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!

Brey / Bam Bam Interview

I already posted my thoughts on the upcoming ND WSU game, but for those of you that want an opinion straight from the experts, here's a copy of CBS's interview with Mike Brey and Luke Harangody that took place during halftime of the Duke WVU game today. If that isn't already enough to convince you to watch it, there's some great awkwardness near the end of the interview.

Go Irish! Beat Cougars!

Maintenance / Quote Post

I've noticed recently that there have been a few good ND athlete alumni blogs popping up around the web, so I thought that I would share them with our loyal readers; check out the links under "Player Blogs." If anyone knows of any other good ones out there, you can let me know using the new "Contact" link found on the sidebar. I recommend everyone check out Trevor Laws' new web site if for nothing more than to look at the cool background.

Now that the maintenance stuff is done with, its time to move onto some actual sports news.

On the hardwood, Mike Brey has said that he is considering mixing up the lineup for the upcoming Villanova game. I don't think he means benching McAlarney or Bam Bam, but I wouldn't be surprised if Jackson and Ayers began playing a little less to give more time to Peoples (and hopefully Nash). Whatever players that will be on the court will need to bring it; Nova is coming off of an unexpected loss to Rutgers last night, and they should be fired up when it comes time to host the Irish.

Moving towards recruiting, Urban Meyer may be in some trouble for illegally recruiting junior college receiver Carl Moore. The basic story goes something like this:

Moore wasn't too interested in moving to the swamp, so Meyer began contacting his girlfriend, offering her a scholarship to do gymnastics for the Gators. Eventually, the girl was convinced and Carl soon followed. However, it is against NCAA violations for the coach of one sport to recruit for another. Additionally, Meyer constantly calling Maranda Smith (the gymnast) would have violated the stipulation that gymnastic recruits can only be called once a week. This story requires me to put up our favorite Meyer picture.

In other recruiting news, it looks like DT Omar Hunter has officially jumped ship, verbally committing to (guess who) Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators. I personally would have loved to see Omar in the blue and gold next season, but now that he's officially with an enemy squad, it seems like it's time to open up on his Irish debunking. Press Register reporter Neal McCready writes:

"Omar Hunter and Urban Meyer should be able to relate quite well to one another.
Meyer once fell in love with Notre Dame before ultimately spurning the Fighting Irish for the sunshine of Florida. Hunter has now done the same thing."

Here's another opinion from Aaron Taylor:

"if you ask me about just how big a loss Omar Hunter will turn out to be, as a buddy of mine did recently … well, I’ll have to be honest and tell you, “Who knows?” What I can tell you about Omar is that it’s clear that he’s not a very good decision maker, so let’s wish him well. Besides, once he’s done playing football he can always go back to ITT Tech or DeVry Truck Driving School and finish his degree."
Continuing with the Irish alumni theme of this post, this week's quote also comes from Taylor, which comments on his 1990 recruiting class and its similarities to the upcoming class:

"That class was truly special, and not just because we went 40-8, including Notre Dame’s last three bowl wins (I still can’t believe that when I write it). No, it was special because we all formed an instant, tightly knit bond ... a bond that has lasted to this day among many of us. And as talented as the incoming class is, it’s the bond between them that has me more excited than anything else.
Instead of running from adversity, these guys are running to the rescue. You’ve got to love that, and the combination of attitude, talent and hunger could take these kids a long way. Or at least it should."

Go Irish

Irish Down Bearcats

The officiating was bad, the shooting was ugly, and the defensive rebounding was God awful. When Cincinnati took a 34 - 27 lead going into halftime, it looked as if the Irish could not rebound from the beating they took against Marquette last weekend. However, the home crowd (which included Heisman winner John Lattner) and the Leprechaun Legion were able to wake up some echoes in the second half, during which ND scored 64 points to overcome the Bearcats of Cincinnati.

The key momentum swing in the game happened with about 18 minutes left in the second half, where the Irish sparked an 18 - 4 run over the next four minutes to take control of the game. The run began with a powerful three point play from Harangody. In an attempt to get his team back in the game, Brey switched to a full court press, which paid off minutes later when Ayers intercepted an inbounds pass and laid it in for two easy points. The Irish continued to execute the press well, forcing Cincinnati to turn the ball over on their next possession, capitalizing on their mistake with a McAlarney three. 13 of Harangody's game high 25 points came during the run.

The 91 - 74 victory, coupled with strong performances by McAlarney (22 points, 5-8 3pFGs) and Kurz (17 points, 10 boards) may seem like a very solid win for Notre Dame, but there were a few glaring weaknesses on display last night. Cincinnati's bench outscored the Irish 40 - 16, primarily because Notre Dame only brought 3 players off of the bench the entire game. Peoples, Hillesland, and Zeller all contributed about 10 minutes (and added some timely shooting and change of pace for the offense), but this game illustrated the need for Brey to start developing his freshmen quickly; in the event of an injury, foul out, or overtime, the squad is extremely thin.

Ball handling once again looked like a concern last night. McAlarney had more turnovers than assists, and while Jackson was able to pick up 8 dimes, he did so at the cost of 5 turnovers. All together, ND gave up the ball 15 times; better than their 24 against Marquette, but definitely an area to improve on in the near future.

Lastly, Cincinnati was seemingly able to grab offensive boards at will against the Irish, and the defensive rebounds we did come away with looked awfully sloppy. Especially against bigger teams, Notre Dame needs to learn how to box out and control the paint, or we could be in big trouble against Roy Hibbert and Georgetown on January 19th.

JACC Forced to Incur Huge Maintenance Expenses

The Notre Dame service staff was hard at work, beginning early this morning and continuing for the next several days, replacing the light fixtures in the basketball arena. This is of course because juvenile Kyle McAlarney and several accomplices shot the lights out during the Irish's record breaking 25th consecutive win at the Joyce Center (the previous home win record was set in the 1970's). Shooting 62% from the field and 56% from beyond the arc, Notre Dame overwhelmed its lesser opponent, Northern Illinois University. Senior Rob Kurz and Junior Kyle McAlarney each dropped 17 points, and every player (except red shirt freshman Carleton Scott) was able to score in the route.

Fans were treated to a very stylish Notre Dame Basketball calendar. My favorite picture was actually the month of April, which has an absolutely classic picture of Brey and his staff.
Also on display was super sophomore Luke "Bam-Bam" Harangody, who registered a double double while only playing for 21 minutes. Throwing down for several monster dunks, there were times that I thought Luke might bring down the backboard. Even though the Irish won by over 40 points (108-62), the student section was electric as most everyone stayed until the end to witness a chapter in Notre Dame history.
After suffering through such a tough football season, it was refreshing to be able to sit back and watch a good old fashion beating; all of the players were having fun getting after it, and Brey was pretty pleased as well. Here's his response (courtesy of the Observer online) when asked if he had seen anything like the squad's performance in the first six minutes (22 points before the first media timeout).

"The first six minutes of the game, have you ever seen anything like that?" Irish coach Mike Brey said. "I mean, are you kidding me? That was a clinic. I'm hitting [assistant coach Sean Kearney] and going, 'This is fun.' See I would've bought a bunch of tickets for tonight if I knew that was going to happen. You got your money's worth."

As mentioned before, several of the recruits (and a few current players) were in attendance, although they somehow got stuck with seats up in the bleachers. They seemed to have fun despite being removed from the action, and Weis looked strangely similar to Santa Clause as a chain of fans (children and adults) lined up to shake his hand at halftime. Even though the game was likely one of his only breaks during this busy football weekend, Charlie was still doing the good old PR act.

That it for now Nasties fans. Go Irish.