Brian Kelly said it best in the cramped locker room at the Los Angeles Coliseum late in the evening of November 24. “We won this game the way we’ve won every game this season,” he shouted to the victorious Irish crowded around him. “With our will, our determination, our want and our desire.” Football analysts Read Full Post
Saturating South Beach
January 6, 2013 by
It was an amazing scene Saturday as tens of thousands of Fighting Irish fans descended on South Beach to celebrate undefeated Notre Dame’s spot in the BCS title game. Ocean Drive was closed to traffic for several blocks, and taken over by swarms of fans (and restaurants that extended their outdoor seating) eager to enjoy Read Full Post
Manti: A Sense of Knowing
November 30, 2012 by
Following an afternoon of steady showers, the skies had opened into an all-out downpour on rain-soaked Notre Dame Stadium. Students romped with student-athletes, celebrating a dramatic goal-line stand that ended a classic, overtime victory against fellow heavyweight Stanford. Manti Te’o stood with his arm around his coach, Brian Kelly, explaining for a national audience what Read Full Post
To The Fighting Irish…
November 21, 2012 by
I understand you fellows have a big game this Saturday in Los Angeles. Please indulge me, to tell you a little about some of the big games of my day, and how Notre Dame was able to come out on top. You may have heard that in 1913 – my final year as a player Read Full Post
Mahalo Nui Loa, Manti
November 16, 2012 by
For more than 80 years, senior football players at the University of Notre Dame have walked down the north tunnel onto the field for the last time in their college careers. It happens again this Saturday, when the Irish host Wake Forest, with a perfect season on the line. But it seems fair to say Read Full Post
Nothing Like A Big Game on Campus
October 11, 2012 by
It was the fall of 2005, and there was an exciting new vibe on the Notre Dame campus. Charlie Weis had arrived at his alma mater bearing swagger and Super Bowl rings, and the Fighting Irish were picking up on the fresh start. They had recorded road wins at Pittsburgh, Michigan, Washington and Purdue, sandwiched Read Full Post
My Trip to Gipp Country
October 1, 2012 by
We used Notre Dame’s bye weekend to make a long-anticipated trip to the Copper Country of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula – the area that gave us George Gipp and several other ND standouts of the Knute Rockne era. It was research for our upcoming biography on Rockne…and a great reminder of all the unique places that Read Full Post
The Way It’s Supposed To Be
October 10, 2011 by
Occasionally, we’re asked when Notre Dame’s Homecoming game is. Folks are often surprised to learn that ND doesn’t celebrate Homecoming as such. The reason, of course, is that every home game — indeed, every game — is a chance for many thousand members of the Notre Dame family to return, gather and celebrate. Whether it’s Read Full Post
Walking on Hallowed Ground
September 2, 2011 by
Count me among those who were not enthused to hear about the discontinuation of the traditional “team walk” from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart to Notre Dame Stadium on game days. Even though a little research determined the walk had only been around since the early 1990s, it seemed firmly entrenched as one of Read Full Post
Some Inspiration from the DVD Shelf
August 29, 2011 by
How many ND fans did what we did this past Saturday evening? Nothing compelling on TV, the college football season still days away, what else but reach for the DVD shelf and pop in Rudy. There’s no better way to reconnect with all that we want to see in Fighting Irish football — perseverance, effort, Read Full Post
