Friday's Observations

Talked with special teams coach/linebackers assistant Brian Polian this morning. Polian, 31, is more vibrant than a lot of the other assistant coaches during interviews.

Among the things he discussed was special teams and the depth chart since Travis Thomas won't be on all of the special teams any longer. He'll just be on some. Thomas played on all four special teams units last season.

Among those who might do so this year, Polian said sophomore defensive backs Ray Herring and David Bruton might fill those roles and have moved up the special teams ladder. Sophomore defensive back Terrail Lambert was singled out as someone on the perimeter of these teams -- meaning the gunner and end spots.

Polian seemed to be high on the sophomore defensive backs in this area. Kyle McCarthy, who didn't play last year, also was mentioned.

He said most of Thomas' leadership could be replaced by a guy Charlie Weis talked about at the beginning of last season -- Casey Cullen.

The senior defensive lineman earned his scholarship last year and made 183 special teams appearances and had eight tackles and two forced fumbles.

"Casey doesn't show up a lot on defense but he is on all four of our teams right now," "He is a guy who when we got here is an example of a guy who was on all of the look teams and just kept showing up and showing up and we said 'All right, we have to give him a chance on all the varsity units' and he's become a mainstay and a real leader.

"Who replaces Travis' leadership on those teams? Probably a guy like Casey, a vet who has played a lot of football."

We also caught afternoon practice. Here's what we saw:

• A scout from the Dallas Cowboys attended practice.
• Ryan Harris is fully back and off the bike. In agility drills, he looked pretty sharp for someone returning from an injury.
• The quarterbacks, to warm up, use orange medicine balls and throw them to each other 10 yards apart. No word on how much they weigh, if anything.
• Junior wide receiver Darrin Bragg might be starting to make an impression. On a leap and roll drill, he worked with Jeff Samardzija and Rhema McKnight while David Grimes -- the No. 3 receiver -- tried to knock the ball out of wide receiver Chase Anastasio's hands. Bragg also lined up fourth in a cut-and-catch drill behind Samardzija, McKnight and Grimes and looked pretty good.
• If that is a key, Bragg might have passed the other wide receivers into the No. 4 slot. For what it's worth, Barry Gallup, Jr. was fifth, George West sixth, Robby Parris seventh and Richard Jackson eighth.
• The bike crew -- minus the returned Harris -- remained wide receiver DJ Hord, defensive lineman Derrell Hand and defensive back Tim Kenney.
• A side note, for those in Indiana, high school football starts tonight.

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Comments

[MichaelRothsteispathetic]

Take whatever personal vendetta you have with ND and return to the squalor of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. It’s an indictment of your character and the values of your employer that you would choose to try and impinge on the success of a group of student athletes and possibly jeopardize careers simply for your own advancement. It is my fervent hope the name you make for yourself as the result of this “news” is forever associated with ignominy. You are perfect example of the sham the term journalism has become today.

[None of your damn business]

I can't wait to hear you explain this. "I went directly to the NCAA because, well damn Show me the Money!"

You have now joined a fraternity.
Unfortunately, you picked the wrong fraternity.

[Calm down]

Let's give Michael a chance to talk about the story before crucifying him, ok guys?

There isn't any information out there that says he reported it to the NCAA. The SBT story says that he asked the NCAA if it was a violation - we don't know what was said.

Michael's story in the JG today was factual and got both sides of the story - which is far different than some other articles that have been printed about ND recently.

[Eric]

What the fuck are you two idiots talking about? One of you morons even includes a phantom quote! Read the article, douchbags. Rothstein witnessed an event, got feedback from the parties involved, and reported it factually. Anyone who has read his blog knows he is pro-ND. With assholes like you two, it's no wonder so many reporters hate us.

[Dan]

over zealous.....You are supposed to report on the action the reader/fan not report to the NCAA. JackASS

[Eric]

He didn't report it to the NCAA, asswipe. He asked them a question about the rules in researching an article. That's called utilizing a subject-matter expert. If he doesn't do that, it still doesn't make the situation go away, dipshit.

[Hello Michael]

Hello Michael. Is that you? Hello.

[Josh]

All of you bashing him and saying he should have kept his mouth shut were probably also ranting and raving that Leinart shouldn't have been eligible for their bowl game last year. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. The important thing is that this will go away very quickly like Leinart's did. ND is going to do everything right to clear it all up. It's better that it got out now so it can be cleared up rather than right before the Tech game. I'm just saying...
Oh, and GO IRISH!!!

[Domer 76]

After the Lenart incident, it would have been a lapse of journalism not to report this story. Yes, it's ultimately a tempest in a teapot, but since those episodes were aired in public, the story would probably have developed anyway. A reporter whose beat is ND football would look pretty lame to be beaten on this story.

[MichaelRothsteispathetic]

responsible journalism? Who are you trying to delude? Mr.Rothestein is clearly taking the easiest, swifest path he can take to noteriety. Nothing about this smacks of "journalism". He saw an opportunity to make a name for himself at the expense of others and he took it...full swing. If he was actually interested in "investigating" this for "news" then vetting this via the sport information desk at ND was all he needed to do. Instead he found the biggest whistle he could find and blew it. Here's hoping he's spending Saturday cleaning out his desk for a future in waste management.

[David]

I'm ashamed to read the vitriolic crap posted by ND "fans" above. There is no excuse for personally attacking this writer.
If something untoward happened, it will be addressed. If nothing untoward happened, it will resolve itself. ND does things above-board and will deal with this as it should be dealt with. Absolutely nothing that occurred justifies such hateful comments.
This is a minor issue that only becomes major if people blow it out of proportion, such as when pathetic losers spew hatred on the internet under "anonymous" monikers. Grow up.

[eric]

You stupid dipshit, he did discuss it with the SID. He specifically quotes ND officals in the article. Did you fail reading comprehension, dickbrain? Assholes like you give all ND fans a bad reputation.

[Domer88]

The guy is just doing his job, reporting the facts so far. I've read his stuff before, and would agree he is pro-ND if anything. To you guys bashing him, stop making ND look like idiots.

[MichaelRothsteinispathetic]

Well crafted responses there fellas. Did you have spend all four years at ND to learn rebuttle like that? It looks more like 2 year community college stuff to me.

Here is the quote

"After witnessing the bump and talking to WSBT's Todd Bella, Rothstein then called the NCAA"

Here is the link in case you are challenged by the internet..

http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060819/NDSports02/608190365/-1/NDSPORTS

Rothstein called the NCAA. He smelled blood, he acted and now he has his story. It's on the AP, it's on ESPN. Next week when it's determined its all bunk (at the expense of ND's image) Rothestein gets the credit of drumming up all the national exposure for the gossip rag he works for. He's a hack. He should know he's a hack and you might want to exert a little critical thinking energy to figure that out for yourselves.

[John]

Whatever the outcome, somebody tell this guy to put a new picture of himself up there...I can't be the only one who hates it.

[ND07]

A few considerations--

First, Take your issues up with the NCAA for creating such ridiculous laws--not a journalist reporting what he saw. If news was only reported by journalists who were keeping in mind the interests of everyone out there, there wouldn't be much news reported (some of us may in fact like that). When it requires an individual with a degree in criminal law to discover whether or not an action was deemed an NCAA violation, you know the subject matter is ridiculous in the first place.

Regardless of the laws (they have to be dealt with, regardless of legimitacy), it is a journalists job to report something newsworthy. While the ethics of "newsworthy" are certainly debatable, the manner in which Mr. Rothstein went about his business is about as commendable as possible, minus not even reporting at all. Of course, the latter of these options is about as ridiculous as saying a doctor shouldn't tell his patient that he may potentially have a disease (before further testing can be done), for fear of upsetting the patient. The doctor must do his job, as the reporter, as long as both go about their task by the books. Rothstein was doing nothing different, offering a balanced/2-sided approach to reporting (emphasis on reporting) what he discovered.

I agree it is unfortunate that these type of incidents even happen, when ND prides itself on being squeaky clean re: NCAA by-laws. However, take this two ways...this can be an important wake up call to the players who will inevitably be in the spotlight this season (after we go undefeated), and secondly, maybe Mr. Rothstein (who from all I can tell is a respectable/pro-ND guy) was looking out for the interests of the program, and going about his task carefully, by informing both ND and yes, the NCAA about a potential issue. Sorry folks, but like it or not, this is the world of journalism, and I suggest a few of you settle down and think about this matter rationally without your ND-beer goggles on.

[Josh]

Uh, isn't the show, Sports Dogz, to blame for this? After the Leinart incident, should a sports TV show in the heart of ND country know not to do this? Don't kill the messenger.