Well, leave it to me to draw a line in the sand about self-fulfilling prophecies of Notre Dame basketball failure in March only to witness an absolute heart attack of a game like ND’s 70-63 victory over Miami last night.
That game was easily the weirdest game of basketball that I’ve ever seen. Not just an Irish game, any basketball game. That isn’t hyperbole either.
How else do you describe a game in which ND was completely blowing out Miami in the first half and then looking like they forgot how to play basketball for the second half? Notre Dame found themselves up by as much as 20 points in the 1st and then saw themselves trailing in the second half after failing to make a single field goal for over 12 minutes. In that stretch, Zach Auguste and V.J. Beachem managed to score all the Irish points (4) via free throws.
Pat Cannoughton was 5-5 from the field and 3-3 in the first half, powered by his Batman socks (obviously). Then in the second half, it looked like he forgot how to basketball as he made zero shots and mixed in three turnovers.
Yet the Irish still won by 7.
The first half was a perfect example of why we should all be excited for what the Irish can do in the NCAA tournament and the second half was a perfect example of why we can fear the first round bounce.
Tonight, the Irish will do it all over again in a rubber match against Duke at 9PM ET (and like last night, expect the game to actually start later than that). Notre Dame has proven they can both beat and get blown out by Duke this season. I’m not sure I’m emotionally ready for this, but what the hell it’s March and this is what we should be craving as fans.
#NDMensBballIsDeterminedtoKillMe
The Roundup
Tonight on the audio version of the Friday Roundup: I have a shortened show because of high school basketball playoffs–that should let you know where I stand in this world of radio! However, we are going to keep the basketball talk rolling as I’m joined by Irish alumnus, Jordan Cornette. I’ll also be talking about my crazy weekend and why I couldn’t make the Savin’ Aven benefit (by the way, $38,000 total raised in all events, HUGE thanks for any support y’all gave!), and some more reactions on last night’s crazy affair.
Remember that illegal man downfield rule change? Well, it ain’t happening due to “lack of feedback” aka there’s a lot of offenses that don’t want to see the change.
However, one stupid rule change was made. The NCAA wants to ban “crop top” jerseys just like it was a popped off helmet. Ezekiel Elliot, noted crop-top enthusiast, has started a petition to save his beloved look and it has over 6,000 signatures.
Law & Order: Hatin’. Mississippi State QB, Dak Prescott, got bloodied up in a fight during his spring break. More accurately, people were just hatin’ on him.
Oh great, another crowdfunding site to pay athletes. I can’t wait for the next step when sites like these start reporting huge profits off people’s stupidity.
And now your moment of Nix… Featuring a conversation that you’ve probably had before.
The Booze
Do you really need this section during St. Paddy’s weekend? Obviously Guinness and Jameson are you go-tos, but let’s be honest just about any booze will do because when all else fails you can just dye it green and no one will think twice.
Texan by birth, Irish by choice.
First-generation Domer and a former student manager, HLS podcast host, HLS Sim creator, Extra Life streamer, and technical problem haver. You can find more non-Notre Dame related writing on his Patreon.
- Epilogue - January 3, 2022
- HLS Podcast Finale - January 2, 2022
- The Final Fiesta: Notre Dame vs Oklahoma State NCAA ’14 Sim - December 31, 2021
Cutoff jerseys are already illegal, the rule is just never enforced. Probably wont be now either.