Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Michigan Week: Irish Upset #5 Ranked Michigan

It was the opening game of the 1998 season for the Irish against the 5th ranked Wolverines -- who were coming off of their National Championship season. Bob Davie's 22nd ranked Irish rolled over Michigan 36 to 20 that day -- a Wolverine team led by Tom Brady. Who's seen here fumbling after being sacked by the Irish. Here's a link to a video of the game highlights:

LINK: THE IRISH UPSET MICHIGAN

Last Day to Win Tickets to Saturday's Game!

If you'd like to enter the contest to win tickets to Notre Dame's game this Saturday against Michigan -- you need to get moving! The contest at Every Game Counts ends today - here's the link to enter a chance to win two tickets:

LINK: EVERY GAME COUNTS CONTEST

Montana Talks "Rudy" -- Did He Have To?

Former Notre Dame QB and Super Bowl Champion, Joe Montana -- was a guest on the Dan Patrick Radio Show this morning. The subject of "Rudy" came up and Joe's response, in essence, let everyone "behind the curtain." Did he have to do that? You take a listen:



LINK: JOE MONTANA ON "RUDY"

Your Irish Women's BB Team @ Work!

There's a work-out called ZUMBA which is the "fusion" of Latin and International music -- that is becoming quite the rage -- and, has become part of the workout regiment for Muffet McGraw's Fighting Irish! Here's a link to a video of the girls hard at work (you'll find the video on the lower right hand portion of the web page, just scroll down) -- and a link to the ZUMBA website, just in case you want to try this at home!

LINK: ZUMBA WITH ND BASKETBALL!

LINK: ZUMBA WEBSITE

Dayne Crist Needs OUR Vote!

The Davey O'Brien Award, given annually to the top college QB in America, is conducting an online vote for the first time this year. At present, all 120 projected starting QB's of NCAA FBS teams are on the ballot. Through the fan vote -- which counts for 5% of the total -- and the vote of the O'Brien Committee, 16 QB's will be named a "SEMI-FINALIST" which will be announced on October 25th. No Notre Dame QB has ever won this award -- it's time to change that!!! Click on this link to vote for Dayne!

LINK: VOTE FOR DAYNE CRIST

ND's First African American Defensive Captain...




Larry Schumacher, a starting linebacker for the Irish in the 60's died Saturday at his home in East Orange, NJ. Schumacher played for Coach Parseghian. Here's a link to a story about his contributions to his home town:

LINK: LARRY SCHUMACHER

Notre Dame Picked as "Worth the Price"

The University of Notre Dame was picked as one of the fifteen schools "Worth the Price" in higher education in the book “Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids – and What We Can Do About It.” The book written by Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus takes you on a tour of what’s horrible about today’s colleges. Hacker, a professor at Queens College, and Dreifus, who teaches at Columbia University, outline how colleges lost track of their primary mission: teaching college students. Instead, many professors negotiate to teach as little as possible, while the colleges lure students with expensive sports facilities, dorms and dining choices, pushing a four-year education at a private school to a quarter million dollars. Here's the list of the fifteen schools they believe are worth the price: Notre Dame, Harvard, Emory, Brandeis, Marquette, Hofstra, Florida Gulf Coast, Evergreen State, Western Oregon, University of Maryland - Baltimore County, Raritan Valley, Cooper Union, Linfield College, University of Mississippi and Arizona State. I noticed Dreifus didn't pick Columbia -- and Hacker didn't pick Queens College...they both must have "tenure."

LINK: BUY THE BOOK AT AMAZON

Hodges Returns to Irish after Transplant!

Teddy Hodges (Salinas, KS) is back with the Notre Dame Fencing Team - less than one year after his heart transplant. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT! 365 days ago, Hodges was clinging on to life, after a virus attacked his heart causing two heart attacks in consecutive days. This was the news report on the www.fencing.net blog a year ago: Teddy Hodges, a senor foil fencer on the Notre Dame varsity, is in a Kansas City hospital. He is suffering from a viral infection of the heart. He had two heart attacks in the last two days. He is on a machine that keeps his heart and lungs working while they rest the heart and decide on further treatment. He can open his eyes and move his arms and legs. Well, that further treatment was a heart transplant -- which took place on September 16, 2009. Yesterday, nine days short of the one-year anniversary of his new heart, Teddy Hodges joined his Irish teammates at practice. Here are a few news reports on Hodges return for his senior year at Notre Dame -- what a story:

LINK: WWW.UND.COM STORY

LINK: WNDU-TV STORY

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Coach Kelly's First Pre Game Speech @ ND!



Here's your chance to get inside the Notre Dame Locker room and see what Coach Kelly had to say to the Fighting Irish -- and his first trip down the steps to touch the PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY sign! Here's the link:

LINK: COACH KELLY'S PEP TALK

Reminder: Green Rules The Day!

This Saturday -- is "Wearin' of the Green" day at Notre Dame Stadium! Show you're behind Coach Kelly and the Fighting Irish by turning Notre Dame Stadium into a SEA OF GREEN @ Saturday's game against Michigan. Whether it's a green shirt, jacket or body paint -- it will all look the same from the field and on television sets all over the world. We need to extend the "GREEN OUT" beyond the Notre Dame student section!

PHOTO OF THE DAY: Swift at Notre Dame

Here's a photo of Taylor Swift, the country pop star, with some of her fans here at Notre Dame. The photo was taken last year when Swift visited Notre Dame with her brother Austin -- when he was a high school senior looking for a college to attend. (One of our visitors at ND GO IRISH BLOG was quick to point out when the photo was taken -- THANK YOU!) Swift was at Notre Dame this weekend to visit her brother Austin (a Notre Dame freshman) and to see a Notre Dame football game. Apparently, Taylor wanted to sit in the Notre Dame student section, but Notre Dame officials talked her out of that idea and she watched the game from the sidelines. Forbes magazine recently ranked the twenty-year old Swift as the 12th most powerful celebrity with earnings of $45 million in the past year.

Coach Kelly & His Team...



Brian Kelly gave "ALL ACCESS" to the www.und.com cameras, into the Notre Dame locker room, after the Irish 23-12 victory over Purdue Saturday. Here's a video of Team Chaplain; Fr. Paul Doyle leading the team in the Our Father and Coach Kelly leading the singing of the Victory March. Click on the TOTAL ACCESS PREVIEW on the right -- good stuff!:

LINK: A MUST WATCH

Michigan Week: A Notre Dame History Lesson!

Having been a resident of the State of Michigan for most of my life -- but an Irish fan since BIRTH -- I've always looked forward to these two weeks of the season when we play Michigan and Michigan State. Now, I must admit -- I like these two weeks a whole lot better when we win! So, to get us in the right frame of mind for these next two Saturdays -- I'm going to dig up some classic YOUTUBE video of great moments in these two games. First up, the 1980 game when Touchdown Jesus "stopped the wind" and little known Harry Oliver -- all "five foot nuthin" -- kicked a 51-yard field goal in the final seconds to give the Irish a 29-27 win over Michigan. Here's the link to the last minute of the game -- with a bonus radio call of the kick from Tony Roberts. A MUST WATCH TODAY:

LINK: HARRY O'S MIRACLE KICK

ND Fans: A Reason to Consider Buying an iPad

NBC Sports just gave every Notre Dame fan in the world a reason to buy an iPad. An iPad app for Notre Dame Football. What's the line... "I have an app for that" -- well, Irish fans this may be the app of the year! The app offers a pretty thorough set of ways to follow the team’s season, including a complete schedule, news, live scores, video clips including recaps and interviews, team stats, roster, photo galleries, Twitter updates and a display of the “Inside the Irish” blog. Of course, the app also allows you to pay for live streaming of home game for either $5.99 for the entire season or $1.99 per game. The two coolest features come in the form of notifications. On game day, you can set the app to remind you of the game – by playing the Notre Dame fight song. Then during the game, the app offers push notifications every time there is a score. Now, if we can talk NBC into "giving away" iPads as a promotion for Notre Dame fans -- we may have something here! Here's a link to more information on how to download the app:

LINK: NOTRE DAME iPad APP

Monday, September 6, 2010

A ND Drummer's Fifteen Minutes of Fame...



A member of the University of Notre Dame's Band of the Fighting Irish's famed Drumline -- made one of the more memorable entrances in the Band's 123 year history of marching at Notre Dame Football games -- this past Saturday. Here's a link to a video that may very well become YOUTUBE legend for this band member:

LINK: A NOT SO GRAND ENTRANCE

The Band of the Fighting Irish


Shot this video this Saturday at the Notre Dame vs. Purdue football game of the greatest band in the land - The Band of the Fighting Irish! Enjoy!

LINK: THE BAND OF THE FIGHTING IRISH

Wear Your Green This Saturday!

Some Notre Dame fans online are suggesting a "GREEN OUT" at Notre Dame Stadium for this Saturday's game against Michigan. I believe it's a great idea and I'm going to be asking my gang of sixteen -- who are all sitting in the Michigan section by the way -- to WEAR GREEN ON SATURDAY! So, whether it's green clothing or green body paint -- GET YOUR "KELLY" GREEN ON this Saturday!

A Notre Dame Marriage Proposal...



Former Notre Dame Cheerleader, Kristi Murphy received a great surprise this Saturday prior to the Notre Dame vs. Purdue game. Kristi's boyfriend, Mike Iaquinta dropped to one knee and proposed to Kristi in front of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the Notre Dame campus -- and in front of the WNDU-TV cameras! Here's a link to the WNDU-TV story:

LINK: ND MARRIAGE PROPOSAL

NBC's Lovin' Brian Kelly: Ratings up 77%!

The Notre Dame vs. Purdue football game Saturday's preliminary rating was up 77 percent from last year's opener. NBC said Sunday that the Fighting Irish's 23-12 win over Purdue drew a 2.3 overnight rating and 6 share. The 2009 opener against Nevada earned a 1.3 rating and 3 share. A big thank-you to Jim Conway, Jr. '69 -- for sending me an email alerting me to this fact. Here's a link to the ESPN Blog story:

LINK: NBC'S RATINGS UP

Replay of Notre Dame vs. Purdue

If you were at the game Saturday and like me -- forgot to set the DVR to record the game. Or, you had other conflicts and were unable to see the game on TV -- you still have options! NBC Sports' website has the entire broadcast archived for you to watch at your leisure. Photo courtesy of South Bend Tribune. Here's the link:

LINK: WATCH THE IRISH BEAT PURDUE