ND '06: The Young Lady or the Old Woman?

Perhaps I'm just overdosing on rain smell, or maybe my blue-and-gold panties are bunched up a bit too tightly, but when I look at all the reporting on Notre Dame football 2006, I feel like I am looking at that classic drawing which asks, "Which do you see? The Old Maid, or the Young Lady?"



The ESPN/CBS/Opposing Team Blog/Talking Heads genre of reporting tells me:

• ND is always overhyped, and fuels a media machine which necessarily creates a vigorous and outspoken counterculture of criticism from all over mediadom.
• 2005/2006 ND = 2002/2003 ND.
• The O$U game was the harbinger for how the 2006 defense will look.
• 2005 ND Defense did not stop anyone--period.
• 2006 ND Defense won't stop anyone either.
• ND is too slow in the secondary, which is the sole reason we will lose more than 3 games next year, particularly to those teams for which is it axiomatic that they are "fast" teams (i.e. USC, Mich, O$U)
• 2006 ND Offense, while led by the potential Heisman Trophy winner, will be stellar, but not good enough to compensate for the "paltry" ND defense, against which opponents will reap touchdowns with the ease of a mouse hitting a feeder bar.

The NDNation/IrishEyes/UND/Eyewitnesses genre of reporting, on the other hand, tells me:

• The offense from last year, which set multiple records and could score on any defense in the nation, is as good if not better in '06.
• The defense, while plugging holes in the LB position, returns every other starter plus some pleasant additions in Leitko, freshman CBs, etc. And the LBs have gotten a boost with the addition of Travis Thomas, who while perhaps not yet 100% comfortable with the position, possesses the athleticism, aggression and fortitude to compensate for his lack of experience, which shall come over time.
• Charlie has apparently learned from his mistakes last year, and has seemingly made the appropriate adjustments from a coaching standpoint.
• Overall, the team looks like it clicks better, now in the second year of a system which has been proven to work elsewhere. They are stronger than last year, more knowledgeable than last year, and while some reports state that some team members have actually become faster human beings in the last 8 months, all reports agree that the team seems to *play* faster than last year. (Notice the difference, which is apparently a concept that many pundits can't seem to grasp).

How can these respective media groups look at the same ND Football: 2006 team and offer such divergent perspectives?

The easy answer, of course, is that one sees what one wants to see.

The former group sees the Old Maid, same as she's always been, huddled in her shawl, her face scrunched up with a look of bewilderment. She looks to the past because her future is grim. Her countenance is looking right at you, and is easily beheld by the laziest of eyes.

The latter group, however, studies the picture a little closer, and after a moment of reflection sees not an old hag, but a Young Lady in a classic, dressy ensemble, as if prepared for a grand ball. Her face is turned away from the onlooker, towards the horizon, seeming in anticipation for the future, and one is left to wonder exactly what this young beauty looks like. At least one thing is obvious--she is a mystery, but full of potential, youthful optimism and prospects for great events yet to come.

I pity those who look at this team and only see the Old Maid, as they've seen her a hundred times before.