Introducing Michigan's New Coach

The Right Fit?

Michigan finally secured a new head coach Sunday by stealing West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez from Morgantown after several days of speculation. The Wolverines called a press conference for early Monday morning and likely must pay West Virginia a $4 million buyout for Rodriguez.

From the day Lloyd Carr stepped down on Dec. 7, the Michigan coaching search has been long-winded and frustrating for Wolverine fans. They had high hopes of landing Louisiana State's Les Miles, and may have had a deal in place the day of the Southeastern Conference Championship game, before Miles ultimately decided on staying in Baton Rouge.

Then Michigan targeted Rutger's Greg Schiano, who somewhat surprisingly chose to stay with the Scarlet Knights rather than head to Ann Arbor. Michigan athletic director Bill Martin also interviewed offensive coordinator Mike DeBord and defensive coordinator Ron English, but neither were serious contenders for the position.

On Dec. 14 it was reported Michigan and Rodriguez had met in Toledo and two days later the coach told his team in a brief 10-minute meeting that he would be leaving for Michigan and not coaching the Mountaineers in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma.

So now that the Wolverines have found a coach, the question remains: How successful will Rodriguez be at Michigan?

Rodriguez certainly did a great job at West Virginia, compiling a 60-26 record during seven seasons. He was named Big East Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2005 and led the Mountaineers to four conference titles. West Virginia finished 2005 ranked no. 5, its highest final ranking under Rodriguez, after beating Georgia in the Sugar Bowl 38-35.

However, Rodriguez also piled up many of those wins against Big East Conference opponents who have not been considered as competitive as teams from the SEC, PAC-10, and even ACC or Big Ten. While teams like Rutgers, Louisville and South Florida have drastically improved during the past few seasons, those teams are not top-tier programs. Even Louisville, which was ranked in the top 5 in Nov. of last season, is not in the same class as USC, Florida, LSU or Georgia. So while Big East championships are certainly something of which to be proud, those titles are not quite on plane with other, most established conference championships.

Meanwhile Michigan plays in the Big Ten, which while being bad this season, should present overall tougher competition than the Big East. Ohio State is always contending for a national title, Wisconsin is usually in a New Year's Day bowl and Penn State is good for eight wins a season. Those three are better than Louisville, South Florida and Rutgers. Instead of needing to beat just one very good team each year to win the conference title (Louisville), Rodriguez must knock off perennial power Ohio State and perhaps Wisconsin, Penn State and even a surprise team like Illinois.

Additionally, West Virginia rarely schedules quality out of conference games. After playing and losing to Wisconsin in 2002 and 2003, the Mountaineers have played the likes of East Carolina, Maryland, Wofford, Mississippi State and Central Florida for many of their non-conference games since 2004. At Michigan, Rodriguez will face Notre Dame every season before beginning conference play. While the Irish were awful in 2007, they should definitely be more competition than the East Carolina's of the college football world.

Perhaps the biggest question surrounding Rodriguez is how his spread option offense will fit in at Michigan. Rodriguez is credited by many to be the coach who perfected the spread option formation. He has implemented this offensive scheme at every place he's coached. Players like Pat White and Steve Slaton are a perfect fit for this scheme because they are quick and fast. With those two at the helm, Rodriguez created an offensive juggernaut at West Virginia for the past few seasons.

But Michigan doesn't have a player like White or Slaton. They do have one of the top quarterback recruits from the 2006 class in Ryan Mallet. However Mallett is about as far as you can get from White, in terms of agility and quickness. Mallet is a 6-foot-5, strong-armed quarterback that has little mobility. He's much better suited to stand in the pocket and zip a pass downfield, then run misdirections and shotgun draws.

With the Wolverines losing their starting quarterback, starting running back and best offensive lineman, Rodriguez will immediately have the difficult task of implementing a radically new offense with a number of inexperienced players at key positions.

What may end up happening is Michigan land's the nation's No. 1 recruit, quarterback Terrelle Pryor, and gives him the starting job as a freshman. Pryor has much more experience running the spread offense than Mallett and the high school senior said Sunday Michigan was back on his list of potential schools. According to the Detroit Free Press, Rodriguez called Pryor to tell him that he'll be taking the Michigan position and sticking with the spread option offense.

It will certainly be interesting to see how well Rodriguez fits into Michigan. He's had plenty of success at every coaching job he's held and his career record speaks for itself. But he also inherits a young team that has little experience with his coaching schemes. He must replace key players at several positions. And he'll face a more stringent schedule than when he coached West Virginia.

Michigan's coaching search will end Monday morning and plenty of Michigan fans will rejoice that they landed a great coach for their program. They may be right. But there are enough question marks surrounding Rodriguez that it's far from certain that he's the best fit for the Wolverines.

K-State and 25 Straight

Notre Dame got the resume building victory it needed over Kansas State Dec. 4 and followed that with a 25th straight win at the Joyce Center, breaking a school record by beating Northern Illinois 108-62.

The Kansas State win looks even better after the Wildcats downed previously unbeaten California on Sunday.

The Irish are off for the next two weeks before resuming play against San Francisco on Dec. 22. Notre Dame has a very easy slate until opening conference play with West Virginia on Jan. 3.

Where Dutch Happened

Schedule Needs a Boost

During the 2006-07 season, Notre Dame played a very easy non-conference schedule besides two games. The Irish faced Alabama at home and Maryland on the road. Notre Dame played well in both games en route to notching two victories. Despite those two quality wins, the Irish received little respect from the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee which slotted the squad as a six-seed and pitted them against a very tough 11th-seeded Winthrop team. The reason for the poor seed? The committee didn't like that Notre Dame failed to adequately challenge itself out of conference.

Fans and critics complained that the Irish needed to beef up the non-conference slate to help bolster their tournament resume for the 2007-08 campaign. But this year the Irish once again play too many terrible teams and not enough quality opponents. And unlike last year when Notre Dame won its precious couple tough games, the Irish have already dropped two close games to Baylor and Georgia Tech. That's the danger in playing an easy OOC.

Had Notre Dame scheduled several other good teams, the two early-season losses wouldn't be that big of a deal. The team would have plenty more chances to gain those critical "resume wins." But instead, the Irish face just one more good team before Big East play begins -- No. 20 Kansas State on December 4. Lose that game and Notre Dame will head into conference play with an 0-3 record against the only above average talent it faced in November and December.

That will mean the Irish better play lights out in the very difficult Big East if they want to return to the Tournament. Eleven and seven may not be enough. Notre Dame might need 12 wins to give itself a chance. That's asking a lot of any team, let alone a team that is trying to replace its top two scorers from a year ago.

Each year the Selection Committee places more emphasis on playing a difficult non-conference schedule. Losses to good teams aren't weighted as heavily and quality wins gain more significance. Knowing that, Notre Dame needs to start improving the quality of its out of conference opponents, starting next season. By shying away from top competition, Notre Dame has put itself in a difficult position just five games into the season. I hate talking about a tournament resume before February, let alone December, but at this point Notre Dame can't afford a loss at Kansas State or be upset in the Big East. The team's room for error has shrunk.

College basketball is changing. Twenty wins doesn't guarantee a tournament berth anymore. Beating up on inferior opponents in the early season doesn't do much for your resume. Teams must produce victories against good out of conference teams. Fail to build up those wins and you're putting your tournament life at the mercy of the Selection Committee.

Once you're on the bubble, you're vulnerable. And many times, that bubble bursts along with your season-long goal of being part of March Madness.

If the Irish are on the bubble again this season, they will know who to blame. Not the Selection Committee, but whoever scheduled the likes of North Florida, Youngstown State, and Long Island instead of decent competition in November and December.

It's Finally Over

It seems appropriate that Notre Dame's final game Saturday was as ugly as the rest of the 2007 season.

The Irish committed far too many penalties, made costly turnovers, failed to capitalize on its opponent's mistakes, didn't execute well on offense, struggled on special teams, couldn't tackle and didn't catch any breaks. Somehow, Notre Dame still pulled out a 21-14 victory over a very poor Stanford squad, giving the Irish consecutive wins to end a season for the first time since 1992.

There aren't many positives to take away from the victory other than it wasn't a loss.

If Notre Dame and head coach Charlies Weis are going to bounce back next season, a litany of problems must be corrected during the offseason. No doubt, Weis will hit the recruiting trail for the next few weeks before doing his own autopsy on the 2007 season. Once the NFL season concludes, Weis says he'll have his old pals in New England audit the Irish and help pinpoint where the third year coach failed so miserably.

Once Weis finishes his post-mortem analysis, he'll begin figuring out ways to correct his mistakes. There are several obvious places to start.

You can be sure the Irish will do a lot of hitting in spring practices, unlike this year when the team rarely went full contact against each other. Notre Dame will also focus on one offensive playbook and won't be attempting to implement three or four radically different schemes. And the team will certainly practice the basics -- blocking, tackling, kicking -- since they didn't execute any of these phases for much of the season.

Perhaps the best byproduct of a 3-9 season is that Weis learned much from his impressive failure. He's been knocked down a peg or two. He now knows that having a "schematic advantage in every game" doesn't get you very far when your players don't execute. Calling an offensive play with Brady Quinn under center, Jeff Samardjiza and Rhema McKnight at wideouts and Darius Walker in the backfield is vastly different than calling the same play with fresh-faced Jimmy Clausen and a bunch of freshman at the skill positions.

Weis also needs to refine the way he motivates his team. Numerous times this season the Irish simply lacked passion. They weren't physically tough and they didn't match their opponent's energy. Teams get extra excited to play Notre Dame and the team needs to meet that intensity. Too often Notre Dame simply looked unmotivated.

Finally, Weis needs to teach his players discipline. In 20 years of watching Notre Dame football, I've never seen an Irish squad commit so many stupid penalties. There were several games when Notre Dame easily reached double digits in penalties. This should never, ever happen. Part of the problem is playing so many young players, but that still doesn't excuse Weis's team from being this reckless. Notre Dame wasn't good enough to overcome so many self-inflicted wounds. Few teams are.

Weis built up a reserve of good feelings by leading Notre Dame to back-to-back Bowl Championship Series Games in 2005 and 2006. He used up most of those reserves in 2007. Heading into the 2008 season Weis knows he's facing his greatest challenge. If the Irish endure another disappointing season with little obvious improvement, the fourth year coach will be on a very hot seat. But if Notre Dame can bounce back with a solid eight or nine win season, Weis can carry that momentum into a potential national title run in 2009.

Next year Weis will coach three recruiting classes that he put together. The first two were ranked in the top-10 and the latest has a very real chance to be No. 1. We will have a much better idea of Weis's coaching ability by watching the team next season. They also have the benefit of a very manageable schedule and the talent to make a significant jump in improvement next season.

Whether Notre Dame actually makes that jump will depend on how well Weis adjusts from the mistakes he made in 2007.

Happy Ending

I understand that Duke is one of the worst Division I football teams year in and year out. That doesn't make me any less happy with Notre Dame's 28-7 victory over the Blue Devils Saturday.

The Irish showed improvements across the board, starting with quarterback Jimmy Clausen. My biggest concern with Clausen has been his struggles reading defenses and moving through his progression, and his severe lack of pocket presence. The combination of these two problems has led to Clausen taking too many sacks and playing ineffectively.

But the last two games, Clausen has shown vast improvement in the way he reads a defense and moves out of the pocket before it collapses. Against Duke, Clausen efficiently went through his progression, found the open receiver and delivered the football on target. He also avoided five or six sacks by ducking out of trouble right before a Blue Devil defender brought him down. The result was a more effective offense that didn't repeatedly kill drives with huge loss plays.

Clausen's throw to David Grimes for a 25-yard touchdown near the end of the second quarter was beautiful. The freshman threaded the ball between the defender covering Grimes and the safety. You couldn't ask for a better pass.

On the next drive, after narrowly avoiding a sack, Clausen heaved a perfect jump ball to the end zone and put Duval Kamara in great position to haul in a touchdown, which the freshman receiver did to put the Irish ahead 14-0.

For the past few weeks, I've been concerned that Clausen has failed to develop or improve this season. But the last two games make me feel better. If Clausen can play well against Stanford next week, he'll head into the offseason with some positive momentum.

The Irish ran the ball very well behind another freshman, Robert Hughes, who finished with 17 carries for 110 yards and a touchdown. Hughes is big enough to break tackles, but quick enough to elude defenders. I really like Armando Allen and James Aldridge, but Allen is too small to run consistently well between the tackles and Aldridge tries to run people over a little too often instead of trying a sidestep move. Hughes is the best of both worlds. He made great reads, quick cuts and most importantly, never, ever stopped churning his legs. Those three could be a devastating backfield for the next two or three years.

The defense played very well, particularly Trevor Laws. Laws is the one player I wish we'd have back next year. He is absolute animal. On one play against Duke, Laws spun past his defender, fell to the ground, immediately sprung up and dived for a sack. Despite the announcers repeatedly gushing that Tom Zibikowski is the heart of the Irish defense, the right answer is Laws. He's played well enough to merit All-American honors, and it's certain he'll be picked in the first two or three rounds of the NFL draft.

While there were plenty of positives, Notre Dame still made plenty of mistakes, especially in the first half. And beating lowly Duke certainly doesn't erase this team's struggles and shortcomings throughout the 2007 season. But the Irish also made strides today, gained a little confidence and got to enjoy a home victory.

Overall, a nice way to send the seniors out in their final home game.

Mr. Business

Let's get something clear about Alex Rodriguez. He's not returning to the New York Yankees for the following reasons:

1.) He's a True Yankee.
2.) He's comfortable in New York.
3.) He understands what it means to wear pinstripes.
4.) He wants to prove his worth to the fans.
5.) He always wanted to be a Yankee.
6.) He thinks New York is the best place to play baseball.
7.) He came to his senses.
8.) He's a Yankee at heart.

The reason -- the only reason -- Rodriguez will be wearing pinstripes for the next 10 years is because the New York Yankees are willing to pay more money for his services than any other team. That's it. Simple. Straightforward. Fact.

Understanding this reason is important since most every sports journalist will turn this story around to make it seem like Rodriguez always wanted to play for the Yankees, that he loves New York and that he's a True Yankee. While it may sound good or make for a nice story, it's completely incorrect.

This whole scenario played out rather predictably. Alex Rodriguez, the best hitter in Major League Baseball, chose to maximize his current value by opting out of his contract. He and agent Scott Boras felt that Rodriguez could command a larger salary by testing the free agent market. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this.

After inquiring with all potential suitors, Rodriguez realized one team could pay more than any other -- the Yankees. He then contacted the Steinbrenners, traveled with his wife down to Florida and ironed out a contract. End of story.

But, as usual, stupidity has overtaken common sense in the world of sports journalism.

Buster Olney said Rodriguez was a true Yankee at heart in his online article this afternoon. The New York Times' George Vecsey declares that the Yankees should "treat A-Rod like he treated the Yankees." Fellow Times' writer Murray Chass mocked Rodriguez for "finally coming to his senses" weeks later. And on ESPN's morning programming, the question was asked, "Who are the winners and who are the losers in the A-Rod saga?"

There is so much idiocy happening at once that my head may explode.

First, Rodriguez is not a "Yankee at Heart" because he returned to their team based solely on money, not love. If he truly wanted to ensure that he stayed a Yankee, Rodriguez would have met with Hank Steinbrenner and General Manager Brian Cashman before opting out of his contract. The Yankees pushed to have first shot at settling a contract with Rodriguez. But Rodriguez wouldn't agree to preemptive talks, and instead put himself on auction for all 32 Major League clubs. Again, there's nothing wrong with this. But it does illustrate that Rodriguez could care less about the Yankees; he just wanted the optimal monetary contract.

Second, the Yankees should not shun Rodriguez or make him sweat out a contract deal, as Mr. Vecsey demands in his article. If the Yankees are smart (and they are) they will sign Rodriguez as quickly as humanly possible so other teams don't decide to engage in a bidding war and to ensure they have the single best baseball player on their team for the foreseeable future.

This isn't rocket science. It doesn't matter what you think about Rodriguez -- that he's a jerk or a choker (not true) or a womanizer (probably true) or a very greedy man. All of those opinions don't change the fact that he can hit a baseball better than any other person on Earth, and probably Mars, Venus, Saturn and the rest of the planets. Why wouldn't you want the very best asset in your company or the top salesman in your firm? Who cares if the guy makes you uncomfortable? He's better at his job than anyone else in the industry. He makes your company better. He probably makes you look better. Not wanting someone like this on your team is ridiculous.

Finally, you have to hand it to ESPN. Just when you thought they couldn't bring any less relevance to sports journalism, they pop this doozy of a question earlier today.

"Who is the biggest loser in the A-Rod situation -- A-Rod, the Yankees or Scott Boras?"

Hmm. Let's see here. A-Rod will now make $275 million during the next decade. He'll make $300 million if he breaks the all-time home run record. The New York Yankees locked up the best player in baseball for the next 10 years, can market him all over the world, will likely draw even larger audiences during Rodriguez's pursuit of the all-time home run and all-time hits records, and kept him from going to a rival. Boras didn't even have to attend the meeting and instead stayed home, ate some Fruit Loops, watched The Price Is Right and pocketed roughly $27 million before taxes.

I'm going to be bold here and say that none of those three lost. In fact, I'd venture to go as far as saying all three parties made out pretty darn well.

So, to recap, Rodriguez didn't care who he played for as long as that team paid him more than any other team. Rodriguez is the best hitter in baseball and every fan who knows anything about baseball should want Rodriguez on his or her team. And all three parties involved in the contract negotiations were humongous winners.

Now when you read or hear all the crappy journalism that will follow this story, you'll know the facts.

This wasn't about love. It was strictly business.

Irish Basketball is Back!

The Irish hoopsters tipped the 2007-08 season in impressive fashion Monday, routing Long Island 82-50. Rob Kurz paced Notre Dame with 19 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots while Luke Harangody added 15 points and six boards. The win was Notre Dame's 21st straight at the Joyce Center.

Basketball season is always exciting, but that's especially true this season for a couple reasons. First, Notre Dame should have good team with athletic shooters on the perimeter and quality big men down low. This team is quick and plays well together. While they were picked 9th in the Big East Preseason Coaches Poll, I expect the Irish to surprise plenty of people around conference this season.

Secondly, with the football team being so awful, Notre Dame fans are relieved to watch one of their teams actually produce on the field (or in this case, on the court). Personally, I've never been happier to see football season fade away and basketball season arrive.

The Irish travel to the Virgin Islands to face Monmouth on Friday at 8:30 ET. The winner of that game gets either Baylor or Wichita State. Notre Dame's non-conference schedule is loaded with patsies, so it's important the Irish go down to the Caribbean and pick up a couple victories against some slightly above average talent.

Different Week, Same Results

For the second consecutive week a service academy came into Notre Dame Stadium and left with a victory. Only this Saturday, the score wasn’t close.

Behind quarterback Shaun Carney and versatile Chad Hall, the Air Force Academy easily handled Notre Dame 41-24 to drop the Irish to an all-time record 9^th loss of the season. Carney threw two touchdowns and Hall piled up 272 all-purpose yards, including 142 on the ground, to turn a close game at halftime into a rout.

Notre Dame, which had a distinct size advantage at every position, rushed for just 58 yards on 38 attempts while Air Force gained 285 yards on 63 carries. Irish freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen had arguably his best game by throwing for 246 yards and three scores despite numerous drops by his receivers.

Once again turnovers cost the Irish. On the opening play, Clausen found tight end John Carlson for a 28-yard gain before the All-American fumbled, leading to an Air Force field goal. Late in the first quarter, fullback Asaph Schwapp and Clausen muffed a handoff that ricocheted off Schwapp’s leg and into the hands of Air Force’s John Rabold, who stiffed-armed Clausen on his way to the end zone staking Air Force to a 10-0 lead.

Early in the second quarter, the Irish started a drive at their own 37 and moved the ball effectively to the Air Force 11, behind eight runs and just two passes. But the drive stalled there after the Irish inexplicitly attempted three consecutive passes, all which fell incomplete, and settled for a Brandon Walker 28-yard field goal.

After Notre Dame’s defense made a fourth down stand on Air Force’s next possession, the Irish offense once again ran the ball right down the field and capped the drive when Clausen floated a two-yard touchdown pass to Carlson. Suddenly, it was 10-10 with Notre Dame’s offense and defense playing fairly well.

That all changed on the next possession.

Air Force answered the consecutive Irish scores with an impressive seven-play, 66-yard scoring drive that lasted just 1:23. Almost effortlessly, Air Force maneuvered right down the field, scoring on a well-executed reverse to Spencer Armstrong that left most of the Irish defense blocked out of the play. The eight-yard touchdown run put the Falcons up 17-10 at half.

After playing well for most of the first half, the Irish defense completely collapsed in the second half. On the opening possession of the third quarter, Carney found Mark Root wide open for 26 yards after no Notre Dame defender covered the Falcon receiver. Carney then completed the 67-yard touchdown drive with a seven-yard pass to Sean Quintana to push Air Force ahead 24-10.

The Notre Dame offense stalled for the remainder of the third quarter. When Carney hit Keith Madsen for a 10-yard touchdown late in the third to put Air Force ahead 31-10, the game was all but over.

To revisit JVan’s keys to the game:

Will the Irish ground game force the Falcons to change their defensive alignment? – No. The Irish running game gained just 112 rushing yards, not including sacks, and was abandoned in the second half when the game was out of hand.

- Will the Irish defense be able to neutralize Chad Hall? No. While Hall didn’t score, he owned the Irish defense all day en route to 272 all-purpose yards. Hall was even more effective as a decoy on several of the Falcons’ scoring plays.

- Can Weis limit Clausen’s passing attempts while increasing his productivity? No. Instead of a steady diet of running plays, the Irish ran 38 times and had 40 passing attempts. While Clausen had a solid game and didn’t turn the ball over, the Irish needed to establish a consistent running attack, and they did not.

- Will Notre Dame be able to contain the defensive perimeter and tackle effectively?
Once again, the tackling was atrocious. Early in the game the Irish neutralized the Falcons spread running game, but that quickly ended by the start of third quarter as Air Force had an easy time gaining nearly 300 rushing yards.

- Can Notre Dame avoid obvious passing situations on third down?
No. The Irish again struggled on third down, converting just 4-of-15 with most of those attempts being more than six yards.

- Will the Irish defense force turnovers and negative plays? The defense did force two turnovers, but it wasn’t near enough to offset the poor tackling and dominant performances by Carney and Hall.

- Can Notre Dame make a field goal? Yes, but it didn’t matter much in the end.

For Notre Dame fans, this week was almost exactly the same as watching any other loss during this trying season. The Irish were incompetent in almost every aspect of the game. The offense couldn’t rush the ball against an undersized opponent, the wide receivers dropped far too many passes, the offensive line couldn’t keep Air Force from pressuring Clausen all day, the defense fell apart after halftime, and the Irish shot themselves in the foot with sloppy turnovers. On top of those miscues, Weis failed to stick with the run on several first-half drives when it appeared to be working and didn’t attempt enough downfield passes until the game was out of reach in the fourth quarter.

Perhaps the most alarming part of Saturday’s loss was the way Air Force adjusted its game plan and the Irish did not. The Irish defense played fairly well in the first half, but got absolutely punished in the second half. Meanwhile, the Irish offense did not make effective halftime adjustments to exploit their size advantage and superior talent. In all, it was like watching a rerun of losses one through eight.

The Irish face Duke next week in the home finale before heading to California for the Stanford game Thanksgiving weekend. A one-win season, which seemed completely ridiculous in August, is certainly now a possibility.

HUGE!

Unfathomable Futility
By: Joe

Notre Dame will be underdogs against Navy in two weeks. That sentence sums up the 2007 season.

After a 38-0 thrashing from Southern California Saturday, there's no reason the Irish should be favored against anyone but Duke. And even that game is far from a gimme win.

After making slow, but steady improvements for several weeks, including a surprise road victory over UCLA, Notre Dame hit rock bottom -- again -- Saturday by failing to execute on offense, defense in the second half, and special teams. Other than those problems, Notre Dame played great.

It's become tiresome to think about all the mistakes this football team makes each week. Even when one unit shows improvement, the other two fail miserably. Off the top of my head, I can think of a laundry list of problems that need fixing immediately, including:

*Offensive lineman learning how to block
*Quarterbacks learning how to read a defense/blitz
*Defensive players learning how to tackle
*Wide receivers learning how to get open
*John Sullivan learning how to shotgun snap
*Running backs learning how to pick up a blitz
*Geoff Price learning how to catch a low-snapped punt without putting his knee on the ground
*Special Teams learning how to cover a kick return
*Special Teams learning how to block on a kick return
*Special Teams learning how to stop getting penalized on every other punt return
*Offense learning how to stop killing drives with costly penalties
*Quarterbacks learning how to not leave receivers out to dry on short screens or across-the-middle passes
*Offensive line learning how to block on a screen pass or in the open field
*Defense learning how to pressure the quarterback
*Learning how to break tackles
*Learning how to make halftime adjustments
*Learning how to sustain drives for more than 1 minute, 34 seconds.
*Learning how to throw down field more than twice a game
*Learning how to play with passion each and every week

I was optimistic after the UCLA game and thought we could be competitive against USC. The Trojans were banged up on offense and had struggled for several games against inferior opponents. But when your running game is nonexistent and you don't attempt to throw the ball downfield, then you can't sustain any type of offensive drive which consequently wears out your defense. Add in a muffed punt return which gives your opponent a free seven points and beating a team like USC is pretty much impossible.

The only hope left is that we keep our talented recruiting class intact and start over fresh next season. I don't even want to fathom what happens if these high school kids start dropping like flies and changing their commitments.

At Charlie Weis's first press conference, he said the reason he was the head coach at Notre Dame was because the Irish had been 6-6 the previous year. "You are what you are, and right now you're a 6-6 football team. And that's not good enough."

Charlie was right. You are what you are. And right now, we're one of the worst teams in college football.

I hope the Midshipmen take it easy on us Nov. 3.

D is for Dominant
By: Joe

Notre Dame's offense managed a meager 140 yards of offense Saturday against UCLA. They tallied just 12 first downs. They averaged 1.4 yards per rush and just 2.1 yards per play.

And the Irish won 20-6. One-and-five never felt so good.

While Notre Dame's offense struggled against a very solid UCLA defense, the Irish defense turned in an absolutely suffocating performance en route to forcing seven turnovers and setting up every Irish score.

Sure, the Bruins were handcuffed offensively after starting quarterback Ben Olson left the game with a knee injury, forcing freshman wak-on McLeod Bethel-Thompson into action. And yes, Bethel-Thompson threw four interceptions and looked shaky much of the game. But the fact is Notre Dame's defense dominated the line of scrimmage, pressured the quarterback and disrupted nearly every UCLA drive.

It didn't matter the quarterback, it mattered that Notre Dame's defensive coordinator Corwin Brown was blitzing on every other play, the Irish defensive ends were routinely beating their guy and the linebackers and safeties were playing tight coverage all night.

Offensively, the Irish took a step or two back Saturday night. Defensively, they took a flying leap forward.

After starting the season with three embarrassing losses, Notre Dame has showed progress in each of the last three games. The Irish ran the ball better against Michigan State, threw the ball better versus Purdue and stepped up defensively against the UCLA. There are still plenty of areas to improve upon -- rushing offense, passing offense, special teams, checking wide receivers at the line of scrimmage, and play-calling to name a few.

But suddenly, things don't seem so terrible in South Bend. The Irish have a week to continue improving before facing a top-5 Boston College squad that hasn't beaten anyone of substance. Then it's USC coming to town, two weeks removed from a total collaspse against Stanford at home. I'm not saying we should expect Notre Dame to be 3-5 in two weeks, but nothing's impossible. Finally, the Irish can feel good about themselves.

This week the players don't have to field questions about tying a Notre Dame record with eight consecutive losses and they won't be asked about securing the worst start in Irish football history. Instead, they can focus on pulling off an upset against Boston College in front of a sure-to-be-excited crowd.

Slowly, but surely things are starting to turn around for Notre Dame.

A Step in the Right Direction
By Joe

Trailing 23-0 at halftime in West Lafayette Saturday, Notre Dame could have accepted a fifth straight embarrassing blowout loss. Purdue had dominated a sloppy, mistake-ridden Irish squad in the first half and easily could have led by much worse. Notre Dame, it seemed, was on the verge of conceding defeat -- not only on the game, but perhaps the rest of the season.

But Notre Dame's players didn't give up. And consequently gave Irish fans hope for the rest of the 2007 and beyond.

In easily their best half of the season, Notre Dame looked like a decent football team. They ran an efficient offense. They made key defensive stops. They put pressure on the opponent. And they played with the fire and passion I hadn't seen yet this season.

While Notre Dame fell short of pulling out a much-needed win, the Irish gave themselves a chance -- which is more than can be said about the first four games.

After the game Weis summed up the importance of Notre Dame's second half play.

"For the first time this year, we played a half of football where you could win," he said. "That's closer to winning football."

There were numerous positives to take away from this loss.

*Charlie Weis opened up the playbook and managed his team in the second half much the way he coached a year ago with more experienced players. He took chances by going for it on fourth down, threw downfield (including on 4th and 5 in the third quarter), and stuck with what worked -- short slants, the occasional deep throw, and few running plays. He forced the running game too much in the first half, when it obviously wasn't working, and it severely hurt the Irish offense. Still, Weis coached "looser" and his players played better.

*Both quarterbacks played fairly well, particularly Evan Sharpley. I was impressed with Sharpley's ability to throw the deep pass and he stayed poised despite facing a Purdue defense that routinely dropped six and seven defenders in coverage in the second half. He made one bad decision by prematurely throwing into double coverage in the end zone. But it's hard to expect him to play error-free considering his inexperience.

*By the middle of next season, and maybe sooner, Notre Dame's wide receiving corps will be one of the best in the nation. George West, Robby Parris, Golden Tate, and Duval Kamara played great and showed that Weis has in fact recruited some very talented players. If they can gain more experience this season, this group will cause all sorts of problems for future opponents.

*The defense made adjustments and locked it down for much of the second half. It was disheartening to watch Purdue move right down the field for a score right after Notre Dame had cut the lead to 26-19. Still, the Irish defenders also didn't allow the game to get out of hand in the first half by forcing the Boilermakers into field goals instead of touchdowns. For the first time in a long time, we were the team making defensive adjustments.

*As mentioned earlier, Notre Dame's players played with a passion we haven't seen up to this point in the season. The Irish were visibly excited on the field after making a big play. The sidelines were animated when Notre Dame climbed back into the game. And after the loss, the players looked ticked off and upset with failing to complete the comeback. That's an encouraging sign because it showed the players expected to win. When it didn't happen, they were almost surprised. That's the kind of attitude a championship team needs.

*The Irish dominated the second half, minus the lone Purdue touchdown drive. For the first time, Notre Dame outgained an opponent in yardage. They controlled the time of possession. And they converted on a much higher percentage of third and fourth downs then previous games.

In all, it's not unreasonable to believe that the Irish will look back later this season or in 2008 and point to the second half of the Purdue game as the turning point for this young team. Even though Purdue is probably a five-loss team this season, and certainly not top-25 caliber, the opponent is much less important than the fact that the Irish grew up a lot in those final 30 minutes of football.

For the first time, Notre Dame looked like the team most fans expected in August -- a young, talented squad that would make some very good plays and some rookie errors. We were fine with this kind of team, even if it meant losing a bunch of football games. What we couldn't handle were blowout losses coupled with little to no improvement from week-to-week. That's what happened through the first four and a half games.

Now there's hope the Irish can truly begin growing as individual players and as a football team.

Looking for Improvement
By Joe

After three straight atrocious weeks of football, I just wanted to see Notre Dame show some -- any -- improvement against Michigan State Saturday.

The Irish certainly improved. Just not near enough.

They scored offensive touchdowns for the first time this season. They ran the ball much more effectively than in the previous three games. They kept the game close through the entire first half and actually had a chance to win when the third quarter began.

And they still lost by two and a half touchdowns at home. That's how bad this football team is.

What do you say after watching Notre Dame the first four weeks of the season? I have the same complaints from the first three weeks that I do after week 4. I could take my last post and just change the picture and opponent name and it'd still be valid.

It's obvious that Notre Dame has little chance of winning any of the next four games. We have a young football team. We have a bad football team. We are poorly coached so far. For the rest of the season, the new barometer for this team is whether they show improvement from week-to-week. The improvement might be small, as it was in the Michigan State game, but as long as we continue to get better I'll be at peace with the ghastly record.

So this week I was pleased to see James Aldridge carry the ball and do so effectively. I'm still puzzled that it took Charlie Weis three weeks to give Aldridge the bulk of carries. As much as I like Armando Allen, we don't have good enough run blocking to send a 5-foot-10, 18o-lb skimpy back straight up the gut. Aldridge can break tackles and is a nightmare for any defensive back if he gets into the secondary. Against Michigan State, he mustered extra yards despite getting hit in the backfield on numerous occasions and finished the game with 18 carries for 104 yards.

I also liked how freshman Robert Hughes ran. He spelled Aldridge and showed an ability to find the small holes the offensive line opened. I fully expect the Aldridge-Hughes duo to receive most of the carries the rest of the season.

Overall, the offensive line's run blocking was much better than the first three weeks, but not yet even close to where it needs to be. The backs were still hit in the backfield too much, but at least there were some holes to run through. I'm trying to be optimistic here.

The Irish defense really struggled to stop Michigan State's running attack and they were extremely vulnerable to the play-action pass. Quarterback Brian Hoyer only went 11-of-24 passing, but four of his completions went for touchdowns. The Spartans game plan was simple. Run the ball, run the ball, run the ball, throw a deep pass. They executed that plan to perfection, thanks to a hapless Irish defense.

Notre Dame's pass offense was, once again, absolutely horrible. We might as well concede the passing game for the next few weeks. Jimmy Clausen is holding the ball much too long and the offense line literally cannot go two straight plays without allowing a sack or a quarterback pressure. Why Weis hasn't gone to quick slants more often is beyond me. As it stands now, the Irish are a one-dimensional offense that doesn't execute that one thing very well.

More than anything, I just wish Notre Dame played with passion and fire. We never get ticked. We never show emotion. We never play with an aggressive attitude.

A telltale sign that this team lacks passion is the consistent manner in which they lose short yardage confrontations on both sides of the line. We never win a fourth and short conversion on offense or stop a fourth and short on defensive because we play like a bunch of patsies. Blocking is attitude and our lines don't have that "we're-going-to-kick-your-ass" mentality. That's why we get beat all day on both sides of the ball and that's the major reason we are so offensively inept.

The Irish have a chance to win next week against Purdue, but the odds are certainly stacked against us. The Boilermakers can score bunches of points and our defense has allowed more than 30 points in six straight games. That means we'll probably need the offense to score at least four touchdowns to win.

There's probably a better chance of Hell freezing over.

A New Low
By: Joe

I did something on Saturday that I've never done before. I quit watching a Notre Dame football game.

That's saying something, considering I've seen some pretty bad Irish football the past decade and a half. But Saturday was a new low.

The problem wasn't that I expected Notre Dame to win. I picked Michigan because they have a very talented team that has one glaring weakness -- they can't stop a spread offense. I figured Mike Hart would have a big day and we'd fall by 10-14 points. I would have been OK with that for two reasons: 1. Michigan isn't as bad as the media says and 2. At least we would have shown improvement.

No. 1 turned out to be true. And No. 2 happened, except the exact opposite.

The worst part of this game is that I didn't even get to enjoy ONE friggin' play. Not one. I couldn't even think positively for a whole play. We returned the opening kickoff to the 17 and then our senior captain snapped it over Armando Allen's head to put us at 2nd and forever from our own 1. A Notre Dame hater couldn't have scripted a worse scenario for the Irish.

And it went downhill from there.

To be completely honest, I'm shocked right now. I believe in Charlie Weis and I believe we are headed in the right direction. But to show no ability or technique in any facet of the football game has to make Irish fans wonder what the heck is going on during practice each week? This is by far the worst Notre Dame game I have ever watched (or partly watched) and it wasn't because we "don't have the talent" as analysts will say. It's because we lack any concept of fundamentals.

We don't block correctly. We don't protect the passer. We don't get a "push" on the offensive line. We don't cover receivers. We make mental errors. We have too many penalties. We can't tackle. We can't cover a punt return. We can't score. We can't hang on to the football. We can't convert a 3rd down. We can't rush for one yard with our fullback. We can't snap. And we certainly haven't made progress in the first three weeks of the season.

The only thing we can do is punt.

Where's the improvement? This week, Coach Weis said that it's time to "take the gloves off" and "open up the playbook." I don't understand how we expected to "open up the playbook" when we can't block anyone or run for positive yards. Shouldn't we work on executing those facets of the offense before we send Jimmy Clausen into a shotgun with no running backs? Shouldn't Weis go through some type of offensive progression to help this offense improve? For example, first we figure out why we're blocking poorly. Then we work on how to run the ball more effectively. Then, after we correct those two problems, then and only then do we work on opening up the offense.

Michigan killed Clausen all day. Every time he went shotgun with four or five wide, he had two seconds to throw the ball. If you've watched the Irish through two games, does that surprise you at all? We can't block anyone and Weis is going to try to run a spread offense with no extra protection for Clausen? How was this scheme supposed to work in the first place?

I could write a book about all our problems. But it basically comes down to this. Yes, the team is hurting because of two poor recruiting classes by Tyrone Willingham. Yes, the offensive line is comprised of one senior, two very average talented juniors and a couple supposed-promising sophomores. Yes, the brutal schedule and the young team is a perfect storm for a disastrous record this season.

But all those facts don't reprieve Weis, line coach John Latina, and the rest of the staff from putting a team on the field that is this putrid.

Perhaps the most depressing result of this 38-0 loss is that it's bound to hurt recruiting. Weis, to his credit, has done a remarkable job recruiting -- much better than his predecessor who quit recruiting in November before he was fired. But high school recruits who have committed or are thinking of attending Notre Dame are going to start second-guessing themselves with all these embarrassing losses. Opposing coaches are going to have an easy time calling recruits up to remind them how bad Notre Dame has been this year. Their question will be simple: "Do you really want to play for that team?

It doesn't get easier. Michigan State is undefeated. Purdue can put up bunches of points. UCLA and Boston College are top-15 teams and USC is No. 1. And Air Force just upset No. 20 TCU on Thursday.

Anyone who predicts Notre Dame will finish better than 1-11 is an idiot. There is no tangible reason, at this point, to believe Notre Dame can win a football game in 2007, besides beating lowly Duke. We haven't even scored an offensive touchdown, how are we supposed to win two games? That's the truth and it's sad.

At this point, I'm flabbergasted. I don't know how we can be this bad. Weis better turn this season around, and fast, or all the good he's done the past two years will vanish in a hurry.

Back for Football Season
By: Joe

After moving from Alabama to Ohio to Chicago in the past few months, I am finally settled down in my apartment and have time to write in this blog once again. So let's get started...

The Cole Express
By Joe

Last week I was cleaning my room and getting ready for moving out of Birmingham when I started thinking about what I wanted to do during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. I had talked to my roommate Katie about watching the Braves play before I left Alabama, so I checked the schedule to see whether Atlanta had a home game last weekend. Sure enough, they did versus the Phillies.

Then I stopped. My mind raced. The Phillies? Cole Hamels pitches for the Phillies. Could he be pitching on Sunday? Please God say it's true.

As fate would have it, my boy Cole had a scheduled start for Sunday. It took me 3.4 seconds to buy the tickets.

So Katie and I made the two-hour trek to Atlanta to watch Cole face the Braves. Needless to say, it was an all around outstanding day.

First, Turner Field is an absolutely amazing ballpark. Once you walk in the gates the whole layout is wide open. There are monuments of Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn and Ty Cobb. There are games for kids to play. There are endless concession stands. In contrast to PNC Park in Pittsburgh and Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Turner Field has plenty of room to walk around outside the stadium and engage with the numerous fan booths. And you can buy Sam Adams on tap. Overall, it's very cool.

We got to our seats on the right field line and settled in to witness Cole. But first we were treated to reigning N.L. MVP Ryan Howard. Howard is coming off of an oblique injury, but he looked just fine against Atlanta's Kyle Davies. Howard, with an effortless swing, belted a two-run homer down the right field line on the first pitch he saw from Davies. Now I realize Ryan Howard is a large man, but it still amazed me at how easy he powered the ball over the fence. Just a flick of the wrists and 375 feet later it's 2-0 Phillies.

Greg Dobbs followed Howard with a sky high fly ball that barely grazed past the right-center field fence for a two-run shot. Just like that, the Phillies were up 4-0.

Granting Cole Hamels a four-run lead is like giving a mere mortal pitcher 12 runs. As the Phillies warmed before the bottom of the first started, I turned to Katie and informed her that the game was over. There are certain things you don't do in life if you want to succeed. Giving Cole Hamels a big lead is one of them.

Cole didn't disappoint me, cruising through the first inning by allowing just one hit and striking out a batter. Not surprisingly Cole threw a ton of change-ups, each clocked between 79 and 81 mph. He made Jeff Franceour look silly by setting him up with two change-ups before blowing a 94 mph fastball past him for the easy strikeout.

In the second inning Cole strutted to the plate and took a nice hack at a Davies fastball, roping it down the first base line. Unfortunately, Scott Thorman made a diving stop to halt Cole from a two-base hit. Still, I was impressed with how well Cole swung the bat. He's collected five hits already this season, including two doubles.

As the sun became hotter and the afternoon grew older, Cole pitched on cruise control. From the second through fourth innings, he yielded just a one hit, a solo home run to backup catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, while striking out five. The Braves offered no threats to score.

In the fifth, the Phillies exploded for seven runs, including Howard's second home run of the day, a mammoth shot to center field. By the time Cole threw his warm up pitches in the bottom of the inning, he was staked an 11-1 to advantage. At this point Cole could have thrown right-handed and gotten a win.

To my disappointment Cole continued pitching with his left hand, finishing the game by going six innings, allowing three runs, walking two and striking out eight. It was a solid, if not spectacular performance that notched the 23-year-old his seventh win of the season. For the most part I was impressed with the way Cole mixed up his change-ups with fastballs to keep the Braves guessing. When you can have a 15 mph difference between your fastball and your off-speed pitch, it's going to give hitters a difficult time.

My only concern about Cole is that he relies too much on the change. He did allow two home runs Sunday and has been bitten by the gopher ball 10 times in 11 starts. Thankfully there was nobody on base when Saltalamacchia and Andruw Jones went yard. Still, Cole's tendency to fall in love with his change-up is going to hurt him at some point this year when a hitter just sits on that off-speed pitch. Obviously Cole puts a ton of movement on his change which makes it extremely difficult to hit. But he must continue to keep hitters honest by throwing more fastballs and an occasional curveball. He did this for most of the game Sunday, but every once in awhile he fell back into throwing too many consecutive change-ups and it hurt him.

Cole is now 7-2 on the season with a 3.74 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. He leads the Majors with 86 strikeouts and has delivered four quality starts in his last five outings. I don't think we've seen the best of Cole this season, but he's been awfully good. The difference between this year's Cole and last year's Cole is night and day. I'm excited to see how much better the kid will be by season's end.

Weekend for Lefties
By Eric

Heading into the Cubs-Phillies game Friday night Pat Burrell had one homerun in 97 at bats this season and was catching slack from his manager and the Philly media machine. He was even booed by the Philly crowd during introductions (surprise, surprise... ). Three at bats, two homeruns and five RBI later he was receiving a standing ovation, and the Phillies went on to grab a win. The story on Friday was supposed to be about the Hamels-Hill pitching matchup; it turned into the Pat Burrell show.

I went down to Philly for the game and was beyond psyched about the chance to see Rich Hill go up against the “Cole-Train” (a totally lame nickname that I must have heard about 17,000 times Friday night). Despite the Burrell fireworks and crooked number on the box score, the match-up was still worth the price of admission.

Hamels and Hill are interesting to watch because both are big lefties that rely predominately on off-speed pitches to work batters. Hill’s bread and butter is a killer curve, pretty rare for a lefty, and Hamels lives and dies by his change-up. It was not uncommon on Friday for Hamels to come after a batter with three or four change-ups in a row.

Hill has been a top prospect in the Cub’s farm system for a while now and it’s great to see him finally come into his own in the bigs. He’s been pulled up several times the last couple of years, but has been unable to put everything together until this season. He pitched 23.2 innings in 10 games in 2005 with an ERA of 9.13 and a WHIP of 1.77, and showed his potential last year pitching 99 innings with an ERA of 4.11 and a WHIP of 1.23. But this season he’s finally starting to live up to the Cub’s expectations. Even after Friday’s shaky outing he still has the third best WHIP in the NL (o.96) and 10th best ERA (2.51).

Much has been written about Hamels this season (by Joe), and for good reason (he's on Joe's fantasy team). At 23 years old, he’s definitely one of the most exciting young pitchers in Major League Baseball. He currently has a WHIP of 1.32 and an ERA of 3.46.

While Hamels definitely got the best of Friday’s match-up, his and Hill’s performances were not drastically different. Both pitchers struck out seven (Hill in five innings, Hamels in seven) and gave up two homers. Hill gave up four hits and three walks, Hamels seven hits and two walks. The differentiating factor was that Hill’s homers were of the two and three run variety while Hamels were both solo shots.

Now there are several ways to look at this. To some extent it comes down to random luck, but at the same time the ability to pitch out of jams with runners on base is a make or break skill for pitchers. Friday’s game had bits of both. One thing I noticed about Hill on Friday is that he looks significantly less comfortable pitching out of the stretch with runners on base.

Hill either goes to a slide step which seems to take quite a bit off his stuff or stays in his normal long wind-up leaving himself susceptible to the steal. Aaron Rowand, not exactly a steal machine, stole a base with relative ease against the lefty. That shouldn’t happen. On the plus side, this is a fairly minor mechanical problem that can probably be fixed with a little coaching. Once it is, Hill will be even more dangerous.

There are a couple of things about Hamels that I found on Wikipedia and thought were interesting. Despite being only 23 years old (exactly 11 months younger than me) Hamels is married. Not extremely interesting in and of itself, but the fact that he’s married to Heidi Strobel of Survivor and Playboy fame is. Also, he broke his pitching hand in a bar fight in 2005. Sounds like this guy likes to live the wild life, hopefully it doesn’t get in the way of his baseball career.

A couple other notes:

Citizen Bank Park is a great baseball stadium. I’d been there once before for a Jimmy Buffett concert, but never for a baseball game. I definitely walked away impressed. All of the seats have great sight lines and the place had a distinctly intimate feel with all of the tiers arranged vertically so noone is far from the field. I’m moving down to Philly in July and definitely looking forward to catching some more games there.

How about them Brewers? Sure they just dropped two to the Mets, but they still sit atop the NL with a 25-12 record. I tried to convince Joe in March that the Brewers could be the team to beat in the NL Central this year, and he pretty much laughed at me. Granted, this series against the Mets was their first against a team with a winning record since the first or second week of the season and they are sure to regress to the mean, but talk about a great story. It’ll be interesting to see how their young lineup does as the season drags on and whether their pitching can hold up and stay healthy.

Outstanding Ollie
By Joe

I am not a Mets fan but I imagine there are few situations in life scarier than watching Oliver Perez trot out to the mound in a National League Championship Series game.

But that's exactly what happened last year when the Mets, short on starting pitching thanks to injuries to Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez, handed the ball over to a guy that had a 2-10 record with a plus-6.00 ERA.

When I first heard the news that Perez would be starting in the NLCS, I didn't believe it. Wasn't this the same Oliver Perez who, after his outstanding 2004 season where he went 12-10 with a 2.98 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 239 strikeouts, fell completely off the wagon by posting ERAs around 6 in back-to-back seasons? The same Oliver Perez who combined to go 10-18 in 2005 and 2006? The same Oliver Perez whose strikeout-to-walk ratio was less than 1.5/1?

Amazingly, Perez responded with four solid innings allowing just one run and striking out four. The big left hander only walked one batter.

Most people figured the Mets were lucky Perez didn't completely explode and give up 12 runs in that NLCS game in October. I was one of them. But looking back on that start, maybe New York's front office knew something we didn't.

Fast forward to Sunday in Milwaukee and you see a very different Oliver Perez. Sure, he has the same goofy looking windup. And he's still got that lanky build. But this Oliver Perez didn't have any of the control problems that haunted him the past two years. This Oliver Perez worked ahead in the count and stayed away from the dreaded big inning, another staple of his 2005 and 2006 seasons. This Oliver Perez worked into the ninth, yielding just one run, two hits, striking out six and walking just two. For 2007, his ERA is is now 3.00, his WHIP is under 1.20 and he's struck out 43 batters in 42 innings.

In the past two years Perez has had isolated strong outings like the one against Milwaukee Sunday, but he's never been able to string together a streak of dominance since 2004. But in 2007, it finally appears Perez has turned the corner. He's had only one terrible start and another where he was the victim of poor fielding. Other than those two outings, Perez has been excellent.

Perez may even be better this year than in 2004. That year, Perez's Achilles' heel was his high number of walks. He gave up 81 free passes in just 196 innings. But his WHIP was still a minuscule 1.15, which is quite low for a guy that walked so many batters. Despite all the walks, Perez only allowed 145 hits that year. When he got beat, it wasn't because the opposing team was teeing off on his pitches. It was usually because Perez couldn't find the plate.

Entering this season, Perez had to lower his walk count. Now that he's successfully done that, he's teetering on being a dominant pitcher again. Perez still has great stuff and now that he's stopped walking everyone, he's finding himself in far fewer jams than the past few years.

And that's the major reason he's been so tough in 2007.

Perez still has his hiccups. On April 11, he walked seven and lasted just 2 2/3 innings en route to picking up the loss. But for the most part, Perez has consistently stayed away from ball four. And that's allowed him to become a very good pitcher.

Will Perez keep up his impressive start? Time will tell. But if he does return to his 2004 form all season, the ramifications in the National League will be monumental. The Mets will have a no. 3 starter that is pitching like a no. 1 starter. And that addition, coupled with an already good rotation, strong bullpen and potent offense, might be enough to get the Mets into the World Series.

Quick Hits
By Joe

Heading to the Kentucky Derby later today and wanted to jot down a couple quick thoughts since I likely won't post again until early next week.

Couldn't watch the Phillies game against Atlanta Tuesday, but followed most of it via MLB.com's Game Day feature. Once again, Cole Hamels impressed.

Not because he had 15 strikeouts like he did against the Reds a couple weeks ago. Not because he threw a shutout. Not because he looked flawless. Actually, Hamels barely made it out of the first inning, yielding five hits and three runs. It could have been worse except that Philadelphia threw an Atlanta runner out at the plate to save a run.

Hamels impressed me because he would have been shelled last year in a game like this. Hamels wasn't as mentally tough and didn't know how to control his emotions if he had a bad inning. There was one game in 2006, against these same Braves, where Hamels had something like 11 strikeouts through five innings. But in the sixth, he gave up a couple dinky hits and fell completely apart allowing seven runs to score.

This year that didn't happen. Sure, Hamels fell behind too much in the early going. But he stayed composed, settled down and worked into the eighth to pick up the victory. If Hamels can surrender just four runs during a game where he obviously didn't have his best stuff, the N.L. better watch out. This kid is going to be special.

David Wright has homered twice this week, which allowed me to breath a huge sigh of relief. I felt like the father of an expectant baby. I knew Wright would homer soon, but each day that passed without a dinger made me more nervous. Thankfully Wright seems to be turning the corner after his slow start.

Too bad New York's Phil Hughes got injured. He's got some nasty stuff. The Yankees look like they finally have an outstanding young pitcher in their farm system. The question now is whether they will let Hughes pitch in the majors once he gets healthy. At the rate which New York is losing pitchers to injury, they might not have much choice.

The Indians are 17-8 and playing ridiculously great baseball. I love this team. I think one more solid relief pitcher and they are set. The rotation is very good from top to bottom and the offense is excellent. It's early still, but I like that the Indians have built a lead on the rest of the tough Central Division.

The Brewers are also playing exceptionally well, although I'm not sure they can keep it up with their pitching staff. Jeff Suppan is pitching out of his mind and Ben Sheets isn't striking out many, which leads me to believe that his back is still bothering him.

I do like the lineup, especially with shortstop J.J. Hardy hitting well. The interesting thing about Milwaukee is that they play in the worst division in baseball. This gives them a legitimate shot at the playoffs for two reasons. 1. They get to play a bunch of crappy teams a bunch of times. 2. They probably only need to win 85 games to take the division, much like the Cardinals did last year. It's a good time to be a Brewers fan.

That's all for now. I'll post next week after hopefully winning some money in Louisville.

Why I Hate the Cubs
By DeMark

I am a man that loves baseball.

I have spent a significant portion of my life enjoying the “Titanic struggles” (to borrow a phrase from Hall of Famer Marty Brennamen) of my beloved Cincinnati Reds. In total, I estimate that I have been to more than 600 home games in my short life.

When I was seven, Paul O’Neill beaned my little brother in the head with a foul ball from 350 feet away. He must have known he was bothering me at the time, but needless to say, I was hooked. And I think the Reds needed me as much as I wanted them. For a number of years, the Reds amassed a considerable winning record when I attended games, though those were of course better years for the ol’ Redlegs. I like to think they need me even today.

When I left for a summer in Africa a few years ago, I left the Reds in first place. I wasn’t in a locale with running water let alone Internet access for two weeks, and when I finally hitched a ride to the nearest computer, I found the Reds had been so heartbroken at losing their biggest fan that they had refused to win a game since I left. I took their descent from first to near cellar (thank God for the Pirates) as a quiet vote of confidence.

But this is why I am conflicted. As a new resident of Chicago’s north side (or North Side as they insist it be spelled, as if it were a separate state of the Union), I was as enamored as anyone with my first Wrigley Field experience. In my first full season, I made it to about a dozen games despite never having cared for the team.

And there’s the rub.

I don't like the Cubs team itself, but I don't hate them either. I don't see them as a threat either to winning the division or perverting baseball with "bought championships." My disdain for their fans, though, has continued to grow in me since the Cubs "magical summer" of a few years back when only a billy goat's curse and a dork named BartMan could stop the inevitable and all of a sudden everybody was from Wrigleyville.

I’ll first state my defense: true Cubs fans DO exist. As I left a rain-soaked, freezing game two nights ago at Wrigley for two teams I could care less about, the fans that stayed to lambaste me as I exited at the end of the 7th with the Cubs down 4-0 were Cubs fans. Even good baseball teams in good baseball towns of considerable size do not fill the seats daily. But there is no question that the 15,000-25,000 people at the Cardinals stadium live and breathe their team. Like me, I am sure they ache with pain at every mid-May blown hold that costs their team the game.

Unfortunately, there is half a stadium and half a Cubs Nation that actually prefers to see the Cubs near-miss. They think pro sports are about the camaraderie. That’s what little league is for. The big leagues are about winning, entertainment and carrying the hopes and dreams of an entire city, state, region or nation on your back. “Winning isn’t everything”… but you better at least be on your way to winning.

And so I ache. Baseball truly is America’s pastime. It embodies everything that is good and right not just about our country, but about humanity. As I am fond of saying, sports are the perfect microcosm of life. Of all baseball havens I have ever set foot in during my life, Wrigley Field is the closest to heaven. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly why before. A friend noted that the miraculous thing in this day and age is when you go to Wrigley, you’re not bombarded with advertisements (I’ll give the Wrigley brand a pass on this, though when the team is sold, we might find ourselves with something like “Viagra Field,” which I guess would be perfect. “Viagra Field: Home of the Chicago Cubs. We play hard, but if we play hard for more than 4 hours, consult a doctor immediately.”).

But I think the real beauty of Wrigley is that the ivy is a metaphor for how baseball just grows out of the city, like entertainment in this fashion is a natural extension of what it means to be human.

It really is beautiful, and I understand why the casual fan might be induced to regularly attending games. Yet instead of using this unique position shared by only a few cities and a few stadiums around the country to force true fans to really show their allegiance and ensure that casual fans either don’t make it into the stadium or pay a hefty price to do so (which would go towards better talent and more winning), the Cubs embrace the “lovable losers” tag and embrace the fan base. The White Sox have not been having trouble getting people to their games either, yet all over the city are phrases from Jim Thome and the like such as, “I didn’t come to HEAR about championships.”

Baseball still occupies a fairly unique position amongst major sports in America that embraces market capitalism in running the team. More money generally translates to more championships. If you’re not winning with that kind of money, you ought to at least have a pet project in mind (see the Anaheim Angels’ goal of creating the first all-Latino baseball team in America). I hate the Yankees, but I know that it’s at least in part due to jealousy.

I hate Cubs fan because half of them are apathetic about the team and the other are apathetic about excluding them.

What's Wrong with the Yankees?
By Joe

I hate to talk about teams or players struggling in April because there's still 135 games to play in the regular season. Players are still finding their swing or getting comfortable on the mound. For example, Manny Ramirez is hitting .192. David Wright hasn't homered yet. Johan Santana has lost two in a row at home. These things won't keep up for much longer. Ramirez is going to clobber his 40 home runs, Wright will be close to a 30-30 threat and Santana will win 18 games with a low ERA and WHIP.

That said, if I'm a realistic Yankees fan I'm officially worried. My team has lost five of six games in the past week and a half to rival Boston and now trail the division leader by 6.5 games, has a patched-up starting rotation, a struggling bullpen and is dead last in the A.L. East. Sure, it's only April and the Yankees have the best offense in baseball. But we've already seen that hitting won't carry this team against decent competition. They're going to outhit some teams, no doubt. But when they face a Boston or Cleveland or Anaheim, teams with good pitching staffs, the Yankees can't counter.

Before Greg writes me a nasty email, let me say that I understand Mike Mussina and Carl Pavano are injured, that Chien-Ming Wang has just come off the DL and that right now if Brian Cashman looks out his window and sees you throwing a decent fastball outside Yankee Stadium, there's a 50/50 chance you could be in the rotation.

I get it. The rotation will get better. How much better is up for debate.

The biggest problem is that even a fully healthy New York staff isn't that impressive. It's ok, maybe even decent on a good day. But it's not going to be good enough for a seven-game playoff series. It's not good enough to matchup with a whole bunch of teams in either league and it's not good enough to beat Boston or Minnesota. Mark it down, this pitching staff will keep New York from making the playoffs.

In the past five years Mussina has been either very good or very average. In 2006, he recorded a 3.50 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, both outstanding numbers for any pitcher, especially a pitcher his age. But the two previous years Mussina had ERAs in the mid-4s. In 2003, he had a 3.40 ERA.

The point -- when Mussina comes back from the DL he could very well be an anchor for the Yankees staff. Or he could be the most overpaid 4.50 ERA-pitcher in the American League. At 38, Mussina is by no way a lock to put up great numbers like in 2006. I actually hope he does because he's my no. 4 starter on my fantasy baseball team.

I've already discussed the "ace" Wang, who I believe will regress this year. Usually pitchers don't do as well in their second full season because of more film, better scouting and opposing hitters recognizing tendencies. Let's say this: The Yankees MUST have Wang as good or better than last year if they want a chance to make the playoffs. If he struggles, the Yankees are cooked.

Andy Pettitte is similar to Mussina in that you're not sure what you're going to get. Two years ago Pettitte had an incredible 2.39 ERA and 1.03 WHIP on his way to a 17-9 record for Houston. But last year Pettitte struggled to a 4.20 ERA and 1.44 WHIP and finished just 14-13. At 35, the Yanks can't be certain how well their newly signed pitcher will fare. Looking at his career stats, Pettitte's 2005 season seems like more of an aberration than the norm. His ERA usually hovers around 4.00.

After those three, the Yankees rotation gets really murky. There are two spots left and zero good options. The choices are Pavano, rookie Phil Hughes (who may be sent back to Triple-A after his next start), Kei Igawa (yikes), and Jeff Karstens (who?).

That's your 2007 New York Yankees starting pitching staff. Does that look like a strong enough rotation to oust Boston, Cleveland, Minnesota, Anaheim, Detroit, Chicago or Oakland? Nope. What happens if Mussina, Wang and/or Pettitte struggle? What if all three regress from their 2006 seasons? As I mentioned, that's not an unlikely scenario looking at all three of their career stats. And you probably forgot that Pavano has had all of ONE good season, in 2004, under his belt. What if he stinks too?

With all those question marks, this staff is not only expected to help the Yankees make the playoffs, but also bring them out of the huge hole they are digging each day they lose.That's asking a lot of any pitching staff, especially one as average as New York's. (Just ask Philly fans how tough it is to recover from a poor start. Philadelphia has stunk out of the gate for three straight years.)

Even in an ideal situation, I don't like the Yankees chances. Assume Mussina, Wang and Pettitte combine for 48 wins (HUGE if). Hughes is a stud, much like Anaheim's Jered Weaver a year ago and wins 13. Pavano doesn't get injured and wins around 14. And Igawa or Karstens somehow gets them 12 wins too. They make the playoffs. Exactly who are they going to beat in the first round?

Not Minnesota, the Twins pitching is too good. Not Cleveland, the Indians pitching and hitting is too good. Not Anaheim or Detroit, each team has better pitching and bullpens. And certainly not Boston, who is the best team in the A.L.

Bottom line is that you can't win the World Series with an average pitching staff. The Yankees have a great, great lineup. But their staff is weak and has too many question marks.

Best-case scenario: the Yanks make the playoffs and lose in the Division Series. Worst-case scenario: the Yanks fail to make the playoffs, George Steinbrenner fires Cashman and A-Rod walks to free agency. Say what you want, but a starting rotation of Mussina, Wang, Pettitte, Pavano and Karsten/Hughes/Igawa isn't cutting it in October.

But Yankees fans needn't worry about their postseason rotation. Not because it's April, but because their team won't make it that far.