Pope Francis @ World Youth Day in Rio!

These are photos of Pope Francis' visit to World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro -- over 1 million Catholic youth have gathered for this year's event.

Notre Dame: "A Great College to Work For!"

The Chronicle of Higher Education just released its annual list of the top colleges to work for -- and for the FIFTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR the University of Notre Dame was named to the "honor roll."

Having the honor of being an employee of this university -- I'm not surprised!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME -- FIVE PEAT!

OT: Jack Nicklaus' Grandson Motorcycle Crash

You will not believe that Nick O'Leary -- a football player at Florida State University and the grandson of hall of famer Jack Nicklaus -- walked away from this motorcycle crash.  Incredible!

LINK:  STORY

Robby Toma Signs with Arizona Cardinals

In the past 24 hours -- Robby Toma '13, signed a contract with the Arizona Cardinals and will compete for a spot on their 53 man roster.  Toma, the high school pal of Manti Te'o will be lining up alongside former teammate and Notre Dame All-American Michael Floyd. 

Good luck Robby!

LINK:  TOMA TO CARDINALS

ACC Commissioner Defends Deal with ND

Over the past few months a few coaches have openly questioned the deal the Atlantic Coast Conference struck with Notre Dame.  This past Sunday, ACC Commissioner Jack Swofford spoke about why the deal was important to make for their conference -- here's a link to the story:

LINK:  ACC TALKS NOTRE DAME DEAL

Single Game Tickets to ND Football On Sale!

If you're looking to see the Fightin' Irish of Notre Dame football team play a game this fall -- CALL BEGINNING AT 8:30 AM ET tomorrow morning!  The Notre Dame ticket office will be selling tickets to these games:

• August 31:  Temple -- you can buy up to four tickets
• October 8:  Arizona State -- game at Cowboys Stadium (you can buy up to eight end zone tickets)
• November 2: Navy -- you can buy up to eight tickets
• November 23:  BYI -- you can buy up to eight tickets

Here's the number to call:  574.631.7356

LINK:  LOUIS NIX'S -- TICKET SALES PITCH

Stanley Cup Champs to Train at Notre Dame!

The Chicago Blackhawks announced today that they have picked the University of Notre Dame's Compton Family Ice Arena to train for four days in September (12th to the 15th).

The Stanley Cup Champions' General Manager is none other than Domer Stan Bowman '95, -- who's named after the Stanley Cup -- so I'm not surprised he's bringing his team "home" to Notre Dame.

Here's the story:

LINK:  STANLEY CUP CHAMPS AT NOTRE DAME

OT: You Can't Make This Stuff Up...

The University of Florida's Antonio Morrison (pictured) -- expected to be their starting middle linebacker this fall -- was arrested early this morning for BARKING AT A POLICE DOG and then resisting arrest.

Here's a link to the story below:

LINK:  GATOR BARKING AT DOG

Notre Dame Football Equipment Photos!

These two photos were recently "tweeted" by Ryan Grooms, Notre Dame's Football Equipment Manager.  The top photo is the shirt the Irish players will wear under their shoulder pads.  The bottom photo is a shot of the ND shoulder pads the freshmen will be wearing.  Ryan's twitter handle is @NDFBEquipment

#1 Selling NFL Rookie Jersey -- A 2nd Rd Pick

The power of the Notre Dame brand...

Former Fightin' Irish All-American Manti Te'o has the #1 selling NFL jersey among all of the rookies in this year's class -- I'm not surpised!

LINK:  MANTI TE'O'S TOP SELLING JERSEY

LINK:  BUY IT HERE!

Only 41 Days to Notre Dame's First Game!

Notre Dame's game against Temple is only forty-one days from today!

Class Action Lawsuit Against NCAA...

Six college football players joined a federal lawsuit against the NCAA this week.

Here's a link to the ESPN story -- which also announced that the NCAA would not re-up its contract with EA Sports and their popular college football video game.

LINK:  FEDERAL LAWSUIT

Domer & NBC Sports Blogger Ranks the Irish

Keith Arnold '02, a blogger at NBC's Notre Dame Central, just ranked the top 25 football players on the Irish roster.  Here's the list:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S TOP 25

Domer Rae wins Silver Medal at World Games

Notre Dame senior Jamie Rae, representing his home country of Canada at the World University Games, finished second in the 1,500 meters -- after a stumble in the last turn.

Listen to Rae talk about his race strategy:

LINK:  2ND AT WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES!

Photo of the Day: Eilar Hardy's ND Tattoo

Notre Dame football player Eilar Hardy -- showing off his "ink" in this photo.

South Bend Tribune's Response to Spurrier

I posted a story Wednesday about South Carolina's Steve Spurrier and his comments concerning Notre Dame and the respect we're given by the major conference commissioners.  Well, the South Bend Tribune's Al Lesar decided to respond to the "ol' bawl coach."

LINK:  THE NOTRE DAME BRAND

Cooley Playing Well in NBA Summer League

Former Notre Dame basketball player Jack Cooley '13 scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a NBA Summer League game last night for the Memphis Grizzlies.   He's now gone for a "double double" in back to back games!

LINK:  COOLEY SCORES 20

Brian Kelly Interview on ESPN RADIO Today

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly was a guest this afternoon on ESPN's Scott Van Pelt Radio Show -- talkin' the state of his football team and the upcoming season:

LINK:  BRIAN KELLY INTERVIEW

Regis Philbin '53 Tries Out Google's Glasses

Domer Regis Philbin '53, was given a pair of the new Google Glasses to give them a try -- while visiting the gang at the Wall Street Journal -- you'll get a kick out of this.

Thanks to the gang at the DAILY DOMER for this story!

LINK:  DAILY DOMER

Incoming Domer: Gatorade Athlete of the Year!

Morgan Andrews was just named the GATORADE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR for all of high school women's sports! 

Andrews is the #1 ranked women's soccer recruit in the country and she'll be arriving in South Bend next month to play for Randy Waldrum's Fighting Irish.  Here's the media coverage coming out this afternoon:

LINK:  HER HOMETOWN PAPER

LINK:  USA TODAY

LINK:  US SOCCER

LINK:  SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

LINK:  UND