On the Run: Notre Dame’s Quest for 2,000 Yards Rushing

During the winter there was a lot of moaning and groaning about the hiring of Brian Kelly at Notre Dame because the team was switching control from one pass happy coach to another who is just as determined to air the ball out.

However, do not take Kelly’s penchant for throwing the ball as a sign that Notre Dame will continue to have a weak running attack.

In fact, the Irish may have a very powerful ground game in 2010, one which could see the Golden Domers gain the most yards in nearly a decade.

That means Notre Dame may approach a milestone believed unthinkable during the Charlie Weis era:

2,000 yards rushing.

Thanks to Weis’ strong recruiting efforts, Brian Kelly is now walking into a situation in South Bend where there is a lot of talent and experience at the running back position.

So much so that I believe Kelly will ultimately lean heavily on the ground game this coming fall.

It may seem unbelievable given Notre Dame’s past struggles in this area, yet the running game could end up being the strong point for the offense in 2010.

Now, let’s address the four main questions heading into the season.

Will Armando Allen Stay Healthy?

This is obviously the biggest question heading into the season since Allen is the anointed starter and a senior with a ton of experience.

Without a healthy Allen, it is likely Notre Dame will struggle on the ground in the same manner the program has over the past eight seasons. Not since 2001 has Notre Dame rushed for 2,000 yards as a team, a depressing fact if there ever was one.

But, with a strong, rested and healthy Allen the Irish ground game has a lot of potential to do damage on Saturday afternoons.

If Allen is able to run more north-south and hit the holes with speed in Kelly’s new offense, then a 1,000 yard season is well within reach.

How Much Production from Cierre Wood?

Cierre Wood is an x-factor simply because he is projected to be Allen’s backup and his yardage could swing the potency of the Irish ground game in either direction.

A nice and productive red shirt sophomore season from Wood likely means Notre Dame will be, at minimum, a good running football team, while a season of struggle from the Oxnard, California native means the Irish will probably stay a below-average rushing team.

I’m betting on the former and I believe Wood should immediately share carries with Allen at the start of the season.

I don’t think Wood should be the backup and only handle the rock whenever Allen is tired, but that the sophomore is ready to be treated as if he is a legitimate number one runner.

Knowing Kelly’s penchant for using multiple backs, it is likely that Wood will get his fair share of carries and make an impact from the opener against Purdue and onward.

I know Wood is still very young and hasn’t proved anything yet at the college level, but this kid could be something special.

He was one of the top running back recruits in the country a year ago who had a sensational high school career (4,234 yards with a 13 YPC average to go along with 54 touchdowns as a junior and senior), and he looked amazing in the spring game (even if it was against a vanilla defense).

Perhaps more importantly, Kelly switched Theo Riddick to receiver specifically to get Wood carries in the backfield this year, quite a statement for a player who has yet to step on the field for any game action in an Irish uniform.

Most Irish fans would agree that it was freshman Theo Riddick who looked like a future superstar with his admittedly small sample size as a kick returner and running back in 2009, but now Kelly is basically saying Wood is going to be the future at the position.

Is it possible that Wood will be even better than Riddick?

Will Wood be part of a revival of the Notre Dame running game in the future?

That may very well be, and it looks like Wood will be an integral part of the offense from the beginning and is thought of very highly by the new Fighting Irish coach.

What Will Dayne Crist Add?

A lot of pressure will be riding on Crist to take over this new offense and move the ball through the air, but his ability to make plays with his feet could add another dynamic weapon on the ground.

Due to his injured knee, we may not see Crist run the ball a lot early in the season, but at some point he will increase his carries and begin racking up yardage on the ground.

Given the lack of a rushing attack from the Irish quarterback position in recent years, anything Crist offers can be seen as a bonus and just another reason why Notre Dame could have a stronger ground game than in past years.

Last season, with mobile sophomore quarterback Zach Collaros under center, Brian Kelly had his signal caller rush for 344 yards on 57 carries with four touchdowns.

That is 72 fewer yards on 31 fewer carries with one less touchdown than Robert Hughes, Notre Dame’s second-string back in 2009. And that is also with Collaros stepping in for the injured Tony Pike and not even playing a full season.

So, it may not be realistic to expect a whole lot from Crist in the running game in 2010, but his talent combined with the coaching and offensive system indicates that there is the possibility that Crist makes plays with his feet this fall.

Crist may not be a true burner, but given full health he should be able to scamper for six or seven yards on quarterback keepers and reads from time to time.

How Many Carries and How Many Runners?

How often will Brian Kelly run the ball, how many different runners will he use and how many carries will each player receive?

In terms of offensive plays from scrimmage, there was not much of a difference between Kelly’s Cincinnati teams and Weis’ Notre Dame teams as Her Loyal Sons has documented over the past week.

From 2007 to 2009 Kelly’s teams averaged 69 plays per game while Weis’ teams averaged 68.5 plays per game for the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

Since the amount of plays per game should be roughly the same, how many rushing plays can we expect under the new regime?

Again, the amount of rushing plays for both coaches mirrors the overall amount of plays from scrimmage.

Kelly averaged 33 rushes per game, while Weis averaged just over 32.

Certainly neither coach ran the ball a ton, but these are pretty decent numbers from coaches who are known to throw the ball and it shows that both were at least somewhat committed to the ground attack.

And anyway, the problem with Weis’ Notre Dame teams wasn’t that they didn’t run, but rather, his teams weren’t very good at it when they did so.

Poor red zone play, missed opportunities on third and short and a general inability to keep opponents honest with the ground game have all been well documented problems from the Weis era.

Kelly on the other hand, is much more efficient.

Last season Notre Dame averaged only 3.8 yards per carry, while Cincinnati averaged 5.0 per rush.

That extra 1.2 yards per carry is a huge difference and one that can translate into winning two or three more games a season.

In Kelly’s first year at Cincinnati he actually ran the ball 13 more times than he threw it, and I expect the run-pass ratio in 2010 to be about even and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up calling more running plays throughout the entire season.

This means, we may see Notre Dame run the ball close to 500 times in 2010.

At any rate, let’s assume Notre Dame averages 70 plays per game and that the run-pass ratio is even. At 35 running plays per game, here is how the season could play out:

Allen-182 carries, 1,019 yards (5.6 YPC)
Wood-130 carries, 663 yards (5.1 YPC)
Gray-52 carries, 223 yards (4.3 YPC)
Crist-52 carries, 234 yards (4.5 YPC)
Hughes-26 carries, 114 yards (4.4 YPC)
Others-13 carries, 97 yards (7.5 YPC)

If you add up those numbers, the team will have rushed for a whopping 2,350 yards putting them somewhere close to 30th in the nation.

As mentioned before, it is highly likely that Kelly will use a running back by committee philosophy as he is not known to rely on one player to carry the team’s load on the ground.

Keeping his runners fresh and utilizing the depth chart could be a big advantage for Brian Kelly in his first season in South Bend and a key to maintaining a potent offense from September through late November.

Last season, Kelly had one runner with over 100 carries while the back up carried the ball 74 times. The remaining 166 carries were given to a handful of players, including quarterback Zach Collaros.

In 2008, Kelly had two players with 130 carries or more and five players shared the 477 carries during his first season at Cincinnati in 2007.

This fall, Allen should get the most carries and I have him projected to run the ball 14 times a game with a decent increase in his yards-per-carry average from 2009. As long as he stays healthy I think these are very reasonable numbers.

What’s more, Cincinnati’s starting running back Isaiah Pead averaged 6.7 yards per carry in 2009, so is it too optimistic to think that Allen could do the same?

I have Wood running the ball 10 times a game with a very respectable yards-per-carry average, but he is still an x-factor who could be a boom or bust player. He may struggle and not come close to this kind of production, but I think he has the necessary skill set to do so.

Jonas Gray is another interesting player who may very well end up getting a lot more carries than this, but it is still too early to tell what role he will have.

As a back with a great mixture of size and speed, Gray may be used quite heavily in short yardage situations and will certainly be called upon if there are any injuries ahead of him on the depth chart.

As I mentioned before, it is tough to tell what Crist will do on the ground, but three rushes and one sack per game is probably a good estimate, if not slightly conservative.

Nevertheless, I think Notre Dame fans will be happy with at least 200 yards and a quarterback that is able to convert third down plays with his feet. Instead of throwing fades and passing the ball at the three yard line, Crist will be much more likely to stuff it home on his own.

I don’t see Robert Hughes getting a lot of carries, but there should be sufficient short yardage situations where he’ll be touching the ball a couple times each game. This fall, his impact may be felt more as a pass receiving fullback or blocker rather than a runner.

The last category involves the three playmakers that will get their hands on the ball in any number of ways. Personally, I think this category could triple in carries and yardage but we’ll have to see what kind of plays Kelly draws up for Riddick, Floyd and Rudolph.

We can probably expect a handful of reverses to Floyd and some running plays to Rudolph through the tight end option play that was used in the spring game. Maybe these plays only pick up a small amount of yards over the course of the season, but there is also potential for something bigger.

Just thinking about Rudolph taking a quick flip from Crist as a hole opens up in the middle of the line should get any Irish fan excited about the upcoming season.

A lot of people are probably wondering how Riddick will be used now that he has switched to receiver.

He probably won’t be a prime-time threat in the passing game early in the season because he still has much to learn at his new position, but Riddick could make a sizeable impact on gadget plays, reverses, and plays in which he motions into the backfield.

Even if Riddick only touches the ball twice a game in this regard and still averages a healthy yards-per-carry average, the team will have rushed for an additional 200 yards or more.

In fact, don’t be surprised if Riddick surpasses Golden Tate’s rushing statistics from 2009 because Kelly’s system is more conducive to getting the ball to the team’s playmakers and he will probably want to get Riddick a certain amount of touches outside of catching the ball from Crist in the slot.

There may be no wildcat formations, but you can bet that Riddick will get his fair share of looks through the running game even though he’s moved to wide receiver.

Summary: Realistic or Rosy Expectations?

Maybe it was the promise shown during the Blue-Gold game (soft defense duly noted) or the fact that Kelly has coached surprisingly good running teams in the past, but I like Notre Dame’s chances on the ground next year.

Perhaps we’ll see a couple injuries and too steep of a learning curve with the new offense and the ground game will struggle to gain 100 yards each game.

But I think those days are long gone with the arrival of Brian Kelly and his coaching and offensive playbook.

I think it’s more likely the Irish approach 2,000 yards and turn into a spread offense similar to Oklahoma’s that can beat teams through the air as well as on the ground.

So expect Notre Dame to continue throwing the ball with fervor this fall, but don’t be shocked if the Irish also have a very respectable running game.

There are only about 100 more days until we find out.

Green with Envy: A Look at Notre Dame's Uniforms

A few months ago I wrote an article detailing the history of Notre Dame's football uniforms (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/210445-my-changes-to-notre-dames-football-informs) and made a few suggestions about what I would like to see different with the Fighting Irish wardrobe.
I thought now that we are heading into Notre Dame's first ever primetime "home" game that it would be a good idea to revisit some of my ideas and recap some of the things we have seen this year.
First off, as expected Charlie Weis has not made any major changes to the Notre Dame uniforms this year. In fact, he has kept the same design for five straight years now which is the longest Notre Dame has gone without major changes since probably the Holtz era.
The only minor change this year (although visually it makes a big difference) is that Weis has had the Irish wearing "pro-style" socks in the last two home games now that the weather is turning cold.
In past years throughout Weis' tenure, Notre Dame would wear knee high navy blue socks during this time of year with the Adidas logo prominently displayed. I never had a problem with this look, although I was never crazy about having the Adidas logo on there.
Does anybody else think it is cool that Notre Dame and many other college programs go without socks when it's in the warmer part of the season, and then decide to wear them when it is cold? I've always thought this was a neat thing to do and just another thing that makes the college game better than the NFL.
This year, Notre Dame has decided to wear blue socks with white on the bottom, giving the team a more professional NFL-style look. Normally, I would shy away from anything making the Irish look like some of the NFL teams today, but I really like this look.
One reason is that the blue used in the socks seems to be brighter than in the past (although being paired with white it may just seem that way) and it stands out much more. The other reason is that I it makes the team look bigger (two colors make the legs look longer) and faster (the eye cannot track white as quickly as dark colors thus giving the appearance of more speed).
Also, when Notre Dame wore the long dark blue socks they always looked black to me and didn't seem to match the uniform that well. I wonder if we will see the pro-style socks with the away uniform in the future or if Weis will have the Irish stick to the long knee high white socks.
Now let's revisit some of my suggestions on uniform changes:
Shamrock on the Helmet
As of today, Notre Dame currently holds the longest streak of wearing the same helmet (Gold with gray facemask) in NCAA history. I am very supportive of traditional styles, but I really think it would be neat if Notre Dame wore a shamrock on just one side of their helmet (worn on both side of the helmet from 1959-62).
They wouldn't have to do this for an entire year (although I think I'd support that), but I believe it would be an interesting idea to use (a la the green jerseys) and pump the team for a big game against say...Boston College perhaps?
The Leprechaun
Has there ever been such a great logo that is so under used? You can walk around the Notre Dame campus for hours and never see the fighting leprechaun logo. Something has to be done where this wonderful mascot is displayed more prominently by the school.
I don't think it should be put anywhere on the uniforms (except perhaps at the end of the collar where the inter-locking ND logo currently is) but there could be some other good places. How about putting the leprechaun on some sideline hats or on the back of those giant winter coats guys like Crist wear on the sideline or even on the skull caps like Golden Tate wear?
ND Logo on the Sleeves
I've never been too crazy with the current jerseys and the absence of the inter-locking ND logo on the sleeves. This is probably because I grew up watching Tim Brown, Tony Rice, and Rocket Ishmail flying down the field with the ND logo so prominent.
Moreover, I always thought having four sets of numbers on a jersey was a bit much but in this age of television it is probably a necessary evil. How about a compromise? Notre Dame should keep its current style for home games and switch to the inter-locking ND logo on the sleeves on the road.
Removing Gold
As I've stated in my previous article, I am in favor of removing the gold outline from the numbers on the road white uniforms. I believe this would be beneficial because it is how the uniforms looked when first used under Ara Parseghian and it would bring more attention to the gold helmets.
As far as the green jerseys are concerned, a more traditional look based on the Paul Hornung era is what I would like to see. Just a simple green jersey with white numbers will do the trick!
Socks
I've already covered the changes in the socks, but I have some ideas of my own. One would be to utilize some striping, but with the new style Weis has been favoring this year it seems unlikely.
If I remember correctly, we have seen some striping on the lower cut blue socks in the recent pass. I believe Clausen had white stripes (Adidas socks perhaps?) during the Hawaii Bowl, and both Clausen and Allen had the same socks for the Michigan game. It also seemed that Allen had this pattern on his forearms during the Michigan came as well.
The other small addition I would make is to put a green shamrock on the socks. It would certainly be better than the Adidas logo we have seen in the past.
Paint the Field
Other than changing the helmets, this subject is sure to rile up the fan base more than anything else, especially from the more traditional folk.
Side note: Can we finally get rid of the natural grass in Notre Dame Stadium? I know it gives it that old-school look and many say football is supposed to be played on it, but it is getting out of hand.
How many more times do we have to see Armando Allen slip on that cut that could spring him for that much needed long touchdown run? Or how many more times does Clausen have to slip while in the pocket? And let us not forget Kamara's slip on the last play against USC.
You may say that both teams have to play on it, but I'm just sick of watching the field look like eastern France during World War I after only a few series. Seriously, it looks like ten of the world's worst golfers were let on the field and allowed to just hack away at the turf leaving dinner plate sized divot holes in their wake.
During last week's game against Boston College an Eagle defensive lineman came to hit an Irish lineman and they just slid backwards about three feet while engaged. This field is a mess and stuff like that should not be happening.
So, if Notre Dame was to install field turf next season it would make it that much easier to paint the field. I'm not advocating anything too radical, but I think there should be some paint laid down.
If they are going to keep the old-school white diagonal slash marks in the end zone, why not put a logo at midfield? Don't tell me a giant ND logo, shamrock, or leprechaun wouldn't look totally amazing because it would. Plus it's easier to tell where the ball is on television with a midfield logo.
And if you don't want that, then why not put something in the end zone? It's curious that many people believe that Notre Dame's current uniform is the "traditional" style, yet they have only been worn from 1964-77 and since the Holtz era in the late 80's.
That is nearly three quarters of a century wearing the supposed "non-traditional" uniforms.
The same goes for the end zone paint. It hasn't always been in its current style and the field has been painted before. In video clips and pictures I have seen, the end zones were definitely painted in the 1970's during the Rudy and Montana era.
These designs included the word mark IRISH or FIGHTING IRISH, along with the leprechaun and football logo. If it has been done before, then I don't think it is too much of a break with tradition to do it again.
If anything, it could be used like the green jerseys as something to do for a big game that is getting a lot of hype. Can't you just see ESPN Gameday remarking on Saturday morning, "And they've painted the end zones for today's game folks...you better watch out!"
The last thing I'll say is directed toward this weekend's neutral site "home" game in San Antonio, Texas. Will we see the field painted in Notre Dame colors? Will it be treated like a bowl game where both teams get their own end zone painted? What are the chances we see some sort of patch on the jerseys to mark the occasion?
I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Go Irish!

Irish Roots: The Secret to Notre Dame's Continued Success

Throughout the first half of the 2009 season, Notre Dame Head coach Charlie Weis has marched an explosive and threatening offense onto the field each Saturday. While the Fighting Irish defense has been struggling all year long, the Domers offense, led by quarterback Jimmy Clausen, has been mostly cool and efficient.

But, there still is much room for improvement and the continued success of the Irish offense depends on the team getting back to its roots and running the ball.

It is true that Notre Dame was one of the first programs to utilize the forward pass and the school has produced numerous college legends at quarterback including: Frank Carideo, Angelo Bertelli, Johnny Lujack, Paul Hornung, Daryle Lamonica, John Huarte, Joe Theisman, Joe Montana, Steve Beurlein, Tony Rice and Brady Quinn.

However, for over a century of football in South Bend the running game was the most important weapon to the team's success on offense. And today, with a high flying aerial attack in place, Notre Dame would do well to also commit to running the ball as best as they can.

During Charlie Weis' first two seasons at Notre Dame, the team scored a school record shattering 843 points, posting nearly 34 points per game. While many will remember the arm of Brady Quinn as the force behind this offense, let us not forget that the 2005 and 2006 teams boasted a strong and versatile running game.

In 2005, tailback Darius Walker ran for 1,196 yards and nine touchdowns, while the following year he gained 1,267 yards and seven touchdowns. To go along with the very respectable 4.85 yards per carry average, Walker also caught 99 balls for 742 yards with another three touchdowns.

While many fans were never enamored with Walker at running back, myself included, it is clear now in hindsight that he was able to put up tremendous numbers, became an integral part of the offense, and will forever be one of the more underrated players in Irish history.

Which leads us to 2009 and the current state of the Irish running game. It is absolutely crucial that Charlie Weis develops the current talent at running back over the next six games, and into next season, in order to ensure long term success on offense.

Partly because of the previous regimes coaching and partly because of his heavy reliance on Darius Walker as the exclusive running back, Weis was left with a set of far too inexperienced tailbacks during the 2007 season at a time when he needed a strong ground game more than anything else.

During that disastrous 2007 season, Notre Dame started an inexperienced sophomore James Aldridge tailback while rotating true freshmen Armando Allen and Robert Hughes. This trio struggled mightily all year long and when you tally up the sack yardage, the team only rushed for 903 yards at 2.1 yards per carry.

To put that in perspective, Notre Dame has already rushed for that many yards through seven games this season.

Thanks to a strong recruiting effort by Charlie Weis, this lack of experience may never occur again anytime soon. But it is paramount that Weis quickly develops his growing stable of running backs so that Notre Dame can be even more dominant on offense in the future.

Clearly the go-to guy right now is junior Armando Allen who has rushed for 514 yards but has been banged up for the majority of the season. When he is healthy, Allen brings a Walker-like game to the Irish offense and is the team’s best weapon right now not named Golden.

The questions arise as to who will continue to back up Allen and which players will step up and assert themselves as the No. 1 runner in the future.

Junior power runner Robert Hughes has been filling in behind Allen and has gained 180 yards on only 40 carries to go along with three touchdowns. Bringing up the rear, sophomore Jonas Gray has picked up 98 yards on 26 carries and true freshman Theo Riddick has chipped in 43 yards on only seven attempts.

Everyone knows Charlie Weis is going to stay with a pass-first offense, but in order to reach the offensive output of the 2005 and 2006 teams, Notre Dame will need a healthy and effective Allen or one of the younger backs to provide excellent back-up carries.

Notice how I didn’t include the veteran Robert Hughes in that scenario? I hate to continue beating this drum, but I don’t think Hughes has much to offer in the form of a running back at Notre Dame. Yes, he’s got pretty good speed and agility for his size, but overall he doesn’t have anywhere near the speed of Allen, Gray, or Riddick.

What’s more, Hughes isn’t much of a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield and that is another slight that can’t be ignored. That’s not to say that Hughes can’t come in and run hard from time to time, because he certainly has this year against Purdue and Washington, but he’s clearly less talented than the other backs waiting to carry the ball for the Irish.

If I am Charlie Weis, I make it a priority over the next two games to give Jonas Gray and Theo Riddick significant amounts of carries whenever possible. This will give Notre Dame two more speedy running backs to utilize in their tough games to close out the season and perhaps more importantly, give the team a lot more confidence in the ground attack heading into 2010.

I don’t believe Weis is doing the team any favors if he continues to give the ball to Hughes whenever Allen is tired or banged up. Even worse, if Notre Dame is sporting healthy leads against Washington State and Navy, Gray and Riddick have to be given the ball.

Clearly, the strength of the Notre Dame offense is the passing game led by Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate and Kyle Rudolph. However, running the ball is so obviously important to the game of football and it has to be something the Fighting Irish can do effectively against anyone if they want to compete with the best.

This means that even if Notre Dame is breezing through their next two games, Weis shouldn’t just run the ball continuously like he did against Navy last year. But instead, he should keep a balanced offense that mixes up the play calling so that the fresh running backs can gain some confidence without eight men stacked in the box.

It also wouldn’t be a bad idea to develop backup quarterback Dayne Crist as well.

Great Expectations: Why Charlie Weis is Not the Problem at Notre Dame

I was doing some hearty coverage of Notre Dame football last night when I came across a blog that made some forthright comments which aroused my interest. Here is a short summary of what was written:

*Charlie Weis is not the problem at Notre Dame
*No coach in South Bend could recruit like Carroll at USC
*Notre Dame is like a small market MLB team
*ND as a program & school cannot recruit dominant defensive players
*Weis has pretty much maxed out ND recruiting
*The program has a bigger image of itself than in reality
*Notre Dame is a "rich man's Stanford", a second-tier school that can't hang with the big boys in college football
*ND has zero shot at beating USC until at least 2013
*Weis' biggest problem is his physical appearance

Let those comments sink in for a moment if you can. Now, I know a lot of Irish fans are going to be somewhat surprised by all of this, but you have to ask yourself: how much of this is true?

I have to admit, I believe a lot of these comments are very true.

Do you think the Notre Dame program has a bigger image of itself than in reality? I'm not sure how the powers that be who are running the University truly feel, but a quick look at history would seem to demonstrate that football is not a priority, or at the very least, not one of the top one or two priorities like it used to be.

In other words, Notre Dame is not a football factory. We all know this and we all know Notre Dame is not the veritable minor league training ground and stop off point for football players the way USC and Florida are.

So, the issue of where this self image comes from is not really about the school itself (except the coaching staff who obviously need to promote that image with statements like "9-3 just isn't good enough"), but it comes from us, the fans of Irish football.

But nothing really bothers me more then if someone says Notre Dame needs to get back to being an elite program because it's NOTRE DAME. Why don't people say the same things about Army? The USMA has a proud tradition of excellence in football, why don't they compete for national titles?

I know the comparison with Army is a bit of a stretch, but my point is, at the end of the day Notre Dame's tradition and past mean very little. Sure the storied tradition helps somewhat with recruiting and the large fan base with deep pockets boost the university's capabilities, but I just don't like the notion that Notre Dame has to be an elite program just because it's Notre Dame.

Make no bones about it, this has been a bitter pill to swallow for many Irish fans. We have a glorious tradition of football, but the playing field is so undeniably un-level and it is difficult for Notre Dame to compete against such stacked odds.

Sure it sounds great and makes one feel proud when we chastise the program, coaches, and other fans for accepting not just mediocrity, but really good football too, all because this is Notre Dame and it should not be happening.

We've witnessed a program, on its knees from lack of recruiting, climb out of that hole and become respectable again. It's very possible we could see this program go from 3 wins, to 7 wins, to 10 wins, but there will still be thousands of people claiming this is not good enough because this is NOTRE DAME. I don't like that perspective.

Which leads me to Charlie Weis and I agree that I don't think the problem is the head coach right now for Notre Dame. In fact, as time goes on I think we'll see that he's done a pretty impressive job of taking this program to the next level from its 1997-2004 darkness, although he may never get it to an elite level.

But again, does anyone really think another coach could bring Notre Dame to the level of USC right now? Even if we assume someone like Brian Kelly is a better college coach, that still leaves the Irish quite a distance from being elite, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

What Notre Dame desperately needs are a couple of Buck Nasty defensive linemen who can dominate the way they do at USC, LSU and Florida. But Notre Dame makes it all but impossible to recruit that stud DT from Long Beach, California with a 2.5 GPA, nor does this kid have any desire to go to Notre Dame. Brian Kelly, Jon Gruden, or any other coach won't change that fact.

Not only does Notre Dame need some Buck Nasty's on their defense, but they need to continually bring in a couple every single year if they want to be a truly elite team. Manti Te'o would be an example of the type of player Notre Dame would need. The Irish need about five or six more of him to be seriously discussed as an elite team.

Just think about it for a moment. The signing of Te'o was heralded as a momentous steal by Weis and Te'o has come in with deserved hype and expectations. But he's just one player. USC has been churning out Manti Te'o type players every season for the past decade.

How many current Notre Dame defensive players would start at USC? How many would even play at all over four years?

And I do think a lot of people are overly harsh of Weis because of his physical appearance and his demeanor which fuel a lot of the hate that is thrown his way. That and the dismissal of Tyrone Willingham.

I suspect if Jim Harbaugh had the exact same record as Weis at Notre Dame we'd be hearing, particularly from non-Irish fans, about how hard it is to win in South Bend and that Harbaugh was doing a great job of digging the program out of the days of Willingham.

As it is, Weis has done an excellent job of recruiting but he still has not been able to recruit dominant defensive players just like his predecessors could not stretching back to the mid 1990's. I’m not going to say that Weis is going to win a title in South Bend, but I think he is clearly bringing the program in the right direction.

There are two things I will stick fast to about Weis. First, he is one of the best offensive minds in all of football. Clearly this guy can score as evidenced by his complete obliteration of the Notre Dame record books over the past five years.

Secondly, I don’t blame Weis for the 2007 season as I still blame Willingham for that and I view it as an aberration of a season. Weis came in and won 19 games in his first two years and then didn’t just forget how to coach folks. Weis will lose that badly ever again at Notre Dame.

Charlie Weis’ winning percentage currently stands at .589 which is slightly better than his predecessors in Willingham and Davie. If Notre Dame is able to win the rest of their regular season games, Weis’ will move to a very respectable .629 winning percentage.

What’s more, if we take out the aberration of 2007 completely, Weis’ winning percentage is .681 which would have him scratching at the door of where other elite coaches are. Minus the 2007 season and plus six wins to close this season and Weis would be at top 12 winning percentage of .720 behind the likes of legends and legends to be Carroll, Paterno, Stoops, and Bowden.

Many will cry that I can’t remove 2007 because it still counts, which is true, but the reason I bring up these numbers is that Weis could very well be in to the .650 winning percentage range within a calendar year. That would put Charlie Weis at just about the same winning percentage as Frank Beamer’s career at Virginia Tech.

While some call Notre Dame a mid-major along the lines of Michigan State or Boston College, and others shout that Notre Dame must be an elite school, I think the Irish’s potential is somewhere along the lines of Frank Beamer’s Virginia Tech program.

Without the Buck Nasties continually prowling the field on defense for Notre Dame, as they do at USC and Florida, the Irish can never attain the level of success like the Gators and Trojans have over the past decade.

But that doesn’t mean Notre Dame cannot be successful. With the level of recruiting that Weis has been bringing in for a few years, the Irish can be very similar to Virginia Tech and go out and consistently win 10 games a season and try and run with the big boys every three or four years.

It’s time to stop complaining that Notre Dame isn’t an elite program anymore and put some things in perspective. Charlie Weis has done a great job recruiting and has this team’s stock rising. Two months from now we may be smiling at the renewed success in South Bend and another ten win season.

Cool It! A Look at Global Warming

If you are like me and have wanted to find a book that presented a level-headed assessment of the environment in a concise manner, then pick up Bjorn Lomborg's new book "Cool It". About a year ago I read Lomborg's popular "The Skeptical Environmentalist" and it pursuaded me to look at things differently than how they are portrayed in the media and elsewhere.

Now more than ever, Lomborg's message of increased dialogue and smarter environmental policies are needed. Today we are swarmed with a barrage of stories prediciting calamity for humanity if nothing is done to reverse the damage to the environment. So exactly where does Lomborg differ from the mainstream?

He believes that the threats to the world are vastly exaggerated and that we need to understand that the massive climate changing policies (i.e. Kyoto, Cap & Trade programs) are wildly expensive and actually end up doing very little for the environment.

The major problem is that there is so much hysteria surrounding global warming that not enough people are stopping to think about the consequences of inacting massive spending projects to cut back carbon emissions. This has a lot to do with the fact that scientists and politicians don't care to weight the costs of such policies, but the general public also needs to be more aware of the realities concerning increasing temperatures, how they will affect us, and what we can really do about it.

Basically, Lomborg's message is that we can't do much to stop the increase in temperatures and it's foolish to spend trillions of dollars to do so. For example, just adhering to the Kyoto Protocol would cost tens of billions every year but by 2100 the temperature would only be 0.2 Farenheight cooler. Essentially, we would be paying an exorbiant amount of money in order to delay warming by a few years.

This is crucial to today's arguments surrounding global warming. Scientists and politicians do not want to debate these issues because right now the green revolution is too much of a gold mine. However, over time people will begin to realize the foolishness of such grand policies and by continuing to beat the drum of such policies without taking any criticism, as scientists and politicians do, the overkill will eventually turn people away from their message.

The example of malaria is fitting. It is predicted that over the next century malaria will become rampant in the developing world as the temperatures rise. This has been another rallying cry put forth by environmentalists. The problem is, most of the new opportunities for malaria will occur in areas where it is cold today, but will become slightly warmer in the future. In other words, in the developed world in places like the northern United States.

Yet, malaria is not a disease that affects the U.S. because we have adaquate health policies and disease control. The poorer regions of the world where malaria is already a problem won't see much more problems. And even if they did, what could we do about it?

Well, by trying to change the climate and temperature we could possibly reduce the cases of malaria by a fraction, perhaps saving some of the people, but all for an extraordinary price tag. Or we could spend 1% of that money and completely wipe malaria out and control it through better health and disease control. Which one seems more sensible?

The same is evident with all of the problems associated with global warming. We are told that polar bears are losing their homes and dying because there is no longer enough ice to support their habitat. Yet studies show the polar bear population has increased sixfold over the past half century. In reality, global warming kills an average of 1.5 bears per year as opposed to an average of 50 that are killed through illegal hunting.

We could spend billions, even trillions, trying to turn the temperature knob of earth and save a couple bears. Or we could spend a fraction of that and save scores more by making illegal hunting more difficult. Again, which way is smarter?

Another example put forth by Lomborg is the issue of heat related deaths. With increasing temperatures we are bound to experience more deaths because of heat and this is certainly a valid point. However, what is not talked about is the amount of lives that will be saved because cold related deaths will become less frequent. And as it stands today, there are five times as many cold related deaths each year.

We could spend a ton of money once again to try and reduce temperatures, but wouldn't it be much smarter to focus on things such as better health policies and more air conditioners at a sliver of the cost?

One of the biggest scare tactics put forth is that of rising sea levels. Al Gore has said that ocean levels will rise twenty feet by 2100. He postulates that because of melting ice caps in the northern hemisphere. Never mind that it would take a very, very long time for that to happen. The truth is that the United Nations expects sea levels to rise by a foot or two over the next 100 years.

What's interesting is that sea levels have already risen that same amount over the past century. We're still doing alright aren't we? Now you may say that we need to improve our resistance to flooding (which is one of the biggest killers in the world) and that it very true. But when you look at the price of cutting carbon emissions as a solution to the increase in temperature causing more violent storms (still scientifically disputed by the way), doing simpler things like building better breaker walls and barriers is infinitely more effective at a much lower price.

*Side note: The devestation of Hurricane Katrina is another example put forth how the Co2 we are putting into the atmosphere is fueling more deadly hurricanes. However, Katrina was not one of the strongest hurricanes in history. What has happened is that we have moved into places where hurricanes and flooding are common.

In terms of property damage, Katrina was the worst we've seen in U.S. history, but that's because of our increase in population. There are 40 times as many peope living in the two surrounding counties of Miami, Florida than there were people living in the U.S. from Texas to North Carolina 100 years ago. In reality, the storms are not getting stronger, there's just more property and people for them to damage.

A good analogy Lomborg uses is that of automobile related injuries and deaths. We could, if we really wanted to, rid ourselves of these casualites by simply banning driving or reducing the speed limit to 5 mph. Yet, we do not do that because the overall impact of driving in our society is so important and crucial to our prosperity. And instead of taking away driving or slowing speed limits to ridiculous levels (i.e. attempting to lower the earth's temperature at the cost of billions in lost GDP) we focus on better safety in cars, traffic lights, and road materials.

Why do we not do the same with regard to global warming? We could prevent millions of malaria cases, reduce heat related deaths, increase the developing world's health services, better manage water supplies, prevent HIV, in short, help humanity today, all for a tenth of the price of these proposed climate change policies.

Even more, we could increase funding tenfold into research and development of new energy and still be nowhere near the price of the Kyoto Protocol and other carbon cutting programs. What this could do is leave us with the money to help people today, and allow further research to bring forth new technology that will help us actually do something about the temperature at a much lower cost than today.

Because when it comes down to it, we need to create a better world today so that we are better able to deal with any problems in the future. By enacting massive carbon cutting programs we will, in effect, be making ourselves more poor and in turn, we will be unable to help those even poorer than us today. We would get all of that for virtually zero change in temperature.

Or we could use our wealth today to research new ways to provide clean energy at lower prices, and help those who are poor become more well off so they too can be able to deal with the problems associated with climate change. After all, you don't see many heat related deaths, malaria cases, and other catastrophes caused by increasing temperatures in the United States because we are wealthy enough to deal with those problems.

But we're also wealthy enough to drum up hysteria about global warming even though it doesn't affect us to any major degree. Would it make sense to lose our wealth, deny the developing world more access to greatly needed wealth, all for policies that won't do much good?

Beatlemania Is Upon Us

With just 50 days left until the world-wide release of the Beatles Remastered song catalog and Beatles Rock Band video game, more and more information is being released detailing just what kind of product fans can buy on September 9, 2009 also known as 9/9/09 Beatles Day.

First let's start with the Beatles Rock Band game. There has been a lot of speculation, rumor, and honest discussion about the validity of a Beatles Rock Band game as many older Beatles fans believe it will cheapen the band's image. Others voiced concerns that the Beatles music wouldn't translate well to the Rock Band format and that the game may be too easy to satisfy the younger generation's appetite which has been feeding on rythym guitar games for years now.

In short, there were a lot of question marks regarding just what Beatles Rock Band would look like. A few months ago the game's specially designed Beatles instruments were released to the public and they included: two stand-alone guitars (Lennon's Rickenbacker 325 & Harrison's Gretsch Duo Jet), McCartney's Hofner bass, and a replica of Ringo Starr's Ludwig drum kit. Almost everyone who has had the chance to see and touch these instruments is raving about their look, especially the drum kit.

Weeks passed as we were left staring at the instruments still wondering what the possibilities could be with the game itself. Then came the E3 convention in Los Angeles where it was rumored that Harmonix (the designers of Beatles Rock Band) would be marketing a prototype of the game among the hundreds of other new games at the world's largest video game expo.

After keeping everyone in the dark for quite some time, Harmonix decided to pull out all the stops to deliver and showcase Beatles Rock Band for the very first time. They came prepared offering the public a grand look at the game on the expo's main stage, where Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison, and Yoko Ono showed up to the delight of fans everywhere.

They followed the surprise appearances with a demo of the game as six people stood on stage with the instruments and microphones singing and playing away to the Beatles 1965 hit "Day Tripper." After the main performance the expo was treated to a closer look at the game as Harmonix designers began explaining how it would be played. They even went so far as to built a small replica of Abbey Road, the EMI studio in London where the Beatles recorded so many of their songs.

As if that wasn't enough, the partnering companies involved in the game (Harmonix, Apple Corps, MTV, Sony/ATV, Electronic Arts, and EMI) released two videos to accompany the E3 demos. The first is a nearly four minute long extended trailer showing a video of the game while the second is an artistic theatrical trailer which serves as a psuedo-commercial for the game. Both can be viewed on the Beatles website or on YouTube and it is highly recommended you watch both, especially the theatrical trailer which is fantastic.

Before these events I have to admit as a Beatles enthusiast I was looking forward to the remastered albums more than this game. Since then, I have become elated at what Rock Band has brought to the table. Let's look at what they have to offer:

First, the game will be a celebration of the Beatles and will progress through their entire career spanning seven-plus years of music including four locations in the beginning, evolving to dreamscapes in their middle to late period, and ending with a recreation of their rooftop concert above their Apple offices in 1969. The game will feautre 45 songs with the beginning location being the Cavern Club (corresponding to 1963 songs), the Ed Sullivan Show ('64), Shea Stadium ('65), and the Budokan Theater in Japan ('66).

From there Harmonix has developed "dreamscapes" which will begin showing the band playing each song in the studio yet the screen will morph into whatever the particular song may be about. For example, the band will begin playing "Octopus's Garden" at their Abbey Road stuido but you will suddenly find yourself underwater as the Beatles play through the song surrounded by the ocean depths. This is clearly going to be a major part of the game as Harmonix has showcased other dreamscapes that are psychadelic and highly creative.

For all intents and purposes Beatles Rock Band will be very similar in it's gameplay to all previous Rock Band games. However, Harmonix decided to include vocal harmonies which will undoubtedly add a new dimension never before seen to any Rock Band game.

That is why the premium bundle package selling for $250 will include the drums, bass, a microphone with stand, as well as the game itself. Beatles Rock Band will be able to support up to two more microphones in order to imitate the classic three-part harmonies that were so much a part of the band's sound.

Only hours ago a new trailer was released showing 8 more songs accompanied with their respective locations and dreamscapes. The Beatles website has also posted a hanful of other songs that will be available to play. As of today, there are twenty-five songs that we know will be in the game: "I Saw Her Standing There", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "I Feel Fine", "Day Tripper", "Taxman", I Am the Walrus", "Octopus's Garden", "Back in the USSR", "Here Comes the Sun", "Get Back", as well as, "Twist & Shout", "Can't Buy Me Love", Eight Day's a Week", "Paperback Writer", "Yellow Submarine", Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band", "Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows", "Revolution", "I Wanna Be Your Man", "Do You Want to Know A Secret", "And Your Bird Can Sing", "With a Little Help From My Friends", Birthday", "Dig a Pony", and "I've Got a Feeling".

To add to the fun, it has been confirmed that there will be downloadable content for the game as well. Upon its release on 9/9/09 you will be allowed to download "All You Need is Love" as a special one song package with all proceeds going to charity. Also, it has been confirmed that the entire Abbey Road album will be available for download sometime after the game's release. Harmonix and Apple Corps have denied that more songs or albums will be made available for download but they have left the door open to the possibility that there may be futher content in the future.

The release of the trailers have convinced me that this game is going to be very big. It will no doubt give thousands of people (particularly younger people) the opportunity to see just how unique, diverse, and rock worthy the Beatles were as a band. Not only that, but many others will be amazed at how much fun the game will be. I am expecting this game to be a huge seller well into the Christmas season as the good news will spread about how neat the game is and, consequently, just how cool the Beatles are!

Switching gears, there will also be CD Remasters available on 9/9/09 to compliment the release of Beatles Rock Band in what is shaping up to be one of the biggest release date media events in recent memory. There will be a Stereo box set and Mono box set for sale, as well as individual CD's of the stereo versions for those less incline to buy the Beatles catalog.

The Stereo box set will contain 14 CD's including all of the official British album releases by the Beatles: Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles for Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles (White Album), Abbey Road, and Let it Be. Also included will be the Yellow Submarine and Magical Mystery Tour soundtracks (both considered to be part of the Beatles official canon) as well as a Past Masters CD bringing together all of the band's singles which were not part of any album.

Also part of the Stereo box set will be a mini-documentary DVD with a running time of 45 minutes taking a look at each Beatles album. The mini-documentaries will be encoded into each CD album in the stereo box set and will also be available in the individual CD's sold in stores, but for a limited time only.

To complete the Stereo package each album will come in a three-sided digi-pack packaged with a 12" tower with magnet to store the CD's. Also included will be new linear notes and never before seen photographs. Currently Amazon has this box set selling for $200.00.

The Mono box set will be slightly different in that it will only contain 11 CD's and no documentary DVD. Because the albums Abbey Road, Let it Be, and Yellow Submarine were recorded in stereo only, they will not be included in this box set. However, the mono box set is offering original stereo versions of the albums Help! and Rubber Soul which have never been released before.

Still, with less music the Mono box set has its own perks. Each album will be designed as a mini-replica in CD form of the original vinyl LP's released by the Beatles. This will include all original art work, album sleeves, gatefolds, and pull outs that came with the vinyl's forty years ago.

As of right now the Mono box set is limited to 10,000 copies but there is a fierce debate as to whether this is correct or not. Will this figure pertain to the United States only? Is the figure just to show that the first 10,000 will be numbered copies and thus more valuable to collectors? There still has been no answer to this dilemma. What is known is that the Mono box set is on sale at Amazon for $239.00.

So far there have been roughly thirty snippets of the stereo remasters available to listen to online. From what I can tell the improvements in sound quality are discernable. Although some were dismayed that the song catalog would not be re-mixed or put into 5.1 Dolby surround sound, the new remasters seem to give an extra punch and clarity that has been lacking to the Beatles sound for decades.

The preview of the Revolver mini-documentary shows that these will be nothing to write home about. Made up neat artistic design and pictures, the videos' discussions appear to be taken directly from the Anthology series in 1994. It's not so much a big deal as each documentary will only be about three minutes long anyway.

Overall, 9/9/09 is shaping up to be a tremendous celebration of the Beatles, their music, their popularity, and their legacy. In just under two months we will see just how much selling power the group holds nearly half a century after their peak.

The Tragedy of Eric Lindros: Reflections on the Big E

No player has seemed to stir up as much controversy over the years or polarized fan and foe alike as much as Eric Lindros. From his refusal to play for the Ontario Hockey League’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and NHL’s Quebec Nordiques, to his numerous concussions and multi-million dollar donation to the London Health Sciences Centre upon his retirement ceremony, Lindros’ time in hockey was certainly full of high drama.

But one thing seems to get lost amidst all of the chaos surrounding Eric Lindros: He was one of the best players to ever lace up a pair of skates. There is much debate about whether Lindros belongs in the Hall of Fame, and in my opinion, he is a sure bet first ballot member although it will probably not turn out that way. There can be no denying that however short his career was or how much controversy surrounded him, Lindros made a huge impact upon the hockey world.

What made Eric Lindros such a dynamic player? The main reason is that he had no major weaknesses and is perhaps the best forward to be able to perform all hockey skills at an elite level. Certainly no player can claim the offensive prowess of Gretzky or Lemieux but even these two legends were never much involved in the physical aspects of hockey. The point is, Lindros was in the elite category in terms of offensive ability, but unlike so many other players who have scored and racked up points over the years, Lindros brought a physical presence to the ice that was second to none and utterly devastating.

In this sense, Lindros really changed the way hockey was played and especially the way we view what a hockey player is capable of on the ice. The NHL has seen its fair share of power forwards over the years, but no one has been that physical and that talented the way Lindros was. Right from his first game in Philadelphia as a nineteen year old up until his string of concussions and injury problems near the end of the century, Lindros was a human wrecking ball on skates who was virtually impossible to stop.

One of the main reasons Lindros was able to combine the scoring and checking abilities was that he was a tremendous skater for a man 6’4” 240 pounds. Today, as players become more athletic and better conditioned we are starting to see men with enormous size with excellent agility and skating skills.

Yet, in the early 1990’s this was practically unheard of and this made Lindros stand out all the much more. And really, of all Lindros’ talents, his skating is easily the most underestimated and underappreciated. For someone so large he could accelerate, pivot, turn, crossover, and stop on a dime as if he were a much smaller player. This gave Lindros an advantage over every player because he could power through you or he could just as easily tip toe around you leaving you in the dust either way. And his speed was amazing, especially in his first five seasons or so, where at times it seemed like he had another gear no one else possessed.

Among other weapons Lindros possessed wonderful stick skills, again extraordinary for someone so large. As Bobby Clarke has said Lindros was “the first of the huge, big men with small man’s skill.” While not the crazy stick handler like a Alex Kovalev, Lindros puck and stick skills could be breathtaking. Always more of a playmaker than a pure goal scorer, Lindros’ soft hands and vision created room for his wingers to score on a regular basis (see LeClair’s three straight 50 goal seasons from 95-98).

What’s more Lindros had a great backhand and was good as anyone has ever been playing with one hand on the stick. One of his special talents was his ability to pass off the backhand in the blink of an eye. From time to time he would curl in his own zone, pick up a quick head of steam, reach near full speed, and receive a pass instantly backhanding the puck across the ice to a teammate’s stick. Or he could drive the puck wide and fight off defenders with one arm while controlling the puck and passing or shooting with one hand on the stick.

As one would expect Lindros carried a heavy and accurate slapshot but his wrist and snap shots were just as lethal. Like all great players he was able to get shots away quickly at full speed and without breaking stride. Many people’s vision of Lindros is barreling down the ice and ripping a shot near the top of the circle past the helpless goaltender.
There wasn’t much a healthy Eric Lindros couldn’t do on the ice. Among the aforementioned skills, he was a very good player in his defensive zone and was among the best faceoff men throughout his entire career. Plus, he was tough as nails in fights never afraid to drop the gloves and dominating most of those while doing it.

There is no doubt that an enormous amount of on and off the ice drama followed Lindros around for fifteen years, some of it deserved and a lot of it not, but no one can take away his years in the 1990’s where he was arguably the most dominant player of his era. In a lot of ways Alexander Ovechkin today reminds me a lot of Lindros but aside from Ovechkin’s incredible goal scoring abilities Lindros was bigger, more physical, and a much better all-around player.

The case that he does not belong in the Hall of Fame stems more from all of the drama off the ice more than it does from what he brought to the ice. As the years pass, those issues will fade away and people will start to realize that Lindros is a good person and was a great teammate to play with. The deck was really stacked against him from day one being dubbed “The Next One” and being traded by Quebec for a ridiculous amount of players, draft picks, and money. And in a lot of ways he faced it admirably.

With so many selfish and egotistical professional athletes making fools of themselves and wrecking teams across North America, I’ve found it funny that Lindros should be regarded as this kind of player. Has anyone ever seen him or read something in which he was blatantly defiant and brash? It seemed that through all those melodramatic years in Philadelphia the stories were revolving around only what Bobby Clarke said to the press and that was the only side of the story we were given.

Yet, inside the circle of NHL players Lindros is seen as a real stand up guy. Sure he made some mistakes early in his career as a teenager but he had to put up with a lot of junk that was undeserved. Once he was traded to the Rangers everyone gushed about what a great teammate he was.

The drama is not something that I want to get into because that would be a whole other story but the fact remains that Lindros was tough as nails and we may never know the real circumstances surrounding the media swirl and the concussion problems of which modern science still is much in the dark about.

Lindros played a brutal physical style of hockey and gave his all and in the end players started to return the favor constantly running him without discretion. He lived by the sword and died by it, but he laid it all on the line. Sure he skated with his head down but so does every player. It’s just that after years of taking punishment (Scott Stevens) from Lindros players decided that he was fair game to have his head taken off. Players won’t hit someone like Gretzky or Crosby because it’s seen as against the code in hockey since they are not overly aggressive physically. Plus, most superstars have others fight their battles for them but Lindros was the guy doing everything for his team: scoring, hitting, and fighting.

So why does Lindros belong in the Hall of Fame? Let’s look at the stats because they often do not lie. For his entire career with the Philadelphia Flyers Eric Lindros averaged 1.355 points per game which placed him at the time in 4th place behind Gretzky, Lemeiux, and Orr. Those numbers are simply astounding when you factor in his level of physical domination over that period.

Secondly, Lindros really did revolutionize the way hockey was played. He played half of these years in the “dead puck” era of hockey which began in earnest with the 1996-97 NHL season. By that point, there was so much clutching and grabbing and a heavy emphasis on defensive systems that scoring league wide took a drastic plunge. A lot of this was the direct result of trying to slow down the uninhibited play of Lindros, but players and goalies simply got bigger, stronger, and faster across the board. In the 1995-96 season alone 10 players tallied over 100 points or more which was normal for the league going all the way back to the 1980’s. However, over the next 4 seasons combined from 1996-2000 only 4 players reached 100 points in a season (Lemieux, Jagr (twice), Selanne (twice), and Kariya).

There are a lot of comparisons between Eric Lindros and Cam Neely but there is no doubt in my mind that Lindros was a much better player. Neely played his entire career outside the “dead puck” era (retiring after the 1995-96 season) and he did not even average a point per game despite playing with one of the best playmakers in league history in Adam Oates. Not to take anything away from Neely, but Lindros was much more of a force in all aspects of the game.

Once Lindros was traded by the Flyers he had one more solid season in his first year in New York but after another string of concussions he was no longer the player he once was. Putting aside his concussions alone his medical injuries look like some horrible nightmare for any professional athlete.

Yet through it all Lindros persevered and in my mind is someone who needs to be regarded as one of the truly great players of all time. He currently stands in 15th place all-time in points-per-game and no one ahead of him comes anywhere close to his level of physical play. Without a Stanley Cup experts are sure to rank Lindros below where his talent could have taken him but it seemed that it was destiny for his career to be one of a great Greek tragedy.
Still, if I were starting a team from scratch and I needed to pick one forward to build a franchise around…it wouldn’t be Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier, or Sidney Crosby. It would be Eric Lindros.