Notre Dame Has Arrived at the FINAL FOUR!

The 36 - 0 Notre Dame Fighting Irish have arrived in Nashville this evening for the NCAA Final Four -- their fourth straight year!  Here's some photos "tweeted" by the Women's Final Four Twitter account along with a link to WATCHND's coverage of the Fighting Irish in Nashville:

LINK:  TEAM'S ARRIVAL

Muffet's "Tweet" Before Leaving for Final Four

"It's not about the cards you're dealt but how you play the hand. Just because we don't have an "ace" up our sleeve doesn't mean we're gonna fold." 

-- Muffet McGraw

Photos of Kathryn Westbeld: McDonald's Game

 

Incoming Notre Dame women's basketball recruit Kathryn Westbeld played in yesterday's McDonald's All-American game at Chicago's United Center.  Kathryn made the only shot she took and grabbed a couple of offensive rebounds in ten minutes of play.

LINK:  BOX SCORE

NFL Films: Louis Nix III "On The Clock"

The NFL has their new media darling -- Louis "Irish Chocolate" Nix...

LINK:  ON THE CLOCK

Seven Domers Drafted in This NFL Mock Draft

Here's a computer simulation of the upcoming 2014 NFL Draft that has seven former Notre Dame student-athletes being drafted by teams.  I won't ruin the surprise:

LINK:  NFL DRAFT

Brianna Turner Named McDonald's Game MVP!

Notre Dame women's basketball's incoming Gatorade National Player of the Year, Brianna Turner -- played tonight in the McDonald's All-American game at Chicago's United Center with the top players in the country and she walked away with the game MVP!

Brianna is the second Notre Dame hoops recruit to receive this honor -- the first, a young lady named Skylar Diggins...

Brianna had a "double-double," scored the winning bucket for the West Team with 53 seconds left and then for good measure blocked a shot late in the game to ensure the victory!

Congratulations Brianna!

LINK:  ESPN GAME STORY

Notre Dame Football Assistant Coaches Talk

The gang at Fighting Irish Digital Media caught up with a number of the Notre Dame football assistant coaches today;  Tony Alford, Kerry Cooks, Matt LaFleur and Mike Elston.  Enjoy!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL COACHES

Positive Weather Forecast for Blue Gold Game!

This is the current weather forecast from ACCU-WEATHER (as of Wednesday, April 9th) of what we can expect here at Notre Dame for the BLUE GOLD GAME.

LINK:  WEATHER FORECAST

Watch Turner & Westbeld Tonight on ESPNU

The McDonald's High School All-American game will be played tonight at 7:00 PM ET on ESPNU -- and Fighting Irish fans will want to keep an eye-on future Notre Dame student-athletes; Brianna Turner (on left) and Kathryn Westbeld (on right) seen in the photo above at the All-American banquet last night.

Brianna 6'-3" -- the Gatorade National Player of the Year will be playing for the West Squad and wearing uniform #11.  Kathryn 6'-2" -- will be playing for the East Squad.

LINK:  BRIANNA TURNER

LINK:  KATHRYN WESTBELD

Notre Dame Knows Their Final Four Opponent

The team that gave Notre Dame its most difficult test of the season -- the Maryland Terrapins (pictured above) -- beat the higher seeded Louisville Cardinals (in the Cards own gym) last night to advance to Sunday's Final Four game against our Fighting Irish.

These two teams last met January 27th in College Park, MD -- with the IRISH prevailing 87 - 83.  This is one of only two times this season where an opponent kept the deficit to under 10 points against the IRISH.  Natalie Achonwa scored 7 points and grabbed 3 rebounds in that game (playing only 21 minutes of the game) -- see box score below.

Here's the challenge -- Maryland has a big, talented line-up led by a 6'-2" All-American Alyssa Thomas who put up 29 points in the first game against our Irish.  Here's their starting line-up last night against Louisville:

• Alicia DeVaughn:  6'-4"  -- scored 16 against ND
• Brionna Jones:  6'-3" -- didn't start against ND -- but scored 6 off bench
• Alyssa Thomas:  6'-2" -- scored 29 against ND
• Lexie Brown:  5'-9" -- scored 9 points against ND
• Katie Rutan:  5'-9" -- didn't score

LINK:  ESPN PREVIEW STORY

LINK:  BOX SCORE FROM FIRST GAME:  ND vs. MARYLAND

Under Armour's Marketing to Notre Dame Fans

Folks, Under Armour will be a much different partner for the University of Notre Dame -- in a great way.  Here's a perfect example -- here we are, three months out from the start of their partnership with ND and Under Armour is soliciting fans to sign-up to be "in the know" as to what they're planning for Notre Dame.

I love it.

If you want to sign-up -- click on the link below:

LINK:  BE IN THE KNOW

Must See: Mike Brey's "April Fool's Day" Prank

Former Notre Dame student-athlete turned broadcaster Jordan Cornette was pranked today by his former head coach Mike Brey.  This is pretty good!

LINK:  APRIL FOOL'S PRANK

Loyd & McBride -- Must Lead the Irish Now...

With the serious knee injury (a torn ACL -- just reported by Notre Dame at 2:30 PM ET) to Natalie Achonwa -- Notre Dame's "do-it-all" All-American sophomore Jewell Loyd is going to have to replicate her effort last night where she took the game into her own hands.

And, Notre Dame's other All-American Kayla McBride needs to stay on the floor...

Here is a link to ESPN's Graham Hays story about last night's effort from the IRISH:

LINK:  ESPN STORY

The Mornin' After Notre Dame's Big Win!

The Fighting Irish are FINAL FOUR bound for the fourth straight year!  They will play the winner of tonight's Maryland vs. Louisville game this Sunday in Nashville.

Now, we wait until we hear the results of what looked to be a very serious knee injury to Notre Dame senior Natalie Achonwa.  You'll see a video linked below (ESPN COVERAGE) where Natalie was interviewed after the game.

LINK:  ESPN COVERAGE

LINK:  POST GAME CELEBRATION 

LINK:  MUFFET POST GAME 

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

Five Domers on MLB OPENING DAY Rosters!

Major League Baseball is officially back today -- and five former Notre Dame student-athletes are on major league rosters;  Jeff Samardzija (Cubs), David Phelps (Yankees), John Axford (Indians), Jeff Manship (Phillies) and A.J. Pollock (Diamondbacks).

Samardzija made history this afternoon for the Cubs.  He pitched seven scoreless innings against the Pirates today -- yet the Cubs lost 1 - 0 in ten innings.  Samardzija is the first Chicago Cubs pitcher to throw "back to back" scoreless starts on Opening Day in 80 years!

To learn more about each of these former Irish stars -- click on their name below:

LINK:  JEFF SAMARDZIJA -- PITCHER

LINK:  DAVID PHELPS -- PITCHER

LINK:  JOHN AXFORD -- PITCHER

LINK:  JEFF MANSHIP -- PITCHER

LINK:  A.J. POLLOCK -- OUTFIELDER

Samardzija's Opening Day Start Tomorrow!

Former Notre Dame All-American Jeff Samardzija takes the mound tomorrow for his second straight Opening Day start for the Chicago Cubs -- and ironically it happens again at PNC Park in Pittsburgh against the Pirates.

First pitch is thrown at 1:05 PM ET -- here's some stories about Jeff's start tomorrow:

LINK:  2ND STRAIGHT OPENER

LINK:  CSN CHICAGO

HBO's Real Sports: Graduating College Athletes

Bryant Gumbel's Real Sports on HBO produced a story this past week on what a number of universities have been doing to graduate their student-athletes -- namely; University of North Carolina, University of Michigan, University of Oklahoma, Baylor University, Iowa State University and the University of Memphis.

If you get the chance -- go to HBO and watch the entire show.  It's an eye-opener...  Plus, there is a second link here to an article I found in a North Carolina newspaper about this HBO story:

LINK:  TRAILER

LINK:  NEWS OBSERVER

NCAA Regionals: ND Met With the Media Today

Muffet and her Fighting Irish met with the media today to talk about tomorrow night's game against Baylor for a trip to Nashville and the FINAL FOUR.  Here's the replay:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME NCAA PRESSER

FIGHTING FOR LIFE: The Bobby Russell Story

Notre Dame fans are going to want to watch this story...

LINK:  BOBBY RUSSELL

Up Next: Odyssey and the Baylor Bears

She's only 42 points away from setting the all-time points record for a single season for women's college basketball...

Standing in Odyseey's Sims way is the defense of Jewell Loyd, Kayla McBride and the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

Here is what the media has to say about tomorrow night's NCAA Regional Final between Notre Dame (35 - 0) and the Baylor Bears (32 - 4).  The fun begins at 7:30 PM ET on ESPN.

LINK:  ESPNW -- CHARLIE CREME

LINK:  ESPN'S LOBO & LAWSON

LINK:  ESPN'S WHITE & MOWINS