Natalie Achonwa Goes 9th Overall to Indiana!

Now, former Notre Dame women's basketball star Natalie Achonwa -- was just drafted ninth overall by the Indiana Fever in tonight's WNBA Draft!  Congratulations Natalie!

You have to be really happy for Natalie, who is awaiting ACL knee surgery...

LINK:  NATALIE ACHONWA GOES TO INDIANA!

Kayla McBride Goes 3rd Overall in WNBA Draft!

Now former Notre Dame All-American -- Kayla McBride, was just drafted third overall by the San Antonio Silver Stars in tonight's WNBA Draft.  Congratulations Kayla!

Kayla was joined by her Mom, Dad and Coach Muffet McGraw at the Draft.

LINK:  KAYLA GOES TO SAN ANTONIO!

WNBA Draft Tonight at 8 PM ET on ESPN2

Former Notre Dame women's basketball stars; Kayla McBride and Natalie Achonwa will find out this evening if they'll be playing in the WNBA this summer -- as their annual draft takes place on ESPN2 beginning at 8 PM ET.  

Here's a look at a MOCK DRAFT which has both players going in the first round -- sure hope that's the case for Natalie after her knee injury -- just click on the links below:

LINK:  NBA MOCK DRAFT

Media's Talkin' Notre Dame's Blue Gold Game

As we always do here at the ND GO IRISH BLOG -- I took a lap around the worldwide web to see what the media has to say about the 85th Annual Blue Gold Game at Notre Dame.  Just click on the links below:

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE #1

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE #2

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE -- ZAIRE INTERVIEW

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE -- JAYLON INTERVIEW

LINK:  FORT WAYNE JOURNAL GAZETTE

Stanford Fans Came Dressed as "Empty Seats"

This is the fan turnout in Palo Alto, CA today for Stanford's Spring Game -- looks like a "few hundred" friends and family members of the players...

ESPN Player Interviews After Blue Gold Game

 

ESPN's Matt Fortuna caught up with a couple of Notre Dame players after today's Blue Gold Game.  Just click on the links below to watch the interviews:

LINK:  KEIVARAE RUSSELL

LINK:  JOE SCHMIDT

Photo of the Day: Kyle Rudolph's Golf Grips

Minnesota Vikings' Kyle Rudolph is "reppin" his alma mater with these green and gold golf grips...

Notre Dame Football Players Back Home...

Notre Dame's Jack Nolan caught up with a number of the former Fighting Irish football players during today's Blue Gold Game:

LINK:  BACK HOME

Rockne is SMILING: ND's New Playing Surface

Folks, Notre Dame football (as far back as 80 years ago) was known for winning and for INNOVATION.  If synthetic playing surfaces had been around in Rockne's days -- Notre Dame would have been playing on it...

Well, that day has come.  After today's Blue Gold Game -- Notre Dame's Athletic Director announced that a synthetic playing surface would be installed in the "House that Rock Built."  Here's the announcement:

LINK:  NEW PLAYING SURFACE

LINK:  NBC'S INTERVIEW

LINK:  GOLSON ON FIELD TURF

LINK:  ESPN'S FORTUNA

Zaire Throws for 292 -- Offense Beats Defense

On a day when we learned that this was the last game in the 127 year history of Notre Dame football that the Fighting Irish would play on grass in South Bend -- Malik Zaire backed up his talk that he would be the starting QB come August 30th throwing 2 TD's and for almost 300 yards in the 85th Blue Gold Game.

LINK:  COACH KELLY POST GAME

LINK:  BLUE GOLD GAME HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  OKWARA INTERVIEW

LINK:  RUSSELL INTERVIEW

LINK:  NBC SPORTS STORY

What to Watch For: ND's 85th Blue Gold Game

Took a lap around the worldwide web this morning to see what the experts are saying about Notre Dame's Blue Gold Game -- here's what I found:

LINK:  IRISH CENTRAL -- NBC SPORTS

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

Blue Gold Game on NBC Sports Network Today

I've received some emails wondering where to watch Notre Dame's Blue Gold Game today -- well it's on the NBC Sports Network and it begins LIVE at 12:30 PM ET. 

Game time temperature is expected to be 70 degrees!  Perfect weather for us fans!

Notre Dame Unveils "THE SHIRT 2014 " Today!

Just got back from the annual unveiling of THE SHIRT 2014 at the University of Notre Dame.  The photo above shows The Shirt Committee posing for a photo -- wearing The Shirt -- with the GOLD MEN.

LINK:  THE SHIRT PROMO VIDEO

LINK:  THE STORY BEHIND "THE SHIRT"

LINK:  BUY "THE SHIRT" RIGHT HERE!

Domer Talks About His Career at NASCAR

Jimmy Small '08, was interviewed by the show "CARS FOR A LIVING" where he was asked how he got his job and how he has moved up inside the NASCAR organization.

If you're looking for a career in sports marketing -- it's a worthwhile listen...

LINK:  WORKING AT NASCAR

Samardzija Tied for Ninth in NL with 1.29 ERA

Former Notre Dame All-American wide receiver Jeff Samardzija is currently ninth in the National League with an ERA of 1.29 after his first two starts this season for the Chicago Cubs.

LINK:  ERA LEADERS

Cleveland Indians' Domer Leads MLB in Saves

Former Notre Dame pitcher John Axford, who led the National League in saves in 2011 -- is off to a fast start with his new team the Cleveland Indians!  Axford is "four for four" in save situations for Cleveland -- leading all of Major League Baseball!

LINK:  JOHN AXFORD

Coach Kelly Talks Saturday's Blue Gold Game

After today's practice OUTSIDE at the Labar Practice Complex -- Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly met with the media to talk about Saturday's game format and today's practice.  Enjoy!

LINK:  COACH KELLY

Notre Dame Returns Home from Final Four

Muffet's Fighting Irish returned home to the Notre Dame campus during the lunch hour.  The welcome included a "water cannon" salute at South Bend Regional Airport and a police escort back to Purcell Pavilion.  Here's a couple of short video clips of their return:

LINK:  WATER CANNON SALUTE

LINK:  POLICE ESCORT TO CAMPUS

Louis Nix -- Latest Video On NFL Draft Prep

Former Notre Dame student-athlete Louis Nix is the subject of this latest video over at CBS SPORTS...

LINK:  LOUIS NIX

The Mornin' After a Loss for the National Title...

Well, it doesn't feel any better this morning than it did at approximately 10:30 PM ET last night.

UCONN was the better team last night -- no question.  Now, would it have been different with Natalie Achonwa's leadership, size and tenacity along with her 20 points and 10 rebounds a game during the NCAA tournament?

It would have been fun to see their best against our best.

Notre Dame fans, we should be very proud of this team.  A season where the pundits barely had us ranked in the pre-season TOP TEN -- ended up with a fourth straight trip to the FINAL FOUR and the most single season wins in Notre Dame basketball history.

I took a lap around the worldwide web this morning to capture some of the post-game reaction from the FIGHTING IRISH's point of view -- just click on the links below:

LINK:  WSBT-TV

LINK:  WNDU-TV

LINK:  POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE