The Irish Roll Over the St. Bonaventure Bonnies

Well, the Small Family Championship ended with Jimmy's school (Notre Dame) beating Kara's school (St. Bonaventure) 79 - 35.

The Bonnies never got into this game and it was over early as Muffet emptied the bench with 11 minutes to go.  Notre Dame moves on to play #2 seed Maryland Tuesday night at 9 PM ET.

GO IRISH!

LINK:  BOX SCORE

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS 

LINK:  ESPN GAME RECAP

LINK:  POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  BUFFALO NEWS #1

LINK:  BUFFALO NEWS #2

OT: Will Hamilton is a NCAA Champion!

A childhood friend, USS teammate and long-time training partner of our kids' (Kara & Brady) -- WILL "CHILL" HAMILTON won the NCAA Championship last night in the 200 Fly!  Hamilton, a freshman -- also clinched the team NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP for the California Bears with his win!

It's pretty cool seeing a kid you've known, since the age of eight, accomplish something like this!

Hamilton's time of 1:40.94 is the SIXTH FASTEST ALL-TIME in the 200 Fly -- think about that.  This time is not far behind Michael Phelps' American record time of 1:39.65

Will will now be a legitimate contender for one of the two spots on the U.S. Olympic Team -- in this event -- at the upcoming Olympic Trials.   

I also want to give a "SHOUT OUT" to John McGuire -- who was Will's only coach for the past ten years and our kids' coach as well at GREAT LAKES AQUATICS.  There's probably a tear or two in his eyes this morning -- seeing one of his kids win an NCAA Championship with such class.

LINK:  INTERVIEW AFTER 200 FLY WIN!

LINK:  COACH INTERVIEW -- FAST FORWARD TO 6:10 MARK OF VIDEO

LINK:  A TRIBUTE FROM A TEAMMATE

Who Will Be the QB for the Fighting Irish?

 

After practice #3 yesterday -- the four student-athletes competing for, I would argue, the most high profile position in college athletics:  THE NOTRE DAME QUARTERBACK -- met with the media for the first time.

Tommy Rees, Andrew Hendrix, Everett Golson and Gunner Kiel will be THE NEWS coming out of South Bend, IN these next 160 days until the Irish play in Dublin, Ireland.  Here's what the media is saying these past 24 hours:

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

LINK:  WNDU-TV

Skylar Diggins -- Her ESPNW Blog...

She truly is the most famous athlete right now at the University of Notre Dame -- Skylar Diggins...

For the second year running -- Skylar agreed to produce a video blog on her tournament experience.  Enjoy!

LINK:  MARCH 24 BLOG

LINK:  MARCH 19 INTERVIEW

LINK:  MARCH 19 BLOG

LINK:  MARCH 16 BLOG

Sixteen Turns to Eight Today -- GO IRISH!

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame will tip it off against St. Bonaventure this afternoon at 2:32 PM ET on ESPN2.  The gang at Fighting Irish Digital Media produced a preview of today's game between the IRISH and the BONNIES.  (photo above of Skylar Diggins and Markisha Wright at practice yesterday)

LINK:  GAME PREVIEW

LINK:  PLAYERS' PERSPECTIVE OF BONNIES