Around the Bend: Taking a Look at UND Sports

With football on a near-two week hiatus before the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve, the other sports deserve to get some recognition. Let’s go around the horn, or, around the (South) Bend, as it were, to see what the other athletes are up to.

  • A couple of men’s soccer players, Matt Besler and Jack Traynor, have been invited to go to the Major League Soccer combine.
  • Men’s hockey has a series versus Bowling Green this weekend. Tonight they play away, but on the 13th they play here in South Bend.
  • On Saturday the Irish men’s hoop team will play one of their rivals, Boston College, in an all-catholic, non-conference regular season matchup. It’s a home game, so be there.
  • Fencing is in full swing, so if you get a chance, there are events coming up to check out.
  • Women’s basketball team plays at Valparaiso this Saturday.
  • If you’re looking to give your Notre Dame alumnus father a Christmas gift, the online store at UND.com is advertising Notre Dame cashmere V-neck sweaters and cashmere vests for reduced prices- only 69 and 58 bucks, respectively. Think about it.

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

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

Hawaii Bowl - Team, Individual Stats Comparison

The Notre Dame Blog hasn’t been to Fox Sports in quite a while, but they seem to have their act together nonetheless. The Fox Sports website has a nice head-to-head breakdown of the bowl games for all to see, and we’ve decided to look at the Notre Dame-Hawaii, Hawaii Bowl matchup. Looking at the numbers, some things jump out at us. Here they are:

  • The teams have a full 13 days left to prepare for the Christmas Eve matchup.
  • The Hawaii and Notre Dame offenses are eerily similar, especially in the total game stats. Notre Dame ranks 75th in the nation in total offense and points. Hawaii ranks 74th in both categories.
  • On defense the Irish appear to be better overall, as they allow slightly fewer points, passing yards and rushing yards.
  • As for individual stats, Jimmy Clausen looks much better than the two Hawaii QBs, but then, he played more games. Allen and Hawaii’s Libre look similar.

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

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

Irish Players Happy Weis Is Staying On

Not surprisingly, Notre Dame football players are, in general, delighted to hear that head coach Charlie Weis is staying at Notre Dame next season, and not being replaced, as some had speculated after his team finished the season 6-6. The Domers are probably glad that there won’t be a bunch of changes. Also, in general people seem to think Weis is a good guy, with a big heart and a clever football mind. Nobody wants to see the guy get the ax, so the players are responding accordingly. Mike Frank, who covers the Irish for Scout.com, had this to say, according to an Observer Online article by Lorenzo Reyes:

“I think it’s really important for the 2009 kids to see Notre Dame bounce back from a rough stretch and get things back in order. I don’t think it will make or break anything but for the 2010 kids, they were off to a tremendous start with the 2010 kids. They’re in really god position with some of the elite guys and I’m not sure what kind of damage a 6-6 season can do. I know one thing - a win will certainly help. What they can’t have is to see ‘Notre Dame keeps its bowl losing streak alive’ all over ESPN and that’s the kind of thing you need to avoid, so it’s very important for the future of the program to win this game.”

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

Permalink - Posted in General on December 10, 2008 - Post a comment

With ND in the Hawaii Bowl, We Take a Look Around

Notre Dame landed the Hawaii Bowl, where they will face the home team Hawaii Warriors on December 24th. So, we basically have about two weeks to preview every possible aspect of the game. Instead, let’s start off by taking a look around…

  • Other bowl game matchups college football fans should be interested in include the BCS Title Game (Sam Bradford’s Sooners vs. Tim Tebow’s Gators) and USC-Penn State in the Rose Bowl. No shockers here.
  • The Notre Dame women’s soccer team lost in the NCAA Title game to North Carolina, meaning they ended their season as the No. 2 team in the nation. Congrats to all the Irish soccer players!
  • Notre Dame’s men’s soccer team lost in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament to Northwestern. Congrats to the men for coming this far!
  • The Irish men’s cross country team finished 19th in the NCAA Championship.
  • The Irish women’s cross country team finished 29th in the NCAA Championship.
  • The Notre Dame men’s basketball team dropped to No. 12 in the nation in the latest AP Poll.
  • The Notre Dame women’s basketball team is ranked 8th in the latest AP Poll.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on December 9, 2008 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Says “Aloha” to Hawaii Bowl

Notre Dame was selected to play in the Hawaii Bowl this weekend, meaning that they are scheduled to play the Hawaii Warriors, basically the home team, on December 24th, Christmas Eve. This is a great opportunity for the Irish to get a Bowl Game win with what should be a large television audience. The Irish have lost nine bowl games in a row, and breaking that streak would go a long way to help Coach Weis’ case, and the turnaround of the program in general. According to an AP article about the bowl selection, Weis had this to say:

“This is a great opportunity for our team to face a quality opponent in their backyard and we’ll need to be ready. I know the extra practices this month will really benefit our team and we look forward to ending this season on a good note.“

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

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

Notre Dame Women’s Soccer to Battle Stanford Tonight!

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish Women’s Soccer team is set to play the Stanford Cardinal tonight in North Carolina in the semifinal match in the NCAA Soccer Tournament. Notre Dame has defeated Michigan State, Minnesota and Florida State already in the Tournament. They are ranked No. 1 overall, with a record of 25-0-0. Stanford isn’t half bad wither. The Cardinal are 22-1-1, and ranked fifth. It should be an excellent game, so if you’re in the neighborhood, you might want to check out the College Cup.

Now some commentary: They Irish were by far the best team in the nation in the regular season, but goals and wins have been harder to come by in the tournament. They beat Michigan State 1-0, beat Minnesota 1-0 and Florida State 2-0. Competition has stepped it up, and the Irish will have to as well, if they want to beat the Cardinal, the best team they’ve faced so far. The Notre Dame-Stanford rivalry is a good one to take note of, as well. We predict a very good game.

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

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

Irish Point Guard Troy Jackson Getting It Done

Troy Jackson isn’t a guy who shows up on the score sheet as the No. 1 points man every night, but he’s the facilitator of the No. 7 Irish’s offense, and a big reason they are where they are today. If you wan to learn more about Jackson and his role on the team, you should check out a great article about him at the SouthBendTribune.com website. According to the SouthBendTribune.com, Coach Mike Brey said this about Jackson:

“He is the toughest guy, mentally and physically, I have ever been associated with in 25 years of coaching. That’s the rock that we need every night.”

If you’re looking to get some Notre Dame basketball tickets, you might want to focus your attention on the Ohio State game or even the Boston College game. Neither of these teams will be pushovers, as they are both huge programs. Plus, you have the whole Notre Dame-Boston College rivalry to think about. Get tickets and root for Troy Jackson.

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

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

Charlie Will Stay, Says Athletic Director

Charlie Weis will stay on as the Notre Dame football coach this next season, says the Fighting Irish athletic director, Jack Swarbrick. The rumors had been flying fast and furious as to the future of Weis, the coach who has led the Irish to 15 losses in the past two seasons, but also the coach who has improved the team from a 3-9 record last year to a 6-6 record this year. As any Notre Dame football fan will tell you, there are good things about Charlie and there are bad things about Charlie. Apparently, for now at least, the athletic department sees the glass as half full.

The move to squash the firing rumors is a good one- it gives the players confidence that there’s not going to be a lot of turmoil as they prepare for their bowl game in a few weeks, and it allows the program to continue to grow according to Weis’ plan. Changing chefs ever few minutes leads to a rather messy kitchen, if you get my drift. Irish fans will be glad to know that Weis, arguably the best recruiter of talent in the nation, will be pounding the pavement this offseason.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on December 3, 2008 - Post a comment

Sticking Up for Charlie

The mainstream sports media has been all over Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis these days. After the Irish lost their last regular season game versus the overpowering USC Trojans, the Irish dropped to a 6-6 record- not the kind you’d expect from a football program as prestigious as Notre Dame, but still a stark improvement from the 3-9 effort last season. After an auspicious beginning, in which the Irish jumped out to a 4-2 start, Notre Dame started playing harder teams and losing close ones, and wound up with a mediocre record. Now some fans are calling for his head, and the media is jumping all over the story. If you’d like to hear a voice of reason, check out the Bleacher Report, an open source sports reporting website with a fair-minded, magnanimous look at Weis.

Some things the article either brings up/things Jack Swarbrick should consider:

  • Weis is the nation’s No. 1 recruiter, in possibly the most difficult situation for recruiting.
  • How many of the losses were turnover related vs. how many were strategy related?
  • Production significantly increased this season, in all elements of the game. Why stop progress?
  • Firing Willingham Baer, O’Leary and Davie so quickly didn’t exactly breed long term success, did it?
  • Think about the contract.
  • Who are you going to replace him with? You just know it won’t be the solution.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on December 2, 2008 - Post a comment

Good News-Bad News for Fighting Irish Fans

Mondays are never easy, especially when you have to give your blog readers some good news and some bad news. Like today, for instance. Today is a Monday where there are some good things that happened over the weekend, and there are some bad things. Let’s start with the good: The Fighting Irish basketball team just won it’s 39th straight home game this past Sunday, when Notre Dame beat Furman at the Joyce Center. This home winning streak beats out their old record, set back in the mid to late 1940s. The Fighting Irish men’s hoops team is now 5-1 overall.

The bad news? Notre Dame got crushed by USC in the last football game of the regular season. The Irish, who were heavy underdogs entering the contest, lost 3-38 while being completely overwhelmed by the Trojan defense, and unable at times to stop the Trojan offense. The big story wasn’t really that Notre Dame was beaten- which was expected- but what will become of Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis. After an auspicious beginning to the season Weis has led the team to an overall record of just 6-6, and depending on their bowl game performance, his job will again be on the line. Or, so most of the commentators say.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on December 1, 2008 - Post a comment


 Page 2 of 2 « 1  2