Sunday, January 18, 2015

Domer Golden Tate Earns Ticket to Pro Bowl!


Former Notre Dame All-American Golden Tate finally received the phone call he should have received weeks ago -- he's headed to Phoenix to play in the NFL's Pro Bowl game.

Golden led the Lions with 99 catches and 1,331 yards receiving.

LINK:  GOLDEN TATE -- NFL PRO BOWL

Brian Kelly's Biggest Recruiting Trip of the Year


The folks at Fox Sports recount Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly's trip to Las Vegas and Indianapolis during the NCAA mandated recruiting "quiet period."

Interesting to learn that Notre Dame is purchasing "loss of value" insurance coverage for players willing to stay another year.

It landed the Fighting Irish two "FIVE STAR" recruits who will see "early" playing time next season...

LINK:  RECRUITING TRIP

Irish Hockey's Jeff Jackson Gets Win #400 !!!


Notre Dame hockey's Jeff Jackson just recorded his 400th career win as a head coach as the Fighting Irish beat UCONN 6 -1.

Congratulations Coach Jackson!

Ric Flair Weighs In On Domer's Impersonation


Former Notre Dame student-athlete Sergio Brown -- has earned the respect of Ric Flair with his Indianapolis Colts locker room impression...

Have to admit, I never thought there would be a Ric Flair post on the ND GO IRISH BLOG.

LINK:  RIC FLAIR

Notre Dame Basketball: ACC & NCAA Ranking


A 17 - 2 start to the 2014 - 2014 season for Notre Dame -- and a #12 ranking -- has turned the heads of many in the college basketball world.  Here's how the IRISH stack up in the ACC and the NCAA in a number of statistical categories:


ACC -- 15 TEAMS:
  • 2nd place in the league -- "half game out of first"
  • Field Goal % -- 1st in the ACC
  • 3 Point Field Goals Made -- 1st in the ACC 
  • Points Per Game -- 2nd in the ACC
  • Free Throw % -- 2nd in the ACC
  • 3 Point Field Goal % -- 2nd in the ACC
  • Turnover Per Game (Fewest) -- 2nd in the ACC
  • Jerian Grant is 2nd in the ACC in assists per game
  • Zach Auguste is 2nd in the ACC in field goal percentage
  • Demetrius Jackson is 4th in the ACC in steals per game

NCAA -- 351 TEAMS:
  • Field Goal % -- 2nd in the country
  • Points per game -- 12th in the country
  • 3 Point Field Goal % -- 17th in the country
  • 3 Point Field Goals Per Game -- 18th in the country
  • Assists Per Game -- 29th in the country

A "Fighting Irish" Family -- A Must Read Story


Many of you may remember the name Brian Hardin -- he's the former Director of Football Media Relations at the University of Notre Dame...

Brian, left ND for a job at Ball State University -- as its Deputy Athletics Director -- two year's ago this month.

This is a story about the Hardin family -- a "FIGHTING IRISH" family -- and their journey to bring their infant son Bennett home.

You are going to want to read this:

LINK:  THE LONG WAY HOME

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Mike Brey With Media After Big Win Over Miami!


Here is Coach Mike Brey with the media today after Notre Dame's 75 - 70 win over Miami.  Here he is in the locker room:

LINK:  COACH BREY

Go Inside the Notre Dame Locker Room Today


The #12 ranked Fighting Irish continue to impress!  Today it was a big win over a Miami Hurricanes team that had yet to lose on the road this season...

That's Fr. Ralph Haag, C.S.C., -- Rector at St. Ed's Hall -- in the black clerics with his back to the camera.

Here's Coach Brey with his team -- at halftime and after -- as the IRISH roll over Miami!

LINK:  INSIDE THE IRISH

Notre Dame Ring Of Honor Ceremony Today!


Notre Dame's all-time leading rebounder Tommy Hawkins -- was enshrined today in ND's Ring Of Honor.

Here's the video:

LINK:  RING OF HONOR

Another Big Win For the "Small Ball" IRISH!


#12 Notre Dame played much of the game today against Miami with a line-up feature "five players" all under 6' - 7" tall and the Fighting Irish came out victorius 75 - 70 to go 17 - 2 on the season!!!  This was Miami's first road loss of the season.

Miami came into the game having beaten #4 Duke (Tuesday) at Cameron Indoor Arena by the score of 90 - 74 -- after, Coach K called the Miami back court -- "the best in the ACC..."

Well, there's a "BACK COURT IN SOUTH BEND" who might disagree!

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  ESPN RECAP

LINK:  VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

#12 Notre Dame on ESPN2 Today @ 2 PM ET

Mike Brey's (16 - 2) Fighting Irish take on the (12 - 4) Miami Hurricanes this afternoon at Purcell Pavilion in front of a national TV audience.

The game will be telecast on ESPN2 -- beginning at 2 PM ET.

The Hurricanes a are coming off of a HUGE win Tuesday night at #4 Duke  90 - 74!  Going to be a very tough test for Notre Dame today!


LINK:  GAME NOTES

Former ND Assistants -- "Returning Home"


The news first broke a week ago -- but, it became official last night in Seattle, that Jim McLaughlin was leaving the University of Washington to return to Notre Dame to lead the women's volleyball program -- replacing the Fighting Irish's all-time wins leader Debbie Brown.

It's obvious, the University of Notre Dame allowed the University of Washington to break the news of McLaughlin's departure -- first.  A class move. 

Jim and his wife Margaret (Jarc) '93 are "both" former Notre Dame assistant coaches!

Jim was an assistant on Brown's 1996 coaching staff and Margaret is a former Notre Dame student-athlete and assistant coach with the women's soccer program.  Quite the homecoming!

McLaughlin led the Washington Huskies to a National Championship in 2005 and he led the USC men's team to a National Championship in 1990.  He's the only head coach in NCAA history to accomplish this feat.

He leaves a Huskies program that he built into one of the TOP TEN programs in the country.

Welcome home VIDEO FROM ND 

LINK:  WASHINGTON HUSKIES -- ATHLETIC SITE
 
LINK:  SEATTLE TIMES STORY

LINK:  MCLAUGHLIN BIO

Friday, January 16, 2015

Now More Than 1,000,000 Unique Followers!


It was the afternoon of January 26, 2010 (4:56 PM ET) when I launched the ND GO IRISH BLOG -- and, it was a little more than an hour later when I had my first Notre Dame fan visit the site -- my wife...

I've been asked many times since; "why did you decide to do this?"  My reason for doing so was simply this: I wanted to prove to myself (at a dinosaur's age, in this thing called social media) that I could "tell a story" that would generate and sustain a following. 

Little did I know (I didn't dream this BIG) that nearly four years later -- at 3:01 PM ET on Friday, January 16, 2014 -- a Notre Dame fan from Ramone, CA would become UNIQUE FOLLOWER #1,000,000 for my "little blog that did."

Here's some quick "fun facts" about the first four years of the ND GO IRISH BLOG:
  • The site is now 1,451 days old.
  • In this time period -- there have been only 19 days when I haven't posted a story about Notre Dame.  Seven (7) of those days were an intentional shut down of the ND GO IRISH BLOG while our family mourned the loss of my MOM--JOAN SMALL (2012) and my GRANDMA--BARBARA DOYLE (2011) -- two people who taught me (and our family) to love Notre Dame. On eleven (11) other days I was out of town / country with limited to no access to the internet and one (1) day I simply forgot!!!
  • And, as of this very moment -- I've posted 6,489 "positive" stories on the ND GO IRISH BLOG about the University of Notre Dame, its students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and fans.  That's an average of 4.47 stories each day over the last four years.

THANK YOU!

THANK YOU so much for making the ND GO IRISH BLOG one of your daily, weekly or monthly stops on the worldwide web for "positive" Notre Dame stories.  

THANK YOU for the kind letters, tweets, emails, conversations and calls over these past four years.  I'm truly humbled that so many of you have taken the time to let me know how much you enjoy the ND GO IRISH BLOG. THANK YOU!

And, I need to thank my wife Susan for putting up with this "daily obsession" of mine -- she thinks I'm crazy and she's right...

IT'S BEEN FUN! -- ONWARD TO THE NEXT MILLION!

GO IRISH!


Jim Small

Domer Golden Tate: "Silence Isn't Golden"


This is a "must read" for Notre Dame fans -- as well as all sports fans.

That's Golden with his girlfriend Elise at this year's ESPYS.

LINK:  TATE CLEARS THE AIR

Notre Dame Earns Lowest Bond Rate on Record


Earning a "rare" AAA credit rating from Moody's this past month -- went a long ways in helping Notre Dame raise $400 million in bonds on Wall Street at an all-time record low interest rate for a 30-year corporate bond.

To put this in perspective -- there are only THREE U.S. CORPORATIONS with a AAA credit rating from Moody's; Johnson & Johnson, Exxon-Mobil and Microsoft.

Moody's cited the university's "national prominence," its history of strong fund raising and robust demand from students to attend the school.

See this CNN/Money story:

LINK:  "STELLAR REPUTATION"

LINK:  BLOOMBERG -- WHY VERY FEW HAVE AAA RATING

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Super Frosh! Turner; 29 Pts / 18 Rebs / 7 Blks


WOW!

Notre Dame freshman forward Brianna Turner had a game for the ages tonight -- and she's just getting started...

Turner was:
  • 10 for 13 from the floor
  • Got to the free throw line 16 times!
  • Blocked 7 shots
  • Grabbed 18 rebounds
  • 29 points

And, #7 Notre Dame won the game 89 - 79 over #12 ranked North Carolina -- on the road -- a big win!

LINK:  VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Coach Brey in Locker Room After GT Win!


Here's Notre Dame head basketball coach Mike Brey in the locker room after last night's 62 - 59 win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta. 

LINK:  COACH BREY

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Huge Notre Dame ROAD Win Over Georgia Tech


Mike Brey's #12 Fighting Irish won a big ACC ROAD game tonight over Georgia Tech -- overcoming an eight point halftime deficit -- to win 62 - 59!  Notre Dame's 'first-ever' win in Atlanta.

And, Notre Dame did this with Zach Auguste back in South Bend dealing with an academic matter...

Here's a link to Jerian Grant's BIG BUCKET with 23 seconds left to give Notre Dame a three-point lead:

LINK:  JERIAN GRANT

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  BOX SCORE

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Only Ohio State $$$ Bonus Goes to a Domer!


Ohio State's Urban Meyer didn't earn any "contracted" bonus money for the National Championship last night -- but his DOMER "boss" did!

Former Notre Dame student-athlete Gene Smith '77, earned a $36,172 bonus for the Buckeyes' winning the National Championship -- here's the story:

LINK:  DOMER EARNS BONUS

Sports Illustrated: "Notre Dame's a Lock..."


Two writers at Sports Illustrated presented a first look at who's in, who's on the bubble and who's going to be disappointed come NCAA Tournament time...

Well, they have our Fighting Irish as a "LOCK" to make the tournament!

Take a look...

LINK:  NCAA BUBBLE WATCH