A Commentary if I May

He is big and rich. But he's not coming to your city.

News sources are reporting that Notre Dame and UConn have agreed to a 10 year deal to play games between them. Sounds good. UConn just had a good year with 9 wins and secured Randy Edsall for a few more years after some other schools (Georgia Tech in particular) tried to lure him away.

Most anybody would love to schedule Notre Dame at any point in any season. It's a good deal. Their a national team with national exposure. You're guaranteed to be on TV to boot.

A 10 year deal with them is even better. You're guaranteed a game each year (scheduling just got easier), money (you'll get a good cut or bring in a good crowd), and it's Notre Dame.

Scratch that. How about you just get to play there, but they won't come to your house? It makes the deal bittersweet. Yes you get the game and the money, but your fans and players don't get the game in their stadium.

I've never understood the fascination with Notre Dame. Yes, they're the nation's Catholic school. Yes, they are in the top five teams in all-time wins. What I don't get is why the nation and the nation's teams feel the need to jump all over the chance to play them.

I'm sure most AD's would fall out of their chairs in order to get that deal. If I'm an AD, I'd normally say something witty and clever like "Don't let the door hit 'ya where the good Lord split 'ya." But I would hope the door did hit them where the Lord did split them. So as to make more room for noses to be stuck up there.

A deal like that is disrespectful and insulting to your fans and players. They deserve better than to have a 10 year deal with another school that will never come to your stadium (but demands you come to theirs.) What makes this worse is that UConn is a BCS school. It's not even a mid-major and they're being treated like it or even a 1-AA.

I hope UConn shows some cajones, stops kissing Notre Dame's butt and rejects this proposal. I actually wish nobody in the Big East would play them for the time being, just to make a point. If the idea of a playoff or a plus-one system gets kicked around long enough it just might happen and I would love it if the the Bigs (Televen, XII, and East) tell them to go kiss a pig when they come running for a conference to join.


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