Around the Horn with Notre Dame Sports

Let’s check in with everybody to see how well some of the Notre Dame sports teams are doing. As you could probably guess, the view is amazing!

  • Men’s Basketball: The Irish men just dropped a game to No. 17 UConn, but they are ranked No. 20 themselves. The conference schedule is in full swing, so the next few weeks are very important for Tournament positioning.
  • Women’s Basketball: The Irish women are ranked No. 16 in the country so they look like they are ready for another long NCAA Tournament run. They are 19-5 overall and 7-3 in the Big East.
  • Men’s Hockey: The No. 9 Irish are heading to Alaska for a two-game series. If they sweep, they’ll be in great position before the CCHA Tournament. They are 20-10-2 overall and fourth in the CCHA (13-7-2).
  • Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse: Both seasons are set to begin very soon. Both the men and women are expected to do very well, and the Irish men are ranked No. 5 in the preseason poll.
  • Women’s Swimming and Diving: Notre Dame has done well this year, as usual. They are set to compete in the Big East Swimming Championship, where they hope to win their 12th straight conference title.
  • Football: The Irish have, according to most sources, landed either the best or second best recruiting class on signing day. Coach Weis has given up play calling on offense to an assistant, and the future looks much brighter for Notre Dame football than it did a few months ago.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on February 15, 2008 - Post a comment

UConn 84, Notre Dame 78

The Huskies held on in the final minutes, clamping down on defense and sending the visiting Notre Dame Fighting Irish away with an 84-78 defeat. UConn was ranked 17th in the AP Poll, Notre Dame was 20th, so the game was on the national radar. Hopefully you Notre Dame fans who were watching it on TV last night aren’t still upset about the loss today. This is a tough defeat, but today is Valentines Day, so you should have some love in your heart for the Irish, who put up a very good effort on the road against one of the best teams in the nation. If it is any consolation, Notre Dame will probably not be kicked out of the Top 25 next week, as the loss was a close one and the Huskies were ahead of them in the rankings.

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I’m going to give my game valentine to Big Luke Harangody, who ended with 32 points and 16 rebounds. This guy is one of the best players in the college game, and although he doesn’t get the king of accolades that Tyler Hansbrough gets, he is just as important to his team, and he plays about the same king of game.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on February 14, 2008 - Post a comment

Sports Illustrated, Rivals.com Say Notre Dame got No. 2 Recruiting Class

Yes, yes, the Notre Dame Basketball team is set to play a game tonight against UConn, but we can’t help but get you a little bit excited about a sport that’s in the middle of a long offseason. The Notre Dame football team has, according to Sports Illustrated and Rivals.com, landed the second best recruiting class in the nation.  There’s also a link to check out the names and the rankings of the exact players that the Irish signed recently. There’s even an offensive lineman named Mike Golic on the list. Amazing.

But we must move on to the task at hand- Connecticut. The Huskies present a problem because, well they’re good. The have an overall record of 18-5, just one loss more than the Irish, and they have an AP Top 25 Poll ranking of No. 17. The Irish are currently ranked No. 20. All in all, these are two very good Big East teams, and the game should be as close as it is intense. Make sure to get out to Connecticut to support the Irish.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on February 13, 2008 - Post a comment

Weis Chimes in about Dana Jacobson Roast Comments

There’s a big hullabaloo these days about some comments that Dana Jacobson, the ESPN anchorwoman, made during a roast of the popular ESPN radio show Mike and Mike the other day. While it is hard to find a good video online that shows the actual comments, one can assume from some of the remarks about the incident that they had to do with Catholics and the Notre Dame football team. Apparently some people were offended enough that Jacobson has since apologized for her behavior on air. The University of Notre Dame released a statement that wasn’t too harsh against either ESPN or Jacobson, but Charlie Weis, the Irish’s head football coach, hasn’t been so forgiving.

You can read what Weis said at this page on ESPN’s site. Basically, he thinks that Jacobson is unfairly getting the benefit of the doubt, and that if it were somebody else who had made the comments, there would have been a bigger deal made of the whole thing. Opinions about the original remarks, about the media coverage of it, and about the reaction of the public to all of it, abound. While bloggers like us here at the Notre Dame Blog usually love this kind of stuff, for some reason this particular incident is growing very tiresome. I can’t wait ‘til the football season starts, or at least until Notre Dame’s next basketball game!

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

Permalink - Posted in General on February 12, 2008 - Post a comment

Irish Beat Marquette; Weis Relinquishes Offensive Control, Gets Lots of Recruits

There’s a lot of great news coming out of South Bend these days. First off, Notre Dame’s basketball team just extended their home winning streak to 34 games (which is actually a few short of a school record) after they beat Marquette at the Joyce Center this Saturday. The Fighting Irish will probably rise in the AP Poll ranking from their current No. 22 spot, as they have just beaten the No. 16 team in the country. The game came down to free throws, and the Irish were steady-handed from the line. Way-to-go team!
In football news, there are a few stories that have been neglected because of the great success that the men’s basketball team is having. Coach Charlie Weis is apparently giving up the offensive play-calling duties to a coordinator. You can read all about it at ESPN.com. Weis was known as a great offensive strategist, but hopefully letting someone handle the play-by-play will allow him to be more effective elsewhere. Also, in case you haven’t heard, the Irish are widely considered to have the best signing class in the whole nation. So much for the bad season hampering the prospects.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on February 11, 2008 - Post a comment

Marquette Awaits Notre Dame on Saturday

Notre Dame is riding high, coming off a few big-time Big East victories that have put them in the upper echelon of the conference standings. The Irish have won four-straight conference games since their January 19th loss to Georgetown. Left in the wake of Notre Dame’s current hot streak are Villanova, Providence, DePaul and Seton Hall. On Saturday, No. 22 Notre Dame will host No. 16 Marquette in what should be a very exciting, high intensity game.

If you saw the Pittsburgh-West Virginia game yesterday, you know that the atmosphere of the Big East is getting to be pressure-packed. The Irish have a lead to maintain, as well as a home-court winning streak that stretches over 30 games. Marquette, however, has recent history on their side. The Golden Eagles won the last matchup between these two teams about a month ago. The Fighting Irish were obliterated in their January 12th matchup with Marquette 92-66. But this time the Irish will be prepared for everything the Golden Eagles have, and they’ll have the confidence of playing at home. No matter who wins, this ought to be a great game to see live.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on February 8, 2008 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Demolishes Seton Hall

The Notre Dame men’s basketball team beat Seton Hall last night by a score of 95-66. The Irish were lead by Luke Harangody, who was pretty much unstoppable on his way to 22 points and 13 rebounds in 33 minutes. Kyle McAlareny added 19 points and 6 assists for the Irish, who overwhelmed the Seton Hall Pirates from opening tip off to closing buzzer. The win puts the Irish in sole possession of the No. 2 spot in the Big East, improving their conference record to 7-2 and their overall record to 17-4.

Although the Irish were not playing a nationally ranked team, their continued success in the Big East is surely getting them noticed around the country. It would not be surprising to see Notre Dame jump into the teens in the AP Poll when the new list comes out next week—especially if they can continue their home winning streak when they play Marquette this weekend at the Joyce Center. Make sure to get your tickets to the game as soon as possible, because a sell-out is expected.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on February 7, 2008 - Post a comment

No. 22 Notre Dame to Play Seton Hall

Don’t you just love that this is the first blog where, when we mention the Irish, we have to put the No. 22 in front of the name? I know the Notre Dame Blog sure loves it. But we digress. On to some important business: Seton Hall. As you might be aware, the No. 22 (!!) Notre Dame Fighting Irish are set to play the Seton Hall Pirates on the road tonight. The Pirates are not a bad team at all, and the fact that this game is going to go down in hostile territory has to make some fans nervous. The Pirates are in the middle of the Big East pack, with an overall record of 15-7, a conference record of 5-4.

The Pirates are coming off of a loss to Georgetown, but before that game they had won five in a row, including a 92-82 win over Louisville. Seton Hall has a 10-2 home record, and they are 1-3 versus Top 25 teams. The Irish will attempt to make that record jump to 1-4 tonight. Much will be made of the showdown between the two top scorers in the Big East, Irish forward Luke Harangody and Seton Hall guard Brian Laing. Make sure to check out the game by either getting tickets or watching on TV.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on February 6, 2008 - Post a comment

Associated Press Poll: Notre Dame No. 22

It’s a huge day for the University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team. They were finally given a national ranking in the most prestigious poll, the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, which gave them a No. 22 ranking after 13 previous rankings excluded them from the Top 25. Now when you see Notre Dame on a nationally televised game, they will have a 22 next to their name in the scoreboard, something that will strike fear into opposing teams and their fans. This kind of thing will also, presumably, give the Irish a better chance of making it to the NCAA Tournament- that is, if the selection committee takes notice of such things.

In other polls the Irish are doing even better. Check out the index of national college basketball polls at CBSsportsline.com. You’ll see that the AP Top 25 has the Irish at 22, however, the prestigious Coaches Poll has them at No. 21. CBS’s top college hoops writer, Gary Parrish, has his own poll (Parrish’s Top 25 [and one]), which has the Irish at no. 11 in the nation. CBSsports.com RPI does not include a ranking for the Irish.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on February 5, 2008 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Beats DePaul 89-80

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish continued their winning streak this past weekend, beating the DePaul Blue Demons 89-80 on Saturday. The Irish have now won 33-straight games at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame improves their record to 16-4 overall, 6-2 in the Big East. DePaul in now 9-12 overall and 4-5 in the Big East, so although they were no push-over, the Irish were expected to win this game. The latest AP Poll ranking should include the latest wins, over Villanova, Providence and DePaul, leading many to believe that the Irish will get a ranking very soon. Notre Dame made the No. 21 spot in the latest ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Poll.

What’s even more important, from a Notre Dame Blog with a real tickets-getting slant, is that the Irish have been selling out their home games at a feverish clip. This past game reached capacity at 11,418, and as the days start getting closer to March, you can only expect that more and more fans will want to check out the action at the Joyce Center. The Irish are looking very good right now, but let’s learn a lesson from the Patriots and not get too cocky. There are still a lot of tough basketball games to play, so the Irish can’t rest on their oars now.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on February 4, 2008 - Post a comment


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