It just isn't done.

There are things you just can't tolerate.  The country next to you getting nuclear weapons before you do.  Your daughter marrying someone who is known by a single name (except to the authorities in Georgia who have accumulated much more detailed biographical information).  Rain the day after you mowed the lawn.

And, apparently, losing to the United States Naval Academy football team.

Notre Dame lost to Navy 23-21 the other day.  In South Bend.  As the Shakespearian crowd says, "treble woe".

As they say among the Irish faithful, "Fire Charlie Weis".

Then again, they say that alot anyway.

As a Navy fan since the days of Roger Staubach (I think I watched the Cotton Bowl from inside my crib, but I do remember it), it's a bit annoying.

Why are fans so shocked when Navy wins?  And why do they treat it as some sort of indication the world has been turned upside down?

A few weeks back it was Wake Forest.  In a driving rain storm in Annapolis the Midshipmen won a tight game against an ACC team which hardly the 1985 Chicago Bears.  For that matter, Wake this season wouldn't match up well against the Yogi Bears. 

There was the predictable outrage on the internet.

"How can we lose to a team running a gimmick offense?"  "How could we lose to Navy?" 

Actually it's quite easy.  You simply fail to stop the fullback, give up the occasional "Oh, no, they're actually throwing deep" deep pass, and get outhustled by a highly disciplined group of over achievers who don't know they are supposed to lose.

As for the triple option, if it were such an unfair advantage why doesn't everyone run it?  Probably because it requires split second timing, complete avoidance of penalties, and sublimation of egoes.  Not to mention that if you get behind more than a touchdown and you are sunk.

Still, Navy has accumulated 7 wins against three losses running the triple.  Paul Johnson, the former Navy coach, took Georgia Tech to 9-1 running it with a win against Wake Forest (how well that must sit with Deacon fans). 

The world hums along.  Navy will close with Delaware, Hawaii, and Army and go to a second tier bowl.  The Army game carries the potential for a dog fight.  Despite a 3-6 record, Army is much improved and anything can happen in an Army-Navy game.

Charlie Weis?  He'll get to stay unless the wheels fall off.  What the administration at Notre Dame understands, but their fans don't, is that BCS bowl teams are built in Florida, Texas, and California and those players aren't rushing to middle America to play football. 

Weis will develop, and Notre Dame will again develop, into a good coach and team combination.  But not one which annually competes for the national championship.

Or automatically beats Navy.