protestant country - never garnering more than 10% of the vote, unlike catholic Bavaria under the leadership of catholic born, reared and raised Adolf. After the hard work's done, Irish show up to corrupt the police, politics and sports officiating. The PIIGS of Europe ruining things for the clean people. OU gets 3 touchdowns too many, so just declare them invalid. Should have let these unindustrialized savages reap what they sewed and starve. Another EU / WASP bailout to waste coming up.
ReplyDeleteWow, this comment intrigues me... While I'm not quite following the connection between your anti-Catholic / anti-Irish misgivings and the ND v OU game (what do you mean by 3 touchdowns too many?), I would just like to point out the historically inaccurate self-selection of facts and currents of ignorant bigotry that pervade your mostly incoherent conspiracy-theorist-like rant... but please, go on?
ReplyDeleteNothing is inaccurate or omissive about the lack of any predominantly Protestant country ever having been Fascist, any more than Protestant northwest Europe and Protestant US & Canada are more stable, prosperous, technologically advanced, and bigger draws for immigrants than their papist and orthodox neighbors to the south/east. That Fascism is a catholic phenomenon is not disputed; historians from Hobsbawm to Gellner affirm that. Only explanations vary. There is also no ambivalence about ireland's refusal to join the Allies, its brave declaration of neutrality, sending emissaries to Nazi Germany (some of whom the British rightfully hanged), or giving aid and quarter to downed Nazi pilots, while outing American & Commonwealth pilots and sailors. Hitler's & Stalin's papist backgrounds are not in dispute any more than Fascist Father Caughlin's - in lockstep with the 'church' as a whole giving its blessings to Benito and Catholic Quebec's political leader Camillien Houde, who declared that Catholics were obliged to be Fascist and stand with Catholic Italy, Spain, Austria and Bavaria against their WASP conquerors. There is no disputing that the Industrial Revolution is a Protestant phenomenon, or that people immigrate to the WASP world more than any other, or that the irish arrived en masse after industrial prosperity took hold. In the bond trade, the worst-risk economies have always been Portugal, Italy, ireland, Greece and Spain (the PIiGS).
DeleteAs for too many touchdowns, you misunderstood. OU made more than 3 successful touchdowns, which corrupt officials invalidated. As for bigotry, your derision of people based on geographic determinism set the tone. Particularly outlandish from a papist who ought to be grateful to WASPs for creating separation of church and state of the sort for which Catholics tortured 'heretics' to death, technology, prosperity, and stable political structures that were anathema to a papist order that gave the world inquisitions, Fascism and Hibernians incapable of living terrorist-free without EU money stolen from the productive lot.
Sorry, your crazy-person babbling rant = TLDR. The difference between your disturbing viewpoint and my anti-OU post above is that while I was merely poking fun at some good ol' cow pokes, you seem super super serious... Take a chill pill, bro, this is a family friendly fan blog :)
DeleteFinally, after reading the singular relevant sentence in your latest comment: "As for too many touchdowns, you misunderstood. OU made more than 3 successful touchdowns, which corrupt officials invalidated." I'm pretty sure you didn't actually watch the game... Even if the officials were corrupt (which makes absolutely no sense as they were drawn from a random neutral conference per usual due to Irish independence) no "successful touchdowns" were invalidated. The first of ONLY TWO touchdowns called back was due to a blatant hold, and the second due to blatant offensive pass interference at a point when the Irish had already put the game away. (not to mention the Irish won by more than 2 TDs, so it really doesn't matter)
Bottom line: The Fightin' Irish (with a capital I) DOMINATED OU by OUtworking them, OUtplaying them, and certainly by OUtclassing them.
G'Irish!
Boy...nothing says football like a good neo-Marxist rant, huh?
ReplyDeleteYou should review your terms. There's nothing Marxist stated in the statement of facts. For every blatant penalty for which the officials cited OU and rescinded OU's TDs, an equal number could have applied to nd.
DeleteYou should review the title of this post, because it describes you perfectly.
Delete