*)!#%&*@+*&%$!

What great weather we had yesterday! Three weeks in a row, big deal!

Well, at least we have passed through the coaching gray area into a clearer world. Charlie is likely to be gone soon. I copied the following passage from a South Bend blog post. It really hits the nail on the head in my view:

"The best thing to happen to ND Saturday was that the Irish lost. The last thing ND fans needed was another lucky win that obscures the reality: This is not a good program now.

I felt for Weis as I watched him near tears singing the alma mater. This is a man who does love the university and truly wanted to win. Unfortunately, like a player who is too small or too slow to successfully compete, he doesn't have the skill set accomplish that goal. That doesn't make him a bad person (though he certainly comes off as an arrogant one).

But it does make him a bad head football coach.

And that is what this boils down to. He simply did not get the job done, nor does it appear he ever would.

Now the onus is on the ND athletic dept, president and trustees to make the right hire. It's time to play the percentages and get a coach who has a successful pedigree. No more gimmick picks. No more NFL men. And please put no weight on whether the candidate has a Golden Dome connection.

The only criteria should be: Has this man been successful as a head coach at the college football level, and will he run a clean program.

That's it. It's really not as difficult as universities often make it.

Weis is the third straight bad hire for ND, and four out of the university's last five coaching hires have been abject failures (not including the George O'Leary debacle).

The program just can't afford to miss again."

So enough said on that front. What we saw yesterday: key penalties, mental errors, poor tackling, poor pursuit, a schizophrenic offense that had over 450 yards but could not score regularly, strange play calls, turnovers, kickoff coverage lapses ALL adds up to a program in disarray. Lots of things go into making a great program - recruiting, fan support, facilities, coaching, etc. One thing ND can control is hiring a great coach and I hope we do it with some class and insight this time around. Both Charlie and the ND family deserve an honorable separation.

Some game day notes. UConn band was very good. DCI style show, excellent sound, and a very tight drum section were fun to watch and hear. They did irritate me by playing during the ND band post-game show. It is simply wrong and rude to play while another band is on the field. Of course they had another one of those "once in a lifetime win" celebrations. How can ND football be irrelevant if everyone else wants to beat us so bad? ND Band show was the usual "salute the seniors" theme. Since we were blessed with home side seats we heard the full sound of the band and once again they sounded terrific. Section of the year was the trumpets (horror!) and marching bandsperson of the year was also a trumpet. What the heck!?

The season is not over and as crazy as it seems the Irish can still go to a decent bowl game if they knock off Stanford next week. Would be nice to send Charlie out on a high note in my view.

Go Irish! Beat Cardinal!