The entire college football world remembers Notre Dame's 3-9 effort in the 2007 season, but in South Bend, Ind., it never happened. Fort Wayne's Journal Gazette discovered the omission when perusing the Irish's spring prospectus and 2008 media guide.The Notre Dame athletic department scrubbed all losing seasons both at Notre Dame and elsewhere from Weis' bio in both publications. This is the stuff made for conspiracy and intrigue in the slow death march of the offseason, but fear not, there's an explanation. Sort of.
"That's the way we did it at the time and that's what we've lived with, for the most part," said Notre Dame senior associate athletics director for media relations John Heisler said.Except, as the Journal Gazette points out, with Willingham they went from publishing some records in 2002 to leaving them out altogether by 2004, his last season in South Bend. At least Notre Dame's been consistent with Weis but like with everything since he arrived, folks are going to be suspicious.
"If you go back, it didn't necessarily look the same as Bob's or Tyrone's or anybody's. We weren't trying to make it look identical."
It is, however, regrettable. Publishing an incomplete record in a coach's "biography" section almost defeats the purpose of writing the biography in its deception. Good or bad, put it up there or don't bother at all. College football is very much about history and biography, something Notre Dame of all places is acutely aware of.
(Via Get The Picture)
