Special Uniforms For These Two Games?

You've got to wonder why NIKE would feel the need to break out SPECIAL UNIFORMS for Virginia Tech's games against Austin Peay and Bowling Green -- yet, they'll do just that this season in two games you probably won't see on television.  Photos above of helmets and a jersey. 

LINK:  BIG GAMES FOR THE HOKIES?

Clue #2: ND's Shamrock Series Uniform

Here's the second "swatch" of material (top photo) from the folks at ADIDAS -- for the uniform they've designed for the FIGHTIN' IRISH in their game on October 6 at Soldier Field against the Miami Hurricanes.  My guess is the the top photo is from the jersey, which will be BLUE with GOLD shoulders on it.  The bottom photo is the first swatch -- which I believe is from the pants or from a muscle shirt that will be worn under the jersey, which would be a huge departure for Notre Dame.  Any guesses?

The entire uniform will be unveiled on August 16.

Golden Tate Subject of Terrell Owens PUNK!

Pete Carroll and Terrell Owens teamed up this past week to PUNK former Notre Dame All-American Golden Tate and his Seattle Seahawks teammates.  As some of you may know, Golden declined to give up his #81 to Terrell Owens -- unless he forked over $81,000.  Don't leave the video early.

LINK:  GOLDEN TATE PUNKED

Puzzle Piece #1 -- ND's New Football Uniform

The folks at Adidas are going to have some "fun" this week at the expense of the Notre Dame Nation!  Over the next five days, Adidas USA will be releasing "swatches" of Notre Dame's uniform for the Shamrock Series game at Chicago's Soldier Field set for Saturday, October 6 against the Miami Hurricanes.  It's expected they will display the entire uniform on August 16th.

The photo above is SWATCH #1.

I'm going to guess this is from their pants???

I was told months ago -- this uniform design will "blow your mind..."

We'll see...

Want to be Like Skylar Diggins -- Watch This!

The most famous student-athlete at the University of Notre Dame does not wear a GOLD HELMET.

SHE wears a headband.

Skylar Diggins is the biggest name at ND and she's the biggest name in women's college sport.  I just learned of a video that was produced a year ago by the gang at ESPN that looks at Skylar's workout regimen, her quirks and her singing voice -- she's good!  You'll enjoy this!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S DIGGINS

Boxx Gold, Tancredi & Chapman Bronze!

Notre Dame women's soccer's great past was well represented this evening in London as Shannon Boxx '99 (photo on top), Melissa Tancredi '04 (middle photo) and Candace Chapman '05 (photo on bottom) each won medals today for their respective countries.  Shannon won her THIRD GOLD MEDAL for the United States of America, Melissa and Candace won Canada's first ever Olympic medal in women's soccer -- earning BRONZE MEDALS.

Congratulations to all of these IRISH stars!

LINK:  USA WINS GOLD

LINK:  CANADA WINS BRONZE

Football Practice Report -- Thursday Aug. 9

The Fightin' Irish of Notre Dame were back on the practice fields today -- and here's the video to prove it!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL PRACTICE

Domer's Gold Medal Battle With Lupus!

Former University of Notre Dame soccer star Shannon Boxx '99, was diagnosed with the autoimmune disorder LUPUS -- back in 2007.  Yet, tomorrow afternoon at 2:45 PM ET on NBC the 35 year-old Boxx will be going for her THIRD STRAIGHT OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL.  Good Luck Shannon!

Beyond the GOLD medal -- Team USA will also be playing for significant bonus money.  It was just announced that if the USA beats Japan tomorrow, the team will split $1.5 million in bonus money above and beyond the $25,000 each team member would receive from the U.S. Olympic Committee for a gold medal victory.  BIG PAY DAY!


LINK:  USA TODAY STORY

LINK:  OLYMPIC BONUS MONEY!

LINK:  WATCH THE GOLD MEDAL MATCH LIVE ON THE WEB

The Pads Are On At Notre Dame!

Today was the first practice in "full pads" this training camp for the Fighting Irish -- and the gang at Fighting Irish Digital Media were back at work.  You'll enjoy their coverage -- along with a second link to Coach Kelly's post practice meeting with the media!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL IN PADS

LINK:  COACH KELLY'S MEDIA SESSION

Most Valuable "Non-QB" in College Football

CBS Sports' Bruce Feldman picked his top ten most valuable players in college football -- not playing the QB position -- and the #1 ranked player on that list wears a GOLD HELMET!  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  THE MVP

Avoiding Lies Can Improve Your Health...

University of Notre Dame psychology professor Anita Kelly presented her findings -- that avoiding lies can improve your health -- at the American Psychological Association's annual meeting.  You'll find this story quite interesting:

LINK:  AVOIDING LIES -- A GOOD THING

Coach Kelly and His Team -- A New Approach

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly began meeting with his team on Monday's back in January -- and these sessions have been well received by the team and its coach.  The folks at ESPN reported on Notre Dame's "A TEAM."  Enjoy!

LINK:  COACH KELLY AND HIS TEAM

Practice Report #3 Fightin' Irish Football

The gang at Fighting Irish Digital Media were back on the practice field today reporting on ND Football.  Today's focus was on senior defensive end Kapron Lewis Moore.  You'll enjoy this!

LINK:  KAPRON LEWIS MOORE

Here's What Notre Dame Will Wear in Ireland

You've got to love this look for the Fightin' Irish in Dublin...

Notre Dame's Football Equipment Manager Ryan Grooms just "tweeted" these two photos -- on the left, what the team will wear (warm-ups) and on the right, what Coach Kelly will be wearing for their trip to Ireland to take on the Naval Academy.

You didn't think Coach Kelly did his own packing did you?  Here they are nearly four weeks before the game and Coach Kelly's gear for Dublin is already packed...

Notre Dame Football Practice Report #2

Notre Dame fans will enjoy seeing the coaching staff -- COACHING at practice this morning -- good stuff!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL PRACTICE #2

Two Domers Make U.S. Olympic History!

The Hurley girls; Courtney '13 and Kelley '10 led the United States to their first Olympic medal in history in the Women's Team Epee event!  Notre Dame senior Courtney -- the 2011 NCAA Champion -- scored the "winning touch" in overtime to win the BRONZE for America!  (Photo: Courtney on the left and Kelley third from left)

LINK:  VIDEO OF MEDAL CEREMONY

LINK:  HURLEY GIRLS LEAD USA TO BRONZE

LINK:  NBC STORY

OT: Cereal Wars -- Corn Flakes Gets Gabby!

Well, Wheaties won't have Gabby on its cereal box...

Word broke late Friday that Corn Flakes had won the CEREAL BOX WAR by agreeing to terms with Gabby Douglas.  Here's the story:

LINK:  SHE'S ON THE BOX

Michael Floyd Makes NFL Debut Tonight!

Notre Dame All-American wide receiver Michael Floyd will play against the "pros" for the first time tonight in the NFL HALL OF FAME GAME from Canton, OH.  Floyd and his Arizona Cardinal teammates will be taking on the most talked about franchise in all of sport these past six months -- the New Orleans Saints.

The game kicks off at 8 PM ET on the NFL NETWORK -- unless you live in the Phoenix or New Orleans markets where you can catch the game on local TV.

Notre Dame's Coverage of Football Practice #1

 The Irish walked onto the Labar Practice Complex this morning at 10 AM ET -- and the gang at Fighting Irish Digital Media were back at it -- capturing all of the action, including Coach Kelly's press conference after practice.  Here are the links to today's coverage:

LINK:  PRACTICE REPORT

LINK:  COACH KELLY POST PRACTICE

South Bend Tribune Picks Their "Favorite"

Well, the local paper picked their "favorite" to be the starting QB for the Fightin' Irish against Navy -- and it's not the same player ESPN just picked...

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE'S FAVORITE

Didn't Take ESPN Long to Pick the "Favorite"

The Fightin' Irish are just a few hours into fall camp and ESPN already has picked the front-runner at QB -- I won't spoil who they're talking about...

LINK:  FIRST TEAM REPS AT QB

Two New Opponents on 2013 Irish Schedule

The University of Notre Dame released their 2013 football schedule today and Irish fans will see two new schools on the schedule; Temple and Arizona State.

And surprisingly, BYU travels to Notre Dame Stadium for the second straight season.  Don't know the last time I've seen that.  Here's the schedule:

8/31/13:  Temple @ Notre Dame Stadium
9/07/13:  Michigan @ Away
9/14/13:  Purdue @ Away
9/21/13:  Michigan State @ Notre Dame Stadium
9/28/13:  Oklahoma @ Notre Dame Stadium
10/5/13:  Arizona State @ Dallas Cowboys Stadium
10/19/13:  USC @ Notre Dame Stadium
10/26/13:  Air Force Academy @ Away
11/2/13:  Naval Academy @ Notre Dame Stadium
11/9/13:  Pittsburgh @ Away
11/23/13:  BYU @ Notre Dame Stadium
11/30/13:  Stanford @ Away

LINK:  2013 NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Notre Dame's DUBLIN Game Balls

ND Football Equipment Manager Ryan Grooms "tweeted" this photo of the GAME BALLS the Irish will be using in Dublin on September 1st! 

Special thanks to ND GO IRISH BLOG regular Tom Badguy for alerting me to this!

Notre Dame Football's First Practice -- 2012

The Fightin' Irish of Notre Dame held practice #1 this morning at the Labar Practice Complex -- here's a link to a few of the SUBSCRIBER sites and their coverage. 

I currently subscribe to IRISH SPORTS DAILY and IRISH ILLUSTRATED -- I recommend both.

LINK:  IRISH SPORTS DAILY

LINK:  IRISH ILLUSTRATED

Replay of Coach Kelly's Press Conference

The 125th season of Notre Dame Football began yesterday with Coach Kelly's press conference.  Our friends at Fighting Irish Digital Media were on hand to video the event. 

LINK:  COACH KELLY PRESS CONFERENCE

Tim Brown Talks ND Football with NBC

Notre Dame Heisman Trophy winner, All-American and NFL all-time great Tim Brown -- spoke with NBC's Alex Flanagan at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship -- and he talks ND football.  Enjoy!

LINK:  TIM BROWN TALKIN' NOTRE DAME

Media's Early Reaction to Today's Presser

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly met with the media today to talk about the start of official football practice tomorrow morning.  I took a lap around the worldwide web to catch the early reaction from the media -- you won't be surprised with what they're talking about:

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  CHICAGO SUN TIMES

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE -- TYLER JAMES 

LINK:  ESPN NOTRE DAME BLOG -- POST #1

LINK:  ESPN NOTRE DAME BLOG -- POST #2

LINK:  ESPN NOTRE DAME BLOG -- POST #3

LINK:  WNDU-TV

LINK:  FORT WAYNE JOURNAL GAZETTE

Coach Kelly's Press Conference LIVE at Noon!

The 125th edition of Notre Dame Football kick's off today with Coach Kelly's press conference -- which you can watch live at NOON EST.  Click on the link below:

LINK:  PRESS CONFERENCE LIVE -- AT NOON ET

ND's Road Oppenents: Home Field Advantage

The University of Notre Dame has, by most accounts, the most difficult football schedule among the 120 schools in the FBS this season. 

Recently a website called PredictionMachine.com came out with their ranking of the best "home field advantages" in college football.  Here's where Notre Dame's "road opponents" rank with their home field advantage:

• September 15th:  Michigan State: #12
• October 27th:  Oklahoma:  #1
• November 10th:  Boston College  #94
• November 24th:  USC:  #71

LINK:  HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE

Notre Dame Football's New Game Ball

Notre Dame Football's Equipment Manager Ryan Grooms -- "tweeted" this photo of the new footballs you'll see the IRISH use this year from WILSON.  Got to love the green!

ND Law School Alum Running for U.S. Senate

Clark Durant, a 1976 graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, is a candidate in next Tuesday's primary for one of Michigan's two seats in the U.S. Senate.  Here's a link to his website and a promotional video that speaks to Clark's involvement with the Cornerstone Schools in Detroit -- an institution he co-founded in 1991.

LINK:  CLARK DURANT FOR U.S. SENATE

LINK:  PROMOTIONAL VIDEO

Coach Kelly Talks About the 2012 Fightin' Irish!

Head football coach Brian Kelly met with the gang at UND.COM to talk about the 125th edition of NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL.  Enjoy!

LINK:  DEFENSIVE IDENTITY

LINK:  SCHEDULE

LINK:  TIGHT ENDS & WIDE RECEIVERS

LINK:  RUNNING BACKS & LINEBACKERS

LINK:  QUARTERBACKS

LINK:  OFFENSIVE LINE

LINK:  CORNERBACKS

Why Regis Loves Notre Dame -- Good Story

Our team, here at the University of Notre Dame, just released a video starring Regis Philbin '53 -- for an initiative called LOVE THEE NOTRE DAME.  Thought you'd enjoy seeing this!

LINK:  LOVE THEE NOTRE DAME

Forbes Ranks the University of Notre Dame #12

Forbes Magazine just came out with their ranking of the top universities in the country and the University of Notre Dame was ranked #12.  Forbes teamed up with the Washington D.C. based Center for College Affordability to establish this list. 

Here was the criteria:

1. Quality of teaching
2. Great career prospects
3. High graduation rates
4. Low levels of debt

LINK:  FORBES RANKING OF TOP COLLEGES

Brian Kelly on Weekday SportsBeat Today

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly was a guest this evening on WSBT 960 AM's Weekday SportsBeat.  Here's a link to the interview:

LINK:  BRIAN KELLY -- RADIO INTERVIEW

Katenda's Story -- One Irish Fans Must Follow

A freak injury that severed his optic nerve, put in jeopardy the basketball career of Notre Dame freshman Eric Katenda...

The word on campus is he's adapting quite well to this challenge and just might be a contributor on this year's Irish team.  The folks at the South Bend Tribune caught up with Eric and Coach Brey to talk about the progress he's making.  I'll be rooting for this young man!!!

LINK:  KATENDA'S COME BACK

Notre Dame Fantasy Campers' Experience

If you've ever dreamed of running out of that TUNNEL wearing a GOLD HELMET -- you're not alone...

A few Irish fans got to do just that a "little late" in life this past month, you'll enjoy this video!  Special thanks to ND GO IRISH BLOG regular Tom Badguy for letting me know about this!
 

LINK:  RUNNING OUT THAT TUNNEL

Irish Duo Lead Women's Golf Tournament!

Notre Dame's Ashley Armstrong (Flossmoor, IL) and Kristina Nhim (Cypress, CA) fired a three-under 69 today in the opening round of the Pure Silk Collegiate Team Championship to lead the tournament!

Today's format was "alternate shot" and the IRISH were the only team under par.  Tomorrow's format is best ball followed by stroke play on Thursday.  There are 54 teams competing. 

GO IRISH!

LINK:  LIVE SCORING

LINK:  NEWS STORY

ND's Jack Swarbrick Meets With Bloggers

University of Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick met with a number of bloggers this past week -- thought you'd enjoy the conversation.

LINK:  SWARBRICK WITH BLOGGERS

Domer Scores Two Goals for Canada Today!

Former Notre Dame soccer star Melissa Tancredi '04, scored both goals today in Canada's 2-2 tie with Sweden today to clinch a spot in the Olympic Quarterfinals!  Way to go Melissa!

LINK:  TANCREDI LEADS CANADA

Hendrix, Golson or Kiel -- Who Starts Sept. 1st?

The University of Notre Dame will have a first time collegiate starter at QB when they kick-off their 2012 season in Ireland. 

Irish head coach Brian Kelly announced today that Tommy Rees and Carlo Calabrese would not be traveling with the team to Dublin.

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE STORY

Golden Tate Turning Heads in Seattle

Former Biletnikoff Award winner and Notre Dame All-American, Golden Tate -- appears to be coming into his own at his third NFL training camp. 

The Seahawks are counting on Golden being a starter this season -- we'll keep an eye on his progress!

LINK:  GOLDEN TATE -- GOLDEN AGAIN

Vikings' QB Enjoys Throwing to Kyle Rudolph

Former Notre Dame star tight end, Kyle Rudolph -- is earning the trust of Minnesota Vikings second year QB Christian Ponder.  Notre Dame fans will not be surprised with this story:

LINK:  RUDOLPH GETTING OPEN

Harrison Smith Wants to Hit Somebody!

Former Notre Dame football captain and NFL First Rounder -- Harrison Smith, was featured in a story today in the Pioneer Press where he stated he was hoping the inability to hit someone in practice would not hurt his progress as a player...

Thought you'd enjoy seeing this story:

LINK:  HARRISON SMITH -- HITMAN

Kyle McCarthy Injures Knee, Out for Season

Not the way you want to start a new season with a new team...

Former Notre Dame safety, Kyle McCarthy hurt his knee -- standing on the sidelines during practice this weekend with the Kansas City Chiefs.  The injury is so severe, Kyle will require season ending surgery. 

The Chiefs "waived" McCarthy this morning -- clearing the way for him to be placed on the injured reserve list for the season.

GET WELL QUICK KYLE!

Just goes to show you how important that Notre Dame degree is as a "back-up" plan.

LINK:  McCARTHY OUT FOR SEASON

Federal Judge Rules Against HHS Mandate

A Federal Judge in Denver ruled on Friday that the Department of Health & Human Services can not fine business owners who object to the mandate on religious grounds. 

It's the first time that a federal court has ruled on the constitutionality, of the mandate, since it was announced last August. 

The University of Notre Dame filed its own lawsuit against the HHS mandate back on May 21st in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.

LINK:  FEDERAL JUDGE RULES AGAINST MANDATE

LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S LAWSUIT