UHND.com - Notre Dame Football, Basketball, & Recruiting

I'm a litigator by profession and, during my time as an attorney, there have been occasions where I have been royally and maliciously screwed by trial judges, appellate courts, court administrators, and opposing counsel. There have been plenty of times where, when standing in front of a jury while listening to the judge make a devastatingly bad ruling that kills my case, I have wanted to tell the honorable nincompoop - on the record - just where they can stick their judicial wisdom. But I don't.

Dropping a nuke is often a surefire way to hurt my clients in the long run.

Lots of ND fans suggest that Pete - an ND grad, by the way - should throw a fit. He could tell off the ACC, ESPN, the Committee, and all the haters. He should cancel contracts. Cancel games. Make sweeping declarations about how unfair this all was and how corrupt all these bad actors are. Doing so would feel good for us, the Irish faithful, and we would feel righteous as we burn it all around us.

But then what? What happen when the next committee gets told that a 12-0 ND team needs to be ranked 14th so as to just miss the playoff. What happens when the ACC shifts their schedule around to deny us normally good matchups (Clemson, Florida State, Miami, Va Tech) in favor of the usual ACC trash? What happens when ESPN goes to war - feeling slighted and defensive - and begins a nonstop campaign against ND in an effort to sway recruits away? Yes, I know that the committee and the ACC and ESPN are already doing these things - quietly - but their efforts will become far more loud and aggressive if we drop the nuke.

I suspect that Pete is attempting to make peace, make friends, and develop positive relationships. He's likely keeping notes, though, about who has screwed us the most in case we are ever in a position to repay the favor. But the more "well respected" he is - by not whining like Sark or Cristobal and by not attacking the character of the disingenuous anti-ND crowd that is currently in charge - the more he may be able to steer things in our favor down the road. Things are changing in College Football. They are changing rapidly. Nobody can know just what is to come. Yet if he is able to develop the relationships that will allow him to guide ND through the troubled waters ahead, that will - in the long run - be far more desirable than wailing and gnashing teeth now.

We were screwed. No doubt about it. Next year, let's win all our games and pay back the haters. But to those who are being hyper critical of our Athletic Director and suggesting that his perceived passivity and lack of world-shaking pronouncements is a sign that he isn't working on behalf of the University, please remember that caution and diplomacy might be the safest way to protect Irish interests in the long term.

Go Irish