Brittany Mallory -- She's ALL IRISH!!!

She takes the toughest defensive assignment every night and she doesn't earn the national acclaim of her teammates -- yet, over a four minute span tonight -- Brittany Mallory was the greatest female basketball player on the planet!

I am so happy for Brittany and her family!

Notre Dame in National Championship Game!

It took 45 minutes -- but the IRISH are in the National Championship game for the second straight year!!!!

Notre Dame beat UCONN 83 - 75 behind Brittany Mallory and Skylar Diggin's heroics in OT!

It's the first time a Geno Auriemma UCONN team has ever lost three games to one team in the same season.  And, for the second straight year -- Muffet's Irish take out UCONN in the National Semi-Final.

That is FOUR WINS OVER UCONN IN THE LAST FIVE GAMES -- but who's counting!

(Photo above is of Natalie Novosel's rebound before her HUGE put-back bucket with 4 seconds left to take the game into overtime)

GREAT JOB IRISH!!!

LINK:  ESPN POST GAME COVERAGE

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE  

LINK:  NCAA POST GAME COVERAGE

Jimmy Clausen Returns Home for NFL Pro Day

Nine former Notre Dame football players will perform this Tuesday on campus -- in front of scouts from every team in the NFL -- at the NOTRE DAME NFL PRO DAY.

Word on the street is Jimmy Clausen has returned to campus to throw passes to his former teammates in front of the scouts.  Clausen just might be doing this for his own good as well -- hoping to get out of Carolina...

Here's the story:

LINK:  NFL PRO DAY @ NOTRE DAME

Third Photo "Tweeted" from Final Four!

 

The Irish will be in their home WHITE jerseys tonight signifying that the NCAA Tournament Committee had ranked Notre Dame as the #2 overall team.  Photo "tweeted" by @ndwbb

Video of Irish Departing Hotel for Game!

Here's some video just "tweeted" of the IRISH leaving their hotel for their FINAL FOUR game against that school from Storrs, CT. 

AWESOME!

LINK:  IRISH LEAVE FOR ARENA

Second Photo From the Final Four...

Fighting Irish Digital Media's Tim O'Connor (@oaknd1) just "tweeted" this photo from courtside at the NCAA Women's Final Four.

New Website for the University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame launched a new website this afternoon.  You'll want to check it out!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S NEW WEBSITE

First Photo From Final Four: Crowd @ Hotel!

As you can see in this photograph "tweeted" by Pete Byrne WSBT-TV -- Fighting Irish fans turned out in full force at the Team Hotel this afternoon to cheer on the IRISH before their ride to the arena!

2012 NFL Mock Draft: Michael Floyd Will Go...

 

The NFL Draft is just twenty-five (25) days away and as you would imagine -- there are many thoughts on how early Notre Dame All-American wide receiver Michael Floyd, will be drafted. 

He's picked as high as #7 to Jacksonville and as low as #22 to Cleveland -- here's a link to a number of mock drafts from some NFL experts:

LINK:  2012 NFL MOCK DRAFTS -- FIRST ROUND

Skylar Diggins -- ESPNW Blog from Final Four!

Skylar Diggins and her Fighting Irish teammates were looking fashionable at the Final Four's Mile-High Magic event Friday night.  And, this was the subject of Skylar's most recent blog post from Denver.

You'll also enjoy the story on the legend of Skylar's headband.

Enjoy!

LINK:  SKYLAR DIGGINS

LINK:  THE LEGEND OF THE HEADBAND

The Fighting Irish Play UCONN at 6:30 PM ET

For the eighth time in the last fourteen months -- our Notre Dame Fightin' Irish will be taking on UCONN @ the Women's NCAA Final Four for the right to play Tuesday night in the National Championship game!  The game tips-off at 6:30 PM ET on ESPN. 

I took a lap around the worldwide web to see what the "experts" have to say about today's big game -- click on the links below:

LINK:  UND.COM PREVIEW OF GAME

LINK:  CONNECTICUT POST

LINK:  ESPN GAME BREAKDOWN

LINK:  IRISH HAVE CHIP ON SHOULDER -- ESPN

LINK:  NBC CONNECTICUT

LINK:  HARTFORD COURANT

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE #2

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

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