Monday, November 30, 2009

Stuffing the Passer - Everyone's Free (To Score Touchdowns)

Well, folks, there you have it. Five years into the Charlie Weis experiment, athletic director Jack Swarbrick pulled the plug on the strangely bipolar but largely ignominious experiment. Feelings are mixed at the House Rock Built critter lab. We were all really rooting for Charlie to pull it together and bring us back to the glory days of perpetually dancing shirtless in a meadow for no damn reason at all, but reality can be a merciless wench that snaps as back to attention about the fragile state of Notre Dame football.

Le sigh. We'll miss that little fuzzy goofball. He gave us some good times, some heartburn, and probably kicked irishoutsider up to the top of the liver transplat list, but it's always been interesting. His tireless recruiting and unending advocacy for the return of Notre Dame football to national prominence was sorely needed, and hopefully some top-flight coach can succeed and make sure that Charlie's blood, sweat and tears weren't shed in vain.

On a more House Rock Built-esque note, we noticed that ESPN cut away from the press conference before we got to hear from the man of the hour himself. We think that's unfair, and so we tracked down the footage of Charlie Weis giving his valedictory speech to the Fired Coaches Class of 2009. Because everyone's free (to score touchdowns).


We're all free to score touchdowns. Do what we want, live the way we want. And score touchdowns.


UPDATE: Had to fix a few gremlins in the soundtrack to the video. The new version sounds much better.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Stuffing the Passer - A Serious Coach

After another tough loss, Muppet Charlie Weis seeks out some help and advice from the wisest man on campus. Unfortunately, things don't work out as planned. He's in a very serious mess.


I've tried to be a serious coach.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Stuffing the Passer - Wann-stache'd

The Gang wants to get ready for next week's game against the University of UCONN, but first we have to clear the air about that event that happened last week in Pittsburgh. We've got this big hunk of populist bile in our throat that we need to clear out, and it's pretty clear the gang is starting to unravel at the seams as well.

It even looks like Muppet Charlie Weis might have pulled a Bill O'Reilly-esque freakout. I guess that explains the guys in suits standing behind him at the last press conference.

Don't worry, Irish fans, though things might seem bleak now, you can always count on us to whistle past the graveyard with the fury of an, ahm, thousand-piece orchestra... thing. You know what I mean. Stiff upper lip, lads. The puppets are your friends.

God help us all.


We'll do it live!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Stuffing the Passer - The Coach Who Stares At Goats

Sitting in the gorgeous sunshine of a beautiful fall day in South Bend, irishoutsider and I were struck by how ruinous a gaggle of red zone turnovers can be to what would otherwise have been a downright lovely day spent outside. Naturally, the mind reels trying to rationalize a loss to the University of Navy in what was supposed to be a season where the Irish contended for a BCS bowl, but thankfully we found a safe haven of movie parodies to fall back onto to make sense of the events of this weekend.

Perhaps it's low-hanging fruit and only tangentially topical, but the mind just naturally clicks on this association when trying to make sense of Charlie Weis repeatedly running afoul of the mighty goats from the Naval Academy.


Location: Redacted

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Stuffing the Passer - The Gang Sings a Sea Shanty

Some games are harder to get motivated for than others. Sure, anyone can get fired up for the game against USC or Michigan, but it takes some special maneuvering by the coaching staff to get the squad amped up for a game against Navy. It's important to do so, though, since it was a mere two years ago that the Midshipmen snuck up on a lackadaisical Irish and broke a 43-year losing streak in hearbreaking fashion.

The good news is that Muppet Charlie Weis has a secret weapon for Navy game preparedness. What better way to prepare for your enemy than by using his greatest asset against him? I'm talking, of course, of the power of sea shanties.


Huh, that usually works. Sharpley... a little help?