The Notre Dame/Providence game last night was epic, though it was nearly an epic failure for my boys. After opening up a comfortable 10 point lead at the half, the Irish seemed destined to cruise to another victory over their LSF rivals. Even with 6 minutes left, Tyrone Nash dropped in a layup that gave us an 81-70 lead. Kind of lurking in the shadows the whole time, though, was Marshon Brooks. He had a pretty decent first half, and when his team was down by 11 with the game closing out, he decided to take it to another level.
Brooks turned things up, as part of his 35 point second half, and pulled Providence back into the game. It became a battle of the Friars fouling ND, and then running down the floor to make it even closer. At the end, Notre Dame led by 1 and missed their free throw, but with just 1.something left, Providence could only heave a full court shot that fell short. The game finished 94-93, and Notre Dame escaped with the win. It's the best start to a season for the Irish in 11 years, and their eighth win over their last nine games.
But, Marshon Brooks was the real story, busting out a game for the record books. The Friar standout scored 52 points, tying the most points scored by anyone in NCAA basketball this season. Of course, he's doing it in the Big East. Brooks' 52 is the most points scored in Big East history, breaking the previous record of 48 scored by Eric Murdock, another Providence standout, back in 1991 (against Pitt). Brooks also became just the third player in Providence history to score 40+ points in two games in a single season. He was big when it mattered, too, scoring an unbelievable 15 points in the final 2:57 of the game. He was flat out amazing. But, he lost, so we'll forget about it quickly.
The game only further underscored how awesome this rivalry is, a battle that is not only a conference rivalry, not only a religious rivalry, but also a LSF rivalry. How much bigger can you get? The focus on the religious aspect of the rivalry made me wonder, is the battle between Notre Dame and Providence the biggest Catholic rivalry in sports, or is it the battle between Notre Dame and Boston College on the gridiron (apologies to Marquette, Georgetown, and Villanova fans, if you feel slighted)?
How to even begin to quantify this is a problem. How do you compare the ND/BC football game to the ND/Prov basketball game? Football is clearly the bigger draw, even with Notre Dame being better in basketball than at any point in history accessible to our memories. So that kind of has to be thrown out, in my opinion. It comes down to the passion that the players share for the rivalry, the passion that the fans share for the rivalry, and the amazing things that have happened during the rivalry games.
Notre Dame has dominating the rivalry with the Friars as of late, winning the last eight matches. Memorable ones include the game where Brandon and I live blogged (or "glogged") the OT game that ND pulled away in, and the 103-84 game a couple of seasons ago. Last night was the 24th game in the history of the rivalry, with the Irish holding the 15-9 edge, so recent history has been a bit of a turnaround from the way the rivalry went in the past. The last time the Friars were able to beat the Irish at the Dunkin' Donuts Center was in 1997. All of that gets the fans and the players way into the game, as there is nothing better that Providence could do this season than to beat the Irish. They couldn't do it, however, and the rivalry has to wait another year.
The Notre Dame/Boston College rivalry is well known as "The Holy War." It is one of the bigger rivalries in all of college football. It started in 1975, and Notre Dame barely leads the series, 11-9 all-time. What makes it so special is that the two teams are the only Catholic schools in the NCAA's FBS, making a win in the game a huge bragging right. In 1983, Doug Flutie was unable to beat the Irish in the Liberty Bowl (a 19-18 Irish win). In 1992, ND stopped a highly ranked BC squad with an impressive 54-7 romp, in a game that saw Lou Holtz call a fake punt when Notre Dame was already ahead by several TDs. Eagle fans didn't like that, but I did. In 2002, the Irish were ranked #4 and rocked their green jerseys for the game with BC, only to fumble eight times en route to a 14-7 BC win. In 2008, Jimmy Clausen threw four picks on the way to a 0-17 BC blowout. But, the Irish have fought back in '09 and '10, and with the rivalry still contracted until at least 2019, we've got plenty more awesome battles to look forward to.
I'll say this: both rivalries are intensely exciting, and I circle my calendar as soon as I find out when each clash will happen. But when I was writing about the memories of the ND/BC battles, I got goosebumps just thinking about it. There is something about "The Holy War" that places it above anything that may happen on the hardwood. I may be a victim of that special feeling that Notre Dame football gives you on the inside, but I have to say that the ND/BC rivalry is better than the ND/Providence rivalry. But, when it's not football season, the Irish/Friars tilt certainly is top notch.
We'll see you November 19 in South Bend, Boston College.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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