#12 Notre Dame on ESPN2 Today @ 2 PM ET

Mike Brey's (16 - 2) Fighting Irish take on the (12 - 4) Miami Hurricanes this afternoon at Purcell Pavilion in front of a national TV audience.

The game will be telecast on ESPN2 -- beginning at 2 PM ET.

The Hurricanes a are coming off of a HUGE win Tuesday night at #4 Duke  90 - 74!  Going to be a very tough test for Notre Dame today!


LINK:  GAME NOTES

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

Virginia's Head Hoops Coach Talks Notre Dame

Tony Bennett -- the man who has led the Virginia Cavaliers to an undefeated 13 - 0 start and a #3 ranking the country -- talked about tonight's game against our #12 ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame on his weekly radio show:

Warning -- you have to listen to Van Halen's "Jump" forever (FIFTEEN MINUTES) before the show starts.  I don't know what the Virginia Cavaliers are thinking with forcing you to listen to music.  They must not have anyone listening to the show, post production...

LINK:  VIRGINIA COACH ON NOTRE DAME

Notre Dame vs. Virginia on ESPN2 @ 6 PM ET

Big game TODAY in South Bend!

The #12 ranked Fighting Irish will host undefeated #3 Virginia (one of the 3 teams in the country still unbeaten) at SOLD-OUT Purcell Pavilion and in front of a national TV audience on ESPN2 at 6 PM ET.

Here's what's being said about tonight's game:

LINK:  MIKE BREY TALKS VIRGINIA MATCH-UP

LINK:  BREY WITH MEDIA

LINK:  GAME NOTES

OT: Fish Story -- "The Big One That Got Away!"

Post by Colin Wayne.

OT: Chicago Bulls' Kiss Cam -- MUST SEE!

I don't know if this was a "plant" -- or this was a couple who got exposed at a recent Chicago Bulls game.  Watch the entire thing!

LINK:  WATCH THIS!

Irish Hoops Great Adrian Dantley a HS Referee!

Thought Notre Dame fans would enjoy catching up with -- now 60 year-old -- Adrian Dantley...

LINK:  DETROIT FREE PRESS STORY

Notre Dame's Under Armour Lacrosse Cleats!

Here they are -- the first ever Notre Dame Lacrosse cleats from Under Armour -- pretty slick!

The Fighting Irish are ranked #2 in the country in the pre-season rankings.

Pat Connaughton: ESPN "Dual Sport Decision"

The folks at ESPN have taken notice of our #12 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team.

Here's a story today on student-athlete Pat Connaughton:

LINK:  A DECISION TO MAKE

Thom Gatewood Elected to College FB HOF!!!

Former Notre Dame All-American Thom Gatewood has just learned that he's the 45th player in Fighting Irish history to be elected to the College Football Hall of Fame!

Congratulations Tom!

You can see "Theisman to Gatewood" in the video link below:

LINK:  1971 COTTON BOWL GAME

LINK:  GATEWOOD'S REACTION

Brian Kelly on ESPN's Colin Cowherd Show

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly was a guest this morning on ESPN's "The Herd" -- and he talked about a number of things:

• Jameis Winston -- "smarts and NFL ability"
• Use of technology to get plays into a defensive player
• Oregon
• Urban Meyer
• The SEC
• The Notre Dame job
• Private jet...

LINK:  KELLY ON THE HERD

Domer Dad Craig Biggio: Letterman Last Night

Here is Houston Astro all-time great Craig Biggio was in New York City yesterday and made an appearance on the David Letterman Show.

Biggio (father of ND baseball players Conor '15 and Cavan '17) was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

Here he is with other "Hall of Famers" reading the TOP TEN LIST...

LINK:  LETTERMAN

Notre Dame Running Back: USA Olympic Tryout

Notre Dame "walk-on" turned scholarship student-athlete this fall for the Notre Dame Football team -- Tyler Plantz -- is headed to Chula Vista, CA this weekend for tryouts for the USA Olympic Rugby team...

Here's the story:

LINK:  PLANTZ GETTING RUGBY SHOT

Domer Todd Lyght Leaves Eagles for Vandy Job

Former Notre Dame All-American defensive back Todd Lyght has just taken a coaching job with the Vanderbilt Commodores.  Lyght leaves Chip Kelly's staff in Philadelphia where he was an Assistant Defensive Backs Coach.

LINK:  STORY

New Spikes for Notre Dame Baseball & Softball

Under Armour just delivered these new spikes for the Notre Dame baseball and softball program today...

Sharp!

Student / Athlete: Reggie Ho Story -- Released!

Here it is -- the 13 minute "30 FOR 30 SHORT" film -- directed by actor Ken Jeong (his directorial debut) on former Notre Dame student-athlete Reggie Ho...

THIS IS MUST SEE!

LINK:  REGGIE HO

Domer Named Chief of Naval Research

Notre Dame alum Rear Admiral Mathias Winter '84,  just took the helm as Chief of Naval Research -- in a recent change of command ceremony at the Pentagon.

Winter will oversee the Navy's $2 billion budget for naval science and technology programs.

LINK:  CHIEF OF NAVAL RESEARCH

LINK:  WINTER'S BIO

Domer Nussbaum Running Midwest League!

Dick Nussbaum '74 & 77', was just named president of the Midwest League -- a minor league professional baseball organization.  A former Fighting Irish baseball player, Nussbaum is also a member of Notre Dame's Board of Trustees.

The newly named South Bend Cubs are one of the 16 teams in the Midwest League.

Congratulations Dick!

LINK:  MIDWEST LEAGUE PRESIDENT

Inside Look at Notre Dame's Win Over Carolina

The first ever victory for Notre Dame men's basketball in Chapel Hill...

LINK:  WATCH THIS

Happy Birthday to Notre Dame's Hall of Famer!

Lou Holtz turns 78 years-young today -- Happy Birthday Coach Holtz!

LINK:  HOLTZ -- "ISMS"

NASCAR Domer Jimmy Small's "Iowa Shovel"

Notre Dame alum Jimmy Small '08, surprised a family in Iowa last night by showing up in the middle of a snow storm offering to shovel their driveway.

What made this a Fox Sports news story is Small, the president of Iowa Speedway -- threw out this offer during yesterday's snow storm (on TWITTER) as part of a ticket promotion...

LINK:  THE IOWA SHOVEL

LINK:  NEWS STORY

Ken Jeong Talks Domer Reggie Ho's "30 for 30"

Former Notre Dame walk-on kicker Reggie Ho is the subject of a "30 for 30 Short" ESPN FILM entitled "Student/Athlete The Story of Reggie Ho" directed by Ken Jeong -- his "directorial debut."

WATCH IT AT THE SECOND LINK BELOW!

LINK:  JEONG WITH OLBERMAN

LINK:   "STUDENT/ATHLETE THE REGGIE HO STORY" 

Domer Dad Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame!

Houston Astro second baseman Craig Biggio (father to two Notre Dame baseball players; Conor '15 and Cavan '17) received the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a major league baseball player today -- he's been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame!

Biggio will become the first baseball player to be enshrined in Cooperstown wearing a Houston Astros hat...

LINK:  BIGGIO A HALL OF FAMER

LINK:  HOUSTON CHRONICLE STORY

TarHeels' Roy Williams Talks Notre Dame Loss

North Carolina's head basketball coach Roy Williams met with the media after their 71 - 70 loss tonight to the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

Here's a link to his post game press conference -- along with a second link to Marcus Paige's post game comments:

LINK:  ROY WILLIAMS -- POST GAME 

LINK:  MARCUS PAIGE -- POST GAME

STATEMENT MADE in North Carolina Tonight!

The #12/#13 ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame went into Chapel Hill tonight and beat the #18 ranked Tarheels 71 - 70!

Notre Dame now leads the ACC with a 3 - 0 record!

10 three pointers and very good defense -- turned out to be the recipe in a game where North Carolina had 21 offensive rebounds and Notre Dame made only one basket from the field in the last 9:42 of the game!

BIG WIN!

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  ESPN STORY

LINK:  BOX SCORE

Tarheels' Roy Williams Talks Win Over Clemson

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish play a very talented North Carolina team tonight -- the most talented team we will have played so far this season...

Game tips off at 7 PM ET on ESPN.

Here's North Carolina's head coach Roy Williams talking about their big road win Saturday night against Clemson.

LINK:  ROY WILLIAMS

Don't Forget: #14 Notre Dame on ESPN Tonight

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame play #19 North Carolina tonight -- in Chapel Hill -- on ESPN at 7 PM ET!

Here's the game preview:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME ON ESPN

LINK:  IRISH EXTRA

Domer Sergio Brown's Post Game "Ric Flair"

Got to love this...

Former Notre Dame student-athlete Sergio Brown celebrating with his Indianapolis Colts teammates after their NFL Playoff win today over Cincinnati:

LINK:  SERGIO

Is Notre Dame Now a BASKETBALL SCHOOL?

Here's the list of the FOUR colleges in the country who have men & women's basketball teams ranked in the AP Top 15 in the country this afternoon:

• Louisville -- #7 women / #5 men
• Kentucky -- #11 women / #1 men
• Duke -- #10 women / #2 men
• NOTRE DAME -- #4 women / #14 men