Former ND Assistants -- "Returning Home"

The news first broke a week ago -- but, it became official last night in Seattle, that Jim McLaughlin was leaving the University of Washington to return to Notre Dame to lead the women's volleyball program -- replacing the Fighting Irish's all-time wins leader Debbie Brown.

It's obvious, the University of Notre Dame allowed the University of Washington to break the news of McLaughlin's departure -- first.  A class move. 

Jim and his wife Margaret (Jarc) '93 are "both" former Notre Dame assistant coaches!

Jim was an assistant on Brown's 1996 coaching staff and Margaret is a former Notre Dame student-athlete and assistant coach with the women's soccer program.  Quite the homecoming!

McLaughlin led the Washington Huskies to a National Championship in 2005 and he led the USC men's team to a National Championship in 1990.  He's the only head coach in NCAA history to accomplish this feat.

He leaves a Huskies program that he built into one of the TOP TEN programs in the country.

Welcome home VIDEO FROM ND 

LINK:  WASHINGTON HUSKIES -- ATHLETIC SITE
 
LINK:  SEATTLE TIMES STORY

LINK:  MCLAUGHLIN BIO

Now More Than 1,000,000 Unique Followers!

It was the afternoon of January 26, 2010 (4:56 PM ET) when I launched the ND GO IRISH BLOG -- and, it was a little more than an hour later when I had my first Notre Dame fan visit the site -- my wife...

I've been asked many times since; "why did you decide to do this?"  My reason for doing so was simply this: I wanted to prove to myself (at a dinosaur's age, in this thing called social media) that I could "tell a story" that would generate and sustain a following. 

Little did I know (I didn't dream this BIG) that nearly four years later -- at 3:01 PM ET on Friday, January 16, 2014 -- a Notre Dame fan from Ramone, CA would become UNIQUE FOLLOWER #1,000,000 for my "little blog that did."

Here's some quick "fun facts" about the first four years of the ND GO IRISH BLOG:

• The site is now 1,451 days old.
• In this time period -- there have been only 19 days when I haven't posted a story about Notre Dame.  Seven (7) of those days were an intentional shut down of the ND GO IRISH BLOG while our family mourned the loss of my MOM--JOAN SMALL (2012) and my GRANDMA--BARBARA DOYLE (2011) -- two people who taught me (and our family) to love Notre Dame. On eleven (11) other days I was out of town / country with limited to no access to the internet and one (1) day I simply forgot!!!
• And, as of this very moment -- I've posted 6,489 "positive" stories on the ND GO IRISH BLOG about the University of Notre Dame, its students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and fans.  That's an average of 4.47 stories each day over the last four years.

THANK YOU!

THANK YOU so much for making the ND GO IRISH BLOG one of your daily, weekly or monthly stops on the worldwide web for "positive" Notre Dame stories.  

THANK YOU for the kind letters, tweets, emails, conversations and calls over these past four years.  I'm truly humbled that so many of you have taken the time to let me know how much you enjoy the ND GO IRISH BLOG. THANK YOU!

And, I need to thank my wife Susan for putting up with this "daily obsession" of mine -- she thinks I'm crazy and she's right...

IT'S BEEN FUN! -- ONWARD TO THE NEXT MILLION!

GO IRISH!


Jim Small

Domer Golden Tate: "Silence Isn't Golden"

This is a "must read" for Notre Dame fans -- as well as all sports fans.

That's Golden with his girlfriend Elise at this year's ESPYS.

LINK:  TATE CLEARS THE AIR

Notre Dame Earns Lowest Bond Rate on Record

Earning a "rare" AAA credit rating from Moody's this past month -- went a long ways in helping Notre Dame raise $400 million in bonds on Wall Street at an all-time record low interest rate for a 30-year corporate bond.

To put this in perspective -- there are only THREE U.S. CORPORATIONS with a AAA credit rating from Moody's; Johnson & Johnson, Exxon-Mobil and Microsoft.

Moody's cited the university's "national prominence," its history of strong fund raising and robust demand from students to attend the school.

See this CNN/Money story:

LINK:  "STELLAR REPUTATION"

LINK:  BLOOMBERG -- WHY VERY FEW HAVE AAA RATING

Super Frosh! Turner; 29 Pts / 18 Rebs / 7 Blks

WOW!

Notre Dame freshman forward Brianna Turner had a game for the ages tonight -- and she's just getting started...

Turner was:

• 10 for 13 from the floor
• Got to the free throw line 16 times!
• Blocked 7 shots
• Grabbed 18 rebounds
• 29 points

And, #7 Notre Dame won the game 89 - 79 over #12 ranked North Carolina -- on the road -- a big win!

LINK:  VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Coach Brey in Locker Room After GT Win!

Here's Notre Dame head basketball coach Mike Brey in the locker room after last night's 62 - 59 win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta. 

LINK:  COACH BREY

Huge Notre Dame ROAD Win Over Georgia Tech

Mike Brey's #12 Fighting Irish won a big ACC ROAD game tonight over Georgia Tech -- overcoming an eight point halftime deficit -- to win 62 - 59!  Notre Dame's 'first-ever' win in Atlanta.

And, Notre Dame did this with Zach Auguste back in South Bend dealing with an academic matter...

Here's a link to Jerian Grant's BIG BUCKET with 23 seconds left to give Notre Dame a three-point lead:

LINK:  JERIAN GRANT

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  BOX SCORE

Only Ohio State $$$ Bonus Goes to a Domer!

Ohio State's Urban Meyer didn't earn any "contracted" bonus money for the National Championship last night -- but his DOMER "boss" did!

Former Notre Dame student-athlete Gene Smith '77, earned a $36,172 bonus for the Buckeyes' winning the National Championship -- here's the story:

LINK:  DOMER EARNS BONUS

Sports Illustrated: "Notre Dame's a Lock..."

Two writers at Sports Illustrated presented a first look at who's in, who's on the bubble and who's going to be disappointed come NCAA Tournament time...

Well, they have our Fighting Irish as a "LOCK" to make the tournament!

Take a look...

LINK:  NCAA BUBBLE WATCH

Ronnie Stanley Will Return to Notre Dame!

Notre Dame's starting "left tackle" Ronnie Stanley -- made the decision to come back to the Fighting Irish to WIN A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP next season!

This was not an easy decision -- a few NFL draft pundits had Stanley going in the FIRST ROUND of this spring's 2015 NFL Draft...

LINK:  STANLEY TO RETURN

LINK:  NFL.COM STORY

LINK:  A FIRST ROUND TALENT

OT: The Buckeye Fans in Columbus Last Night

Here's what happened back in Columbus after Ohio State's 42 - 20 win over Oregon for the National Championship:

LINK:  VIDEO

LINK:  OHIO STADIUM -- GOAL POST TEAR DOWN

LINK:  8,000 PEOPLE BREAK INTO OHIO STADIUM

2015 Notre Dame Football Ranked #12 by ESPN

Here's a look at ESPN's "way too early" ranking of college football teams for the 2015 season.

LINK:  NOTRE DAME #12

OT: 67 Years in Making -- Crazy Horse Memorial

The 641' long and 563' tall monument will dwarf Mount Rushmore when it is done...

The completed monument will look like the white model in the foreground.

It's a labor of love -- the people working on this in the Black Hills of South Dakota -- will be dead before the work is completed.

That's a shame.

LINK:  CRAZY HORSE

Holtz & Kelly -- Jimmy Kimmel's "Mean Tweets"

Notre Dame's Lou Holtz and Brian Kelly were featured in Jimmy Kimmel's "Mean Tweets"  -- during tonight's pre-game show on ESPN from the National Championship.

Here it is:

LINK:  HOLTZ & KELLY

OT: Almost a Disaster Due to the Fog Machine

Can you imagine if Ohio State lost a starter for tonight's game -- running onto the field for the College Football National Championship game....

Hopefully the cheerleader is okay.

Notre Dame Football's "Welcome Home" Tweet

Here's the first four member of Notre Dame's incoming football recruiting class;  Jerry Tillery (Louisisana), Tevon Coney (Florida), Tristen Hoge (Idaho) and Micah Dew-Tredway (Illinois) -- they start classes tomorrow morning...

The artwork above was "tweeted" by Notre Dame Football.

Notre Dame's Links to Tonight's Championship

The teams from Eugune and Columbus will be carrying a little "Luck of the Irish" tonight on their rosters, sidelines and in the AT&T Stadium seats tonight...

Kick off is scheduled for around 8:30 PM ET on ESPN.

GO DUCKS!  Sorry, the only time I root for the school in Ohio is when they play the school in Ann Arbor...

LINK:  TIES TO NOTRE DAME

Domer Sergio Brown Goes "Ric Flair" Again!

The Indianapolis Colts beat the Denver Broncos today to advance to next Sunday's AFC Championship Game.

In the post game locker room -- former Notre Dame student-athlete Sergio Brown did his now infamous Ric Flair impersonation...

LINK:  SERGIO

Both Coaches After #3 Virginia's Win Over ND

The Fighting Irish gave it a decent run last night against the undefeated #3 ranked Virginia Cavaliers 62 - 56.  Here's the post game conferences for both Coach Tony Bennett and Coach Mike Brey:

LINK:  MIKE BREY

LINK:  TONY BENNETT

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

Sheldon Day Announces He'll Return to ND

There are two Notre Dame football players who have yet to decide if they were going to make themselves eligible for the 2015 NFL DRAFT -- Sheldon Day and Ronnie Stanley.

Now there is one...

Yesterday -- Sheldon Day made it official yesterday that he is returning!  Here's the Indianapolis Star story:

LINK:  DAY RETURNS