Soooo....Weis?

Can't skip it - got some in-laws coming in for it. How about you drive down here, stop off at some breweries to pick up various beers, and bring them to our tailgate for immediate consumption. I'll buy a box of zingers for you.

coldsmokeAT wrote:

DaTruRochaldo wrote:Haha you clearly aren't a ND alumnus....

A lot of ND fans aren't. It's pathetic.

One Saturday night when I was about five, a Holy Names sister that my family's known for ages came over and sat down by me at our parish's Vigil Mass. She was wearing a Fighting Irish sweatshirt and asked me if I knew the score of the ND game that afternoon. When I said I didn't, this 4'11'' Italian nun gave me a look of horror and said, "What?! All good Catholics HAVE to root for Notre Dame!"

That's why I root for ND.

FACT.

Got a win today, but now Washington doesn't look like a gimme

Since when do you have to be an alumnus to root for a team? We have a lot of good fans of UP women's soccer who never went to UP. A lot of annoying Ducks fans never attended the U of O. I root for UW and ND in football. I grew up in the state of Washington, and I've been watching ND since I was about 5 years old on my grandfather's lap. I would say that a transplant who grows up in another state and then relocates and becomes an alumnus is just as much of a bandwagon fan (if not more) than someone who grew up watching a team, but, did not go to a school for whatever reason. If you attend a college only because of their sports teams without thinking about the majors they offer, it's probably not a wise choice anyways...Just my opinion. Peace.

What?! All good Catholics HAVE to root for Notre Dame!

Haha I personally and proudly am a born and raised Irish Catholic who LOATHES the Irish... Apparently now there are 4'11" Italian nuns who will not approve of me.... Although admittedly they probably also won't approve of the frequency I attend mass, but that's a different story altogether

As for the alumni thing... I had my housing deposit submitted and everything at UW, but then at the last minute switched to UP, a decision that has haunted Rochin54 ever since....

DaTruRochin wrote:Apparently now there are 4'11" Italian nuns who will not approve of me....

I happen to see many of these nuns every week. I'll put in a good word for you!

I can understand why people dislike Notre Dame with the national television contract, and occasional "holier than thou" attitude, and everything else. It's definitely not the school of the ostracized Catholic immigrant anymore. At the same time, UP is a sister school, and I had some excellent classes from instructors who taught at ND such as Claude Pomerlau, CSC. The ND influence is always going to be a part of UP since we're sister schools. Like it or not, there will always be some UP alumni who are fans of ND football. We don't have a team. I'll never root for their women's soccer team though. Ever. Ever. Did I say never ever?

What is the color of the boathouse at Notre Dame? LOL.

Knowing that UP and ND are sister schools, and that many (all?) of the Holy Cross priests at UP have ND roots, I just have a hard time rooting for the Irish. It bugs me that they get extra credit for their history, and any moderately successful ND football team will be considered for a major bowl game, where they'll get creamed. Plus, I just can't stand Charlie.

That said, this week I am torn. My formative years were spent rooting for Oregon when they were really bad. I remember celebrating when they weren't listed in the Bottom Ten list of worst teams. Or even if they were, at least OSU was listed as worse. Therefore, I can not stand the UDub Fuskies, as they are the team Oregon fans despise the most. And this week, UW plays ND. What to do, who to root against?

How do you other PN'ers resolve these types of conflicts, when either two hated rivals play each other, or two favorite teams meet? Assuming most of you are crazy enough to actually care about these things to begin with!

I think I have to go with the "who have you hated the longest" approach, therefore I must want ND to win. Now that I think about it, I want ND to win in a dominating fashion, only to be exposed later for the weak team they really are. Adds the the Fusky misery.

Apologies in advance to the UW fans on our board, but it is encoded in my DNA, and I can not put it aside.

Even though I have lived outside of the Pac-10 geographical area for a few years I still consider myself a Pac-10 fan (even moreso now that I live in Big Eleven country). Also, I grew up as an OSU fan (second to UP of course), mostly because everyone I knew was a UO fan and I love to be the antagonist. For some reason, I don't really like the Ducks and for the most part like to see them lose. As far as other Pac-10 teams go, the Beavers never really seemed good enough to dislike any other 'rival.' Wazzu is fine, because they are generally harmless and I guess I generally root against UW.

When it comes to non-conference games though, I generally root for any pac-10 team. I figure that is the best way to improve OSU's RPI/ranking, etc...The better the teams they play, the better they look in the rankings/to the voters.

So I would say for a Duck fan, you should probably root for UW this week because that will help their opponents W/L (although that will hurt their opponent's opponents W/L).

So yeah, that is generally what I think. Always root for the team in your conference...unless of course you are in the WCC, you can NEVER root for Gonzaga.

up7587 wrote:And this week, UW plays ND. What to do, who to root against?

How do you other PN'ers resolve these types of conflicts, when either two hated rivals play each other, or two favorite teams meet?

I experienced an eerily similar situation last weekend when USC played UW. I am from Spokane and WSU is my Pac-10 team; I hate UW. Also, I am a human being from somewhere other than LA*; I hate USC. Not only were these two teams playing each other, but they were playing a very tight game.

With some help from a friend I came to the following conclusion: If I had to choose a side to root for I would choose UW because, since USC was ranked, it would mess up USC's season more than losing to USC would mess up UW's season. That being said, I didn't have to choose so I didn't; I was blissfully ignorant. I still won't bring myself to say "Go UW!" or "Go USC!"

Problem solved? Kind of. Logically, I knew who I would choose if I had to choose. Emotionally, it is a draw; I won't bring myself to cheer FOR either of those teams. Just against.

*I'm sure there are USC fans from outside LA.

UP XC alum Ryan Grote calls ND the University of Portland of the Midwest. LOL. Way past time to cut the umbilical cord, IMHO.

mattywizz wrote:Always root for the team in your conference...unless of course you are in the WCC, you can NEVER root for Gonzaga.

Quoted for emphasis!

You have to root for the Pac 10 if you are a fan of any Pac 10 school. Outside of USC, the Pac 10 gets no respect from those east of the rockies. A win against ND by an average or worse Pac 10 team might just help get some respect.

That being said, Washington has no chance. They beat USC, but USC has been less that impressive. USC's only quality win is against Ohio State, but Ohio State doesn't play another ranked team until November so we don't know if they are any good yet. Bottom line is the Fuskies are still a terrible team and ND should beat them handily.

I understand the root for your conference team in non-conference games, but I don't always follow that rule. If a conference team I don't care for (i.e., UW or USC) is playing, I generally have no problem rooting against them. While you need the "conference strength" argument when it comes down to BCS time, the thing you really need is for your team to win games. So, for me, what I really care about is Oregon winning games. UW beating ND will not change peoples' minds out here or back east, and won't faacor into UO getting into a BCS game. Honestly, they don't care about the pac-10, and a team in the pac that is not USC will have to have an impressive one loss season to get respect. That's how it is. That said, I always root for anyone in the pac who is playing a big 10 or sec opponent (or bi 12 for that matter). Being in Big 11 country with wozzy, I am dumbfounded by how good people think the Big 10 teams are. The Big 10 this year is unbelievably average, top to bottom.

As far as the actual game goes, I too think ND should win. BUT, they were without there top three offensive performers against Purdue (Floyd, Allen, and Clausen for most the game). ND's offense is by far its strength. They should be able to move the ball, as backup QB Crist looked plenty serviceable, and Golden Tate is pretty money. Also, Clausen and Allen may play, so you never know. If I were a betting man, I would say ND by a touchdown or 10 points, but I won't be surprised if it goes down to the wire......again.