The early 2000s were not only rough for Ilgauskas

Thus, while Notre Dame might still have an advantage that every one of its games are nationally broadcast, for all intents and purposes the playing field is now level.It is true that domers are proud of the rich tradition of the program, but can you think of a program in the nation that doesn't celebrate its past Are those conference title banners or retired numbers are based on premonitions No. Every school, organization, company, and human being celebrates the past in some way, shape, or form.Too much emphasis on the past can put one at risk of never again meeting or exceeding those past achievements, but even so, with a tradition as rich and memorable as that of the Irish it is near impossible to ignore or downplay the history.With the records of recent Irish teams in mind, I contend that Irish faithful like myself simply pine for the days when national titles and other accolades like Heisman trophies flowed like water.After all, in times of disappointment or depression, it is not uncommon for people to yearn for the happy things from their past. Focusing on those happy things fills a void left by current lack of satisfaction.Verdict: sorely missed pastIndependent or AffiliatedDomers and non-domers alike have passionate, thoughcontrary views on whether or not the Irish can and should remain independent.Supporters of Notre Dame retaining its independence cite the need for the University to leverage its unique independent TV contract with NBC.Others want the heritage of being an independent university to remain in tact. Yet even more want the Irish to maintain its own bargaining power rather than succumbing to the dictations of a conference President.A more spiteful group wants independence for all the reasons listed above in addition to honoring prior wishes of affiliated teams.

Among their contentions, they claim that the Irish need to join the 21st Century and stop resting on its laurels.More notably, they hypothesize that Notre Dame would be at the bottom rung of any conference it would join, so there would be no real harm done to their own teams.Lastly, a group of pro-Notre Dame fans contend that the Irish need to join a conference in order to avoid falling behind the curve. When Penn State joined the Big Ten in the 90s, Notre Dame was left as the last major independent program.Conferences have become so powerful that they have their own TV networks and seemingly unlimited bowl tie-ins, while Notre Dame is left with just two remaining non-BCS bowl tie-ins starting in 2010. This is not to say that the Irish won't ever join a conference,but the odds are stacked in favor of independence unless the Irish fail to negotiate their own contracts by leveraging their iconic brand.In all likelihood, the Irish will sustain independence while simultaneously generating enormous revenues for itself.Verdict: once an independent, always an independentNational Champs or National ChumpsRun through any rational person's list of top collegiate football programs over the years and Notre Dame without question makes every listalong with the likes of Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, USC, Florida, Alabama, and Ohio State.With eleven national titles to its name the Irish are equaled only by USC. Notre Dame's title years include 1924, 1929, 1930, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1988.Since the last championship in 1988, nearly twenty different teams have won national titles.

The current high school recruits for the class of 2014 were not even born the last time the Irish won and were only a few years old when the Irish last legitimately competed for the title in 1993.Increasingly difficult academic standards at the university add fuel to the debate of whether a highly competitive academic institution can compete at a high level athletically.Universities with highly achieving academics, such as Michigan and USC, have shown an ability to pair on-field excellence with off-field performance (Matt Leinart's rigorous ballroom dancing course load notwithstanding).So if other schools have shown a propensity to achieve both athletically and academically, why can't Notre DameThis is not the first time the Irish have faced criticism that academic standards are too stringent to succeed athletically.Before Ara Parseghian was hired there were declarations of the difficult academic standards, but he won two national championships. Before Lou Holt was hired there were similar proclamations, but he too won a national championship.As a proud alumni of Notre Dame, Swarbrick acknowledges the defiance of the tough academic standards, and accordingly will not accept the argument that admissions requirements and the university's vision for its football program do not gel.Well, Notre Dame remains a critical piece of the college football landscape. There is no denying our recent struggles, but that doesn't change the equity of the brand or the importance of Notre Dame being able to succeed.We need to prove that universities committed to integrating the student-athlete, first and foremost, into the university of students can also have them achieve optimal football success as athletes.It's important for the entire industry that we be able to do that. We have the background and I believe the equity to do it, and we now have the foundation laid and the improvements made in the program in recent years to put us in a position to do that.Charlie Weis may have failed as a head coach, but he succeeded in attracting top talent to South Bend. Most of his recruiting classes were ranked in the Top 10-15 by all major recruiting services (Rivals, Scouts, and ESPNU).Defensive talent has been the biggest question mark, as the Irish have posted back-to-back abysmal seasons defensively.If the Irish truly want to engage themselves in legitimate national championship contention, the next coach will have to win the hearts of the nation's defensive elite, and it probably wouldn't hurt to pick a scheme and stick with it.Antiquated facilities marred the Irish program earlier in the decade, but over the course of the past four years Notre Dame opened the Guglielmino Complex , a state of the art training facility devoted to football, and LaBar Practice Complex , a set of three practice fields (two artificial turf) intended primarily for football. Both additions provided much needed upgrades to an otherwise unimpressive list of facilities.TV exposure, facilities, a tremendously equitable brand, and commitment to excellence provide the Irish with all the necessary tangibles to compete among the nation's elite.Verdict: the Irish will compete for a championship againin the year 20Irrelevant orIrresistibleThis subject marks probably the most commonly debated topic about Notre Dame: are the Irish still relevantESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit even begged this rhetorical question on College GameDay last week.The notion of irrelevance with respect to Notre Dame makes sense if relating it to domers who up past accomplishments rather than current (lack of) achievements when defending the University against its critics.That said, it's hard to believe that the Notre Dame football program is "irrelevant," especially when in the course of one hour, coming off a 6-6 season mind you, it garnered more attention than the entire Boise State, Cincinnati and TCU programsall undefeated and ranked six through four, respectively, in the BCS standingswere exposed to combined all season.Want proof Take a gander at this marked up ESPN homepage by the fine folks at Her Loyal Sons.Other coaches were fired already this year or recently stepped down, but none of them garnered as much attention as the Notre Dame coaching change. Not even Bobby Bowden, who announced he is stepping down as head coach of the Florida State Seminoles where he roamed the sidelines for 55 years!The fact of the matter is that Notre Dame is like the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys.

People either love or hate those teams and there is no middle ground. Whether or not those teams are winning or losing is irrelevant because people always have strong opinions about them.It's not like the Yankees haven't gone through down periods (remember the 1980s and early 1990s) or that the Cowboys never faced adversity (late 1980s and early 2000s).Notre Dame has had dark periods, too. But just as the Yankees and Cowboys overcame their dark days, so too will the Irish.While it has been 21 seasons since the last national championship, the current drought will not last forever. Why do bad things happen to good people For Cavaliers center and Cleveland fan favorite Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the answer may never come.Ilgauskas, who recently became the team's all-time leader in games played (724), has endured a career that has become an paradoxical mix of success and failure, pain and joy, and tragedy and exhilaration.Since being selected by the Cavs in the first round of the 1996 NBA Draft, the then-gangly Lithuanian youngster has become a consummate professional and one of the few true "nice guys" in professional sports.Today, the bald, slow-footed Cavs reserve is loved by the franchise's fanbase not only due to his steady basketball contribution of points (14.2 career average), rebounds (7.8), blocks (1.7), high free throw percentage (78 percent), and the occasional Jason Kidd-esque pass, but also because of his amiable personality, dedication to Cleveland, and perseverance through a difficult yet rewarding stint with the Cavaliers.Big Z's laundry list of unfortunate mishaps begins with the seemingly endless foot injuries and surgeries that hounded him early in his career and forced him to miss the 1996-'97 and '99-'00 seasons entirely while also limiting him to action in just five games during the '98-'99 campaign.The same nagging foot problems again relegated Ilgauskas to a long-term position on the bench in the '00-'01 season after 24 games.Equipped with almost as much metal in his feet as bone, Ilgauskas has since been surprisingly durable, playing in over 60 games in each of his past eight seasons (equally surprising is the fact that a post-foot injury Z once admitted that he was the only player on Cleveland's roster who never wears ankle braces).The early 2000s were not only rough for Ilgauskas. The Cavs were the doormat of the NBA and struggled with attendance nightly.