http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3366349 Man, Notre Dame can be one arrogant school. Who in the hell are they to tell teams where they can or can't play their homes games? Kudos to RU for telling the Fighting Irish go stick it up their ***. It's a shame UConn didn't do the same as they will have to play all their home games against Notre Dame out of state. I really HATE big schools who have big egos to go with the their self-importance.
Uconn has a small stadium, I understand ND not wanting to play there. If the school doesnt want to move to a larger stadium to make it a bigger event, dont play them, it's that simple.
Notre Dame should worry about winning again before making demands where teams should play in my eyes. If ND is worried about getting their head handed to them in front of a hostile crowd, they should go play a AA team.
They are playing AA teams, they just want to play in bigger stadiums so they make money off them And they were still going to play RU in NJ, so the crowd would have been just as hostile, except there would have been more people.
On the Uconn series Makes sense to me. White also ND had another team agree to a deal as soon as Rutgers pulled out. It's another Big East team but he wouldnt say which one until the deal was finalized. Cincinnati, USF or Syracuse would be my guess. The first two especially are up and coming programs who could benefit from the exposure, especially on the recruiting trail. Might make them more willing to forgo a home game for a bigger venue. http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080426/SPORTS13/804260405/1023/SPORTS13
This makes more sense to me. Notre Dame doesn't quite understand the meaning of a home-and-home series. To the superior thinking minds in charge of the Fighting Irish football program, the phrase apparently means "home-and-at-the-nearest-pro-stadium-to-your-home." Two Big East college football programs made news last week for their attempts to get Notre Dame on their future schedules. In the end, one turned down the Irish while the other capitulated to the demands coming out of South Bend, Ind. For once, Rutgers got it right. And Connecticut got it wrong. Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy announced the end of discussions between Rutgers and Notre Dame for a future six-game series because "both schools could not agree about the site of the games. We feel Rutgers' home games should be played on campus at Rutgers Stadium." http://www.northjersey.com/sports/rutgers/18310029.html Great ending to the story Notre Dame should stop expecting such preferential treatment. It hasn't won a bowl game since 1994 and just isn't the dominant national program it used to be. Kudos to Rutgers for standing its ground.
When you look at CFB as a business, ND is as dominant of a national program as you have. And that lets them dictate some demands when it comes to a business agreement. RU didn't want to, that's fine. ND can have 25 other schools willing to fill that spot in a week. Because for certain schools having ND on the schedule is big boost, and for an up and coming program it's more important than playing on campus. I mean it isnt like ND is asking for all 6 games to be in ND. It isnt like both schools dont benefit from what they're proposing. I dont really see what all the crying is about. When RU fills the game with Buffalo and loses a bunch of money and national attentional that is always a plus when it comes to recruiting maybe they'll think twice about it.
That's why Ru doesnt feel they need to give anything away when it comes to schedule. They're up and coming, and perhaps have already arrived. Uconn on the other hand could use some help. I dont really blame RU, but I also dont blame ND for trying.
You must be kidding,right? Maybe ND should look at one of those other 25 teams that are banging at their door to play them.if they can't,they can prb. get Army or Navy to play them them twice in the same season. You see the thing is home -and- home means just that.And it does'nt matter if you are "N.D." N.D. is the one that wanted to bully and they did'nt get what they wanted. No crying here.....
Nd can do what other programs do and just refuse to give other schools a home game at all, and only offer to play them if the series is only played in ND. Hate to break this to you but bigger programs dictate schedule to smaller schools all the time. The game would still be in your state...the fact that officials are afraid that ND would have more fans at a larger stadium w/ in NJ says all that needs to be said. And any time you want to compare ND's schedule to RU's I'd be more than happy to oblige you in that. Sorry if ND stands by tradition w/ the service academies and made promises years ago to continue that tradition. And lets not be a hypocrite, Rutgers plays Army and Navy this coming year... (lol you play more service academies than ND this year!) And as long as you have Div II Morgan St on your schedule you cant really talk too much about who anyone else plays.
Information on why ND plays Navy every year, as for Army we've played them 1 time in the last 7 years with no future games scheduled. 1 time in 7 years...time for new material. We did start playing them in 1913 though so we have a long tradition with them as well. What's Rutgers excuse for playing the service academies every season? What's that they say about people in glass houses...lol
I would love for you to expand on that, because like NJ pointed out ND hasn't won a bowl game since 1994 so I don't know how anyone can claim they are a dominant program. You put ND in different school uniforms and they probably wouldn't even be on the national map. And if anybody is crying it's ND and their AD when they refused to play in Piscataway, and I don't think they will ever think twice about this, suggesting they will is naive and foolish, this is about pride, not the all mighty $$$ which is what the ND program is all about - not wins anymore.
The first part of my statement, right before the part you highlighted, is all the explanation that's needed. From a business stand point, ie money making enterprise. No school makes more money than ND, that gives them power, and makes them important. Why do you think so many schools would be willing to forgo a true home game in order to have Nd on their schedule? You think anyone would ever consider that with Rutgers? You can expand dominance, or importance, beyond just money, even though that's clearly what I was referring to, and include recruiting, tv ratings and even winning, though ND sucked last year. I also know that they wont actually rethink this, but it doesnt mean they wont internally regret it, which is what I was suggesting. What's naive and foolish - stupid is probably a better word- is to suggest that Nd isnt about wins anymore. They had a bad season last year, they won 19 games combined the previous two years. That's hardly a losing record, or a team that isnt interested in winning. That's probably as good as any 2 year stretch that Rutgers has ever put together. I dont blame RU for turning ND down, as I said before, and I havent seen many ND fans blaming them either. I dont really understand how people can blame ND for trying this though, or think they're overstepping some bounds by suggesting the series be played in this way. If RU could get away with it they'd be doing the same thing.
