Category: Notre Dame

If today’s Notre Dame vs. Stanford game were about engineering or medicine, I’d be a little worried. But Notre Dame should dominate Walt Harris’s injury deflated team on all sides of the ball. Really, all the Irish need are some people to lose in front of them and to keep healthy. With no difficult opponent on the schedule for almost a month, Notre Dame should be highly ranked by the time the USC game rolls around.

Here are the highlights and lowlights to Notre Dame’s victory over Michigan State. [Text version]

It’s not a secret that I am a Notre Dame football fan. (Yes, I like all their sports teams and follow them all… but football is obviously what they do best.) The last decade or so has not been that great for ND but we’re finally looking good these days with a #2 ranking currently.

Notre Dame has two rivals. By far, the biggest football rival is the University of Southern California Trojans. That game is traditionally around Thanksgiving. But at the beggining of every year is their secondary rival.

Today Notre Dame takes on the Michigan Wolverines. Their primary rivals are the Buckeyes of Ohio State. So for both teams, this is a big game but not the big game of their year.

Of course, the interesting thing about today for me is always that I am a Notre Dame fan living and surrounded by Michigan fanatics. All that to say, the flag is flying on Bailey Street for all the Michigan fans to see. Later this evening I’ll either be proudly waving that flag or sheepishly putting it away until next week.

I don’t think Michigan is that great of a football team, but I also recognize that this rivalry game is generally a close one. In a few hours, we will all know.

It’s August, just a few more week until the college football season kicks off. For lack of a better term, I am really ready for it to begin. Being a Notre Dame fan hasn’t been easy the last decade or so but this could really be our year. Please, please, please let it be our year.

There is a great article about my Fightin’ Irish on the ESPN website. Here are some excerpts.

A year ago the South Bend Marriott required a two-night minimum stay
during a Notre Dame football weekend. I know, because my company credit
card was billed $299 per night.

Now for the Sept. 9 home opener against Penn State the Marriott
is requiring a three-night minimum for — are you sitting down? — $649
(plus tax) per night. By the way, the 298-room hotel is sold out. The
Marriott loves Weis.

I’ve been a Notre Dame Football fan my whole life. And it’s been a long time since we’ve been truly good. Perhaps 1990? That was the last time when I can think of a bench full of stars… well, it is finally happening again.

This is on the ESPN football page, Brady Quinn is the #1 rated QB in college football.

1. Brady Quinn, Notre Dame, SR, 6-4, 228
The light finally came on under first-year head coach Charlie Weis last
season. Quinn completed nearly 65 percent of his passes for nearly
4,000 yards, while throwing 25 more touchdowns (32) than interceptions
(seven). Another strong campaign as a senior could land Quinn the
Heisman Trophy, not to mention the top spot in next year’s NFL draft.

I hope that’s a good sign for a good year to come.

Last night Notre Dame survived a major scare to comeback and win against a defenseless and otherwise pathetic Stanford team. [Story]

There was one thing that I noticed with the game yesterday. Obviously, they should have blown Stanford out. But keep in mind that ND has a history of getting beaten with "everything on the line." It was just 12 years ago that they lost to Boston College a week after beating #1 Florida State.

But last night, for the first time in a long time… Notre Dame played with moxie. They drove the field and scored a TD to win the game. $14.5 million on the line, no big deal. Put the ball in the endzone and move on to the BCS.

I am not on the bandwagon just yet. True enough that my Irish look pretty solid, but if they don’t get some more fresh talen we’ve got Bob Davie all over again. For that matter, Bob Davie and Tyrone Willingham both took the Irish to a BCS game early in their career only to get fired a few years later. I am being pesimistic. If they win the BCS game… then I will jump on the bandwagon.

With a solid, solid game today my favorite team rolls on towards a BCS bid. They are now 7-2 and will move up to maybe as high as 7th in the polls this week after Bama’s loss.

What has most impressed me is how they have won this year. It hasn’t been luck… just good solid play. Darius Walker (pictured here) has been an amazing running back. The best part? Almost all of this team are underclassmen. Next year should be truly amazing.