Blue Gold Game to be Televised on Versus!

For the first time that I can recall -- the Notre Dame Blue Gold Game will be televised.  The cable channel called VERSUS will televise the game LIVE on April 16th.  As a prelude to this -- on St. Patrick's Day -- VERSUS will run a six-hour NOTRE DAME marathon beginning at 5 PM EST.  First up, the Notre Dame vs. Penn State in 1992, followed by the USC vs. Notre Dame game in 2005 and then it will end with the Florida State vs. ND 1993 game.  Should be fun for ND Fans!!!  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  VERSUS TO GET THE IRISH!

Irish Win -- Play Again Tonight on ESPNU

The #7 Irish beat Louisville last night 63 - 53 in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament.  The win puts Notre Dame on a collision course this evening with DePaul -- the Blue Demons are ranked #12 in the country and beat the Irish 70 - 69 the last time they played.  The game will be televised tonight LIVE on ESPNU beginning at 8 PM EST.  Here's a link to the South Bend Tribune game story from last night along with the game notes for tonight's contest.  Go IRISH!

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE -- GAME STORY

LINK:  GAME NOTES:  ND vs. LOUISVILLE

Muffet's Irish on ESPNU Tonight @ 8 PM EST!

The #7 Fighting Irish play their first game tonight in the 2011 Big East Women's Basketball Tournament against Louisville.  ESPNU will televise the game -- LIVE -- beginning at 8 PM EST.  Here's the link to the game notes for tonight's contest.  Go IRISH!

LINK:  BIG EAST TOURNAMENT PLAY -- BEGINS TONIGHT!

2011 Big East Basketball Tournament -- Bracket

This is the first time the Big East Tournament will have every team play.  The fun begins on Tuesday with four games at Madison Square Garden.  The Irish will play Thursday night @ 7 PM EST against one of these teams;  Villanova, Cincinnati or USF.  Here's a link to the tournament bracket:

LINK:  2011 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT -- BRACKET

Hansbrough -- Only Unanimous Choice!

University of Notre Dame guard, Ben Hansbrough was named today to the All-Big East First Team -- and he was the only unanimous choice!!!  Here's a link to the announcement:

LINK:  HANSBROUGH -- ONLY UNANIMOUS CHOICE!!!

Are the Irish a #1 Seed in NCAA Tournament?

In the past 20 hours -- the so called college basketball "experts" are now talking about whether Notre Dame deserves a #1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.  Who would have thought!!!  Before the season started -- these same experts were predicting the Irish would finish among the "bottom half" of the tough Big East Conference.  Here are links to a Fox Sports story and a CBS Sports story -- on this very subject:

LINK:  DO THE IRISH DESERVE A #1 SEED?

LINK:  NOTRE DAME #1 SEED IN WEST REGION

Irish Beat UCONN With Hansbrough on Bench!!!

What a game...

With eight minutes to go -- I was wondering out loud -- "What was Brey thinking when he put Hansbrough back into the game with eight minutes left, four fouls and the Irish up by eight???

Then ten seconds later -- Hansbrough makes a stupid foul and he's on the bench for the balance of the game.  UCONN goes on 13-0 run putting the Irish down five and, if you were at my house -- you would have heard my yelling at the TV sure this game was over...

Yet, somehow the Irish were able to ride out UCONN's flury -- and two big free-throw misses by Scott Martin -- and still win the game 70 - 67 in front of a dismayed John Saunders (ESPN) who did his best to show his hate for ND all game long... 

It was the first win for a Mike Brey team at UCONN -- it locked up a #2 seed in the upcoming Big East Tournament -- and probably a #2 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.  WAY TO GO IRISH!!!

Here's a few links to the media's reaction to the big win today!:

LINK:  NEW YORK TIMES

LINK:  NEWS TIMES -- CT

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

LINK:  ESPN

Is Notre Dame Doing the "Right" Thing?

I just ran across this story this evening -- and it caught me a little off guard.  Cathedral High School in El Paso, TX has been calling itself the "Fightin' Irish" since 1925.  And, over that time, they've been using the Leprechaun logo as well.

Today, the story broke that the University of Notre Dame has notified Cathedral that they must "cease" calling themselves the "Fighting Irish" and may no longer use the Leprechaun logo.  They can call themselves the "Irish"-- but that's it.

Now, having worked with the NBA, NHL, NASCAR, PGA, etc., -- I fully understand protecting your brand.  I also know that there are Catholic high schools all over America who have been calling themselves the Fighting Irish and using the Leprechaun logo -- for years!

All I can figure is Cathedral was selling the Notre Dame marks on apparel and merchandise -- and some ND Official Licensees (who pay to use the mark) who were in El Paso for the Sun Bowl started complaining -- and the University had no choice but to protect their marks.

Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME PROTECTING ITS MARKS

PHOTO OF THE DAY: Irish @ Disney

This photo was just "tweeted" by a member of the University of Notre Dame's women's softball team.  They're down at Disney playing in a tournament this weekend.  Disney rarely misses an opportunity...

The Bengal Bouts -- Uniquely Notre Dame!

They "Box for Bangladesh."  Last night -- the finals of the 81st Annual Bengal Bouts were held on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.  It's uniquely Notre Dame -- and it's done for a great cause.   The goal was to raise $200,000 for the Holy Cross Mission in Bangladesh -- here's hoping they met their goal!  Thirteen winners were crowned -- yet, the people of Bangladesh really won last night.  Here's a link to the South Bend Tribune story and a link to the official site of The Bengal Bouts:



LINK:  BOXING FOR BANGLADESH

LINK:  THE BENGAL BOUTS -- OFFICIAL SITE

ESPN's Gottlieb -- Calls the Irish "Pretenders"

ESPN college basketball analyst -- Doug Gottlieb did a segment this week on ESPN where he took the top eight ranked teams in the country and he labeled them "contenders" or "pretenders" -- in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.  Well, Gottlieb -- who was an Irish student-athlete at one time -- before he was asked to leave Notre Dame for the "un-authorized" use of a roommates' credit card (I'm trying to be nice about this...) -- showed his bias in his labeling of the Irish.

I trust Coach Brey will remind his team of this in a couple of weeks!  Here's a link:

LINK:  GOTTLIEB'S THOUGHTS ON THE IRISH

NY Times Interview of Brian Kelly

Notre Dame football head coach, Brian Kelly -- met with a New York Times reporter this week to talk about his upcoming "Kelly Cares Foundation" dinner at the Waldorf Astoria on March 16th.  The event will honor former Irish coaching legends Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz -- should be a fun night!  Here's the link to the interview:

LINK:  COACH KELLY WITH NY TIMES

Irish Play UCONN Today on ESPN!!!

You win some basketball games at Notre Dame -- and you're on TV as much or more than Duke.  That's the "win" for ND hoops fans across the county -- as we get to watch our IRISH play more often on TV.  ESPN will have the Irish vs. UCONN game on at 2 PM EST.  Today ends the regular season for Mike Brey's boys -- they're currently 24 - 5 -- and a win will tie or break the following team records:

• A win today -- will set the all-time "modern era" for most wins in a regular season.
• A win today -- will tie the all-time record for most Big East wins in a regular season.
• A win today -- will make 94 wins over the past four years -- which will be the most wins over a four-year span in Notre Dame history. 
• And, a win today -- will give the Irish 46 Big East wins in the last four seasons -- the most ever, over a four-year span.

This will be the ninth game this season for the Irish against a ranked opponent.  UCONN is ranked 16th.  To date, the Irish are 6-2 against ranked teams.   The only problem for Irish fans today -- John Saunders -- a known "ND Hater" is doing the game for ESPN -- you may want to turn down the sound!!!

Here's a link to the game notes from Notre Dame's Media Relations team at UND.COM:

LINK:  IRISH vs. HUSKIES TODAY AT 2 PM EST

Hansbrough's "Warm-Up" Drill -- Try This!

If you're still playing hoops, or you have kids at home who like the game -- you may want to give this a try.  University of Notre Dame's Ben Hansbrough -- let the folks at the Chicago Tribune "illustrate" his typical "warm-up" routine.  You'll like this!  Click on the link below:

LINK:  BEN HANSBROUGH - WARMIN' UP!

Luke Harangody Scores 18 -- Cavs Beat Knicks!

Former Notre Dame All-American Luke Harangody -- came off the bench tonight and scored 18 points in 22 minutes for the Cavaliers in their 119 - 115 win tonight over the Knick.  Luke was 6 for 11 from the floor with 4 boards and 2 assists -- in a rare road win for Cleveland.  Here's a link to the boxscore:

LINK:  GODY SCORES 18 TONIGHT!

Ben Hansbrough on "Rome Is Burning"

Notre Dame senior guard, Ben Hansbrough is quickly becoming a "media darling."  In the past day he's appeared on ESPN's PTI and ESPN's Rome Is Burning.  Here's a link to Ben's interview with Jim Rome and his interview with ESPN's PTI

LINK:  HANSBROUGH -- ROME IS BURNING

LINK:  HANSBROUGH -- WITH PTI

Ranking of College Football Stadiums -- WHAT?

CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd ranked the top 25 College Football Stadiums in the country -- Notre Dame fans won't like where he placed "The House That Rockne Built."  Here's a link:

LINK:  RANKING OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL STADIUMS

The Bengal Bouts -- TONIGHT on UND.COM!

The University of Notre Dame's 81st Annual "Bengal Bouts" Finals  -- will be held this evening at the Purcell Pavillion.  Thirteen fights are on the card -- and you can watch each bout LIVE on UND.COM beginning at 7 PM EST.  Here's the link:

LINK:  LIVE COVERAGE:  ND'S BENGAL BOUTS

Best Business School in America -- AGAIN!

The University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business was ranked #1 in the country -- for the second straight year.  The honor was announced today by Bloomberg Businessweek as they released their annual ranking of the best undergraduate business schools in the country.  It's nice to be #1!!!  Here's a link to the story -- along with a link to their 2011 rankings:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME RANKED #1 -- AGAIN!

LINK: RANKINGS OF THE TOP BUSINESS SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY

Zibby Geting Back Into the Boxing Ring!

Former Notre Dame football star and now safety for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens -- Tommy Zibikowski, is returning to the boxing ring!  It was learned today that Zibby has agreed to fight an "unnamed" opponent in a four-round match, March 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.  The fight, which is part of the Miguel Cotto-Ricardo Mayorga undercard -- will be televised on Showtime in a pay-per-view package.  Here's a link to the South Bend Tribune story -- along with a link to a Baltimore Ravens blog story and a link to a video of Zibby's last fight!


LINK:  ZIBBY TO BOX AGAIN!

LINK:  ZIBBY BACK IN BOXING RING

LINK:  VIDEO OF ZIBBY'S TKO!