Song and Fight Scene of the Week

Everyone,

We are now here on the journey to Pasadena.  Is it a long, difficult road?  Yes.  Do we need some breaks to make it there?  Yes.  But let's keep at it.

And it's time once again for our song and fight scene of the week.  Our fight scene comes to us courtesy of Southern Cal alum John Wayne, as he and an Okie on an oil rig beat the living daylights out of each other:

Oklahoma Friday

And wouldn't you know, it all happened again?  And again, and again! And again!  And again! - Eric Bogle, Green Fields of France

  Irish Fans,

  Allow me to resume the story from yesterday.  The kicker sent the ball flying through the air, and the battle was on.  The Irish crashed into the Sooners, and vice versa, over and over again.  It was a game of brutal hits, stifling defense, and punting.  Lots of punting.  As the seconds ticked off the clock around the seven minute mark, the score was still 0-0 when Notre Dame got the ball inside its own 20.  

with the score nothing-nothing, this man thought
the Bears were winning

Oklahoma Thursday

Two days until the OU game.  Two days until battle against the Sooner team and its band.  

Sometimes, the band is happy:

Sometimes, it is not:

Oklahoma Wednesday

Friends, 

Gameday inches closer.  Meaning we have a visit coming from one Mr. Robert (Bob) Stoops.

Mr. Stoops (pictured below)

Oklahoma Tuesday

Happy Tuesday. The Irish remain 3 or 3.5 point underdogs.  So if you feel like putting money on the Irish to cover the line without fear of losing money on a win, now's your chance.  if you've got a guy, call a guy.

No, this guy doesn't look shady at all.

Oklahoma Monday

Once again, survive and advance.  

Another Saturday, another win, and the last game of the year against a team from the B1G, the conference run by one Jim Delany.

  

Song and Fight Scene of the Week

Irish Fans:

WE ARE HERE.

If each game is another stop on a journey to our ultimate goal, Pasadena in early January, we've made it to just outside of Lincoln, Nebraska.  And right now, Lincoln is not a very happy place.

Michigan State Friday

You see, madness, as you know, is like gravity.  All it takes is a little push!
-The Joker

Hi, Sparty.

Michigan State Thursday

  Irish fans,

  Two days to MSU.  Now, these games can get a little crazy.  Some might even say batshit insane.  For example, observe this clip of the final play of our game against Sparty in 2010:

   That fake field goal ruined a perfectly good Bachelor Party.  And almost crushed numerous band members to death.

  Of course, Mr. Dantonio decided to double down on the crazy one year later, but it didn't work in 2011.

 

  Zany?  Yes.  Par for the course in this rivalry?  Also yes.  There are some constants to the rivalry.  Such as MSU players being prone to start fights again and again with little or no consequences. 

Ara Parseghian views MSU's disciplinary tactics with scorn.

 There's also a tendency for the team who suffered in year X to deal a similarly painful defeat to their opponent shortly thereafter.  For example, in 2001 MSU beat Notre Dame on a 70+ yard TD pass-and-run as time expired.  Notre Dame paid them back the next year like so: 

Or the 2007 game, where the MSU band celebrated a win in Notre Dame Stadium:

Payback came in 2009:

Michigan State also beat the Irish at home in 2005, despite a furious late game comeback by Coach Weis' first squad.  Then came the ND-MSU game in 2006, where Michigan State blew a three touchdown lead with 8 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.  Look here for visual evidence.  

  You may think a performance like that would leave MSU fans upset.  Well, it did.  How upset?  

  

  Most of you know the answer to the question.  But come back tomorrow anyway.

 Backer Song of the Day

Michigan State Wednesday

Everyone, welcome to another day of Michigan State week: now 100% David Shaw free!

Of course, it's always helpful to know a bit about the team we're going to play.  Let's start with the basics: their leading scorer is Shilique Calhoun, with three touchdowns scored in Michigan State's first two games. For Michigan State, this is good news.

Michigan State Tuesday

Friends, today's theme will be the six Ps.

The six Ps are related to the five Ps: Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.  As a reminder, this is good.  But sometimes it's that little extra bit of effort that makes all the difference.

The above gif has added at least 3 points to David Shaw's blood pressure

Michigan State Monday

 Survive.  And advance. 

 That's the best takeaway from Saturday night against Purdue.  Sometimes you win going away in the games you're supposed to win going away.  You're favored by three touchdowns, and you grind the opposition into dust. Sometimes things don't go as planned.  Sometimes you end up coming from behind and hanging on for dear life against a team that decided what the gameday experience really needed was a Disc Jockey in the student section:

Song & Fight Scene of the Week

Readers,

My apologies for leaving some things out of Friday's email.  Once again, as we play Purdue, we have to start from the very bottom of the metaphorical stairway.

But remember, we clawed our way all the way to number one last year from a similar position.  So let's keep the faith, and get back to basics with a beating of Purdue, their Boilermakers, and their goddamn train.  Don't go a riding on it: 

Song of the Week.  Please note that in the song,

the long black train is all that is evil and wrong.

FIGHT SCENE OF THE WEEK

This is what I think of your railroad-related bricabrac!

Purdue Friday

  Ladies and Gentlemen, happy Friday the 13th!  

I hope you're half as excited as he is for this wonderful day.

  Tomorrow is Gameday.  Our first chance to get back on the field after the horrible loss to Michigan.  And fortunately, it comes against Purdue.  Who is rancid.

Purdue football, 2013.

Purdue Thursday

Fans:

Two days left until our game against the Boilermakers.  Two days until we bask in the full glory of what Blue Gray Sky dubbed Cirque Purdue.

And what Cirque, circus, call it what you will, is complete without promotional materials?  Behold, the Purdue JUMBO HEROES!!!

This was part of Purdue's promotional campaign for the 2005 season.  Purdue was attempting to rebound from the loss of quarterback Drew Brees.  And truth be told, their season opened with three straight victories.  So they put together a night game against Notre Dame for late September.  How did it go?  . . . ROLL TAPE!!!!

the answer: not well.  Not well at all for the Jumbo Heroes.  

More on their Jumbo Heroism tomorrow.  

Backer Song of the Day:

Purdue Wednesday

Everyone, it's Wednesday.  Which means . . .

Purdue Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!

We've all been busy doing a couple of necessary things: 1) analyzing what went wrong against Michigan and 2) dodging the most annoying Michigan fan in the office.  Because of this, some of you may have missed the news that Purdue is awful.  Just how awful?  Purdue started the season against Cincinnati

The high point of Purdue football 2013

Michigan Retrospective

Well,

We lost.  Despite the heroics of Mr. Tuitt

Purdue Monday

Friends,

A full retrospective on the Michigan game will be along later today.  In the meantime, I have a problem this week.  The crimes and misdeeds of Purdue are not extensive enough to carry over five whole days.  So for now, please enjoy the one thing on earth Purdue has done well: engineers parodying Mackelmore.

Fielding Yost Friday

Everyone:

It's Friday!

And the final day of Michigan Week.  The President of the United States will have words on the issue later

Brief Housekeeping Note

    It has come to my attention that at least one reader isn't able to watch the posted videos, and attempts to watch via both chrome and safari have fallen flat.  Is this a problem personal to him?  Or are others facing the same issue?  Your comments are welcome below.


    -Management

Michigan Thursday

Irish fans,  

We're almost to the Michigan game.  Meanwhile, a few words on the Michigan series and our opposite numbers for Saturday's game.  

After a very long hiatus, Notre Dame and Michigan finally resumed regular play in the 1970s, leading to wonderful gridiron moments such as this:

Michigan Wednesday

    Saturday, Notre Dame's players will take the field against Michigan's players.  Michigan has had many student athletes over the years.  Some former players were skilled entrepreneurs, and were budding street pharmacists during their playing days.  

Here he is in happier times, getting torched by Notre Dame's passing attack

Michigan Tuesday

  Irish fans, 

  Happy Tuesday, one and all!  Well, as happy a Tuesday as it can be when you come back from a three day weekend.  

  Gameday is growing ever closer, so it's time to see what the University of Michigan looks like when they take the field.  They're a tough team, and very good at closing out tough game

Against Colorado: 

Michigan Monday

  Good news, everyone!  We beat Temple.  By almost exactly the score I predicted.

 And now the better news: it's Michigan week.

1010 word Temple summary

A picture is worth a thousand words.  On to Michigan.