Saturday, January 8, 2011

Irish vs. UCONN -- CBS @ 2 PM EST!


Muffet's #12 ranked Fighting Irish take on the #2 ranked UCONN Huskies -- in front of a SOLD OUT Purcell Pavillion (if Irish fans get through the snow to the game) and a national TV audience on CBS.  The game tips off at 2 PM EST -- GO IRISH!  Here's a link to GAMEDAY CENTRAL at UND.COM:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME vs. UCONN -- GAMEDAY CENTRAL

Harangody's Best Game as a Pro!!!

Former Notre Dame All-American, Luke Harangody -- finally got his chance last night to show what he can do in the NBA.  The Irish start "lit up" the Toronto Raptors, in front of the home crowd, with his first career "DOUBLE-DOUBLE" -- scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in the Boston Celtics' 122-102 win.  Here's a link to an ESPN blog story on Luke's big night along with a video of his post game interview.  Congrats!

LINK:  HARANGODY -- FIRST CAREER "DOUBLE-DOUBLE"

Notre Dame -- Snow Storm!!!

The University of Notre Dame is getting hammered by a "LAKE EFFECT" snow storm.  This morning, WNDU-TV is reporting that there is two feet of snow on the ground, with more on the way -- over the next 36 hours.  Those of us not in the storm, will get a kick out of the weather radar link below from WSBT-TV.  You'll see first hand how some areas are getting buried in snow and a few blocks away, there might be no snow at all.  Here's a link to the news story, a link to the weather radar -- and a live link to a webcam view of South Quad, Clarke Memorial Fountain and the Dome & Basilica -- on the University of Notre Dame campus:

LINK:  WNDU-TV REPORT ON SNOW STORM

LINK:  WSBT-TV -- LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING

LINK:  WEBCAM VIEW OF SOUTH QUAD

LINK:  WEBCAM VIEW OF CLARKE MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN 

LINK:  WEBCAM VIEW OF DOME AND BASILICA

U.S. Army All-American Bowl -- 1 PM EST

Today's U.S. Army All-American Bowl from San Antonio, TX will feature three ND "verbal" commi and a couple of more who have yet to decide.   The game will be televised by NBC beginning at 1 PM EST.  The photo above is from the 2008 U.S. Army All-American Bowl's -- featuring the 14 Notre Dame "committed" players in the game -- you might recognize a few of their "baby" faces!  Here's the All-Americans Notre Dame fans will want to keep an eye out for today:

All-Americans -- who have "verbally" committed to the Irish:
  • George Atkinson III (ATH) -- on the West Team, will be wearing #20
  • Matthew Hegarty (OL) -- on the West Team, will be wearing #56
  • Stephon Tuitt (DE) -- on the East Team, will be wearing #98

All-Americans -- who are still considering committing to the Irish:
  • Aaron Lynch (DE) -- on the East Team will be wearing #19
  • Ishaq Williams (OLB) -- on the East Team, will be wearing #1

Notes concerning today's game:
  • Atkinson, one of the best athletes on the field, is playing "safety" in today's game -- the same position his father played in the NFL for 10 seasons for the Oakland Raiders.  George III will be playing wide receiver when he arrives in South Bend this fall.
  • Matthew Hegarty, banged up a knee in a high school basketball game a few weeks ago -- he'll be wearing a brace and should be good to go.  He just might be the best high school offensive lineman in America.
  • Tuitt, earned a starting spot at DE today -- over a player (Ray Drew) that ESPN "experts" regard as the #3 "overall" high school player in America.  So much for recruiting experts at ESPN!  A big, powerful, athletic player -- who just might be Brian Kelly's most important recruit.  A number of schools are still recruiting him hard.
  • Aaron Lynch, a Notre Dame "verbal" commit this past August -- only to de-commit in October and give a verbal commit to Florida State.  Just this week, Lynch decided to "de-commit" again and now is going to visit Notre Dame next weekend.  Lynch, another big, powerful, athletic body -- was running with Tuitt, this week, as a starting DE for the East Team.  Lynch and Tuitt could team up in South Bend and become our "Browner and Fry" -- for those of you who are old enough to remember these book end Defensive Ends for Coach Parseghian.  
LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE STORY ON AARON LYNCH
  • Ishaq Williams, was scheduled to make a commitment to one of his final three schools today;  Notre Dame, Penn State or Syracuse.  However, he decided in the last day or so -- to "possibly" delay this decision.  He's expected to "enroll early" in one of these schools, so he doesn't have much time.  Many feel Notre Dame leads here -- but, both parents are Syracuse grads and a few feel Penn State is the team to beat (???).  He's being recruited to play an OLB for Notre Dame, but is expected to play a DE position in today's game.
LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE STORY ON ISHAQ WILLIAMS
    Here are links to both team's rosters and ESPN's analysis of some of the better players:

    LINK:  ROSTERS -- 2011 U.S. ARMY ALL-AMERICAN BOWL

    LINK:  ESPN PREVIEW OF PLAYERS IN TODAY'S GAME