Good morning, readers.  As the football team reports to campus for the start of summer classes, Rakes of Mallow reports back to duty.  While the summer months of yesteryear used to be full of free time for blogging and merriment, the crippling depression of post-graduate life and a general dry-spell of Notre Dame news has caused this once booming site to atrohpy.  But no more!  Rakes is back, and we'll start to cover all the exciting fun-time action as we wind down to kickoff versus Nevada (a scant two months away).

The biggest news around the Irish program over the weekend was the transfer of tight end Joseph Fauria, who I am going to assume is a victim of ResLife's draconian policies regarding everything.  Now, it's very possible Fauria did some terrible stuff and deserved the suspension, but I'd say the odds are about 3% for that and 97% that the University is attempting to make some kind of example out of him.  It's always sad to see somebody transfer (Oh, Konrad...), because you spend so much time thinking about how this high school player, known only through creepy old man stalking and grainy YouTube videos, is going to fit into the Irish system and justify the hours spent following his every dropped hint.  We obviously wish Fauria the best, and he leaves with some nice quotes regarding everything about the team and University save for ResLife, which I'd say is how most students feel upon their departure from South Bend:

"I can't say enough about coach Weis, tight ends coach Bernie Parmalee, the guy who recruited me - coach Brian Polian - and the players, too.

"I know coach Weis can't come out and support me publicly because of protocol, but I know how he feels, and that's all that is important. It was an honor to be coached by him. I love him. I'll miss him. I still consider him a part of my family. It's sad to leave everyone, but I feel I was mistreated by the school and that the punishment didn't fit the crime."

"The people who are close to me know what it is, and they couldn't believe this is happening," he said. "I'm a good guy, a fun-loving guy. I have a 3.0 GPA. My team won Bookstore Basketball. I had moved up to No. 2 tight end. I was on Cloud 9. And then it all came apart."

Emphasis mine because holy crap, ResLife you are the worst.  I will always have the utmost respect for Kyle McAlarney for coming back to Notre Dame after they totally overreacted for the most minor of minor violations.  Here is my question, for those of you more familiar with NCAA regulations: If Fauria had been suspended for the semester but not played, could he have redshirted, or would he have had to waste a year of eligibility?  Regardless, best of luck to him.  An unfortunate situation that could have probably been avoided with some common sense and a reasonable discussion, something the Powers That Be aren't exactly known for.

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Speaking of Kyle McAlarney, he, Luke Zeller and Rob Kurz will all be participating in the NBA summer league this July.  K-Mac will be running and gunning with the Clippers, Zeller trying to make it onto the Bulls so Aaron Gray has someone to go to the movies with and Kurz is taking another crack at starting the season on the Warriors' roster.  Have I mentioned lately how happy I am that Harangody is coming back?  I don't think so, so let me repeat it: I'm very happy Luke Harangody is coming back for his senior season.

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One of the highlights of every summer is when the kids get their new numbers, and this year is no exception.  The best news is that if you invested in an Armando Allen jersey, it's now doubly awesome, with Manti Te'o also donning the cinco.  Shaquelle Evans takes David Grimes' number eleven (both wide receivers, but of slightly different body dimensions).  

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We've established many times over Blue Gray Sky is the class of the Notre Dame internet (their latest contribution is the Polo Grounds, a messageboard discussing college football that doesn't make you want to murder someone, which I didn't even think was possible).  One of their recent posts looks at the oft-cited stat regarding offensive line starts (oft-cited in the Irish blogosphere because Notre Dame has a whole whole bunch and we like to talk ourselves into things), but then turns it around and looks at the number of starts on the defensive line. 

BGS's conclusion?  There are not a lot of experienced defensive lines facing the Irish this season, thereby making it even more important for everyone (players, coaches, sanity of fans) that the offensive line make considerable progress from the dark periods of the last few years.  I would need to look at other teams, but having sixty-plus starts sure seems likes a lot for a position where there's a lot of rotation and freshmen seldom contribute right away.  If you weren't already concerned about the Stanford game (with Toby Gerhart, the added pressure of being the regular season finale with a shiny bowl potentially waiting, Jim Harbaugh's shouty craftiness, PAC-10 replay officials), this is just another reason to worry a bit, as the Cardinal lead Irish opponents with 67 starts on the defensive line.

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The Good Doctor Saturday makes the case that Notre Dame's schedule is not as bad as many would have you believe.  While there are not a lot of top-tier teams facing the Irish this season, there are a bunch that should be qualifying for bowls and fielding perfectly competitive squads (this is a lot different than say, playing a pair of D-II teams and some MAC bottom feeder).  The Irish schedule is certainly not tough, but do me a favor and randomly select another BCS school's schedule to look at (say, one in the Big Ten not named Ohio State).  Not many are going to jump out at you as a death march.  With the eight home games and no reason not to schedule four absolute cupcakes to get yourself two-thirds of the way towards a bowl berth, you just won't find many super competitive slates.  Southern Cal, Oklahoma and Ohio State are generally some of the better programs at scheduling at least one big-time opponent out of conference, but even they play San Jose State, Idaho State and New Mexico State (respectively) this fall. 

So while Notre Dame's is not as tough as some previous years, it's not any worse than any other schedule you'd randomly stop and look at while flipping through Phil Steele.  Go ahead and try it.

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One of our SBN Rock M Nation brethren takes a look at Nevada.  In the coming days, I'll be looking specifically at Wolfpack QB Colin Kaepernick, our first Profile of Fear of 2009.  Early returns?  Be afraid.  Be very, very afraid.

Per the most reliable source I know - Mike Brey's Twitter account - the two time All-Big East first teamer is coming back to South Bend for one last go-around.

Coach Brey simply puts it:

Gody to return to the Irish!!

I'm surprised he only used two exclamation points.

One of my favorite things - sports or otherwise - is the NBA Draft.  We've celebrated it at the Wilson Ranchero in grand fashion for the last half dozen summers, gathering in late June to enjoy fancy suits, crying moms, overwhelmed translators and the beauty of potential unfettered by the chains of reality and the regular season.   The NBA's draft is so much better than any drafts that you almost can't compare them.  Unlike baseball or football, you don't have to worry about giving giant contracts to players who haven't proven anything at the professional level (but good luck with Matt Stafford, Detroit!).  Rookies can have an immediate impact (this does happen in the NFL, but almost never in baseball - plus you can't trade picks in baseball), and as soon as their names are called, you can envision the prospect filling a role for whatever team just staked part of their future in them.  Unlike the NFL, where there are so many players sprawled across the country and so few games relative to basketball, you've seen most of the players at the top of the draft play multiple times.  Raise your hand if you watched a lot of Eugene Monroe over the course of his career.

The NBA draft is of particular interest to Notre Dame fans this year because one Mr. Luke Harangody, former Big East Player of the Year, is testing the waters.  If you've been checking on on Mike Brey's Twitter feed - highly recommended, funnier than any fake Brey Twitter we could drum up - then you realize Luke's been participating in all sorts of workouts for the league.  Due to the fact he didn't sign an agent, Big Luke has until June 15^th to decide whether or not he wants to stay in for the festivities ten days later (I'd just like to thank the NBA and MTV for arranging the premiere of Real World: Cancun and the draft on back-to-back nights, which is all one could ask for in life).

There's been a lot of debate among Irish fans about whether or not Harangody could make it in the league, but as someone who watched him play for three years and follows the NBA about as closely as one can, I think it's safe to say with some confidence that he can fit into the pros quite nicely.  Is he going to be an All-Star?  No, certainly not, but Harangody's got far too many skills that can work on the next level to not make a team in some capacity.

Perhaps the skill that translates best from college to the pros is the ability to rebound, a trait which Harangody obviously possesses, regardless of whatever size limitations some would like to point out (more on this in a bit).  Luke also has done a great job of developing his jumpshot, especially when you consider the progress of his face-up game from the start of his career up through the end of last season.  If you can bring a big man off the bench who can knock down open shots, rebound and annoy the hell out of the other team with his effort, I think that's a nice piece to have in the rotation.  Whether he's more of a Matt Bonner/Brian Scalabrine or Chuck Hayes/Craig Smith (or somewhere in between), there is a place on a NBA roster for ‘Gody.

Oh, don't believe me?  Let's take a look at what some of the preeminent draft sites around the internet are saying.  First, let's look at NBADraft.net and some of the combine measurables:

A big man that helped himself a lot is Luke Harangody. He turned out to be the strongest player at the combine (23 reps) while posting solid numbers in the sprint and agility tests.

Obviously the league is more about how you can perform in some random exercises, so how is he looking in workouts?  DraftExpress, go!:

The two things that stood out the most about Harangody were his conditioning and overall skill-level. He appears to have dropped a decent amount of weight and looks to be in very good shape now, even if he's clearly not the most athletic power forward you'll find in this draft. He may very well be the best shooter, though, at least from what we could see here-he was knocking down NBA 3-pointer after NBA 3-pointer with unorthodox mechanics but a very quick release. Harangody's scoring instincts shine through even in a setting like this, he has great touch around the basket and can even make some shots of the dribble it seems. Teams will want to get a better read for how he projects defensively at his position, which is not something we could really evaluate in this particular setting. 

I think it should go without saying I want Luke Harangody to come back to Notre Dame.  I'd love to see a starting line-up of Tory Jackson, Ben Hansbrough, Scott Martin, Luke Harangody and Ty Nash taking it to a depleted Big East (Harangody would be the only player returning from the All-Big East First Team).  I think another year at school could only help his status, as a solid round of workouts would have NBA GM's following him all of next year, where he'll get to show off what I presume will be a sleeker frame and extended offensive game.   But obviously, if Luke's dream is to play in the NBA and there's a good chance he's going to go in the first round and guarantee himself a roster spot, who are we as Irish fans to wish him anything but the best?

Andy Katz had a rather extensive piece earlier in the week regarding the pros and cons of Harangody's choice.  His main point is that by returning to Notre Dame, the big man has a chance to set scoring and rebounding records not just at the school, but for the entire Big East conference.  Katz's piece sort of angers me because it really dismisses Gody's chances at the next level ("Or he can choose a more pedestrian career route relative to his hoop world" - I'm not even sure that's a real sentence).  He makes a big deal about size, but unlike a certain 1998 summer blockbuster, size isn't the end all and be all in the pros, plus Katz is just cherry-picking certain numbers to fit his theory. If you did want to push Katz back on that one way of assessing viability in the League (and it's a pretty crappy way to do assessing), Harangody's standing reach is an inch higher than that of soon-to-be number one overall pick Blake Griffin and only two inches below presumed lottery pick Jordan Hill.  Much like DeJuan Blair dominating Hasheem Thabeet both times they matched up last season, if you can rebound you can rebound, no matter what the tape measure says.

Not suggesting in any way that Harangody will become Charles Barkley, but they didn't call him the Round Mound of Rebound because of his towering height.  Plus , "The Warrior."  Enjoy.

So with less than two weeks to go before he makes his choice, it's safe to say it will be coming down to what Harangody feels is the best choice for him.  Etch your name in Irish lore forever, or get to your dream one year earlier?  Neither choice is a bad one, but it certainly would be a difficult one.  Brey's being supportive (as he should be), and I think the NBA front office folks are only going to become increasingly impressed as additional workouts are completed.  Best case scenario for Irish fans?  No one at the bottom of the first round can guarantee ‘Gody that they'll take him, leading to an angry, even more determined LFH making his way back to campus for one more crack at a Big East title.  Worst case?  You get to see ‘Gody suit up in the NBA along the likes of Troy Murphy, Rob Kurz and Chris Quinn next season.  All in all, a win-win situation for those involved.

More photos » by Joe Raymond - AP

2 months ago: Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist hands off during the Blue Gold football game on Saturday April 18, 2009 in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

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Thinking Outside The Box: Malcolm Gladwell has an entertaining piece in one of the more recent New Yorker magazines about underdogs, Lawrence of Arabia, fancy battleship simulations, slingshots and perhaps most importantly, full court presses.  I will admit in advance that I tremendously enjoy almost everything Gladwell churns out, and find one of the most recurrent criticisms against him ("He's just saying the obvious, only very eloquently!") can be chalked up to a very simple, ivy-colored human emotion ("Why in the world didn't I just do some research on youth hockey programs and write Outliers?").  Three things need addressed from the piece.  First off, a Digger sighting:

In January of 1971, the Fordham University Rams played a basketball game against the University of Massachusetts Redmen. The game was in Amherst, at the legendary arena known as the Cage, where the Redmen hadn't lost since December of 1969. Their record was 11-1. The Redmen's star was none other than Julius Erving-Dr. J. The UMass team was very, very good. Fordham, by contrast, was a team of scrappy kids from the Bronx and Brooklyn. Their center had torn up his knee the first week of the season, which meant that their tallest player was six feet five. Their starting forward-and forwards are typically almost as tall as centers-was Charlie Yelverton, who was six feet two. But from the opening buzzer the Rams launched a full-court press, and never let up. "We jumped out to a thirteen-to-six lead, and it was a war the rest of the way," Digger Phelps, the Fordham coach at the time, recalls. "These were tough city kids. We played you ninety-four feet. We knew that sooner or later we were going to make you crack." Phelps sent in one indefatigable Irish or Italian kid from the Bronx after another to guard Erving, and, one by one, the indefatigable Irish and Italian kids fouled out. None of them were as good as Erving. It didn't matter. Fordham won, 87-79.

Secondly, and this has been stated in various places across the Internets, Gladwell uses a horrible example of a scrappy underdog team pressing to their advantage with the 1996 Kentucky Wildcats.  Despite saying only one of the players on that team went on to be a NBA star (Antoine Walker), Gladwell neglects to mention that the team was absolutely stacked and marked the beginning of a mini-dynasty that was an overtime (and Miles Simon) away from a threepeat.   There are a few times where teams that are at a talent disadvantage need to press, but more often than not, that's the territory of more athletic teams who want to increase tempo and use their horses to their advantage. 

Finally, I think the most important point Gladwell makes in the piece is that there is often an advantage to thinking outside of the box and eschewing whatever the majority is doing.  As we look forward to football season, I think that means abandoning some traditional thinking that hasn't been necessary in practice for years (I'm looking at you, old school fan, for your constant harping about getting quality fullback play) and screwing some conventional wisdom (punting each and every fourth down).  As Cal economist David Romer wrote a few years ago and Gregg Easterbrook harps upon every week during the NFL season, far too many coaches are way too willing to constantly punt (despite compelling evidence to the contrary).  Consistently, the man is trying to even keep gamers from exploiting alternative philosophies:

I'm not advocating going for it in the shadow of your own goal line, but imagine the psychological implications of committing going for it on fourth down once you cross midfield.  The stress on your offense is reduced on second and third downs (you actually have four plays to move it ten yards instead of just three) while the defense can never, ever relax.  Easterbrook is wise to point out that coaches tend to punt in close situations because if they boot it away and the opposing offense gets a first down, it's the defense's fault (they were just following The Unwritten Rules of Football!), while a failure to convert the fourth down try will come back to them in the postgame breakdown.  When it comes down to job security, coaches don't want to take any chances that might make them look worse in the week after the game.

Think of two of the most consistently successful coaches in college and the pros - Carroll and Belichick - and how they always seem to take that extra chance on fourth down to drive a stake into the heart of their opponent.  If all talent is equal on the field - and no one has a decided schematic advantage - then it comes down to who is able (and willing) to take the smart, calculated risks.  When the Weis offenses of 2005 and 2006 were humming, there wasn't any doubt Brady Quinn would be in the huddle on any marginal fourth down plays.  That's what I want this year: an offense zipping along so crisply that the opposition knows it needs four stops - not three - to get off the field. 

I'm going to be optimistic in regards to the Notre Dame offense this season, because important indicators suggest I should (Although one question: Do you get credit for a start when you spend the majority of your energy that game helping the quarterback up to his feet?) .  There will be a lot of pressure on Weis to win, so there's no reason to think he won't roll the dice as much as possible, since a middling season will probably have the same effect on his job status as a bad one.

Here and there:

Michael Rothstein digs up some odd, but not wholly surprising comments, from Tim Brown about Al Davis. . . Hinton's got your congressional BCS inquisitions covered in-depth. . .Southern Cal/Notre Dame tickets for this October are already going for close to $300. . .we didn't spend time on spring practice (it's a fun oasis in the offseason desert, but you can't glean that much from it), but BGS has a comprehensive recap. . .the deadline for Luke Harangody to decide if he's staying or going by June 15, but that deadline will be a heckuva lot earlier for debating college players next year....

Via CBS 2 Chicago, we learned today that one case of swine flu has been confirmed in northern Indiana. The patient is a young adult of undisclosed name and location. Take all necessary precautions, Coach Weis!

UPDATE: The swine flu patient is a Notre Dame student, either Jimmy Clausen or one of the approximately 11,000 others.

Despite a slow start in a conference play and a disappointing 22-14 record overall – 8-7 Big East – the Irish have a lot to play for in this second half of the season. Over the weekend, the Irish took the home series 2-1 against first-place and nationally ranked West Virginia. It would have been easy for Notre Dame to fold and get swept by the Mountaineers after a 19-3 drubbing Friday at Eck Stadium, but the team stuck together, got some timely hitting in Saturday’s first game and some stellar pitching from junior Eric Maust in the second game of the doubleheader. Sunday’s game three of the series was moved to Saturday afternoon because of impending inclement weather.

With the series win against the Mountaineers, the Irish should have some renewed confidence as they hit the home stretch of the conference season. Notre Dame currently sits in fifth place in the Big East standings but still plays three of the four teams ahead of it (the other is West Virginia), South Florida (24-14, 12-3), Louisville (27-10, 11-4), and St. John’s (20-14, 9-6). There’s really a lot of baseball left to be played, and the Irish, in a way, control their own Big East tournament seeding destiny. Hopefully the West Virginia series can serve as a turning point in this up-and-down season, though the series itself shows Notre Dame’s shoddy inconsistency. The Irish went from doing nothing right in a 19-3 loss to the conference leaders to outplaying the Mountaineers in back-to-back games Saturday.

West Virginia came into the series batting an impressive .363 and 47 home runs as a team. Both of those statistics are still good enough, far and away, for best in the conference. The team batting average is third best in the nation. The Mountaineers lead the conference in batting average by .13 points. In Friday’s opener, Notre Dame sophomore Cole Johnson (4-1), who at times this season has looked unhittable, got roughed up by the powerful West Virginia offense. The righty gave up 11 runs on ten hits in five innings, suffering his first loss of the season. Once Johnson left, the pitching and defense didn’t get much better. The Irish defense had two costly errors, and freshman Dustin Ispas surrendered six runs, two earned. Sam Elam followed, giving up two earned runs. On a day when nothing seemed to go right, the Irish needed a quick turnaround. Saturday would be much different.

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As reported by the AP, Luke Harangody is putting his name in the NBA Draft, but is leaving open the possibility of returning to school. Since the Hooping Irish seem to have a predilection for blogging (see here and here), perhaps Luke will turn to Rakes for guidance. Let's go to the tape.

Point: It's time to get out. Leave now. 

Subpoint 1: Why risk the injury and potential stock plummet? (See Chris Thomas.) Another year in the brutal Big East -- especially without the perimeter help from McAlarney, Ayers, and (sort of) Zeller -- is asking for trouble. He should follow Darius Walker's lead after the 2006 football season and avoid the inevitable physical abuse of a senior year as the only reliable offensive target.

Subpoint 2: Fear of the unknown. The 2009-2010 team will be losing 35 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 assists per game as Zeller, Mac, Ayers, and Hillesland depart. Who fills in? Jackson, Nash, Peoples, the redshirted Abromaitis, the inexperienced Scott, a couple of transfers who have been out of game action for a year, and freshmen? Where do the points come from? And who's shooting three's? Will we have to reinvent our offense? Too many questions.

Subpoint 3: It's a weak draft class. Reports say Luke should go late first round or early second round, and how much higher could he really move? His innate, beautiful weirdness inside has nothing to gain from another year in college, and he's physically ready. It's a great time to cash in.

Counterpoint: You'd be crazy to leave. Stay and graduate.

Subpoint 1: Luke Harangody is not Chris Thomas. Besides the freak pneumonia bout, he's made it through three full Big East seasons no worse for the wear. And while it's tough playing inside, the average NBA career has more touches than one in the NFL, so the Walker analogy breaks down. There's no real rush. He should enjoy being the big man on campus and earn his degree. The NBA isn't going anywhere (maybe).

Subpoint 2: The team might be losing a lot, but there's plenty left. Jackson's shooting and game control should be at their best, and Luke would be crazy to turn down a year of Stockton/Malone (or at least Kidd/Gugliotta) two-man dominance. Peoples showed a new level of competence down the stretch, Nash has a nose for the ball and will take some of the load off on the low post, Hansbrough and Martin are proven, Scott is the most athletic guy we've had in years, Abromaitis will be a year stronger and more confident, and have you SEEN the Joey Brooks highlight reel? '09-'10 won't be a rebuilding year, but a take-advantage-of-an-undoubtedly-easier-Big-East-schedule year.

Subpoint 3: What does surprise NBAer Rob Kurz have that Luke lacks? A perimeter jumper. Luke has shown more extended range each year, and he could use his senior year to push that out toward the NBA three-point line. An improved outside game could inch Luke up into the middle third of the first round in 2010.

Plenty of thinking for Luke to do. Leave your wisdom in the comments.