Monday, March 23, 2015

Under Armour / Notre Dame -- Bloomberg TV


The folks at BloombergBusiness featured Under Armour's investment in college athletics -- in this story.

Their relationship with Notre Dame was discussed.

LINK:  UNDER ARMOUR / NOTRE DAME

Mike Brey's "Life Coach" -- His Mom...


The Chicago Tribune's David Haugh penned this piece this morning about Mike Brey and his relationship with his Mom...

LINK:  LIFE COACH

Sunday, March 22, 2015

A Look at W / L Amongst SWEET SIXTEEN


Here's a look at the "head to head" wins and losses amongst the SWEET SIXTEEN teams left in the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship. 

HEAD TO HEAD W / L -- SWEET SIXTEEN - ranked by total wins:

Brady Quinn One of the Domers in Phoenix


The NFL held their first ever "Veteran's Combine" for NFL free agents still looking for a team to play for this season -- and Fox broadcaster Brady Quinn was on the field looking to impress a scout or two...

LINK:  VETERAN'S COMBINE

Inside Look at Notre Dame's Win Over Butler


You'll enjoy this great inside access to Notre Dame's OT win last night over Butler:

LINK:  INSIDE THE IRISH

Two FOUR GUARD Teams to Meet in Sweet 16!


Notre Dame will be playing Wichita State Thursday night at 7:15 PM ET in Cleveland -- in a match-up of two teams who start "four guards and a forward."

Wichita State -- a #7 Seed -- rolled over #2 Kansas tonight -- wasn't even close in the second half.  

We've got our hands full!  Here's what we know about Wichita State:

STARTERS:
  • Guard:  Tekele Cotton -- 6'-3" Senior /  9.6 pts / 4.1 rebounds
  • Guard:  Evan Wessell -- 6'-4" Junior /  4.1 pts / 3.4 rebounds
  • Guard:  Ron Baker -- 6'-3" Junior /  15 pts / 4.5 rebounds
  • Guard:  Fred VanVleet -- 6'-0' Junior / 13.1 pts / 4.4 rebounds
  • Forward:  Darius Carter -- 6'-7" Senior / 11.1 pts / 5.4 rebounds

BENCH:
  •  Center:  Bush Wamukota -- 6'-11" Junior / 1.1 pts / 1.5 rebounds
  •  Forward:  Rashard Kelly -- 6'-7" Freshman / 3.0 pts / 3.0 rebounds
  •  Forward:  Zach Brown -- 6'-6" Freshman / 3.2 pts / 1.4 rebounds
  •  Forward:  Shaquille Morris -- 6'-7" Freshman / 5.0 pts / 2.7 rebounds

LINK:  HIGHLIGHTS OF WIN OVER KANSAS

Full Game Replay: Notre Dame vs. Butler


If you didn't get enough of this game last night -- here's the full-game replay of Notre Dame's 67 - 64 OT win over the Butler Bulldogs:

LINK:  FULL GAME REPLAY

The Media the Mornin' After a "Sweet" Victory


The news of the passing of Betty Brey -- Coach Brey's 84 year-old Mom -- put a damper on any post game celebrating for the Fighting Irish.  Betty, a former world-record holder in the 100 Fly and 1956 US Olympian -- died of an apparent heart attack yesterday morning.

The OT victory over Butler was a HUGE win for Notre Dame as they get back to the SWEET SIXTEEN for the first time in 12 years -- here's the media's post game reports:

LINK:  INDY STAR

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  SPORTING NEWS

LINK:  ESPN

LINK:  SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

Prayers for Coach Mike Brey's Family Tonight...


Mike Brey's Mom passed away Saturday morning at the age of 84 from a heart attack...

Now I understand the emotional hug Jack Swarbrick gave to Coach Brey at game's end.

Coach Brey will head to Orlando today to be with his Dad and siblings -- to mourn the loss of his Mom -- will be back at Notre Dame on Monday.

PRAYERS.

LINK:  COACH BREY TALKS ABOUT HIS MOM

LINK:  BETTY BREY

LINK:  FULL POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE 

SWEET SIXTEEN BABY!!! HUGE OT WIN!!!


It wasn't easy -- but WOW!!!

Notre Dame beat Butler 67 - 64 in OT in a game that we will not soon forget!

Steve Vasturia was HUGE all game long -- Jerian Grant made a GREAT left handed layup late -- Pat Connaughton made a HUGE THREE -- Zach Auguste grabbed some HUGE rebounds and Demetrius Jackson -- led HIS team...

It's now on to Cleveland to play the winner of Kansas vs. Wichita State -- Thursday night. 

The ACC already has three teams of the eight teams in the SWEET SIXTEEN -- Notre Dame, North Carolina and North Carolina State.  Duke, Virginia and Louisville play tomorrow for three more spots.

The ACC is 9 - 0 in the NCAA Tournament.

LINK:  GRANT'S HUGE LATE GAME LAY-UP

LINK:  CONNAUGHTON'S HUGE OT THREE POINTER 

LINK:  VASTURIA'S HUGE THREE POINTER IN OT 

LINK:  CONNAUGHTON LAST SECOND BLOCK IN REGULATION

LINK:  NCAA GAME RECAP

Saturday, March 21, 2015

New York Times: "It's All About ND's Shoes..."


The folks at Under Armour will love this New York Times story...

LINK:  ALL ABOUT THE SHOES

Montana's Mascot "Monte" Visits Notre Dame


If you were at last night's NCAA game between Notre Dame and Montana -- you would have been entertained by MONTE -- the Grizzlies' mascot...

Enjoy!

LINK:  MONTE

Notre Dame Lacrosse's Corrigan and Ossello


My brother Jay -- who lives in Denver -- sent me a text this morning that I needed to put this interview up on the ND GO IRISH BLOG...

GREAT SUGGESTION -- you must see this!

LINK:  CORRIGAN AND OSSELLO

On to Round Two of the NCAA Tournament!!!


Notre Dame beat Montana 77 - 43 last night in their opening game of the 2015 NCAA Championship.  A game where the Fighting Irish just "did their thing" -- nothing out of the ordinary.

Up next -- the DePaul Blue Demons -- a team that feels they should have beat Notre Dame earlier in the year as they lost to the IRISH by one point 94 - 93 IN OT in a game where DePaul was 12 for 29 from the foul line...

How do we get an opponent like this in the 2nd Round of the NCAA Tournament?

LINK:  JEWELL INTERVIEW AFTER GAME

LINK:  NCAA HIGHLIGHTS

Notre Dame in Pittsburgh: Practice & Press


Here's what the Fighting Irish did yesterday in Pittsburgh -- as they prepare to take on the Butler Bulldogs tonight at 9:40 PM ET on TBS!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME

LINK:  PRESS CONFERENCE

Butler Coach Talks Notre Dame NCAA Game


Butler's head coach Chris Holtmann met with the media yesterday to talk about tonight's match-up with the Fighting Irish -- click on the link below:
 
LINK:  BUTLER COACH

LINK:  NEWS STORY

LINK:  NCAA PREVIEW

LINK:  CAMPUS INSIDERS

Friday, March 20, 2015

NCAA TV TIMES: ND Men & Women


Fans of the Fighting Irish should have quite a weekend of TV -- as both the Men & Women should be on national television the next three days:

FRIDAY NIGHT:
  • #1 Notre Dame vs. #16 Montana -- 7:30 PM ET on ESPN2

SATURDAY NIGHT:
  • #3 Notre Dame vs. #6 Butler -- 9:40 PM ET on TBS

SUNDAY NIGHT:
  • #1 Notre Dame vs. #9 DePaul -- 9:00 PM ET on ESPN

Thursday, March 19, 2015

All Three of Muffet's Recruits "Gatorade POY"


Muffet's three incoming recruits; Ali Patberg, Arike Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey -- all play the guard position and they've all swept the top awards available in women's high school basketball in the country and in their respective states:
  • McDonald's All-Americans --- ALL THREE
  • Gatorade Player of the Year for their state -- ALL THREE
  • State Champion -- ALL THREE
  • Miss Basketball  -- PATBERG & OGUNBOWALE (I don't think New Jersey has the award)

Arike Ogunbowale Named "Miss Basketball!"


The state of Wisconsin's "Miss Basketball" this season is none other than future Notre Dame student-athlete Arike Ogunbowale!

Arike -- who scored a state record 55 points in a semi-final game last week -- led her high school to the Wisconsin state championship!

Congrats Arike!

LINK:  MISS BASKETBALL

SEC "Considers" Notre Dame a "Power Five"


Well, isn't that nice of them...

LINK:  SEC ON PLAYING NOTRE DAME