ND Basketball's Home Record: 84 - 6

Is Purcell Pavillion becoming the most difficult place to play in the country?  Believe it or not -- our Fighting Irish are now 84 - 6 over the last 90 games played in our home arena -- think about that!  Is there really that great of a home court advantage for the IRISH?  Here's a link to a story in the Observer -- Notre Dame's student newspaper:

LINK:  HOME COOKIN' @ NOTRE DAME!

A Record Night for Notre Dame Basketball!

Seniors Ben Hansbrough and Ty Nash -- went out in style last night.  The duo, playing their last home game in an IRISH uniform -- led #7 Notre Dame to a 47-27 halftime lead over #19 Villanova -- playing what might be the best twenty minutes of basketball in the history of this program.  For the night, the Irish set a school record -- making twenty (20) three-pointers in their 93 - 72 win.

The win clinched an undefeated home record for Notre Dame -- the third time in the last five seasons!

Hansbrough scored 30 points to go along with his 10 rebounds and 5 steals.  Nash had a "double-double"scoring 11 and grabbing 11 boards.  And senior "walk-on" Tim Kopko -- got into the act making an acrobatic shot late in the game (to the great delight of the ND students) -- a fitting end for these three seniors!!!

Oh by the way, Tim Abromaitis also scored 30 points, going 9 for 13 from beyond the three-point arc.  A big night for Notre Dame Basketball!!!  Here's a link to UND.COM's game highlights along with a link to Coach Brey's post game conference.  And, a third link to the South Bend Tribune game story:

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  COACH BREY POST GAME PRESSER

LINK:  BIG WIN FOR THE IRISH!

They Have Never Been 9 - 0 @ Notre Dame!

The Notre Dame women's softball team is off to the best start in school history!  The Irish are now 9 - 0 on the season after beating Marist and Liberty yesterday afternoon at the College of Charleston's Cougar Classic in Mount Pleasant, SC.  The win over Liberty was also the 900th win in the 23-year history of the women's softball program at Notre Dame!  The Irish will be back in action in Kissimmee, Florida this weekend -- for the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic.  A special thanks to ND GO IRISH regular contributor, Dr. Jim Clancy -- for making me aware of this story.  Here's a link to UND.COM's coverage of ND women's softball:

LINK:  BEST START IN SCHOOL HISTORY!

Irish Hoops on ESPNU -- Tonight at 7 PM EST!

Mike Brey's #9 Fighting Irish play their last home game of the season tonight against #14 Villanova -- in a game that can determine Notre Dame's Big East Tournament plans.  A win over the Wildcats tonight -- will clinch second place for the Irish and "byes" in the first two rounds of the tournament at Madison Square Garden.  Tonight's game is also the last time Ben Hansbrough and Ty Nash will wear the IRISH jersey at Purcell Pavillion.  The game will be televised by ESPNU -- starting at 7 PM EST.  Here's a link to UND.COM's -- preview of tonight's game:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME vs. VILLANOVA

Mike Lee With First Round TKO Last Night!

Notre Dame grad, Mike Lee '09 -- remained undefeated as a professional boxer with his first round knockout last night of Pablo Gomez at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas.  The first round knockout was the second in a row for Lee -- who  knocked out Keith Denbow in November in a fight at Cowboys Stadium.  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  MIKE LEE WINS AGAIN!

Austin Carr Press Conference

Last night -- the University of Notre Dame honored it's greatest basketball player of all-time.  The fact that it took 40 years to do it -- is a mute point now.  What was great to see is how much it meant to this Notre Dame Man.  Here's a link to a page at UND.COM where you can find Austin Carr's press conference:

LINK:  AUSTIN CARR -- NOTRE DAME'S BEST!

Abromaitis Scores 1,000th Point -- Irish Win!

Tim Abromaitis and Ben Hansbrough led a "sluggish" Irish team over Seton Hall 60 - 48.  The win puts #9 Notre Dame 23-5 on the season and 12-4 in the Big East.  With one more win in the Big East for the Irish or a Louisville loss -- ND will earn a "double-bye" in the upcoming Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.  Here's a link to the BOX SCORE:

LINK:  BOX SCORE -- IRISH WIN AGAIN!

It Took 40 Years for ND To Do Him Right...

Notre Dame's greatest basketball player of all-time, Austin Carr -- was honored tonight, 40 years after he last wore an Irish uniform.  Carr, who still holds NCAA Tournament records for "career scoring average" -- more than 40 points a game -- and, for most points scored in a single game;  61 -- is one of the greatest college basketball players of all-time.   During the halftime ceremony, Notre Dame finally hung a banner in his honor (why did it take 40 years?) in their "Ring of Honor" and they named the Lower Concourse in Purcell Pavillion "Austin Carr Concourse."  Once a video is posted of his speech, we'll have it here.

LINK:  ND HONORS AUSTIN CARR

ND Basketball Tonight on ESPNU @ 7 PM EST!

The #9 Fighting Irish of Notre Dame take on the Pirates of Seton Hall tonight -- in a game that will honor Notre Dame's greatest basketball player of all-time at halftime.  Austin Carr -- will finally be placed in Notre Dame's Ring of Honor -- during the halftime ceremony.  You can tune in on ESPNU @ 7 PM!  Here's a link to the game preview:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME TAKES ON SETON HALL -- TONIGHT!

A Domer's Daughter -- What A Talent!

Isabela Nanni, the 14 year-old daughter of Lou and Carmen Nanni -- Lou '84, is Vice President for University Relations at the University of Notre Dame -- recently performed a song she wrote at halftime of ND Women's Basketball's "Pink Zone" game.   

The Pink Zone Basketball Game has become an annual effort by ND to raise money and awareness for breast cancer awareness. 

WNDU-TV caught up with Isabela for a wonderful interview about the motivation behind her song.  What a talented young lady!  Here's the link to the WNDU-TV story along with a link to the YOUTUBE video of her performance -- WOW!:

LINK:  ISABELLA NANNI -- WNDU-TV

LINK:  ISABELLA NANNI -- "BEAUTIFUL"

The Heisman "Watch List" -- Already Out!

And, to know surprise -- a "Notre Dame QB" is on the list...  It may surprise which Notre Dame QB is on the list.  Click on the link:

LINK:  A NOTRE DAME QB ON HEISMAN WATCH LIST

Duerson Still In the News...

This morning, CNN.COM published a story on the death, last week, of former Notre Dame All-American and University Trustee -- Dave Duerson.  As you probably know by now, Duerson asked his oldest son (in a note) to donate his brain to Boston University for research.  Here's a link to the CNN.COM story:

LINK:  DUERSON'S BRAIN

Weis Gets $2.6 Million From Gators...

Former Notre Dame Football Coach, Charlie Weis '78 reportedly signed a three-year deal with the Florida Gators worth $2.6 million with a car, $10,000 from Nike as part of an apparel contract -- and a $100,000 signing bonus.  It's a record salary for a Florida assistant coach.  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  CHARLIE GETS $2.6 MILLION

LINK:  CHARLIE'S RECORD SALARY

ESPN's Spring Look at Notre Dame Football

The folks at ESPN -- published a story today on what to look for this Spring with Notre Dame Football.  Spring Practice begins on March 23rd.  Here's the link:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL -- PREVIEW

Kyle Rudolph -- NFL Combine Today

The annual NFL "casting call" is taking place this week in Indianapolis -- and former Notre Dame football star, Kyle Rudolph started the process today.  Offensive Lineman and Tight Ends were the stars of the show today.  Here's a few links to what the "experts" are saying about Kyle today:

LINK:  KYLE RUDOLPH -- HEIGHT, WEIGHT & HAND SIZE 

LINK:  PRO FOOTBALL TALK -- KYLE RUDOLPH

Harangody Traded to Cleveland Cavaliers

Former Notre Dame All-American Luke Harangody was traded today with a teammate -- from the Celtics to the Cleveland Cavaliers -- for a second round pick.  Here's a link to the breaking story:

LINK:  HARANGODY TO CLEVELAND

Notre Dame Wins 94-93 Over Providence!

The Irish won another road game in the Big East tonight -- despite giving up 52 points to an opposition player.  Marson Brooks big scoring night was the most ever given up by ND to an opponent -- in the 100+ year history of Irish basketball.  Yet, it wasn't enough for Providence to upset Notre Dame.  The #9 Irish are now 22-5 on the season and 11-4 in the Big East.  Here's a link to highlights of the game along with an audio link to Coach Brey's post game press conference:

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS -- IRISH VICTORY!

LINK:  COACH BREY'S PRESS CONFERENCE

Google -- A Forecaster for Wall Street?

Two Notre Dame associate professors Zhi Da and Paul Gao just won the 2010 Crowel First Prize for outstanding research for their paper "In Search of Attention."  The Crowel prize is awarded by the Quantitative Research Group at PanAgora Asset Management.  Their paper suggested tracking aggregate search frequency on Google to determine investor attention -- and to help predict the stock market.  Now, these two guys are "much smarter than me" -- so, I'm going to get out of the way here and let you link to what they're thinking:

LINK:  GOOGLE -- A STOCK MARKET PREDICTOR?

A Notre Dame Man -- Returns Home!

Notre Dame football fans may remember the name Joey Hiben -- he was a member of Charlie Weis' first recruiting class at Notre Dame.  Unfortunately, Joey decided to leave ND and transferred to the University of Minnesota...  Well, he's back at Notre Dame -- and he's throwing punches in the Bengal Bouts.  The folks at the South Bend Tribune caught up with Joey and published this story today -- you'll enjoy!

LINK:  JOEY HIBEN -- BENGAL BOUTS

Duerson Donates Brain to NFL for Research

Former Notre Dame All-American Dave Duerson -- who died this past week, left behind a note asking that his brain be donated to research for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).  Duerson's brain will be examined by Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy.  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  DUERSON'S BRAIN TO BE STUDIED