Kyle McCarthy Injures Knee, Out for Season

Not the way you want to start a new season with a new team...

Former Notre Dame safety, Kyle McCarthy hurt his knee -- standing on the sidelines during practice this weekend with the Kansas City Chiefs.  The injury is so severe, Kyle will require season ending surgery. 

The Chiefs "waived" McCarthy this morning -- clearing the way for him to be placed on the injured reserve list for the season.

GET WELL QUICK KYLE!

Just goes to show you how important that Notre Dame degree is as a "back-up" plan.

LINK:  McCARTHY OUT FOR SEASON

Federal Judge Rules Against HHS Mandate

A Federal Judge in Denver ruled on Friday that the Department of Health & Human Services can not fine business owners who object to the mandate on religious grounds. 

It's the first time that a federal court has ruled on the constitutionality, of the mandate, since it was announced last August. 

The University of Notre Dame filed its own lawsuit against the HHS mandate back on May 21st in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.

LINK:  FEDERAL JUDGE RULES AGAINST MANDATE

LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S LAWSUIT

Notre Dame Pep Rally Locations Announced...

The University of Notre Dame announced the locations for the 2012 Pep Rallies this fall -- and a new location has joined the mix!


The Pep Rally scheduled for Friday, September 21 will be held between Touchdown Jesus (Hesburgh Library) and Notre Dame Stadium -- should be quite the backdrop!!!

The first on-campus Pep Rally will be Friday, September 7th in the South Quad in front of the Rockne Memorial Building -- all other Pep Rally's will be held indoors at the Purcell Pavillion.

LINK:  PEP RALLY LOCATIONS

Follow Notre Dame Athletes @ the Olympics

The gang at UND.COM has created a website that is tracking all of the current and former Notre Dame student-athletes competing in London at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The big news this morning is incoming Irish freshman fencer Lee Keifer (athlete on left in photo) had advanced to the QUARTERFINALS of the Women's Foil after winning her first two matches -- before losing this morning to the eventual silver medalist from Italy.  Lee is currently ranked #4 in the world!!!

LINK:  WASHINGTON POST STORY

LINK:  NOTRE DAME OLYMPIC CENTRAL

OT: Lochte Can't Wear "Grill" on Medal Stand

Team USA's Ryan Lochte dominated the 400 IM today winning the GOLD MEDAL.  Lochte, who likes to wear one of his "GRILLS" on the medal stand was told by IOC officials he couldn't wear the "bling" if he wanted to receive the medal.  Here's the story:

LINK:  NO BLING ALLOWED IN LONDON

LINK:  RYAN LOCHTE'S GRILL

Charlie Weis Back in South Bend Today

Former Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis '79, was back in South Bend today with his wife Maura and daughter Hannah to visit the community they built for individuals with development issues.

Charlie and Maura have decided that Hannah should live here -- so next June, Hannah will be moving into a third house they will be building at the Hannah & Friends Farm.  Here's the story along with an interview of Charlie by the gang at WNDU-TV.

LINK:  HANNAH'S NEXT HOME

OT: Call Me Maybe Video -- US Swim Team

The 2012 Summer Olympic begin this morning and the GOLD RUSH for the best swim team in the world is soon to commence.  To get ready, TEAM AMERICA had some fun creating this music video.  GO USA!

LINK:  CALL ME MAYBE

Former ND Student-Athlete on Today Show

Mariel Zagunis, a former Notre Dame National Champion, All-American and two-time Olympic Gold Medalist -- spent some time with NBC's Today Show this week in London. 

Catch her "fencing" with Al Roker -- good stuff here!

LINK:  ZAGUNIS TAKES ON ROKER

Ethan Johnson: A Notre Dame Man

He wore #90 for the IRISH these last four years -- starting 37 games for Notre Dame...

Yet, he put the game of football on hold -- to be with his ailing father -- that's Ethan Johnson's story.

The folks at WSBT-TV caught up with Ethan to talk about his Dad's struggles with a neurological disorder and his decision to be by his side, versus pursuing his NFL dream.

LINK:  ETHAN JOHNSON

Sklyar Diggins Interviews ICE CUBE

Skylar Diggins is doing a six-week internship this summer with ESPNW -- and her "JOB" led her to interviewing rapper, movie star, screen writer, producer -- ICE CUBE. 

You'll enjoy seeing the Notre Dame basketball star asking the questions.

LINK:  SKYLAR INTERVIEWS ICE CUBE

Scodro '12 Wins Third Pro Tournament!

This Notre Dame grad is on a roll...

Since Max Scodro's graduation from the University of Notre Dame in mid-May he's won three golf tournaments in his first four starts as a professional!!!

Max won the Arizona Open and Illinois Open in the past few weeks.

This week Max shot rounds of 64, 65 and 67 to win the Shwan Food/MGC Great Plains Open by four shots.  Here's the story:

LINK:  SCODRO WINS THIRD TOURNAMENT!

LINK:  MAX'S BLOG

NexGen Story: Transferring Into Notre Dame

Katie Ferrello is the subject of an article at a site called NEXGEN JOURNAL -- that speaks to the process of transferring from one college to another.

Ms. Ferrello just happens to be transferring into the University of Notre Dame.  Here is Katie's story:

LINK:  FOLLOWING HER HEART

The Top 25 Touchdowns in ND History!

The folks at Yahoo Sports just published this story that looks back at the top 25 touchdowns in the 125 year history of Notre Dame football.  This should start a conversation!

Any guess as to which one is #1?

LINK:  TOP 25 TD'S IN NOTRE DAME HISTORY

Former ND Student-Athlete to Carry U.S. Flag!

Two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and former Notre Dame student-athlete Mariel Zagunis -- will carry the flag for the U.S. in Friday's Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games. 

Zagunis became the first American in 100 years to win an Olympic Gold Medal in Fencing when she stood on top of the podium at the 2004 Olympics.  She's favored to win a third Gold this year...

LINK:  ZAGUNIS TO CARRY THE FLAG

ND Compliance: Leave the Recruiting to Us!

The University of Notre Dame just produced this video to warn fans of the IRISH to leave the recruiting to the coaching staff.  A must watch!

LINK:  LEAVE THE RECRUITING TO US!

New Gloves for Notre Dame Football Team

Ryan Grooms -- Equipment Manager for the Notre Dame Fightin' Irish football program tweeted this photo of "one of the new pairs of gloves" the team will be wearing this season...

Incoming Irish Frosh Named World MVP!

Matt Kavanagh led the United States' U-19 Team to the Lacrosse World Championship this Saturday in Turku, Finland -- while capturing the MVP honors!  (Photo above of Matt cutting down the net!)

Here's a great story in Lacrosse Magazine about Matt's exploits in Finland -- along with a video interview.  Sounds like he'll fit right in with the IRISH this fall.  Going to be fun to watch him play.

LINK:  WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MVP

Jeff Samardzija Allows One Hit in Eight Innings!

Folks, Jeff Samardzija made a great decision to pick professional baseball.

Last night he threw a ONE-HITTER (an infield hit), blanking the Pittsburgh Pirates over his eight innings stint.  By far his best pitching performance in the major leagues.  The 2 - 0 Cubs win breaks a three game losing streak.

Jeff's ERA his last four starts -- 1.67

Here's a link to the game story and a video interview of Samardzija after the game:

LINK:  SAMARDZIJA'S ONE HITTER

ESPN Story: Justin Tuck Regains Focus

Former Notre Dame All-American and now two-time Super Bowl Champion, Justin Tuck -- apparently feels the need to re-focus his efforts...

Here's the story:

LINK:  JUSTIN TUCK FOCUSES

The NCAA Has Spoken...

The NCAA's Mark Emmert announced this morning that they will be imposing the following sanctions on Penn State University:

• A $60 million fine -- which will be used to establish an Endowment for victims of sexual abuse
• A four-year ban from any post season play for Penn State football
• A reduction of scholarships -- only 15 scholarships per year for the next four years
• All wins have been "vacated" from 1988 through 2011 -- dropping Joe Paterno's all-time wins from 409 to 298, dropping him from the #1 spot on the career all-time wins list to #12
• Six bowl game wins and two Big Ten Conference championships will also be erased from the Penn State record books
• Penn State's Athletic program will be put on NCAA Probation for a period of five years and must work with an "athletic-integrity" monitor of the NCAA's choosing during that period
• All Penn State football players will be able to TRANSFER to a school of their choosing and be eligible to play IMMEDIATELY
• And, the NCAA has reserved the right to conduct their own formal investigation after the legal process has taken its course -- to pursue actions against individuals involved...

The Big Ten Conference will be announcing their sanctions against Penn State University in a press conference slated for 11 AM ET today.


LINK:  VIDEO OF MARK EMMERT'S NEWS CONFERENCE 

LINK:  ESPN STORY

LINK:  LOU HOLTZ'S REACTION

LINK:  MIKE GOLIC AND MIKE GREENBERG REACTION