Notre Dame-Wisconsin Athletic Bond Has Roots Sunk A Century Ago

The two have met in basketball just once in last 47 years, but share earlier connections   Along the shores of Lake Mendota in Madison, Wis., stands a towering pine tree nearly 100 years old. Its owner, Walter Meanwell, Jr., lives in the tasteful lakeside home his father had built in the 1920s. The tree   Read Full Post

88 Years Ago Today, The ‘Horsemen’ Dominated

At the Polo Grounds in New York City 88 years ago today, a Notre Dame backfield of four seniors who had played together — and defeated all but one opponent — since their sophomore year, went up against another great Army team. It was the sports event of the year on the East Coast, with   Read Full Post

Flashy Helmet? What Would Rock Think?

A lot of Irish fans are apoplexic over the uniforms – and especially the helmets – adidas has rolled out for the Oct. 6 Miami game at Chicago’s Soldier Field. And, yes, the “bold” designs do seem to spit in the face of tradition. “Rockne would be rolling over in his grave if he saw   Read Full Post

Arizona Travel Part of ND’s First Bowl Team

When Notre Dame kicks off against Miami in the December 31 Sun Bowl, it will have completed the circuit of having played in all the truly “historic” bowl games – Rose, Orange, Sugar, Cotton and Sun, all of which began in the 1930s or earlier (Rose, 1902). But it won’t be the first time a   Read Full Post

Picking All-Time Teams Can Venture Off Course

The selector of an all-time Ohio high school football team makes some odd claims about two of the Four Horsemen. A sportswriter at an Ohio newspaper recently took on a daunting task – selecting the all-time Ohio high school football team.  For all the great players the Buckeye state has produced over the years, there   Read Full Post

Whatever Happened to ND Men Becoming Football Coaches?

With all the questions swirling around the Notre Dame football program at the moment, one thing is fairly certain: If there is a coaching change, the odds of a former ND player taking the reins are pretty remote. About the only possible candidate from the ranks of former Irish players is Tom Clements, the Green   Read Full Post

Esther Miller, 103, of Annapolis: Living Link to Notre Dame’s Four Horsemen, Seven Mules

Edgar “Rip” Miller was a standout student and football player at Notre Dame in the early 1920s, when he was asked by teammate Russ Arndt to come along on a short trip to nearby Elkhart, Indiana.  Arndt was dating Miss Phyllis Templin, who said she had a younger sister who wanted to meet a Notre   Read Full Post

Rock Revered

October is the time to remember and celebrate the legacy of Coach Knute Rockne, who is finally honored inside Notre Dame Stadium, and whose greatest team — the Four Horsemen and Seven Mules — is recalled on the 85th anniversity of its 1924 national championsip season. At Notre Dame, honoring its storied past is an   Read Full Post

Down the Line: ND Front Men Must ‘Love to Block’

2009 Wouldn’t Be the First Time A Notre Dame Line Shook Off Doubters to Build a Championship Unit “Love to block, and let them know that you like it. If all teams could do just that thing, they would always be winning” — Knute Rockne As Notre Dame starts its official 2009 pre-season camp, there   Read Full Post

What Though The Odds: “Fixing” Notre Dame Football

Analysis Fixing Notre Dame football may require a nod to its roots, when underdog teams overachieved Amid the national discussion over whether General Motors or CitiBank are “too big to fail,” could it also be said that Notre Dame football is too historic, too important to the fabric of college football to ever fall by   Read Full Post