Best Saturday of the Year

The Irish finally reached their bye week and I couldn't of been happier about it.

I didn't have to wake up Saturday morning and listen to the College Gameday crew talk about how bad Notre Dame is and how bad they would get beaten that day.

I didn't have to watch the awful Notre Dame offense struggle to score points.

I didn't even have to watch the Irish offense struggle to get first downs.

I didn't have to watch the defense, well, not play defense.

I didn't have to watch Mark May on Saturday night as he and other ESPN analysts cut the Irish up some more.

Besides Notre Dame's only win at UCLA this season, this Saturday was the best one so far.

Keep recruiting Charlie.

Where did that come from?

When one of the top rushing teams in the NFL plays the worst rush defense in the NFL, that usually spells disaster for the team that can't stop the run. That team has been the Denver Broncos.

Not Sunday.

The three-point underdog Denver Broncos played well enough in all phases of the game to beat the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers 31-28.

While Denver did a decent job against the Pittsburgh running attach, the biggest surprise of the game was the Broncos ability to put pressure on Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The defensive line consistently had Roethlisberger scrambling to find an open reciever.

The play that may have won the game for the Broncos was a sack by Denver defensive end Elvis Dumervil. The sack forced a Roethlisberger fumble and Denver rookie defensive tackle Tim Crowder picked the ball up and ran it in for a touchdown.

Similar to my Fightin'Irish boys over the weekend, the Broncos wore alternate uniforms. They dawned the regular blue home jerseys but wore blue pants instead of the traditional white pants.

At least the alternate uniform worked for one of my teams.

If only it really was 1977

When the Notre Dame Fightin' Irish took the field on Saturday afternoon against arch nemesis Southern California, they were sporting the famous "green jerseys." The difference this time was that they were not the dark green jerseys that have been worn in recent years, they were the 1977 "throwback" jerseys.

The team decided to wear them in honor of the 30Th anniversary of the 1977 National Championship team.

It would have been nice to honor that team with a good performance but that didn't happen. Actually, that wasn't even close to the case. Southern California embarrassed the Irish 38-0.

The green jerseys are only used on special occasions and for good luck. They haven't been so lucky of late.

The last time Notre Dame wore the green jersey's against Southern Cal was in 2005. The game will go down as one of the greatest games in college football history but the Irish still didn't win that one.

The Irish have lost five of their last six games in green and have a career record of 4-5.

It's almost time to put the green jerseys away for a while but at least they look good right?

Broncos running back might get suspension

Things just got worse a few weeks ago for the Denver Broncos when reports came out that running back Travis Henry had tested positive for marijuana.

Henry has filed a federal lawsuit against the National Football League regarding the drug test results. He claims that his experts did not witness the tests.

If the reports are true, Henry could face a year long suspension and miss the remainder of the 2007 season.

The Broncos will be able to take back money from the 12 million dollars guarenteed on Henry's contract.

Please get that money back Pat Bowlen and spend it on a defensive lineman that can help stop the run.

More than likely Henry will appeal if he is suspended, which will delay his return even longer. If his suspension does not start until mid-season in 2007, he will not return to the Broncos until midway through the 2008 campaign.

Henry is one of the few bright spots for the Broncos so far this season. The team is 2-3 but Henry has produced solid numbers.

Is football season over yet?

I have express my love for the game of football. I have expressed my passion for Notre Dame football and Denver Bronco football.

Two programs that are used to winning and their fans are used to cheering.

Being as both of these teams are having forgettable seasons (Notre Dame 1-5, Broncos 2-3), I have learned a lot about being a fan of these two squads.

I am spoiled.

There are a lot of fans out there that deal with losses year in and year out.

The Irish were expected to struggle so I was already prepared for that. The Broncos, on the other hand, were supposed to contend for a Super Bowl. It hasn't showed and this past Sunday the Broncos and their fans reached the lowest of lows. The Broncos were crushed by the San Diego Changers 41-3 at home.

I guess my prediction about LaDainian Tomlinson running all over the Broncos defense didn't turn out to be true but his running mate, Michael Turner, ran for 147 yards.

It was the worst Bronco home loss since 1966 and defiantly the worst Bronco game I have ever watched in my lifetime.

But do you know what? I still love them.

Streak over, Irish win

Last week the Notre Dame Fightin' Irish football team showed signs of life and the momentum the Irish gained from the fourth quarter at Purdue carried over to this past Saturday. The Irish ended a seven game losing streak with a win at UCLA 20-6.

Head coach Charlie Weis elected to stick with freshman Jimmy Clausen at quarterback even though some fans and writers were calling for a quarterback change. The offense did not put up great numbers but they did enough to win.

The real story was the defense. Senior linebacker Maurice Crum Jr. recorded seven tackles, one forced fumble, two interceptions and a touchdown to lead the Irish to victory.

On Sunday, Crum Jr. was named Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week.

So is this team better than most people think? The Irish were not supposed to go into the Rose Bowl and beat a much better team.

Maybe this victory does prove that this team has potential but they are just young and need time to gel.

We will find out how far off the Irish are from top ranked teams when they take on rival Boston College on Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium. Boston College is currently ranked fourth in the nation.

Three words...Stop, The, Run!

Another trip to the RCA Dome gone bad for the Denver Broncos.

Twice in the last five years the Broncos have had playoff meetings with the Indianapolis Colts in Indianapolis. In both of those games the Broncos were blown out.

Last Sunday was not a playoff game but other beat down trend continued.

The Colts beat the Broncos 38-20 in Indianapolis this past Sunday afternoon. Usually the beat down in Indy is credited to Peyton Manning's arm but not this time. The legs of Colts running back Joseph Addai was too much for the Broncos defense.

If you haven't noticed, running on the Broncos defense has become a reoccurring theme for Bronco opponents.

There are no more excuses to be made. The Broncos run defense is horrible. There is not a better word out there to describe it. It is downright horrible.

D.J. Williams has not stepped in and been the leader on the defense that the Broncos coaching staff hoped. Champ Bailey is arguably the best defensive player in the game but unfortunately he does not line up for the Broncos front seven. Bailey can only cover opponents wide receivers and he does an incredible job at it. Thanks Champ.

So why throw at Bailey if you can run the ball down their throat? That's what teams in the NFL are saying and that is what they are doing.

It doesn't get any easier for the Broncos defense this weekend. The NFL's 2006 player of the year comes to Invesco Field at Mile High on Sunday. His name is LaDainian Tomlinson and yes, he is a running back.

Try and guess what the San Diego Chargers' offensive game plan is for this weekends game in Denver?