Photo of the Day: The Last Time at Purcell

This is the last time Notre Dame fans will see the backs of these three jerseys at Purcell Pavillion -- as seniors; Devereaux Peters, Natalie Novosel and Brittany Mallory -- along with Fraderica Miller (not pictured) played their last game on the Purcell Pavillion floor.  Photo by Travis Mather

ESPN's Sports Science: Skylar Diggins

 

Special thanks to Travis Mather for alerting me to this Sports Science feature that ESPN ran on the University of Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins -- pretty cool stuff here!

LINK:  SKYLAR DIGGINS -- ESPN SPORTS SCIENCE

Big Win For Muffet's Irish: 73 - 62 Over Cal!

A 31 - 31 dead lock at halftime -- turned around quickly in the second half when the Irish went on a 23 - 6 run to take control of the game.

I just want to know what committee determined CAL was an eight seed?

I truly feel this will be the most difficult test the IRISH will face until they reach Denver and the FINAL FOUR -- Cal is that good.

Up next, St. Bonaventure -- who beat Marist 66 - 63 tonight.   The trip to the Sweet Sixteen will also be known as the SMALL FAMILY CHAMPIONSHIP as our daughter Kara's school (the Bonnies) takes on our oldest son Jimmy's school and Dad's employer (the Irish).

Kara has already started the "text war" with this message:  "God likes St. Bonaventure more than Notre Dame..."

It's going to be fun!

LINK:  NCAA HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  BOX SCORE

A University of Notre Dame THREE-PEAT!!!

The University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business was just named the #1 undergraduate business program in the country for the THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR -- by Bloomberg Businessweek!

Here's the TOP FIVE:

1. THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
2. University of Virginia
3. Cornell University
4. Wharton
5. Emory

CONGRATULATIONS!

LINK:  THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS!

Connaughton -- Impressive Debut for Irish!

Notre Dame student-athlete, Pat Connaughton -- put on his baseball uniform this afternoon and he proceeded to STRIKE OUT FIVE of the seven hitters he faced in his 1 2/3 inning stint for the Irish today against Eastern Michigan University.

On a strict pitch count -- Connaughton faced four hitters in the first inning -- striking out three and walking one.  In the second, he struck out the lead-off hitter then gave up a single to the second EMU hitter before striking out the next -- then he was pulled from the game.

FIVE STRIKE OUTS -- IMPRESSIVE COLLEGE DEBUT -- for the freshman starter on the Irish men's basketball team!

I took some video -- until I was almost hit by a foul ball -- you'll see this in the video.

LINK:  VIDEO OF CONNAUGHTON'S FIRST COLLEGIATE PITCH

Former Irish QB to "Lend" Jersey to Manning

Frank Tripucka -- Irish fans will remember the last name from his son Kelly's basketball days at Notre Dame and the NBA. 

Well, Frank was quite an athlete himself.  He was the starting QB for the IRISH in 1948, leading the team to a 9-0-1 record and a #2 national ranking -- and he earned All-American honors in the process.

What's cool about Frank's story is he went on to play 15 seasons of professional football.  One of the teams he played for -- the Denver Broncos -- retired his #18 jersey.

Well, as some of you may know, Peyton Manning wears #18 -- and Frank made the gracious offer yesterday to "lend" Peyton his uniform number and wear it with the Broncos.  No word yet on what will transpire here.  Fun story...

LINK:  DENVER POST STORY

Coach Kelly's Spring Football Press Conference

Notre Dame head football coach, Brian Kelly -- met with the media today to talk about Spring Practice -- which begins tomorrow at 7 AM!  Here's a link:

LINK:  COACH KELLY PRESS CONFERENCE

Notre Dame Releases 125th Anniversary Logo!

This upcoming football season will be the 125th in the storied history of Notre Dame Football.  To commemorate this milestone -- the University of Notre Dame has created this official mark (above) which will appear either on the GOLD HELMET or jersey, or both this fall.

I also suspect we'll see it on a few items in the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore as well... 

I personally love the clean / classy look of this logo -- nice work!

An official website is under construction and will be launched around BLUE GOLD WEEKEND.

LINK:  FUTURE SITE

Huge Test Tonight for Muffet's Fighting Irish

In what can only be described as "HOW CAN CALIFORNIA BE ONLY AN EIGHT SEED?" -- Notre Dame plays what I believe is the toughest opponent of any of the #1 seeds in the Second Round tonight of the Women's NCAA Championship.

I had the good fortune of watching California play on Sunday and I will report that the Lady Golden Bears are bigger and dare I say "more athletic" than our IRISH.

I believe it's going to come down to Skylar's WILL TO WIN and the senior leadership of Devereaux, Natalie and Brittany.  It's going to be a battle!

The game tips off at 7:20 PM ET on ESPN2.

LINK:  NCAA PRESS CONFERENCES ON MONDAY

LINK:  GAME PREVIEW