I'll allow my good friend Pete Fiutak to make the case on my behalf

Quote :

"It’s the biggest sports program in America, and this is the biggest head coaching job in all of sports. You don’t believe it? What other job opening in sports would command this much national attention for a week, and not just on sports shows but on the nightly news, political sites, and on every show but The View? No one outside of the United States, with the exception of a few remote villages in the Philippines, has the first clue who Tim Tebow is, but throw out the two words of Notre Dame and there’s an instant connection to college football in America. Like it or not, like them or not, Notre Dame really, really matters. Don’t go by wins and losses; Notre Dame football transcends the record book. Grandmas across the country still care about the Fighting Irish, while Idaho’s interest in Tebow and Florida, and the excitement in Maine about the Oregon State vs. Oregon showdown for the Pac 10 title, are minimal. Notre Dame is arrogant, insufferable, and acts like it’s a divine right that the football program should be among the elite, and that’s because it is so popular. It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that Ohio State is bigger because of the trips to the BCS, or that Oklahoma is a better job because of its tradition, or that being the manager of the New York Yankees, head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, or head man of the North Carolina basketball team are somehow more prestigious, but a winning head football coach at Notre Dame would own more than just the sports world, and that’s why all the big names are at least going to listen when Jack Swarbrick comes calling. Notre Dame’s arrogance proved costly ever since getting rid of Lou Holtz. The program assumed that it didn’t have to go after the elite of the elite coaching talents, didn’t have to pay anyone elite money, and got Bob Davie, Ty Willingham, George O’Leary (for a heartbeat), and Charlie Weis to show for it. Once Weis started winning then the pocketbook opened up, but this time, watch out for the Notre Dame attitude to work the other way when it comes to a coaching search, and it’s going to be a plus for Irish fans. Instead of believing that every coach wants to come to Notre Dame because it’s Notre Dame, now, the higher-ups will believe that every coach wants to come to Notre Dame because it’s Notre Dame and it’s going to pay to make sure of it. Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops, and Nick Saban are all likely to stay put and they all actually appear to like their respective situations, but each of them wants to at least be asked to the dance. If Notre Dame told Brian Kelly that he’s the guy but he’d have to leave the Cincinnati right now, he’d jump out of the team plane on the way to Pittsburgh this week and parachute into South Bend. But there's on BIG problem; he's on the record for being pro-choice. If Notre Dame offered Meyer his current salary plus $1 million more, plus a $2 million bonus per BCS appearance and a $5 million bonus for a national championship (which would be steal for the deep-pocketed Irish), he would leave the post-game press conference from Pasadena on January 7th and would be wearing a Notre Dame blazer three hours later. Saban, being Saban, could be had for his current salary plus $1 more, especially if he’s told the job is between him and Meyer. I’m not sure on Stoops. He likes to be involved in these kinds of things, like every coach would, but he’s almost certainly not going to leave. That doesn’t mean he won’t listen. Forget about the pro guys like Jon Gruden and Brian Billick; Swarbrick all but said in his press conference that he’s going after a college star, and this time, expect the Irish to pay retail because it can and because it wants to. Think of it this way. Name another college football program with the chutzpah to even think it can go after Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, or Bob Stoops. Maybe USC, but Notre Dame thinks it could get Pete Carroll for the asking. That's how big Notre Dame is, and that's what you're possibly missing."

12/3/2009 8:59:03 AM

DALLAS COWBOYS

12/3/2009 10:03:39 AM

As much as I love college football, it is college football.

Jaybee1200, I think you're usually talking sense but not this time:

Quote :

"Yankees #1? Not even close"

The Yankees are the most popular team in the biggest city in the US, not to mention one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the world. Their fans are all over the country and the world. They sell out games and/or spike attendence wherever they go to play. They've won more Nat'l championships than anyone else and nothing is deemed acceptable year in and year out except for a WS appearance. The media spotlight and fan scrutiny on the team manager in NYC is insane. In the big picture most people outside of Tennessee or Alabama don't really care. You could even take the population of TN + AL + MI and still not even equal what's in the NYC metro area.

While being the head coach of ND might have been more prestigous in the past, the past is the past. This is the present.

12/3/2009 10:24:20 AM

NOT NC State

12/3/2009 10:30:56 AM

^^ speaks the truth

12/3/2009 10:36:34 AM

^^^I think it would be hard to argue that the Yankees are not the biggest/most important sports franchise in the world, but I don't know that the manager position of the team is the most prestigious. Football is a coach and quarterback dominated game. These are the guys that get all the press and most of the glory and shame. Baseball is a much more player dominated game. Sure the manager is important, but the position doesn't carry the same weight as football coach.

[Edited on December 3, 2009 at 10:41 AM. Reason : ^]

12/3/2009 10:41:07 AM

Quote :

"While being the head coach of ND might have been more prestigous in the past, the past is the past. This is the present."

I really wonder if you'd be making this post if the Yankees hadn't just won the World Series...

12/3/2009 11:48:06 AM

I would

or is there a big difference between 26 WS titles and 27?

12/3/2009 11:54:43 AM

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/caple/030418.html

ESPN had ND 1, Yankees 2

Hard to argue any combination of those two isn't 1-2. Jaybee has probably never lived in a big sports town so it's hard to take his opinion very seriously on this matter (not trolling -- seriously, it's hard to explain exactly how the Yankees are treated by the NYC media unless you've lived there). Baseball in New York City is, plain and simple, front page stuff. It's the ONLY sport that matters 24/7/365. It's the biggest city in the country. It's the biggest media market in the country. They spend the most money in the sport.

The pressure, prestige and money that comes from that job is flat out ridiculous.

*** And if you're going to say that about Dallas Green, I'll counter with Mike fucking Shula a #2 Alabama. Are you kidding me?

[Edited on December 3, 2009 at 12:01 PM. Reason : lol at Dennis Franchione leaving 'Bama for Texas A&M]

12/3/2009 11:58:57 AM

I'd make the argument that Jaybee's passion for the Hawks rivals most NY'ers for the Yankees, what with his season tickets, face paint and authentic Zaza Pachulia jersey

12/3/2009 12:01:33 PM

i would make the argument that it's hard to include professional teams in this. but that's b/c i think professional sports are meaningless.

12/3/2009 12:09:01 PM

Yeah as soon as John Wall exhausts his eligibility at Kentucky, he should spend the next 30 years making cold calls for State Farm

12/3/2009 12:15:16 PM

Quote :

"I would or is there a big difference between 26 WS titles and 27?"

I just think it's funny that you mention past vs present, but up until this year the last 8 or so years had seen either position (manager of the Yankees/ND coach) have much luster.

Also, it's hard to argue that the Yankees job is the most presitigous, when Torre pretty much told Steinbrenner where to shove such a hallowed job.

12/3/2009 12:19:11 PM

Quote :

"(n) prestige, prestigiousness (a high standing achieved through success or influence or wealth etc.) "he wanted to achieve power and prestige""

I think the Yanks match this definition

12/3/2009 12:55:43 PM

Honestly, I think being either the GM or owner of the Yankees is far more prestigious.

The manager of the Yankees is always treated like a bum, and using the criteria established in your quote is someone (who compared to those around him) has neither influence nor wealth.

[Edited on December 3, 2009 at 2:21 PM. Reason : .]

12/3/2009 2:21:37 PM

Quote :

"The US as a whole cares a whole lot more about professional sports"

Thats because there are only 32 teams in each sport, so everyone picks one of them... therefore each team, even the worst ones, have a decent amount of people backing them. In FL for example there are only the Marlins or Rays so the WHOLE state is chopped up into 2 teams (not counting transplants) but you have a billion colleges to divide up the fan base. There are probably 20+ colleges in the south alone that have their college allegiance split up but they probably all grew up liking the Braves.

But I dont use $ or # of fans as the measure of "prestige", its more how rare/hard it is to get the job and most pro sports have the managers/coaches moving around too often to count for me... Until Torre settled things down the Yankees managers where meaningless for a decade after Billy Martin. Recently its only been after Torre was there forever and won a lot that its an important position again. The ND job (and I hate hate hate ND so yes I am being objective here) is always big no matter what.

I bet more people could name the coach of ND before they could name the manager of the Yankees outside of Stengel, Martin, and Torre.

Quote :

"Jaybee has probably never lived in a big sports town so it's hard to take his opinion very seriously on this matter (not trolling -- seriously, it's hard to explain exactly how the Yankees are treated by the NYC media unless you've lived there)."

any city I mention will automatically qualify as "not big". And that is irrelevant anyways with national broadcasts, cable, the internet, internet radio feeds etc. It not like you have to live in Manhattan to buy the Daily News from Slick Johnny to find out how the Metropolitans did the day before. Every sports can get just as much info as any other sports fan in the country now

[Edited on December 3, 2009 at 4:18 PM. Reason : d]

12/3/2009 4:14:06 PM

Quote :

"Yeah as soon as John Wall exhausts his eligibility at Kentucky, he should spend the next 30 years making cold calls for State Farm"

they're entertaining and they make money, but they don't mean anything. that is, if you buy that sports ever mean anything.

Quote :

"But I dont use $ or # of fans as the measure of "prestige", its more how rare/hard it is to get the job and most pro sports have the managers/coaches moving around too often to count for me"

that is exactly right.

12/3/2009 7:02:51 PM

Broughton High School Tennis or Golf coach.

12/3/2009 7:04:41 PM

my college intramural teams

12/3/2009 8:09:25 PM