Miscellaneous

Having three papers due in a span of five days somewhat impeded my desire to write anything for a few days, but now that classes are done for the semester, and before I work up the motivation to seriously lock into finals studying mode, I thought I'd take some time to share a few thoughts about the sports world.

• Congrats to the four Irishmen drafted last weekend. Now I have a reason to watch Eagles games other than being able to listen to my roommate belt out their fight song; Trevor Laws will be teaming up with Abiamiri on the defensive line, and it will be exciting to see the birds pair of second round draft picks develop into a brutal stopping force. Another ND pair was made when the Seahawks drafted John Carlson to block for newly acquired runningback Julius Jones; this should be fun to watch just because Jones will likely be the feature back instead of splitting carries while Carlson should be able to make some plays downfield. Zibby will fight for a job in the return game, but he and Sullivan will likely be watching from the sidelines and learn from the experienced veterans at their position.
  
• Also, congrats to the ND players that signed contracts after the draft. Brockington and Jansen signed with the Bills and Packers, respectively, and Travis Thomas signed with his former teammate Brady Quinn and the Cleveland Browns. With Lewis, Wright, and Harrison at runningback, TT will not likely see any carries soon, but his hard work ethic should allow him to compete for a special teams spot.




• In other Browns news, this weekend's rookie minicamp will feature the team's 5 draft picks, 15 signed free agents, and 54 walk ons; apparently, the Browns invited any eligible football player who went to school in Ohio. I know that you need bodies to have a practice, but it seems a little odd to send invites to everyone at Oberlin College.




• On the hardwood, Mike Brey named the first recipient of the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award last month. Besides earning the award, Brey also likely feels good about winning the battle over Purdue and Oklahoma State to secure Mississippi State transfer Ben Hansbrough. Psycho B will have to sit out a year, but the shooting guard brings depth and NCAA tourney experience that will help push Jackson and McAlarney in practice next season.

• In other roundball news, has anyone been watching the Cavs Wizards series? I'm not a huge NBA fan, but I can't help but wonder how the entire Wizards arena can boo LeBron every time he touches the ball; they even booed when he was helping Wizards player get up after they had been fouled. What is most surprising, perhaps, is that Papa Johns sponsored a 'Crybaby 23' shirt that was being displayed by several fans in last night's game. I doubt that the shirts will cause a very significant spike in D.C. sales, but I would be surprised if it didn't have a negative effect in the Cleveland area. I guess dropping 27, 13, and 13 while blowing out a team at home in an elimination game is a pretty good way to get them to shut up with the stupid smack talk.

• Lastly, for those of you that don't already check out NDLNA on a regular basis, there is a great rant from the Rock Report that responds to a New York Times article that basically labels Notre Dame as a strong arming bully for refusing to play a true home and away series against Rutgers in the upcoming years. The Rock's post does a nice job of throwing cold water over the Times' argument, but if you have the time for it, I also recommend reading the comments at the bottom of the Rock's post as there is some great stuff there.

Off to studying... Go Irish!