Notre Dame responds to Rick Reilly

In case you missed it, which I'm sure you didn't, Rick Reilly posted an angry article about Notre Dame's preferential treatment in the college football universe. Summarized, Rick believes that ND's recent performance is undeserving of the many perks - an exclusive and lucrative NBC contract, bowl payouts every year, and underserved preseason hype - that the football program receives.

I've come across three decent responses from the ND Nation to Rick's plea for a "downgrade" of Irish football. I present them here in order of effectiveness. All of them are from Domers, so there is obviously bias here, but i think they all make some good points.

3. Mike Golic on ESPNRadio's Mike & Mike in the morning.

Mike's basic point is that it isn't Notre Dame's 'fault' that they are overrated. Now, this really isn't a great response. I'm not sure Rick was saying that it's Notre Dame's fault, and Mr. Golic seems to be attacking a point that was never made.

It really starts to get good around the 2 minute mark when Golic gets all fired up and yelling directly at Rick. The main reasons I include this is because (a) it's Mike Golic and (b) he calls Reilly stupid, asinine, and several other good zingers.

2. "Rick Reilly is Dead Wrong About Notre Dame"

I've never heard of this site before, but this is the first article that comes up when you google "Rick Reilly v. Notre Dame." Tyler Moorehead of College Spun and an English major at ND makes some worthwhile points here and it's a quick read. The highlights:

"First of all, [Reilly] believes that Notre Dame doesn’t deserve a share of bowl revenues. But he isn’t writing the article about a team like Northwestern, which rarely reaches a bowl game and still receives the same share of revenue as the rest of the Big Ten. He’s singling out the Irish, giving them even more “undeserved attention and hype." He’s making his article a self-fulfilling prophecy."

"Reilly claims that Notre Dame is not a national brand, because it lost to Tulsa in 2010. If that is the case, Appalachian State was the undoing of Michigan as a brand, and Boise State put an end to Oklahoma years ago. Give me a break."

"One big problem I have is his claim that “somebody needs to do something” and his pleading to the NCAA and college football’s conference commissioners to put an end to Notre Dame’s prominence. But these powerful figures are catering to the school because, unlike Reilly, they realize its worth and prestige."

and a great tweet from ND columnist John Walters is also included:

@jdubs88: The utter *$%@ IRONY of a writer who was at the top of HIS game 20 years ago but now earns more $$$ than anyone in our field calling out ND for taking the $$ it can get is beyond hilarious. And I may have fractured a friendship w/ that comment, Rick, but it’s what everyone is thinking. You wanna prove ND doesn’t matter? Go write 2,000 words on Clemson. You didn’t, did you? It’s called the free market. No one is forcing NBC to give ND that $$$, just like no one forced John Walsh to give u a 7-fig salary"

(...not sure that's 140 characters)

1) Rick Reilly is Lazy and Wrong.

Maybe I was just fooled by the references to logical fallacies in this article, but it was by far the best pro-ND response I've seen to Reilly. It essentially goes line-by-line and calls Reilly out for every dumb comment that he makes. There are a few parts where the author sounds idiotic, but I can chalk that up to being a hardcore fan and leave it at that. Otherwise, this is great and I am really happy about what is said here. Not giving you any highlights because I want you to read it. 

Now if Notre Dame can just stop making their schedule so damn ridiculous every year maybe they can have a shot at a championship soon. 

Go Irish. 

AMERICA OR BUST.

So there's this story that's been getting a lot of attention lately:

Russian Band Imprisoned for 'Hooliganism'

"Three members of Russian female punk rock band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison Friday after they were found guilty of hooliganism for performing a song critical of President Vladimir Putin in a church." - CNN

First of all, the band's name is 'Pussy Riot.' That's pure gold. My theory is that they just wanted to get in trouble to get attention because their music sucks. And hey, good for them. Madonna was wearing their band's name on her back during a performance, and news anchors everywhere are going to be saying 'Pussy Riot' all day long (which is another great aspect of this story). 

And while my first reaction was to guffaw at this backward foreign country and scream "USA IS BETTER THAN EVERY COUNTRY EVER!!," I did a little more research and decided that these chicks actually do deserve to be punished. 

See, if you look at what the band actually did, it's pretty evident that they weren't simply arrested for, what CNN claims, "screaming, 'Mother Mary, please drive Putin away,' in a protest act in February inside Christ Savior Cathedral." They set up an entire drumset and electric guitar on the alter of the church and were screaming their shitty music while nuns and police officers were trying to ask them to leave. Yeah, I get it, that's the whole definition of a 'protest,' but this really isn't the freedom of speech issue that a lot celebrities are trying to turn it into. They were being disruptive and obnoxious on private property, and that's against the law. I'm sure they wouldn't have been arrested for performing this at a concert or even in a square out in the city, which is what a lot of people are assuming when they see these headlines.

 I think a big problem might be the retarded name for the offense - hooliganism - that is getting Americans all worked up. Maybe disturbing the peace or being a public nuisance or trespassing or resisting arrest might ring a little truer to our ears. I watched drunk black man get tasered on cops yesterday for screaming at people in front of a seven-eleven and refusing to cooperate, i.e. being a hooligan, but I don't see Madonna with his name on her back.

Madonna supports the Imprisoned 'hooligans'

And in the end, this is exactly what the band wanted. Their story is now global and everyone is talking about the political structure in Russia. This isn't a freedom of speech issue, so shut up you morons who are claiming that it is one. They were free to speak. I heard them, and so will millions of others. Similarly, if there are other people out there who want to speak and be heard, they know exactly how to get it done. 

And while 2 years might be a pretty severe punishment, I'm sure they were smart enough to know that a punishment was coming. They hit the jackpot with this news coverage and I'm sure it will pay off in the long run in album sales and concert tickets. Nice work, ladies.