Well Yesterday was media day and today is the 1st day of Spring Practice. 1. No Michael Floyd...bad 2. Collingsworth kid to Safety...good we need him on the field 3. Jackson kid to CB....good, he has size, speed, and is tough 4. Golson and Hendrix won't be wearing red jerseys...good we need to find out about these guys. 5. Carrico to OL....I hope he's ok with it, but he's really needed on the OL more. I like the early move. Go Irish!
Irish Women are in the Sweet 16 and play Oklahoma on Sat afternoon. I think we have a good shot at the elite 8, OU is a good team and we'll have to play our best but they are not UConn so we have a good shot. After that it's likely the #1 seeded Tenn Vols and we have not had much luck vs Tenn.
Andrew Hendrix, Bennet Jackson, Collinsworth, Goodman, Aaron Lynch and more need to make their case for playing time now. The team has a chance for dramatic improvement if they can step up and meet the challenge.
Collingsworth ...out 7-10 days with a complication from a recent Tonsillectomy. While not a killer, given he's moving over from the offense he needs all the reps he can get. I'm interested in seeing what Hendrix can do as well. Kelly keeps complimenting his arm, but yesterday tossed in that he needs make sure he throws to the right jersey. So that tells me he's still learning to be a QB in the Kelly system. He said today that Cameron Robertson is not ready for prime time, inferred that he wasn't good at the blocking obligations of a TB. I was hoping he'd be ready to make a move into the top 3. At this time it's pretty much Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray. Jonas has shown flashes of excellence but he's not been able to sustain anything. Wood really improved over the year but he's still some what of an unknown quantity. He had a great HS career, and his speed is evident in some of the runs he made last year, just hasn't shown yet that he's an every down back who will get you that tough yard. I was thinking Roberson might be a short yardage back.
With Floyd gone, it's time for John Goodman (Sid's old neighbor) to step up!! I've always liked the kid, and when I saw him take it to the house in the Wash State game in San Antonio I really thought man that kid will be great. But it hasn't happened. Maybe now is his time. WR Coach Tony Alford had this to say:
WR <t>With Floyd in limbo now, someone should have the opportunity to step up and get ready to make a lot of catches this fall. Probably more than one guy will be needed to fill Floyd's shoes. Plenty of talent there, they just need to step up and do it.</t>
:idea: With Floyd's failure, the door has now been cracked open just a little for the two incoming frosh WRs: DeVaris Daniels and George Atkinson...
I'd kind of forgotten about those guys, but you're right they can now jump into the mix. None of the guys ahead of them right now are Michael Floyd, there is opportunity.
Notre Dame Fencing Team won the Nat'l Championship. Irish Womens basketball faces the Lady Vols for the right to go to the Final Four. FWIW the Irish have never defeated Tenn, they are 0-20 vs the Vols. Time for the law of averages to kick in I think!! According to what I'm reading Dayne Crist is having an excellent spring and is the #1 QB, Tommy Ree's is #2 and as expected Hendrix and Golson are battling it out for #3. Real problem is the lack of scholarship RB's. All other area's are looking pretty good.
The stress on the RBs is partially caused by the Floyd situation. I think Riddick was going to move back to RB but that's been put on hold.
Sheldon Day (Warren Central) from Indiana, one of the top DL's in the 2012 class was on the campus this weekend for an "unoffical" visit. He actually said that everybody had told him you have to be Catholic to go to Notre Dame...lol....reminds of when Pumpkinhead Bowden was telling kids that if you went to Notre Dame they made you go to Mass everyday even if you weren't Catholic.
Irish Hockey goes to Frozen Four for the 2nd time under coach Jackson....they play Corey's old school Mn-Duluth. Michigan gets to attempt to slow down the other ND, the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota.
North Dakota is just toying with people right now.. which means' they are perfect picking for Red's Wolverettes... Still, they are on another level most nights. The Dawgs are the Dawgs.. It's like football in FL or TX.. it SHOULD be hard to eff up.. The UMD/ND game will be a good scrappy one. Hell, the whole Frozen Four should be exciting. As for ND Spring (or ND football at all).. the story for the team will be defense. We play a horse sh*t Mickey Mouse offense that will give the opponent a chance to get back in the game and at times will allow momentum to bury us under. If we're going to be great, we'll need a top 5 defense..
Urban Meyer was in town last week for the ND Coaches clinic, as was Chip Kelly. Tommy Rees took the opportunity to seek out Urban
Corey the Frozen Four is in Minneapolis this year, are most people in Minn UM fans or UM-Duluth fans? I would imagine that with North Dakota just next door that those fans will be their in droves. Probably be some big crowds. Grand Forks and Duluth aren't that far apart on a map, big rivals?
Yikes...somebody said the ND Hockey team has 12 Freshmen and still made the Frozen 4. I'd say 1)Jackson is a heck of a coach and 2) the future looks bright esp going into the new state of the art facility next year.
Terry, No no no... The Twins Cities are Gopher country all the way. The only people who like the Bulldogs are the folks from Cloquet to Canada.. mostly Duluthians and Iron Rangers.. perhaps a few dozen Brett Hull fans living in Superior, WI as well. That's really about it. North Dakota fans will pack your arena if you played on the moon. They travel very well. They are loud, obnoxious and love love love their Sioux. It's the frozen four being played in Minnesota. They would have big crowds anyway.. I'd be shocked if they don't sell out. Honestly, the only team that I could see to struggle to bring fans will be Notre Dame. Duluth is 2 hours north... as I stated, North Dakota fans will go anywhere to see their team.. Michigan fans travel well and aren't far at all. It will be a big test for Jackson's young squad. As for North Dakota and UMD being big rivals... eh, not really. Sandelin is UMD's head coach. He's from Hibbing (on the Range) however he played his college hockey at North Dakota. For much of the late 80s and throughout the 90s, UMD was one of those classic 'never what they should be' programs. Since hiring Sandelin, that's all changed. UMD is now in the NCAA tourney regularly and causing issues for the Sioux. Still, North Dakota's biggest rivals would have to be Minnesota and Wisconsin... with the creation of the new Big10 hockey conference, I think the UMD/ND rivalry might heat up.
Well the Irish Womens Basketball is in the Final 4 after their 1st win over Tenn after 20 straight losses, they played a steady defense and executed very well on offense. Skylar Diggins was great, Brittany Mallory clinched the game at the free throw line. Deveraux Peters got some dumb fouls and was on the bench a lot but when she was in there she was great. Frozen 4 and Womens Final 4 toss in a Fencing Nat'l Title and it's been a good week for Irish sports.