Brown and Bettis -- NFL Hall of Fame Finalists

The NFL recently announced their "finalists" for the NFL Hall of Fame's Class of 2011 and two former Irish stars were among the 17 finalists -- Tim Brown and Jerome Bettis.  For Brown, this is his second year of Hall of Fame eligibility for the former Heisman Trophy winner.  He's a nine-time Pro Bowler, ranks fourth all-time with 1,094 receptions, and is sixth all-time with 100 receiving touchdowns.  This is Jerome Bettis' first year of eligibility for the NFL Hall of Fame.  The 2006 Super Bowl Champion, ranks fifth on the NFL's all time rushing list with 13,662 yards in 13 seasons.  To be elected into the NFL Hall of Fame you must have received approval from 80% of the NFL's 44-person committee -- which will gather in Dallas on February 5th to vote.   There is an online NFL Hall of Fame "Fan's Choice" voting contest going on right now -- it won't influence the committe's vote -- but, it's fun.  Here's a link to where you can vote for Tim and Jerome:

LINK:  VOTE FOR TIM BROWN AND JEROME BETTIS!

Ian Williams Playing in Senior Bowl Today!

Today will be the last time Ian Williams will wear his "GOLD HELMET" in a football game.  Williams, Notre Dame's lone representative in the Senior Bowl -- has spent the week under the tutelage of the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals coaching staff.  His position coach, Jay Hayes -- now in his eighth year with the Bengals -- was a Grad Assistant on Lou Holtz's staff during the 1988 National Championship season.  Kick-off is set for 4:00 PM EST today -- on the NFL NETWORK.  Ian's playing for the NORTH and will be wearing uniform #96.  Here's a link to William's profile for the Senior Bowl and a link to a Mock Draft analysis of his NFL Draft value:

LINK:  IAN WILLIAMS -- SENIOR BOWL PROFILE 

LINK:  IAN WILLIAMS -- NFL DRAFT VALUE

Taking Your iPad to Class @ Notre Dame

Notre Dame Assistant Professor Corey Angst (photo) - in the Mendoza College of Business, is receiving more and more national attention for his move to use iPads as textbooks in his classroom.  The Wall Street Journal is the latest to take notice to what's going on at Notre Dame.  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S IPAD CLASS

Six Coming Back for a Fifth in Gold Helmet!

Brian Kelly released the names of the players who have been invited to come back for a "fifth year" in the ND football program yesterday.  They are as follows;  Taylor Dever (OT), Andrew Nuss (OG), Gary Gray (DB), Harrison Smith (S), David Ruffer (PK) and Mike Ragone (TE).  This starts a "naming convention" that I'm not fond of called "FIFTH YEAR SENIORS."  Typically, every ND football player who's granted a fifth year has graduated on time and haS enrolled in grad school to continue their playing eligibility.  Thus -- they're FIRST YEAR GRAD STUDENTS.  I'd really like to see Notre Dame's Sports Information Department begin using this "description" when identifying these players.  Anyway -- here's a link to the South Bend Tribune story on the fifth year players:

LINK:  TAKING THE FIFTH

ND Athlete -- National Swimmer of the Week!

Frank Dyer (Loudonville, NY), was named the Counsilman-Hunsaker National College Swimmer of the Week by CollegeSwimming.com -- for his five wins in a meet against Northwestern and Cleveland State on January 12th.  The freshman was also named Big East Conference Swimmer of the Week.  Congratulations Frank!  Here's a a link to the UND.COM story:

LINK:  IRISH ATHLETE NAMED NATIONAL SWIMMER OF THE WEEK!

11 Wins By 30 or More Points This Season!

Muffet McGraw's #9 Fighting Irish have "quietly" made a statement -- half way through this basketball season.  The other night, one of the "experts" at ESPN predicted Notre Dame would be a FINAL FOUR team -- citing their dominating wins and their performance against UCONN.  This past week, the Irish destroyed #23 St. John's 69-36 -- their eleventh win by more than 30 points this season -- establishing a new school record!  The Irish are off until this Saturday when the travel to Philadelphia to take on Villanova.  Here's a link to video highlights of the win over St. John's:

LINK:  IRISH WIN BIG!

Weis' Former Players -- Have His Back!

Frankly, I was glad to see today's article in the South Bend Tribune.  From what you hear, Charlie Weis made his share of enemies over his five-years at Notre Dame -- the media turned on him pretty quick (note the Sporting News cover).  I for one -- and I might be on a short list -- am thankful for all Charlie did for our program.  He proved that Notre Dame can recruit elite talent again -- Bob Davie and Ty Willingham weren't convinced this could be done.  He also brought some "bravado" back into this program -- however short lived.  And, he brought back what I like to call "Notre Dame Moments" -- like "Pass Right."  A big thank-you to ND GO IRISH BLOG regular contributor, Dr. Jim Clancy for alerting me to this story.  Today's South Bend Tribune interviewed a number of former players -- now in the NFL -- who played for Charlie at Notre Dame -- here's a link to the article:

LINK:  CHARLIE'S BOYS -- HAVE HIS BACK

Irish Now Ranked #6 in the RPI Rankings!

Notre Dame's big road win last night over #2 ranked Pittsburgh -- has vaulted them to #6 in the all important RPI rankings for college basketball.  This ranking system is used heavily by the NCAA Tournament Committee each season.  BIG, BIG, BIG WIN last night!  Here's a link to the South Bend Tribune story, the Pittsburgh Gazette story and the link to the RPI rankings:




LINK:  SBT -- IRISH UPSET #2 PITT!

LINK:  PITTSBURGH GAZETTE -- SLOW COOKED IRISH STEW

LINK:  IRISH RANKED #6 IN LATEST RPI RANKINGS

We Filled Notre Dame Stadium Today!

The ND GO IRISH BLOG reached the 80,579 UNIQUE VISITOR mark at 7:09 AM EST this morning -- when a Notre Dame fan in London, England logged onto the site!  Some may recall, this was a stated goal -- to fill every seat in Notre Dame Stadium (capacity; 80,579).  Well, we accomplished this on January 25, 2011 -- exactly 366 days after the blog's launch on January 24, 2010.

During this past year "and a day" -- Notre Dame fans from all 50 states and now 127 countries have made the ND GO IRISH BLOG one of their "must visits" on the web.  THANK YOU!!!!

The next goal is to exceed the 109,901 unique visitor mark -- which just happens to be the "stated" capacity of the University of Michigan's football stadium -- the largest seating capacity in football.

ND's Chief Investment Officer on CNBC

Scott Malpass '84 & '86, the Chief Investment Officer at the University of Notre Dame -- made an appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box yesterday -- to talk about the university's $6.8 billion endowment -- and their investment mix.  Scott has led ND's Investment Office since 1989 -- taking over an endowment that totaled $425 million at the time.  He's a real "superstar" in the world of managing endowments.  Here's a link to yesterday's interview.

LINK:  SCOTT MALPASS ON CNBC

Huge Win for the IRISH over #2 Pitt!

The University of Notre Dame "shocked the basketball world" this evening with a 56-51 win over the #2 ranked team in the country -- the Pitt Panthers!  Taking a page out of last year's playbook -- running the BURN OFFENSE -- the Irish controlled the tempo of the game from start to finish.  This is a huge win for the IRISH and their RPI ranking for the NCAA Tournament.  Beating the #2 team in the nation -- on their home court -- HUGE!  This marks the fourth win this year for the Irish -- against a top-twenty ranked team!!!  And, they did it without Abromaitis (who averages 15 pts. a game) making a field goal -- think about that!  WAY TO GO IRISH!  Here's a link to ESPN's box score and story:

LINK:  ESPN RECAP:  IRISH WIN!!!

The Next Great Notre Dame Movie?

Production is scheduled to begin SOON, on the Notre Dame campus, for a movie tentatively entitled "Two Miles From Home."  The film will detail the inspiring recovery of Haley Scott, a Notre Dame swimmer who was on the team's charter bus when it crashed on the Indiana Toll Road in January 1992 -- just two miles from the Notre Dame campus. Two Irish swimmers, Megan Beeler and Colleen Hipp, were killed in that accident and Scott was left facing a life of paralysis.  Yet, after six back operations and physical / emotional hardships Haley was able to swim once again for the Irish -- just 21 months later!  I'm quite sure Haley's book; "What Though the Odds" -- inspired this movie.  I frankly like that title better for the movie!!!  Here's a replay of a WNDU-TV story and a link to where you can buy Hayley's book:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S NEXT RUDY?

LINK:  "WHAT THOUGH THE ODDS" -- HALEY'S STORY

Lemming Ranks ND's Recruiting Class #1!

College football recruiting guru, Tom Lemming -- released his weekly rankings of the top recruiting classes in the country this morning and guess who's at the top of the list -- the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame!!!  Now, the list will probably change a couple more times before next Tuesday's National Signing Day.  But -- it's encouraging!!!!  Here's his top twenty:

1. Notre Dame
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. Florida State
5. LSU
6. Southern California
7. Ohio State
8. Clemson
9. Auburn
10. South Carolina
11. Florida
12. Georgia
13. Oregon
14. Illinois
15. California
16. Arkansas
17. Virginia
18. Washington
19. North Carolina
20. Wisconsin

Here's a link to Tom Lemming's blog -- if you'd like to subscribe:

LINK:  TOM LEMMING'S BLOG

Notre Dame Football Awards Show -- VIDEO

The 2010 Notre Dame Football Awards Show took place Saturday night at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center -- and the event "kicked-off" with a video of the 2010 season.  I thought you would enjoy seeing this -- here's a link:

LINK:  2010 ND FOOTBALL AWARDS SHOW VIDEO

Notre Dame Hoops on ESPN Tonight

Mike Brey's 15th ranked Fighting Irish take on the #2 ranked Pitt Panthers this evening -- on national television!  ND needs a big win on the road -- and tonight would be the perfect time to do just that.  The game tips off at 7 PM EST on ESPN's Big Monday.  Here's a link to UND.COM's notes for tonight's game:

LINK:  UND.COM -- IRISH TAKE ON THE PANTHERS

PHOTO OF THE DAY: Shamrocks @ ND!

This photo was sent to the ND GO IRISH BLOG this morning from the good folks at the  Detroit Catholic Central Swim Team.  The "Shamrocks" (ranked 5th in Michigan's high school swim team rankings) were competing in the 2nd Annual Great Lakes States Invitational at the the University of Notre Dame this weekend.  This photo was taken at the Eck Visitor Center on Friday.

Floyd MVP -- 2010 Football Awards Show

The University of Notre Dame football team tried something "new" last night -- and no it wasn't the spread offense.  Brian Kelly wanted to change up the "tried and true" banquet that every team from grade school to college has conducted to celebrate a season's end -- with something more "fast paced."  This should not come as a surprise to ND football fans!  So, last night in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center on the Notre Dame campus -- a new tradition was created.  It's called the Football Awards Show -- and, from all accounts -- it was a huge success.  Michael Floyd was named the team's Most Valuable Player -- and ten other awards were handed out:

Most Valuable Player: junior wide receiver Michael Floyd.

Nick Pietrosante Award (most inspirational player): senior running back Robert Hughes.

Guardian of the Year Award: sophomore offensive tackle Zack Martin.

Lineman of the Year Award: senior nose guard Ian Williams.

Rockne Student-Athlete Award: senior kicker David Ruffer.

Next Man In Award: freshman quarterback Tommy Rees.

Special Teams Player of the Year: freshman wide receiver Bennett Jackson.

Offensive Newcomer of the Year: sophomore tight end Tyler Eifert.

Defensive Newcomer of the Year: freshman outside linebacker Prince Shembo.

Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year: freshman running back Cameron Roberson.

Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year: freshman linebacker Kendall Moore.

Here's a link to a replay of the 2010 Football Awards Show -- please know this about the video link.  I'm sitting here in a hotel room in Lewiston, NY (Barton Hill Hotel & Spa) -- the morning after Niagara University's 122-121 victory over Canisius -- our youngest son Brady swims for Niagara.  And, I've tried to watch the replay of the Show (with not the best internet connection) and the first ten minutes of the video is just crowd noise.  Advance the video to the ten minute mark and that's where the show starts.  The gang at UND.COM will probably realize this soon enough and it will be fixed.  SO BE PATIENT!

LINK:  2010 FOOTBALL AWARDS SHOW

2010 Football Awards Show -- TODAY!

The University of Notre Dame's "first ever" 2010 Football Awards Show is being held tonight at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center -- and the gang at UND.COM will be providing LIVE COVERAGE!  The fun begins at 4:15 PM EST when UND.COM goes live with a Pre-Awards Show -- followed by the live coverage of Notre Dame's 2010 Football Awards Show at 5 PM EST.  Here are the links below!



LINK:  UND.COM'S -- PRE SHOW

LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S 2010 FOOTBALL AWARDS SHOW

#3 Meets The Media...

Brian Kelly's biggest "get" this off-season was a fourth year out of Mr. Michael Floyd.  You'll recall earlier this month, Michael made the decision to return to Notre Dame for his senior year -- turning down the opportunity to enter the NFL draft.  Floyd met with the assembled media today at Notre Dame -- here's a link:

LINK:  MICHAEL FLOYD'S PRESS CONFERENCE

Coach Kelly -- Today's Press Conference

University of Notre Dame head football coach, Brian Kelly -- met with the media today to discuss the 2010 football season -- prior to the team's 2010 Football Awards Show tomorrow.  Here's a link to his session today with the media:

LINK:  BRIAN KELLY -- PRESS CONFERENCE