Sunday, March 29, 2015

ESPNW Interview of Notre Dame's Jewell Loyd



Muffet's Fighting Irish take on the Baylor Bears and their colorful coach Kim Mulkey -- tonight on ESPN at 8:30 PM ET. 

Vegas has Notre Dame as 5 1/2 point favorites to earn a FIFTH STRAIGHT TRIP to the FINAL FOUR!

Kentucky's Calipari After Win Over Notre Dame



Kentucky's Calipari with the media in the post game press conference -- he toned down his rhetoric -- a little.

ACC Network: A Look at Notre Dame's Season



The ACC Network's Jeff Fischel and Jason Capel take a look back at Notre Dame's special season.

Media -- Mornin' After Our Loss to Kentucky


It was a season we never wanted to end -- not like that...

I have to admit I went numb when Jerian's "double clutch" jumper didn't go in at the buzzer -- however, that quickly changed when I wanted to jump through my TV screen after the Kentucky coach as he was being interviewed at game's end.  That's another story...

What a night -- what a season.

So, here I am on a Palm Sunday morning -- went to Mass yesterday -- and I'm looking through all of the post game media coverage.  I can't convince myself to read it -- maybe you can:

LINK:  SPORTING NEWS

LINK:  NEW YORK TIMES

LINK:  ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION

LINK:  WALL STREET JOURNAL

LINK:  SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

ESPN: "Notre Dame's Pain of Coming Close"



ESPN's Jay Bilas and Jay Williams talk Kentucky's 68 - 66 win over Notre Dame...

CBS Highlights of Kentucky vs Notre Dame



Notre Dame Fans Cheer on Irish in Cleveland!

ABC57 News - See the Difference Michiana

It's been a great run these last few weeks -- was always envious of schools like Michigan State, Louisville, etc., -- who made long NCAA Tournament runs...

Now we know what it feels like.

WSBT-TV Notre Dame Locker Room Coverage


Here is WSBT-TV's post game coverage -- with many players and Mike Brey -- after the loss to Kentucky.

LINK:  WSBT-TV

WNDU-TV Coverage After ND's Loss Last NIght



Here's what I could find this morning from the local NBC affiliate WNDU-TV -- as they went into the locker room after the game to interview our Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame Meets With Media After NCAA Loss



Mike Brey, Zach Auguste and Steve Vasturia met with the media after Notre Dame's 68 - 66 loss to Kentucky last night.

FULL GAME REPLAY: Kentucky 68 -- ND 66


I don't think I can bear to watch this game for awhile...

LINK:  FULL GAME REPLAY

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Thank You Jerian / Thank You Pat -- What a Run



The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame went toe-to-toe with Kentucky -- leading most of the game -- only to lose the lead and game with SIX SECONDS left -- 68 - 66.

I know I speak for the entire NOTRE DAME NATION when I say THANK YOU!

Thank you to Jerian Grant, thank you to Pat Connaughton, thank you to Mike Brey, thank you to the Players, thank you to the Coaches -- how fun were these last few weeks!

I thought we had them -- we couldn't afford to not be perfect at the free throw line over the last few minutes.  The three misses -- the difference on the scoreboard.

Kentucky did not miss a shot the last 12 minutes of the game -- and they still had to make two free throws to beat us with six seconds left.  THINK ABOUT THAT -- especially when you hear Calipari talk about how poorly they played...

Hey -- we gave them all we had.  I'm proud of our team.

Thank you Notre Dame Men's Basketball -- it was special!

LINK:  JERIAN'S BIG THREE -- LATE IN THE GAME

LINK:  GAME STATS

Notre Dame QB Maliz Zaire's Media Session



The confident, left-handed sophomore QB -- fighting for the starting gig -- sat down and took questions from the media...

Muffet & Starting Five Met With the Media Today



The Fighting Irish are in Oklahoma City today getting rested and ready to play Baylor tomorrow night -- to earn a trip to next week's FINAL FOUR in Tampa. 

Notre Dame Beats #1 & Undefeated Syracuse!



It took 2 OT's -- but the #2 Fighting Irish beat #1 ranked Syracuse today 13 - 12 -- to move themselves into an expected #1 ranking when the next rankings come out!

Notre Dame BB Recruit in Slam Dunk Contest!



Notre Dame incoming hoops recruit Rex Pflueger will be competing next week in the American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk Contest -- televised on CBS at 3:30 PM ET on April 5th.

The video above is of a dunk contest the 6'-6" guard won in December!

Inside ND's Sweet Sixteen Win Over Stanford!


Notre Dame Football -- Wired For Sound!


Notre Dame Lacrosse -- #1 in the Country!


The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame came into their game today against #1 and UNDEFEATED Syracuse -- ranked second in the country...

Well, 154 minutes later -- in Double OT -- Notre Dame leaves the game the new #1 team in college lacrosse!

A goal in the 2nd OT won the game for Notre Dame 13 - 12 over Syracuse!

LINK:  SCOREBOARD

Notre Dame vs. Kentucky: Fuzzy Math Analysis


Here's my attempt to give Notre Dame fans some hope today as we await the 8:49 PM ET tip-off against #1 and undefeated Kentucky.  No one is giving us a chance tonight...

NOT SO FAST MY FRIENDS!

Here's a look at how Notre Dame and Kentucky played in games this season vs. common opponents -- the only true measure we have to compare these two teams outside of nine (9) "Big Mac" All-Americans vs. one (1) "Big Mac" All-American...

Enjoy!

OPPONENT:  NORTH CAROLINA
  • Kentucky beat North Carolina 84 - 70 /  @ home
  • Notre Dame beat North Carolina 71 - 70 / @ NC
  • Notre Dame beat North Carolina 90 - 82 / @ ACC (in North Carolina)

OPPONENT:  LOUISVILLE
  • Kentucky beat Louisville 58 - 50 / @ Louisville
  • Notre Dame beat Louisville 71 - 59 / @ Louisville

FUZZY MATH ANALYSIS:

So, here's my "fuzzy math" look at the match-up between Notre Dame and Kentucky using data from the games played this season against common opponents.

It should be noted that it's generally regarded that a home court provides a team with a FOUR POINT (3.7 to be precise) advantage.  So, if you take this "advantage" into consideration -- we've played these two teams quite evenly:
  • Kentucky was 10 points better than North Carolina
  • Notre Dame 8.5 points better than North Carolina (averaging the two games)
  • Kentucky was 12 points better than Louisville
  • Notre Dame was 16 points better than Louisville
  • In totality -- Kentucky was 22 points better -- Notre Dame was 24.5 points better

Now, there might be a couple of you out there who might not agree with my hypothesis -- but, hey you should give me some credit for the creativity in this argument for giving us Notre Dame fans hope tonight...

So, here's the bottom line: Notre Dame should be a TWO AND A HALF POINT favorite over Kentucky!

FYI:  Vegas has Kentucky an 11 point favorite -- I guess they don't use fuzzy math...

In the photo above -- that's Coach Brey telling Coach Calipari -- WE GOT YOU!