After all these years, the life of the Notre Dame icon continues to inspire The shocking news dispatches started reaching the eastern United States around mid-day on Tuesday, March 31, 1931. Eight people – including Notre Dame football coach and athletic director Knute Rockne — had lost their lives in the crash of Transcontinental & Read Full Post
High Drama Highlights ND Games at Pittsburgh
November 5, 2015 by
Notre Dame travels to Pittsburgh today for Saturday’s game against the Pitt Panthers. In recent years, the games have been decided by slim margins, regardless of the teams’ relative strengths. That’s consistent with a long history of close, dramatic contests, beginning more than a century ago. On Oct. 30, 1909, Coach Frank “Shorty” Longman brought Read Full Post
“Knute Rockne All American” at 75: The Nation’s Eyes Were on South Bend
October 4, 2015 by
By Jim Lefebvre A week of celebration and remembrance honoring Knute Rockne brought worldwide attention to South Bend, Indiana, 75 years ago this week. The legendary Notre Dame football coach had died in a plane crash nearly a decade earlier, in March of 1931, and his life and legacy mesmerized a nation in the ensuing Read Full Post
A True Notre Dame Man, Joe Hickey Made His Place ‘Home Away From Home’ For Irish
February 10, 2015 by
A good many folks – including 15 or so former Notre Dame football players – paid their respects last weekend to Joseph E. Hickey, great Notre Dame man (Class of 1950) and citizen of South Bend, who died Feb. 3 at age 86. There were heartfelt tributes from near and far, with sentiments like this: Read Full Post
100 Years Ago, ND Shifted From Notable Defeat
October 25, 2014 by
A century ago this week, Notre Dame’s football team ventured from South Bend to play a premier opponent in a challenging environment; lost a game that included some controversial officiating; returned to receive accolades; and resolved to use the loss as a springboard to a greater future. Sound familiar? The parallels to the 2014 Notre Read Full Post
90 Years Ago Today: “Outlined Against A Blue-Gray October Sky…”
October 18, 2014 by
Editor’s Note: The following is excerpted from the award-winning biography Coach For A Nation: The Life and Times of Knute Rockne. As Notre Dame prepared to head to New York City to play Army at the Polo Grounds, football fans across the country grew eager with anticipation for the intersectional battle of the year. Under Read Full Post
Irish Players Honor History in Singing of Alma Mater, Win or Lose
August 26, 2014 by
Hats off to Corey Robinson and the Notre Dame football team for understanding that much of what makes Notre Dame football special is its history and tradition. Today the football team voted to sing the “Alma Mater” after every game — win or lose. “It’s bigger than us and it’s bigger than football,” said Robinson, Read Full Post
Sacred Sod—Or A Move Forward?
May 27, 2014 by
Notre Dame traditionalists were struck by the images last week of backhoes removing the sod from Notre Dame Stadium in preparation for the installation of artificial turf. Yes, it is an emotional change in the House That Rockne Built. After all, back in 1930, the sod from legendary Cartier Field—where Rockne, Gus Dorais, George Gipp, Read Full Post
What Would Rockne Say…
February 2, 2014 by
Author Jim Lefebvre shared his insights as to what Coach Knute Rockne may have had to say about the the recent announcement of the $400 million building project called Campus Crossroads announced by Notre Dame. Listen to his interview (below) with WSBT’s Eric Hansen and Darin Pritchett. The legendary coach, known as a visionary in Read Full Post
More Than Scores
October 9, 2013 by
Every day, there seems to be more stories swirling around the world of football beyond wins and losses, strategies and statistics. Here are just a few from recent days: A PBS Frontline documentary details the efforts of the NFL to deny and undermine evidence linking violent football collisions with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which has been Read Full Post
