First there was the entire series of over dramatic articles last summer which critisized Clausen for anything and everything possible. Then there was last Friday’s “report” about Clausen being cited for transporting alcohol which wreaked of cattiness. Now, Jeff Carroll’s column from this past weekend in the South Bend Tribune goes on the offensive against Jimmy yet again.
“Jimmy Clausen hasn’t taken a snap at Notre Dame, and already his time with the Irish has been emotionally exhausting.”
I wonder if a four part series of articles obsessing over the recruitment of Jimmy Clausen before the kid ever took a snap during his senior year of high school added the the “emotionally exhausting” status which Carroll now writes about. For the record, I don’t know a single Notre Dame fan who is remotely emotionally exhausted.
“It almost doesn’t seem fair, the way a man still more than a month away from his 20th birthday can find himself under such harsh scrutiny for every move he makes. But let’s not forget that it was Clausen himself who gleefully thrust himself into the spotlight a year and a half ago.”
This made me laugh. Carroll thinks its unfair for Clausen is under such scrutiny, yet he adds to it whenever humanly possible. One might say that last summer’s Courting Jimmy Clausen were a bit “harsh” and not very fair towards Clausen. The next couple paragraphs then obsess over Clausen’s announcement ceremony at the College Hall of Fame last spring. Dude, get over it.
Carroll also felt the need to criticize Clausen for having the audacity to go and get hurt and not fully disclose the details of the injury to very important people like the media. Nevermind that it’s Charlie Weis policy not to disclose injury news or the fact that there are federal laws protecting the kid’s privacy on the issue.
Not the arm injury soap opera that has hung over the quarterback competition like a black cloud since the beginning of the spring, culminating in this summer’s “procedure” frenzy.
The best part of the article, however, is definitely the closing:
However, when it’s one drama after another, and when it all surrounds an athlete who has been protected well beyond the bounds of good judgment, you can’t help but start to wonder whether it’s worth the aggravation, whether Clausen will really play four years at Notre Dame. And you start to wonder if he should. If, for all his prodigious talent, he’s worth the distraction.
Who exactly is wondering if Jimmy will play four years at Notre Dame at this point? And who exactly is questioning whether he is worth the “distraction?” For all of the fuss the SBT made over Jimmy’s latest “distraction,” the national media could not have cared less about it. There was an AP report on the matter, but even ESPN, who loves painting Notre Dame in a negative light, didn’t run with it.
This goes beyond fishing for a story since there is plenty of news to actually report on considering the Irish are in the midst of training camp. It’s time the media stops obsessing over every bit of information surrounding Clausen considering there would be no hype if it weren’t for them. Without the help of the media, who have reported on every shred of “news” about Clausen since he committed to Notre Dame, Clausen would be just another freshman in this year’s class.
Let the kid play a down of football before questioning whether or not he’ll finish his career at Notre Dame or suggest that his “distractions” are not worth having him around for.
He still needs to be a little more imposing in the pocket. Hopefully he dedicates himself to strenght & conditioning. I never question his toughness, especially after Penn St. last year. Listen his OL was vastly improved which gave him a chance. I expect he will be improved.
frank,
1. having watched clausen play in high school just down the freeway from where we live, under all the media glare and immense pressure from the usc mafia, with excellent play on the football field, integrity, work in the classroom and character, i am certain that jimmy clausen will be at notre dame for 4 years and will make notre dame proud, unless some the grand inquisitors within notre dame drive him away.
2. as for his verbal commitment ceremony, the way in which that was done was completely inconsistent with clausen’s character and with the character and integrity of his fine family. put in such a position, would any of us not have made the mistake of taking bad advice at least once?
3. that great man who created those immortal words” the good, the bad, and the espn” and many other immortal phrases will always have a special place in our hearts.
4. trev alberts has already been fired from the espn and ivan maisel( he is even more butt ugly in person than in that picture at espn.com) and the other nd bashers drawing salaries from publicly traded media outlets, their days of drawing those salaries for nd bashing are coming to a close and they will have to seek employment elsewhere, perhaps in the funeral business.
5. as for the sbt and carroll and a couple of others at the sbt, there are always the fine articles by hansen and others and a real possibility that carroll and the others will mature.
6. we are certainly not ready to burn the sbt or carroll at the stake any more than we are going to allow those grand inquisitors within notre dame to burn any more notre dame students or student athletes at the stake over trivial matters.
7. what the grand inquisitors did to kyle mcalarney, powers-neal, and many others in the past has been a disgrace to every principle for which notre dame stands.
8. these grand inquisitors will no longer be permitted to ruin the lives of young men and women at notre dame for making one of the minor mistakes which we all make in growing up.
9. they will not be driving any more fine students and student athletes away from notre dame and to other schools any more without severe economic consequences.
10. the grand inquisitors can either change and operate pursuant to the values and principles for which notre dame stands or they can join maisel and the other nd bashers in the funeral business.
11. in the past, the grand inquisitors within notre dame have done far more damage to notre dame than maisel and the other nd bashers masquerading as members of the media ever did.
keep up the great work and keep those immortal phrases coming,
bob gilleran
I thought I heard that this Jeff Carroll was already blocked by CW from any media with anyone from the team last year and that is why he is being such a jerk and writing such aricles.
Thanks for finally telling it as it is.
I have no use for the SBT.
Mr. Carroll is probably in serious trouble with losing his JOB. If I were CW I would lock him out of any and all situations where he can be with any member of my team. He is to report the news not make it.
Emotionally exhausted…..not so much. Ready for September 1, absolutely. At least then we can talk about football, and not the perceived drama created by columnists in tier three market newspapers.