OT: I Think She May Cost Her Husband a Job...

Kristi Malzahn -- wife of Auburn's Offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn appeared last month at a conference called THE SUMMIT.

Besides making fun of former Notre Dame & College Hall of Fame coach Lou Holtz's speech impediment, she goes off on many other subjects...

If I'm an Athletic Director and I see this video -- I wouldn't hire Mr. Malzahn.  His wife is that much of a liability.  If you were ever to start a WIKIPEDIA entry for "LOOSE CANNON" -- you would have to use Kristi Malzahn as the poster child.  You be the judge. 

PLEASE NOTE:  THE VIDEO WAS TAKEN DOWN OFF OF YOUTUBE -- NOT SURPRISED -- HOWEVER, I DID FIND IT ON ANOTHER SITE.


LINK:  SHE'S OUT OF CONTROL

Less Than Four Hours to Kick-Off!

The final football game of the 2011 regular season is just hours away -- and to get you fired up, I thought I'd share a link to Stanford Football Weekly.  You'll see Coach Shaw, Andrew Luck (QB), Chase Thomas (LB) and Jonathan Martin (LT) -- talk about the IRISH.

LINK:  STANFORD FOOTBALL WEEKLY

Notre Dame's South Bend Location Slammed

An article in Business Insider that focused on Nike's relationship with the University of Oregon -- somehow had to take a swipe at the University of Notre Dame's location in northern Indiana.  I guess Notre Dame should take this as a compliment...

LINK:  PHIL KNIGHT'S INFLUENCE ON OREGON

How the IRISH WILL BEAT STANFORD Tonight!

I "channelled" NOSTRADAMUS this morning -- to assist me with a prediction for tonight's game between the #22 Fighting Irish and #4 Stanford Cardinal .  Here's my winning game plan for ND:

1. Zero turnovers for the IRISH
2. Three turnovers for Stanford
3. IRISH sack Luck two times
4. Rees never gets sacked
5. 120 yards rushing from Cierre Wood
6. An actual IRISH punt return -- that is not fair caught -- that goes for a TD! 
7. A blocked punt by the IRISH
8. Three TD's for Michael Floyd -- one is on a WR reverse pass from John Goodman
9. David Ruffer kicks game winning 42 yard field goal as time expires!

FINAL SCORE:  NOTRE DAME 31:  STANFORD 30

Horrible News Yesterday From Irish BBall Team

University of Notre Dame's Tim Abromaitits is out for the season -- after tearing his ACL during practice yesterday.  This is a crushing blow to Tim, his family -- and the ND men's basketball team.  WOW...

LINK:  ABROMAITIS LOST FOR SEASON

LINK:  ESPN STORY

36 Hours to ND Football's Final Exam

It's been a long time since we've had a NOTRE DAME MOMENT -- beating a highly ranked team when we were not expected...

Will tomorrow be that moment?

Here's a link to what's being said by the media about Saturday's game with Stanford.

LINK:  SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

LINK:  SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  ESPN BLOG

ND Athletes Lending a Thanksgiving Hand

Sixteen Notre Dame football players made a trip to Hope Ministries in South Bend yesterday to assist them in their preparation for Thanksgiving.  Here's a link to that story:

LINK:  GIVING BACK

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have to admit this is my favorite holiday of the year.  It's four days full of family, food, fun and football!  We're heading to a Thanksgiving celebration with Grandma Joanie and our Doyle family this afternoon and then off to be with Grandpa Jim this evening.  A GREAT DAY!

It's the first Thanksgiving without Grandma Barb (photo with her great-grandson Jimmy) in our lifetime...  I'll always be thankful to Grandpa & Grandma Doyle for giving our family the "gift" of Notre Dame.

Enjoy the day -- GO LIONS! 

A Tour of the Notre Dame Football Complex

The folks at UND.COM teamed up with Mike Golic, Jr. and Brandon Newman to give Irish fans a tour of the GUG (pronounced GOOOOG) -- home of the Notre Dame football operation.  To say the place is impressive would be an understatement.  Special thanks to ND GO IRISH BLOG regular contributor Kip Sweeney for alerting me to the video tour.

LINK:  ND'S FOOTBALL COMPLEX

Irish Guard Feature on the Irish Connection

The University of Notre Dame's Irish Guard are featured in this week's edition of Irish Connection.  Here's a link:

LINK:  THE IRISH GUARD

Stanford to Debut New Helmet & Jersey on ABC

The Stanford Cardinal will be unveiling this new uniform, shoe and helmet combination for Saturday night's prime-time game on ABC with our Fighting Irish.  Now, I don't think the helmet cost $1,200...

The Most Expensive Football Helmet in History!

Folks, I learned this evening -- from a very reliable source -- that the "hand crafted" football helmets the Fighting Irish wore for the Shamrock Series game against the University of Maryland cost $1,200 each!!!  Now, I'm quite certain the University of Notre Dame did not pay for those helmets -- so I'm guessing the folks at Adidas must have written the check.

Here's a link to Troy Lee Designs -- and their video of how they constructed the ND football helmet -- the most expensive football helmet in the history of the game:

LINK:  THE MOST EXPENSIVE FOOTBALL HELMET OF ALL TIME

Freshman Friday -- You'll Love These...

The gang at UND.COM produce a show called OUR TEAM OUR STORY -- and on Friday's they've been producing features on the freshman class.  You'll enjoy this look at our Irish.

LINK:  TROY NIKLAS

LINK:  CHASE HOUNSHELL

LINK:  CAM McDANIEL

Jonas Gray Can Look To His Hometown Team...

University of Notre Dame running back Jonas Gray, was having the season many of us expected of him when he committed to the Fighting Irish four years ago.   Power and speed -- a wonderful combination for a running back -- and we finally saw it in a GOLD HELMET and the #25 jersey. 

Unfortunately, Gray's season came to an end on Saturday with what appears to be a serious knee injury.

Ironically, the very next day a running back with Jonas's hometown Detroit Lions -- Kevin Smith, returned to football after a serious knee injury kept him away from the game for more than a year.  And, did he ever come back -- 140 yards rushing, 60 yards receiving and THREE TOUCHDOWNS!

Jonas -- you need to seek out Kevin Jones and chat with him on what he did to make it back, better than ever.  Here's a story about Jonas and a second story about Kevin Jones.

ND fans have not seen the last of Jonas Gray on a football field!!!

LINK:  ESPN BLOG STORY

LINK:  KEVIN JONES -- A COMEBACK STORY

Looks Like the Irish @ Champs Sports Bowl

Here's what the 'experts' are projecting as the destination for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team this upcoming bowl season -- THE CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL, December 29th in Orlando.  The opponent -- none other than FREE SHOES UNIVERSITY (Florida State).  Here's a few of the projections:

LINK:  ESPN BLOG

LINK:  CBS SPORTS

LINK:  SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

Fighting Irish Hoops on ESPN2 @ 7:30 PM ET

Mike Brey's Fighting Irish take on the Missouri Tigers TONIGHT at 7:30 PM ET on ESPN2 in the semi-finals of the PROGRESSIVE CBE CLASSIC in Kansas City.  Tonight's game marks the return of Tim Abromaitis -- who has been sidelined by the NCAA for the first four games of the season.  Missouri is ranked #24 in the country - and will be heavy favorites in tonight's game.  Should be fun!

LINK:  BACKGROUND ON TONIGHT'S GAME

#2 Ranked Irish Take on #1 Baylor @ 2 PM ET

Muffet's second ranked Fighting Irish travel to Waco, TX today to play the top ranked Baylor Bears and their 6'-8" center Brittney Griner.  The game will be televised by CBS beginning at 2 PM ET.  So, click away from your NFL game today -- and catch our Fighting Irish on national TV.  Here's a link to today's South Bend Tribune story on the game:

LINK:  #1 vs. #2

UND.COM's Post Game Coverage -- After BC

The gang at UND.COM did it again -- giving the Notre Dame family the BEST IN CLASS coverage we've come to expect from this group of professionals.  Here are the links to game highlights, player interviews and Coach Kelly's post game coverage.

LINK:  COACH KELLY PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  PLAYER COMMENTS

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

Brady Quinn Back In The Bend...

Former Notre Dame All-American QB Brady Quinn returned "home" to campus this weekend -- and the folks at WNDU-TV caught up with him for a quick interview.  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  BRADY QUINN BACK AT ND

The Mornin' After the Irish Beat BC 16 - 14

Took my weekly lap around the web this Sunday morning to check in on the media's reaction to Notre Dame's 16 - 14 win over three win Boston College.  Here's a link to the coverage:

LINK:  CHICAGO SUN TIMES

LINK:  BOSTON GLOBE #1

LINK:  CBS SPORTS

LINK:  BC INTERRUPTION

LINK:  NBC SPORTS

LINK:  ESPN BLOG

LINK:  BOSTON HERALD

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE -- ERIC HANSEN

LINK:  BOSTON HERALD #2

LINK:  CHICAGO SUN TIMES #2

LINK:  FORT WAYNE JOURNAL

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE #2

LINK:  BOSTON GLOBE #2

LINK:  FORT WAYNE JOURNAL #2

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE #3

LINK:  WNDU-TV

LINK:  CHICAGO SUN TIMES #3

LINK:  GRAND RAPIDS PRESS