Spring Practice #1 -- Coach Kelly With Media

The first practice of the Spring Season, here at the University of Notre Dame, took place at 8 AM ET "inside" at Meyo Field inside the Loftus Sports Center.  After practice, Brian Kelly met with the media to talk about his Fighting Irish football team:

LINK:  COACH KELLY WITH THE MEDIA

Notre Dame Football's Spring Roster Released

The University of Notre Dame begins their Spring Practice season tomorrow -- as they prepare for the upcoming Blue Gold Game on Saturday, April 20th.

Some of the highlights:

• Louis Nix weighs 357 lbs.
• Stephon Tuitt 6'-6" and 322 lbs.
• Eleven players tip the scales at 300 +

LINK:  OFFICIAL SPRING FOOTBALL ROSTER

Coach Brian Kelly Met With the Media Today

The University of Notre Dame football team begins Spring Practice this week -- leading up to the 83rd Annual Blue Gold Game on April 20th.  To kick things off, Coach Kelly met with the media at NOON ET today -- here's the follow-up media coverage:


LINK:  REPLAY OF PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  AN INTERVIEW WITH COACH KELLY

LINK:  ESPN NOTRE DAME BLOG

LINK:  NBC NOTRE DAME CENTRAL

Media Reaction to Notre Dame's Chances...

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame begin their quest for a third straight trip to the Final Four via Iowa City, IA  "When" they make it -- they will probably be the only team not to play a game on their home court in the NCAA tournament.

Game I'm most concerned about -- the potential to have to play Iowa on their home court in a Second Round game -- the #2 team in the tournament did not deserve that...

It didn't take long for the media to weigh-in on what lies ahead for the IRISH:

LINK:  ESPN EXPERT PICKS

LINK:  GRAHAM HAYS

LINK:  MECHELLE VOEPEL

LINK:  CHARLIE CREME

LINK:  SPORTING NEWS

Coach Kelly Makes Visit to Breezy Point, NY

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly made the trip to Breezy Point, Queens this past week to visit the ravages of Hurricane Sandy.  Coach Kelly and his Kelly Cares Foundation has pledged financial help to the Catholic Club -- a popular community center that was destroyed in the storm.

Nice story...

LINK:  COACH KELLY GIVING BACK...

Lady IRISH Off to Iowa City to Play UT Martin

The only #1 seed to have to go on the road to play ALL of their games to make it to New Orleans for the FINAL FOUR -- the Fightin' Irish of Notre Dame.

The other #1 seeds; Baylor, Stanford and UCONN will play their first two games at home...

The (31-1) IRISH will begin their NCAA Championship run in Iowa City, IA this Sunday at 5:05 PM ET against the #16 seed (19-14) University of Tennessee Martin.

GO IRISH!

LINK:  COACH MCGRAW

LINK:  PLAYER REACTION

LINK:  NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET

LINK:  UTM WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SITE

Taya Reimer -- McDonald's National POY Award!

She'll be wearing "blue and gold" next fall in Purcell Pavillion -- Taya Reimer was just named the National Player of the Year by McDonald's!  The 6'-3" forward will be joining the IRISH this next season -- along with three other top high school stars.

Congratulations Taya!

LINK:  REIMER NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR!

Can Anyone Beat Griner and the Baylor Bears?

That was the question poised to a few "experts" over at ESPN -- on the eve of the NCAA Selection Show -- that will air on their channels this evening at 7 PM ET.  Here's what they had to say:

LINK:  CAN ANYONE BEAT BAYLOR?

Notre Dame to Play Ohio State in CCHA Semis

The #12 Fighting Irish of Notre Dame will play the "un-ranked" Ohio State Buckeyes this Friday afternoon at Joe Louis Arena in the semi-finals of the CCHA HOCKEY TOURNAMENT.

Miami of Ohio will play Michigan in the other semi-final.  The winners will play Saturday for the honor of being the last CCHA Champion!

Notre Dame and Ohio State last played back in February in Columbus -- with the Buckeyes winning 6 - 3 the first night and the two teams playing to a 2-2 OT time the next night -- with the IRISH winning the shootout for the extra point.

Should be a good crowd in the Motor City!

LINK:  TO BUY TICKETS -- CLICK HERE!

Know Thy Opponent -- Iowa State Cyclones

Took a quick look around the web to see what I could find out about the Iowa State Cyclones from the Big 12 Conference.  Iowa State lost their last game to Kansas 88 - 73 in their conference tournament.  Photo above of Iowa State's reaction to playing Notre Dame...

It didn't take long for ALL of the talking heads at ESPN to pick Iowa State over ND -- probably the best news we could get!!!

Some quick facts:

• 22 - 11 season record
• The Cyclones are 6 - 4 their last 10 games
• Four starters score in double figures -- led by Will Clyburn at 15.0 pts. per game

Starting line-up:

• Melvin Ejim (F) -- 6'-6"
• George Niang (F) -- 6'-7"
• Chris Babb (G) -- 6'-5"
• Korie Luscious (G) -- 5'-11"
• Will Clyburn (G) -- 6'-7"

LINK:  VIDEO OF IOWA STATE'S REACTION TO PLAYING ND

LINK:  HIGHLIGHTS FROM THEIR LAST GAME

LINK:  POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

Notre Dame To Play Iowa State in West Region

The Notre Dame men's basketball team will begin NCAA Tournament play next Friday night in Dayton, OH against the Iowa State Cyclones in First Round play in the WEST REGION.  The Irish are a #7 seed.

An omen?  The last team to beat the overall #1 seed in the tournament (Louisville) -- the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame! 

The defending National Champion Kentucky Wildcats -- did not make it into the tournament -- along with schools like Virginia, Maryland, Iowa, Tennessee, Southern Miss an Alabama..

Here's a link to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Bracket -- along with the reaction from Notre Dame:

LINK:  COACH BREY

LINK:  SELECTION SUNDAY PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  PLAYER REACTION

LINK:  NCAA MEN'S TOURNAMENT

Lunardi Has ND a #6 Seed in NCAA Tourney

ESPN's resident "bracketologist" Joe Lunardi -- has the Fightin' Irish of Notre Dame playing in the EAST REGIONAL as a #6 seed -- playing a #11 seed Saint Mary's in the First Round at Auburn Hills, MI. 

"WHEN" the IRISH win -- they would more than likely play Michigan State in the Second Round...

Of course, we'll find out for real tonight -- who the IRISH will play and where.

Here is Lunardi's latest Bracketology:

LINK:  LATEST NCAA BRACKET

NCAA Tournament Bracket Released Tonight!

Notre Dame basketball fans will want to tune-in to THE SELECTION SHOW today at 6 PM ET on CBS.  The NCAA Men's Tournament field will be announced at that time.    

The women's NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Monday...

If you can't get to a TV -- you can click on the link below and watch it live on the web!

LINK:  WATCH THE SELECTION SHOW LIVE -- RIGHT HERE!

ND Glee Club Performs "McNamara's Band"

Happy St. Patrick's Day to the Notre Dame Family!  Enjoy the talented ND Glee Club's performance of "McNamara's Band" -- by clicking the link below.

LINK:  MCNAMARA'S BAND

ND Glee Club Performs "Rocky Road to Dublin"

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

The University of Notre Dame's Glee Club performed "Rocky Road to Dublin" in front of the cameras a couple of weeks ago in the Debartolo Performing Arts Center.  Enjoy!

LINK:  ROCKY ROAD TO DUBLIN

Video of Coach Kelly -- St. Patrick's Day Parade

Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly was the Grand Marshal today for the St. Patrick's Day Parade in downtown Chicago.  Here's the ABC-7 coverage of the parade -- and Coach Kelly marching down the street...

LINK:  COACH KELLY -- GRAND MARSHAL

It's On to the NCAA Tournament For Our IRISH

Having played a little basketball in my day -- I can tell you I wouldn't want to play against Louisville.  Full court pressure -- for the entire game -- that's not fun for the guys handling the ball.  And, if you watched last night's game -- that relentless defense wore our guys down.

It's time to put that game in the rear view mirror and on to the NCAA...

ND will find out tomorrow night -- who they play and where they play.  Can't wait!

Here's a link to the post game press conference after ND's 69 - 57 loss to #4 Louisville -- and ESPN's coverage:

LINK:  POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  ESPN COVERAGE

Notre Dame Glee Club Performing "Danny Boy"

Happy St. Patrick's Day Weekend!

The University of Notre Dame's world-famous GLEE CLUB recently performed one of my favorites -- DANNY BOY.  Enjoy!

LINK:  DANNY BOY

Domer Kevin Ford '82 -- Back to Earth!

Notre Dame alum Kevin Ford '82, (that's him on the right) -- Captain of the International Space Station (Expedition 34) -- returned safely to earth in the past hour in a Soyuz space capsule in a remote area of Central Asia (Kazakhstan).

You're going to find the "departure" video from the Soyuz capsule -- interesting...

Ford led a 142 day mission at the International Space Station.


LINK:  VIDEO OF FORD LEAVING CAPSULE 

LINK:  CHANGE OF COMMAND CEREMONY

LINK:  STORY CONFIRMING LANDING

ESPN Critiques Notre Dame's Adidas Jersey

Digger and his crew at ESPN had some fun critiquing Notre Dame's new Adidas jersey...

LINK:  FASHION POLICE