(12-09-2013 08:49 AM)TerryD Wrote: Are you kidding? Fans of other schools bitched about every BCS bowl bid that ND ever accepted.
That was an impressive list, Terry. I admit I did not read every single comment on every single link, but I read a lot of them. Based on the comments I did see, we will have to disagree that fans of other schools b*tched about Notre Dame
accepting bowl bids. What they b*tched about, IMHO, was bowls (especially BCS bowls)
inviting Notre Dame when other teams with higher rankings and/or with better W-L records were passed over for those invitations.
Quote:Then, there are several occasions where ND was criticized for declining to go to a bowl
Most of those links seemed to focus on one particular season (2009) when Notre Dame was 6-6 and had just fired the HC. I will readily concede -- if the point is really in dispute -- that no team should ever be obligated to accept the invitation to participate in a bowl game or other exhibition game. And I also think that a decision to decline such an invitation does not require any explanation or elaboration by the school making the decision.
With that said, I also believe that teams which do decline bowl invitations in this day and age do so overwhelmingly for one reason: the expectation/belief/concern that they are likely to lose in embarrassing circumstances. And I believe that was the main motivating factor in Notre Dame deciding to stay home in December 2009. It is natural that internet-trolls are going to ridicule such a decision, no matter what school is making it.
Quote:For background, ND had a self imposed bowl ban from 1925 until 1969. They felt bowls interfered with the players' academics/finals.
It is remarkable how college football has gone from a 9-or-10 game season to a 12-or-13 game season (14 for a handful of teams). Notre Dame is no worse in that regard than anyone else.
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Pinstripe Official: Notre Dame vs Rutgers
