A New Service for ND GO IRISH BLOG Fans!

In just the past 24 hours I've received multiple requests from Notre Dame fans to launch a forum where you can let Irish fans know you're seeking tickets to a Notre Dame football game -- and conversely, find Notre Dame fans to sell any extra football tickets to. So, when you get a chance, find the ND GO IRISH BLOG -- TICKET BOARD link on the right side of the home page -- and click on the link. It will direct you to the ND GO IRISH BLOG TICKET BOARD. All I ask is that you use this forum for what it's intended for. Enjoy! Here's another link below to the ND GO IRISH BLOG TICKET BOARD:

ND GO IRISH BLOG -- TICKET BOARD

March Out -- 120th Football Season!

I find it one of the "coolest things to see and hear" at Notre Dame - and that's the first "March Out" of the season from The Band of the Fighting Irish! Yesterday morning -- at 9:30 AM -- more than 500 students marched through campus as part of the annual "tryouts" to make the University of Notre Dame's marching band. The sound that reverberates through campus - gives you goosebumps! Approximately 400 band members, plus the 10 members of the Irish Guard will have the honor of joining America's first college marching band -- The Band of the Fighting Irish -- as they celebrate their 165th year! A big thank you to the guys at GameDay ND -- for videotaping the band's march through campus to their practice field. Here's a link:

FIRST MARCH OUT -- AUGUST 19th 2010

The Painting of the Notre Dame Helmets

It's one of the best traditions in college sports, the painting of the University of Notre Dame football helmets. Every Monday night during the football season, you'll find a group of approximately 80 Notre Dame students inside Notre Dame Stadium, restoring the legendary gold helmets of the Fighting Irish -- it's quite a process! Annually voted the greatest helmet in college football -- just ask Urban Meyer, Florida's Head Coach, who admitted two seasons ago on national television that Notre Dame had the best helmets in college football -- the Notre Dame helmet carries actual 23.9-karat gold flakes from the Golden Dome that sits atop the University's Main Building. Ten times in the last 131 years, Notre Dame has removed and replaced the gold leaf on the Dome -- it's called "regilding." And, when they do -- they capture the gold they remove -- and it's mixed in with the paint used on the helmets. Please note: if you're looking at the pictures of football practice, these last few weeks, and the helmets don't look "Notre Dame Gold" -- they won't. Notre Dame only paints the "game day" helmets of each player. The Irish now have a helmet for practice and a helmet for games. That's why they now paint the helmets on Monday night, instead of the traditional Friday nights from previous seasons (remember the movie Rudy). I have to admit, I liked the painting of the helmets on Friday night, I thought it was a wonderful "primer" for Football Weekend at Notre Dame -- oh well! The link to the video below will tell you this story -- and you'll see the actual gold flakes from the Dome. When you do go to this link, you'll need to scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the video. Enjoy!

REGILDING THE GOLD HELMETS OF NOTRE DAME