Welcome to the new world order of college football. That's a pretty far-reaching statement, but it's also one that could have been said when Nebraska ditched the Big 12 for the Big Ten, and perhaps it could have even been said when Virginia Tech, Miami, and Boston College left the Big East for the ACC. Hey, I bet we can even go back to the formation of the Big 12 and the death of the SWC. I'm sure it was said when Notre Dame abandoned the CFA and made its own television deal with NBC. As a matter of fact, you can probably take that statement back to 1982 when the Oklahoma Board of Regents sued the NCAA over television rights.
You see, for over 30 years, the landscape of college football has changed so much, in such a small amount of time, that Al Gore is probably going to make a documentary about it soon to conserve and save college football.
Of course, it has been these past few years that we have really seen the accelerated pace of change, and throughout this period, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick has been right there in the thick of things. Swarbrick never jumped the gun when the entire country was screaming that Notre Dame "has to join the Big Ten," or after that, "Notre Dame must look at joining the Big 12 or the Big 10 if it wants to stay competitive…"
He waded in the waters and speared the best fish available. He got a deal that maintained Notre Dame football's independence, while putting it's remaining sports in a much better and far more stable conference. Jack Swarbrick was the one to announce to the world, and take the first questions from the press, when he and the conference commissioners emerged with the new playoff format that killed the BCS.
He is a very powerful man. And, as a lot of powerful men tend to do, he does things his way.
And all of that leads us to this… Arizona State's athletic director, Steve Patterson, is as mad as that girl in the office that you stood up once you sobered up and realized that you have a wife at home.
Ariz St AD Steve Paterson not happy with #NotreDame trying to get out of game:bit.ly/YOqc1k
— Matt Hayes(@Matt_HayesSN) April 11, 2013
So, Jack rubbed Patterson the wrong way with the way he the Arizona State Game was canceled? I don't believe so. Patterson is pissed because they got dumped- regardless of the manner in which it was done. Notre Dame is the crown jewel on the schedule of 99% of the Irish's opponents and Arizona State is no different. They want this game and they want it badly. (I can't believe that I am going to embed this grammatically poor tweet, but it is a New World Order after all).
So Notre Dame dumped you ASU face the facts there Kate Upton and your not
— Mark May (@mark_may) April 11, 2013
Patterson didn't turn on the TV, or get on the internet to find the news. No, Arizona State was contacted by Notre Dame and told about the situation. The husband doesn't serve the divorce papers to the wife (or husband in some states).
Patterson is acting like a high school girl and needs to realize that the times are changing- quickly. Notre Dame canceled a series with Michigan, and even Michigan and their athletic director Dave Brandon didn't sound as goofy and heartbroken as Patterson. And by the way, Swarbrick ended that series with a letter he slipped to Brandon at the 2012 Notre Dame and Michigan football game in South Bend.
USA Today: Notre Dame cancels scheduled games with Michigan in 2015-17: The schools will play in 2013 and 2014, … usat.ly/P1mDfr
— College Football Pre (@NCAAFPress) September 25, 2012
Cry, if Patterson must, but he doesn't have much of a leg to stand on in this day and age. I doubt that we will see much defense of Notre Dame's and Jack Swarbrick's action because hey… it's Notre Dame. Criticizing the Irish is big business for most media outlets, and Patterson knows this, so he knows he can verbally blast them with religious connotations and he will receive very little criticism.
The real truth in all of this, is that this happens all the time, and especially since conference realignment has been on steroids over the past few years. It's unfortunate, but it's a byproduct of the landscape that people like Patterson, Patterson's boss, and Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott have helped create and cultivate.
Savvy Jack Swarbrick is doing things his way, and if his way ruffles a few feathers along the way, than so be it. It's not going to change how people feel about Notre Dame, as I'm sure they will hate them all the same. No, Jack does things his way for the betterment of the University and, in this case, the betterment of the football program. The ACC deal requires 5 games a season and Jack wasn't about to cancel the USC game, or the Stanford game, or even PURDUE before he made a move against a team that holds less value than PURDUE.
Sorry Steve. This is the New World Order and the business of operating in this climate is a little cutthroat. You need a pirate for that. Thank God and his nuns for Savvy Jack.
