PHOTO OF THE DAY: Swift at Notre Dame

Here's a photo of Taylor Swift, the country pop star, with some of her fans here at Notre Dame. The photo was taken last year when Swift visited Notre Dame with her brother Austin -- when he was a high school senior looking for a college to attend. (One of our visitors at ND GO IRISH BLOG was quick to point out when the photo was taken -- THANK YOU!) Swift was at Notre Dame this weekend to visit her brother Austin (a Notre Dame freshman) and to see a Notre Dame football game. Apparently, Taylor wanted to sit in the Notre Dame student section, but Notre Dame officials talked her out of that idea and she watched the game from the sidelines. Forbes magazine recently ranked the twenty-year old Swift as the 12th most powerful celebrity with earnings of $45 million in the past year.

Coach Kelly & His Team...

Brian Kelly gave "ALL ACCESS" to the www.und.com cameras, into the Notre Dame locker room, after the Irish 23-12 victory over Purdue Saturday. Here's a video of Team Chaplain; Fr. Paul Doyle leading the team in the Our Father and Coach Kelly leading the singing of the Victory March. Click on the TOTAL ACCESS PREVIEW on the right -- good stuff!:

LINK: A MUST WATCH

Michigan Week: A Notre Dame History Lesson!

Having been a resident of the State of Michigan for most of my life -- but an Irish fan since BIRTH -- I've always looked forward to these two weeks of the season when we play Michigan and Michigan State. Now, I must admit -- I like these two weeks a whole lot better when we win! So, to get us in the right frame of mind for these next two Saturdays -- I'm going to dig up some classic YOUTUBE video of great moments in these two games. First up, the 1980 game when Touchdown Jesus "stopped the wind" and little known Harry Oliver -- all "five foot nuthin" -- kicked a 51-yard field goal in the final seconds to give the Irish a 29-27 win over Michigan. Here's the link to the last minute of the game -- with a bonus radio call of the kick from Tony Roberts. A MUST WATCH TODAY:

LINK: HARRY O'S MIRACLE KICK

ND Fans: A Reason to Consider Buying an iPad

NBC Sports just gave every Notre Dame fan in the world a reason to buy an iPad. An iPad app for Notre Dame Football. What's the line... "I have an app for that" -- well, Irish fans this may be the app of the year! The app offers a pretty thorough set of ways to follow the team’s season, including a complete schedule, news, live scores, video clips including recaps and interviews, team stats, roster, photo galleries, Twitter updates and a display of the “Inside the Irish” blog. Of course, the app also allows you to pay for live streaming of home game for either $5.99 for the entire season or $1.99 per game. The two coolest features come in the form of notifications. On game day, you can set the app to remind you of the game – by playing the Notre Dame fight song. Then during the game, the app offers push notifications every time there is a score. Now, if we can talk NBC into "giving away" iPads as a promotion for Notre Dame fans -- we may have something here! Here's a link to more information on how to download the app:

LINK: NOTRE DAME iPad APP

A ND Drummer's Fifteen Minutes of Fame...

A member of the University of Notre Dame's Band of the Fighting Irish's famed Drumline -- made one of the more memorable entrances in the Band's 123 year history of marching at Notre Dame Football games -- this past Saturday. Here's a link to a video that may very well become YOUTUBE legend for this band member:

LINK: A NOT SO GRAND ENTRANCE

The Band of the Fighting Irish

Shot this video this Saturday at the Notre Dame vs. Purdue football game of the greatest band in the land - The Band of the Fighting Irish! Enjoy!

LINK: THE BAND OF THE FIGHTING IRISH

Wear Your Green This Saturday!

Some Notre Dame fans online are suggesting a "GREEN OUT" at Notre Dame Stadium for this Saturday's game against Michigan. I believe it's a great idea and I'm going to be asking my gang of sixteen -- who are all sitting in the Michigan section by the way -- to WEAR GREEN ON SATURDAY! So, whether it's green clothing or green body paint -- GET YOUR "KELLY" GREEN ON this Saturday!

A Notre Dame Marriage Proposal...

Former Notre Dame Cheerleader, Kristi Murphy received a great surprise this Saturday prior to the Notre Dame vs. Purdue game. Kristi's boyfriend, Mike Iaquinta dropped to one knee and proposed to Kristi in front of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the Notre Dame campus -- and in front of the WNDU-TV cameras! Here's a link to the WNDU-TV story:

LINK: ND MARRIAGE PROPOSAL

NBC's Lovin' Brian Kelly: Ratings up 77%!

The Notre Dame vs. Purdue football game Saturday's preliminary rating was up 77 percent from last year's opener. NBC said Sunday that the Fighting Irish's 23-12 win over Purdue drew a 2.3 overnight rating and 6 share. The 2009 opener against Nevada earned a 1.3 rating and 3 share. A big thank-you to Jim Conway, Jr. '69 -- for sending me an email alerting me to this fact. Here's a link to the ESPN Blog story:

LINK: NBC'S RATINGS UP

Replay of Notre Dame vs. Purdue

If you were at the game Saturday and like me -- forgot to set the DVR to record the game. Or, you had other conflicts and were unable to see the game on TV -- you still have options! NBC Sports' website has the entire broadcast archived for you to watch at your leisure. Photo courtesy of South Bend Tribune. Here's the link:

LINK: WATCH THE IRISH BEAT PURDUE

Dayne Crist's Irish Debut

University of Notre Dame QB, Dayne Crist, made his Irish debut this Saturday against the Purdue Boilermakers. Crist went 19 for 26 and 205 yards -- and a TD pass. Here is Dayne's postgame comments:

LINK: DAYNE CRIST INTERVIEW

Irish Basketball on Football Saturdays

For those of you fortunate enough to be on campus for a Football Saturday at Notre Dame -- and you're looking for something to do before kick-off -- you might just want to stroll over to the Purcell Pavillion and catch the Irish basketball team in action. It's become tradition that the Men's and Women's Notre Dame basketball teams play "pick up" games on either the arena floor or THE PIT -- their practice court in the basement of the Joyce Center on Saturday mornings. This past Saturday we found the Irish Men's team playing in the "Pit" because the arena floor had a large stage occupying it. And, while we were there we saw former Irish stars; Chris Quinn (New Jersey Nets) and Luke Harangody (Boston Celtics) watching the action. You can typically find them playing between 10 AM and Noon on most football Saturdays. Here's a link to some of the action from this Saturday's open gym:

LINK: OPEN GYM FOR IRISH BASKETBALL

He Loves Notre Dame...

It was 29 years ago this week that Gerry Faust was to embark on what he expected to be one of the great coaching runs in the history of Notre Dame football. Why wouldn' he? He had just left Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati after winning 178 of the 203 games he coached. He led the Crusaders to seven unbeaten seasons, four national prep titles, and five Ohio state titles in his last six seasons at Moeller. Well, if only Gerry could have kept his coaching career to one game at ND -- he would have retired on top. If you recall, Faust's Irish beat LSU in his first game as coach. The 27 - 9 Notre Dame victory over LSU (on September 12, 1981) combined with Minnesota's upset of then top ranked Michigan -- vaulted the Irish to the #1 ranking in the country. Unfortunately, Michigan was next on the schedule and Schembechler's Wolverines beat Notre Dame that week 25 - 7 -- and the honeymoon was over. Gerry did have some moments at Notre Dame in his five-year career; a win over #1 ranked Dan Marino led, Pitt Panthers in 1982, a 52 - 6 win over Purdue to start the 1983 season -- but a five-year career record of 30-26-1 led to his resignation. You can never deny that Gerry Faust loves Notre Dame -- and Notre Dame loves Gerry Faust. In fact, Coach Faust was at the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore this past Saturday (for the umpteenth time) signing copies of his book The Golden Dream. I don't think we'll be seeing Bob Davie, Ty Willingham or Charlie Weis -- anytime soon -- signing copies of their book about their Notre Dame experience, sitting in the stands at Notre Dame games or walking the campus on a football Saturday. These days, Gerry works as a motivational speaker -- click on the link below to see him tell a very funny story at a conference. There's also two links below to a two-part feature that ESPN ran in 2007 on Gerry Faust's career at Notre Dame - A MUST SEE. Coach Faust, will always be a favorite to many Notre Dame fans. To prove my point, here's a photo taken this Saturday morning of an Irish fan on campus, just hours before kick-off of the Brian Kelly era.

LINK: GERRY FAUST -- TELLING A NOTRE DAME STORY

LINK: THE GOLDEN DREAM #1 - ESPN

LINK: THE GOLDEN DREAM #2 - ESPN

PHOTO OF THE DAY: SWIFT & GOMEZ

Looks like Notre Dame Football has a couple of new fans! Singers Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez, are seen here with their "IRISH ON" before yesterday's game at Notre Dame Stadium. Swift was in town to visit her brother Austin, who's a freshman at Notre Dame. Here's a link to a "gossip story" about Swift's visit to Rocco's for dinner last night. Photo courtesy of the South Bend Tribune.

LINK: TAYLOR SWIFT DINES AT ROCCO'S

Notre Dame Players on NFL "Bubble"

The NFL required each of their teams to make their final cuts, yesterday, to reduce their team rosters down to 53 players by the 4 PM EST deadline. Now, you can still get cut this week or picked up by another team -- as teams make their final roster adjustments leading into the NFL's opening weekend. Here's an update on a few of the players who played for Notre Dame this past season that were "on the bubble." Click on their names for story:

SAM YOUNG -- on Dallas Cowboys 53 man roster

ERIC OLSEN -- on Denver Broncos 53 man roster

SERGIO BROWN -- did not make New England Patriots final roster

KYLE MCCARTHY-- did not make Denver Broncos final roster

PAUL DUNCAN -- did not make Denver Broncos final roster

Farley Hall's Mascot!

Took this photo yesterday of "Farley" -- the official mascot of the University of Notre Dame's Farley Hall. Farley's Rector, Sr. Carrine Etheridge, IHM -- had Farley, in full uniform, taking in the scene in South Quad -- prior to yesterday's Notre Dame football game with Purdue. Where's Farley's helmet?

LINK: FARLEY HALL WEBSITE

Coach Kelly's First Game at Notre Dame

It's a day he'll never forget, September 4th, 2010 -- the day he led his Notre Dame Football team, for the first time, into historic Notre Dame Stadium. Coach Kelly has experienced a number of "firsts" these past 9 months since taking over as the 29th coach in the history of Notre Dame football -- yet, they all pale in comparison to his first victory at Notre Dame. Here's a video -- taken from Section 14 -- of some highlights from the first game in the Brian Kelly era at Notre Dame -- enjoy:

LINK: BRIAN KELLY'S FIRST GAME

A Historic "First" for Notre Dame Stadium

For the first time in the 123-year history or Notre Dame Football -- the Fighting Irish took the field for pre-game via the Notre Dame student section. Notre Dame Head Football Coach, Brian Kelly's Irish entered historic Notre Dame Stadium via Section 31 at approximately 2:40 PM EST. Here's a photo of Irish QB, Dayne Crist entering the Stadium and a link to a video of what it looked like from Section 14 as Notre Dame Football started a new tradition. Here's the link:

LINK: A NEW TRADITION FOR ND FOOTBALL

Video of Coach Kelly's "First" Walk to Stadium

Shot this video yesterday afternoon of Notre Dame Head Football Coach Brian Kelly and his Fighting Irish football team on their walk from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart to Notre Dame Stadium. One of the great traditions in college football. You have to wonder what Coach Kelly is thinking while experiencing this for the very first time as the Head Coach of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Here's a link to the video:

LINK: THE VERY FIRST TIME

The Four Horsemen -- Ride Again @ ND!

Ran into these four "well dressed" Fighting Irish fans yesterday -- outside Notre Dame Stadium. Unfortunately, I didn't take their picture "Outlined against a blue-gray October sky..." I wonder where they left their horses during the game?