Notre Dame Athletics Director Jack Swarbrick said -- again -- he has no plans to fire his head coach. So nothing changed. Several media outlets, though, acted as if they'd just uncovered the Watergate scandal.

More than anything, this is isn't a diatribe on whether Weis should have been canned. Full disclosure. I can't stand Weis. Can't stand his ego, can't stand the jerk laugh he gives when reporters actually ask him a question not prefaced with a "Notre Dame is great." None to mention, of course, that Tyrone Willingham got absolutely screwed by the school.

No, this time, it's about how college football is being reported. Sportswriting has paid my bills to different degrees since I was in my teens. I've spent more time on college football than anything else.

So I understand how even the most objective of reporters can get caught up in it all.

What I can't seem to get through my thick head, though, is where the perspective has gone.
Increased media attention probably just cost Tommy Tuberville his job -- Auburn bigwigs probably didn't enjoy waking up Sunday morning without 7,000 reminders of how bad that loss to Alabama really was.

The age of 24-hour blogging and updated news sites has brought us to a new level of getting information and driving competition. Good.

Just don't forget it's brought about some bad, too. You don't have to like Weis to realize how absurd the last few weeks have been.

SPEAKING OF THE COACHING CAROUSEL: Can we please stop praying at the alter of Brett Venables?

Every time there's a big coaching vacancy, the Oklahoma defensive coordinator and associate head coach's name pops up more than Britney Spears in a Yahoo! search.

Whether Venables is worthy of all that attention is still in question.

OU coach Bob Stoops has an impressive track record for his assistants moving on to head coaching positions elsewhere. Some, like Texas Tech's Mike Leach and Kansas' Mark Mangino have achieved win-loss records few thought possible.

Does that mean Venables will automatically do the same? Look at the Oklahoma defense this year and you might have your answer.

The Sooners are allowing 24.8 points per game this season, nearly a touchdown more than their counterparts in Austin.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: First-year UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel is making nice with his old/new rival, USC coach Pete Carroll.

Neuheisel and Carroll discussed a plan over the summer to allow both teams to wear their home jerseys during Saturday's Battle of L.A. It's probably a good sign for Neuheisel, whose team might lose the game by 50 points.

Still, the baby blues verses the garnet will look awfully good in HD.

Ian Guerin is a freelance reporter based in South Carolina and is a former sports writer at the Anderson Independent-Mail and The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News. He is a frequent contributor to The Pigskin Podcast. E-mail comments to Ian.