It's National Signing Day -- EVE

Tomorrow's the day that every Notre Dame Football fan looks forward to -- it's National Signing Day. The first day members of the Class of 2010 can sign a National Letter of Intent. Coach Kelly has had about seven weeks to sign his first recruiting class at Notre Dame. Last year we had a big "Signing Day" surprise when Manti Teo picked the Irish. Will we have some similar surprises tomorrow?

ND Fans Vote to wear GREEN at games

In the largest voter turn out yet (234 voters) at ND GO IRISH BLOG -- the fans of Notre Dame have spoken and it is GREEN. 77% chose green as the color Notre Dame fans should wear inside Notre Dame Stadium on a football Saturday. The color blue finished a distant second garnering 15% of the fan vote and gold was third with 2%. Let's hope THE SHIRT Committee and the Hammes Bookstore staff are listening.

ND Band stars in music video

One hundred and twenty members of The Band of the Fighting Irish appeared in a music video for the band OK Go - performing their hit song; This Too Shall Pass. The music video was shot last fall in an area close to the Notre Dame campus. OK Go got its start as a band in Chicago, before moving to the Los Angeles area. OK Go's music video for "Here It Goes Again" won a Grammy Award for "Best Short-Form Music Video" in 2007 -- maybe a Grammy is in the future for The Band of the Fighting Irish! Here's a link to the video.

ND BAND IN MUSIC VIDEO

Father Ted -- one of a kind...

Father Theodore Hesburgh - AKA; "Father Ted" - ran Our Lady's University from 1952 to 1987. The longest tenure as President in Notre Dame's history. He holds the Guinness Book of World Records record for "Most Honorary Degrees" with 150. He's been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal and United States Military Academy's Sylvanus Thayer Award. He speaks five languages and even found time to appear in the movie Rudy. Father Ted will turn 92 years young in May. Here's a link to a video tribute of this Notre Dame icon.

NOTRE DAME'S FATHER TED

The Comeback Kid -- Joe Montana

You can't talk about the Super Bowl and not speak his name... He's one of the Greatest of All Time -- winner of 4 Super Bowl titles, MVP Awards and numerous other individual awards... But, his game got started in South Bend. Here's a two-part look at Joe Montana's career at Notre Dame - a career that started on the bench, included a National Championship and ended with a touchdown pass to Kris Haines at a frozen Cotton Bowl.

THE MONTANA STORY - PART ONE

THE MONTANA STORY - PART TWO

Football's #1 Recruiting Class of All Time

On the eve of National Signing Day (Wednesday, February 3rd), Sports Illustrated ranked the top 15 recruiting classes of all time. The winner: the University of Notre Dame's 1946 Class -- a recruiting class that never lost a game and won or shared three national titles. Leon Hart was the most decorated member of the class; winning the 1949 Heisman Trophy.

TOP 15 RECRUITING CLASSES OF ALL TIME

Notre Dame stories you don't often hear...

The University of Notre Dame does so much more than what we see on NBC, ESPN or the sports pages throughout the school year. Here are two wonderful examples of Notre Dame making an impact on the lives of many.

ROBOTIC WHEELCHAIR

ORTHOPEDIC IMPLANT DESIGN

Golden's Dive into MSU band

It was an instant classic and will be for some time. Notre Dame's Golden Tate made a swan dive into the Michigan State Band after scoring a TD in Notre Dame's win over the Spartans. Within hours, the video clip was on YouTube and at last glance had more than 99,000 views. If you haven't seen it -- click on this link.

THE GOLDEN DIVE

Jackson voted next Coach to win National Title

In a very, very, very close vote, ND Head Hockey Coach -- Jeff Jackson was selected as the next Notre Dame Coach to win a National Championship in a ND GO IRISH blog poll. Jackson had 28% of the vote followed closely by Randy Waldrum (Women's Soccer) who had 27% and Brian Kelly, who finished third, with 26%.

Rocky Bleier -- Fighting Back

Notre Dame great, War Hero, Author, Super Bowl Champion -- movie made of his life. That's Rocky Bleier. He won numerous Super Bowl Championships with Franco Harris and Terry Bradshaw as a running back with the Steelers. Here's a series of clips of Rocky giving motivational talks to companies.

ROCKY BLEIER - CHAMPION IN LIFE

The Bus's last stop...

Former Notre Dame RB, Jerome Bettis played his last game in a Steelers uniform in Super Bowl XL. This is the first in a series of features on Notre Dame All-Americans who won Super Bowl titles.

JEROME BETTIS - AKA THE BUS

Play Like A Champion Today

It's one of the most used, copied, admired, purchased -- five words in American sports today. And, unlike many other Notre Dame traditions, it's only been around since 1986. With the College Football Hall of Fame leaving South Bend -- I hope we hear, someday soon, that Notre Dame is breaking ground on the "LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY - Center for Excellence." A facility that would showcase all of the great things its students, alums, faculty, staff, coaches, teams, etc., have contributed to society... ESPN's Mike Greenberg starred in a commercial recently about P.L.A.C.T.

"GREENY" ON PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY

IRISH IDOL

Every Thursday night, for the next few weeks, the ND GO IRISH BLOG is holding auditions for IRISH IDOL and this week we have three contestants who are competing for the chance to move on to the Finals. Each contestant will perform the Victory March. The contestant with the most COMMENTS will move on to the Finals. ESPN's Mark May has inquired about being a judge...

ELLIOTT

THE BLUE NUNS OF MEXICO

CECE AND KATH

Harangody just a few games away from history!

Notre Dame senior, Luke Harangody is on the verge of breaking scoring and rebounding records at Notre Dame and in the Big East. Harangody is on pace to pass Lawrence Moten, the former Syracuse standout, as the leading scorer in Big East play in seven games and former Notre Dame great Austin Carr (1968-71) as the school's leading scorer in nine games. The Irish have 10 regular-season games before the Big East tournament and the postseason. Luke is also on pace to set the league rebounding record held by Syracuse's Derrick Coleman (1986-90). And, has an outside shot of breaking the school rebounding record held by Tom Hawkins (1956-59), though he trails Hawkins by 162 rebounds.

My favorite ND TV Commercials

I sure wish Adidas and ND would go "old school" and bring back some of their old TV spots. Now, it's been a few years since these aired in the 90's, and High Definition wasn't "invented" yet -- so the quality is not the best. Yet, I'm confident they'll make you smile and feel good about being part of the Notre Dame family. Enjoy.

GROWING UP IN A NOTRE DAME FAMILY

AIRPORT TAILGATING AT ND

ND Athletics joins in the relief efforts for Haiti

Fighting Irish Offensive Guard, Chris Stewart was one of the many Notre Dame athletes who took part in Notre Dame's effort to raise money for Haiti Relief during last Saturday's home basketball game. Stewart has a connection to Haiti, having spent some time there last March, completing his service work for a class at Notre Dame. Here's a link to a news story that aired on WNDU-TV.

NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS GIVES TO HAITI

A wonderful video tour of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame's website; www.nd.edu continues to add to its video tours of campus. It is a "must see" for all. You'll currently find twenty-eight videos of buildings, residence halls, the new Eddy Street Commons development, athletic facilities, landmarks, etc., on the University of Notre Dame's campus. The link below will lead you to the site.

THE BEAUTY AND SPIRIT OF NOTRE DAME

Don't try this at home!

Or, at least not in public. Something tells me that Dr. Kenneth Dye won't be adding this instrument to the Band of the Fighting Irish. Could you do this with a straight face?

THE VICTORY MARCH IN YOUR HANDS

ND Alum McDonnell gives Republican Response

Bob McDonnell, the 71st governor of Virginia -- attended the University of Notre Dame on an ROTC scholarship, graduating with a B.B.A. in Management in 1976. McDonnell was selected to give the Republican Party's response to President Obama's State of the Union address tonight. McDonnell also has a M.S.B.A. and M.A./J.D. degrees and is a former Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army. Prior to taking office as Governor on January 16th, McDonnell served Virginia as its Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. This is a significant political honor for McDonnell, potentially thrusting him into the Presidential candidacy conversation.

Will the Irish be playing in DC in 2011?

Rumor has it that the Fighting Irish are in negotiations with FedEx Field to host a game in their 91,000 seat stadium during the 2011 season. This makes sense, since Notre Dame has been working on scheduling an "off site" home game each season as part of their 7 home games, 1 neutral site home game and 4 away games schedule -- that was implemented for the first time this past season. The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that the opponent will be the University of Maryland. Notre Dame will be playing Army this fall in an "off site" home game for the Irish at the new Yankee Stadium.