Well, guess what folks? You're a 6-and-5 football team and that's not good enough.
Charlie Weis said so his first day on the Notre Dame campus.
I sat 15 feet away from him listening to him.
Five years later, he's still right. They didn't bring you here to be 6-and-5, Charlie.
It's been a long weekend already.
I'd still rather watch an overachieving Jimtown team leave its guts on a soggy West Lafayette football team on a Friday night than continue to suffer through more painful Saturdays with the underachieving Fighting Irish.
If you told Jimtown players, coaches and fans in August that the Jimmies would be tied beginning the fourth quarter of a road semistate game, no one would have believed you.
A dearth of experienced talent wouldn't allow it.
By the same token, given the schedule at hand, if you told Notre Dame players, coaches and fans in August that the 'Rish would be 6-5 with consecutive losses to Navy, Pitt and UConn, no one would have believed that, either.
A wealth of experienced talent wouldn't allow it.
So here we are.
Little kids crying over their beloved high school team.
A little kid, as ND tail-gaters partied it up, hawking "Charlie Weis' last program."
Yes, both happened.
The Jimmies knocked away passes, pressured an outstanding West Lafayette quarterback and kept themselves in the game.
Jimtown gave a championship effort, but didn't have championship results.
The 'Rish had a hard time getting out of their own way against UConn and couldn't tackle the dealer of a bridge club.
Notre Dame gave a half-baked effort and won't have championship results anytime soon.
Jimtown won 12 of 14 games with a collection of marginal, untested talent.
The Jims weren't supposed to be good, not worthy of a title run, but turned out to be.
Notre Dame has won 6 of 11 games with a collection of promising, seasoned talent.
The 'Rish were supposed to be good, worthy of a title run, but turned out not to be.
You can still find joy, fun and unconditional love in the high school game.
There is no joy or fun in Notre Dame footbal, unless, of course, you factor in the inebriate drones of the parking lot pre-game festival.
Their fun comes from verbally roasting the next football coach to be run out of town on a rail and polishing rose-colored glasses.
The Boys of Baugo are relevent in the chase for IHSAA championships.
They will be back, however, in 2010. So will I.
While always relevent in college football, albeit as a punchline these days, Notre Dame won't be relevent in the chase for BCS championships.
Again.
You're so right, Charlie -- 6-and-5 just isn't good enough.
You, though, won't be back in 2010.
Bill Beck is The Elkhart Truth's sports editor. Contact him at bbeck@etruth.com or Twitter.com/eTruthSports