But can he star in Kazaam 2?  I'm not sure what sort of recruiting medal you get for possibly recruiting a wide receiver from Inglewood, California, who had initially committed to Southern Cal to instead come to South Bend, Indiana, but we may have to come up with something for Charlie Weis if Shaquelle Evans continues his current trajectory. 

"Right now, I'm really feeling Notre Dame," Evans said. "I had a great trip back there and that's where I feel most comfortable. It's hard to explain but I just felt so at home at Notre Dame and I've never felt that way around any other school."

 

Evans took an official visit to South Bend two weeks ago and said the high from the trip has yet to wear off.

 

"I loved being around the players and the coaches," Evans said. "The game atmosphere was incredible, but like I said, the main thing for me was just that comfort level. I've always been told and always believed that you should go where you feel most comfortable and right now for me, that's Notre Dame."

 

Following USC's demolition of Ohio State last month, Evans gave the USC coaches a commitment but said it was a soft commit, meaning he still wanted to keep his options open and check out other schools.

 

"I still like USC a lot and I was at their game with Oregon last weekend," Evans said. "They have a great school but I'm leaning to Notre Dame right now. I may take a few more official visits and if I do, I'm looking at Michigan, Colorado and Oregon."

Obviously nothing is final until signing day (especially with a guy who already has one commitment and de-commitment on his record at this early hour), but when you look at the sheer potential of this offense as guys like Cierre Wood and Shaquelle Evans step in alongside Floyd, Tate, Allen and Rudolph, the number of points that could be scored are mind-boggling.

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"Next, on a very special episode of Law & Order. . ." Usually when someone gets busted with a bullshit drinking citation in South Bend, they pay what fine they need to and take the community service to avoid the hassle of dealing with St. Joseph County officials.  Apparently some of the parents involved with the bust that involved Will Yeatman and Mike Golic, Jr. aren't going down quite as easily.

On the night of Sept. 20, officers from the St. Joseph County SUDS (Stop Underage Drinking and Sales) Unit, St. Joseph County Police Reserves, Indiana State Excise Police and the Indiana State Police were targeting local establishments for complaints received by Indiana State Excise Police.

According to the police logs, an officer on the way to a targeted location drove by the corner of Colfax and St. Louis and observed what appeared to be several underage people [Ed. Note - They just assumed they were college students, so age was inconsequential] drinking.

From there, police accounts and the statements of some of those arrested begin to diverge.

The central issue of contention is whether police legally entered the residence.

Attorney Jeff Stesiak, who represents Yeatman and several of the women who rent the residence on Colfax, says the renters claim in sworn affidavits that the police were never granted permission to enter the residence; that police were overzealous in their scope and their manner; that Miranda Rights weren't read to most if not all of the students; that Yeatman and fellow football player Golic were taunted and that somehow quarterback Jimmy Clausen's name became part of the taunting even though Clausen wasn't present; and that several of the arrested parties told police they had to go to the restroom and were turned down and they ended up wetting themselves.

 

. . . . . .

 

Brett Vecchio, a 20-year-old former Irish lacrosse player from Lloyd Harbor, N.Y., said he was in the basement of the house when he heard someone yell that the police were there. He said he was in a room with two other people, and they locked the doors and turned out the lights.

He said his next interaction came when police kicked the door in. They were then herded into a main room, "where police jeered and laughed about arresting athletes."

"I know there's complaints about taunting and other allegations," said Sgt. Bill Redman, spokesman for the St. Joseph County police, who was at the scene Sept. 21. "When I was there, none of that was happening. I honestly didn't even know (there were any athletes), with the exception of the two football players - and that wasn't until they were almost ready to be transported to jail. Most of the excise guys aren't from the area. To say taunting was going on, we didn't even know they were athletes with the exception of Yeatman and Golic."

Redman also stated emphatically that the officer who first observed the party was the one who was invited inside [Ed. Note - This is almost indubitably a lie]  by one of the house's residents.

Vecchio said he was compelled to speak out, because he wasn't an athlete at ND and that many of the student-athletes were upset about the alleged police conduct, but weren't allowed to talk, per their respective coaches.

Any student who has attended or hosted an off-campus party knows that in regards to South Bend police, there's a chance you'll get a decent cop who just asks you to break things up or the chance you'll get some hero who wants to nab some "rich kids" and get some high fives back at the station.  When the excise police are involved, however, it is like trying to outrun the Central Park Rangers in Elf , but without the benefit of Zooey Deschanel to sing inebriated students to safety.  Speaking only from experience - for whatever that's worth - I would be truly surprised if the police didn't enter the house without permission and didn't berate the athletes.  Hopefully enough students and parents get behind this that it can maybe persuade the men in blue to stop real crimes instead of underage drinking.

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Everything Old Is New Again: In response to my "Tale of the Tate" post, Carolina March pointed out that while the Tar Heels don't have Michael Floyd on the other side of the field, they do have a guy who is statistically superior with a history of torching the Irish.  Hakeem Nicks lit the Irish up for 171 yards and two scores and already has 24 catches, 412 yards and four touchdowns so far this season.  TH tossed up this video of Nicks in the 2006 Notre Dame victory, which you need to watch then re-join me afterwards. 

Notice who was covering Nicks on five of those six passes?  Yep, he's still here, he still can't cover and people are noticing.  At this point in the season, there's no reason for a fifth year senior to be blowing assignment after assignment when young guys like Gray and Blanton can be gaining crucial experience in big games against big time receivers.  The reins of the offense have been given over fully to the underclassmen (not that there are a lot of older alternatives), and the defense needs to follow suit where necessary. 

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As a wise woman once said, "So What?": I'm not going to link to any of the various commentary or unnecessary Associated Press reports, but who really cares if Notre Dame is ranked at 4-1 or not?  I didn't vote for them in this week's BlogPoll because they've got wins over one really bad team and three teams that are on the bubble of advancing to the postseason.  If the Irish win this weekend, they'll be ranked, not that being number twenty-two is that different from being ranked (or any different at all, really, other than on television scoreboards).

More important than win total or ranking for the Irish this season is a continued improvement in every aspect of the game.  This team has a chance to be special in coming years, and the lessons learned this season will be more important than the number of AP votes receiver.

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To conclude, news that is great, and news that is unsurprising.  Also, Cindy McCain was a USC cheerleader?  Did anyone else know this?