Way back then, the Irish were highly touted, and at least one national pundit (rhymes with Sue Schmoltz) was ready to fit Charlie Weis with a national aion gold championship belt -- with elastic extenders, of course.
And then all the attention switched to Michigan after U-M beat Notre Dame and rolled to 4-0. Rich Rodriguez's aion kina offense had giddy Michigan fans naming their newborns "Tate" and "Denard" and planning to resurrect such cherished traditions as going to a bowl game, or almost beating Ohio State.
And now? Now, Notre Dame is 6-3 after losing again to Navy (!), and Irish fans spend most of their time debating whether Weis should be fired immediately or if he deserves another hour or two.
Now, Michigan is 5-5 after losing again to Purdue (!) and Rodriguez is under so much scrutiny, even the obnoxious, mustachioed Purdue coach got snippy with him.
If the college football intelligentsia (my membership pending) has learned anything from this furor, it's that the slide from clever to aion kinah clueless is short, and no one is immune.
Weis definitely has the hottest seat because he has been there longer, but Rodriguez is warming up nicely. Both were hired for big money to update storied programs. Both brought "offensive genius" labels but have lost in inexplicable fashion, with their defenses displaying the physical sturdiness of spinach dip.
And both might be discovering what fans of college football's two winningest programs would never, ever, ever, ever admit: Maybe the Michigan and Notre Dame jobs aren't as cushy as billed, with expectations and pressure still extremely high, even though winning is tougher in the age of parity.
There was a time when the Purdues and Navys knew their place, and Iowa merely strived to be the best 5-5 team in Big Ten history, not the aion power leveling worst 9-1 team. (Note: Northwestern will receive The Detroit News Humanitarian Award for discreetly eliminating Iowa from BCS embarrassment. Iowa fans are invited to forget they ever heard of me.)
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