"I've got the good stuff that kids go for" (LOTD 7/23)

Real work has kept me from posting recently. Blogging is great, but very few have the skills to pay the bills, so the rest of us meddle our lives away doing other things, like contributing to the capitalist society we live in (usually by serving coffee and pouring the money back into the economy by buying PBR). Anyways, on to sports.

There's plenty of stories from the mini-hiatus. A lot of it revolves around scheduling. The Irish solidified a game in 2010 against Army at Yankee Stadium, a story I was the first to bring you among the ND bloggers (despite a commenters protests and claims of "irresponsible journalism"). The Irish are also considering matchups against TCU, Tulsa, Alabama, and Georgia Tech. Tulsa and TCU will be at home, as they should be, but do we really need more mid-major teams on the slate? Tulsa is a garbage team that might be decent with their current crop of coaches, but who knows. TCU is good right now, but Gary Patterson will probably get a look from some big programs with another big season (Texas A+M admins should be attending everyone of the Horned Frogs games this year).

The more interesting matchups are against GT and 'Bama. The plan is to have the games at neutral sites, with the GT game being played in the Georgia Dome and the 'Bama game posisbly being played in Texas. I like the idea of playing GT at the Georgia Dome; it's a bigger venue than Tech's stadium, and in a much bigger city. I don't understand playing 'Bama in Texas, or anywhere other than Tuscaloosa or South Bend. These are two of college football's most storied programs, and the game should be played on a college campus.

Sporting News' Dave Curtis tabs the Irish as one of the six teams he sees running the table in '09. Do I agree with him? No. But I wouldn't wipe the idea from the realm of possibilities. Seriously, the '09 schedule is a joke, and the USC game is the only one in which we will be playing a team with more talent than us. Michigan State and BC tend to beat us when they shouldn't, but both are replacing an awful lot this season. Michigan is usually a tough opponent, but they were terrible last year and are starting a true frosh at QB. Can you name a team, other than USC, that you EXPECT us to lose to? Me either.

Moving on, Chris Brown of Dr. Saturday has a breakdown of the 2009 opening opponent, the Nevada Wolfpack. Brown breaks down the pistol formation, Chris Ault's Frankenstein of an offense that has turned Colin Kaepernick into a mid-major star. It's certainly worth the read, if only to familiarize yourself with the kooky formation that we will be seeing from the start.

One of Brown's colleagues, Matt Hinton, assesses the Boston College quarterback situation heading into next season. To put it plainly, the SUPERFANS should be worrying. None of the candidates have taken a single snap from center. They have a JUCO, a few redshirts, a former baseball player, and a descendent of the Doug Flutie Hail Mary Family Tree. None of the names jump off the page, but BC always seems to play us tough, and we always seem to come out flat against them (though I don't have the slightest clue why). Just to reiterate a point I made earlier, I would not be surprised if we lost to BC, especially if we are coming off a win against USC, and certainly if we are undefeated heading into the game. Some times college football provides inexplicable truths, and that's just one of them.

Future Nobel Prize winner Myron Rolle continues to prove to the world that he is a better human being than most, if not all, of us. Rolle opened up a medical clinic in his home country of Barbados. Oh yeah, he's only 22 or 23. The guy has already accomplished more than I probably will in my entire life, and he's only lived about a quarter of his. I wouldn't be surprised if Rolle completely gave up on football to pursue other interests, despite the fact that he would have been a first round draft choice this past year. There are some things that are bigger than sports, and some athletes that understand this. Myron Rolle seems to be one of those guys that gets it.

Finally, Deadspin has a podcast with The Hold Steady guitarist Tad Kubler. I bring this up for no reason other than the fact that The Hold Steady is my favorite band out there right now, and they should be yours too. I've seen them play once already, and will be seeing them play again in Ithaca in a month and a half (anyone else going? We could have a TDS-THS tailgate). So give it a listen, whether you're a member of the Unified Scene or not. Gideon (said you're contagious) will be there, so will Hallelujah (she's been missing for years) and Charlemagne ('s got something in her sweatpants). So toast to St. Joe Strummer, build something this summer, and kick it at the chillout tent.