The Catholic Church Has a New Pope!

The College of Cardinals have completed their Conclave in less than 30 Hours -- just selecting the next Pope.  His name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina.  He has taken the name Pope Francis -- the first to take this name -- and the 266th Pope in the Church's history.  He is 76 years old.  Here's the live coverage!

LINK:  FOX NEWS COVERAGE

Notre Dame's Relay For Life Auction -- Bid Now!

The University of Notre Dame's UR Relay For Life Auction just went live today at NOON EST.

Over the next 48 hours -- you can bid on many items -- with all of the proceeds going towards fighting Cancer.

There are 80 UNIQUE ITEMS that Notre Dame fans would love -- so get to the site and BID!

The Auction ends Friday at Noon!

LINK:  RELAY FOR LIFE AUCTION

LIVE -- Conclave Chimney Webcam

Thought the ND GO IRISH BLOG followers might appreciate a LIVE link to a webcam pointed at the Chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel -- where the Conclave is taking place in Vatican City.

Here's the projected voting schedule today:

• 12:30 PM ET
• 2:00 PM ET

LINK:  LIVE WEBCAM

Photo of the Day: ND Students in Rome!

You've got to love this sign made by a number of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College (Notre Dame, IN) students who are in Rome over Spring Break...

The Mornin' After: Big East Champions!

The #2 ranked Fightin' Irish keep racking up the wins -- we're at 26 IN A ROW and counting -- for a team that wasn't even ranked in the top ten in the preseason rankings.  And last night's win came over arch-rival UCONN -- the third time Notre Dame has beat them this season!

Here's what the media has to say about ND's first Big East Tournament Championship in basketball!

LINK:  ESPN

LINK:  HARTFORD COURANT

LINK:  HARTFORD COURANT #2

LINK:  NEW YORK TIMES

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

LINK:  POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE 

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  BIG EAST SITE

Notre Dame -- BIG EAST TOURNEY CHAMPS!

Folks, they have won 26 straight -- THREE THIS YEAR OVER UCONN -- as the Lady Irish win 61 - 59 and the first BIG EAST TOURNAMENT Championship!!!

And, they win it on the ROAD -- in front of the UCONN home crowd.

The win is the seventh for Notre Dame in the last eight times these two teams have played -- INCREDIBLE!

LINK:  BOX SCORE

The Move to the ACC Becomes Official July 1st

Jack Swarbrick made the announcement this afternoon that Notre Dame would become an official member of the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1st.  It's going to be fun!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME COACHES' REACTION

The IRISH Take on UCONN Again -- 7 PM ET

How many times can you BEAT one team in the same season?

For the third time this season (second time in eight days) -- of what's expected could be a four-game series once the NCAA Tournament is completed -- the #2 ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame will take on the #3 ranked Huskies of UCONN in the Big East Tournament Championship game.

The game tips off at 7 PM ET TONIGHT -- with TV coverage provided by ESPN.

Here's a preview of the game:  ND vs. UCONN

OT -- Jeff Gordon "Test Drive" -- MUST SEE!

Folks, if this doesn't get your heart racing -- with a few laughs thrown in -- NOTHING WILL!

You must watch this video!

LINK:  JEFF GORDON'S PEPSI MAX TEST DRIVE

Muffet's Irish "One and Done" With New Gear

Well, the new uniforms that Adidas provided the Notre Dame women's basketball team (photo above) are history...

Adidas provided a number of schools with a new uniform combination to wear for their conference tournaments and the NCAA tournaments -- Notre Dame was one of those schools.

The Irish wore the new gear in their opening round game in the Big East Tournament Monday night -- however, the team voted after the game -- not to wear them again.  Notre Dame donned their regular home uniform combination in the win last night over Louisville.

It will be interesting to see what Mike Brey's team does -- will they wear the new uniform combination tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden?


PS:  I have to admit I like the jersey top on its own and I like the shorts -- on their own.  Together, not so much...

LINK:  ONE AND DONE WITH UNIFORM

ND Men's Basketball -- Day #1 in New York City

The Fightin' Irish are in the Big Apple this week to play in the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.  Notre Dame plays the winner of the Rutgers vs. DePaul game on Wednesday night at 9 PM ET. 

The team flew into NYC last night and today they made a visit to the 9/11 Memorial -- here's a couple of links to the Fighting Irish Digital Media's coverage on Day One:

LINK:  9/11 MEMORIAL

LINK:  TEAM WORKOUT

Muffet's #2 IRISH to Play #13 Louisville Tonight

The #2 ranked Notre Dame women's basketball team will be playing the #13 ranked Louisville Cardinals tonight in the Semi-finals of the Big East Tournament in Hartford, CT.  The game will be televised LIVE on ESPNU beginning at 6 PM ET.

GO IRISH!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME vs. LOUISVILLE PREVIEW

Ian Williams Signs Two Year Deal With 49ers

Irish fans will recall that former Notre Dame defensive tackle Ian Williams went un-drafted in the 2012 NFL Draft -- after being projected to go in the first four rounds or so... 

Ian went on to sign a Free Agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers and made their 53 man roster this past season.  Well, it was just reported that Williams just signed a two-year deal with San Francisco for $3.2 million including a $1 million signing bonus and another $1 million guaranteed.

Congratulations Ian!

LINK:  TWO YEAR DEAL

Notre Dame Adidas Tourney Gear In Bookstore

Took these photos last night -- at the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore at Eddy Street Commons -- of the "home" jersey the Irish men's team will wear during the Big East Tournament -- and the "away" shorts...

I will admit they look pretty good in person...

ND Freshman QB Training in Arizona This Week

Malik Zaire, one of the top HS QB's in the country, enrolled early this past January as a student-athlete at the University of Notre Dame.  This week he's in Arizona (SPRING BREAK) with Irish teammates; Louis Nix, Kendall Moore and Davonte Neal getting some training in for ND's upcoming Spring Football...

He caught up with a reporter from Rivals yesterday -- you'll be impressed...

LINK:  MALIK ZAIRE

Notre Dame Glee Club's Spring Tour This Week

If you live close to one of the communities listed below this week -- you will have the opportunity to see the Notre Dame Glee Club perform!

They are wonderful! 

The Glee Club is on the road performing in seven states during Notre Dame's Spring Break.  Friday night they performed in Chicago, Saturday in Madison, WI and here's where you can find them today and for the balance of the tour:

• TODAY -- Minneapolis, MN
• Monday -- Fargo, ND
• Tuesday -- Bismarck, ND
• Wednesday -- Great Falls, MT
• Thursday --  Billings, MT
• Friday --  Denver, CO
• Saturday -- Omaha, NE

LINK:  NOTRE DAME GLEE CLUB TOUR DATES

Regis Philbin '53 Has New Gig With Fox Sports

The man is amazing...

He's 81 years YOUNG and he's taking on a new broadcasting job.  Notre Dame alum Regis Philbin will be debuting a new sports talk show on Fox's new sports network called Fox Sports 1 -- August 19, 2013.  Fox Sports 1 will replace the Speed Channel on cable.

Here's a clip of Regis talking about his new gig:

LINK:  REGIS IS BACK!

Coach Kelly Talks With the South Bend Tribune

University of Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly sat down for an interview with South Bend Tribune beat writer Eric Hansen.  It was the first one-on-one interview Coach Kelly has given since the Alabama game...

LINK:  COACH KELLY TALKS

Notre Dame Student's Book For Sale at Amazon

Katie Mattie '14 -- a student at the University of Notre Dame -- can now add AUTHOR to her resume!  Her book "M.A.J.I.C. and the Oracle at Delphi" is available for sale on Amazon and the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore.


I first wrote about Katie on the ND GO IRISH BLOG back in July 2011 -- after learning about her valedictory speech at Ypsilanti High School -- click here for that story.

You'll love to learn about Katie's work ethic and determination -- over a five year period -- to get her first book published!  You'll see the story on her website linked below.

Katie -- I'm a huge fan! 

(The bottom photo is of Katie and her proud Mom Barb -- at a book signing for bookstores in her hometown)


LINK:  KATIE'S WEBSITE

LINK:  BUY KATIE'S BOOK

The #1 Sign Back Atop Notre Dame's Grace Hall

I was driving through campus Thursday night and I noticed the #1 sign was lit atop Grace Hall -- signifying that, once again, a Notre Dame team was ranked #1 in the nation...

The Women's Fencing team moved to #1 in the country with their win this past weekend at the Midwest Fencing Conference championships.  Congratulations!

LINK:  ND WINS CHAMPIONSHIP

LINK:  NATIONAL RANKINGS