Lou Holtz -- Happy Birthday!

Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz turns 74 years young today -- Happy Birthday Coach!

And, I'm betting never in his "wildest dreams" did he think he'd be starring in an animated Disney Channel show -- as himself -- in this morning's episode of "Dr. Throw."


The Dr. Throw show targets toddlers and preschool children.  In this morning's episode "Dr. Throw," Special Agent OSO, the brightly colored panda bear, had to teach a little boy named Rudy how to throw a football before the boy's Uncle Lou comes over to play a game of catch.  Rudy completes a pass just as Uncle Lou — the former University of Notre Dame football coach — enters the backyard wearing his signature blue cap and blue sweatshirt.

Do you think -- by the name of the "little boy," the use of Coach Holtz in his ND gear -- and the fact that the star of RUDY (the movie) Sean Astin is the voice of Special Agent OSO -- the writer of this episode is a Notre Dame fan?

A big ND GO IRISH BLOG thank you to regular contributor;  Dr. Jim Clancy for alerting us to this story.  Here'a a link to a WNDU-TV story -- that shows a clip from the show -- Enjoy!

LINK:  COACH HOLTZ STARS IN DISNEY CHANNEL SHOW

U.S. Army All-American Bowl -- This Saturday!

The "future" of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame's football program will be on display this Saturday afternoon on NBC at 1:00 PM EST.  Three high school All-Americans, playing in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, have already given their "verbal" commitment to Brian Kelly;  Matt Hegarty (OL / New Mexico), Stephon Tuitt (DE / Georgia) and George Atkinson III (WR / California).  A fourth All-American playing in this game -- Ishaq Williams (OLB / New York) will be announcing his college choice during the game.  Ishaq's finalists are:  Penn State, Syracuse and Notre Dame.  It's "must see TV" for Irish fans!  Here's a link to the Army All-American Bowl's website -- you'll want to take a look at this!

LINK:  2011 U.S. ARMY ALL-AMERICAN BOWL

Under Armour All America Game -- 7 PM EST

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame have two "verbal" commits playing tonight on ESPN in the Under Armour All-America game.  The two All-Americans are Davaris Daniels (WR) and Ben Kayock (TE) -- a third player in tonight's game; Amir Carlisle -- is currently committed to Stanford -- yet, is considering a switch to Notre Dame.  Should be fun to watch!



LINK:  TUNE IN TONIGHT -- WEDNESDAY @ 7 PM EST!

College Football -- An Investment!

A recent report came out that ranked the "investment" colleges were making into their football programs.  It's an eye-opener!  The statistics come from the Department of Education, which has required universities to submit the amount they spend on sports since 2000 as part of the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act.  Here's what they found:


Top 10 "investors" in their college football program:
1. Ohio State: $31,763,036
2. Alabama: $31,118,134
3. Notre Dame: $29,490,788
4. Auburn: $27,911,713
5. LSU: $25,566,520
6. Florida: $24,457,557
7. South Carolina: $22,794,211
8. Wisconsin: $22,041,491
9. Arkansas: $22,005,014
10. TCU: $20,609,361

Top 10 ranking of investment:  per undergraduate student:
1. Notre Dame: $3,531
2. Tulsa: $3,236
3. TCU: $2,822
4. Stanford: $2,625
5. SMU: $2,113
6. Miami (FL): $1,927
7. Boston College: $1,891
8. Northwestern: $1,851
9. Arkansas: $1,625
10. Auburn $1,518

Here's a link to the entire article:

LINK:  COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS INDEED "BIG BUSINESS"

Irish Beat Second Top Ten Team in a Week!

Mike Brey's Fighting Irish knocked off the #8 UCONN Huskies 73-70 last night at the Purcell Pavillion!  This was the second win over a top ten team in the past week for Notre Dame.  The Irish beat #9 Georgetown last Wednesday night.  The #14 Irish are now 13-2 on the season and are sure to continue their gradual move up the national polls.  What was so impressive about last night's win was they did it without Carleton Scott -- who's out for a "few weeks" with a hamstring injury.  Here's a link to highlights of last night's game courtesy of UND.COM and a link to the "game story" from the South Bend Tribune:

LINK:  IRISH BEAT UCONN

LINK:  SBT -- ND BEATS UCONN

Breaking News: Kyle Rudolph Off to NFL!

The ND GO IRISH BLOG speculated a couple of weeks ago that it didn't look good for ND fans' hopes of keeping Kyle Rudolph in a gold helmet next season.  And, MSNBC's Keith Arnold just reported that Kyle has decided to forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft.  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  RUDOLPH TO THE NFL

Notre Dame Takes a Look Back at 2010

The University of Notre Dame's Office of Public Affairs & Communication's gang produced a "look back" at some of the key moments over the course of 2010 at the University of Notre Dame.  As fans of ND, we all know there were some great moments this past year -- and some I'm sure we all wish had never happened -- and some we'll never forget.  Here's a quick synopsis of 2010 at the University of Notre Dame -- click on the link:




LINK:  THE YEAR 2010 AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

Dept. of Defense Awards $9.9 Million to ND

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) -- the U.S. Department of Defense's research and development office -- just awarded the University of Notre Dame's Center for Nano Science and Technology a $9.9 million contract.  Now I must admit -- what this group does at ND, is "way over my head" -- so I'm just going to link you to the South Bend Tribune story!

LINK:  MAJOR RESEARCH CONTRACT FOR NOTRE DAME

Two Irish Commits: In Under Armour Game

This Wednesday night at 7 PM EST -- the Under Armour All-America game will be played at Tropicana Field in Tampa, FL.  The game will be televised live on ESPN and will feature a couple of high school All-Americans who have given Brian Kelly a "verbal" commit:  Davaris Daniels, a wide receiver out of Vernon Hills, IL and Ben Koyack, a tight end out of Oil City, PA.  In addition, an "athlete" named Amir Carlisle who you will see at WR and probably RB in the game -- is currently committed to Stanford but is considering switching to Notre Dame.  Here's a link to the roster of players who will be playing in the game -- and when you get to this page, check out all of the stories being generated from the practices:

LINK:  UNDER ARMOUR ALL-AMERICANS

Charlie & Charlie Jr. -- Off to the Florida Gators

Over the last week there's been plenty of speculation in the media that Charlie Weis '78, would be leaving the Kansas City Chiefs to join Will Muschamp's new staff at the University of Florida.  Well, the move was confirmed yesterday by Charlie himself -- citing the opportunity to work alongside his son Charlie Jr. -- who's also accepted a position on the Gator's staff as a "student assistant coach."  The ND GO IRISH BLOG wishes the Weis family well in this new endeavor!  Here's a link to a USA Today story on Florida's hiring of Charlie Weis and the hiring of former ND offensive line coach Frank Verducci:


LINK:  WEIS TO FLORIDA

LINK:  WEIS JR. TO FLORIDA

The Hyundai Sun Bowl -- Celebration!

The gang at UND.COM just posted some great video from Notre Dame's victory celebration over Miami after their convincing 33-17 victory!  Here's the links to all of the action courtesy of UND.COM!  ENJOY!!!

LINK:  HIGHLIGHTS -- ND OVER MIAMI IN SUN BOWL!

LINK:  COACH KELLY'S GATORADE BATH!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S LOCKER ROOM CELEBRATION! 

LINK:  SUN BOWL POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

12th Ranked Irish Beat #10 Boston U in OT!

Jeff Jackson's Fighting Irish Icers rebounded yesterday afternoon -- after a tough loss the night before to eventual champion Minnesota State -- to beat the 10th ranked Terriers of Boston U in a shootout at the Shillelagh Tournament in Chicago.  The win over Boston -- which everyone expected to be the Shillelagh's Championship game -- gave the #12 Irish a 3rd place finish in the tournament.  The big stat of the game -- the Irish out-shot Boston;  42-19 -- yet the Irish trailed late in the 3rd period before scoring a short handed goal to tie the game and put it into overtime.  The short handed goal was the 9th of the season for Notre Dame -- tops in the nation!  It's always a big win in college hockey when you beat Boston U!  A ND GO IRISH BLOG thank you to regular contributor Dr. Jim Clancy for tracking down this story!

NBA / NOTRE DAME UPDATE: Luke Harangody

Our friends at ESPN did a nice story (surprisingly) on former Notre Dame All-American Luke Harangody.  You'll recall, "Gody" was a second round draft pick of the Boston Celtics this past June.  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  HARANGODY -- LIFE IN THE NBA

Irish Women's BB -- WHAT A START!!!!

What's the old adage -- "It's never over til' it's over..."  Well, it was over early in the first half today for the Southeast Missouri Redhawks in their game with Notre Dame.   Muffet McGraw's Irish's started off the game with  a 36-0 run -- THE GAME WAS OVER -- in route to to a 46-6 halftime lead.  The Fighting Irish ended up winning the game 97-21.  The 21 points by an opponent is a new record for Notre Dame women's basketball!  The 17th ranked Irish are now 12-3 on the season -- leading in to Big East play -- which begins this Wednesday at Marquette.  A ND GO IRISH BLOG thanks to regular contributor Dr. Jim Clancy for alerting us to this story!  Here's a link to the UND.COM story:

LINK:  HOT START FOR THE IRISH!

Irish Will Take the Longest Winning Streak...

Brian Kelly's Fighting Irish will take a four-game winning streak into next season's opener against the University of South Florida -- an opponent which is coached by former "domer" Skip Holtz.  Notre Dame's four-game winning streak is the longest win streak -- carried over into a new season -- in the last 18 years!  You have to go back to the 1992 season when the Irish won their last six games and then won their Cotton Bowl game -- a seven game winning streak to end a season -- to find a longer winning streak entering a new season. ND Fans will recall, that this team was coached by Lou Holtz, Skip's Dad.

Do you think November's have been tough on the Irish football program?

Congratulations Irish on "finishing" a football season!!!!

Irish Take On Undefeated Syracuse @ 3:30 PM

The #15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the undefeated and #5 Syracuse Orangemen in the Carrier Dome today on ESPNU at 3:30 PM EST.  The 12-1 Irish are coming off of a convincing win over Georgetown on Wednesday night -- can they do it again today???  Be sure to tune-in and cheer them on to victory!  Here's a link to UND.COM's preview of the game along with the South Bend Tribune's story:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME vs. SYRACUSE 

LINK:  SBT -- ORANGE POISED, ROLLING

ND BEAT WRITERS -- Talkin' Irish Over Canes!

The boys that write about the Irish every day -- THE BEAT WRITERS -- had plenty to say about Notre Dame's 33-17 rout over the Miami Hurricanes in the 77th annual Hyundai Sun Bowl -- enjoy!!!

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE -- IRISH SHINE IN BOWL

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE -- HARRISON SMITH ACTS THE PART

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE -- ROUT OF MIAMI...

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE -- FLOYD PLAYS...

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE -- ND FANS WATCH 1988 GAME

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE -- DOMINANT TRIUMPH...

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE -- IRISH TWO MINUTE DRILL

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE -- MIAMI FAILS...

LINK:  WNDU-TV

LINK:  CHICAGO SUN TIMES -- FINE TO THE FINISH

LINK:  NBC -- NOTRE DAME CENTRAL

His Last Diary Entry -- The Red Hat Diaries!!!

You're going to want to read University of Notre Dame walk-on QB -- Brian Castello's last diary entry after today's big win over Miami...  He's a Notre Dame Man!

LINK:  THE FINAL DIARY ENTRY

Post Game Reaction -- IRISH BEAT MIAMI!

The scoreboard says it all -- the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame have now won their last two bowl games!!!  Thanks to Ben Ford from the Elkhart Truth for "tweeting" this photo!  Here's the early reaction from the media to ND's 33 to 17 win over Miami. 

LINK:  NBC -- NOTRE DAME CENTRAL

LINK:  MIAMI HERALD 

LINK:  HURRICANES PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  USA TODAY

LINK:  CBS CHICAGO

LINK:  ESPN

LINK:  NEW YORK TIMES

LINK:  SB NATION 

LINK:  EL PASO TIMES

The Sun Bowl Field -- 20 Minutes to Kick-Off!

Here's a photo just "tweeted" by Ben Ford from the Elkhart Truth of the Irish "warming up" for the Hyundai Sun Bowl.  And a photo of one of the Sun Bowl hosts "tweeted" by the Hyundai Sun Bowl staff.  GO IRISH!!!