Jim Rome on Rick Reilly's Polishing of Helmets

As many of you know, Rick Reilly ran a column a few months ago in which he opined that Notre Dame did not deserve the respect it was receiving from the NCAA, BCS and others...

I'll let Jim Rome tell the rest of the story...

LINK:  JIM ROME ON RICK REILLY

"Notre Dame Beats Ohio State by Two TD's..."

An unabashed Michigan football fan and radio host of THE HUGE SHOW -- wrote a piece in the Grand Rapids Press today about the Wolverine's loss to the Buckeyes...

Simonson took it upon himself to then talk about Notre Dame, how they "do things the right way," and -- how they "would beat Ohio State by two touchdowns..."

Special thanks to long-time ND GO IRISH BLOG regular R.J. Doyle for alerting me to this story!  That's "Uncle R.J." to me!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME BEATS OHIO STATE

WSJ: Why Notre Dame Deserves This...

The folks at the Wall Street Journal produced this video; WHY NOTRE DAME DESERVES TO BE IN THE BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME...

Yeah, the Wall Street Journal is giving sports commentary.  Take a look.

LINK:  WHY NOTRE DAME!

Irish Connection Take #2 From LA Coliseum

Can't get enough of this moment for the NOTRE DAME FAMILY.  You'll want to watch this!

LINK:  IRISH CONNECTION -- TAKE #2

Skip Bayless: "Manti Te'o Deserves Heisman"

Never thought I'd hear Skip Bayless promote a Notre Dame player -- for anything that had a POSITIVE outcome...

The world must be changing!

You'll enjoy reading Bayless' case as to why Manti Te'o is deserving of the Heisman Trophy.

LINK:  MANTI DESERVES THE HEISMAN

TMQ: Notre Dame Should Be Celebrated!

If you're a regular to the ND GO IRISH BLOG you'll know that a common theme has been -- "when will someone talk about graduating student-athletes in the sports media..."

Well, it looks like that day has come!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME SHOULD BE CELEBRATED

Notre Dame's Prophetic Author!

I have the privilege of working with Bob Quakenbush at the University of Notre Dame.  Bob, a 1976 grad, wrote a book entitled "The Gipper's Ghost" nearly 30 years ago.

The story talks about a fictional coach, by the name of COACH KELLY, who in his third year coaching the IRISH would lead them to a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!

You can't make this up!

Here's a link to the ABC-TV story on Bob and his book!

LINK:  THE GIPPER'S GHOST

LINK:  THE GIPPER'S GHOST FACEBOOK PAGE

LINK:  BUY THE KINDLE VERSION!

A MUST READ -- Wall Street Journal Story

Notre Dame fans, this is a Wall Street Journal article written by Jason Gay -- a University of Wisconsin alum -- who's not a fan of the IRISH...

You'll find this worthy of your time!

LINK:  CHILL OUT ON #1 NOTRE DAME

Sports Talk Radio on ND's Perfect Season!

Sports Talk Radio -- was filled with conversation about the Fightin' Irish of Notre Dame yesterday.  Here's a sample of what you might have missed!

LINK:  MIKE & MIKE -- ESPN

LINK:  MIKE & MIKE #2 -- ESPN

LINK:  COLIN COWHERD -- ESPN

LINK:  JIM ROME -- THE JIM ROME SHOW

LINK:  JIM ROME #2 -- THE JIM ROME SHOW

LINK:  SCOTT VAN PELT -- ESPN

LINK:  DAN PATRICK -- THE DAN PATRICK SHOW

LINK:  JT THE BRICK -- FOX SPORTS

Think You've Got a Great Notre Dame Room...

You might "re-think" this after you've watched this video...

WOW, is all I can say!

LINK:  THE ULTIMATE NOTRE DAME THEATER

Inside Notre Dame Football: USC Victory Show

You'll enjoy this edition of Inside Notre Dame Football with Brian Kelly.  Just click on the link below:

LINK:  INSIDE NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL -- USC VICTORY SHOW

Notre Dame Closes Gap: All-Time Winning %

A 12 - 0 season cures a lot of ills...

One of them was the All-Time Winning % lead which Notre Dame relinquished to Michigan during the Ty Willingham era...

As of this very moment -- here's the "math" on the All-Time Winning % Lead in College Football -- less than ONE THOUSANDTH OF A POINT separates Michigan and Notre Dame:

• MICHIGAN:  903 Wins -- 314 Losses and 36 Ties =  .73503%

• NOTRE DAME:  865 Wins -- 300 Losses and 42 Ties =  .73405%

So, here's the math:  Michigan has a TWO GAME LEAD on the Fighting Irish.  Here's how I see it: when Notre Dame wins the BCS Championship game and Michigan loses their bowl game -- we'll roll into Ann Arbor next fall looking to beat Michigan to regain the All-Time Winning % lead.

In the All-Time Wins department -- Notre Dame is currently #3:

• Michigan:  903 wins
• Texas:  866 wins
• Notre Dame:  865 wins

Notre Dame Turns 170 Years-old Today!

On this day -- November 26, 1842 the University of Notre Dame du Lac was founded by Rev. Edward F. Sorin, C.S.C.

Happy Birthday Notre Dame!

LINK:  FR. SORIN -- WIKI PAGE

LINK:  NOTRE DAME GLEE CLUB

I Missed This Video Last Week -- MUST SEE!!!

This might be one of the best videos I've seen surrounding Notre Dame Football -- it is that good.  Oh, how I wish I had watched this before Saturday's game with USC...

LINK:  ...GOING TO CUT YOU DOWN

How You Might Want to Deal With the Haters...

If you run into a SEC fan, Oregon fan, etc., over these next forty days or so, and they say "Notre Dame doesn't deserve to play in the National Championship game -- just share the following with them...

LINK:  PAT FORDE -- NOTRE DAME PLAYED A TOUGHER SCHEDULE

USC's Lane Kiffin Talks Loss to Notre Dame

USC coach Lane Kiffin met with the media -- along with QB Max Wittek -- after losing to Notre Dame 22 - 13.  Some of the key comments from Kiffin:

• "We only ran 48 plays on offense -- which is unheard of..."
• "We were 1 for 8 on third down..."
• "They're the number 1 goal line defense in the country for two years now -- they did this to everybody..."
• "Notre Dame showed me they have phenomenal senior leadership..."
• "They (Notre Dame) are not very exotic -- they're old school..."

LINK:  LANE KIFFIN POST GAME

USC Network: "Best Team We've Played..."

USC Network's Dan Weber and Johnie Freatman talked about their game with the Fightin' Irish -- and they shared that the Trojans' admitted Notre Dame was the BEST TEAM THEY HAVE PLAYED this season...

Found it interesting they chose the backdrop of the Notre Dame Equipment truck!

LINK:  USC NETWORK ANALYSIS OF GAME

"HE IS MANTI" -- Play the Game!

Notre Dame Athletics released this video that was just "tweeted" by @CoachBrianKelly

LINK:  HE IS MANTI

Notre Dame's PERFECT Defensive Unit!

Just let this sink-in for a few seconds:

Notre Dame allowed ONE TD or LESS to 

NINE OF THEIR TWELVE OPPONENTS THIS SEASON!

Now let's look at how dominant this defensive unit was this season.  Here's how ND's defense stacked up against each of the offensive units they played this season.

• Navy:  Gave up 10 points -- 15.5 points less than Navy's average for the season.  Navy is bowl-eligible.
• Purdue:  Gave up 17 points -- 12.9 points less than Purdue's average for the season.  Purdue is bowl-eligible.
• Michigan State:  Gave up 3 points -- 17.3 points less than Michigan State's average for the season.  Michigan State is bowl-eligible.
• Michigan:  Gave up 6 points -- 24 points less than Michigan's average for the season.  Michigan is bowl-eligible.
• Miami, FL:  Gave up 3 points -- 28.4 points less than Miami's average for the season.  Miami is bowl-eligible.
• Stanford:  Gave up 13 points -- 15.6 points less than Stanford's average for the season.  Stanford is bowl-eligible.
• BYU:  Gave up 14 points -- 15.2 points less than BYU's average for the season.  BYU is bowl-eligible.
• Oklahoma:  Gave up 13 points --  28.7 points less than Oklahoma's average for the season.  Oklahoma is bowl-eligible.
• Pittsburgh:  Gave up 26 points -- 1.5 points less than Pittsburgh's average for the season.  Pitt wins their game next week and they will be bowl-eligible.
• Boston College:  Gave up 6 points -- 13.8 points less than Boston College's average for the season.
• Wake Forest:  Gave up 0 points -- 18.5 points less than Wake Forest's average for the season.
• USC:  Gave up 13 points -- 21.2 points less than USC's average for the season.
   

Mornin' After We Earn a Championship Shot!

Here's what the media's sayin' this morning about Notre Dame's 22 - 13 win over USC last night to finish a PERFECT SEASON!

LINK:  BILL PLASCHKE -- LOS ANGELES TIMES

LINK:  GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI -- ESPN

LINK:  GARY KLEIN-- LOS ANGELES TIMES

LINK:  MATT FORTUNA -- ESPN

LINK:  GARY PASKWEITZ -- ESPN

LINK:  KEITH ARNOLD -- NBC

LINK:  STEWART MANDEL -- SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

LINK:  FRANK SCHWAB -- YAHOO

LINK:  RICH HAMMOND -- ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

LINK:  MARK WHICKER -- ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

LINK:  DENNIS DODD -- CBS