Funny. It really seems like a year ago I did a “Cabin Fever” edition. I must be cracking up because we just had our 35th snowfall of the freaking season.
The Roundup:
Well, it’s been 96 days since a Notre Dame Football Player has taken part in an organized football activity (I’m not counting Senior Bowl or NFL Combine activities), so I suppose we can make it 28 more days.
The Irish football program has released their 2008 Spring Football Practice Schedule.
2008 Spring Football Practice Dates
Day Date
Wed. March 26
Fri. March 28
Sat. March 29
Mon. March 31
Wed. April 2
Fri. April 4 - Notre Dame Football Coaches Clinic
Sat. April 5 - Notre Dame Football Coaches Clinic
Mon. April 7
Wed. April 9
Fri. April 11
Sat. April 12
Mon. April 14
Wed. April 16
Fri. April 18
Sat. April 19 - Blue-Gold Spring Football Game
Given that schedule, we’ll only need to suffer through 140 days between the Blue-Gold game and the season opener against San Diego State. Of course, if we had an AD worth his paycheck, we’d only have to wait 133 days, but who’s counting, right?
Of special note is the fact that the “Coaches Clinic” is now open to “fans” as well. And yup, at least one of us is planning to attend. (We long ago stopped thinking we could have ever played for Notre Dame, but we still dream that we could coach Notre Dame) So if you’re planning to attend as well, let us know and maybe we can meet for beers.
At the coaching clinic, ND Special Teams Coach, Brian Polian’s father, Bill Polian, President of the Indianapolis Colts will be speaking. But I’m particularly interested to hear from the other 2 speakers, Mount Union College HC, Larry Kehres and Grand Valley State HC, Chuck Martin. In 22 seasons at Mount Union, Kehres has lead the Purple Raiders to 16 undefeated seasons, including an undefeated streak from 1995 to 2004 and 9 D3 National Championships. And at Grand Valley State, Martin has won two D2 National Championships in 3 years of helming the Lakers and currently holds the nation’s longest active winning streak (28). These guys clearly know how to coach, and with records like that, it really doesn’t matter on what level they’re doing it. In fact, these guys tend to have to do what they do with some challenges unique to their divisions and programs, so hearing what they have to say in the context of Notre Dame Football, a program with its own unique set of challenges, should be very compelling.
Meanwhile, as Notre Dame has only planned their Spring activities, several programs have already fully begun their spring practices.
My initial reaction to all this news about various programs already starting their Spring Practice is jealousy. Jealousy that their fans get to consume some actual news about their respective teams so early in the year and jealousy that their schools are located in geographies that lend themselves to such early activities. It’s still the “dead of winter” in South Bend, after all. But when I give it even a moment’s thought, I think, “Thank God that’s not us.” Because this ND teams is still very young, and probably more than anything right now, this team will benefit from 28 more days in the weight room. Sure, you can still hit the weights and run sprints in Spring practice, but if you’ve ever really worked on a dedicated weight regimen, you know that 100% dedication to that program is the only way to maximize gains. And this very young team really needs to maximize their gains. So rather than thinking, “we’ve got to wait 28 more days for some ND football,” I now think, “Crap! They’ve only got 4 more weeks worth of weight training before the Spring!”
In case you’ve had your head buried in the sand…
ND hoops has a shot at the Big East Title and is a likely 3 or 4 seed in the tourney. We don’t talk much about hoops here, but we support the team and watch the games, so this is our cheerleading post. Go Irish!
ND will take the Big East and pull out a 2 seed. You wait and see America.
Related Posts:Well, it was a long day for a Tuesday, but we end it on a high-note. Sean Salisbury is no longer plaguing the hearts and minds of our nation’s youth via ESPN. That’s right. Just in time for ESPN the Weekend, Sean Salisbury has been fired “left to broaden his horizons.”
On the same day former Vikings receiver Cris Carter joined ESPN, the network plans to announce ex-Vikings quarterback Sean Salisbury will be departing after a 12-year stay as an NFL analyst. Word is Salisbury’s contract was up and ESPN decided not to renew.
Here are the statements from both sides:
Sean Salisbury: “I want to thank ESPN for 12 great years of talking football on TV and the radio. I have grown as much as I can at ESPN and decided to expand my horizons. I have created a brand and it’s time to expand into other opportunities in TV, radio, Internet, publishing, movies and public speaking, among others. My resume speaks for itself as a football analyst, and I believe I can talk all sports with the best of them.”
ESPN’s statement: “Sean Salisbury has made many contributions to our efforts for the past 12 years. We thank him and wish him all the best.”
I don’t watch ESPN because I don’t have cable. The internets pretty much allow me to keep on top of EVERYTHING anyway, so why should I need 24-hour “news” and “sports” coverage? But this is just outstanding news. Any time Sean Salisbury is employed by a broadcasting company is a time when every man, woman, and child runs the risk of dying just a little bit inside by accidentally assaulting their minds with the detritus spewing from Sean’s mouth.
Here’s to Sean expanding on his “brand” at least 1,000 miles in any direction away from any sentient being.
Maura Weis has penned a book about her experience raising her daughter Hannah. Of course, all proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the Weis’ foundation for the mentally/developmentally challenged/handicapped, Hannah and Friends.
From first-hand experience with children with global developmental delays, autism and mental retardation, I encourage our readers to pick up a copy and help out a worthy cause. And maybe learn something along the way.
From first-hand experience with Maura Weis, I can say that this cause and her family’s well-being is all that drives her. And I believe that, because of this, the book will be a good one.
Hey, look MQ, we’re in Delaware. What’s in Delaware?
Right.
The Round-up:
Junior!
No, not that Junior.
Juniors. As in, the dudes who will be seniors next year. In High School. Who will, a year from now, make us happy or sad on signing day once again.
While this year was obviously a kick-@$$ year on the trail for Charlie, Corwin and company, the coaches are already looking to next year’s players. And, actually, have been for a while. We all know about the insanely early start the Irish had last year, landing a ton of early commitments that ended up being the core of the class. While USC looks to be the team out to the early start this year, ND’s staff is out there in force once again making the rounds.
Although Ty Willie helped implement a rule (let’s call it the Handicap Rule, yeah double entendre!!!) that keeps Charlie at home during the early part of this year, ND’s staff is doing its best to make waves with the young recruits once again. Targeting the right kids with the right goals and the athletic and academic fit for ND.
So far the Irish have extended a select number of offers. Here’s the run-down of the official offers made to date:
Cierre Wood - RB from Oxnard, CA. 6′0″, 176 pounds. Of note: Yours truly got hitched on the beachin Cierre’s hometown. Also of note: Oxnard is actually pretty fun, despite the name/rep.
Craig Loston - Safety from Aldine Texas. 6′1″, 183 pounds. Of Note: Early 4 star on Rivals.
Chris Bonds - DE from Columbia South Carolina. 6′4″, 262. Of note: No relation to Barry.
Dalton Hilliard - Running Back from Honolulu, Hawaii. 6′0″, 183. Of note: Honolulu is on the island of Oahu. Which is the most popular tourist destination in the state along with Maui, but is NOT the “Big Island”. Remember that when planning vacation/honeymoon.
DeVonte Holloman - Safety from Charlotte, NC. 6′2″, 205. Of note: Early 4 star on both Rivals and Scout. Coolest name so far in the offeree list, but nowhere near Golden or Slaughter in the overall ND name rankings. DeVonte’s game is much better than the movie with Kevin Bacon where you actually don’t get to see Kevin Bacon. But he was really acting!
Devon Kennard - DE from Phoenix. 6′2″, 225lbs. Of note: Early 5 star on Rivals, 4 star on Scout. Big competition for Devon, from USC, Michigan, and everyone else. Also of note, I never know if you’re supposed to put a word that ends (like Devon) before or after a very similar word that keeps going (like DeVonte) when doing alphabetical order. So, sorry if that’s all F-ed up. I guessed.
Eric Shrive - OL/DT from Scranton, PA. 6′7″, 285. Of note: Scranton is where “The Office” is set. Love that town.
Isaac Holmes - Defensive Tackle from Hoboken NJ. 6′3″, 290. Of note: Duval Kamara’s cousin. Inside game is good game.
Jamarkus McFarland - DT from Lufkin, TX. 6′3″, 280 pounds. Of note: Early Rivals 5 star and Top 100 player. Heavy Texas lean, though. Don’t do it Jamarkus!
Manti Te’o - Inside Linebacker from Honolulu. 6′1″, 225. Of note: It’s starting to seem like somebody on the staff has been enjoying the islands. Also, SICK name. Jumps to #1 in the class. Can totally picture a MAN-TI, TE-OOOOOOOO cheer when this dude crushes an opposing QB in Notre Dame stadium. Manti is also shy. No picture on the profile.
Marlon Brown - Wide Receiver from Memphis, TN. 6′5″, 205 pounds. Of note: Early 5 star on Rivals. Friends with current ND WR Golden Tate.
Shaquelle Evans - WR from Inglewood, Cali. 6′2″ 190 pounds. Of note: According to Tupac “Inglewood is always up to no good”. If being up to no good means slicing through opposing defenses with lightning quick speed and sick hands, I get it.
Xavier Nixon - Offensive Tackle from Fayetteville NC. 6′6″, 275 lbs. Of note: Lots of more-local competition from Clemson, SC, NC State and Miami. My boy is ‘not a crook’. Peace!
In addition to these 13 offers, there is a TON of mutual interest out there, and I’d expect more offers to be flowing as kids qualify academically through test scores, etc., and as Charlie’s Recruiting Army keeps the trails blazing.
Here’s to the Recruiting Class of ‘09 matching or out-classing our stellar Class of ‘08.
Related Posts:Brian at Mgoblog (I will not link there, you know where it is anyway) often says stupid things. Recently he said smart things about Saban’s penchant for over-signing though, so we know he CAN be rational at times, despite his misguided love for skunkbears. But today, he said another stupid thing. And since there’s NOTHING going on in college football right now, I’ll just call him out on it. Then we’ll get a few Michigan (sucks!) fans who will come over here and yell “3-9!” and “you suck!”, and similar such sentiments which will have nothing to do with the argument presented below. Then I’ll point out their idiocy and then we’ll all move on to the next moronic thing that a skunkbear fan says. Fun.
Brian’s post is about a potential scandalistic-type-thing coming out of Michigan. Something around academics and all that. We don’t know what it is yet, but we’re excited to learn about it. I know it’s kind of piling on with all of the DickRod issues and all, but it’s really just kind of fun.
Michigan loves to toot its horn about its academic integrity and all that, but it’s all very selective. They love to ignore their graduation rates for African American players, for example. Anyway, I digress. Kind of.
The line in the post with which I take issue is in the following quote:
There is the separate question “should athletes be taking independent study classes en masse,” the answer to which is definitely “no.” But that’s life when you have players spending something like 40 hours a week year-round on their chosen sport.
C’mon now Brian! Seriously. For a dude that espouses the academic rigor of his alma mater, and the high standards to which the institution holds its athletes, this is absurd. The first part is good - you don’t think your football players should all be taking cake classes (’independent study’). That’s good! Good! Now, we all know that they are taking those cake-walk classes, but that’s another discussion. You get a point for WISHING your school did it the right way at least. Congratulations.
It’s your next line that’s the problem: But that’s life when you have players spending something like 40 hours a week year-round on their chosen sport. No, that is NOT life!
That’s MICHIGAN when you have players spending something like 40 hours a week year-round on their chosen sport.
MICH-I-GAN. That’s not “life” at Notre Dame. That’s not “life” at a number of schools that do it the right way.
For a guy that spends so much time calling out other schools for their lack of academic rigor, you should do some looking in the mirror. After all your attempted attacks of ND’s academics as they relate to athletics (which is just funny and lame -my favorite is when you say that ND must be EASIER for student-athletes because they actually graduate) and pumping up of how much the skunkbears REALLY DO STUDY, shrugging your shoulders at this kind of academic laziness and irresponsibility is hypocritical, and just simply weak.
Pure Skunkbear.
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