Domer Kevin Ford '82 -- Back to Earth!

Notre Dame alum Kevin Ford '82, (that's him on the right) -- Captain of the International Space Station (Expedition 34) -- returned safely to earth in the past hour in a Soyuz space capsule in a remote area of Central Asia (Kazakhstan).

You're going to find the "departure" video from the Soyuz capsule -- interesting...

Ford led a 142 day mission at the International Space Station.


LINK:  VIDEO OF FORD LEAVING CAPSULE 

LINK:  CHANGE OF COMMAND CEREMONY

LINK:  STORY CONFIRMING LANDING

ESPN Critiques Notre Dame's Adidas Jersey

Digger and his crew at ESPN had some fun critiquing Notre Dame's new Adidas jersey...

LINK:  FASHION POLICE

Louisville Up Next for the IRISH -- Tonight!

The beat goes on...

The Fightin' Irish will play their third game in three days at the "world's most famous arena" -- Madison Square Garden.  Tonight's Big East Tournament opponent is Louisville -- a team we've split games with this season.

It's going to be tough one -- we stay close the first seven minutes and I think we can win!

The game will probably tip-off around 9:45 PM ET tonight on ESPN.  GO IRISH!!!


LINK:  GAME PREVIEW -- UND

LINK:  ND vs. LOUISVILLE -- GAME PREVIEW

LINK:  MADDUX SPORTS

LINK:  PRE-GAME

Where Are They Now -- Adrian Dantley

I found this story quite enlightening...

Former Notre Dame All-American and NBA Hall of Famer, Adrian Dantley -- has a new job these days -- I believe you'll be quite surprised!

LINK:  WHAT ADRIAN DANTLEY IS DOING...

Brian Kelly on MSNBC's "Morning Joe"

The University of Notre Dame's Brian Kelly was on the "Morning Joe" show this past Wednesday morning -- to talk about the KELLY GANG...

Unfortunately, Joe Scarborough is an Alabama fan.

LINK:  BRIAN KELLY INTERVIEW -- SCROLL DOWN THE PAGE

Big Win for IRISH -- Now It's Louisville!

Folks, if you watched the first half -- of the first half -- you would have never guessed this outcome.

The IRISH missed 15 of their first 17 shots to start the game...

Yet, NOTRE DAME WINS!!!

The Irish beat Marquette 73 - 65 to move on to the Big East Tournament semi-finals tomorrow night against Louisville.  This is ND's fourth straight trip to the semi-finals.

Here's a look at what the media is saying about the Irish's big win!


LINK:  IRISH ICON -- GOOD STUFF!

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS 

LINK:  NEW YORK POST

LINK:  MILWAUKEE JOURNAL 

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

LINK:  ESPN COVERAGE

Brian Kelly -- Grand Marshal Chicago Parade!

The University of Notre Dame's head football coach Brian Kelly is the Grand Marshal of the 2013 St. Patrick's Day Parade in Chicago this Saturday!  The parade kicks off at NOON CT.   The parade route:  Columbus Drive at Balboa going north to Monroe Street.

Turning the CHICAGO RIVER GREEN begins at 10 AM CT -- photo above.

Rumor has it that Notre Dame's Bagpipe Band will march with Coach Kelly.

If you're in Chicago Saturday -- you'll want to JOIN IN THE FUN and yell GO IRISH! to Coach Kelly!!!  If you can't make it to the parade -- ABC-7 Chicago will be broadcasting LIVE beginning at NOON CT.

LINK:  COACH KELLY -- GRAND MARSHAL

Inside Look at Big East Tournament Champs!

The folks at Fighting Irish Digital Media just released an "inside look" at Notre Dame's Big East Tournament Championship -- you'll enjoy this access!

LINK:  IRISH ICON

Irish Win Last Night -- Marquette Tonight !!!

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish trotted out their new Adidas jersey, shorts, sock and shoe combo last night in "grand fashion" -- beating Rutgers 69 - 61 in the world's most famous arena  -- Madison Square Garden in the Big East Tournament.

The IRISH now face #3 tournament seed Marquette at 9 PM ET tonight -- a game that will be televised on ESPN.  Here's the media coverage from last night's win:

LINK:  ESPN COVERAGE

LINK:  UND

LINK:  IRISH ICON

LINK:  NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

LINK:  NEW JERSEY STAR LEDGER

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

The IRISH Play Rutgers Tonight @ 9 PM ET

You can watch Notre Dame's opening game of the Big East Tournament against Rutgers -- tonight on ESPN2 at 9 PM ET.  It's our last time playing in this event...

The IRISH beat Rutgers back in January 69 - 66 at home -- in their only meeting this season.  It's going to be a tough game!  The photo above is of Rutger's Wally Judge -- who went 9 for 9 from the field last night in their win over DePaul...

LINK:  GAME PREVIEW

The Catholic Church Has a New Pope!

The College of Cardinals have completed their Conclave in less than 30 Hours -- just selecting the next Pope.  His name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina.  He has taken the name Pope Francis -- the first to take this name -- and the 266th Pope in the Church's history.  He is 76 years old.  Here's the live coverage!

LINK:  FOX NEWS COVERAGE

Notre Dame's Relay For Life Auction -- Bid Now!

The University of Notre Dame's UR Relay For Life Auction just went live today at NOON EST.

Over the next 48 hours -- you can bid on many items -- with all of the proceeds going towards fighting Cancer.

There are 80 UNIQUE ITEMS that Notre Dame fans would love -- so get to the site and BID!

The Auction ends Friday at Noon!

LINK:  RELAY FOR LIFE AUCTION

LIVE -- Conclave Chimney Webcam

Thought the ND GO IRISH BLOG followers might appreciate a LIVE link to a webcam pointed at the Chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel -- where the Conclave is taking place in Vatican City.

Here's the projected voting schedule today:

• 12:30 PM ET
• 2:00 PM ET

LINK:  LIVE WEBCAM

Photo of the Day: ND Students in Rome!

You've got to love this sign made by a number of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College (Notre Dame, IN) students who are in Rome over Spring Break...

The Mornin' After: Big East Champions!

The #2 ranked Fightin' Irish keep racking up the wins -- we're at 26 IN A ROW and counting -- for a team that wasn't even ranked in the top ten in the preseason rankings.  And last night's win came over arch-rival UCONN -- the third time Notre Dame has beat them this season!

Here's what the media has to say about ND's first Big East Tournament Championship in basketball!

LINK:  ESPN

LINK:  HARTFORD COURANT

LINK:  HARTFORD COURANT #2

LINK:  NEW YORK TIMES

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

LINK:  POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE 

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  BIG EAST SITE

Notre Dame -- BIG EAST TOURNEY CHAMPS!

Folks, they have won 26 straight -- THREE THIS YEAR OVER UCONN -- as the Lady Irish win 61 - 59 and the first BIG EAST TOURNAMENT Championship!!!

And, they win it on the ROAD -- in front of the UCONN home crowd.

The win is the seventh for Notre Dame in the last eight times these two teams have played -- INCREDIBLE!

LINK:  BOX SCORE

The Move to the ACC Becomes Official July 1st

Jack Swarbrick made the announcement this afternoon that Notre Dame would become an official member of the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1st.  It's going to be fun!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME COACHES' REACTION

The IRISH Take on UCONN Again -- 7 PM ET

How many times can you BEAT one team in the same season?

For the third time this season (second time in eight days) -- of what's expected could be a four-game series once the NCAA Tournament is completed -- the #2 ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame will take on the #3 ranked Huskies of UCONN in the Big East Tournament Championship game.

The game tips off at 7 PM ET TONIGHT -- with TV coverage provided by ESPN.

Here's a preview of the game:  ND vs. UCONN

OT -- Jeff Gordon "Test Drive" -- MUST SEE!

Folks, if this doesn't get your heart racing -- with a few laughs thrown in -- NOTHING WILL!

You must watch this video!

LINK:  JEFF GORDON'S PEPSI MAX TEST DRIVE

Muffet's Irish "One and Done" With New Gear

Well, the new uniforms that Adidas provided the Notre Dame women's basketball team (photo above) are history...

Adidas provided a number of schools with a new uniform combination to wear for their conference tournaments and the NCAA tournaments -- Notre Dame was one of those schools.

The Irish wore the new gear in their opening round game in the Big East Tournament Monday night -- however, the team voted after the game -- not to wear them again.  Notre Dame donned their regular home uniform combination in the win last night over Louisville.

It will be interesting to see what Mike Brey's team does -- will they wear the new uniform combination tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden?


PS:  I have to admit I like the jersey top on its own and I like the shorts -- on their own.  Together, not so much...

LINK:  ONE AND DONE WITH UNIFORM