Live And Let Die: It's been a slightly busy week for me as I prepare for the festivities of Navy weekend, but it was convenient to have a break from the Irish corners of the internet after everyone went bat-shit insane following the Boston College loss.  You'd never know that if Michael Floyd didn't try the ill-fated lateral at the goal line against North Carolina or if the defense makes one play (or Clausen connects in overtime to Floyd), that the team is 7-2 and Weis is a genius.  I'm led to believe that a majority of Notre Dame fans might not follow the general world of college football, or any other teams in any other sports  Winning is hard, and usually, there's only a play or two every game separating victory from defeat, and if enough of those plays go your way, you're a champion.  And if they don't?  Well, then apparently there is a conspiracy amongst the Powers That Be regarding Notre Dame football so sensational and devoid of basis in reality that even Dan Brown (or to continue the theme of today, Ian Fleming) would blush.  

The biggest news this week was that Charlie Weis would be taking over play-calling duties, a likely move that became certain after a death in offensive coordinator Mike Haywood's family that caused him to miss practice this week.  It's an unfortunate situation for Haywood, as the Irish will most likely shred through the horrid defenses of Navy and Syracuse before being stone-walled by Southern Cal, just like they would if Haywood, Weis or that kid who lived across the hall from you and played NCAA Football all the time were calling the plays.  This is good for Weis, though, who can get his hands dirty against the 109^th ranked pass efficiency defense in the nation and rein in some of the restless natives who are itching to make a run at Butch Davis before Rocky Top swoops into Tar Heel country and locks him up. 

I write all of this in good spirits, assuming Notre Dame will come out against Navy and look considerably better than they did on Saturday night.  If they don't, then I'll consider joining the growing chorus of venomous insanity prevalent among so many who support the Irish (or at least did support the Irish, and won't fly their colors again until Weis is dunked into a tank of laser-armed sharks).  Never mind how young this team is, how lacking the upper classes are in any sort of leadership and that all four losses have come to teams that could be playing in New Year's Day bowls; Notre Dame should be competing for a championship every season, regardless of the fact they haven't done that in over a decade.  Maybe this paragraph will come back to haunt me on Saturday evening, but I'll have a little faith in Weis, if only because I'm embarrassed to join the howling maniacs all across the realm of blue-and-gold cyberspace.

(My roommate canceled his Irish Eyes subscription today, and when asked for the reason why, he cited the amount of idiots posting on the board.  "Do you want me to write that down as your reason?" asked the good operator at Scout.  "Absolutely.")

It's very possible that those of us still holding out hope (please read that, there are some solid points, and here's your counter argument, and another wary look at the situation here) will look dumb after back-to-back losses to Navy and Syracuse, but I'll unhappily pull myself drunkenly across that bridge should we have to cross it.  Until then, let's just play out these last three games - plus the bowl game, hopefully - and evaluate things then.

Tomorrow Never Dies: Some excerpts from this August 1992 Sports Illustrated piece on a down-on-its-luck college program facing the overwhelming success of its cross-sectional rival and a sense of hopelessness in ever being able to beat them:

But 3-8? At a school like USC, that's not even a cry for help. A cry for help is 6-6. Tollner, now an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Rams, had one of those too. It was a season that included a loss to Alabama in the Aloha Bowl, and he began hearing stories about a wealthy alumnus who was willing to establish a fund large enough that the interest alone would pay a fabulous salary to Tollner's successor. "They do have high expectations," he says. "They should have high expectations." When Tollner could do no better than 7-4 the next season, the Trojans got a new coach.

USC hasn't beaten Notre Dame since 1982 and hasn't had a Heisman winner since 1981, and if it goes 3-8, it's probably time for an overhaul of the football program, sort of like the one in 1910 when the Trojans were on their way to an undefeated season and, in the final game, were tied by archrival Pomona. The disappointment was apparently profound. The program was disbanded, and for the next three seasons USC played rugby instead.

Nothing that drastic has happened so far, although the grumbling of alumni has approached the decibel level of a jet engine. One grad who identified himself as an attorney, class of '73 (9-2-1), made his case in a letter to Dr. Steven Sample, the university president. He presented 10 "facts," including won-lost records (which have gotten worse each season since 1988), the Trojans' cumulative record against teams finishing in the Top 10 (5-9 since 1987), and stumbling finishes (USC has not won its last two games in any season since 1979). "I do not see much reason for optimism regarding next year," he wrote.

Getting considerably more attention was a letter to Smith cowritten last January by former All-America Jon Arnett, who played at USC from 1954 to '56. In a nine-page missive, Arnett complained of weak "management." Play selection was unimaginative, he wrote, the running game was hampered by poor teaching of mechanics, and the entire program was dogged by poor recruiting. Arnett was hardest on Smith, whose career has revealed to Arnett a "pattern of mediocrity." Arnett suggested that Smith ought to be part of a "major reorganization," lest "the team and university suffer greatly." Arnett declared, "The program is in disarray and, if not addressed immediately, will quickly sink below its current level of mediocrity." Copies of the letter were sent to all university trustees and major contributors to the football program.

....

As USC fields its 100th team this season, it may be a good time to ask what kind of tradition it means to uphold. Will the Trojans bounce back to their former glory? Or will they become Every-program-a team that some years will win through luck and circumstance, and other years won't? If you watched what Southern Cal went through last season, you probably saw the future not only of the Trojan football program but also of big-time college football. Great programs brought back to earth, perhaps only briefly, to mingle with the Memphis States of the world. The most chilling explanation for a 3-8 season is that tradition, mystique and a stirring fight song will no longer get you over the hump. Mr. Big-time Coach, this could happen to you.

....

More important, Wallace wonders what USC tradition will become if the situation remains so. "When you maintain a great tradition, you maintain a thread to the glory years," he says. "At Notre Dame, Lou Holtz can convince his kids they'll pull it off. Because they always have. But USC may be getting to the point where it doesn't have the kid who thinks he can beat Notre Dame anymore."

Nobody is predicting that USC won't beat Notre Dame again; what has happened at USC could happen to the Irish. "The dynasties are going to rotate," says Tollner. "You're going to see more people getting to hit that hot cycle. USC will still get its share of Rose Bowls. In this decade it may not get seven or eight, more like two or three."

The entire thing is worth reading, if only to put things a little more in perspective.  These things are cyclical, friends.

For Your Eyes Only: I'll be up in Baltimore tomorrow, but there will be a game thread up here where you folks can monitor the progress of the team, for better or worse.  The second part of the hoops preview, promised before the USC Upstate game, may or may not actually be up before then.  Happy Friday, everyone.