Second Half Highlights: Notre Dame vs. Navy

Here's a condensed version of CBS's coverage of the second half action from Notre Dame's 50 - 10 win over the Naval Academy in Dublin's AVIVA Stadium.  Enjoy!

LINK:  SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

First Half Highlights: Notre Dame vs. Navy

Here's a compilation of most of the action that took place in the first half of Saturday's Notre Dame game against Navy in Dublin on CBS.  Just click on the link below:

LINK:  FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

Irish Move to #22 in the Polls This Week

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish moved up to #22 in the national polls this morning in both the AP and USA Today rankings.  Here's the link to their respective Top 25 polls:

LINK:  WEEK 2 -- COLLEGE FOOTBALL RANKINGS

Saturday's Mass From Dublin Castle -- Replay

More than 4,000 members of the Notre Dame Family celebrated Mass this past Saturday morning in the courtyard of historic Dublin Castle.  Dublin's Archbishop Diarmuid Martin was the celebrant along with 40 other concelebrants.  Here's a link to the video of Mass -- when you get to the site linked below go to the SEARCH BOX and enter NOTRE DAME OPEN AIR MASS and you'll find the video:

LINK:  MASS AT DUBLIN CASTLE

Trick Shot Monday is Back -- Only Notre Dame

The Fighting Irish Football Team started a new weekly tradition last year called TRICK SHOT MONDAY -- well today's episode saw Jake Golic  (photo on left) make a remarkable shot...

LINK:  TRICK SHOT MONDAY

Irish Connection -- ND Football in Dublin

The gang at UND.COM produced their first IRISH CONNECTION video of the 125th Anniversary season of Notre Dame Football and you're going to enjoy the view from the sidelines, locker room and all around Dublin...

And, you'll hear a song entitled "WE ARE THE IRISH."

LINK:  IRISH CONNECTION #40

CBS' Replay of Notre Dame vs. Navy

Here's a link to a number of videos hosted on the CBS SPORTS site of their coverage of Notre Dame's 50 - 10 win over Navy Saturday in Dublin. 

LINK:  CBS COVERAGE OF NOTRE DAME vs. NAVY

"Nothing is Wrong with Notre Dame" -- Forde

Yahoo! Sports' national college columnist, Pat Forde -- wrote a story late last week that defended Notre Dame's unwillingness to compromise values for wins.

NOTRE DAME FANS -- THIS IS A MUST READ.

LINK:  HOW DARE NOTRE DAME!

The Irish Sun: A Dame Fine Day at AVIVA

ND GO IRISH BLOG regular Pat McDonough forwarded me a note he received from his daughter Lauren '04 who was in Dublin for Notre Dame's weekend in Ireland.  You'll enjoy the link to a story in the IRISH SUN about Saturday's game that Lauren had forwarded to Pat:

LINK:  A DAME FINE DAY

Crist and Ragone Team Up for Kansas Victory

Dayne Crist '12 and Mike Ragone '12 teamed up for a TD Saturday afternoon in Kansas University's 31 - 17 win over the South Dakota State "Jackrabbits" in the first game in the Charlie Weis '79 era.

Crist completed 47% of his passes (17 for 36) for 169 yards with one TD and one INT -- in front of 46,601 fans in Kansas' home opener (stadium capacity 50,071).

LINK:  GAME STORY

LINK:  BLOG

IRISH TIMES: A Proud Emotional Homecoming

A columnist with Dublin's IRISH TIMES -- wrote a column about Notre Dame's "homecoming" this past weekend -- you'll want to read this!

LINK:  IRISH TIMES

The ESPN Experts Talk ND's Game in Dublin

The folks at ESPN were saying NICE THINGS about the Fighting Irish this weekend -- check that, all of them not named Mark May...

Here's a link:

LINK:  ESPN RECAPS ND'S WIN OVER NAVY

Notre Dame vs. Navy -- Postgame Video

The good folks at Fighting Irish Digital Media were "across the pond" in Ireland for Notre Dame's 50 - 10 win over Navy.  Here's their postgame coverage:

LINK:  POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  POST GAME CELEBRATION

Sunday Update: Know Thy Opponent

Took a lap around the "hometown" newspapers of all of the teams the IRISH play this season -- to see what they're saying about WEEK ONE of the COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON. 

Notre Dame's opponents went 8 - 4.

Just click on the team's name and you'll find their news report:

LINK:  NAVY

LINK:  PURDUE

LINK:  MICHIGAN STATE

LINK:  MICHIGAN

LINK:  MIAMI

LINK:  STANFORD

LINK:  BYU

LINK:  OKLAHOMA

LINK:  PITTSBURGH

LINK:  BOSTON COLLEGE 

LINK:  WAKE FOREST

LINK:  SOUTHERN CAL

T. Boone Pickens Still Talkin' Notre Dame...

Billionaire T. Boone Pickens spoke with the media yesterday about "wanting to play Notre Dame..."

His alma mater, Oklahoma State, pounded Savannah State 84 - 0 yesterday afternoon.

LINK: T BOONE WOULD LIKE TO PICK NOTRE DAME

A Weekend Notre Dame Will Never Forget!

WOW...

That's the best description I can come up with after returning home this evening from Dublin.

I spent the past four days in Ireland with 35,000 Notre Dame fans in what's being called "America's most traveled to single day sporting event -- outside the United States -- in our 236 year history!

Think about that.

For those of us who had the opportunity to make the trip to Ireland -- we will never forget.  For those who were not as fortunate -- here's a few links to a number of the special events that took place this weekend.  ENJOY!

LINK:  DUBLIN PARADE

LINK:  NOTRE DAME FANS IN DUBLIN

LINK:  TEAM'S TOUR OF DUBLIN

LINK:  NOTRE DAME GAME PREVIEW

Replay: Notre Dame's Dublin Pep Rally

Now, it wasn't called a pep rally -- it was named; NOTRE DAME:  A WELCOME HOME...

Folks, it was a special night in Dublin for some 9,000 Irish fans.  Here's a full replay of Friday night's show from O2 Arena:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME DUBLIN PEP RALLY

Hours After -- The View From Dublin, Ireland

It's been a few hours since the Fightin' Irish put a "half a hundred" on the Naval Academy this afternoon at AVIVA Stadium.  The 50 - 10 final score put a nice bow on what has been a special weekend for the University of Notre Dame and the ND Family.

From Friday Night's "Welcome Home" celebration to Mass this morning with thousands of Notre Dame fans at historic Dublin Castle -- to our team's performance on the field -- you just couldn't have had a better time in IRELAND if you were an IRISH fan!

In the past few minutes I've taken a lap around the worldwide web to see what the early reaction is to ND's dominating win -- and what the IRISH people are saying about Notre Dame's visit to their country:

LINK:  ESPN BLOG

LINK:  ESPN

LINK:  NBC NOTRE DAME CENTRAL 

LINK:  IRISH INDEPENDENT

LINK:  IRISH INDEPENDENT #2

LINK:  IRISH TIMES

LINK:  WNDU-TV

LINK:  DAILY MAIL UK

FACT: Nowwhere Else But Notre Dame!

I challenge any of your friends that root for schools other than Notre Dame -- and I will name them for you; Michigan, USC, Alabama, Florida, Oregon, Ohio State, etc. -- and ask them if they've ever experienced this:

• A Pep Rally televised on NATIONAL TELEVISION -- in a country THOUSANDS of miles away from home -- with forty of that countries "top artists" performing along with the Band of the Fighting Irish.  With MILLIONS more watching it online!!

Folks -- Friday's Pep Rally in Dublin is INCREDIBLE!!!

I had the good fortune of sitting in on the Band of the Fighting Irish's performance yesterday and I will tell you it's off the charts (PHOTO ABOVE OF REHEARSAL).  College Football has never seen anything like this --- EVER!

 I can't stress enough how special this night will be for the University of Notre Dame and its family!

So, if you're sitting back in the States -- just click on the link below and you can watch a one-hour TAPE DELAY of the Pep Rally at the link below.  THE SHOW BEGINS at 4:30 PM ET:

LINK:  WATCH THE NOTRE DAME DUBLIN PEP RALLY HERE!
 

Notre Dame Endzone -- Aviva Stadium

Here's a photo I took this afternoon at AVIVA Stadium in Dublin, Ireland.  As you can see they're in the process of painting IRISH in the endzone.   This is a beautiful stadium!

If you look closely in the bottom left of the photo you'll see some media assembled to take pictures of the FIGHTING IRISH who were getting their first look at the stadium.