QB Messes With ND's Chances of Not Sucking

Notre Dame will investigate possible school code violations after the Web site The Big Lead posted photos Monday that appear to depict Clausen, teammates Brian Smith and James Aldridge and one other individual attending what the site labeled “Beer Olympics.”

The pictures are not dated, and while there is beer on the table in front of the players, the photos do not show the players actively consuming alcohol.

No matter the date of the photos, at least two of the players would not be of legal drinking age: Clausen, who does not turn 21 until Sept. 21, and Smith, who does not reach 21 until 2010. Aldridge turned 21 on July 6.

(Article here)

Allow me to make a few comments about our football team. Compared to most programs, ours is pretty academically advanced (earning a GPA of 3.0 last semester). However, I just spent the last 6 weeks in class with a few dozen incoming freshman football and hockey players, and seriously, they're not the coldest beers in the fridge (oh. I suppose that's kind of an ironic comparison.). The first time we got math homework back, one of them said, "Um, professor? Mine says '10 over 10'; is that good?" Argh. One school/practice night, a bunch of them drove to Fort Wayne (2 hours) to go to a club, which apparently turned out to be attended mostly by 16-year-old girls. Don't see that ending well...

I'd hate to paint the whole team with a broad brush, but based on what I've seen first-hand, I have to say that much as I would like to be, I'm less than psyched about this season.