Joe Montana Rises to Stardom at Notre Dame

The game that most people will look back on as the moment where Joe Montana began to shine as a Notre Dame quarterback was a high-profile match up against the Purdue Boliermakers in the fall of 1977. After Notre Dame’s head coach Dan Devine had sent in three other QBs to try to get an offense going, he gave Joe Montana the nod with 11 minutes remaining. The Fighting Irish were down 24-14, but by the time the final whistle blew, the Irish had won 31-24.

After that game, Montana was considered a hero. He would end up starting every game for the Irish for the rest of the season. Eventually Notre Dame earned a spot in the Cotton Bowl, where they were to play the heavily favored Texas Longhorns. If you would have gotten Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets to that game, you would have seen Joe Montana break down the Longhorn defense with his precision passing and cool-headed decision making. The Irish ended up blowing out the Longhorns 38-10. If only StubHub.com could sell tickets to games in the past, it would be a great game for Notre Dame fans to get tickets for. Of course, there’s the whole time machine thing that we still have to work out…

Permalink - Posted in General on May 22, 2007 - Post a comment

Notre Dame’s Cool Joe: Part III

The University of Notre Dame sat quarterback Joe Montana for the entirety of his freshman season. While he was a sophomore he was finally able to prove himself on the field, coming off the bench to win three games for the Fighting Irish. In dramatic fashion, Joe Montana entered a game versus Navy, with the Irish down 30-10 with just 13 minutes remaining in the game. Cool Joe was able to put together three touchdown scoring drives to win the day 31-30. He also had a two-touchdown comeback earlier in the year against North Carolina. Both of these games Joe Montana stepped into a game with Notre Dame down and the time running out.

Montana’s fame as a great clutch QB was just beginning to blossom, when suddenly injury struck. A broken finger sidelined Joe for most of his sophomore year, and a shoulder injury kept him from playing his junior year. When he returned to action he was the starting QB, but his legend was still in its infancy. It wouldn’t be until a game in 1977 against Purdue that Joe Montana earned the nickname “The Comeback Kid.”

While you await the next installment of the Joe Montana series, check out StubHub.com for Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets for a future game that does not involve Joe Montana. It might, however, involve Montana’s daughters, who both attend the University of Notre Dame, and might well be attending home games next season.

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

Joe Montana Comes to Notre Dame

Joe Montana is one of the most famous Notre Dame QB’s of all time. He’s so famous in fact, that a U.S. state and a sandwich at Arby’s were both named after him. Actually, that’s not entirely true. What is true is that a town was named after him. Indeed, Joe, Montana has a population of about 30 people. It was named Ismay, Montana until 1993 when word of Joe Cool’s football prowess reached the town by the Pony Express. An old man at the post office read the note aloud at first, then adjusted his spectacles to reread the note silently. He burst from the doors of the building, running down Main Street waiving the letter in the air and alerting the citizens of Ismay. The church bells were rung for three minutes, a town meeting was called, and the rest is history.
Joe was actually an exceptional athlete in basketball, baseball and football. He declined an offer for a scholarship to play hoops at North Carolina State University, wanting to see how far his football career would go with the Irish, considered to be the best in the business at the time. Joe was recruited out of Ringgold High School in Pennsylvania, where he received Parade Magazine All-American honors. Many believe that a game Montana played against rival school Monessen High, where he led his team to a 34-34 tie against an overwhelming favorite, was the game that convinced Notre Dame to recruit Montana.

It’s a shame you can’t still get Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets to see Joe Montana play in South Bend. If StubHub.com could make it possible, I’m sure they would.

Permalink - Posted in General on May 18, 2007 - Post a comment

Notre Dame’s Joe Cool: Part One

Since the regular season of college football is still months and months away, spring football ended a few weeks ago, and about the only thing going on for Notre Dame football news is that a few high schoolers are making decisions, I though that maybe a little Fighting Irish history might be in order. There is a lot to cover with Notre Dame, but I’ll try to cover a few of my own favorite players, traditions, movies, personalities, coaches and games. Yesterday you got a little bit of coverage about the famous “Win One for the Gipper” game. One could write a book about that quote, let alone a few sentences in the Notre Dame football blog. I might get back to it. Right now, though, we will focus on Joe Montana.

In light of the current quarterback situation with the loss of Brady Quinn, I though that making a few comparisons and talking about previous great Notre Dame QB’s would be in order. The very first one to come to mind- for whatever reason- was Joe Montana. Everybody is well aware of Joe Cool’s NFL exploits (four Super Bowl victories, NFL MVPs, records, legendary comebacks…) but what was he like at Notre Dame?

While you’re thinking about the great Notre Dame players of yore, you can imagine yourself getting Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets at StubHub.com to watch them play in their prime. StubHub wasn’t around in Montana’s day, of course, but hey, it’s your fantasy; you figure it out.

Permalink - Posted in General on May 17, 2007 - Post a comment

Win One for the Gipper

One of the most famous moments in Notre Dame Fighting Irish football history- and in all of American sports- is probably the legendary “win one for the Gipper” speech given by Irish coach Knute Rockne at halftime during a 1928 Notre Dame-Navy game. Navy had been the clear favorites to win, having entered the game undefeated. Notre Dame was struggling at 4-2. At halftime Navy was up and appeared to be in control. Many people on the team had known or heard of George “The Gipper” Gipp, who was a well-liked and effective football player who had died in 1920 of strep throat.

The time was right to invoke his image. “I’ve got to go, Rock. It’s all right. I’m not afraid. Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are going wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go in there with all they’ve got and win just one for the Gipper. I don’t know where I’ll be then, Rock. But I’ll know about it, and I’ll be happy.”

Though you probably won’t be able to repeat a moment like that, ever, there are still plenty of opportunities left to visit StubHub.com to get Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets for future classic games.

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

2007 a “Step Back” for Nore Dame?

Recently ESPN.com’s Ivan Maisel and Mark Schalabach, two of their college football writers, wrote a short column on the three things they “can’t wait to see” out of the Independents next football season. Of course, the top of the list for both of the writers concerned the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish and how they would react to the loss of Brady Quinn.

Both reporters took the obvious road. Maisel wondered if Weis would be right when the coach had previously said that 2007 might be a step back for Notre Dame. It’s the opinion of Maisel that it will be, saying that the Irish have “only 10 returning starters, no experience at quarterback and four of the Irish’s first six games on the road.”

Schalabach wondered if Jimmy Clausen, the favorite to replace Quinn, might not have benefited from having any experience at the receiver position. He accurately brought up the fact that Clausen has impressed the Fighting Irish coaching staff immensely. The fact is, there are a lot of question marks this year in South Bend, and the only way to find out about all of them live and in person is to get Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets at StubHub.com.

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

Notre Dame’s Weis Gives Back

University of Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis recently attended a celebrity dinner to help fund raise for a local chapter of Volunteers for America. Although Weis gets an offer to attend charity functions about every other day, the Fighting Irish coach has very little time to lend to such organizations. He is forced to pick only a select few engagements throughout the year, and this past weekend he donated his tome to VoA.

Giving to charities has been a part of Charlie Weis’ life for a long time. Charlie Weis and his wife Maura have co-founded the organization known as “Hannah and Friends,” a group dedicated to helping families with developmentally disabled children. The Weis’ daughter, Hannah, suffers from developmental disorders.

Said Weis, “We have enough money to take care of Hannah. But we’ve seen so many people with special needs that just have crummy lives, that my wife talked me into starting a charity called ‘Hannah & Friends.”

Though buying Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets at StubHub.com doesn’t necessarily help disadvantaged youths, it will help improve the notoriety and value of signed Notre Dame memorabilia, which is often times auctioned off at charity dinners. So in a way, it helps.

Permalink - Posted in General on May 14, 2007 - Post a comment

Will Fighting Irish Win Mascot Tourney?

In case you are unaware, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are officially out of the Mascot Tournament at CBS Sportsline.com. The Fighting Irish lost to the Wyoming Cowboys in the Humans Division’s second round after defeating the George Washington Colonials in the first. Had the Irish been able to overcome the Cowboys, they would have faced my personal favorite mascot of all time, the Demon Deacon of Wake Forest.

For me, this kind of mascot challenge comes every year when I make my NCAA Tournament brackets. Usually the winners are so random that you might as well pick by team color or cuteness of mascot. Many have wondered, which school really has the best mascot, and this site is the first hat I have known of that seeks to decide this once and for all. Everything is debatable: the seeds, the winners, the reasons. Personally, I agree with the way the Fighting Irish went out. They would probably beat a Colonial because the adjective “Fighting” makes you think that the Irish would be way more aggressive than a guy concerned with spreading the British Empire through expansion and resource exploitation.

Cowboys have guns, so no matter how mad the Irish guy looks, he probably won’t win in a fight with Wyatt Earp… no matter how drunk the Irishman is assumed to be. For most of the people who buy Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets at StubHub.com this is just a waste of time, a fantasy for other college sports fans who want to see their team win once in a while.

Permalink - Posted in General on May 11, 2007 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Pep Rally Blog

In case you missed it, Bud Poliquin posted a great blog the other day about a University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football pep rally held at the Joyce Center last football season. Like for all home games, just aout 15,000 gathered in the gym to get pumped up for the UCLA game. The crowd was abuzz with excitement and energy, and then former Irish QB “Golden Boy” Paul Hornung took the microphone and everything took a turn for the awkward.

According to sources at the event, Digger Phelps and Dick Vitale had already given some pretty standard pump-up speeches when Hormung got the stage. After a few minutes of bland rabble-rousing, something inexplicable happened… something embarrassing and confusing which turned the crowd from frenzied to puzzled.

If you get a chance you ought to check it out. Then, when you are finished laughing you can get to StubHub.com to secure your Notre Dame Fighting Irish football tickets for a game next season. We know what you’re going to ask, but no, the rallies are for students and we don’t sell tickets to them.

Permalink - Posted in General on May 10, 2007 - Post a comment

Brady, Beck Drawing Comparisons

Because of their NFL draft day positioning, Brady Quinn, the former Notre Dame quarterback, and John Beck, the former Brigham Young quarterback, will probably draw a lot of comparisons throughout their careers in the NFL. Quinn was drafted No. 22 by the Cleveland Browns, and Beck was drafted No. 40 by the Miami Dolphins. Both QBs were taken much later in the draft than they had anticipated, unlike LSU QB JaMarcus Russell, who was drafted first overall by the Oakland Raiders.

So lets see how Quinn and Beck compare, using their college stats. It appears that as far as their body types go, Quinn has the advantage. He is 6′4”, 227, two inches taller and about 15 pounds heavier than Beck, although they are both more than big enough to compete in the NFL. Quinn and Beck are almost identical when you compare their stats for their senior seasons. They both tossed over 30 touchdowns and threw for about 3,500 yards.

The one thing that Beck has over Quinn might be that the Dolphins chose to pass on the Notre Dame passer. Miami had the ninth pick overall, but skipped over Quinn, taking Beck in the second round instead. Though you can’t get Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets to see Brady Quinn anymore, you can still get some NFL tickets at StubHub.com to find out which of these players turns out to be the better draft pick.

Permalink - Posted in General on May 9, 2007 - Post a comment


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