ND's Morris Inn Renovation -- Impressive!

 

Here's the Notre Dame Avenue perspective of what the University of Notre Dame's Morris Inn will look like come September of 2013.  The renovation will begin this November.  Here's some of the highlights:

• An increase from 92 guest rooms to 138 guest rooms
• Average room size grows from 240 square feet to 360 square feet
• A 300 seat ballroom on the north end of the Inn

Irish Recruit MVP of All-American Game Today!

Jewell Loyd, the highest rated incoming recruit to Muffet McGraw's Fighting Irish basketball program was also in Denver today -- playing in the WBCA High School All-American game -- and she didn't disappoint!

Loyd was named the MVP -- leading her team to a 74 - 62 victory, scoring 18 points, grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 3 assists!

A good omen for the IRISH!

Congratulations Jewell!

LINK:  LOYD NAMED MVP OF ALL-AMERICAN GAME

LINK:  DENVER POST STORY

LINK:  JEWELL LOYD -- ABC NEWS STORY

Photo of the Day: Final Four Court in Denver

My brother Jay, who resides in the Denver area -- made the trek downtown this afternoon to catch the FINAL FOUR festivities in the Mile High City. 

He took this photo of the court -- which features the snow covered Rockies in the foreground...

Eighty-One Years Ago Today: Rockne's Death

March 31, 1931 -- in a Kansas cornfield, a plane went down killing legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne and seven others.  Rockne, only 43 years old at the time, had just visited his two sons in Kansas and was on his way to the west coast to participate in the production of the movie "The Spirit of Notre Dame."

What's not often discussed is Coach Rockne left the ND Football team in the middle of a nineteen game winning streak -- having gone undefeated his last two seasons as head coach (1929 and 1930) winning "back to back" National Championships.

The season after Coach Rockne's death (1931), the Irish extended the unbeaten streak to 27 straight games before losing the last two games to USC (who was visiting ND for the first time ever) and Army at Yankee Stadium.

LINK:  KNUTE ROCKNE ALL-AMERICAN -- MOVIE TRALER

The "FUN" for the Fighting Irish at Final Four!

Muffet's Fighting Irish spent the last couple of days in Denver preparing for tomorrow's contest with UCONN -- while still finding some time to look great in their dresses at a Final Four event Friday night.  You'll enjoy these stories from the gang at Fighting Irish Digital Media:

LINK:  FRIDAY NIGHT EVENT

LINK:  MUFFET'S PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  IRISH PLAYERS' PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  SATURDAY @ THE FINAL FOUR

Ballroom Dancing Competition @ Notre Dame

This morning at 8:00 AM ET -- on the campus of the University of Notre Dame -- college dance teams from all over the Midwest were competing in a ballroom dancing competition (IRISH DANCESPORT GALA) inside South Dining Hall.

I must admit I did not know ballroom dancing had become a "sport" on college campuses -- so I had to take a little video from my iPhone and do a little research.  Pretty cool!

LINK:  IRISH DANCESPORT

LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S COMPETITION TEAM

Notre Dame #4 Dream School for Parents

The Princeton Review released its list of the top ten "dream schools" for PARENTS and the University of Notre Dame was #4 on the list!  Special thanks to Cappy Gagnon '66 for bringing this to my attention.  Here's the top ten:

1. Stanford University
2. Princeton University
3. Harvard University
4. University of Notre Dame
5. Massachusetts of Technology
6. University of Pennsylvania
7. Cornell University
8. Duke University
9. Yale University
10. University of Southern California

LINK:  TOP TEN DREAM SCHOOLS

Notre Dame Arrives in Denver for Final Four!

Muffet's Fightin' Irish arrived in Denver for Sunday afternoon's "re-match" with the UCONN Huskies and the folks at UND.COM were along for the ride.  Enjoy!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME ARRIVES IN DENVER

Jeff Samardzjia Named a Starter for the Cubs!

The Chicago Cubs named their starting rotation this afternoon and former Notre Dame All-American wide receiver Jeff Samardzjia is their #3 starter!

Jeff has had a quality spring training for the Cubbies -- culminating in six scoreless innings yesterday and the news today he's moving from the bullpen to the starting rotation!  Here's a link to the coverage:

LINK:  ESPN BLOG

LINK:  MLB

LINK:  CHICAGO SUN TIMES

ESPN Hoops Experts Talks Irish vs. UCONN

Here is a podcast of Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli who chatted today on ESPN RADIO about the upcoming Women's NCAA Final Four.  Specifically, the IRISH and UCONN meeting for the eighth time in the last sixteen months -- this Sunday afternoon.

LINK:  ESPN FINAL FOUR PREVIEW PODCAST

Muffet's IRISH Leave ND Today for Denver!

They're the best dressed team in women's college basketball -- as you'll see in the video below...

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame departed campus today for their flight today to Denver for the 2012 Women's NCAA Final Four!  The gang at UND.COM caught up with the team as they were leaving town.  GO IRISH!

LINK:  FINAL FOUR BOUND!

LINK:  ESPN PREVIEW OF GAME

A Couple of Domers Getting a New Start!

Charlie Weis '78 and Dayne Crist '12 on the football practice for the first time in Lawrence, KS yesterday.    I will be rooting for both this season!

The Day After a Final Four Performance!

Took a lap around the worldwide web this evening to see what the "experts" are now saying about Muffet's IRISH.  What a difference an 80 - 49 point beat down of Maryland makes...

Here's what I found along with a link to UND.COM's coverage of the IRISH in their post game celebration and media session.

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  POST GAME CELEBRATION

LINK:  POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND NEWSPAPER

LINK:  RALEIGH OBSERVER

LINK:  ESPN COVERAGE

LINK:  WSBT - TV

LINK:  WSBT-TV #2

Practice #5 -- The Notre Dame Quarterbacks!

The Fighting Irish held practice #5 this morning and the folks at UND.COM pointed their cameras at the four competing for the starting QB position...

ENJOY!

LINK:  THE NOTRE DAME QB

Photo of the Day: OFF TO DENVER!

 

This photo says it all...  Kayla McBride with a little souvenir!

A CLINIC -- IRISH WIN by 31 Over Maryland!

Folks, the women's basketball experts at ESPN -- four out of five of them picked Maryland over Notre Dame...

Girl, do I hope they pick UCONN over the IRISH!!!!

Tonight was one of the most dominating performances of all-time in NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY of a #2 seed -- as the IRISH win by 31 points over Maryland 80 - 49!

Skylar Diggins -- think she wasn't motivated by the "DOUBTERS" -- led the Irish with a TRIPLE DOUBLE; 22 pts., 10 rebounds, 11 assists and then 5 steals for good measure.  DOMINANCE!

NOTRE DAME OUTSCORED THEIR TWO OPPONENTS IN THE RALEIGH REGIONAL BY A COMBINED 75 POINTS -- think about that...

DENVER -- HERE COME THE IRISH!

The Irish will play Sunday night at 6 PM ET on ESPN against a school from Storrs, CT.  Should be fun!

LINK:  VIDEO OF IRISH DOING THE JIG!

LINK:  GAME BOX SCORE

Photo of the Day: First Photo From Raleigh!

This photo was just "tweeted" by Peter Byrne at WSBT-TV -- of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame huddling up before they begin warm-ups for their Regional Final in Raleigh, NC against Maryland.  Tip-off scheduled for 9:12 PM ET on ESPN.  Looks like an empty building doesn't it...

Walk-Off Three Run Homer: Irish Win Opener!

 

The Notre Dame women's softball team beat the Broncos of Western Michigan University in their home opener this evening with a two-out, WALK-OFF -- THREE RUN HOME RUN by Amy Buntin!

The IRISH trailed WMU 3 - 0 going into their last at bats...

A home run, triple, walk, fielder's choice (which the runner beat out) and another HOME RUN and the IRISH score five in the bottom of the seventh and it's game over!

This was my first-ever women's college softball game.  I walked in during the fifth-inning thinking they played nine innings...  I have to admit I had no idea the three-run homer was a walk-off until I saw the Broncos walk off the field.

I want to give a shout-out to Tom Lux '78 -- who was kind enough to give me some inside scoop on the Irish softball program.  Tom and his wife Anna are the proud parents of former Irish softball star Christine Lux '10 and junior first baseman Kathryn Lux '13.

Notre Dame Plays for Final Four Tonight!

 

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame will play for the final spot in the Women's Final Four tonight when they tip-off at 9 PM ET against the Maryland Terrapins on ESPN.  The "experts" are all picking Maryland to beat the IRISH tonight -- I DON'T THINK SO!

Here's a link to UND.COM's preview of tonight's game.

LINK:  NOTRE DAME vs. MARYLAND

LINK:  SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF RALEIGH REGIONAL

Irish Recruits: McDonalds' All-Americans!

Muffet's IRISH are playing in Raleigh, NC tomorrow night...

The future of the IRISH hoops program (Jewell Lloyd & Michaela Mabrey) plays the next night (Wednesday) night in Chicago in the McDonald's All-American game -- 7 PM ET on ESPNU. 

Lloyd is a BIG TIME talent and Mabrey is the perfect compliment -- it's going to be fun seeing these two on the court next year with Diggins, McBride, Achonwa and company!  (Photo:  Jewell Lloyd)

LINK:  JEWELL LLOYD -- McDONALD'S ALL-AMERICAN

LINK:  JEWELL LLOYD -- ONE OF THE BEST EVER

LINK:  MICHAELA MABREY -- McDONALD'S ALL-AMERICAN