A Notre Dame Icon -- To Retire

The University of Notre Dame's long time Executive Director of its Alumni Association, Chuck Lennon '61 -- announced his retirement yesterday -- effective next June 2011. Chuck's 30 years of service to his Alma Mater left Notre Dame a much better place. Lennon was a fixture at Pep Rally's with his "Raise the Roof" cheer (SEE VIDEO LINK BELOW) -- and never missed an opportunity to make a fellow Alum or visitor feel at home when they crossed his path at Notre Dame. He epitomizes what it means to be a "Notre Dame Man." I'm certain there will be tribute after tribute for this "Man and his Notre Dame sweater" -- over these next nine months. Thank You Chuck Lennon!

LINK: "RAISE THE ROOF"

LINK: A BONUS VIDEO OF CHUCK IN ACTION!

Michigan Week: #1 vs. #2 in 1989

It's the game in which Rocket Ismail broke Bo Schembechler's heart and became Irish legend -- with his two kick-off returns for TD's as the #1 ranked Irish beat #2 ranked Michigan in the so called "Big House." Here is Keith Jackson's call on ABC:

LINK: YOU DON'T KICK TO ROCKET!

Brian Kelly Radio Show -- Tonight!

Just a quick reminder -- every Thursday night during the Notre Dame football season -- Head Coach Brian Kelly will be hosting his own radio show at Legends of Notre Dame. The radio show runs from 7 PM EST to 8 PM EST on a number of radio stations. You can also watch it live on www.und.com -- ALL ACCESS. Here's two links to where you'll find Coach Kelly's radio show tonight live on the web:

LINK: LIVE ON THE WEB

LINK: LIVE ON THE RADIO

The Montana vs. Rudy Story -- Part II

Looks like the "journalists" at TMZ won't let this story go away. Yesterday, Joe Montana was on the Dan Patrick Radio Show and he was asked about the Rudy movie. I wasn't crazy about Joe's response -- as you may have read in an earlier post. Well, it looks like a former teammate, Jay Achterhoff, wasn't as well. Here's a link to TMZ's report:

LINK: MONTANA vs. RUDY

Brian Kelly on Dan Patrick Radio Show this AM

Here's a link to Brian Kelly's conversation this morning with Dan Patrick on his nationally syndicated radio show:

LINK: COACH KELLY WITH DAN PATRICK

Get Your GREEN ON -- This Saturday!

Folks, it's time we made a "statement" beyond the student section inside Notre Dame Stadium. We have a school coming in that has similar colors to ours "Maize is not GOLD" -- that also has an Adidas contract. Our team apparel is from the same designer -- so, if you wear your blue, white or gold shirts in the stands -- you might be mistaken for one of "those guys." Remember when Nebraska came to town a few years ago and the statement their fans made with all of the red they wore in Notre Dame Stadium? THIS IS OUR HOUSE -- get your GREEN ON inside Notre Dame Stadium this Saturday! Let's force ESPN's Sports Center to talk about "ALL OF THE FANS WEARING GREEN at Notre Dame Stadium" -- when they show their post game coverage of our victory over Michigan! It's time to let the world know that not only are the FIGHTING IRISH BACK -- but so are their MILLIONS OF FANS! GET YOUR GREEN ON!

Michigan Week: Irish Roll in Rain!

The weather man isn't giving us the greatest of forecasts for this Saturday's game against Michigan -- so I decided to bring out the video of the last time the Wolverines came to Notre Dame Stadium. If you recall -- it poured -- and we rolled over Michigan 35-17! Here's a link to a video of the 2008 game:


LINK: WE CAN BEAT YOU IN THE RAIN

His Grandpa Was Smiling in Heaven...

The University of Notre Dame's Leprchaun, David Zimmer, grew up in a family of Purdue grads and fans. In fact, "Diz" spent his first year in college at Purdue, after not being accepted into ND out of high school. Zimmer applied again after his freshman year and was accepted -- transferring into Notre Dame his sophomore year. It was Diz's Grandpa who had always encouraged him to attend Notre Dame, and when Zimmer received the news that he was going to be Irish -- the first call was to Grandpa. Unfortunately, Grandpa never got to see his grandson roaming the sidelines of his first game as the Leprechaun from a seat inside Notre Dame Stadium -- against, of all teams, Purdue. You see -- Grandpa had a better seat for this game. Diz and his family buried Grandpa -- last Thursday, two days before the Purdue game. Here's a link to a wonderful story -- you might have missed -- that aired last Friday on WNDU-TV and a story that ran when Diz was named the Leprechaun:

LINK: HIS GRANDPA'S DREAM

LINK: HE'S THE NOTRE DAME LEPRECHAUN!

Notre Dame Coaching Staff to Honor Heroes...

To commemorate the ninth anniversary of the events that took place on 9/11/01 -- Brian Kelly & coaching staff will be wearing the Notre Dame Heroes Collection -- during this Saturday's game against Michigan. You can purchase the Heroes Collection in the Notre Dame Hammes Bookstore. Here's a link to purchase the official hat:

LINK: NOTRE DAME HEROES HAT

Biometric Sampling of Twins @ Notre Dame

Every August in a town in Ohio aptly named "Twinsburg" -- almost 2,000 sets of twins attend "The Twins Day Festival" -- which is generally regarded as the largest official gathering of twins in the world. And it's an event that researchers from the University of Notre Dame's Department of Computer Science and Engineering attend -- to do some field work! Notre Dame's Kevin Bowyer and Patrick Flynn spent the weekend in Twinsburg convincing sets of twins to sit at the center of a half-circle arc surrounded by five cameras which took high resolution color photographs from different angles. These volunteers also posed for iris and 3-D face imaging cameras. Flynn and Bowyer have been developing and assessing image-based biometrics and multi-biometrics technologies since 2001, including first-of-kind comparisons of face photographs, face thermograms, 3-D face images, iris images, video of human gait, and even ear and hand shapes. A biometric is a stable and distinctive physiological feature of a person that can be measured and used to identify that person; the fingerprint is the most familiar example. In the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, federal agencies have become increasingly interested in the feasibility of facial and iris recognition technologies. Here's a link to Notre Dame's official release:

LINK: BIOMETRIC SAMPLING

Michigan Week: Irish Upset #5 Ranked Michigan

It was the opening game of the 1998 season for the Irish against the 5th ranked Wolverines -- who were coming off of their National Championship season. Bob Davie's 22nd ranked Irish rolled over Michigan 36 to 20 that day -- a Wolverine team led by Tom Brady. Who's seen here fumbling after being sacked by the Irish. Here's a link to a video of the game highlights:

LINK: THE IRISH UPSET MICHIGAN

Last Day to Win Tickets to Saturday's Game!

If you'd like to enter the contest to win tickets to Notre Dame's game this Saturday against Michigan -- you need to get moving! The contest at Every Game Counts ends today - here's the link to enter a chance to win two tickets:

LINK: EVERY GAME COUNTS CONTEST

Montana Talks "Rudy" -- Did He Have To?

Former Notre Dame QB and Super Bowl Champion, Joe Montana -- was a guest on the Dan Patrick Radio Show this morning. The subject of "Rudy" came up and Joe's response, in essence, let everyone "behind the curtain." Did he have to do that? You take a listen:



LINK: JOE MONTANA ON "RUDY"

Your Irish Women's BB Team @ Work!

There's a work-out called ZUMBA which is the "fusion" of Latin and International music -- that is becoming quite the rage -- and, has become part of the workout regiment for Muffet McGraw's Fighting Irish! Here's a link to a video of the girls hard at work (you'll find the video on the lower right hand portion of the web page, just scroll down) -- and a link to the ZUMBA website, just in case you want to try this at home!

LINK: ZUMBA WITH ND BASKETBALL!

LINK: ZUMBA WEBSITE

Dayne Crist Needs OUR Vote!

The Davey O'Brien Award, given annually to the top college QB in America, is conducting an online vote for the first time this year. At present, all 120 projected starting QB's of NCAA FBS teams are on the ballot. Through the fan vote -- which counts for 5% of the total -- and the vote of the O'Brien Committee, 16 QB's will be named a "SEMI-FINALIST" which will be announced on October 25th. No Notre Dame QB has ever won this award -- it's time to change that!!! Click on this link to vote for Dayne!

LINK: VOTE FOR DAYNE CRIST

ND's First African American Defensive Captain...

Larry Schumacher, a starting linebacker for the Irish in the 60's died Saturday at his home in East Orange, NJ. Schumacher played for Coach Parseghian. Here's a link to a story about his contributions to his home town:

LINK: LARRY SCHUMACHER

Notre Dame Picked as "Worth the Price"

The University of Notre Dame was picked as one of the fifteen schools "Worth the Price" in higher education in the book “Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids – and What We Can Do About It.” The book written by Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus takes you on a tour of what’s horrible about today’s colleges. Hacker, a professor at Queens College, and Dreifus, who teaches at Columbia University, outline how colleges lost track of their primary mission: teaching college students. Instead, many professors negotiate to teach as little as possible, while the colleges lure students with expensive sports facilities, dorms and dining choices, pushing a four-year education at a private school to a quarter million dollars. Here's the list of the fifteen schools they believe are worth the price: Notre Dame, Harvard, Emory, Brandeis, Marquette, Hofstra, Florida Gulf Coast, Evergreen State, Western Oregon, University of Maryland - Baltimore County, Raritan Valley, Cooper Union, Linfield College, University of Mississippi and Arizona State. I noticed Dreifus didn't pick Columbia -- and Hacker didn't pick Queens College...they both must have "tenure."

LINK: BUY THE BOOK AT AMAZON

Hodges Returns to Irish after Transplant!

Teddy Hodges (Salinas, KS) is back with the Notre Dame Fencing Team - less than one year after his heart transplant. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT! 365 days ago, Hodges was clinging on to life, after a virus attacked his heart causing two heart attacks in consecutive days. This was the news report on the www.fencing.net blog a year ago: Teddy Hodges, a senor foil fencer on the Notre Dame varsity, is in a Kansas City hospital. He is suffering from a viral infection of the heart. He had two heart attacks in the last two days. He is on a machine that keeps his heart and lungs working while they rest the heart and decide on further treatment. He can open his eyes and move his arms and legs. Well, that further treatment was a heart transplant -- which took place on September 16, 2009. Yesterday, nine days short of the one-year anniversary of his new heart, Teddy Hodges joined his Irish teammates at practice. Here are a few news reports on Hodges return for his senior year at Notre Dame -- what a story:

LINK: WWW.UND.COM STORY

LINK: WNDU-TV STORY

Coach Kelly's First Pre Game Speech @ ND!

Here's your chance to get inside the Notre Dame Locker room and see what Coach Kelly had to say to the Fighting Irish -- and his first trip down the steps to touch the PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY sign! Here's the link:

LINK: COACH KELLY'S PEP TALK

Reminder: Green Rules The Day!

This Saturday -- is "Wearin' of the Green" day at Notre Dame Stadium! Show you're behind Coach Kelly and the Fighting Irish by turning Notre Dame Stadium into a SEA OF GREEN @ Saturday's game against Michigan. Whether it's a green shirt, jacket or body paint -- it will all look the same from the field and on television sets all over the world. We need to extend the "GREEN OUT" beyond the Notre Dame student section!