McAlarney Continues Diary of Ireland Trip

Kyle McAlarney continues to write journal entries about his trip to Ireland with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball team. You can check out his entries fro the past two days, but a fair warning: don’t read them unless you want to be exceedingly jealous. As you might know, the Fighting Irish are in Ireland for the time being on a trip to promote a better basketball relationship with Ireland, and also to participate in some basketball camps. It’s training, but it’s also vacation.

Kyle’s Day Two is a lot better than the first day. You even get a picture of Kyle overlooking the famous cliffs. Boy it must be nice. The first day of their trip was mostly spent flying there and being really, really jet lagged. But Day Two seems to be much more chock-full of adventure and action.

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

Notre Dame’s McAlarney Writes Journal of Ireland Trip

The University of Notre Dame basketball team is getting into the spirit of international competition these days. The Fighting Irish have traveled to Ireland to compete in exhibition games against some youth teams in Europe and to participate in some preseason camps. While the purpose of the trip is supposed to be basketball-related, the young men will defiantly benefit from having an experience like this outside of the country. There will be sightseeing, too.

Guard Kyle McAlarney has written a journal entry for his first day on the trip. Most of the first entry is about the plane ride to Ireland, which included an unscheduled maintenance stop in Boston for a few hours. Not surprisingly, the athletes were pretty jet lagged and tired after making the Atlantic voyage, so the first one isn’t very good. Of note: Kyle read “The Pistol,” a biography of Pistol Pete Marovich, on the way. Also, according to McAlarney, who has the perfect name for an Irish lad visiting Ireland, Ireland is very green.

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

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

Clausen’s Scandalous Internet Photos

There’s no escaping the hype. Jimmy Clausen was photographed (or at least so it would seem) at a drinking game with some of his teammates, including Brian Smith and James Aldridge. Nobody knows who took the photos, when they were taken, or whether the boys were actually drinking, but that doesn’t seem to dissuade the internet from going crazy with a beer photo buzz about them.

The reason this is news at all is that Jimmy Clausen has already been in trouble for alcohol-related issues. He does not turn 21 for a few months. A year ago he was caught transporting alcohol for older friends of his, though he cited that he did not know the rules regarding the transportation of alcohol in the state of Indiana. Look- if you think that a college football player can completely avoid the culture of alcohol on a modern day college campus, you need a stiff shot of reality, buddy.

As yet, there’s no proof of anything other than that Jimmy was AT a party where alcohol was served. He isn’t even holding a Dixie cup. Seems like a lot of hullabaloo about nothing- but then, that’s the internet for you. As a blog, we couldn’t help but address the issue. But hopefully it goes away very quickly, as there’s really nothing here to be all that concerned about.

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

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

Weis On The Running Back Situation

As you might know already, the Notre Dame Irish were not exactly the Arkansas Razorbacks last season. Although there was some talent in the backfield, the running game was a constant struggle, and the Irish definitely did not have two first round draft picks back there, like Arkansas. The Irish had the lowest average total offensive per game numbers last year, and a huge reason for that was that they were never able to establish a running game. So it should come as no surprise that the coaching staff expects that things will improve this year.

Take a look at what the Sports Xchange (via CBS Sports) has said about the situation. Charlie Weis gave a nice quote about his expectations, too. The Irish will likely split time in the backfield between James Aldridge, Armando Allen and Robert Hughes.

“I think all three of these running backs can play. I don’t think there’s any question that you can put any of those three guys out there and you’d have a chance of winning in the game.” —Coach Charlie Weis

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

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

Notre Dame’s Mariel Zagunis Wins Gold No. 2

A number of days ago the Notre Dame Blog told you about all of the Olympic athletes who are, in some way or another, associated with the University of Notre Dame. Well, if you have been following the action in Beijing lately, then you know that Notre Dame’s own Mariel Zagunis won a gold medal at the Olympics. The Domer graduate was able to beat out a fellow American teammate, Sada Jacobson, in the final bout to take home her second gold medal at the Olympics. In 2004 she won the gold in the same event. Becca Ward, another American, finished third, giving the Americans a sweep of the women’s saber event.

Our hear-felt congratulations go out to Mariel, as well as Becca and Sada. Seeing three American flags go up amid the national anthem on Saturday was amazing. It was the first gold medal for the Americans at the Olympics. Although fencing is not a very popular sport, Mariel stated that she hoped that her win, as well as the performance of the silver and bronze medal winners, would help to raise awareness of the sport among American girls.

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

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

Dive Right In

Notre Dame Football is moving towards the opening game of the season with a renewed lease on life, after a refreshing break from the disappointing season in 2007/2008 they are looking to start again fresh. Coach Charlie Weis presented the team with a new mantra for this 2008/2009 season “Dive Right In.” He wants to encourage his players to go for the win and give it everything they’ve got, and he is looking for his players to keep going no matter what.

They are starting out the year strong, with their 23 member recruiting class being ranked second in the nation by many. When he addressed the media today, Coach Weis stated that he and his team are looking to get off to a fast start to bring them in with a strong finish. The team is looking forward to this season as an opportunity to redeem themselves from their disappointing season last year, which started out at 0-5. Lets see what the Fighting Irish can give us this year, as they work hard towards giving their fans cause for celebration in the year ahead. Look on Stub Hub for tickets for the Notre Dame football games.

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

Jimmy Clausen

Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame’s rising star QB, may have gotten himself in trouble this past weekend. While Jimmy is in every way an excellent player, there is some speculation as to whether the college is going to have to take some disciplinary actions since some photos have been released indicating that he and some fellow members of the team have been indulging in underage drinking. The photos were unearthed when someone anonymously sent them to the Big Lead website.

There are some incriminating aspects to the photos, one shows Jimmy and some of the other players standing around a table that has cups of what could be beer on it. The other shows Jimmy holding a cup with some unidentifiable liquid in it, but the actual liquid itself is not visible. There is no actual consumption of alcohol taking place in any of the photos. One doubts if either of the photos hold enough evidence for Clausen to be charged, however underage drinking is an offense that no college can take lightly. To see Jimmy Clausen playing QB for Notre Dame, look for your Notre Dame Football tickets at Stub Hub.

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

2008 Predictions for the Fighting Irish

The Fighting Irish are getting ready for the autumn, as they train for yet another season of football. With start of the season just a month away, fans are beginning to speculate on what they can expect from this year’s team. After last year’s predictions proved to be somewhat optimistic, fans are looking for more acheiveable predictions. They are opting for cautious optimism, rather than wildly hopeful expectations.

However, looking at this years playing schedule, there is a lot to be hopeful for. Notre Dame’s first game is scheduled against San Diego State on Saturday, September 6th, just one month away. Other games are against the teams from Michigan State, Purdue, Stanford and Boston College among others. Be sure to check out Stub Hubs for all your Notre Dame Tickets this year.

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

Notre Dame Assistant Joe Yonto Dies

83 year old Joe Yonto died early yesterday morning after having been a part of Notre Dame football, coaching, playing or simply representing the team for much of his life. His first association with the team was as a full back in 1945. He began his coaching career two years later as a senior after a leg injury made it impossible for him to play. After leaving college he went on to coach several high school teams. He returned to Notre Dame in ‘64 and stayed with the team in various assistant coaching capacities until his retirement in 1991. Even after retirement Yonto continued to represent the team at various events, most recently in an honorary coaching capacity in 2007.

Perhaps the passing of their beloved former assistant coach will spur the team on to even greater heights this year, in honor of his memory. Be sure to get your Notre Dame football tickets  at Stub Hubs, and watch your favorite team, playing for the win.

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

Notre Dame’s Great!

Following the end of the academic year, the University of Notre Dame was named as the seventh best “All-Around” university in the nation when it comes to athletics programs. The list was compiled by Sports Illustrated, with UNC and Ohio State earning the number one and two rankings respectively. All NCAA sports were considered in the “All-Around” judgment, but football and basketball were given extra points in SI’s scoring process. Notre Dame scored a total of 165 points in the competition, largely because of the success of their tennis, basketball, hockey and football programs.

Though you might have though of this year as the year of the Gator, Florida was actually just one ahead of the Irish, finishing with 178 points and a ranking of sixth. The rankings are fine, but they do not take into consideration some very important things when it comes to a college’s athletics program, such as enrollment size, academic standards for athletes and athletic budget, all things that would skew the actual performance of the schools on the list.

You can get tickets to see the sixth best sports university by getting Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets at StubHub.com.

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


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