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I woke up this past Sunday morning pretty angry. Yes, part of it was because of the way the Irish played on Saturday (the players did not play fundamentally sound football, the coaches were completely out coached--yet again), but it was mostly because of two specific things. Things that have irked me when we played BC, USC, and N.C. State last season, and Michigan, USC, and Florida State this season.

The first is players from opposing teams raising pieces of sod from our field (many making off with it) after posting a win in our house. Granted, Notre Dame stadium, in many regards, is very much like Wrigley Field or Fenway Park--iconic venues soaked with history. Notre Dame football, for that matter, and whether we are currently excellent or lacking, is the pinnacle of the pigskin. Other schools certainly have impressive traditions, yes, but they are kidding themselves if they think their lore stacks up to the Irish. So, as much as it could be taken as a compliment that these opposing players want to raise a piece of our turf to the sky and even make off with it, deep down I take it as grave disrespect.

First of all, I think any opposing coach who allows his players to act in this manner does not truly respect Notre Dame, or college football for that matter. So, F you Tom O'Brien and Bobby Bowden. Despite their syrupy "words" about ND before and after their well deserved wins--their actions speak volumes about their true feelings. And if they think that their "words" make this kind of behavior from their players acceptable they can pucker up and plant one on my ass. Second, if it were me, I would not let anyone remove a piece of anything from my field without getting a welt on their cranium, let alone hold my turf up in the air. I wanted to rifle a brick through my television set when I saw this taking place. And, I think the fact that Tyrone Willingham and these players allow this kind of disrespectful behavior from an opponent to happen says a lot about what kind of team he is interested in having. It is not one this fan is interested in having.

Teams don't respect us because we do not respect ourselves.

Yes, Irish fans, this is what we have become. A team--a program--that tolerates this kind of blatantly disrespectful behavior from our opponents. Had we been the Dallas Cowboys, we would have let Terrell Owens stand in the middle of our field, on our star, and taunt everything we stood for--everything we have been. And that is so completely pathetic there are not words to describe it. Cowardice? Indifference? If someone has a word to sum it up e-mail it to me. An adequate one is not in my vocabulary.

The second thing that has been very difficult to take is USC, N.C. State, Michigan, and Florida State putting in their second and third stringers against us. Against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Laughing at us. Whooping it up. This is how low we have gotten. Teams we have every reason to be competing with--even beating--are pounding us into oblivion, and putting in their back ups so their starters do not get injured. Humiliating us.

That is almost equally as pathetic.

Perhaps I'm off base here, but those things bother me more than anything else, because it says so much about the current state of our program. This is something I thought I would never say, or at least, never wanted to have to say. And, that is that this team and staff is currently in an absolutely pathetic state.

And, that is the sod truth.

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