At First Glance -- I'm Not Crazy About This

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame football program has decided to change the Game Day routine leading up to their entrance to Notre Dame Stadium.  For as long as I can remember, a couple of hours before kick-off, the team would begin their "walk" to Notre Dame Stadium from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.  A great Notre Dame tradition...

Well, so much for that.

Beginning Saturday, September 3rd -- the Fighting Irish will begin a new pre-game tradition that will look something like this:

• Approximately three hours before kick-off the team will arrive on campus by bus behind the Main Building (Golden Dome) -- and the team will make the short walk to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart
• Once Mass is over -- the team will walk back to their buses and board them for a "lap" around the campus through the tailgating lots south of the Stadium and back to the Gug
• They'll then have a quick team meeting inside the Gug 
• Then they'll begin their new walk to the Stadium - which will take them on a path behind the Jordan School of Science to the Library -- where they'll make a left hand turn and walk to the Stadium in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus.  The team is expected to be at the Library around 1:15 PM for a 3:30 PM kick-off.

I've got to believe a NBC exec said -- "it would make for great TV with a shot from the top of Notre Dame Stadium towards Touchdown Jesus with players walking through a mass of humanity -- on a colorful fall day..."

We'll see...

ESPN's Colin Cowherd Has Spoken...

ESPN "talking head" Colin Cowherd spent a few minutes this morning talking about our Fighting Irish.  He's making the claim that we have one of the 'easiest' schedules in college football this season -- as he compares college football schedules to 'pimples..."

He's not a fan of Notre Dame -- but, here's his read on ND today...

LINK:  COLIN COWHERD ON THE IRISH

Yeah, Notre Dame is Irrelevant -- Look At This!

This photo was taken today in NYC's Times Square -- see the news that makes the Dow Jone's board...  Think any other school in America's naming of their QB would get this play in NYC?  Not a chance!

Dayne Crist to Lead the Irish! -- No Surprise!

Over the last 36 hours we asked the visitors to the ND GO IRISH BLOG to pick which QB would be selected as the starter for the game against University of South Florida.  And, 88% of the voters selected Dayne Crist as the QB that Coach Kelly would pick as his starter -- and, you were correct!

Here's a link to Coach Kelly's press conference today along with Dayne Crist's as well -- enjoy!

LINK:  COACH KELLY PRESSER

LINK:  DAYNE CRIST PRESSER

Brady Quinn with Schlereth on Denver Radio

Former Notre Dame All-American Brady Quinn was just on the radio in Denver with Mark Schlereth at 104.3 The Fan.  ND GO IRISH BLOG regular contributor Jay Small, our Mountain West correspondent, alerted us to Brady's appearance on this show.  ND fans will enjoy this interview:

LINK:  BRADY QUINN ON THE RADIO

A "Pump Up" Video -- 2011 Notre Dame Football

Now, I must admit I'm not a big fan of the music -- I'm getting old!  But, Irish fans will enjoy this video...

LINK:  ND FOOTBALL -- GET FIRED UP!

Haugh & Hamilton Should Job Shadow Hansen

Eric Hansen is the Notre Dame beat writer at the South Bend Tribune -- from my perspective, it's equivalent to being the 'financial editor' at the Wall Street Journal.  David Haugh & Brian Hamilton -- who are both trying to make a name for themselves at the Chicago Tribune (by ripping Notre Dame) should "job shadow" Mr. Hansen the next time the two are on the University of Notre Dame campus.  They just might learn a thing or two about ND.  You'll enjoy these two well researched and well written stories by Mr. Hansen:

LINK:  ND RESIDENCE LIFE

LINK:  ND ADMISSIONS

Notre Dame's "Fearsome Freshmen" -- WNDU

The sports team at WNDU-TV aired a story last night about the freshmen football players at ND -- namely, Tuitt, Lynch and Williams.  When you add Niklas and Springman into the group -- you have five young men on the defensive side of the ball who stand 6"5" or taller and they each weigh between 250 lbs. and 290 lbs.  Big young men!  Here's a link to the feature:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S FEARSOME FRESHMEN

Photo of the Day -- Irish Stars Get Gold!

Here's a picture of Notre Dame's GOLD MEDAL winners this weekend (from LtoR) - Devereaux Peters, Natalie Novosel and Skylar Diggins.  The three Fighting Irish were members of TEAM USA's gold winning team at the World University Games in China.  Congratulations!

NFL Exhibition Week #2 -- ND Player Update

Took another spin around the web this morning to check in again on a few of our favorite ND football players from the past to see how life is treating them in the NFL after week two of the exhibition season.  You'll note some good performances this week from a few former Irish stars and unfortunately, some serious injuries.

Just click on the player's name below to see the latest news on them:

LINK:  JIMMY CLAUSEN -- CAROLINA PANTHERS

LINK:  GOLDEN TATE -- SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

LINK:  BRADY QUINN -- DENVER BRONCOS

LINK:  BRIAN SMITH -- CLEVELAND BROWNS

LINK:  KERRY NEAL -- INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

LINK:  CHRIS STEWART -- NEW YORK JETS

LINK:  TOMMY ZBIKOWSKI -- BALTIMORE RAVENS

LINK:  RYAN GRANT -- GREEN BAY PACKERS

LINK:  JUSTIN TUCK -- NEW YORK GIANTS

LINK:  SAM YOUNG -- DALLAS COWBOYS

LINK:  KYLE MCCARTHY -- DENVER BRONCOS

LINK:  KYLE RUDOLPH -- MINNESOTA VIKINGS

LINK:  JOHN CARLSON -- SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

LINK:  DEREK LANDRI -- PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

LINK:  CHINEDUM NDUKWE -- FREE AGENT

LINK:  IAN WILLIAMS -- SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

LINK:  TERRAIL LAMBERT -- NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

LINK:  RYAN HARRIS -- PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

LINK:  DAVID BRUTON -- DENVER BRONCOS

LINK:  JOHN SULLIVAN -- MINNESOTA VIKINGS

LINK:  VICTOR ABIAMIRI -- PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

LINK:  TREVOR LAWS -- PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

LINK:  MAURICE STOVALL -- DETROIT LIONS

LINK:  ARNAZ BATTLE -- PITTSBURGH STEELERS

LINK:  SERGIO BROWN -- NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

LINK:  ROBERT HUGHES -- CHICAGO BEARS 

LINK:  DARRIN WALLS -- ATLANTA FALCONS

LINK:  ARMANDO ALLEN -- TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 

Think This Story Won't Be Told A Few Times?

With Lou Holtz holding down a spot on ESPN's College Gameday set -- and his son Skip leading his team into Notre Dame Stadium -- the story of their family ties to ND will be told many, many times these next two weeks.  Here's a story from today's St. Petersburg Times:

LINK:  THE HOLTZ FAMILY & NOTRE DAME

Brady Quinn Moves Ahead of Tebow -- YEAH!

ESPN's Adam Schefter just "tweeted" that former Notre Dame All-American Brady Quinn will be the Broncos back-up QB behind Kyle Orton tonight.  Here's an article posted earlier today from the Denver Post that gave some hints to this news!

LINK:  QUINN vs. TEBOW

The Most Expensive Tickets in College Football

CNBC came out again with their feature on the most expensive tickets for the upcoming college football season.  Two of ND's games are among the ten most expensive -- won't be hard to guess which two!  Check the link below:


LINK:  COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S MOST EXPENSIVE TICKETS

Skip Holtz's Team Has New Uniforms

This photo was just "tweeted" by the University of South Florida's athletic department.  It's not quite Oregon - but it's a start...  I wonder what helmet, jersey and pant combination we'll see in Notre Dame Stadium on September 3rd?  I'm betting we'll see what #36 is wearing...

Want to go to Notre Dame? -- Better Study!

When you factor in the ACT test score of every member of Notre Dame's Class of 2015 -- all 2025 of them -- you end up with a 33, which is three short of a perfect 36.  More than half of the Class of 2015 graduated as Valedictorian or Salutatorian from their high school -- think about that!  Here's a story in the Observer that speaks to the talents of this year's freshman class at the University of Notre Dame.

LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S CLASS OF 2015

"Once and Future Kings" -- ESPN on ND IRISH

ESPN's Brian Bennett filed a story from ND the other day -- that was quite positive -- as they profiled the top independent football teams in the country.  When you click on the link below -- please note the other stories about the Irish -- in the right hand column:

LINK:  ONCE AND FUTURE KINGS

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Ranked #16 in AP Poll

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame football team was ranked #16 today in the first AP poll for the 2011 season.  Looking at the AP-Top 25 -- the Irish will play one team ranked higher than them going into the season and that's #7 Stanford.  Beyond the away game with Stanford, the Irish have Michigan State (ranked #17) and USC (ranked #25) in the top 25 -- both games at home.  Here's the link to the AP POLL -- along with a link to how each of the AP voters ranked Notre Dame:

LINK:  AP POLL RANKS ND #16

LINK:  HOW THE AP VOTERS -- RANKED ND

Brady Quinn Photos -- Denver Post

My brother Jay lives in the Denver area -- this morning he sent me a note and a link to a photo gallery in the Denver Post of Brady Quinn's career (Denver / Cleveland / Notre Dame).  

Jay tells me that former Denver Bronco and local sports talk radio host Alfred Williams thinks that Quinn is finally becoming a NFL quarterback and that the Bronco’s have a tough decision to make.  Let's hope for Brady's sake this is true!!! 

I don't think Brady is going to like the photos (more than one) of his "eyes closed" throwing the football -- maybe that's been the problem!!!

LINK:  BRADY QUINN PHOTOS

#1 Ranked Irish Win Season Opener!

The defending National Champions opened up their 2011 - 2012 season with a 2-0 win over Wisconsin yesterday!  Here's a link to the UND.COM story:

LINK:  TOP RANKED IRISH -- WIN SEASON OPENER

Jimmy Clausen vs. Cam Newton -- Update

The Carolina Panthers played the Miami Dolphins last night in an NFL exhibition football game -- and the Panthers #1 pick Cam Newton got the starting nod.  Now, if you watched the ESPN highlight package on Sports Center you would have thought Newton had one of the best games ever in a first start (albeit an exhibition game) for a rookie starter.

Well, here are the facts about Mr. Newton's start:

• 7 for 14 passing for 66 yards
• 1 completion to a wide receiver a 2 yard gain
• Longest completion -- 21 yards
• Ran 4 times for 18 yards
• Led the Panther first-team offense to 90 total yards, in his first half of play
• In Newton's two exhibition games to date -- he's yet to convert a third-down

Unfortunately, Mr. Clausen didn't do any better:

• 9 for 15 passes for 69 yards
• Longest completion -- 21 yards
• Carolina's 10 points, came when Clausen was in the game

LINK:  CHARLOTTE OBSERVER 

LINK:  ESPN NFL NATION BLOG

LINK:  USA TODAY

LINK:  MIAMI HERALD

LINK:  SUN SENTINEL