Rockne's Roundtable

No respect. I don't care if they get suspended the whole season. That's a Me first Team second attitude and we don't need them.

Hey, this likely ends up a good thing for the team. There will be some fatigue setting in after Ireland and Purdue. Wood will be reinserted fresh and chomping at the bit. Should give us a boost vs MSU.

Unfortunately for me, there is another illusion that gets undermined
with incidents such as this. For most of the winter, spring and summer,
I have assumed (perhaps hoped is the right word) that the Notre
Dame football team was focused on "returning to glory"...dedicated
to "being the best player I can be"..."we want to restore ND to its
rightful place"...and "we, as a family, are committed to getting this
right."

While I believe (or at least hope) that the vast majority of the members
of our football team are imbued with these thoughts and really
mean them, Cierre's (and Justin, Tommy and Carlo)'s behavior
leads one to wonder. In moments like these, I wonder whether
ND's fan base (e.g. the members of this board) are more
passionate about ND football and its rightful place than some
of the team.

To me, its just very disappointing--I had hoped these four
guys were "all on board" with ending an intolerable ND
football drought. Their actions lead me to ask---"intolerable"
to whom.

These are not kids. Wood is a senior and most of them are over 18 yrs old ,and can serve in the military. Put blame where blame should be, he and Utupo, made a bad decision as men and now they have to pay. The real good news is they are being made to pay and not being covered up like things were at Penn State. I applaud BK for taking action, I am sure it was a hard decision but the right one and won't be coming back to bite ND in the backside later. It is about doing the right thing for your team, and the two players didn't. Lou Holtze suspended players from time to time and it only made him a better coach,and his teams always stepped up.

I agree. We have to commend BK that he took appropriate action. He'll get it cleaned up, and this is how you send a message to the rest of the team.

Riddick and GA III! Excited to see that but want wood back.

Hemy, that's very well said. We are not in a position to judge motivation, but if one looks at "circumstantial evidence" it raises questions about priorities. I'm not so old that I can't remember what it's like to be 18, 19 or 20, and I also understand you're only that age, once. However, you only get to play football for Notre Dame, once, too. No one expects them to be choir boys, but they do need to make good choices, and sometimes that means passing on a good time if there are risks involved. It's the price you pay if you want to maximize your opportunity. When you wonder whether members of this board are more passionate about ND football and winning than some of the players, I'd follow up by asking how many here would have gladly passed on booze and weed for the opportunity to run out of that tunnel?

Speak for yourself. This may sound weird in a rainbow pride way, but I want Wood.

They act like such children it simply amazes me. Young men who are significantly smarter than average who don't have the sense to avoid the obvious. I feel sorry for BK (or any coach) having to deal with this kind of crap instead of X's and O's

I meant it along the lines of future and career in this case. I dunno how much he pocketed in guaranteed money but he clearly had a huge problem with Phenergan w/ Codeine cough syrup and never got sat down by anyone to kick it. His performance on the field and in the film room was why he ended up washing out and his off-field problems were why.