Notes from the Notre Dame Japan Bowl

A special Notre Dame senior team has been put together under the direction of Hall of Fame Coach Lou Holtz to play the senior Japanese national team in the Notre Dame Japan Bowl coming up in the beginning of August. The players and coaches have arrived in Japan and will be playing practice games in the Land of the Rising Sun prior to the main event.

The Notre Dame Athletics Blog, the official one at UND.com, has been updating fans about the goings-on of the team in Japan. Most of the blog have centered around the daily activities of the team- they eat out, stay at fancy hotels, see the sights. Sounds like fun. But the game might be a brutal dose of reality when it finally comes. According to Lou Holtz:

“I worry most about our skill positions - wide receiver, quarterback, running back. Our guys have not played in a competitive game for a while. The mind may be willing but the body ain’t. But these guys have won a lot of big games in their time. It’s like riding a bike. When they kick it off, you hope they’ll remember how to play.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on July 23, 2009 - Post a comment

More From Knute

Knute Rockne was a man full of wisdom and inspiration, and today we’re going to share a little of both with you. Here are a few more quotes to live by from the one, the only Knute Rockne. As you know, Knute was one of the most accomplished college football coaches of all time, and he’s a legend here at Notre Dame. We got these quotes from the list at BrainyQuote.com. Enjoy!

“When you were riding on the crest of a wave, you were most likely to be missing out on something.”

“Win or lose, do it fairly.”

“Winning to often is as disastrous as losing too often. Both get the same results, the falling off of the public’s enthusiasm.”

“Yes, I now that you feel you are not strong enough. That’s what the enemy thinks too. But we’re gonna fool them.”

“You know, I’ve been attending so many banquets that I know what they’re going to serve before I get there.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on July 22, 2009 - Post a comment

Notre Dame-Army Game Now Set for Yankee Stadium in 2010

The University of Notre Dame will play West Point in the new Yankee Stadium on November 20th, 2010. The game had been in the works for some time now, and we’ve had some blogs about the possibility of this matchup happening at the new Yankee Stadium. Now it’s official. Clear out your calendars and start looking for flights and hotel rooms to New York City.

What does this mean to the Irish football fans out there. Well, it’s a great excuse to take a vacation to the Big Apple in November. Get some sight seeing in while you prepare for the game. You’ll also get to see the new and improved Yankee Stadium, largely considered the most decadent stadium in all of Major League Baseball. As far as the team goes, the Irish will play essentially an away game, as Army is located much closer to the stadium than Notre Dame. However, the publicity around the game should be big. The hype should be impressive. And the Irish ought to get a big-time win on national television. Sounds like a great game to attend. Start looking for tickets.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on July 21, 2009 - Post a comment

Lou Holtz, Hall of Famer

Over the weekend Lou Holtz was inducted into the College Football Halll of Fame, one of the greatest achievements for any college football player or coach.  Holtz coached at Notre Dame in the 1980s and 1990s, but also coached at William and Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota, South Carolina, and for the New York Jets.  With Notre Dame between 1988 and 1993 Holtz recorded a 64-9-1 record. He originally began coaching at Notre Dame in 1986, but the program was struggling and his first full season in South Bend ended with a record of 5-6. He turned things around quickly, and the Irish enjoyed a decade near the top of the college football pile. He took the Irish to nine straight bowl games and finished with an overall record at the school of 100-30-2. Holtz won a national championship at Notre Dame in 1988 after leading the team through the entire season without a loss. He had four one-loss seasons with the Fighting Irish.

In honor of Coach Holtz, here are a few of the best quotes he ever said:

“Coaching is nothing more than eliminating mistakes before you get fired.”

“How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after the game, whether you are a winner or a loser.”

“If you’re bored with life - you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things - you don’t have enough goals.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on July 20, 2009 - Post a comment

Charlie Weis Quotes form The Team Report

If you go to the regular sports media outlets like FOxSports.com, CBSSports.com and others, you will probably run across a standard Team Report that appears at the home page for those teams within the website. It’s usually good for some quick-hit info on the current story lines of the team. We got these Charlie Weis quotes from the FoxSports.com Team Report. Enjoy:

“The bottom line is we have a lot of guys that aren’t that young anymore. And it’s time for them to step up and mature as a group, mature as a team.”

“We looked back at all the teams that played in the BCS, took the highs and lows, and said here is what the teams in the BCS are doing, and those teams were averaging over 4.6 yards per carry. We were averaging 3.3. It all starts with the run game.”

“If you can run the ball, everything is easier. Protection is easier, throwing the ball is easier, everything is easier. It all starts with being able to control the line of scrimmage.”

On QB Jimmy Clausen: “He is doing a much better job at running the operation. The involvement from calling plays to running plays to running the offense is really a three-step deal. First, just call the play, then you run the plays, then you run the offense, and that is where he has gotten. He has gotten to the point where he is running the offense and once you get to that point, the sky is the limit.”

“I never said we are good enough; we have a lot of room for improvement. I’ll let you know that in September. Right now we have a long way to go. I just think that it was a very good spring; we improved in a lot of areas and we have a long way to go to be a really good football team. But at least potentially the elements are in place to be a good team.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on July 10, 2009 - Post a comment

New Look for the UND Sports Website; W Soccer Schedule Out

The University of Notre Dame sports website has a new look, and we must say: Well done, Fighting Irish website designers. Gone is the plain old blue background of yesterseason. In is the new, hot, stylish photo background depicting the UND campus in all its glory. The layout of the features isn’t all that different. You still get some of the headlines in a box towards the right of the page, and there are still a few scrolling main headlines with pictures occupying the left section. But the logo at the top and changing background photos, including the the fish eye panorama of the campus, look absolutely stunning. Check it out when you have a chance.

That chance might have come sooner than you anticipated. We’re sending you to check out the women’s soccer schedule, which just came out the other day. As you know, the women’s soccer team is always one of the best programs in the nation, and this upcoming season should be no different. The Irish will play teams like North Carolina, Wisconsin and UConn at home next season. Start planning to see these games.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on July 9, 2009 - Post a comment

Thoughts on Notre Dame’s Football Schedule

Checking out SportsIllustrated.com this morning, we noticed a nice little article about the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team written by Cory McCartney. Cory’s talking about the Notre Dame schedule, specifically about how it will affect their chances of getting into a BCS Bowl. He thinks that the Domers are all set for a 10-win season, and if that happens, they’ll get into a Bowl and save Charlie Weis from the hot seat that he’s supposedly occupying right now.

McCartney’s article has all the usual remarks that the other sports website writers have made about the Irish. Although all of the schools on the schedule are A-list, big-time programs in big-time, A-list conferences (with the exception of Nevada), this year is perfect because the Domers will catch Michigan, Michigan State, Washington, Washington State, Stanford, Purdue, and BC are all going to have rebuilding years next season. Will it happen for the Irish?  You’ll have to get tickets to find out! Oh, what’s good for the team and ticket purchasers alike- the Irish play seven games at home.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on July 8, 2009 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Makes Another Top 25

All this offseason we’ve shown you blog readers the places where Notre Dame football has been rising in the standings. At the beginning of the offseason we remember there being a lot of Top 25 lists that had Notre Dame at about No. 22. It was a nice notion, that the list-makers would try to include theDomers near the back. But nowadays the Fighting Irish seem to be rising. We pulled this list of the top 25 teams in the nation off ESPN. It’s by Mark Schlabach, a regular college football writer for ESPN. He ranks Notre Dame at No. 17, which is about the highest we’ve seen them ranked all spring. let’s keep that number lowering, boys.

Mark’s comments don’t say anything too new. The Irish should have a formidable passing offense led by Clausen, Tate and Floyd. The defense returns key guys. Coaching changes should produce better in-game management. The schedule is favorable.Weis needs at least nine wins. We’ve heard it all before. What’s nice about the list is the rankings of all the other teams. Notre Dame will play only one team this next season who made Mark’s Top 25, and that’s No. 4USC.

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Permalink - Posted in General on July 7, 2009 - Post a comment

Looking at the Big Ten, Big East and Pac-10 Football Previews

Although the Fighting Irish don’t play football in any conference, their opponents do, for the most part. That’s why we’ve decided to do some snooping in on the conference previews of some of the teams that the Irish will play next season. Teams from the Big Ten, Pac-10 and Big East make up nine of twelve teams on the Irish’s schedule next season. So it would be good to get to know these conferences, right?

  • Big Ten: The Irish will meet with Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue in three consecutive weekends early in the season. For now the college football brains seem to think that only Michigan State has a real shot at being good. Michigan and Purdue will likely be near the bottom of the conference.
  • Big East: Notre Dame will play Pittsburgh and UConn. Pitt could be the best team in the Big East, but UConn is supposed to be middle-of-the-pack at best.
  • Pac-10: Notre Dame will play Washington, USC, Washington State and Stanford from the Pac-10. While USC is again a national title contender, the other three are supposed to occupy the last three positions in the Pac-10 standings.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on July 6, 2009 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Basketball Players Slam Dunk GPA This Semester

Notre Dame is one of the elite universities in the nation, revered for its academic excellence, athletic accomplishments and dedication to improving the community. While some schools like Yale and Princeton are elite in the classroom, they lack on the sports field. Some schools like USC and Ohio State are good athletically, but not known for elite academics. Schools like Notre Dame, Stanford and North Carolina have the best of all possible worlds. Speaking of which, there’s a nice story at UND.com about the men’s basketball team and how well they GPA-wise this past semester.

Apparently the Fighting Irish (or Studying Irish as it were) were as good at hitting the boards as they were at hitting the books. The team achieved a 3.16 GPA overall, one of the highest of any sport at the University and one of the best on record for the basketball team. They’ve been over 3.0 for nine of the past 11 seasons. Luke Zeller paced the team with a terrific 4.0, and Zach Hillesland achieved a 3.67. Congratulations, Irish! Keep up the good work!

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Permalink - Posted in General on July 2, 2009 - Post a comment


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