I have no jokes today. No witty insults to throw at Arizona State. No fictional storylines to throw Notre Dame players into. No, this isn't because I've hit a creative wall. I'm not mailing it in because the audio version of this post debuts on the radio this evening. It certainly isn't for a lack of caring either. It's because the main thing consuming my mind is just simply winning this game. After all, I've preached patience for the past couple of weeks in regards to the playoff ...
Joe Schmidt
Friday Roundup: The “Something I’ve Never Had” Edition
In the fall of 1993, at just eight years old, my football obsession started in earnest. However, the college game remained off the radar. Like most kids in the DFW area, I lived and breathed Cowboys football. My grandfather, father, and uncle worked as ball boys on the Texas Stadium sidelines for years. Sundays were for football. That isn't to say the occasional college game would come on the family TV on Saturdays, but it certainly wasn't a priority and I most certainly never understood the ...
Friday Roundup: The “Sum of All Fears” Edition
I believe that Notre Dame fans can more or less be classified into two distinct groups: those that prefer the status quo and those that embrace and/or desire change. I think it is a more apt description than "traditionalist" and "non-traditionalist" as all Irish fans certain have their own "thou shalt not touch" list when it comes to certain traditions and even standards at Notre Dame. Debates centering around change at Notre Dame infuriate me. Part of it has to do with my steadfast belief ...
Friday Roundup: The “Notre Dame Fall Camp 2014 Catch-Up” Edition
Once WatchND started pumping out Notre Dame football fall camp practice videos, I was all in for breaking each one down. It worked great for the first two practices, but then practice #3 happened and saw the video breakdown was a position profile for the CBs. Don't get me wrong, the feature was great, but a basically started at my title of "Fall Camp Practice Report #3: CB Report" for about an hour and realized there was no way that I could even drag 100 words out of the topic. So I passed ...
Notre Dames Completes Another Week as Spring Game Looms
The end of last week saw The Irish football team complete their twelfth practice of the Spring session. It was the end of a week that saw them outside for the first time, until inclement weather forced them back inside. It was the end of a week that put the word “effective” at the fore of the discussion. Last week was one of red zone work and special teams, with Coach Brian Kelly and his staff putting the offense through as much eleven-on-eleven work as they could. By my count, Coach Kelly ...
Out Like a Lamb? March Ends Mixed for The Irish
Saturday saw The Fighting Irish put practice number eight in the books and a new name, Jarrett Grace, on the operating table. With the Blue-Gold Spring Game on April 12 and at the half-way point of the Spring season, I'm excited to see what develops over the next seven practices. I'm also pleased to see that Kelly's staff picked up two solid commitments over the weekend, both out of talent-rich Texas. So let's get to it. But first, I had the pleasure of meeting Tex, our fearless co-leader and ...