IT'S CHAMPIONSHIP MONDAY! -- 3:30 PM EST

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame take on the Duke Blue Devils this afternoon in the biggest game in the history of Notre Dame Lacrosse. To the winners -- the first National Championship in Lacrosse. I can't wait! The game is on ESPN and ESPN 360. I'm betting that ESPN and the NCAA will realize the largest TV audience ever today for a non-football or basketball National Championship telecast. The picture above is from the Notre Dame vs. Cornell Semi-Final Game Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium -- site of today's National Championship Game. Go IRISH!

WASHINGTON POST STORY ON TODAY'S GAME

ND Alum Wins Pro Boxing Debut!

Mike Lee, Notre Dame Class of 2009 -- made his professional boxing debut last night in Chicago, winning a unanimous decision over Emmitt Woods in a Light Heavyweight bout. Lee, a three time Bengal Bouts Champion who signed with Bob Arum and Top Rank Incorporated (photo) this past February, was very impressive in his first pro fight. Congratulations Mike!

LEE'S PRE-FIGHT PRESS CONFERENCE ON FRIDAY

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Monday!

The Fighting Irish continue to "shock the Lacrosse world" -- beating Cornell 12 - 7 and advancing to the National Championship game tomorrow at the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championships. The Irish will take on a familiar foe, the Duke Blue Devils in the title game. Duke beat #1 seed Virginia 14 - 13 in their Semi-Final game. Notre Dame played Duke on the Blue Devils home field this past February with the Irish winning 11 - 7. It's going to be ND's defense and "THE WALL" 6'-4" 245 lb. Senior Goal Tender Scott Rodgers (pictured) vs. the offense of Duke -- should be a classic. To the winner goes the first Lacrosse National Championship in each respective school's history. The game will be televised on ESPN at 3:30 PM -- GO IRISH!

ESPN PREVIEW OF LACROSSE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

COACH CORRIGAN'S POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

Kevin Corrigan -- Talks Irish Lacrosse!

He's in his 22nd season as Head Coach of the University of Notre Dame Men's Lacrosse Team -- and his team is making it's second trip to the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championships Final Four! The Irish take on Cornell in Baltimore tomorrow afternoon in front of the largest crowd ever to see a Notre Dame Lacrosse team play -- as more than 50,000 are expected to be sitting in the seats of M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Here is Coach Corrigan with Jack Nolan talking about tomorrow's game - click on link:

COACH CORRIGAN WITH UND.COM'S JACK NOLAN

Irish Lacrosse Plays Cornell Saturday!

Kevin Corrigan's Notre Dame Fighting Irish Lacrosse Team will play the #7 seed Cornell this Saturday in the first National Semi-Final game of the 2010 NCAA Men's Lacrosse National Championships this weekend in Baltimore. For the 'unseeded' Irish - Cornell will be the lowest seeded team they will have played so far. To date, the Irish have knocked off #6 seeded Princeton and the #3 seed Maryland on their way to the Final Four. The Irish were a controversial pick to even be in the tournament - many lacrosse "experts" were furious that Notre Dame was selected into the sixteen team field. They were so lightly regarded that after the Irish beat Maryland -- the Terrapins Coach resigned the next day. Yet, you can catch the "un-worthy" Fighting Irish on ESPN2 this Saturday afternoon at 4 PM EST -- in THE FINAL FOUR! The second National Semi-Final will pit the #1 seed Virginia against the #5 seed Duke. The winners of these two games will play in the National Championship game on Memorial Day (Monday) at 3:30 PM EST on ESPN. Here's a link to the NCAA's Lacrosse National Championships website. GO IRISH!

2010 NCAA MEN'S LACROSSE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Our Favorite Professional Golfer - Mark Baldwin

Mark Baldwin is a Notre Dame Alum (Class of 2006) and is a member of the Canadian PGA Tour. The NOTRE DAME GO IRISH BLOG is following Mark as he goes about his journey -- pursuing the dream of playing on the PGA Tour. Which is something a Notre Dame grad has never done before. Baldwin heads to British Columbia on Sunday to prepare for next week's Times Colonist Open. You'll find a link to this tournament's website below -- so you can follow how Mark is playing. This past week Mark was in Louisiana participating in a unique Junior Golf program run by a couple of local PGA Pros. Mark produced a video that captured the "magic" these two members of the PGA of America are creating in the New Orleans area. Enjoy!

MARK BALDWIN -- LAKEWOOD JUNIOR GOLF PROGRAM

CANADIAN PGA TOUR - TIMES COLONIST OPEN

Golden Tate Singing!

Former Notre Dame All-American, Golden Tate was in California with a number of NFL Rookies yesterday to promote a NFL Trading Card deal with Panini and he was caught singing on camera. Thank goodness he can catch a football! I don't think American Idol will be calling. You be the judge:

GOLDEN TATE SINGING A TAYLOR SWIFT SONG

Brian Kelly on Live! with Regis & Kelly

University of Notre Dame Head Football Coach, Brian Kelly has been in the New York area the past couple of days visiting with ND Alumni Clubs -- and he found time to meet with Notre Dame Alum Regis Philbin. Here's a link to Coach Kelly's Tuesday appearance on the show:

COACH KELLY WITH REGIS

ND Alum Makes Pro Boxing Debut Saturday!

Mike Lee, a member of the University of Notre Dame's Class of 2009 -- makes his professional boxing debut this Saturday! Lee will be fighting a light heavy weight match in Chicago at the UIC Pavillion. The fight is being promoted by Top Rank and will be televised on FOX. Lee is a three time "Bengal Bouts" champion at Notre Dame -- where he graduated with a 3.8 GPA in finance. I found this interview with Lee at Live Sports Entertainment -- click here to read:

MIKE LEE'S PROFESSIONAL BOXING DEBUT

A Belated Happy Birthday to Father Ted!

University of Notre Dame's "Father Ted" -- Theodore Hesburgh, turned 93 years young yesterday (May 25th)! Or in other words, he's now thirty years old with sixty three years of experience! Father Ted has been a "gift" to Notre Dame and to the world -- one fun fact about Hesburgh is he has more than 150 honorary degrees which I believe is still a Guinness Book World Record. Here's an article in the National Catholic Reporter about Notre Dame's -- Father Ted's 93rd Birthday -- click on link:

FATHER TED TURNS 93

Cole Jacob Barker -- The Fighting Irish Spirit!

University of Notre Dame Alum, Jacob Cole Barker (Class of 2006), went to heaven a few weeks ago as he lost his six-year battle with cancer. His story should be told -- and I'm thankful that the Barker family agreed to sit down with the South Bend Tribune to tell it. That's Cole and his friend and former Notre Dame Head Football Coach, Charlie Weis in the picture. Please read this story -- IT IS A MUST READ -- here's a link:

JACOB COLE BARKER -- THE FIGHTING IRISH SPIRIT

Quinn & Ndukwe -- Speaking June 30th

Former high school buddies, roommates at Notre Dame and now NFL football players; Brady Quinn and Chinedum Ndukwe will be the featured speakers at the College Football Hall of Fame's Gridiron Legend's Luncheon Series -- June 30th in South Bend, IN. Brady, is now with the Denver Broncos and Chinedum is a starting safety with the Cincinnati Bengals. These best friends, led the Irish to "back to back" BCS Bowl Games in their last two years with the Irish. Go to the College Football Hall of Fame website for ticket information. Here's a link:

COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME WEBSITE

Notre Dame Tennis -- FINAL FOUR AGAIN!

The University of Notre Dame's Women's Tennis team beat Tennessee yesterday to advance to the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship's FINAL FOUR -- for the second straight year! Sophomore Kristy Frilling (Sidney, OH - pictured) who's ranked 16th nationally in singles, upset the #11 ranked Whoriskey of Tennessee -- clinching the victory for the Irish. The fifth-seeded Irish will now play eight seed Stanford -- Monday in Athens, GA on the University of Georgia campus. The other Final Four match has the #2 seed North Carolina taking on the #3 seed Florida. Go Irish - beat the Trees!

Notre Dame Lacrosse -- NCAA FINAL FOUR!

The University of Notre Dame's Men's Lacrosse team beat the #3 seeded Maryland Terrapins today 7-5 to advance to the FINAL FOUR of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse National Championship -- for the second time in school history! It's the second straight "upset" of a higher seeded team for the Irish! Last week the Irish beat the number #6 seed Princeton. It's important to note that the Irish were a "controversial pick" to even be in the sixteen team NCAA Championship -- look who's smiling now! The Irish will play the winner of the Cornell vs. Army game next Saturday (May 29th) -- in Baltimore at M&T Bank Stadium -- the 71,000 seat home of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens and the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Final Four. Go Irish!

Lou Holtz -- Indiana Football Hall of Fame

Last night, Lou Holtz became the third football coach from the University of Notre Dame to be inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame -- joining Knute Rockne and Ara Parseghian. WNDU-TV caught up with Holtz while he was in town -- here's a link to two interviews Lou gave to fellow Indiana Football Hall of Famer, Jeff Jeffers:


LOU HOLTZ -- INDIANA FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME

Ethical Stem Cell Research -- That's ND!

University of Notre Dame Professor David Hyde and his team of researchers have been looking for ways to obtain and use stem cells that would be morally acceptable. The prevailing notion is that embryonic stem cells taken from living human embryos (babies), that have been aborted, are necessary for stem cell research. This practice is an obvious conflict for Catholics and all who believe in the dignity of every human life -- from conception to birth -- since human embryos are human beings and their intentional destruction is murder. Scientists have been arguing that adult stem cells are not as adaptable as stem cells from human embryos. Thankfully -- Professor David Hyde disagrees and he points to the research his team at Notre Dame has done that proves these adult stem cells are adapting quite well. They've been taking mature stem cells from more than 100,000 Zebrafish. "All the fish are anesthetized before they're treated and most of the treatments involved the use of extremely bright light, which kills off their rod and cone photoreceptor cells in the retina." Making the Zebrafish blind. They know the Zebrafish are blind because they don't swim away from predatory fish. However, after inserting adult mature stem cells back into the eyes of the Zebrafish -- their VISION IS RESTORED. Hyde says Zebrafish have a similar eye structure to humans. "So, we're ready to start to think about are the processes that we've identified in Zebrafish, are they working properly in humans? Or, is there something that is blocking their ability to function in humans, which would then correlate to the inability in human retina to regenerate," Hyde says. Can you imagine if Notre Dame can restore sight for those who are blind?! Sounds like something this University should be "FIGHTING FOR!!!" Thank you David Hyde! Here's a TV commercial Notre Dame produced to tell this story:

FIGHTING TO RESTORE VISION -- NOTRE DAME

The ND Logo -- Miles Above Earth Today!

Michael Good (ND Class of 1984 & 1986) wore his "heart on his sleeve" today - miles above the Notre Dame campus. Good was conducting his third space walk this week -- as the Space Shuttle Atlantis was docked to the International Space Station. On Good's left wrist -- the famous interlocking Notre Dame logo! Photo courtesy of NASA. Pretty cool!

Coach Kelly Out Visiting ND Alumni Clubs

Notre Dame Head Football Coach, Brian Kelly, was in Iowa and California this week to speak to ND Alumni Clubs. You'll find three links to videos below - the first is a YouTube video of Coach Kelly's talk in Iowa. The second and third links are from his visit to Fresno, CA - where he found time for a quick TV interview with the local ABC and NBC affiliates. (I didn't know he was a "lefty!") Coach Kelly will be on the east coast next week meeting with ND Alumni Clubs in New Jersey and New York. Here are links to the interviews.

COACH KELLY IN IOWA

COACH KELLY IN FRESNO - ABC

COACH KELLY IN FRESNO - NBC

Do You Know Who's Wearing #9?

It's none other than #10 in your hearts and former Domer; Brady Quinn. There hasn't been much fanfare about Quinn and his new uniform number with the Broncos. Here's hoping the change in number and scenery brings much success to this young man. Go Irish!

SHREK's Last Stand -- a ND Story!

The movie character Shrek will be in theater's for the last time -- beginning tomorrow -- as "Shrek Forever After" begins its run. In an April 29th post on NOTRE DAME GO IRISH BLOG - we identified all of the Notre Dame connections to Shrek - and there are many (click on link below). Shrek has been a huge hit for DreamWorks; over $2.2 billion in Box Office revenue worldwide, 8 Tony nominations for Shrek the Musical, 4 Oscar nominations and one Oscar -- winning the first ever statuette for best animated feature. So, Go SHREK and Go Irish!

SHREK & NOTRE DAME