How insane has the Notre Dame coaching watch gotten? ESPN.com’s Brian Bennett gives us a taste:

Notre Dame has blocked tracking access to its university-owned private plane from the web site FlightAware.com, a popular tool often used by fans and media to speculate on the comings and goings of a coaching search. 

One problem with that (widely-circulated) note, none of those reports about the flight tracking have mentioned when it was actually taken down. Two sources told me today that the tracking was actually removed last year, long before Weis’ job was in imminent jeopardy. Read more…

Let’s operate with a premise that may or may not come true, but for the sake of an argument and speculation we’ll say is true: Notre Dame will fire Charlie Weis relatively soon. That much isn’t exactly a stretch, though it’s anybody’s guess how long it’ll be before Weis’ buyout becomes “worth it” to Notre Dame. Economy and all.

(You know it’s bad when Weis’ Invisibility Cloak isn’t even working for him anymore.)

Once that hypothetical situation hypothetically bears itself out (strictly hypothetically, we might add), obviously, the search for a replacement is on and it had better be fruitful. While Notre Dame fans are busy explaining to themselves why they’re too good for Urban Meyer (no, really), Bob Stoops may be busy explaining to himself why he’s just right for the Golden Domers.

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You can say the buzzards are really circling Charlie Weis now, as Notre Dame suffers yet another defeat, a 27-22 loss to Pittsburgh that leaves the Irish at 6-4. So it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion amongst many media circles that Charlie will be saying sayonara to South Bend at season’s end.

However, letting Weis go is not just a matter of a simple “Sorry, Charlie,” as he’s pushed out the door. Such a move would actually be very costly for Notre Dame.

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Some Web sites offer you “insider” information on which teams to put money on during the week’s big football games. But only Sports by Brooks has the ultimate insider: Jesus Christ. That’s right, each week Our Lord and Savior will descend from Heaven to offer His insight into the week’s top games. And with over 60 percent of all college and NFL players attributing their success to Him, no one is more qualified to pick winners.

I know that some of you might be wondering why I’m spending my time giving out football betting advice. After all, in between curing the blind, feeding the hungry and consulting with my Dad on whether Allen Iverson should play for the Grizzles, don’t I have enough on my plate? But here’s the thing: being the son of God might be cushy, but it doesn’t pay the bills. Let’s just say these robes don’t dry clean themselves, especially if you get the nice satin ones and not the itchy polyester ones.

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Welcome to our new weekly feature, Fireside Chats with FauxPa. As you can see, FauxPa bears a striking resemblance to a certain college football coach from a team with the word “State” in their name. We assure you that this is all completely coincidental.

Oh, hello. I didn’t see you there, on account of my eyeglasses have not been changed in the last 40 years. I don’t know what’s up and what’s down anymore. I tell ya. Secretary! Secretary, if you’re there, and don’t bother saying yes or no because you know I can’t hear a damned thing. I can sense vibrations, like an animal on the prairie. That’s about it.

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For past two seasons, the once-mighty Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry has been mighty crappy. There was ND’s 35-17 wipeout of the Wolverines in South Bend last season, and then there was UM’s 38-0 a$$-whooping of the Irish in Ann Arbor the season before that. So you’d figure that today’s matchup in the Big House would be a big bore.

Big mistake to assume that. Like two aging heavyweights whose glory days appeared to have been behind them, Michigan & Notre Dame traded punches all afternoon (figurative, not literal) as the score see-sawed back & forth. But it was the Maize & Blue who managed the final knockout blow, as Tate Forcier tossed a 5-yard TD pass to Greg Matthews with 11 seconds left. So Hail to the Victors in a 38-34 thriller.

(Time to get those Charlie Weis-bashing billboards back up.)

Speaking of knockouts, another top-5 team from the Sooner state took another tumble on the field in an upset loss.

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The first thing you should know about Tom Reynolds, the ex-Notre Dame linebacker who paid for the infamous Charlie Weis billboard, is that he is not afraid to bare his soul for something he believes in. Or bare his tallywhacker, for that matter.

Reynolds, author of the above message that has all of South Bend talking this week, is also kind of famous for another incident. In June of 2007 he interrupted a violent robbery in a Manhattan hotel hallway, clobbering and chasing away a woman’s attacker while completely naked.

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• Is Ana Ivanovic gradually turning into Anna Kournikova, at least in terms of tennis winnability?

• WNBA star Candace Parker says she’s conscious of what she eats. But she won’t remain conscious for long by scarfing down some In ‘n’ Out.

• Irate Irish fans use billboard to complain about Charlie Weis.

• Could the Big Ten be bringing a bowl game to Yankee Stadium?

• A-Rod talks to teens about steroid abuse. Ironic or inspirational?

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As much as the media likes to wring its hands about vicious anonymous Internet sports fans contributing to the downfall of Western civilization with their uncouth attacks on the media, rivals, coaches, athletic directors, and the NCAA, the truth is that fans have long found ways to give voice to their concerns/taunts that have nothing to do with a computer. Like, for example, the billboard.

This billboard popped up in South Bend, Indiana, the other day. In case you live in a sports black hole, you’ll recognize it as impugning the lackluster coaching abilities of Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis. This is just the latest in a long lines of rather clever sports billboards put in strategic locations. But how does it stack up against the great sports billboards of the past? Let’s take a walk down memory lane.

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Putting a college football coach in front of a microphone is usually like handing a bear a calculator and asking him to do your taxes. Nothing good can come of that. Hawaii head coach Greg McMackin proved that once again this morning at the WAC football media preview in Salt Lake City, when he let loose with a homophobic slur in reference to Notre Dame. Oops.

(That’s McMackin on the right. I think)

McMackin’s perfect s***storm began when he told a small group of reporters how Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis had the Fighting Irish do “this little faggot dance” at a banquet the night before last year’s Hawaii Bowl. But the fun didn’t stop there. Read more…