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I took a trip to Indiana last week for a wedding. I had not been back to Indiana since last year's Notre Dame/ Michigan game. I probably won't be back for a bit, unless I make a last minute decision for college football travel this week. During the drives into Indiana, I assembled a narrative about my trip and other events leading up. I last saw the wonderful wedding couple at a tailgate for the aforementioned football game. Sure, I can only speak for me, but I believe a great time was had by all old friends and acquaintances I encountered that weekend. The bride & groom went to the Stanford game later in the season, and if I recall correctly, there was a horrendous amount of rain that weekend. I can only speak for me being a person who was not in the state and was not rained on that weekend, but I am not sure a good time was had by all.
Waves of sentimentality and nostalgia have congealed into a mass of feelings and emotions that have me feeling some type of way. Is that directly related to football and its associated performances? Not really, but hey it is Saturday so let us try to make something of it.
In hindsight, it is easy to say what sporting evens you would like to have attended. We tend to forget about the hype and pomp for blowouts and games early in disappointing seasons. At this point in my life, I probably have a host of wonderful memories of tailgating and gatherings that I have divorced from the games they preceded.
Given the way people grow old and move away, it's not easy to assemble all of your friends for a game against UMass, for example, but it is more under your control. On the one hand, seeing a transcendent athletic feat in person is great. On the other hand, you have no way of knowing when such feats will happen. If we are putting all of our proverbial eggs in one basket, the gathering basket is somehow more realistic than the other option.
The ideal, of course, is seeing people close to you, making new friends, and enjoying a once-in-a-lifetime game. That is something I hope all fans can experience. In the grand scheme of life, a trash game with great friends seems better to me than watching the 2006 Rose Bowl by yourself.
NATIONAL LINKS
Bill Connelly takes a look at the University of Southern California Trojans. In one way, USC is a cipher for whatever you think of them. In another way, they are a football team. Life is full of complications and dualities.
As with any Adidas take, I agree with Rodger Sherman's take that Adidas is a strange athletic company.
Cardale Jones is v. good at social media. He is also good at football! This might be because I have the memory of a small insect, but I cannot for the life of me recall a circumstance like the Ohio State QB situation. Sure, Braxton Miller is moving to receiver, but there is still a chance that Cardale does not start this year while remaining a relatively high NFL draft pick.
The finances of college football athletic programs are strange. Maybe Texas coaches are going to have to be more creative with their Grab 'N Go lunch options. Sneak a banana in your knapsack. Wear a big hat and put PB&J's in it. Line your boots with pretzels.
UAB BACK? UAB football is coming back!
"Steve's got enemies/ got a lot of enemies/ got a lot of people trying to drain OBC of his energy/ Trying to take the joooooob from Spurrier/ messing with the visor and praying for a winner." - Steve Spurrier in the first of several pop music references in this link round up.
ICYMI ON OFD
Paint's animations are my rock, my foundation. Here is the latest in the top plays countdown. In a way, this play is everlasting, as Michigan still has not scored.
Enjoy the latest big boards - Linebackers, Defensive Line, TE/OL, ATH/ WR, QB/RB, and Secondary.
Two of our esteemed writers made their perfect Notre Dame schedules. Head over to the comments to give your ideal schedules. Still tweaking mine, but it does involve taking on the New York Yankees at a recreated Polo Grounds, playing the San Francisco 49ers with Joe Montana as All-Time Quarterback, and re-assembling the Dream Team to play Notre Dame at Wembley Stadium. It is not the most feasible schedule, but it will rake in the big bucks. I call it the "Get, Get Get Get Get, Get that Paper" Schedule.
Speaking of perfect things, Jamie maps out a perfect finish to the 2016 recruiting cycle for Coach Kelly's team. The team would welcome all recruits mentioned with arms wide open (not the Creed song, never the Creed song).
"Now you're in New Yooooooooork!/ Concrete jungle that doesn't care much for high school FOOT-ball/ There's nothing you can't do/ but let's talk about recruits from New Yoooooooooork/ This article will make you feel BRAND new/ big lights will inspire you." - in the style of Jay Z & Alicia Keys
What happens when you take a deeper look at Andrew Trumbetti's film from last season? You find welcome surprises! Larz focuses in on some plays against Florida State, where the young end shows great versatility.
Stanford is not only a dormitory on Notre Dame's campus. It is also an opponent on the Notre Dame 2015 football schedule. See what the Stanford football Cardinal look like this year.
Check out how the Notre Dame Fighting Alumni have been doing in the Basketball Tournament.
Who will be the impact freshmen for this year's team? My vote is for Alize Jones, if only for the selfish reason that I have twelve tweets scheduled with a variation of the Quad City DJs lyric "Graduate from Boone's/ Up to Alize!" Alex Bars' last name also provides ample opportunities for quoting song lyrics with the word "bars" in them. Looks like I will be working in Twitter drafts for a while.
This week was a big defensive line week for One Foot Down, which in addition to the above content, also included a 15 For 15 look at the line unit for next year. Will these four players be the most crucial for defensive success this season? I am not clairvoyant so I cannot give you a definite answer. You should read the article and form your own opinion.
The second edition of the OFD Mailbag hits on something near and dear to my heart: coleslaw. Like Malik Zaire, I was no fan of coleslaw. HOWEVER, later in my life, I discovered that there was a mayonnaise-less version of coleslaw that is a crisp and refreshing summer side dish. What have we done as a society that has brought us to this prominence of gloopy egg spread and cabbage masquerading as coleslaw, while vinegar can mix with coleslaw to add a lightness, a crisp factor, an almost effervescence to your cookout? Perhaps the mayonnaise lobby has exerted its power so fully over the food industry, that all cook out salads and slaws must be subject to its heaving and viscous whims. And another thing, why do we not see relish made with regular dill pickles? Why is there only sweet relish? I hope that when The X-Files returns, it takes on these conspiracies that actually affect our everyday lives, rather than some gobbledygook about guys smoking cigarettes.
IRISH LINKS OF NOTE
Darius Walker headed back to his old stomping grounds to teach some current ND players about personal finance. Walker is also a TV analyst for ESPN and a Morgan Stanley personal wealth advisor. He has three jobs; he doesn't get tired. Walker remains one of my favorite ND players for the television show he was developing. Please click on that video. It is a delight. Darius indoor skydives and also plays a keytar.
Tim Prister runs down a FACT ATTACK regarding the 2015 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team.
This also seems a good time to note that a lot of the pay sites are doing free trials that run up until the beginning of football season. Take advantage! Look around. Maybe you will like what you see and pay for more content in the future. I cannot make these financial decisions for you. We all have to put food on our families.
Notre Dame and Navy will meet in San Diego in 2018. San Diego is home to Anchorman references, a large military community, big west coast IPAs, and the Padres. It is also the hometown of underrated SNL featured player Kyle Mooney.
Brian Kelly has been throwing a lot of first pitches this summer. There is a good reason for that
Todd Lyght's son is making sure his dad does not make a fool out of himself on social media. This is an underserved sector and I commend Logan Lyght for starting on his road to social media consultant for coaches.