ESPN's Outside The Lines -- Ian Williams

Former Notre Dame and now San Francisco 49'er Ian Williams, was the subject of an ESPN Outside The Lines story this morning.  Here's the link to the entire feature.  Notre Dame fans will enjoy watching Ian's journey -- boy, do I want him to make it!

LINK:  IAN WILLIAMS -- OUTSIDE THE LINES

His Nickname is "HERCULES" -- ND's Niklas

During Brian Kelly's meeting with the media yesterday he raved about the exploits of a freshman by the name of Troy Niklas.  Niklas was recruited by USC to play OT, Stanford to play TE and ND to play DE.  Now this 6'-7" 250lb. 18-year old athlete is playing OLB (yeah, he's that big!) and turning heads.

Kelly used the word "extraordinary" to describe Niklas' ability to play in space.  Here's a link to a South Bend Tribune story about the young man they call "HERCULES."

LINK:  TROY NIKLAS

First Week of NFL Preseason -- ND Update

I took a spin around the world wide web this morning to check on a few of our favorite ND football players from the past to see how life is treating them in the NFL after week one of the exhibition season.  Just click on the player's name below to find a story or two about their journey down ROUTE 53 (NFL Rosters have 53 players) -- that's Ian Williams in his new gold helmet:

LINK:  JIMMY CLAUSEN -- SPORTING NEWS

LINK:  JIMMY CLAUSEN -- CHARLOTTE OBSERVER

LINK:  GOLDEN TATE -- SEATTLE TIMES

LINK:  BRADY QUINN -- BLEACHER REPORT

LINK:  BRIAN SMITH -- NFL NETWORK

LINK:  KERRY NEAL -- INDY STAR  

LINK:  CHRIS STEWART -- WASHINGTON POST

LINK:  TOMMY ZBIKOWSKI -- MASN NEWS

LINK:  RYAN GRANT -- PACKERS WEBSITE

LINK:  SAM YOUNG -- BLOGGING THE BOYS

LINK:  KYLE MCCARTHY -- BRONCOTALK

LINK:  KYLE RUDOLPH -- ESPN SPORTSWIRE

LINK:  JOHN CARLSON -- RENTON REPORTER

LINK:  DEREK LANDRI -- BLEACHER REPORT

LINK:  CHINENDUM NDUKWE -- CINCY JUNGLE

LINK:  IAN WILLIAMS -- 49ERS WEBSITE

LINK:  TERRAIL LAMBERT -- THE ADVOCATE

LINK:  RYAN HARRIS -- THE INQUIRER

LINK:  DAVID BRUTON -- DENVER POST

Notre Dame's Award Winning Photographer!

Matt Cashore, ND's award winning photographer -- has a wonderful gallery online -- that Notre Dame fans will want to visit.  He is very, very good at what he does.  Here's a link to the site:

LINK:  MATT CASHORE'S GALLERY

The Offensive & Defensive Line @ Notre Dame

It's the "strength" of the Fighting Irish football program -- our offensive and defensive linemen.  It's been a long time since ND fans could say this!  Here's two UND.COM features on these units:

LINK:  OFFENSIVE LINE

LINK:  DEFENSIVE LINE

Skylar Diggins -- Video Diary with ESPNW

University of Notre All American basketball player Skylar Diggins is preparing right now to lead the USA Women's National Team to play in China at the World University Games.  Always a "media darling," Skylar agreed to do a VIDEO DIARY with ESPNW.  Here's a link to her latest video:

LINK:  SKYLAR DIGGINS

Chicago Sun Times Interview -- Coach Kelly

Well, in the "good cop / bad cop" media coverage of ND Football in Chicago -- also known as the Chicago Sun Times / Chicago Tribune -- the Sun Times published a positive piece this AM on Coach Kelly and his program -- ND fans will enjoy this piece:

LINK:  COACH KELLY GETTING COMFORTABLE

Jimmy Clausen to Start for Panthers Tonight

Former Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen will get the start tonight in the Carolina Panthers first exhibition game against the New York Giants.  The game will be "replayed" tomorrow at 1 PM ET on the NFL Network.  Here's a link to the latest stories on Clausen's QB competition with #1 pick Cam Newton:

LINK:  USA TODAY

LINK:  SUN HERALD

LINK:  ESPN NFL NATION BLOG

LINK:  CHARLOTTE OBSERVER

Top Kicker in Country Interested in Irish

His name is Bryan Holmes and he's a Kicker/Punter at Holland West Ottawa High School (Holland, MI) and he's the #1 ranked kicker in the Class of 2013.  ND GO IRISH BLOG contributor Mike Doyle, spoke with Bryan's Mom and she said "Notre Dame is on his list..."  Here's a link to a video of Bryan kicking and punting at Kohl's Kicking, Punting & Snapping Camp:

LINK:  BRYAN HOLMES -- #1 KICKER IN CLASS OF 2013

North Oldham Little League -- One Game Away!

Notre Dame fans need to root for this team out of North Oldham, KY who's one game away from playing in the Little League World Series.  North Oldham has adopted the University of Notre Dame's "logo style" and color scheme (complete with solid GOLD batting helmets).  Must have been a ND fan who sponsored this team!

North Oldham is playing right now on ESPN against a team from Ohio for the right to advance to the Little League World Series.  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  NORTH OLDHAM LITTLE LEAGUE

Latest News on Corwin Brown's Situation

Yesterday afternoon, former Notre Dame football coach Corwin Brown was in a seven hour stand-off with St. Joseph County Police at his home in Granger, IN.  Brown ended up shooting himself in the "torso" before being taken away by ambulance to a hospital.  Pretty sad.

Here's the latest news reports coming out of South Bend on the incident -- along with photos from a South Bend Tribune photographer:

LINK:  WNDU-TV -- SATURDAY MORNING COVERAGE

LINK:  WSBT-TV - SATURDAY MORNING COVERAGE

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE -- SATURDAY COVERAGE

LINK:  SPORTS GRID STORY

LINK:  PHOTO GALLERY FROM SCENE

Notre Dame "COMPLIANCE" Video -- Must See

This video was produced by Notre Dame's Athletic Department -- to educate its athletes that you can't be like OHIO STATE...

LINK:  ND COMPLIANCE VIDEO

Former ND Coach -- Bizarre Situation

Former Notre Dame football coach Corwin Brown was in a standoff with the St. Joseph County Police this afternoon for seven hours -- before leaving his house, in an ambulance, with a self-inflicted wound.  Here's the latest from WNDU-TV and WSBT-TV:

LINK:  WNDU-TV FRIDAY COVERAGE

LINK: WSBT-TV FRIDAY COVERAGE

Kyle Rudolph -- Gatorade / NFL Films Series

Gatorade and the NFL FILMS teamed up to create a web series called "Everything To Prove" -- and former ND football star Kyle Rudoph was featured with fellow Viking draftee Christian Ponder.  FYI - that's Kyle above in his new uniform and number (#82).  Here's a link:

LINK:  KYLE RUDOLPH -- EVERYTHING TO PROVE

Notre Dame Football Update -- UND.COM

The gang at UND.COM did a feature today on the Offensive Line -- one of the more experienced OL's the Irish have had in a few seasons.  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  UND.COM -- OL UPDATE

ND Coach Kelly on Rome Is Burning Today!

University of Notre Dame Head Football Coach Brian Kelly will be appearing today (August 11th) on ESPN's "Rome Is Burning" -- the show airs at 4:30 PM ET -- on the self proclaimed "sports leader."

Here's a link to the interview:  COACH KELLY ON ROME

ND's 5th Practice Report -- UND.COM

The good folks at UND.COM were out at practice again today under absolutely BEAUTIFUL conditions!  It's the first day of fall camp that the NCAA would allow teams to practice in full pads.  Here's a link to UND.COM's coverage:

LINK:  PRACTICE REPORT -- UND.COM

Coach Kelly Meets With Media After Practice #5

University of Notre Dame Head Football Coach Brian Kelly met with the media after his team practiced in full pads today for the first time during fall camp.  Here's a link to UND.COM's coverage:

LINK: COACH KELLY MEETS WITH MEDIA

ND's 4th Football Practice Report -- UND.COM

 

The Irish practiced in shoulder pads and shorts this afternoon -- for the last time before they put on "all" the equipment for tomorrow morning's practice.  Today's UND.COM feature focuses on the defensive backfield at ND.  Here's a link to the video:

LINK:  ND FOOTBALL PRACTICE REPORT -- UND.COM

NBC To Push Notre Dame Football to VERSUS

This should come as no surprise -- the Salt Lake Tribune broke a story this afternoon that NBC is going to "use" Notre Dame football to assist them in building distribution for their VERSUS network, by moving one to two ND games a year to their cable network.  The story also reported that VERSUS will become the NBC SPORTS CHANNEL in January.

My educated guess is this -- the University of Notre Dame and NBC will also announce a deal with NBC before year's end that will include the following:

• Select Notre Dame basketball (men's & women's) games will be aired on the NBC SPORTS CHANNEL
• Notre Dame hockey games will be aired on the NBC SPORTS CHANNEL
• As will games in every Varsity sport that Notre Dame plays -- they'll all have a select number of games televised on the NBC SPORTS CHANNEL

The NBC SPORTS CHANNEL is going to take on ESPNU, the Big Ten Network and any of the other cable TV carrier with college athletic programming.  This pending deal will also give Jack Swarbrick and the Notre Dame Athletic Department with a "platform" that will promote ALL of their sports on TV -- which is what the BIG TEN NETWORK offers the Big Ten schools right now.

And, it wouldn't surprise me if Notre Dame ends up with an "ownership" stake in this new network -- getting a piece of the subscription revenue that NBC is counting on from this play.

When all is said and done -- I believe Notre Dame will be able to say they have the best MEDIA package in college sports and "higher education" history when they get done with this NBC deal and with what they end up doing in the digital space.

Frankly -- I believe we'll have a NOTRE DAME NETWORK/CHANNEL on cable, on the web and possibly satellite radio before the end of this decade -- with NBC as our partner.  This network will also carry religious programming -- with the potential to become the CATHOLIC CHANNEL as well.  And, I can envision "educational" programming coming out of the academic engine at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame all the time...

It's got to be an exciting time for Fr. Jenkins and his senior management team at ND right now!

Here's a link to the Salt Lake Tribune story:

LINK:  NBC TO LEVERAGE THE NOTRE DAME BRAND

"Irish Chocolate" -- AKA ND's Louis Nix

He just might be the biggest player in college football this year wearing a "single digit" number on his uniform.  And, he just might be thee DIFFERENCE MAKER in the middle of the Notre Dame defense.

His name is Louis Nix -- he tips the scales at 326, he wears #9 and fans of Twitter will see him use the hash tag #IrishChocolate.

The folks at the South Bend Tribune may have found their "best interview" subject on the Fighting Irish football team -- here's the link to the story:


LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S IRISH CHOCOLATE

Coach Kelly on Scott Van Pelt's Show -- ESPN

Notre Dame Head Football Coach Brian Kelly was a guest this afternoon on ESPN Radio's The Scott Van Pelt Show.  Here's a link to the interview:

LINK:  BRIAN KELLY -- SCOTT VAN PELT

Former Notre Dame HFC Charlie Weis on ESPN

Former ND Football Coach Charlie Weis '78 allowed the ESPN cameras and former Gator QB Jesse Palmer into his QB meeting at Florida.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the "media" to talk about Charlie's "success" with Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen -- versus Tom Brady.  Were Quinn & Clausen ready for the pro game coming out of Charlie's program?

Thought ND fans would find this of interest:

LINK:  CHARLIE WEIS "TEACHING"

Forbes Ranks Notre Dame 18th in the Nation

Forbes just published its annual ranking of America's Top Colleges -- and the University of Notre Dame was selected 18th in the country.  The rankings are prepared exclusively for Forbes by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, a Washington, D.C. think tank founded by Ohio University economist Richard Vedder.  Their ranking of the top 650 colleges in America (see the methodology below) is quite controversial.  Here's their top 20 and a link to their list of 650:

1. Williams College
2. Princeton University
3. United States Military Academy
4. Amherst College
5. Stanford University
6. Harvard University
7. Haverford College
8. University of Chicago
9. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
10. United States Air Force Academy
11. Northwestern University
12. Claremont McKenna College
13. California Institute of Technology
14. Yale University
15. Carleton College
16. Swarthmore College
17. United States Naval Academy
18. UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
19. Wellesley College
20. Colby College

LINK:  THE REST OF THE 630 RANKED COLLEGES

LINK:  METHODOLOGY BEHIND FORBES RANKINGS

ND's 3rd Football Practice Report -- UND.COM

If you're interested in the wide receiver position or what Notre Dame's Defensive Coordinator Bob Diaco is thinking about his squad -- you'll find UND.COM was thinking like you today.  After watching Coach Diaco -- he's still not comfortable with the media -- he'll get better.  Here's the links:

LINK:  COACH DIACO

LINK:  PRACTICE REPORT

Jimmy -- Where Did It Go Wrong So Fast?

A few years ago, HBO Sports proclaimed Jimmy Clausen as the "LeBron James of high school football" during his prep days in southern California.  Well, if you look at the last year for LeBron James and Jimmy Clausen -- maybe HBO Sports was correct!

Who would have believed fifteen months ago that Clausen:

• Would not have been drafted in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft
• He would only throw 3 TD passes in the thirteen games of his NFL rookie season
• That the team who drafted him in 2010 -- would turn around and draft a QB #1 overall in 2011

Here's a link to a Chicago Tribune story on Clausen's status in Carolina:

LINK:  CLAUSEN -- WHAT WENT WRONG?

ND's 2nd Football Practice Report -- UND.COM

The gang at UND.COM is back at it -- better than ever!  Here's a link to the practice report from practice #2 for the Notre Dame football program:

LINK:  UND.COM -- PRACTICE REPORT

Mike Lee's Fighting @ ND on September 16th

Mike Lee '09 was back "home" earlier this week (Notre Dame & Chicago) to promote his fight at Purcell Pavillion on Friday night of the Michigan State football weekend.  Lee, who's undefeated as a professional will make history -- as the University of Notre Dame will host a professional fight for the first time in the school's 169 year history!  It's a "must see" -- "must have" ticket for Notre Dame fans.  Here's a link to some interviews Mike's given this week:

LINK:  MIKE LEE WITH COMCAST CHICAGO

LINK:  MIKE LEE WITH UND.COM'S JACK NOLAN

ESPN @ Notre Dame for First Football Practice

The folks at ESPN showed up in force these past two days in South Bend, IN.  Here are the links to the stories they've filed:

LINK:  FAMILIARITY BREEDS STRENGTH

LINK:  PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  NOTES FROM ND'S FIRST PRACTICE

Coach Kelly's Media Session After Practice #1

Notre Dame Head Football Coach Brian Kelly met with the media after today's first practice of the 2011 fall camp.  Here's a link to the UND.COM video:

LINK:  COACH KELLY MEDIA SESSION

Tim Abromaitis Named to US National Team!

University of Notre Dame's Tim Abromaitis was named to the US National Men's Basketball Team for the upcoming World University games in China.  He'll be joining three other ND basketball stars (from Muffet's team) at this tournament.  Here's a link to the South Bend Tribune story.  Congratulations Tim!

LINK:  ABROMAITIS -- US NATIONAL TEAM!

OT -- Got To Love This "Sting" Operation in AL!

I'm guessing the Indiana State Police could do this in Northern Indiana with a ND vs. USC ticket this month...  You'll get a laugh out of this!

LINK:  ALABAMA POLICE STING OPERATION

Irish Hoops Recruit Severly Injures Left Eye

Notre Dame basketball recruit Eric Katenda -- the 27th ranked power forward in the Class of 2011 suffered what is being called a freak injury in a pick up game last week.  The injury severed his optic nerve -- which has led to the permanent loss of vision in his left eye.  Here's a link to the ESPN.com story and a South Bend Tribune story:

LINK:  ND HOOPS RECRUIT LOSES VISION IN LEFT EYE

LINK:  NCAA CLEARINGHOUSE ISSUE

"A High School on Steroids" -- Herbstreit on ND

ESPN College Gameday's Kirk Herbstreit and Erin Andrews were on MSNBC's Good Morning Joe -- and before they went on the air, a ND grad -- who works for the show -- caught the two on video in the "green room."

The ND grad asked if the two had ever been to ND for a football game -- surprisingly, Erin Andrews has never been to Notre Dame Stadium for a game.  Kirk Herbstreit chose to speak about watching the infamous "Bush Push" game -- and he describer Notre Dame as a "high school on steroids."  Here's a link to the video -- CLICK ON "GREEN ROOM INTERVIEWS" which is in the left hand margin.

LINK:  KIRK HERBSTREIT & ERIN ANDREWS -- TALKIN' ND

Coach Kelly's First Press Conference -- 2011!

On the eve of the 2011 football campaign, Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly met with the media.  Here's a link to the video from UND.COM and a link to the South Bend Tribune story:

LINK:  KELLY'S FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE STORY

Replay of Coach Kelly's Interview With WSBT

University of Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly was in the studio today over at WSBT 960 AM's Weekday SportsBeat Show.  Here's a link to the audio replay of this interview:

LINK:  COACH KELLY AT WSBT 960 AM

Michael Floyd & Coach Kelly Meet With Media!

Michael Floyd and Coach Brian Kelly met this morning with the media to announce Floyd's reinstatement to the Notre Dame football team.  The two also with Jack Nolan at UND.COM.  You'll enjoy these videos -- along with the South Bend Tribune story:

LINK:  MICHAEL FLOYD & COACH KELLY PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  COACH BRIAN KELLY WITH JACK NOLAN

LINK:  MICHAEL FLOYD WITH JACK NOLAN

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE STORY

Three Domers Named to TEAM USA!

Three of Muffet's Fighting Irish were named today to play for TEAM USA at the upcoming World University Games.  It's the first time in the 35 year history of women's basketball at Notre Dame that three team members were selected!

The three; Skylar Diggins, Natalie Novosel and Devereaux Peters were named to the twelve person team that will be represent the United States in China August 14th to the 21st.  What a great experience for these three!  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  THE FIGHTING IRISH DOMINATE TEAM USA!

Notre Dame Wins @ Michigan This Week!

Is this a good omen!?

This Monday, two life-long Notre Dame fans -- played in the shadow of the "Little House" on the University of Michigan Golf Course in the Golf Association of Michigan's 21st GAM Net Team Championship -- and WON!

Rich (Brighton, MI) and Rick (Walled Lake, MI)  Rachner, a father / son combination -- who can be seen at ND football games and road games with their hand made "Golden Dome" helmets -- shot a 63 to win this state championship.  Here's what Rick had to say about the experience:

"Jim, this was my thoughts as I drove in that morning to meet my dad at the range to warm up… I see the new stadium as I am driving North through the center of downtown Ann Arbor…and my first thought, as hard as it is to admit, was, wow, that looks awesome, they finally did something right….then as I got next to the stadium and was driving through its shadow I had the unbelievable feeling that we were coming into enemy territory and it was our day to claim victory…as I turned the  corner, away from the shadow, and put my blinker on to turn into U of M Golf Course, I looked over my left shoulder at the stadium…and confidently said to myself….”Today is our day and Sept 10th will be our day”….and 1 of 2 task complete…

From the golf course you could see the stadium and for some reason the stadium seemed to provide us with energy…one would think it would have had the opposite effect, but is there anything better for a Domer than to win on U of M soil…"

Congratulations Rich and Rick -- you did the Fighting Irish proud!!!


Please note:  That's Rick on the left and Rich on the right, in their championship photo above.

Mike Lee with Coach Parseghian Today!

Notre Dame alum, Mike Lee '09 was back "home" today at the University of Notre Dame to talk about his upcoming fight on Friday, September 16th at Purcell Pavillion.  Mike announced this morning that the fight will benefit Coach Parseghian's Foundation.  Here's a link to the WNDU-TV story:

LINK:  MIKE LEE & COACH PARSEGHIAN

Coach Brian Kelly on WSBT Radio Wednesday!

Notre Dame football fans can listen to Brian Kelly on WSBT 960 AM Wednesday afternoon at 5:15 PM ET.  Coach Kelly is scheduled to be on their Weekday Sportsbeat Show until 6:00 PM ET.  Here's a link to where you can listen to the interview LIVE:

LINK:  COACH KELLY ON RADIO SHOW!

Update: ND Football Players in the NFL

I took a "lap" around the NFL this evening to check in on some of our favorite Irish players in the National Football League.  Just click on the player's name:

LINK:  TOM ZBIKOWSKI

LINK:  JUSTIN TUCK 

LINK:  JIMMY CLAUSEN

LINK:  BRADY QUINN 

LINK:  SERGIO BROWN

LINK:  VICTOR ABIAMARI 

LINK:  MAURICE STOVALL

LINK:  RYAN GRANT

LINK:  KYLE RUDOLPH

LINK:  CHINEDUM NDUKWE

LINK:  JOHN SULLIVAN

LINK:  RYAN HARRIS

LINK:  SAM YOUNG

LINK:  ANTHONY FASANO

OT -- An Impressive Young MAN!

By way of the title of this blog -- the ND GO IRISH BLOG -- we don't normally speak to the good works of student-athletes who don't wear a gold helmet.  But, today -- I'm going to make an exception.

Kirk Cousins is the QB at Michigan State University.  This weekend he spoke at the Big Ten's Media Day -- and his message is such that if you have a young person in your home -- they need to see and hear what he had to say.  I'm going to be rooting for Mr. Cousins on every Saturday except September 17th.  Here's a link to the video:

LINK:  COUSINS SPEAKS AT BIG TEN MEDIA DAY

Golden Tate Representin' the Irish Out West!

Former Notre Dame All-American Golden Tate -- and now Seattle Seahawk -- was wearing some "Blue & Gold" this past week in Tacoma, WA at a charity golf event.  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  GOLDEN TATE

Photo of the Day! -- Rudolph Signs Contract

Former University of Notre Dame tight end Kyle Rudolph signed his first NFL contract yesterday -- here's a picture he "tweeted" of this big moment.  Congratulations Kyle!

A Thank You to ND's Media Relations Dept.!

I've truly grown tired of hearing the media call someone a "redshirt freshman" or a "fifth year senior -- when describing one's eligibility status as a student-athlete.  At Notre Dame, the so called "fifth year seniors" are typically graduates of Notre Dame who have enrolled in grad school or law school.

The University of Notre Dame gets little to zero credit -- from the talking heads in the media -- for the fact that their so called "fifth year seniors" are actually college graduates taking grad or law school classes.

Notre Dame graduates its student-athletes in four years -- not five, six or never!

We've all seen the stories where a Notre Dame student-athlete is labeled as having "left school early" -- when they actually already graduated in four years and decided not to play their fifth year to pursue a career in the pro ranks.  The media "assumes" they left school early since you can't graduate on time if you're a Division I athlete -- because that's the case at most schools not called Notre Dame. 

I had made a post on January 28th of this year -- with a suggestion as to how the ND Media Relations Department should "label" the CLASS / ELIGIBILITY of all of its student athletes on all rosters, media guides, websites, news releases, etc., at the University of Notre Dame:

• Freshman (FR) -- are student athletes in their freshman academic year at Notre Dame
• Sophomores (SO) -- are student athletes in their sophomore academic year at Notre Dame
• Juniors (JR) -- are student athletes in their junior academic year at Notre Dame
• Seniors (SR) -- are student athletes in their senior academic year at Notre Dame
• Grad Student (GS) -- are student athletes who have already completed their undergraduate degree and are now in grad school or law school at Notre Dame and are playing out their five years of eligibility 

Well, wouldn't you know -- I noticed today that all of Notre Dame's 2011 "rosters" (SEE FOOTBALL ROSTER BELOW) now have all of the student-athletes who've graduated and are now in grad school -- listed as GS for grad students!!!

Here's a big THANK YOU to the University of Notre Dame's Media Relations team for taking the lead in setting the standard for proper recognition by all for the term "student-athlete!"  

The photo is of Notre Dame running back Robert Hughes who played four years for the Fighting Irish and graduated on time!  Hughes signed with the Chicago Bears this past week.


LINK:  NOTRE DAME 2011 FOOTBALL ROSTER

ND Kickoff Luncheon Tickets -- On Sale Now!

Every Friday at 11:30 AM on a Football Weekend at the University of Notre Dame -- thousands of fans gather at the Joyce Center's north dome for the ND Kickoff Luncheon.  It's the best way to kick-off a football weekend at Notre Dame -- and tickets went on sale this week.

Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly is always in attendance with a player or two -- and other special guests.  Here's a link to the order form for the luncheon tickets -- which go for $23 each.

LINK:  ND KICKOFF LUNCHEON -- ORDER FORM

Rocket Put His Money Where His Mouth -- WAS!

He has one of the greatest nicknames in college football history -- Raghib "Rocket" Ismail -- and it looks like he may have made a smart business investment!  For those of you who have followed Rocket's career since his CFL / NFL days -- you've probably learned that his athletic skills didn't translate too well in picking companies to invest in.

Looks like that's changed!

Rocket has invested in a company called BITE TECH.  They make "mouth guards" -- I can't believe I have two stories in one day on the ND GO IRISH BLOG about mouth guards!

Well, the folks at Rivals.com caught up with Rocket to talk with him about his latest venture and a potential career change you'll find quite surprising -- here's the link:

LINK:  ROCKET PUT HIS MONEY WHERE HIS MOUTH WAS!

Sponsor a Notre Dame Band Uniform -- Today!

The Band of the Fighting Irish is involved in a campaign to "sponsor" a Notre Dame Band Uniform.  A number of the band uniforms have been in use for ten seasons and are "fading and fraying."  With a gift of $250 you can purchase a new uniform for the greatest college marching band in the land!

Our oldest son Jimmy '08 was an Irish Guard in The Band of the Fighting Irish for the 2006 and 2007 football seasons.  We made a $250 donation in his name today! 

Here's a link to how you can make this donation -- and a second link to a video of The Band of the Fighting Irish in action at Yankee Stadium this past season!

LINK:  SPONSOR A BAND UNIFORM!

LINK:  THE BAND OF THE FIGHTING IRISH @ YANKEE STADIUM

ND Football Involved in Concussion Testing

The University of Notre Dame football program along with Stanford and Washington will have a number of their football players (22 Irish student athletes to be exact) wearing a special mouth guard that will monitor the punishment they take in practice and in games.  Here's a link to the South Bend Tribune story.


LINK:  ND INVOLVED IN CONCUSSION TRIAL