You know it's been not only a really bad offseason, but also an odd one when Spencer Hall of EDSBS takes the Notre Dame Fighting Irish off the enemies list out of sheer sympathy. Basically, since January 7th, it's been 5 months of "WHAT THE FUCK?" in one form or another.
The whole Vanderdoes deal is the final straw, and I'm not talking about the actual NLOI Burning / transfer / decommitment / tampering thing. No, not that mess. Really it's about the media pile-on of hate being sent Notre Dame's way. Now that the Irish, even after a horrible defeat at the hands of Alabama, have shown that the program is indeed relevant and a national power, the media turns its venom away from "NOTRE DAME SUCKS AND IS EVIL" and now to "NOTRE DAME IS EVIL AND WILL SUCK AGAIN."
Enough is enough. Granted, there has been plenty to be happy about during these past 5 months if you are a Notre Dame fan, but all of those positives are drowning in the tidal pool of horribleness that has flooded ND Nation. Let's recap, shall we…
January 6th, 2013
Confidence, love, and self-esteem are at an all-time high. Notre Dame fans can feel it. Not since 1993 has the Irish been this close to winning a National Championship. Nothing can stop us now!
January 7th, 2013
Alabama crushes every dream that every Notre Dame fan had, while simultaneously beating the shit out of the Irish on the field. From the kickoff until the final second ticked, it was an exercise in surviving torture. A 42-12 beatdown that needs no other horribleness spoken about it.
January 10th, 2013
After a couple of days, some Notre Dame fans started to heal a little bit. Yes the Irish just got killed by the Crimson Tide, but the future looked bright and the program was on the right path. Then, news broke that Brian Kelly (the head coach that did what other head coaches were too scared to try in bringing ND back from the "dead") was speaking with the Philadelphia Eagles about their head coaching vacancy.
Throwing gas onto the fire was Notre Dame verbal commit, 5 star linebacker Alex Anzalone, decommiting from the Irish and commits to Florida. He enrolled early.
Irish fans lost their god damn mind, but by January 15th, Brian Kelly was firmly at Notre Dame. For now.
January 16th, 2013
The Manti Te'o fake dead girlfriend story breaks on Deadspin. This really needs no new commentary other than to say that this event sent the fans, alumni, media, and even beyond into a furious frenzy of "who done it" and an orgy of snark.
This event just seemed to last forever. It sucked.
March 7th, 2013
Gunner Kiel transfers from Notre Dame. I can't say this came as a big shock, to me or anyone for that matter given Kiel's history and Everett Golson having 3 more years of eligibility remaining. Notre Dame will still have 4 quarterbacks heading into spring ball, and the future looks bright with Golson & Zaire. The media has fun with it, but nothing too bad.
March 25th-27th, 2013
Normal things happen to Notre Dame that happen at every school in the country. But, given everything that has just happened in the past 2.5 months, Irish fans were throwing their hands up to the heavens and were convinced the end of days was at hand.
- 3/25 It was reported that RB Amir Carlilse & DE Chase Hounshell were both seriously injured. Hounshell would be out for another year while Carlilse would miss all of spring, but would be back for fall. Both players were expected to play big parts in 2013.
- 3/26 WR/KR/PR Davonte Neal transfers from Notre Dame. The reasoning given was that he had a daughter back in Arizona and wanted to be closer to her. Again, Neal was also expected to play a big role on special teams in 2013 and at the slot.
- 3/27 WR Justin Ferguson transfers from Notre Dame. No definitive reason is given, although academics seems to be the case. Ferguson wasn't expected to do much, but the depth chart got a lot thinner.
April 26th, 2013
Manti Te'o is drafted in the second round of the NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers. This in itself is a good thing, but Te'o was expected by many to be a first round draft pick, and instead, we got an entire night of crazy ass Te'o talk on April 25th.
May 20th, 2013
News comes out that 5 star defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes, a signing day victory for the Irish, was having second thoughts about signing with Notre Dame in February and would seek to be released from his NLOI. Vanderdoes was a huge commit for Notre Dame and was to fill needs for both 2013 and the future.
Irish fans are almost numb, but still muster enough strength to hit the message boards and social media outlets to vent their frustration.
May 25th, 2013
Everett Golson is no longer enrolled at Notre Dame. The starting quarterback for Notre Dame is asked to leave school due to academic reasons. The future of the program can't go to school because he messed up academically more than once.
Well holy fuck. This is the point where some Irish fans wonder what in the hell is going on and why in the hell is it happening to us. Shit is hitting the fan and now Notre Dame is back to…
And all of that brings us to now. The media can't get enough of the trouble at ND, because it keeps coming. The Vanderdoes situation isn't over despite him being enrolled at UCLA. No, now hacks like Gregg Doyel are throwing gallons and gallons of gas on the fire and preparing for war with the Golden Dome.
Despite all of that bullshit, Notre Dame is still scheduled to play football in 2013. The past 5 months have been completely ridiculous, but Notre Dame is still standing and the Irish are preparing for another BCS Title game slot.
Shit. Notre Dame just got put back on the EDSBS enemy list. All will be well
