Manti Te'o Focused On Preparing For Combine

An ESPN reporter filed this story today on Manti and what he's been up to down in Bradenton, FL where he and Tyler Eifert are training for the NFL Scouting Combine at the IMG ACADEMY...

LINK:  TE'O -- ALL BUSINESS

LINK:  USA TODAY STORY

Irish Men's Hoops on ESPN Tonight at 7 PM ET

Mike Brey's #21 ranked Fightin' Irish are in Pittsburgh today getting ready to take on the #16 Pittsburgh Panthers in a game televised on ESPN beginning at 7 PM ET.  Both teams are rebounding from tough losses on Saturday -- should be a good one!

LINK:  ND vs. PITT PREVIEW

Manti, Eifert and Others Do The Harlem Shake!

Former Notre Dame All-Americans Manti Te'o and Tyler Eifert have been in Florida since mid-January training for the NFL Scouting Combine at the IMG ACADEMY -- with a number of other college football stars.  As you can see in this video - it's not all hard work!

LINK:  NFL HOPEFULS DO THE HARLEM SHAKE

ND Hockey Unveils New Gold Helmet Today!

The Fighting Irish unveiled a hockey helmet today that was painted with the same paint as the Irish football helmets -- the new GOLD STANDARD for Notre Dame hockey -- in a 2 - 1 win over #3 Miami of Ohio at Chicago's Soldier Field in front of a 52,501 hockey fans!

You'll enjoy watching the highlights -- be sure to check-out the great looking jersey and helmets!!!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME BEATS #3 MIAMI

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE PHOTO GALLERY

LINK:  WNDU-TV STORY

Fr. Bill Dailey, C.S.C. on MSNBC This Morning

Notre Dame Law School faculty member and Holy Cross priest -- Rev. William Dailey, C.S.C. was back on the Up w/ Chris Hayes Show this morning on MSNBC.  Here's a few links to today's discussion about the Catholic Church:

LINK:  SEGMENT #1:  HOW DO WE JUDGE A PAPACY?

LINK:  SEGMENT #2:  THE CHURCH'S CHANGING ROLE

LINK:  SEGMENT #3:  DEALING WITH SCANDAL

LINK:  SEGMENT #4:  RESTORING CONFIDENCE IN VATICAN

#3 Notre Dame Hammers #4 Duke in the Snow!

In "snowy" Durham, NC -- the #3 ranked Fighting Irish beat #4 Duke 13 - 5 today in their first lacrosse game of the 2013 season!

Freshman Matt Kavanagh, the #1 ranked kid coming out of "post-graduate" schools last year, lived up to the hype scoring FOUR GOALS in his first game for Notre Dame!

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  INSIDE LACROSSE STORY

ND Alum Selected for CNN Fit Nation Triathlon

Doug Mogle '08, a teacher at The Lovett School in Atlanta, GA was selected to participate in CNN's FIT NATION TRIATHLON CHALLENGE.  Doug and five others will be competing with Dr. Sanjay Gupta at the Nautica Malibu Triathlon on September 8, 2013.

You'll want to know Doug's story -- click on the Meet the Six Contestants video link below -- and then click on Doug's blog post at CNN entitled "A Favorite T-shirt"

LINK:  MEET THE SIX CONTESTANTS

LINK:  A FAVORITE T-SHIRT

Photos of Ice Rink on Chicago's Soldier Field

LINK:  TIME LAPSED VIDEO -- MUST SEE

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame will be skating on Chicago's legendary Soldier Field tomorrow when they play Miami of Ohio in the OfficeMax Hockey City Classic.  It's the first hockey game ever at Soldier Field.  They will drop the puck at 1:00 PM ET.

Notre Dame Priest -- Guest on MSNBC Show

This Sunday, February 17th, University of Notre Dame Law School faculty member and Holy Cross priest -- the Rev. Bill Dailey, C.S.C. -- will be a studio guest on the UP with CHRIS HAYES Show on MSNBC.

I'm sure Father Bill will be asked about Pope Benedict XVI and who's next in line -- among other things.

So, be sure to tune-in at 8 AM ET this Sunday -- Father Bill makes for good TV.


LINK:  UP WITH CHRIS HAYES

Like Father -- Like Daughter: All Americans!

Taya Reimer (Indianapolis, IN) -- who signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball for the University of Notre Dame this past November -- was selected to play in the McDonald's All American game.

What's cool about this news is Taya's Dad, Ben Davis, also played in this game -- making them the first "father / daughter" combo to play in the McDonald's All American game.

Joining Taya on the East Squad will be future Irish teammate Lindsay Allen -- a 5'-7" guard out of Mitchellville, MD.  Allen led the USA U17 team to the gold medal at this summer's World Championships in Amsterdam!

(Pictured:  Taya Reimer)


LINK:  ESPN STORY

LINK:  LINDSAY ALLEN -- McDONALD'S ALL AMERICAN

LINK:  TAYA REIMER -- McDONALD'S ALL AMERICAN

Future Domer's a "BIG MAC" All-American!

Demetrius Jackson -- who signed a National Letter of Intent in November with the Fighting Irish -- has been selected to play in the McDonald's All American game.  The talented guard "next door" (Mishawaka, IN) will become the fifteenth player in Notre Dame men's basketball history to play in this game -- here are the others:

• Tracy Jackson -- 1977
• Tim Andree -- 1979
• John Paxson -- 1979
• Tom Sluby -- 1980
• Barry Spencer -- 1980
• Ken Barlow -- 1982
• Tim Kempton -- 1982
• David Rivers -- 1984
• Keith Robinson -- 1986
• LaPhonso Ellis -- 1988
• Ryan Humphrey -- 1997
• Chris Thomas -- 2001
• Torin Francis -- 2002
• Luke Zeller -- 2005

The game will be held at Chicago's United Center on Wednesday April 3rd -- and will be televised LIVE on ESPN beginning at 9:30 PM ET.


LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE STORY

LINK:  ESPN STORY

LINK:  ESPN RECRUITING EXPERT

Photo of the Day: Torii Hunter in ND Gear!

It's Spring Training in Lakeland, FL today for the American League Champion Detroit Tigers -- and the proud papa of a "soon to be" Notre Dame student-athlete was reppin' the Fightin' Irish!

The "Harlem Shake" -- Notre Dame Style!

Last night -- around 11 PM ET -- a number of students at the University of Notre Dame performed the latest dance craze sweeping YOUTUBE and the morning TV shows -- it's called the HARLEM SHAKE.

Enjoy!

LINK:  THE HARLEM SHAKE @ NOTRE DAME

Another OT Win for the Irish Over DePaul

The IRISH led by as many as 12 points in the second half -- but couldn't hold off a late rally by DePaul to take the game into overtime.  The third game in the last four for Notre Dame to go extra time.  Fortunately, the IRISH have won all three of those games and are now 20 - 5 on the season.

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE STORY

ND Student Who Made $18,000 Shot: His Story

This is a "must-read" story for entire Notre Dame family -- click on the link below:

LINK:  CASEY MURDOCK'S STORY

Gatorade Player of the Year Signs with ND!

Notre Dame women's soccer coach Randy Waldrum announced today the signing of six of the top high school soccer players in the country -- including the #1 ranked player Morgan Andrews (photo holding the Gatorade POY trophy)!

Morgan did "double duty" kicking field goals for her high school football team.  She made a 33 yard field goal to beat their arch-rival -- on a day she played soccer and football -- see the story below!

Here's a link to an ESPN story on Andrews, a link to a hometown paper story and a link to Notre Dame's official release.

LINK:  AMERICA'S TOP PLAYER

LINK:  KICKS WINNING FIELD GOAL!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S CLASS

Cardinal Turkson to Celebrate Mass at ND!!!

He's one of the Cardinals being discussed as a leading candidate to replace Pope Benedict XVI -- and, he's scheduled to be at the University of Notre Dame the first weekend in March!

Cardinal Peter Turkson the Archbishop of Cape Coast -- Ghana -- is expected to be celebrating the 10 AM Mass at the Basilica of Sacred Heart on Sunday, March 3rd.

LINK:  BRITISH BOOKMAKERS NAME HIM THE FAVORITE

LINK:  ONE OF THE FAVORITES

LINK:  TWO CARDINALS IN THE RUNNING

Irish a #6 Seed in First Look at NCAA Bracket

ESPN's Joe Lunardi -- their resident "bracketologist" -- just released his first look at what he projects as the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament field this March.  You'll see NOTRE DAME gets a first round match-up with Illinois...

LINK:  NCAA BRACKET

Can't Watch This Enough -- Five OT Thriller!

The gang at Fighting Irish Digital Media produced this piece on the FIVE OT WIN Saturday night over #11 Louisville.  It was a huge win -- on many fronts -- for Notre Dame.  I'm also attaching a link to a New York Times story about the game...

Enjoy!

LINK:  FIVE OT THRILLER

LINK:  NEW YORK TIMES STORY

Photo of the Day: Coach Kelly at Pebble Beach

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly is seen here walking down a fairway with San Francisco 49ers' Jim Harbaugh during Sunday's final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.  Coach Kelly and his PGA Tour playing partner James Driscoll finished in 23rd place.