Barstool Sports

(Source) Notre Dame’s recent suspensions of four players could actually be a sign the program is gaining an “edge” that will help it be more successful, Irish radio analyst Allen Pinkett said Wednesday.

“I’ve always felt like to have a successful team you’ve got to have a few bad citizens on the team,” Pinkett said on WSCR-AM (670). “That’s how Ohio State used to win all the time. They would have two or three guys that were criminals and that just adds to the chemistry of the team. I think Notre Dame is growing because maybe they have some guys that are doing something worthy of a suspension which creates edge on the football team.

“You can’t have a football team full of choirboys. You get your butt kicked if you’ve got a team full of choirboys so you’ve got to have a little bit of edge. But the coach has to be the dictator and the ultimate ruler. Here’s my opinion: You don’t hand out suspensions unless you know you’ve got somebody behind that guy that can make plays.”

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly suspended starting running back Cierre Wood and backup defensive Justin Utupo two games each for violating team rules. Kelly has also suspended quarterback Tommy Rees and linebacker Carlos Calabrese for the season opener in Dublin, Ireland against Navy for their roles in a skirmish with police following a party in May.

“I don’t want any mass murders or rapists,” Pinkett said. “I want guys that maybe get caught drinking that are underage, or guys that maybe got arrested because they got in a fight at a bar, or guys that are willing to cuss in public and don’t mind the repercussions of it. That’s the type of criminal I’m talking about.”

Pinkett didn’t back off his comments when given a chance later in the interview.

“I absolutely meant that,” Pinkett said. “The chemistry is so important on a football team. You have to have a couple of bad guys that sort of teeter on that edge to add to the flavor of the guys that are going to always do right because that just adds to the chemistry of the football team. You have to have … you look at the teams that have won in the past they have always had a couple of criminals.”

Pinkett has worked as Notre Dame’s radio analyst since 2001. He was a two-time All-American running back with the Irish before playing seven NFL seasons with the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints.

Hey Alan Pinkett, the Cincinnati Bengals have something to say about your idea that criminals = championships.

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Alan Pinkett is actually sort of right. Not the criminal part. That just sounds dumb. But if Notre Dame ever wants to be good again they need to wake up. You know what their problem is? The fact that Notre Dame wants to be a powerhouse football school while still thinking they’re the Harvard of the midwest. That’s  the fucking problem. Ohio State isn’t good because they have a bunch of guys gang banging and getting DUI’s, they’re good because the most talented athletes in the nation, the ones that have been told since 6th grade that playing football is more important than studying can get into Ohio State and can’t get into Notre Dame.

Just classic have your cake and eat it too sentiment. You want to be a prestigious academic university? Fine. Go be Yale or Princeton. You want to “wake up the echos”, or whatever that retarded little chant is, and let in some kids that probably didn’t even take their own SATs? That’s fine too, there are plenty of schools doing just that. But guess what, you can’t have it both ways and that’s exactly the problem.

Alan Pinkett says something that actually makes a little bit of sense but the entire Notre Dame alumni will probably be appalled. Rosy cheeked 70 year olds walking around on Saturday in their scally caps scared of all the new “criminals” on campus. Every d-bag alumni who thinks where he went to college actually means something won’t want their diploma “cheapened”. Fuck that. If I went to Notre Dame I wouldn’t care in the least. Loosen academic standards and win more football games. You can’t recruit on dated tradition. No one gives a shit that you won a bunch of National Championships when black people weren’t even allowed to play football. Step into 2012 and wake the fuck up.

PS
The other thing that never seems to get mentioned in our yearly “OMG why is Notre Dame still bad?” conversation, is why would anyone want to willingly live in South Bend? If I’m an 18 year old 5 star recruit do you think I’m choosing living in INDIANA catching the occasional Handjob from one of the thousand Mary Anns on campus or  living in Southern California partying with Snoop Dogg and banging out 10′s. Doesn’t seem that hard of a decision when you think about it that way now does it?