It's A Mailbag! Your Thoughts, Questions and Comments, 11/2/07

It's new-and-improved Mailbag time at Insights (back off from a week in New York, Chicago and Indianapolis -- if you're in either of the latter two, hit up Weber Grill or in New York, the Village Pourhouse), where we take your comments, criticisms and e-mails and answer them or give them props in this space. Questions about anything Notre Dame, football, basketball, field hockey, other college sports and anything else is fair game, welcomed and applicable. Send your questions to mrothstein@jg.net   or leave them in comment boxes below during the week and we'll snatch them up.  If you do ask a question, we ask that you list your name (at least first one) and hometown. And one day, we'll enforce it, too.

On to the questions, which, as always, come from real readers:

Michael,
Why don't any members of the media ask Charlie why the offensive line is so bad? Also, why don't you ask him if passing on third-and-one sends a message to the offensive line that I don't have confidence that you can get us a yard?
-Tom Whitman
Memphis, Tenn.

Tom,
Both are good questions. We asked Charlie about the offensive line after the Michigan game -- and he's been asked variations of why the line is poor all season -- and he deflected the question. Essentially we asked him if he overestimated his running game and offensive line before the season. He answered by saying he had confidence in his running backs and didn't mention the line. That's telling. As far as passing on 3rd-and-1, he's done both this year. They've tried running. They've tried passing. Usually, the passing or quarterback sneaks work better.

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Michael,
Are you a hockey fan and will you be covering Fighting Irish hockey in the similar format to football? I am a huge hockey fan and I am looking forward to the upcoming season.
Keep up the great coverage. Thanks again for writing.
-Jason
San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

Jason,
Yes, we enjoy hockey and grew up a New Jersey Devils supporter, mostly because our friends on Long Island were either Islander or Ranger fans and we at Insights enjoy going against the mold. That said, no, we won't be covering hockey like football. We'll throw some hockey posts in now and again and if Notre Dame is good, might even cover a game or do a feature, but our focus will be on basketball after Nov. 24.

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Mike,
A favor to ask you. I'd really like to hear two questions asked to Weis in the next presser (I'm serious here):
1) Why aren't you throwing across the middle ever. EVER?
2) Why are you putting Thomas Travis in ever. EVER?
Thanks,
Tommy O'Grady

Tommy,
Who's Thomas Travis? As far as Travis Thomas, he hasn't been playing much running back and will likely see less time over the final four games (except maybe Duke, since it's senior day). He will remain on special teams as a key contributor. With throwing over the middle, neither Evan Sharpley nor Jimmy Clausen has had much time to throw this season, so intermediate passing plays haven't been too plentiful.

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What is the deal with early enrollment this year? Have any commits stated that they wish to enroll early?
-Joe Reardon

Joe,
We're guessing Charlie wouldn't mind anywhere from 1-3 early enrollees. Haven't heard any rumblings of who those players would be, though. Two we can rule out are quarterback Dayne Crist and wide receiver John Goodman. We've asked both of them and they said no.

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(John) Sullivan still has draft stock?
-Brian

Yes, he does, although if he can't figure out his snapping problems, it's going to keep dropping.

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Rothstein,
May I ask how CW was able to turn (Drew) Bledsoe into a Pro-Bowler as well as Tom Brady? Or how about (Vinny) Testaverde having his best year under CW? Or the fact that New England has NOT won a Super Bowl since CW left? "Can't argue" those stats, either, can you?
You are going too far. In your near fanatical desire to not appear as a homer, you've become a mouthpiece for ill-informed ND haters. Play it off if you wish, but you're sliding towards Jeff Carroll territory and nobody, including you, wants that...
-The Genuis

Genuis,
It's spelled "GENIUS," first of all. But anyway... We never said Weis was not a top-notch builder of quarterbacks. He has a great knack with developing them and until he has one that falls on his face, we'll never doubt that. And never have. The Patriots may have not won a Super Bowl since Weis left, but how many teams repeat as Super Bowl champs in the parity era? Plus, this is only his third season gone and the Patriots also lost Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini off of those Super Bowl staffs, too. So New England lost more than Weis. But last we checked, New England made the playoffs the last two years and are currently the best team in football this year, so it's not like losing Weis (or Crennel or Mangini) made them a bad team.
And if you compare us to Jeff Carroll, who is the very good columnist at the South Bend Tribune, we won't mind. Not at all. One final note on this...we post things of interest about Notre Dame here, both good and bad.

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Mike,
I like the Halloween pic, but you are scaring the children!
Keep up the good work.
Any idea how many plays Barry Gallup Jr. has been in this year? I thought he was listed as a backup in the BC game, but don't remember much out of him. Also, where is DJ Hord hiding?
-Golden Domer

GD,
You mean you don't like the new look? Personally, we think it is much better than the last picture and not as "young James Spader-ish" as our column photo. Gallup played one play -- the final kneeldown -- against BC. That's it. He was listed more as a nod to his father working at BC and his connections with the school than actual playing time. That said, he has shown bursts of speed on kick return in practice. DJ Hord is around, but is clearly being overshadowed by younger receivers.

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Today's final question comes from Jenna Kunde:

Can you tell me an English translation for schlanta?

No, Jenna, no we can't. It came in an old Bob Gilleran comment, but if anyone out there knows, please let us -- and Jenna -- know.

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette