Rutgers Afraid of ND

[benneboy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3366349

Rutgers refuses a 6 game series with Notre Dame which would have started in 2010. Looks like they had one good season and forgot they were Division 1 football's bitch for oh......... their entire existence as a football program. Good call.

[Fishin'_Irish]

UConn filled their spot.

[scooper]

UConn filled their spot.

No they didn't. We were going to play them both. We will be playing three BE teams per season moving forward.

Honestly, I don't blame Rutgers. This isn't about being afraid. They want their home games at home. ND wants them at the Meadowlands where ND gets more of the gate.

[Fishin'_Irish]

No they didn't. We were going to play them both. We will be playing three BE teams per season moving forward.

Honestly, I don't blame Rutgers. This isn't about being afraid. They want their home games at home. ND wants them at the Meadowlands where ND gets more of the gate.

I realized that once I read the article. Oops.

I'm with you on your second point. I can't be mad at Rutgers.

[scooper]

They're standing up for themselves. Sure they've got a lot to lose, but I like this move for them.

If every program agreed to adhere to the public's perception, then ND might as well not even try to get back to the top level, as most other fans and media outlets think we are a has been who will never be able to get back. Rutgers doesn't want to be treated as a second class program. If they are going to maintain their newfound swagger, they need to do stuff like this. Hell, I think it makes ND look scared to not agree to play at Rutgers.

[daytonirish]

I don't blame Rutgers. You can argue about playing in front of a bigger crowd, being on TV and whatever else. But if I'm an AD I would want the games at my home stadium.

[HoffVir]

It would have been a shame for all the Jersey kids Charlie goes after to see Rutgers get kicked in the hooha.

[notredomer23]

Rutgers fans are hilarious...I went over to one of there boards acting like a fan since im from New Jersey and all and they think they are going to go 10-2!!! No Ray Rice=No Victory
I see them going 5-7 possibly 6-6. Fresno State, North Carolina, Uconn, USF, West Va, Cincy, and Pitt all could beat them. Maybe even Louisville. They are in for a major disappointment.

[IrishKnight1023]

Na Rutgers will still be good, it's just i HATE their fans because they really do talk too much sh*t too soon for no good reason.

[notredomer23]

Na Rutgers will still be good, it's just i HATE their fans because they really do talk too much sh*t too soon for no good reason.

exactly. They were bashing Charlie Weis for our schedule and all this year and I said they had no clue and im called a troll. They make a living out of making fun of notre dame. I felt like i was on an ESPN message board. Really though IK, they have a tough schedule, they may be good but Fresno State is very good, under catagory of BCS crasher. UNC most likely will be fairly decent. And the BE will actually be pretty tough this year.

One of their fans said that they were going to be getting an NBC TV deal for the whole North East. LMAO

[daytonirish]

Don't let spinner read that.

[IrishGrizz]

Funny how they are trying to make a rivalry w ND, but they are the only ones who see it that way. A one-way rivalry is not.

[stonebreakerwasgod]

Rutgers is a decent team, but our newfound kickassedness (thats a new word, btw), will make them glad ND isn't on their radar.

[irish_bobcat]

I can't blame Rutgers for this either. I wonder what BE team we are going to get to replace them. Why not WVU?

[MirageSmack]

I don't blame Rutgers any either. Hopefully (unrealistically) Kevin White appropriately fills their spot.

But a small part of me wonders why a team wouldn't take a deal like this anyway, and get the chances to beat ND on a big stage. It isn't like they have a long history of success, and beating ND in Giants stadium or wherever has to mean something. Oh well, next!

[sonomairishfan]

forget Rutgers, let's get Florida on the schedule so CW can clown Urban's arrogant a$s!

[Flyin_Irish]

Heard all about this on a Columbus sports radio show last week. They were going on and on about how arrogant ND is and "who do they think they are" making Rutgers play at the Meadowlands instead of their own home field...which will even be renovated by the time we would have played them. The sad thing is...there's not much of a defense for ND here. I hate this kind of thing where we are trying to strong-arm teams into playing at stadiums of our choosing.

[xfactor9600]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3366349

Rutgers refuses a 6 game series with Notre Dame which would have started in 2010. Looks like they had one good season and forgot they were Division 1 football's bitch for oh......... their entire existence as a football program. Good call.

OR.... wait for it... they didn't want to play a "home" game 37 miles from Campus as ND demanded?

[grantland]

I wonder, did they offer to play ND at the Meadowlands and split the gates (ND and Meadowland gates) equally. That would have been my negotiating tactic. Then if ND refuses, just say "ND is afraid to play us (ie., Rutgers). or that ND is only about the $$$$, which as much as I love the place, would not be a hard argument to make.

[mlcspinner]

If Rutgers doesn't want to play ND so be it. This may be homer talk but what program is going to miss out on this opportunity. Rutgers hands down

[irish_bobcat]

We'll find someone to play us. I am sure there are plenty of suitors for the Irish.

[Fishin'_Irish]

OR.... wait for it... they didn't want to play a "home" game 37 miles from Campus as ND demanded?

Winner winner, chicken dinner!

[Flyin_Irish]

OR.... wait for it... they didn't want to play a "home" game 37 miles from Campus as ND demanded?

And this is the same thing we did to UConn, right? Made them play us in Gillette rather than at their home stadium.
Rentschler Field (UConn's home stadium) only seats 40,000, so I guess I can see why we'd like to play somewhere else. But shouldn't the venue be their decision if it's their "home" game?

However, my real issue is with ND's attitude towards Rutgers. We recruit NJ. That is no secret. Rutgers Stadium can currently accomodate almost 45,000. Expansion plans are set to begin this year which will cost over $100mil and increase capacity to 56,000. I believe we currently will play in stadiums of similar capacity (Ross-Ade is just over 60k, for example). So what is the big deal?

[benneboy]

OR.... wait for it... they didn't want to play a "home" game 37 miles from Campus as ND demanded?

I'm sure they didn't, but what is their bargaining chip here. You are forgetting that ND looks at Rutgers the same way they look at Connecticut. There are about 100 other teams on ND's list right behind Rutgers. ND isn't the one that is going to lose six nationally televised games over the next six years. They should have taken this one for what it was, lost the napoleon complex, and become a better program.

[Flyin_Irish]

I'm sure they didn't, but what is their bargaining chip here. You are forgetting that ND looks at Rutgers the same way they look at Connecticut. There are about 100 other teams on ND's list right behind Rutgers. ND isn't the one that is going to lose six nationally televised games over the next six years. They should have taken this one for what it was, lost the napoleon complex, and become a better program.

ND isn't under contract to play a home and home series against 100 other teams from other conferences. This all falls back on the 8 home games that the ND AD is demanding. Yeah, that 8th game is at a nuetral site, but it pretty much boils down to a home game for ND with TV rights and so forth. I really don't care for this new scheduling policy where we'll pick and choose teams we can pick on to agree to playing their "home" game at a site of our choosing. I'm with those who say good for Rutgers. If I sunk $100mil into a stadium expansion, you can bet your hat I'd demand to play my home games there.

And their bargaining chip, which I think it is sad that they even need one just to play a football game, is that ND does recruit NJ and the East coast. They can say play us here and get exposure here or play us nowhere. Apparently we're choosing nowhere. Too bad.

[MirageSmack]

And this is the same thing we did to UConn, right? Made them play us in Gillette rather than at their home stadium.
Rentschler Field (UConn's home stadium) only seats 40,000, so I guess I can see why we'd like to play somewhere else. But shouldn't the venue be their decision if it's their "home" game?

I read somewhere that UConns home field wasn't even on campus to begin with. I read it was an hour away, but that may be NYC/NJ Turnpike hour, which is 2 miles! Anyway, I read the alumni wanted Rentschler closer to the "big city" where they mostly reside, not in Storrs. If that's the case, it's not the same situation to me. Plus UConn has only had football for 10 years. Their program will become stronger than RU in the future I think, partly because of this deal.

The bottom line, I don't necessarily see this as arrogant on ND's part. It just an offer, that doesn't have to be taken. It's the way they have been doing business for years. Maybe it is arrogant of RU to think THEY are the team that will make them change their behavior.

It may be a Big East thing. UofL is doing the same thing, using the "home and home only" approach. Why don't more teams do the FSU approach of "we'll play anyone, anywhere, anytime"? A D1 version of Appalachian State for example, who are now a household name.

[rontdtarchala]

absolutely not arragant on ND's part...we are ND there are pygmies in... wherever that have heard of ND...you want some and your basically a nobody you gotta give bottom line...he who carries the biggest stick makes the rules...that's not arragance that's life my brothers.

[xfactor9600]

I'm sure they didn't, but what is their bargaining chip here. You are forgetting that ND looks at Rutgers the same way they look at Connecticut. There are about 100 other teams on ND's list right behind Rutgers. ND isn't the one that is going to lose six nationally televised games over the next six years. They should have taken this one for what it was, lost the napoleon complex, and become a better program.

I see what you're saying... but there's no guarantee that playing that series with ND makes them better.

[BigIrish]

i said it in a previous thread and it bears repeating here...

regardless of how you feel about the new scheduling philosophy, you need to remember that the situations that are playing out now with Rutgers and UConn were started way back in 05-06 when three marquee teams bolted from the Big East conference and ND stepped up to the plate and agreed to commit to playing three Big East teams per year. At the time, White implied repeatedly that the move was at the request of conference officials who were worried about the disarray in the conference after the shake up, including a possible outright collapse.

Ultimately, ND's decision to play three BE teams per year had a stabilizing effect, at least in the short term. And as early as 2006, White was talking about scheduling games in exactly this fashion - a "neutral" site like the Meadowlands that would add BE teams to the schedule while putting the game in a stadium that was large enough to accommodate the huge contingent of fans on the east coast.

so regardless of what you think about the scheduling philosophy, ND deserves a little gratitude from the conference for stepping up to the plate when they needed them, which in turn, should afford them a little latitude for pursuing the a strategy that was articulated 2 or 3 years ago.

[Flyin_Irish]

absolutely not arragant on ND's part...we are ND there are pygmies in... wherever that have heard of ND...you want some and your basically a nobody you gotta give bottom line...he who carries the biggest stick makes the rules...that's not arragance that's life my brothers.

Hate to point this out, but who had more wins last season? Heck, who has more wins the last 2 seasons combined?

I really just don't see why we can't play in their stadium? Does anyone have a good answer to that other than we need 8 "home" games (counting the neutral site game)?

[xfactor9600]

Hate to point this out, but who had more wins last season? Heck, who has more wins the last 2 seasons combined?

I really just don't see why we can't play in their stadium? Does anyone have a good answer to that other than we need 8 "home" games (counting the neutral site game)?

Exactly, if ND would articulate a good reason as to why they need to play at only certain sized venues for UCONN and Rutgers then people might think differently. Because they haven't articulated a reason and since no one can come up with a good one, the anti-ND and the open-minded have concluded ND wasn't going to make enough $$$, so the trip wasn't worth it to them.