Did Clausen and Tate Leave Too Early?

The 2010 NFL Draft is two days a way and I'm sure the families of Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate are anxiously wondering if their sons names will be called during Thursday night's First Round. I found this article this morning, on the NFL.com site -- and I don't think it's a story Jimmy Clausen will want to read. I don't want to believe Clausen's talent will translate into "out of the First Round." Yet, it begs the question -- did Clausen and Tate both leave too early? See the story:

CLAUSEN SLIDING OUT OF FIRST ROUND?

Recruiting Rankings -- Do They Pan Out?

Found this story yesterday at CNNSI.com and it speaks to a subject I believe is often overlooked. Ever "really listen" to the player introductions on Sunday Night and Monday Night Football? If you do, you'll be surprised at where many of the NFL "starters" played their college ball. You'll hear schools like; Alcorn State, Troy, Idaho State, Western Michigan, etc. -- not schools typically recruiting "five and four star" talent. Yet, these talented athletes, made it to the NFL. Well, with two days to go to this year's NFL Draft -- CNNSI.com looked at the "recruiting rankings" of the top projected players. Click on the link:

RECRUITING RANKINGS OF TOP PLAYERS IN 2010 NFL DRAFT

Robotic Blue-Gold Game This Friday at ND

If you're looking for something 'unique' to do on Friday evening in South Bend -- you should head over to the Stepan Center and attend the second annual "Robotic Blue-Gold Game." Kick-off is set for 7 PM. If you check the PHOTO OF THE DAY on this site -- you can see, Coach Kelly is already looking at whether or not a Robot QB has any eligibility left. Click on this link for more information -- and to see video of last year's game:

ROBOTIC "BLUE-GOLD" GAME

VIDEO COVERAGE OF LAST YEAR'S ROBOTIC BLUE-GOLD GAME

Notre Dame Baseball Players on MLB Rosters

The University of Notre Dame has placed a number of its student athletes onto Major League Baseball rosters over the years. Probably the most successful would be Carl Yastrzemski (even though he attended Notre Dame on a basketball scholarship), who played for the Boston Red Sox and was an 18 time American League All Star. Yaz's best season was in 1967 when he was named the American League's MVP after becoming the last hitter to achieve the "Triple Crown" -- leading the American League in; batting average, home runs and runs batted in that season. He retired with more than 3,000 hits and 400 home runs -- the first to achieve that mark in Major League history. A "first ballot" Hall of Famer, Yastrzemski's uniform #8 was retired by the Red Sox. Of the four former ND student athletes on Major League rosters -- Craig Counsell, infielder for the Milwaukee Brewers -- had the best day yesterday, hitting a GRAND SLAM in the Brewers 11 - 7 win over the Nationals (LINK TO VIDEO BELOW). Here's the list of former Notre Dame student athletes currently in the Major Leagues right now:

-Brad Lidge (Pitcher), Philadelphia Phillies
-Jeff Samardzia (Pitcher), Chicago Cubs
-Craig Counsell (Infielder), Milwaukee Brewers
-Aaron Heilman (Pitcher), Arizona Diamondbacks

VIDEO OF CRAIG COUNSELL'S GRAND SLAM

Terry Hanratty Talks Ara, Recruiting & ND

I find it ironic that next weekend, Conor Hanratty (Conor on right)-- son of former ND All American Terry Hanratty, will be visiting the University of Notre Dame with a scholarship offer in hand. Some believe Conor, one of the top OL on the East Coast, might commit this next weekend (Blue-Gold Game) to his Dad's Alma Mater -- here's hoping he does! Back in 2008, Conor's Dad spoke to a gathering in Milwaukee honoring Ara Parseghian -- and while doing so, he talked about his own recruiting process. Click on the Link:

HANRATTY ON PARSEGHIAN AND RECRUITING

CONOR HANRATTY PROFILE

Coach Kelly "Mic'd Up" at Practice Today

Found this at www.und.com -- it's six minutes long and it's good stuff. Coach Kelly agreed to wear a microphone at today's practice. You'll see him in action working on "footwork drills" with his QB's. Click on the link to the video:

COACH KELLY AT PRACTICE

Blue-Gold Game to be Televised LIVE

It was announced today that next Saturday's Notre Dame Blue-Gold Game -- kickoff at 1:30 PM EST -- will be televised live on the web, for the first time ever. You can find the game at www.und.com. Notre Dame will debut it's "ACTION CAM" -- an overhead camera that will provide a unique perspective "above the field" of the game action. Reggie Brooks, Mirko Jurkovic and Jack Nolan will provide the commentary.

Notre Dame to Test Skycam at Blue-Gold Game

If you're planning on attending the Blue-Gold Game next Saturday you will witness a "first" at Notre Dame Stadium -- a Skycam. ND's Official Athletic Website, www.und.com, will be "testing" the use of a Skycam (photo above) -- a camera suspended by a series of cables over the field -- during the game. NBC is expected to have some technical advisors in attendance -- looking to see if they want to use the camera for their telecasts this fall. Ironically, NBC was the first to use a Skycam for a football broadcast when they had the XFL television contract in 2001.

Notre Dame Releases Hockey Arena Plans

Construction's already started on the University of Notre Dame's (on campus) $53 million dollar Hockey "Cathedral." NOTRE DAME GO IRISH BLOG published an artist rendering of the facility a couple of weeks ago -- now, Notre Dame has released this video that showcases what will become the finest college hockey building in America. Click on the link below -- and then click on the Hockey Video:

NOTRE DAME'S HOCKEY CATHEDRAL

Coach Brian Kelly to Visit a Few ND Clubs

The Notre Dame Alumni Association announced that Brian Kelly would be attending a number of ND Alumni Association Events over the next six weeks. If you're a ND Fan in one of these areas, but not a ND Alum - please contact the respective Notre Dame Alumni Clubs about attending -- they're usually quite accommodating. Here's the schedule:
-April 26th: ND Club of Cleveland - Luncheon
-May 11th: ND Club of St. Louis - Dinner
-May 18th: ND Club of Cedar Rapids/Iowa City - Luncheon
-May 18th: ND Club of Denver - Dinner
-May 19th: ND Club of Fresno(Central CA) - Luncheon
-May 23rd: ND Club of Jersey Shore - Dinner
-May 24th: ND Club of Staten Island - Luncheon
-May 24th: ND Club of Mid-Hudson Valley - Dinner

Clausen Attends "Gruden's QB Camp"

Folks, if you have three minutes, this is worth the look. Jimmy Clausen was one of four QB's that ESPN set up with Jon Gruden to spend a day with him and talk about playing the QB position in the NFL. Gruden, now an Analyst on Monday Night Football, led the Tampa Bay Buccanneers to a victory in Super Bowl XXXVII. A huge fan of Notre Dame, Gruden was generally regarded as one the top developers of QB's in the NFL. Jim, his Dad, was on Dan Devine's coaching staff at ND when Jon was student at South Bend's Clay High School. The other QB's Gruden met with were; Tebow, McCoy and Bradford. Here's a link to the video -- watch it!

CLAUSEN AT GRUDEN'S QB CAMP

ND Valedictorian deftly handles MSNBC "hack"

I'm very proud today of Katie Washington, Notre Dame's Class of 2010 Valedictorian. Katie, who just happens to be the first African American Valedictorian at Notre Dame -- is a 'WORLD CLASS' representative of her family and our Lady's University. Yesterday, MSNBC interviewed Katie in front of the Golden Dome -- and after about 30 seconds of "you must be excited..." -- they go for the "lack of minorities question" at Notre Dame. It was very obvious that MSNBC was looking to create a "news story" out of Katie's moment. As you'll see in the video (link below), Katie didn't take the bait. Shame on MSNBC and that reporter. Unfortunately, our media has turned to the news creation business, not the news reporting business. Katie, that MSNBC reporter could learn a thing or two from you!

MSNBC INTERVIEW OF ND VALEDICTORIAN

Knute Rockne -- Greatest Motivator of All Time

His name is often used to describe the quality of a locker room pre-game speech - a "Knute Rockne Speech." Here's one of Rockne's famous pre-game speeches from the Notre Dame Archives. Click on link to video:

KNUTE ROCKNE AT HIS BEST

Judge Napolitano -- Notre Dame Law Grad

If you watch the Fox News Channel -- you'll often see "Judge" Andrew Napolitano, who just happens to be a graduate of Notre Dame's Law School and a best selling author. He's written five books with the most recent being "Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power and Deception in American History." Besides his TV gig with Fox, you can also hear Judge Napolitano on Fox News Radio with his daily radio show "Brian and the Judge."

JUDGE NAPOLITANO'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE

The Shirt -- Unveiling on April 23rd!

In 1990 it began as a simple fund raising project for a ND student in need. Since then it's become the #1 selling item in any college bookstore in America. Typical sale totals will run upwards of 135,000 to as many as 150,000 t-shirts sold. It's color is the subject of chat room and message board debate -- and it's only at Notre Dame. The Shirt 2010 Project will be unveiled on Friday, April 23rd in front of the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore. Coach Brian Kelly will be the featured speaker along with Mike Golic, Sr. -- from ESPN's "Mike & Mike" show. The fun begins at 4:00 PM with the unveiling set for 5:45 PM. Here's a link to the official website of THE SHIRT along with history and a link to pre-order a shirt or two:

THE SHIRT 2010 PROJECT

HISTORY OF THE SHIRT

PRE ORDERING OF THE SHIRT 2010

CommUniversity Day

Yesterday the University of Notre Dame gave back to the South Bend community in their second annual "CommUniversity Day" -- as more than 700 Notre Dame students volunteered to work on 40 projects throughout the city. There were also activities on the Notre Dame campus for the community. See the South Bend Tribune story:

COMMUNIVERSITY DAY

Katie Washington, Notre Dame's Valedictorian

Katie, a senior from Gary, IN was selected as Notre Dame's Class of 2010 Valedictorian. In 161 years of graduating students, Washington is the first African American to receive this honor at Notre Dame. A 4.0 GPA in Biology, Washington will pursue a M.D./Ph. D degree from John Hopkins University. Congratulations Katie! Here's a link to the story:

CLASS OF 2010 VALEDICTORIAN

Clausen's on ESPN the Magazine Cover

The cover says he throws the "perfect spiral." I'm sure he, his family and his agent hopes he throws well tomorrow morning at his NFL Pro Day. Here's a link to an interview on ESPN.com with Clausen -- and what he does to throw the perfect spiral -- click on the link below.


ESPN INTERVIEW OF CLAUSEN

Watch Jimmy Clausen's Pro Day at ND Tomorrow -- Live on the Web

Former Notre Dame QB, Jimmy Clausen, will have his "Pro Day" workout for NFL teams tomorrow morning at the University of Notre Dame. Representatives of every NFL team are expected to be on campus tomorrow to see Clausen throw for the first time since his off season foot surgery. Jimmy will be throwing to a few of his former teammates; Golden Tate, Robby Parris, James Aldridge and David Grimes. If you'd like to watch it LIVE -- you can at www.und.com. Here's a link to where you can watch his workout -- it begins at 11:30 AM, Friday April 9th. Good Luck Jimmy!

LIVE COVERAGE OF CLAUSEN'S NFL PRO DAY

ND Grad and "Mascot" Artist

His work received some publicity today when ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach wrote about Brian Kelly's purchase of a print entitled "Original Fighting Irish." The artist is none other than ND Alum; Revere La Noue. Revere was a former ND Lacrosse player and a large piece from his "Original Fighting Irish Print Series" is hanging in Arlotta Stadium (the new home of the ND Lacrosse program) at Notre Dame. La Noue's latest work is a series devoted to the unknown history of the college mascot. Here's a link to his website:

THE MASCOT GALLERY