Manti Te'o Honored Last Night in Atlantic City

Notre Dame All-American linebacker Manti Te'o was honored last night at the Maxwell Football Club dinner in Atlantic City.  Here's some of the media coverage:

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  DELAWARE DAILY TIMES

LINK:  WALL STREET JOURNAL

LINK:  NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

LINK:  YAHOO SPORTS

Notre Dame Hoops on ESPN Today at 2 PM ET

The #21 ranked Fightin' Irish of Notre Dame will be in downtown Milwaukee this afternoon to take on #22 ranked Marquette -- in a huge BIG EAST game for both teams.

When I think of ND vs. Marquette -- I think of Al McGuire and Digger Phelps...

Marquette has been 'unbeatable' at home -- winning 24 straight.

The game will be televised on ESPN -- with tip-off slated for 2 PM ET.

LINK:  GAME PREVIEW

A Story -- The Irish Bagpiper

ND GO IRISH BLOG regular -- and my cousin, Mike Doyle (Holland, MI) -- shared this story with me.  I liked it so much that I had to share it with all of you.

THE IRISH BAGPIPER

Stiofain Gael MacGeough popped in and shared a great story with us...

As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper’s cemetery in the back country. As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost and, being a typical man, I didn’t stop for directions.

I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch.

I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn’t know what else to do, so I started to play.

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I’ve never played before for this homeless man.

And as I played ‘Amazing Grace,’ the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together. When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full.

As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, “I never seen nothin’ like that before and I’ve been putting in septic tanks for twenty years.”

Apparently, I’m still lost…

Got to Love These Gold Hockey Helmets!

This photo was taken by the University of Notre Dame's Matt Cashore from last night's hockey game against Bowling Green.  The Fightin' Irish are in third place -- with an outside chance to still finish first in the last season of CCHA hockey.

The regular season ends tonight -- to win the CCHA regular season title; ND needs to beat Bowling Green, Ohio State needs to beat Miami and Michigan State needs to beat Western Michigan University.  GO IRISH!

National Rankings for Notre Dame Teams !!!

I'm not sure if Notre Dame has ever kept track of things like this -- but, you have to ask -- has there ever been an academic year when more Irish teams have been ranked in the top-25 than this one?

15 of Notre Dame's 24 NCAA Division I athletic teams are ranked in the top-25 this academic year -- four others have been or will be (as you'll see below) -- incredible!

Look at this:

• Women's basketball:  #2 ranking in the country
• Men's Lacrosse:  #2 ranking in the country
• Women's Fencing:  #2 ranking in the country
• Men's Fencing:  #2 ranking in the country
• Football:  #4 ranking in the country
• Women's Lacrosse:  #7 ranking in the country
• Men's Soccer:  #8 ranking in the country
• Hockey:  #11 ranking in the country
• Women's Soccer:  #13 ranking in the country
• Women's Swimming & Diving:  #18 ranking in the country
• Women's Cross Country:  #18 ranking in the country
• Women's Tennis:  #18 ranking in the country
• Men's Basketball:  #21 ranking in the country
• Baseball:  #22 ranking in the country
• Women's Golf:  #25 ranking in the country

In addition:

• Notre Dame's women's rowing team is coming off a season where they were ranked #15 in the country -- the rankings for this season will be released soon
• Notre Dame's women's volleyball team was ranked, for a time, in the top-25 this academic year
• Notre Dame's men's tennis team has been ranked in the top-25 this academic year (season on-going)
• Notre Dame's men's swimming team has been ranked in the top-25 this academic year (season on-going)