Preview: Irish vs. Spartans

The folks at www.und.com just posted their video preview of tomorrow night's Notre Dame vs. Michigan State football game. UND.COM's Jack Nolan and former Notre Dame All-American, Reggie Brooks host this segment.

LINK: IRISH vs. SPARTANS

My Never Ending Pasta Bowl -- Photo Contest!

Our friends at Olive Garden offered to send the ND GO IRISH BLOG a $15 gift certificate -- redeemable at anyone of their more than 700 restaurants across America & Canada -- if we were to agree to let Notre Dame fans know about their "My Never Ending Pasta Bowl" promotion that's going on in their restaurants until October 10th. (We're going to use the gift certificate in a ND GO IRISH BLOG contest -- once it arrives). Here's the details on the "My Never Ending Pasta Bowl" promotion:
Head into your local Olive Garden an ask for the "Never Ending Pasta Bowl" for $8.95. You'll get all of the pasta you could ever eat, along with your choice of 40+ pasta/sauce combinations. AND -- unlimited access to Olive Garden's garden salad or soup and breadsticks. I'm getting hungry just writing this!
In addition -- you can enter the "Olive Garden Never Ending Pasta Bowl" -- Photo Contest for a chance to win a $25 Olive Garden Gift Card. To enter the contest, bring your camera (or use your cell phone) and take a photo of your Never Ending Pasta Bowl Experience -- then visit the Olive Garden's Facebook page -- link below -- and click on the CONTEST tab and share your photo and story. FYI: The closest Olive Garden to the Notre Dame campus (this is according to the Olive Garden PR people) is located at 3003 Brittany Street in Elkhart. Go Eat, Go Enter and Go IRISH!

LINK: OLIVE GARDEN FACEBOOK PAGE

Notre Dame Football Tickets Still Available

Just got off the phone with the Notre Dame ticket office and learned that tickets are still available for the following games: Western Michigan & Tulsa (pairs together) and single tickets for the Pittsburgh and Utah games. To see the Irish play - call this number: 574.631.7356 to speak with the Notre Dame Ticket Office. If you've ever dreamed about seeing the Fighting Irish in Notre Dame Stadium - here's your chance! Tickets are $70 each.

LINK: NOTRE DAME STADIUM SEATING CHART

Kelly's Last Press Conference: MSU Week

Here's a link to Coach Kelly's press conference last night after practice -- his last time with the media before Saturday night's game against Michigan State. You'll hear some great news on the health of Defensive Line and Special Teams coach, Mike Elston -- and what Coach thinks about his Irish:

LINK: COACH KELLY PRESS CONFERENCE

ND vs. MSU: 2006 Irish Comeback

This may have been Charlie Weis's greatest win at Notre Dame. The Irish trailed early 17-0, 24-7 and were down 37-21 with eight minutes left in a game played in a MONSOON! The next five minutes were unreal -- as the Irish take the lead 40-37 and win the game! Here's a link to video highlights of this classic:

LINK: IT'S NEVER OVER TIL' IT'S OVER

Should Golden Have Stayed One More Year?

The Seattle Seahawks drafted Golden Tate 60th overall in the 2nd round of the 2010 NFL Draft. The former Biletnikoff Award winner, from Notre Dame, left school early to pursue a professional career which started "officially" this past Sunday. Unfortunately for Golden, he was standing on the sidelines in street clothes, watching four other Seahawk receivers make catches in Seattle's 31-7 win over the San Francisco 49'ers. In the NFL, only 45 of the 53 players on the roster are ruled "active" for each game - and Golden wasn't activated for their first game. Yesterday's Seattle Times did a story on what's keeping Golden on the sidelines -- and it makes you wonder would he have been better off with one more year at Notre Dame? Remember Coach Kelly's comments about Michael Floyd's lack of route running skills? Here's a link to the article:

LINK: GOLDEN, DID HE NEED ONE MORE YEAR?

Three Big Monday TV Appearances for Irish!

ESPN announced yesterday that Mike Brey's Fighting Irish have been put on their "Big Monday" TV schedule for the 2010-2011 season three times! The first game is scheduled for January 10th when the Irish travel to Milwaukee to take on Marquette. Two weeks later, Notre Dame's trip to Pittsburgh to take on the Pitt Panthers will be televised -- and finally, the ESPN cameras will be coming to Purcell Pavillion on February 28th when Villanova comes to town.

LINK: ESPN'S BIG MONDAY

Former Raider Great and His Twin Domers

George Atkinson played 11 years in the NFL for the Oakland Raiders. The former defensive back / punt returner was a member of their Super Bowl XI championship team. He's fifth all-time for the Raiders with 30 career interceptions and set their single game record for most punt return yards with 205 in one game! So, he knows a little about football. This past week his twin sons; George III and Josh committed to play football next year at Notre Dame -- and a local radio station tracked George down to ask him about his boys and "why Notre Dame?" I believe you'll enjoy his response. When you get to the web page, scroll down to the bottom and look for the link to the interview:

LINK: GEORGE TALKS ABOUT HIS IRISH COMMITS

Win the Ultimate Trip to Every Bowl Game!

The promotional people at Cooper Tires sent the ND GO IRISH BLOG a note asking if we would be willing to let Notre Dame fans know about their Ultimate Bowl Tour Challenge. It sounds like something we'd like to win -- so here it is: This college football season Cooper Tires is awarding the most driven fan with a once-in-a-lifetime trip to attend five of the biggest BCS bowl games including the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl, and the National Championship Game. The winner of the Copper Tires Ultimate Bowl Tour and three very lucky friends will be whisked away on a private jet, making stops in Pasadena, Miami, New Orleans, Dallas and Glendale, AZ. I say Notre Dame fans would look great in that private jet wearing our blue & gold at every Bowl Game! Here's the link to play:

LINK: ULTIMATE BOWL TOUR CHALLENGE

Brian Kelly Radio Show -- 7 PM EST TONIGHT!

Coach Kelly's radio show starts at 7PM EST from Legends of Notre Dame. Here's a link to where you can watch the show online or a link to where you can listen to the radio broadcast only.

LINK: LIVE VIDEO FEED OF SHOW

LINK: LIVE RADIO FEED OF SHOW

Notre Dame's New Admissions Director

Now, that's not what they call this position anymore. The official title is Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Admissions -- and the person 'soon to be sitting' in that office at Notre Dame is Donald Bishop. Bishop was announced yesterday as the replacement for the retired Dan Saracino -- effective December 1st. He's a former ND grad, Class of 1977, who previously worked for eight years in Notre Dame's Admissions department before stints at Cornell, Creighton, Ohio Weleyan and Embry Riddle. So, if you want to get your son or daughter into Notre Dame -- it will be his team making those decisions starting this December!

A Notre Dame Internet Browser -- For Free!

CBS Sports and Brand Thunder, Inc. have teamed up to create college themed browsers for sixty schools. And, wouldn't you know it -- Notre Dame is on that list. Whether you have a PC and use Internet Explorer or a MAC and use Firefox -- they have a free download for you! All you have to do is click on the link below and follow the instructions to theme your internet experience with Notre Dame -- Go Irish!

LINK: FREE NOTRE DAME BROWSER

Access Hollywood Visits Regis & Notre Dame

Access Hollywood's Maria Menuounos (pictured) spent some time with Regis Philbin '53, in his New York office, talking what else -- Notre Dame football! And, Menuonos did her best to experience the sites and sounds of Game Day at Notre Dame for Access Hollywood -- as she visited campus for Saturday's game against Michigan. Here's a link to the story:

LINK: ACCESS HOLLYWOOD COMES TO ND

Clausen's First Endorsement Deal

Former Notre Dame QB and maybe Sunday's starter for the Carolina Panthers, Jimmy Clausen, has signed on as a paid endorser of FLO TV. FLO TV allows you to watch live television on your cell phone, computer, in your car, etc. Here's an article in which the ESPN reporter weaved in "Notre Dame" into Clausen's use of the FLO TV product he's representing. Here's the link:


LINK: CLAUSEN ON NOTRE DAME

MSU vs. ND -- Rain Storm 2006!

On the Monday after Notre Dame's thrilling, come from way behind, win over the Spartans -- in a rain storm -- a Detroit sports talk radio host "WENT OFF ON HIS SPARTANS." His name is Mike Valenti and his rant over the Spartans collapse against the Irish -- has become radio legend. His diatribe runs for fifteen minutes or so -- thus, you'll see links to Part 1 and Part 2 below. As you'll hear, Valenti, a Michigan State grad, is passionate about his Spartans and wasn't too happy with the outcome of this game. YOU MUST LISTEN TO THIS!

LINK: MSU FAN'S RANT - PART 1

LINK: MSU FAN'S RANT - PART 2

Johnny Lattner on Reggie Bush...

Former Heisman Trophy Winner and Notre Dame "All-Everything" Johnny Lattner, was asked by the Chicago Tribune -- the day before Reggie Bush's announcement -- "should Reggie Bush keep his Heisman?" You might be surprised with his answer:

LINK: LATTNER ON BUSH

Official Ground Breaking: "Hockey Cathedral"

This past Saturday, the University of Notre Dame's President; Rev. John Jenkins, presided over a ceremony to bless and dedicate the Compton Family Center -- the future home of the Irish Hockey program. "The Compton" is named after Kevin and Gayla Compton, who also happen to be the owners of the NHL's San Jose Sharks. Kevin and Gayla made a generous lead gift to Notre Dame to fund what is being called by some as college hockey's "Cathedral." The $53 million structure, which opens in October 2011 -- will immediately become the finest college hockey facility in the world. Here's a few links to a number of architectural renderings of this world-class facility:

LINK: PHOTOS OF STADIUM'S EXTERIOR

LINK: TEAM LOCKER ROOM

LINK: STADIUM'S MAIN CONCOURSE

LINK: STADIUM'S CLUB LEVEL

LINK: STADIUM SITE LINES

Notre Dame is Different...

Folks, Gregg Easterbrook's blog post at ESPN today -- is something you need to keep in your back pocket (if/when) the subject of "student-athlete" ever comes up with your friends in the; Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Pac 10, Big 12, WAC, etc. You'll find near the end of Easterbrook's lengthy blog post -- a story about Notre Dame football player Chris Stewart. Stewart is a Law Student at the University of Notre Dame -- who just happens to be a starting offensive lineman. You see, at Notre Dame you're expected to graduate in four years and if you want a fifth year on the gridiron, you've graduated and have enrolled in grad school. Here's the link:

LINK: A NOTRE DAME STUDENT-ATHLETE

Coach Kelly's Media Session Today

Notre Dame Head Football Coach Brian Kelly, met with the media today at noon -- in his weekly Tuesday press briefing. Here's a link to www.und.com's coverage:

LINK: COACH KELLY PRESS CONFERENCE

NBC was the WINNER Saturday!

NBC Sports is experiencing the excitement that Brian Kelly has brought to the Fighting Irish football program -- first hand. For the second week in a row -- TV ratings are up big time. The Michigan vs. Notre Dame game was the most watched Notre Dame football game in the past five-years and the most watched featuring these two teams in sixteen-years. It was the twelfth largest audience ever for a NBC telecast of a Notre Dame football game in their twenty-year history with the Irish -- and largest audience ever for two un-ranked opponents. 7 million viewers tuned in to the game -- and the two-game viewership average is the best in four years for Notre Dame football. Here are the five largest TV audiences ever for a NBC broadcast of Notre Dame vs. Michigan football game:

1: #6 Michigan 26, #3 Notre Dame 24 September 10, 1994 10.1 million
2: #3 Notre Dame 17, #6 Michigan 17 September 12, 1992 7.3 million
3: Michigan 28, Notre Dame 24 September 11, 2010 7.0 million
4: #22 Notre Dame 36, #5 Michigan 20 September 5, 1998 6.6 million
5: #20 Notre Dame 25, #7 Michigan 23 September 14, 2002 6.5 million