Play Like A Champion Today

It's one of the most used, copied, admired, purchased -- five words in American sports today. And, unlike many other Notre Dame traditions, it's only been around since 1986. With the College Football Hall of Fame leaving South Bend -- I hope we hear, someday soon, that Notre Dame is breaking ground on the "LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY - Center for Excellence." A facility that would showcase all of the great things its students, alums, faculty, staff, coaches, teams, etc., have contributed to society... ESPN's Mike Greenberg starred in a commercial recently about P.L.A.C.T.

"GREENY" ON PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY

IRISH IDOL

Every Thursday night, for the next few weeks, the ND GO IRISH BLOG is holding auditions for IRISH IDOL and this week we have three contestants who are competing for the chance to move on to the Finals. Each contestant will perform the Victory March. The contestant with the most COMMENTS will move on to the Finals. ESPN's Mark May has inquired about being a judge...

ELLIOTT

THE BLUE NUNS OF MEXICO

CECE AND KATH

Harangody just a few games away from history!

Notre Dame senior, Luke Harangody is on the verge of breaking scoring and rebounding records at Notre Dame and in the Big East. Harangody is on pace to pass Lawrence Moten, the former Syracuse standout, as the leading scorer in Big East play in seven games and former Notre Dame great Austin Carr (1968-71) as the school's leading scorer in nine games. The Irish have 10 regular-season games before the Big East tournament and the postseason. Luke is also on pace to set the league rebounding record held by Syracuse's Derrick Coleman (1986-90). And, has an outside shot of breaking the school rebounding record held by Tom Hawkins (1956-59), though he trails Hawkins by 162 rebounds.

My favorite ND TV Commercials

I sure wish Adidas and ND would go "old school" and bring back some of their old TV spots. Now, it's been a few years since these aired in the 90's, and High Definition wasn't "invented" yet -- so the quality is not the best. Yet, I'm confident they'll make you smile and feel good about being part of the Notre Dame family. Enjoy.

GROWING UP IN A NOTRE DAME FAMILY

AIRPORT TAILGATING AT ND

ND Athletics joins in the relief efforts for Haiti

Fighting Irish Offensive Guard, Chris Stewart was one of the many Notre Dame athletes who took part in Notre Dame's effort to raise money for Haiti Relief during last Saturday's home basketball game. Stewart has a connection to Haiti, having spent some time there last March, completing his service work for a class at Notre Dame. Here's a link to a news story that aired on WNDU-TV.

NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS GIVES TO HAITI

A wonderful video tour of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame's website; www.nd.edu continues to add to its video tours of campus. It is a "must see" for all. You'll currently find twenty-eight videos of buildings, residence halls, the new Eddy Street Commons development, athletic facilities, landmarks, etc., on the University of Notre Dame's campus. The link below will lead you to the site.

THE BEAUTY AND SPIRIT OF NOTRE DAME

Don't try this at home!

Or, at least not in public. Something tells me that Dr. Kenneth Dye won't be adding this instrument to the Band of the Fighting Irish. Could you do this with a straight face?

THE VICTORY MARCH IN YOUR HANDS

ND Alum McDonnell gives Republican Response

Bob McDonnell, the 71st governor of Virginia -- attended the University of Notre Dame on an ROTC scholarship, graduating with a B.B.A. in Management in 1976. McDonnell was selected to give the Republican Party's response to President Obama's State of the Union address tonight. McDonnell also has a M.S.B.A. and M.A./J.D. degrees and is a former Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army. Prior to taking office as Governor on January 16th, McDonnell served Virginia as its Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. This is a significant political honor for McDonnell, potentially thrusting him into the Presidential candidacy conversation.

Will the Irish be playing in DC in 2011?

Rumor has it that the Fighting Irish are in negotiations with FedEx Field to host a game in their 91,000 seat stadium during the 2011 season. This makes sense, since Notre Dame has been working on scheduling an "off site" home game each season as part of their 7 home games, 1 neutral site home game and 4 away games schedule -- that was implemented for the first time this past season. The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that the opponent will be the University of Maryland. Notre Dame will be playing Army this fall in an "off site" home game for the Irish at the new Yankee Stadium.

Rockne played the flute in the Band at ND

I'm sure this is a fun fact about the University of Notre Dame that you never knew. It's one of the things you'll learn when watching this video that celebrates the greatest fight song in the land - The Notre Dame Victory March and its 100th Anniversary.

THE VICTORY MARCH TURNS 100

Scully writes another song about ND

Former ND All American and Atlanta Falcon, John Scully - has apparently written another song about the University of Notre Dame titled; "Our Lady of the Lake." Once I get my hands on the song, I'll post it on the site. In the meantime, here's John Scully (on the piano) performing Here Come the Irish -- at The Spirit of Notre Dame event held on campus.

HERE COME THE IRISH

The Grotto voted favorite ND landmark

The Grotto was selected as the favorite Building / Location on the University of Notre Dame campus -- amongst the visitors to the ND GO IRISH blog site in a poll taken the last two days. Receiving 48% of the vote, the Grotto won easily over the Main Building (Golden Dome) which finished second with 23%. The Basilica of Sacred Heart finished third.

"It was one of the best things we ever did..."

These were the words of Fr. Hesburgh as he recalled the decision to accept 325 women to Notre Dame in 1972. Here is a video that Notre Dame created to celebrate the University's decision to field women's varsity athletic teams on its 35th Anniversary.

DAUGHTERS OF NOTRE DAME

Their journey to Notre Dame

Three Notre Dame students share their extraordinary stories about the road they took to Notre Dame.

DESTINATION NOTRE DAME

Did you make the list?

Wikipedia - the free online encyclopedia - has a list of prominent Notre Dame Alums. If you're not on it, and you think you should be -- send them a note and state your case. Know someone who should be on the list? Place their name in nomination in the COMMENTS section of this post.

NOTRE DAME ALUMNI IN WIKIPEDIA

Jimmy Clausen - an under appreciated talent

Yeah, Clausen left us early to pursue a career in the NFL. And, he didn't put up the wins we all wanted -- but, he did amass some amazing statistics. Found this report on Clausen that compares his college career to other NFL stars. Click on this link below.

COMPARING CLAUSEN TO TOP NFL QB'S

Selling Notre Dame...

I thought you would enjoy seeing this video produced by Notre Dame's Admissions Department.

NOWHERE ELSE BUT NOTRE DAME

Notre Dame Student Film Festival

Notre Dame's Film, Television and Theater program is world reknown. This past week, they celebrated the 21st Anniversary of their Notre Dame Student Film Festival. Here's a video they produced to promote their 20th Anniversary last year.

TWENTY YEARS OF FILM AT ND

Notre Dame launches an iPhone Ap

Well, it didn't take long for the University of Notre Dame to market an ap for your iPhone. The ap costs $4.95 and will keep you up to date with all that is going on with Irish Athletics.

IRISH MOBILE iPHONE APPLICATION

A web tool created by a ND Football Fan

Found this on the web yesterday - just shows you how passionate our fans are. This tool will allow you to track the ND Football Roster by position and by class. This will come in handy next week when the Irish Football Coaching staff wrap up their latest recruiting class. National Signing Day is Wednesday, February 3rd.

FOOTBALL ROSTER TRACKING TOOL