Wednesday Football Interviews -- Pitt Week

The gang over at UND.COM posted a few more interviews last night after practice.  Here are the links with their specific subjects:

LINK:  COACH KELLY AFTER PRACTICE

LINK:  BENNETT JACKSON INTERVIEW

LINK:  DAYNE CRIST & MICHAEL FLOYD

LINK:  DARRIN WALLS & CARLO CALABRESE

Michael Floyd Ranked 19th in Receiving Yards

This might surprise many Notre Dame fans, but Michael Floyd is currently 19th in the country in total receiving yards.  After five games, Floyd has 28 catches for 408 yards and 2 TD's.  The top two receivers in the country both play for Hawaii -- one has 682 yards the other has 602 yards.  Here's a link to the receiver rankings:

LINK:  TOP RECEIVERS IN THE COUNTRY

Irish Walk On Kicker -- Ranked 17th!

Notre Dame field goal kicker, David Ruffer, who last year at this time was playing "interhall football" for his dorm team at Notre Dame is now ranked amongst the top twenty kickers in college football!  Could be a movie here some day!!!  Ruffer has been perfect hitting all eight of his field goals with a long of 46 yards.  Sure hope I didn't just jinx him!  Here's a link to the rankings of field goal kicking:

LINK:  FIELD GOAL KICKING

Irish Ranked 14th in Fewest Penalties!

The Notre Dame Football team is the 14th least penalized team in college football this season after the first five games.  The Irish have been flagged for 21 penalties for 200 yards.  The most penalized team in college football is Troy with 55 penalties for 480 yards.  The second most is Arizona State with 46 penalties for 426 yards.  The least penalized team in the country is Indiana with 14 penalties for 121 yards. Again, a good sign for what's going on with our football program!  Here's a link to the rankings:

LINK:  MOST PENALIZED TEAMS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Notre Dame Ranked 19th in Total Sacks of QB's

Believe it or not, but our Fighting Irish defense is ranked in the top twenty in total number of QB sacks this season with 13!  As a point of reference, last year's "blitz happy" defense of John Tenuta finished 92nd in the country in total QB sacks with 19 for the season.  We have 13 after five games!  That's improvement folks!  Here's a link to the QB Sack Rankings of college football teams this season:

LINK:  TOTAL QB SACKS

Irish Football Ranked 8th in Two Categories...

The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish popped up in 8th in two national rankings this week -- one was for strength of schedule, where their schedule is ranked 8th toughest in the country.  And, the second is in Passing Offense, where the Irish are 8th in total passing yards with 1,465 -- in the country.  The schedule ranking is not surprising -- though if you asked us how tough our schedule was six months ago, most Irish fans would have said it was one of our "easier schedules" in some time.  And, Dayne Crist has had some big games, yardage wise, throwing the ball.  Here's a link to the Sagarin Rankings and a link to the ranking of teams by total passing yards:

LINK:  SAGARIN RATINGS

LINK:  PASSING OFFENSE

ND Football Update -- Tuesday Interviews

The folks at UND.COM have done a wonderful job this year covering Notre Dame Football.  Can't thank them enough!  Here's a link to Brian Kelly's Pittsburgh press conference along with a link to an interview, after yesterday's practice, with Notre Dame's Defensive Coordinator, Bob Diaco (pictured) -- enjoy!

LINK:  BRIAN KELLY PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  BOB DIACO INTERVIEW

Father Jenkins to Attend Canonization in Rome

A member of the Congregation of Holy Cross order -- Brother Andre Bessette, C.S.C. (pictured) will be canonized for sainthood on October 17th in the Vatican's St. Peter's Square.  The Congregation of Holy Cross is the order that founded Notre Dame and Blessed Andre is their first member to be granted sainthood.  University of Notre Dame president -- Rev. John I.  Jenkins will lead a delegation from Notre Dame who will be attending this  ceremony.  Here's a link to the South Bend Tribune article as well as a link to a story about the "Miracle Man from Montrel" -- Brother Andre Bessette.

LINK:  NOTRE DAME DELEGATION TO ATTEND CANONIZATION

LINK:  THE MIRACLE MAN FROM MONTREAL

What a Week for ND's Skylar Diggins!

In the past seven days, University of Notre Dame women's basketball star, Skylar Diggins, was invited to be a panelist at ESPN's W. Retreat at The Lodge at Torrey Pines (three days in San Diego) -- joining some of the biggest female sports stars in America.  And, upon her return to the Notre Dame campus she learns that she's one of the thirty named to the John R. Wooden Women's Award Watch List for their player of the year award -- not a bad week!  In August, Skylar was named to the Watch List for the Wade Trophy which is the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's award for the top player in women's college basketball.  Diggins and her Fighting Irish teammates kick-off the 2010-2011 season with their first official practice tomorrow.  Here's a link to a Fox28TV report on Skylar's trip to the ESPN W. Retreat, a link to the Retreat's website and a link to the Wooden Award's website:

LINK:  A GREAT HONOR FOR SKYLAR

LINK:  ESPN W RETREAT

LINK:  WOODEN AWARD'S WATCH LIST

Zibby Fined $5,000 by National Football League

 

Former Notre Dame All-American, Tommy Zbikowski -- and now starting safety for the 3-1 Baltimore Ravens -- was fined $5,000 for "unnecessary roughness" on a Cleveland Browns running back. Zibby threw Peyton Mills to the ground -- garnering a 15-yard penalty and a few days later -- the NFL FINE!  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  ZIBBY FINED $5,000 BY NFL

Think Coach Kelly Expected This?

Have we become to "PC" (Politically Correct) in this country?  I've found two articles this morning complaining about Coach Kelly's "methods" on the Notre Dame sideline.  Folks, ESPN on ABC chose to make this a story Saturday night when they continually put a camera on Coach Kelly when his players came to the sideline.   And, they "conveniently" chose to only show the times he was displeased with one of his players.


THIS IS BIG TIME COLLEGE FOOTBALL -- NOT KINDERGARTEN RECESS!  Why am I'm fully expecting the ACLU or Gloria Allred to be next?

Here's a story written by a guy named Mike Hutton from the Post-Tribune -- which I understand is a Northwest Indiana newspaper.  Maybe I'm too old-school -- you decide:

LINK:  KELLY TOO TOUGH ON PLAYERS

OK Go -- To Perform at Notre Dame Saturday

Some may remember the OK Go music video from this past year that included members of the Band of the Fighting Irish -- performing this pop rock band's hit song "This Too Shall Pass."  Well, OK Go is back this Saturday at Notre Dame -- first they'll play at halftime of the Pitt game with the Band of the Fighting Irish and then after the game they'll play a concert at Legends (the on campus bar) for the Notre Dame students. Here's a link to the OK Go music video that "starred" the Band of the Fighting Irish:

LINK:  OK Go MUSIC VIDEO -- BAND OF THE FIGHTING IRISH

National Player of the Week Honors!

The University of Notre Dame's Melissa Henderson (Garland, TX) was named National Player of the Week by Top Drawer Soccer!  The junior forward scored four goals and an assist in the Irish wins over Big East foes; Syracuse and St. Johns.  In addition, Melissa was also named Big East Offensive Player of the Week -- the second time she's won this award this season.  Congratulations!  The 5th ranked Irish are now 11-1 on the season.  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

A ND GO IRISH BLOG Thank You!

I received a nice note this morning from a life-long Notre Dame fan from Austin, TX -- named Diego Ybarra.  Diego let me know that he has made a habit of starting out most days by checking out the ND GO IRISH BLOG -- thank you!  He has a blog of his own called SWEET BOTTLE OF BANG -- see the link below.  Diego asked for my permission to "re-post"-- my post from last week, concerning an idea I have for Notre Dame and seven other schools -- to create an  "allegiance" of independent football programs (click here).  Thanks Diego for posting it on your site!

LINK:  SWEET BOTTLE OF BANG

Domer -- 4th In Amazing Race Last Night

Thomas Wolfard '02 , and his girlfriend Jill Haney (pictured loading a coffin -- yes a coffin, onto a cart) finished 4th last night in the second episode of Season 17 of CBS's Amazing Race -- meaning they live to see another show!  The good news -- they remain in control of the Express Pass they earned winning the race in England the previous week.  Yesterday, this globe trotting race was in Ghana -- what an experience for these two!  Here's a link to the replay of the episode and a link to their Facebook page:

LINK:  CBS AMAZING RACE

LINK:  THOMAS & JILL'S FACEBOOK PAGE

Clausen Receiving High Marks

Jimmy Clausen started his second game in the NFL yesterday afternoon in the Louisiana SuperDome, home of the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints -- and he did okay.  Clausen and his teammates took the Saints to the final minute -- only to lose 16 - 14.  In the second quarter, Clausen threw his first NFL TD pass, a 55 yard beauty to Panthers RB Jonathan Stewart.  To see a video of his first TD pass, click here.  Here's a link to a Charlotte Observer story about Clausen's performance:

LINK:  CLAUSEN -- STORY

Four Freshmen Score Goals -- Irish Hockey Win!

Jeff Jackson's Fighting Irish got their 2010-2011 season underway yesterday with a 5 - 3 exhibition win over Guelph University.  The Irish Icers were led by FIVE FRESHMEN -- four who scored goals; David Gerths, Mike Voran, Jeff Costello, Anders Lee and T.J. Tynan who had three assists!  Tynan, all 5'-8" 156 lbs. of him is sure to become a crowd favorite with his skills and speed.  The Irish start their season this weekend in St. Louis at the Ice Breaker Invitational with an opening round game against Holy Cross.  Here's a link to the South Bend Tribune story from last night:

LINK:  IRISH HOCKEY WIN

Here's Coach Kelly's Sweater From Last Night

If you're like me -- you thought the sweater that Coach Kelly wore at last night's game was quite sharp.  Well, I searched the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore website and found it.  Here's a link to their website and the specific Adidas sweater the Notre Dame Coaching Staff wore against Boston College on ABC last night:

LINK:  COACHING STAFF SWEATER -- BC GAME

Sunday Conversations With Coach Kelly

The Fighting Irish's Head Coach, Brian Kelly -- met with the media today for a little more than seventeen minutes.  He took their questions concerning last night's 31-13 win over Boston College. Here's a link to an AUDIO recording of this conversation.  Kelly also sat down with UND.COM's Jack Nolan for their weekly Sunday conversation -- here's a link to that as well:

LINK:  COACH BRIAN KELLY WITH MEDIA (AUDIO)

LINK:  COACH KELLY ONE-ON-ONE WITH NOLAN

Jimmy Clausen Throws First NFL TD Pass!

 

Former Notre Dame QB, Jimmy Clausen -- threw his first NFL TD pass today against the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints.  Clausen's TD pass went for 55 yards to the Panthers' RB Jonathan Stewart.  He stepped up in the pocket and threw a strike!  Congratulations Jimmy!  I trust it will be just the first of many for Clausen in a Carolina Panther uniform.  For the game -- Clausen was 11-21 for 146 yards in their 16-14 loss.  His Passer Rating was 90.6 which was just higher than the Saint's Drew Brees who's rating was 90.2  (Photo on left is Clausen celebrating TD pass with Stewart, photo on right, Clausen has the ball he threw for the TD).   Here's a link to the video to Jimmy's TD pass -- a moment he'll never forget!

LINK:  JIMMY CLAUSEN'S FIRST NFL TD PASS!

ESPN'S Post Game Recap of ND's Win Over BC

Here's a link to Kirk Herbstreit's ESPN -- yeah, the network who employs a guy who said Notre Dame has a "high school defense."  Hey Herbie -- the Irish held BC to five yards of rushing last night!  FIVE YARDS!

LINK:  ESPN'S RECAP OF GAME

Media Coverage of ND's 31-13 Win over BC

Here's a look at some of the media coverage, over night, of the Fighting Irish's 31-13 win over Boston College.  This was Notre Dame's first win in Chestnut Hill since 1998.  Just click on the links below:






LINK:  BOSTON GLOBE

LINK:  BOSTON HERALD

LINK:  GREENWICH TIME

LINK:  TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE -- GAME STORY

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE - STORY ON DEFENSE

Player Interviews -- After Irish Victory over BC!

The crew at UND.COM caught up with a few of the Irish players after their 31-13 win over Boston College last night.  Here's a link to the interviews:

LINK:  PLAYER INTERVIEWS

Coach Kelly's Press Conference -- Irish Beat BC!

Here's the link to Coach Kelly's post-game press conference -- after Notre Dame's 31-13 victory over Boston College.  This was Kelly's first road victory with the Irish and it came in his home town.  That's freshman Prince Shembo in the photo getting one of his two QB sacks in the game -- the first of his career!  There's a second link to Highlights from the game with Don Criqui's radio call:

LINK:  COACH KELLY'S PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

Irish Locker Room -- After Win Over BC!

Coach Kelly's been giving the gang at UND.COM great access this season -- and we saw that again last night.  Here's a link to Coach Kelly's post game talk with his team and the singing of the GREATEST college fight song in the land!



LINK:  POST GAME CELEBRATION

Post Game Radio Show -- Irish Beat BC!

Here's a link to the Post Game Radio Show -- Irish win 31 - 13.  Coach Kelly will be happy with the win, not so happy with his team's offensive performance the last three quarters.  Just click on the link:

LINK:  ND POST GAME -- BC WIN

Toronto Paper Ranks College Football Movies...

 

Kind of interesting that the #1 paper in a country not known for football -- let a lone college football -- would run a story yesterday ranking the top college football movies.  Well, that was the case for the Toronto Globe And Mail - and they picked two Notre Dame movie in their top 12!  Rudy was picked #1 and Knute Rockne All-American was ranked #11.  Here's a link to their rankings:

LINK:  COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S BEST MOVIES

The Money on Tonight's Game

Here's what a few of the "betting sites" are saying about tonight's 8 PM EST game between the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and the Eagles of Boston College.  Please know I don't bet -- I really don't!  It's just interesting to see what these so called "experts" are saying about the game and how they analyze each of the teams:


LINK:  BET US -- PREVIEW OF ND vs. BC

LINK:  CAPPERSPICKS -- PREVIEW OF  ND vs. BC

LINK:  ACCUSCORE -- PREVIEW OF ND vs. BC

LINK:  SPORTSODDS -- PREVIEW OF ND vs. BC

Boston Media Coverage -- ND vs. BC

It becomes quite obvious when looking for stories about the Notre Dame vs. Boston College game tonight that Boston is not a "college sports town."  There is very little media coverage of tonight's game -- ONLY ONE STORY in each paper.  Here's what I could find:


LINK:  BOSTON GLOBE STORY

LINK:  BOSTON HERALD STORY

LINK:  WORCESTER HERALD STORY

The Odd Couple: Mishawaka Nun & BC Star

This is a wonderful story about Boston College star linebacker, Mark Herzlich, a cancer survivor and Sister Barbara Ann Hallman -- a devout Notre Dame fan from Our Lady of Angels convent in Mishawaka, IN.  Sister Barbara Ann (a colon cancer survivor) began praying for Herzlich after reading about his cancer diagnosis on May 14, 2009.   That same day she sent a letter to the Boston College star -- letting Herzlich know they would "fight this cancer together."  (The content of this first letter is in the Sports Illustrated story linked below).   Thus, the beginning of a unique relationship between a 75 year-old nun and a 22 year-old linebacker. When Herzlich and his Boston College teammates visited Notre Dame this past season, Sister Barbara Ann was there to finally meet Mark in person.  (The photo is from halftime of that game when then Notre Dame Head Football Coach Charlie Weis gave Mark a framed ND football jersey). Earlier this season, Boston College flew Sister from South Bend to Boston for Herzlich's first game back in uniform -- after missing last season to the cancer.  Here's a WNDU story about their friendship:

LINK:  THE ODD COUPLE

LINK:  SI ARTICLE ON HERZLICH & SISTER BARBARA ANN

An Independent "Consortium" for Football

Here's an idea I'd like to float by the Athletic Directors of the following eight schools:  Notre Dame, Texas, Oklahoma, USC, BYU, Miami, Navy and Army -- and the top executives at NBC and Fox.  FYI:  We launch this in 2015:

The creation of the Consortium of Football Independents (CFI) -- a group of eight college football programs (all independent) that cover each time zone and every top high school recruiting hotbed in the country.  The aforementioned eight schools would have an "allegiance" that would call for the following:

1. They would agree to schedule each other -- on a home and home basis -- every year.
2. They would agree to negotiate their own individual TV contracts with either NBC or FOX -- keeping 100 % of their own revenue.
3. They would all agree to schedule a "13th" game each year  -- a CFI Championship Weekend -- a three day celebration of college football where all eight teams would play.  On Friday night, the #8 and #7 ranked teams in the CFI would play each other.  On Saturday at 1 PM, the #6 and #5 ranked teams would play each other.  At 8 PM the #4 and #3 ranked teams would play each other and then on Sunday evening, the CFI Championship game would pit the #2 and #1 ranked teams.  
4. The revenue generated from the CFI Championship Weekend would be the only revenue the eight schools would ever share in this consortium.  This would become the greatest single collection of games ever in the same city, same facility -- over a 48 hour period -- in the history of sport in America!  Imagine the "rights fees" the CFI could generate from the host city and NBC/FOX.  It would be a bigger "get" than the SUPER BOWL or FINAL FOUR for any US town!
5. Now, if the NCAA wouldn't allow all eight teams to play a 13th game then I'd ask each of the eight schools to play their "rivalry" game on Thanksgiving Weekend -- in the same town, same facility and over the same three day schedule.  (See the proposed "rivalry" game schedule below)  Please note:  The Texas/Oklahoma and ND/USC games would rotate each year from Saturday night to Sunday night if we weren't playing a 13th game.  In this scenario - each of the teams would keep the revenue generated from their specific game -- negotiating their own revenue share with their opponent -- and there would be a revenue share amongst all eight schools on any "over arching" deals that might be packaged for the four game weekend.
6. The CFI would also negotiate an automatic berth in the BCS for the winner (or highest ranked team) and would also secure Bowl deals with the following bowls:  Gator, Cotton, Capital One and Hawaii.
7. Each of the eight teams would keep "100%" of the revenue they generate from earning a spot in a bowl game.
8. The CFI would also establish their own officiating crews -- to handle their games.

Can you imagine a football weekend with the following games in the same city, same facility, same weekend?:

• Friday night at 8PM -- Army vs. Navy
• Saturday at 1 PM -- Miami vs. BYU
• Saturday at 8 PM -- Oklahoma vs. Texas
• Sunday at 8 PM -- Notre Dame vs. USC

The bottom line here is this -- overnight the CFI would become the most powerful voice in college football.

What do you guys think?  All I ask for is 1% of the profits!

A Father and His Son -- The Kelly's

Brian Kelly's Dad -- Paul Kelly sat down for an interview with The Boston Globe this week to talk about his son's rise to the pinnacle of college coaching -- Head Football Coach at the University of Notre Dame.  You'll enjoy the story about the two of them in the Tunnel before Brian's first game in Notre Dame Stadium.  Here's a link:

LINK:  PAUL & BRIAN KELLY

A Family Divided: The Gallup Family

Barry Gallup is a fifth-year senior football player at the University of Notre Dame.  Barry's dad, Barry Sr. -- is the long-time Associate Athletic Director Football Operations at Boston College  Tomorrow's game will be the last time the Irish and Eagles will play each other with the "family-divided."  Here's a link to a story WNDU-TV aired this week on the Gallup's:

LINK:  THE GALLUP FAMILY

PHOTO OF THE DAY: Football Team Charter

Jake Golic, a tight end on the Notre Dame Football team -- just "tweeted" this photo of the team's charter plane to Boston.  Obviously, the team is just now boarding this Delta plane in South Bend.  Got to love the Notre Dame flags flying from the flag poles!

Did ND Fans Catch a Break?

Just saw a promotion on ESPN this morning (during the Ryder Cup delay) that said the Stanford vs. Oregon game and the Notre Dame vs. Boston College game would be on ABC and ESPN2.  When you see this -- it typically means if you're not getting the game on ABC you'll find it on ESPN2.  Now, when I go to the ESPN site and look at their TV schedule for tomorrow's games I only see the Stanford vs. Oregon game being on both networks.  Let's hope ESPN doesn't "stick it" to ND fans and force them to buy a GamePlan package to see the Irish play tomorrow night.  Here's a link to the ESPN TV schedule I'm talking about:

LINK:  ESPN TV SCHEDULE

Notre Dame Athletics Annual Report

The University of Notre Dame's Athletic Department released it's annual report for the 2009-2010 school year yesterday.  Here's a link to where you can view the report online:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS ANNUAL REPORT

Coach Kelly's Press Conference Last Night

Notre Dame Head Football Coach, Brian Kelly met with the media after yesterday's practice -- for the last time prior to the Boston College game tomorrow night.  Here's a link to www.und.com's coverage:


LINK:  BRIAN KELLY PRESS CONFERENCE

Options to Watch the Irish on Saturday

If you've checked out the TV coverage map for the Notre Dame vs. Boston College game on ABC tomorrow night (CLICK HERE) you would have noted that 53% of the households in America won't see the game.  If you live in one of those areas -- blue on this map -- you still have options!  ESPN3 is ESPN's online network which would allow you to watch the game on your computer -- IF, your internet provider is a subscriber to this service.  Here's a list of the ESPN3 Participating Providers.  If you'd rather watch the game on TV, your option would be to subscribe to ESPN GamePlan.  If you don't have a GamePlan subscription you'll need to buy at least a $24 "weekly" subscription.  Here's a link to more information on ESPN GamePlan -- specifically, a list of phone numbers to the various cable services to place your order:

LINK:  ESPN GAMEPLAN