As a Notre Dame fan, you learn to live with the hypocrisy others heave upon the Football program in South Bend. Shaking your head at the "I like anyone who plays against Notre Dame" crowd is commonplace. Just as there are outlets that back the Irish with regularity, it seems as though there's been an addition lately to the crowd that convicts the Irish for every perceived slight.
Everyone who knows anything about Notre Dame Football knows that Residence Life (Res Life) has been strict in the past. They've doled out punishment to ND students and football players alike, that almost seemed Draconian. Suspending a kid (student or player) for a semester for underage drinking is akin to – is like throwing your 10-year old out of the house for saying something inappropriate. It's almost inevitable that it's going to happen, so why react in such an over-the-top manner.
WR Michael Floyd was standing in front of Res Life this week, waiting on a sentence that could have ended his Notre Dame playing career prematurely; prior to his Senior campaign. But what happened shocked most, if not all, Irish backers. Res Life handed down what amounts to "probation" under the ND penal code. Floyd will have to perform community service. That doesn't mean the hammer can't/won't fall from Head Coach Brian Kelly, who lists Floyd as "suspended."
Kelly was quoted in Brian Hamilton's piece in the Chicago Tribune (http://bit.ly/evjvi3), "I don't know if it's simply about a football relationship," Kelly said Saturday when asked what the Floyd decision said about Res Life and his program. "We're all educators here at Notre Dame. I can't look into decisions that were made in the past. I can only live in the present. And I'm pleased he's going to get a chance to finish his degree. The football stuff? If it works out, fine."
Hamilton's article – the latest in a series of Tribune pieces blasting Notre Dame – has little to no merit whatsoever. Damned if you do. Damned if you don't.
The most bothersome thing to me – and this isn't so much to do with Hamilton or the Tribune in particular – is the feeling that whatever happens in South Bend, just isn't good enough. If Notre Dame wins 8 games; they should have won 9. Floyd gets a "break" - but to hear the critics – he should have been sentenced to Death Row.
Where are the pundits when Florida players are being arrested for the umpteenth time? What about when Auburn players are being paid? Has Reggie Bush even been punished for his pay-to-play (other than having to give back his trophy)? What about Cam Newton?
And in this case, when punishment is handed down – and almost assuredly more strict than 99% of the schools in the country – it still won't be good enough for those who love to grab the headlines by bashing ND.
I wonder, prior to the National Championship Game, if the same writers / broadcasters who regularly bash Notre Dame's handling of everything - were clamouring for the suspension of the 5 Ohio State football players who committed a slew of NCAA violations.
I guess those of us who enjoy ND Football will have just have to ignore the "I like anyone who plays against Notre Dame" crowd one more time. And then probably again tomorrow. Oh well. I guess it goes with the territory.
