Now that Football is Over, Notre Dame Basketball, Soccer Rule!

There will be no more Notre Dame football games for several months, so Fighting Irish fans need to turn their focus to another worthy subject or subjects. What could be better than Notre Dame soccer and basketball. The college soccer season is just coming to a close, and the Irish are doing  quite well. In fact, the men’s soccer team is in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Soccer Tournament. They will play Santa Clara in the Round this Saturday. If you can make the game, it should be a really great matchup of soccer programs from Catholic universities. The women’s soccer team will play in the quarterfinal of their tournament tonight under the lights at Alumni Field.  Make sure to be there, too!
Basketball season is just starting, and this sport will be getting more and more of the Notre Dame Blog focus as the season goes on. Make sure to check out the available tickets for Notre Dame basketball in the upcoming months.  Notre Dame is attempting to get back to the NCAA Tournament this year,  but if you check out their upcoming schedule, you will see that they have to play a lot of tough games before they get there.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish football tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 30, 2007 - Post a comment

Sports Illustrated Moves Irish Up in Rankings

Although you have to click on “Next Page” a few times in the process, you will find the Notre Dame Fighting Irish ranked in the top 100 D-I college football teams in the nation. Last week Sports Illustrated ranked the team at #99, but after their win over Stanford, the Irish are #94. Coinciding with the Irish’s upward movement, Stanford dropped from #87 to #95, the spot right below Notre Dame. Unlike many of the teams found this far down in the list, the Irish got a featured comment about their season. The author mentions that the Irish ended on a high note with a win over Stanford, but still felt compelled to rank the Irish so close to the century mark because their offensive line allowed the most sacks in the NCAA.

Being #94 isnt something to be proud about, but Notre Dame can take solace in seeing the company that they are keeping. The teams immediately in front of them all have better records, so the ranking clearly shows that the Irish are better than the win-loss numbers they accrued this past year. Take a look:

88. Middle Tennessee St. (5-7)
89. San Jose St. (5-7)
90. Nevada (5-6)
91. Buffalo (5-7)
92. Louisiana Tech (5-6)
93. Wyoming (5-7)
94. Notre Dame (3-9)

If you like what you see, you can get Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets at www.StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 29, 2007 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Leaves 2007 on a Good Note

If you take a look at the Notre Dame schedule from this past season you will see a lot of losses, which is certainly disappointing. Of course, the Irish had a very tough schedule of opponents, especially in the beginning of the season. You should also notice that Notre Dame ended the season on a high note, winning their last two games of the season. The team went 3-4 in their last seven games, so you can make the argument that this team is making huge strides. Coach Weis will probably be back for another year at least on the sidelines. Jimmy Clausen had a trial by fire and will return much more capable of leading the offense. The young players will all have a lot of valuable experience to draw from next year. Plus, Weis has made sure to pack the roster with many of the most sought-after recruits.

At times 2007 was frustrating and disappointing for Irish football fans, but at least the ending was great. If there hadn’t been a penalty on the play, that 99-yard, three-lateral interception return for a touchdown versus Stanford would have fully captured the transition Notre Dame made from loser to winner, from beginning to end. The future looks bright. There’s nothing better you could say about a football team after the season is over.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish football tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 28, 2007 - Post a comment

Coaches to the Chopping Block…

Pat Forde’s weekly “Dash” has an interesting subject for fans of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish today: Black Monday. To retailers, Black Monday means getting up at 3AM to open the doors, separating parents fighting over the latest toy craze, and finally getting the books into the black after months in the red. For NCAA football coaches this year, however, it meant a lengthy procession to the chopping block. Underperformers, mediocre performers, and people with the wrong looks on their headphone-clamped faces were given the ax this past Monday. The list of top college coaches now unemployed includes Bill Doba of Washington State, Houston Nutt of Arkansas, Jeff Bower of Southern Mississippi, Chan Gailey of Georgia Tech, Ted Roof of Duke, Joe Novak of Northern Illinois, Ed Orgeron of Mississippi, Bill Callahan of Nebraska, Dennis Franchione of Texas A&M, and Sonny Lubick of Colorado State.

With a record of just 3-9, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis was mentioned in Pat Forde’s article about coach firings. But don’t worry, it was good news. According to Forde, Weis has at least another year in South Bend to try to get things going in the right direction.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish football tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 27, 2007 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Beats Stanford to Close Out 2007

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame defeated the Cardinal of Stanford this past Saturday, 21-14. The Golden Domers won the game by breaking a 14-all tie with a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. The win puts the team at 3-9 overall for the year. Stanford was not great coming into the game, so many people were hopeful that the Irish would indeed win, putting a nice finishing touch on an otherwise forgettable season of play. Freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen threw for 196 yards and ran for a touchdown in his final game as a rookie. Even though the game was played in Palo Alto, California, there were plenty of Irish supporters in attendance who cheered on the team, despite the fact that there was no national title spot on the line, and improving in the BCS was not an issue.

There will be plenty of time to analyze the past season of football. Did Weis do the right things? Will Jimmy be the QB of the future? Will the running game improve? Will the defensive line get any help? All of those will have to be answered soon enough. For now, though, you should celebrate a win to close out the season. We here at the Notre Dame blog would like to dedicate… this final blog… to the seniors on the team. Good luck in your future endeavors, and thank you for some great Notre Dame football memories throughout the years!

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish football tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 26, 2007 - Post a comment

Comparing Stanford to Notre Dame

Since the week at the Notre Dame blog is shortened in light of the Thanksgiving holiday, this will be the last one you loyal readers get before the Fighting Irish play the Stanford Cardinal in their last regular season game. The Cardinal and the Irish make for some good competitors, and there is a great history between the two teams if you look back over the years. Stanford is at the bottom of the Pac-10 standings heading into the game, with an overall record of 3-7. One of those wins was against USC, the highlight of the season for Jim Harbaugh’s Cardinal. Other than that, though, Stanford has had a tough go of it in 2007.

But how do the Irish stack up against Stanford? Well, if you look at the head-to-head team stat comparisons at FOXSports.com, you’ll see that Stanford is overwhelmingly the better team on the offensive side of the ball. They average more rushing and passing yards per game, and most importantly, they have proven that they can score more points on any given night. However, the defensive stats lean towards favoring Notre Dame. They are much better at defending the pass, and aren’t significantly worse at defending the run. Interestingly enough, Stanford averages giving up 30.5 points per game to their opponents. The Irish? 30.1… Should be a close one.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish football tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 21, 2007 - Post a comment

One Game to go, Irish look Back

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team has one more game to go in the regular season, an away game at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. While Stanford has struggled this season, the game could probably go either way. The Irish were probably even more erratic and disappointing at times than the Stanford Cardinal. Of course, there’s been some real bright spots to look back on, as well. Can you think about the first few games of the season? Do you remember the opener versus Georgia Tech, the one where Weis gave three different QBs a shot? How far the team has come. The latest victory over Duke has put a real silver lining on a cloud of a season.

So imagine the optimism that the Irish will have going into the offseason if they are able to defeat Stanford on the road to close out the regular season. Bowl games or not, getting two wins in a row at the end of a very long season is something that would really get fans excited about the future of the program. Jimmy Clausen seems to have found a grove, finally. There are a lot of great recruits on the team, and even if this was a horrible year, record-wise, it can be seen as a “transition” year in the long run.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish football tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 20, 2007 - Post a comment

A Notre Dame Home Win At Long Last!!

Notre Dame got it’s second win of the season at home in South Bend, beating the Duke Blue Devils 28-7 in what this blogger will excitedly and unexpectedly describe as a rout. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen threw three touchdowns, no interceptions. He completed 16 of 32 passes for 194 yards. Not only was Jimmy doing well at throwing, but the offensive line was allowing Notre Dame rushers to see daylight for what must have been the first time in the 2007-’08 season. Notre Dame’s rushers racked up 220 yards on 48 total carries. That kind of production used to take three games for the Irish to accomplish.

With just over a minute to go, Duke was able to break what would have been a 28-0 shutout for the Irish. Although that would have been pretty, this blogger believes that Notre Dame Nation is simply ecstatic with the outcome regardless. The win over UCLA was one where the critics were pointing to the injuries and turnovers as the main factors. This game was as pure and solid a victory you could imagine. Duke is not the best team in the nation, to be sure. However, you can clearly see the improvement that the team has shown since the very first weeks of the season.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish football tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 19, 2007 - Post a comment

Friday is Funday at the Notre Dame Blog

It’s Friday, so you know that the Notre Dame blog is set to give you the humor you’ve been working all week long to enjoy. Fresh off the press are two fake news stories that have to do with Fighting Irish football. The first is one from an old favorite of the Notre Dame blog, The Onion. Titled “U.S. Military Wasting All Its Victories On Notre Dame” the article seems to say, “Maybe if the military spent more time winning wars and less time beating helpless Notre Dame in consecutive weekends on Notre Dame’s home field, we might get some progress in Iraq.” While it is political suicide to ever criticize our troops, in the name of making fun of Notre Dame, anything goes. Besides, the article is fake, and does not reflect any of the opinions of either this company or common sense.

The next thing you should check out is a humorous blurb at TheBrushback.com, a fake online newspaper in The Onion style, focused almost exclusively on sports. The snippet is titled “Nostalgic Sportswriters Rank Notre Dame Number One.” It’s a must-read for any Notre Dame fan who doesn’t take him or herself too seriously. Well, enjoy the upcoming weekend of college football. The Irish will play the Duke Blue Devils, and compared to the previous games, there is a distinct abundance in optimism surrounding this one.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish football tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 16, 2007 - Post a comment

Pat Forde Praises Charlie Weis

When a football team is bad, the coach is always at the center of the blame. Such is the case with Charlie Weis, head football coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, now 1-9 on the year. There are plenty of supporters and perhaps even more critics of Weis, his coaching style, his recruiting abilities, and even the way he wears his pants up to his armpits. Most of the discussion topics are purely football related, but Pat Forde of ESPN looks at Weis’ character and decides to give the guy some credit where credit is due. According to Forde, Weis has taken a lot of hits for the bad season, blamed himself more than anyone else, and also done some pretty compassionate things for players and fans off the field.

This blogger wouldn’t want to spoil too much (because you should read through the whole “Dash” by Pat Forde) but you should know that Forde makes some good points. Even if it does turn out to be that Weis is a bad football coach, you could still make a case that he is a pretty selfless human being, and that might count more in the long run. Forde even leaves out some of the finer details that only a seasoned Notre Dame blogger would know about Weis. His daughter has learning disabilities, and he has donated generously to organizations that attempt to help families who have to deal with the financial burden of similar situations.
 
To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish football tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 15, 2007 - Post a comment


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