If the Big Ten had their druthers, Notre Dame would come busting through their office doors packing a bouquet of roses in one hand and a ring in the other, drop to one knee, and promise their undying and eternal conference love.
If the Irish had their druthers, they’d hope for the Midwest harlot to leave them alone and stop drunk sexting them at 2:30 in the morning.
At least, that’s the way it comes off as Notre Dame, a couple of days after the Big Ten announced it would once again take a look at expansion, has issued a statement once again pledging their allegiance to the flag of independence.
The Big Ten was left at the altar in 1999 by the Irish, but that likely won’t sway the powers-that-be this time around as it’s widely believed the conference will make another run at the South Bend school. Based on the above-mentioned statement, the league might want to consider doing something a little more constructive with the time they would spend chasing the Irish. Like voluntarily ramming their head into a brick wall. Repeatedly.
“Our strong preference is to remain the way we are,” athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a release from the university. “Independence is a big part of the tradition of the program and our identity. We’d sure like to try to maintain it.
“All of this has a lot more to do with our priorities than it does with business issues. Our independence is tied up in a lot of the rivalries we have. We play Navy every year and have the tradition of USC weekends. Frankly, it works pretty well to play USC in October at home and in November at their place.
“The question that any school faces, not just Notre Dame, is: Does this start the dominoes falling again, like the last round of reconfiguration? It’s less about our willingness to enter into discussions than what happens to the industry. What are the implications?”
Sooo, you’re saying there’s a chance?
sounds like BS to me. 3 of their rivals, michigan, michigan state, and purdue would now be conference games. they would still have open dates to play USC and Navy.
just seems like Notre Dame still feels like they are big enough fish to be without a BCS conference when everyone outside the irish ties knows better…
btw they went 3-6 against “rivals” last year with what was their best complete team in years. maybe they would be better off playing a Indiana instead of a Stanford or a Northwestern instead of Pittsburgh
If the Big 10 wants ND, then the schools need to align and not renew their games against ND. Why would ND join the Conference and have to play teams like Minnesota, Northwestern, and Indiana just to get to play Michigan St., Michigan, Purdue, etc…. So far the Big 10 doesn’t have anything to offer..ND already has their own TV deal…so stop the games with Big 10 schools. That’s all the Big 10 has on ND.
Sounds more like… we’re Notre Dame, and we’re playing very coy… if you want us in the Big 10 instead of causing another painful realignment… $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
The Big Ten didn’t want Notre Dame 90 years ago – to heck with Fielding Yost and all his anti-Catholic chums.
It’s all about money. Notre Dame gets all the money from any BCS bowl appearance, and is guaranteed that appearance by finishing in the top 12. Notre Dame does not have to share any income streams, like conference teams do. Notre Dame is the most profitable football team, and will remain so for years to come. Enough said.
“[Notre Dame's] football team’s contribution to [the University's] academics totaled $21.1 million for the 2006-2007 season–that’s as much as the next five most valuable teams contributed to their respective schools combined. Operating independent of the conference system allows Notre Dame to keep the entire $9 million in annual television revenue it gets from NBC, owned by General Electric.”
http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/112007aag.html
“Notre Dame is an Independent and thus keeps all of its revenue. The other schools on the list have to share their revenue with other members of their conferences.”
http://www.secsportsfan.com/top-college-football-revenue-conference.html
It’s not a mystery, people!
Notre Dame is acting like a fat kid drowning in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and refusing a life jacket. If Notre Dame doesn’t start winning soon, that NBC contract won’t be renewed and they’ll have to look elsewhere for their precious income.
Wow, the school that turned down the Little Caesar’s Bowl is now turning down the Big Ten. ND is like that hot chick from high school that has put on 40 pounds 15 years later, but still acts like she looks the same. The next time Notre Dame is relevant…….well, they’ll never be relevant again. Times have changed. We have more than 13 channels on our TV these days.
Didn’t Texas football bring in around $100 million recently in on fiscal year?
Sign of the times: Pepsi is NOT running ads during the Super Bowl. Comcast is buying NBC, and that company’s all about making money. My point: ND should realize that it’s not 1993 anymore, NBC isn’t NBC anymore.
SCEW YOU ND!!!
I’m tired of your holyer then thou mentality.
I’m Tired of every time you win a game (even if you lost 3 in a row) you are right back in the top 25.
I’m Tired of your pancake schedule, (though how is that working out for you)
I’m tired of you being your own little conference (the only school that has a contract with the BCS). Maybe the NCAA should grow some nuts and say that unless you are league champion you can not get into a BCS game. BUT NO!!!!! they would rather have a team that does not even win their conference play for the National Champion ship.
BrownsTown-now that is just hysterical!!!
The domers have issues with their perspective. They believe they still live in the 30s – 40s when their team actually mattered and had an impact on the college championship. Now, they’re just a pathetic shadow of themselves constantly trying to convince the rest of the world that they are still relevant. Sorry to let you in on a little secret – you’re not and you haven’t been for over 20 years. You continue to slide down the hole into the abyss of ‘who the f@#$ cares’ and you’re too arrogant to realize you need to change with the rest of the country. Personally, I hope you continue the current path you’re on because it provides so much laughter and entertainment.
Now that Jabba the Weis is gone and you’ve hired a nobody from the Cincy it will only get better. Recruits that were leaning towards ND now see that the program is in shambles so they will look elsewhere to a more stable program that gives them a shot at a title. That slope into the abyss is getting slicker and steeper by the second. Too bad we have to wait all this time to see the next domer disaster season. ICEBERGS AHEAD!!!!
Sean Martin:
“Didn’t Texas football bring in around $100 million recently in on fiscal year?”
SI just ran an article a few days ago showing that the program paid $6.6 mill in revenue just to academics (online, December 16).
According to the Dallas Morning News, the program brought in almost $64 million total:
“The Longhorns’ football program accounted for $63.8 million of the athletic department’s revenue of $105 million, a total surpassed that year only by Florida ($107.8 million) and Ohio State ($109.4 million). Notre Dame’s football program generated $63.7 million of the athletic department’s $83.6 million in revenue.”
Also, getting back on topic, $63.7 mill is another reason ND doesn’t need the Big 10.
swarbrick is lying again. he and purcell made the notre dame to the big 10 deal with delany and parry of the big 10 conference way back in 2008.
according to swarbrick’s interview with the new york times, swarbrick and delany have been close personal friends for years.
however, having gotten rid of charlie weis and his honest staff anmd brought in kelly to dumb down notre dame’s football program and cheat, swarbrick still has to deliver a contract with nbc to the big 10 tv network which has bombed out so far.
on the recruiting front, notre dame’s 2010 class is rapidly falling apart. jimmy and golden have expressed their confidence by going to the nfl.
will nbc be that stupid?
they just might be.
Why would ND join a conference when it’s already got it made? Easy road to a BCS game, play whoever you want (including tons of weak teams), and get a national TV contract even though you’ve won ONE bowl game in the past 10 years. I’d stay indy too.
They’ve heard Joe Pa say too many times, “Why did I ever join the Big Ten?!!!!”
@ imabigdouche
Enough with the irrelevant talk. The landscape hasn’t changed from the 40s. Or even the 90s. You still line up 11 guys every week, and try to beat the hell out of the 11 guys on the other side of the ball.
Today, TCU and Boise State remind us that any program, when properly assembled, can go undefeated, just like 100+ teams have done it in over 140+ years of college football. Everyone has always had access to talented football players and coaches. Therefore, there’s not a reason in the world ND can’t do the same and I fail to see how being in any conference helps them win football games.
Before 1990, the most popular independents were Notre Dame, Penn State and the University of Miami. In almost 20 seasons, since Penn State and Miami joined conferences, they have combined for two titles (and one of them was in 1991, Miami’s first year in the Big East, so I have trouble crediting the conference for that one). The previous 10 seasons alone? They combined for 5. Boy, that conference affiliation really made a difference, I’ll give you that.
Anyhoo, my final point is that mouth breathers like imabigdouche who read articles about Notre Dame, then login to post actual thoughts and observations about the program while simultaneously screaming about how they don’t care about them only look the more stupid for it.
“It’s all about money. Notre Dame gets all the money from any BCS bowl appearance, and is guaranteed that appearance by finishing in the top 12. Notre Dame does not have to share any income streams, like conference teams do. Notre Dame is the most profitable football team, and will remain so for years to come. Enough said.
How wrong you are. Big 10 teams each make enough more than ND on tv revenue to more than make up for the ND preference in the BCS. Money won’t decide this. ND Alumni hanging on to the independent moniker like a badge of honor will kill this.
Hang on alumni. All the way to oblivion. You matter less and less every year.
Good !
When there are no independent schools (or patsys) for N.D. to run the score up on, they will still have their Friday night bingo games revenue to fall back on.
No sharing ,remember.
P.S.
Big Ten, add Syracuse or Pitt
Require all Big Ten schools “drop” N.D. from their schedules even if you don’t add another team .
It would be interesting to see what would happen toND if the Big Ten stopped scheduling ND. Would they go to more Big East schools or try to feast on the MAC
If Kelly doesn’t save them by the time their TV contract runs out, they may wish they’d joined.
We can talk revenue streams and schedules and such, but it all boils down to one thing: recruiting. How much longer is ND going to really mean much to 17- and 18-year-olds when they pretty much have an “all-or-nothing” season every year?
Two years ago, ND and Michigan both started 0-2; the Wolverines, in particular, were greatly embarassed with a loss to FCS school Appalachian State and a bombing by Oregon. Yet, Michigan still had a chance at the Big 10 title and the Rose Bowl (and did wind up with a Capital One bowl appearance, beating defending national champion Florida and Heisman winner Tim Tebow in Lloyd Carr’s last game) while ND’s season was pretty much toast. If the Irish don’t make the BCS, then it’s a decent Gator Bowl appearance, and if that doesn’t happen…well, no one wants to even think about it.
A conference affiliation gives a team other tangible goals to play for even if the big ones are out; no conference often means your season is done while the calendar still says it’s summer. It’s another recruiting aid, and ND right now needs all that it can get.
“All of this has a lot more to do with our priorities than it does with BUSINESS issues. Our independence is tied up in a lot of the rivalries we have. We play Navy every year and have the tradition of USC weekends. Frankly, it works pretty well to play USC in October at home and in November at their place.
“The question that any school faces, not just Notre Dame, is: Does this start the dominoes falling again, like the last round of reconfiguration? It’s less about our willingness to enter into discussions than what happens to the INDUSTRY. What are the implications?”
__________________________________
Okay, 1st off no matter what anybody with a gold dome says it is ALL about the business. The potential money available to Notre Dame as an independent cannot be matched by any conference. However that money is just that, potential, and the way that school has been churning out less than mediocre performances the past decade it will stay as potential.
Second, I love the we care about everyone else he tries to pass off in the last paragraph, with concerns over the “industry”. Those concerns did not arise last time because the Big East was willing to let the holy domers have their way with them like they were choir boys, keeping football out of the conference.