"Irish Chocolate" -- AKA ND's Louis Nix

He just might be the biggest player in college football this year wearing a "single digit" number on his uniform.  And, he just might be thee DIFFERENCE MAKER in the middle of the Notre Dame defense.

His name is Louis Nix -- he tips the scales at 326, he wears #9 and fans of Twitter will see him use the hash tag #IrishChocolate.

The folks at the South Bend Tribune may have found their "best interview" subject on the Fighting Irish football team -- here's the link to the story:


LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S IRISH CHOCOLATE

Coach Kelly on Scott Van Pelt's Show -- ESPN

Notre Dame Head Football Coach Brian Kelly was a guest this afternoon on ESPN Radio's The Scott Van Pelt Show.  Here's a link to the interview:

LINK:  BRIAN KELLY -- SCOTT VAN PELT

Former Notre Dame HFC Charlie Weis on ESPN

Former ND Football Coach Charlie Weis '78 allowed the ESPN cameras and former Gator QB Jesse Palmer into his QB meeting at Florida.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the "media" to talk about Charlie's "success" with Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen -- versus Tom Brady.  Were Quinn & Clausen ready for the pro game coming out of Charlie's program?

Thought ND fans would find this of interest:

LINK:  CHARLIE WEIS "TEACHING"

Forbes Ranks Notre Dame 18th in the Nation

Forbes just published its annual ranking of America's Top Colleges -- and the University of Notre Dame was selected 18th in the country.  The rankings are prepared exclusively for Forbes by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, a Washington, D.C. think tank founded by Ohio University economist Richard Vedder.  Their ranking of the top 650 colleges in America (see the methodology below) is quite controversial.  Here's their top 20 and a link to their list of 650:

1. Williams College
2. Princeton University
3. United States Military Academy
4. Amherst College
5. Stanford University
6. Harvard University
7. Haverford College
8. University of Chicago
9. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
10. United States Air Force Academy
11. Northwestern University
12. Claremont McKenna College
13. California Institute of Technology
14. Yale University
15. Carleton College
16. Swarthmore College
17. United States Naval Academy
18. UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
19. Wellesley College
20. Colby College

LINK:  THE REST OF THE 630 RANKED COLLEGES

LINK:  METHODOLOGY BEHIND FORBES RANKINGS

ND's 3rd Football Practice Report -- UND.COM

If you're interested in the wide receiver position or what Notre Dame's Defensive Coordinator Bob Diaco is thinking about his squad -- you'll find UND.COM was thinking like you today.  After watching Coach Diaco -- he's still not comfortable with the media -- he'll get better.  Here's the links:

LINK:  COACH DIACO

LINK:  PRACTICE REPORT

Jimmy -- Where Did It Go Wrong So Fast?

A few years ago, HBO Sports proclaimed Jimmy Clausen as the "LeBron James of high school football" during his prep days in southern California.  Well, if you look at the last year for LeBron James and Jimmy Clausen -- maybe HBO Sports was correct!

Who would have believed fifteen months ago that Clausen:

• Would not have been drafted in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft
• He would only throw 3 TD passes in the thirteen games of his NFL rookie season
• That the team who drafted him in 2010 -- would turn around and draft a QB #1 overall in 2011

Here's a link to a Chicago Tribune story on Clausen's status in Carolina:

LINK:  CLAUSEN -- WHAT WENT WRONG?

ND's 2nd Football Practice Report -- UND.COM

The gang at UND.COM is back at it -- better than ever!  Here's a link to the practice report from practice #2 for the Notre Dame football program:

LINK:  UND.COM -- PRACTICE REPORT

Mike Lee's Fighting @ ND on September 16th

Mike Lee '09 was back "home" earlier this week (Notre Dame & Chicago) to promote his fight at Purcell Pavillion on Friday night of the Michigan State football weekend.  Lee, who's undefeated as a professional will make history -- as the University of Notre Dame will host a professional fight for the first time in the school's 169 year history!  It's a "must see" -- "must have" ticket for Notre Dame fans.  Here's a link to some interviews Mike's given this week:

LINK:  MIKE LEE WITH COMCAST CHICAGO

LINK:  MIKE LEE WITH UND.COM'S JACK NOLAN

ESPN @ Notre Dame for First Football Practice

The folks at ESPN showed up in force these past two days in South Bend, IN.  Here are the links to the stories they've filed:

LINK:  FAMILIARITY BREEDS STRENGTH

LINK:  PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  NOTES FROM ND'S FIRST PRACTICE

Coach Kelly's Media Session After Practice #1

Notre Dame Head Football Coach Brian Kelly met with the media after today's first practice of the 2011 fall camp.  Here's a link to the UND.COM video:

LINK:  COACH KELLY MEDIA SESSION

Tim Abromaitis Named to US National Team!

University of Notre Dame's Tim Abromaitis was named to the US National Men's Basketball Team for the upcoming World University games in China.  He'll be joining three other ND basketball stars (from Muffet's team) at this tournament.  Here's a link to the South Bend Tribune story.  Congratulations Tim!

LINK:  ABROMAITIS -- US NATIONAL TEAM!

OT -- Got To Love This "Sting" Operation in AL!

I'm guessing the Indiana State Police could do this in Northern Indiana with a ND vs. USC ticket this month...  You'll get a laugh out of this!

LINK:  ALABAMA POLICE STING OPERATION

Irish Hoops Recruit Severly Injures Left Eye

Notre Dame basketball recruit Eric Katenda -- the 27th ranked power forward in the Class of 2011 suffered what is being called a freak injury in a pick up game last week.  The injury severed his optic nerve -- which has led to the permanent loss of vision in his left eye.  Here's a link to the ESPN.com story and a South Bend Tribune story:

LINK:  ND HOOPS RECRUIT LOSES VISION IN LEFT EYE

LINK:  NCAA CLEARINGHOUSE ISSUE

"A High School on Steroids" -- Herbstreit on ND

ESPN College Gameday's Kirk Herbstreit and Erin Andrews were on MSNBC's Good Morning Joe -- and before they went on the air, a ND grad -- who works for the show -- caught the two on video in the "green room."

The ND grad asked if the two had ever been to ND for a football game -- surprisingly, Erin Andrews has never been to Notre Dame Stadium for a game.  Kirk Herbstreit chose to speak about watching the infamous "Bush Push" game -- and he describer Notre Dame as a "high school on steroids."  Here's a link to the video -- CLICK ON "GREEN ROOM INTERVIEWS" which is in the left hand margin.

LINK:  KIRK HERBSTREIT & ERIN ANDREWS -- TALKIN' ND

Coach Kelly's First Press Conference -- 2011!

On the eve of the 2011 football campaign, Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly met with the media.  Here's a link to the video from UND.COM and a link to the South Bend Tribune story:

LINK:  KELLY'S FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE STORY

Replay of Coach Kelly's Interview With WSBT

University of Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly was in the studio today over at WSBT 960 AM's Weekday SportsBeat Show.  Here's a link to the audio replay of this interview:

LINK:  COACH KELLY AT WSBT 960 AM

Michael Floyd & Coach Kelly Meet With Media!

Michael Floyd and Coach Brian Kelly met this morning with the media to announce Floyd's reinstatement to the Notre Dame football team.  The two also with Jack Nolan at UND.COM.  You'll enjoy these videos -- along with the South Bend Tribune story:

LINK:  MICHAEL FLOYD & COACH KELLY PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  COACH BRIAN KELLY WITH JACK NOLAN

LINK:  MICHAEL FLOYD WITH JACK NOLAN

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE STORY

Three Domers Named to TEAM USA!

Three of Muffet's Fighting Irish were named today to play for TEAM USA at the upcoming World University Games.  It's the first time in the 35 year history of women's basketball at Notre Dame that three team members were selected!

The three; Skylar Diggins, Natalie Novosel and Devereaux Peters were named to the twelve person team that will be represent the United States in China August 14th to the 21st.  What a great experience for these three!  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  THE FIGHTING IRISH DOMINATE TEAM USA!

Notre Dame Wins @ Michigan This Week!

Is this a good omen!?

This Monday, two life-long Notre Dame fans -- played in the shadow of the "Little House" on the University of Michigan Golf Course in the Golf Association of Michigan's 21st GAM Net Team Championship -- and WON!

Rich (Brighton, MI) and Rick (Walled Lake, MI)  Rachner, a father / son combination -- who can be seen at ND football games and road games with their hand made "Golden Dome" helmets -- shot a 63 to win this state championship.  Here's what Rick had to say about the experience:

"Jim, this was my thoughts as I drove in that morning to meet my dad at the range to warm up… I see the new stadium as I am driving North through the center of downtown Ann Arbor…and my first thought, as hard as it is to admit, was, wow, that looks awesome, they finally did something right….then as I got next to the stadium and was driving through its shadow I had the unbelievable feeling that we were coming into enemy territory and it was our day to claim victory…as I turned the  corner, away from the shadow, and put my blinker on to turn into U of M Golf Course, I looked over my left shoulder at the stadium…and confidently said to myself….”Today is our day and Sept 10th will be our day”….and 1 of 2 task complete…

From the golf course you could see the stadium and for some reason the stadium seemed to provide us with energy…one would think it would have had the opposite effect, but is there anything better for a Domer than to win on U of M soil…"

Congratulations Rich and Rick -- you did the Fighting Irish proud!!!


Please note:  That's Rick on the left and Rich on the right, in their championship photo above.

Mike Lee with Coach Parseghian Today!

Notre Dame alum, Mike Lee '09 was back "home" today at the University of Notre Dame to talk about his upcoming fight on Friday, September 16th at Purcell Pavillion.  Mike announced this morning that the fight will benefit Coach Parseghian's Foundation.  Here's a link to the WNDU-TV story:

LINK:  MIKE LEE & COACH PARSEGHIAN