Not so Sweet Lou...

Last year when Lee Corso stated that Wake Forest had ZERO chance of competing with Louisville in the Orange Bowl, I had a massive brain aneurism. Watching a former U of L coach trash what was perhaps one of the better stories of the 2006-2007 College Football Season was painful on so many levels. The words "biased", "short-sighted", and "codger" all came to mind. As if he was riding the Jim Rome train to meaningless ville, Corso single handedly made me hate him for about 2 weeks, but all was forgotten at the end of the season, as I looked forward to playing a new NCAA Footbal game and gladly taking some of Corso's pointers. Corso is like my crazy grandmother...sure she has some lapses of judgment, but at the end of the day I will always love her and the quirky way she battles what seems to be dementia.

However, if Corso is the lovable old grandparent of ESPN football coverage, Lou Holtz is the abusive alcoholic grandparent on the other side of the family. He shows up every now again to regale you with stories of the "good ol' days", which serve as reminder of A.) How batshit crazy he really is and B.) How the "good ol' days" were probably not that good at all. Just today on an ESPN feature on their analyst's preseason Top Ten, Holtz staunchly repeated his usual favoritist pick of Notre Dame. Mark May visually strangled his note pages and I think Rece Davis threw up off screen. I can only imagine Holtz' picks for the BCS, thank God Notre Dame can't play itself in every game. Im not sure if Holtz is aware of the fact that an all Notre Dame BCS is not possible. I am also not sure if he knows what year it is, but I am certain that ESPN is aware that the preseason USA Today poll has the Irish outside of the top 25 (29th in votes). Despite this awareness, College Gameday has continued to bring Lou Holtz along for the ride, watching him wear Notre Dame apparel on television, pick the Irish in every matchup, including a recent exhibition against God, and simply stick out his lip and pout when asked why Notre Dame lost. This is not informed TV journalism, this is senility.

The fact is that Lou Holtz, having won the school's last consensus National Title in 1988, is another relic of Notre Dame's storied past. Gone are the days of Irish dominance, and all we are left with is almost a decade of futility (9 consecutive bowl losses). Notre Dame still has a neverending TV contract, and will continue to turn profits from what arguably is "America's College Team". However, the Lou Holtz era of television needs to end. I don't argue that Lou is not a good man, in fact I respect him for the longevity of his career, but as a broadcaster he is the worst possible personality: an old, stubborn, fan. He will encourage hold outs such as Brady Quinn's despite the QB's meltdown in his senior season, as well as ill advised bowl berths such as last years Sugar Bowl 41-14 thumping the claws of the LSU tigers, simply because he was, and maybe still is, one of the faces of Notre Dame Football. So as Lou gears up pick Notre Dame to win this years BCS title, write motivational books and threaten Charlie Weis, I look forward to a season where I will see as little of Lou as possible.