There was a bit of tension at Subway Domer HQ this morning when, after weeks of thought and self-reflection, I finally decided to end my silence about the absurdity of obsessing over spring football. You don't need to read that sentence over again, but I'll understand if you need to do it after you look at the banner for the website.
Yep. The Subway Domer, who has been known to be just a wee bit obsessive about all things Notre Dame football and the writer of countless spring football articles over the past 7 years, has had enough. Well, at least enough of the baseless and prophetic proclamations of certainties when there is, in reality, very little certainty involved with spring football.
This is how it started…
I took to Twitter to vent a few of my frustrations:
I’m all like, “blah blah blah.” Jesus this offseason already feels like I got lice on my balls.
— The Subway Domer (@TheSubwayDomer) April 10, 2013
Not that I would know- but I’m sure it’s annoying as fuck. Hence the metaphor
— The Subway Domer (@TheSubwayDomer) April 10, 2013
With the amount of “injuries”, transfers, and impact freshmen not on campus… we really know jack and shit about 2013. At least very little.
— The Subway Domer (@TheSubwayDomer) April 10, 2013
I want to write about spring a bit more- but seriously… there is very little I could write that wouldn’t be 95% dialogue from my ass.
— The Subway Domer (@TheSubwayDomer) April 10, 2013
“I’M GOING TO MAKE WILD AND MILD PREDICTIONS FOR 2013 BASED OFF OF 20 MINUTES OF DRILL VIDEO FOOTAGE” -ND writers/bloggers everywhere.
— The Subway Domer (@TheSubwayDomer) April 10, 2013
Now, that may seem a bit harsh, and it may even seem like I am taking shots at ND beat writers and my fellow bloggers writing about spring football- but that just isn't the case. Not exactly.
It's this weird monster that we as fans and bloggers and writers have constructed over the past decade. We love football. We love Notre Dame- and god dammit we need more of it. So, during spring we all act like crack addicts looking for that last bit of crack that fell on the 1970's shag carpeting that hasn't been vacuumed since, well, 1970.
It consumes us and it takes nullifies any real rational thought.
There are so many variables in spring football that we don't see, and with limited media accessibility, we can't see, and to base season predictions based off not seeing much of anything… well then Scientology might be for you. I am as guilty as anyone else in feeding this monster, and sometime in the begriming of March 2014, I will open my arms for this monster to come over and give me another big sloppy kiss… but not right now.
Projecting Jarrett Grace as a "stud" based off of coachspeak, drill footage, and need/want is not a good way to go about this. It might be the popular way, and it might be the only way we have, but it's not the right way. (No offense to Jarrett Grace). What we see and hear should always be subject to skepticism (minus asshole-like negativity).
It is true that we have a pretty good idea what the depth chart will look like in the fall (injuries aside of course, of course), but only if the roster doesn't see anymore additions (freshmen) this summer- and that isn't happening. And (keeping with the Grace example) some of these depth chart positions are because of a lack of depth recruited for competition. In all seriousness… who is really pushing Grace? Maybe Moore is, but we have nothing to go off of to make that judgment.
Obviously, we will know plenty more about this team after the spring game, and then the recruiting zealots will start plugging in freshman all over the place- hold me know.
So, basically, if you took anything away from this rambling and rushed post, just use it as a warning to slow down on the concrete answers. Take solace in knowing that we have a starting quarterback and that really should be enough to hang our hats on for right now. Fall camp will be the place where that "concrete" can start being laid down, but even then it may be in the wrong spot.
Discussion is great and the foundation of our fanhood on the Internet with message boards, blogs, Twitter, Facebook (if you're that guy), and wherever else you may go to talk football, but remember just how fragile the roster is in spring and any data not counted (like collegiate playing time, for example) can not be quantified. If you can't quantify it, all you really have is hope.
Hope is a wonderful thing, but there is nothing certain about hope other than that it exists. Hope has a way of distorting reality, and a distorted reality creates a clamorous and insistent mind. Take what you will from spring and all of its data from all of its providers and have fun with it, but remember that there are not many certainties.
As for myself, I will try and quiet my mind. I have, and will continue to, make many assumptions based on the same incomplete data that you have before you, just as i have for many years now- but with less certainty and less hope. You may choose another path, and I'm sure most of you will, but if I find anymore clarity from allowing things to happen instead of wishing/willing/praying that they happen… I'll let you know.
I leave you with this video and I'm not sure why, other than it talks about the impossibility of having that "quiet mind." HOLLA!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5K1l98boSww
