Non-Football ND Update

So, thanks to a quick trip home this weekend, I have not been able to fully digest the vast amount of material from the start of spring football. Once I have, I'll be answering the IBG questions, but until then, a quick update on some non-football ND sports.

Hockey - The hockey team won the CCHA tournament, and they are going into the Grand Rapids regional as the Number 1 seed. The game will be on ESPNU, and if you haven't watched any ND Hockey this year, I highly recommend it.

Men's Basketball - ND beats New Mexico, in a game that was, if not good, at least thrilling. Next up for ND is the winner of the Kentucky-Creighton game this evening.

Women's Basketball - A first round exit, with a loss to Minnesota.

Elsewhere in ND Sports...

With one day until spring football, this gives me a good chance to see what else is going on in the world of ND sports (as, really, after tomorrow, I get to start my true obsession). It turns out, there is a lost of post-season play going on for ND right now!

Men's Basketball - Yes, it's the NIT. Yes, it was a disappointing season. But there are a lot of teams that are already at home, or are going home soon, and ND still plays on. Tonight's game is against New Mexico, better known in my Bears fan world as Brian Urlacher's alma mater.

Women's Basketball - The ladies start NCAA tournament play on Sunday against Minnesota. This is the 14th straight trip to the tournament for the ND women, but only the second time in history that the ND women's team has played Minnesota (a game ND lost, in case you are wondering).

Men's Hockey - The hockey team is up in Detroit for the CCHA championship, where the Irish Irish take on Northern Michigan. Last weekend, Coach Jackson got his 100th victory as ND's coach.

Fencing - How much do I know about fencing? Not much beyond ND has been pretty darn good at it recently. And it involves things I would classify as swords, but which probably have another name of which I am not aware. The men's and women's fencing teams are at the NCAA championship this weekend.

Women's Swimming & Diving - ND has also sent three members of the women's swimming and diving team to the NCAA championships this weekend.

Go Irish!

Renewing Old Rivalries - Convicts Edition

[Edit - Haha, I just went over to Subway Domer and realized he had already posted almost exactly the same thing, right down to linking to UHND (but seriously, those videos are awesome)! Smooth move on my part - anyway, I'm keeping it up, but I do realize what happened. And I fully admit that I appear to be a plagiarizer.]

Oh, please, please let this happen:

After a nearly two-decade break, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said the Fighting Irish is ''very interested'' in playing Miami again in football, and the interest is mutual.

If you are like me, and weren't a fan of the Irish yet, here's something to get you fired up about this.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Bad Trade! Here's my new puppy, Choppy, with a St. Patrick's Day message for everyone:



That's right, Sniff my Butt, I'm Irish.

For some of Choppy's swear-filled rants about my inability to properly give her the attention she deserves, visit her website, Choppy's Dog House.

Tomorrow, St. Patrick's Day

I hope that everyone enjoyed the deleted post. No idea how that got put up.

So, while I am currently spending most of my time looking forward to Friday (hockey AND the start of spring football practice? Life is VERY GOOD), I realize that I have neglected my countdown to St. Patrick's Day. So, without further ado, a link to an article on odd St. Patrick's Day celebrations around the world.

Party Like You're at College [Park]

Ah, the College Park apartment complex. As I was not an undergrad at ND, I never got to experience a party there. The only knowledge I had of College Park was the string of incidents at St. Patrick's Day involving people falling off of balconies while I was there. The first year I was at Notre Dame, someone fell off of a balcony at College Park. As the article also shows, it appears that College Park was the place to be on St. Patrick's Day at Notre Dame (at least for the undergrads. Us Lame-O law students were at actual bars).

The next year, there was the infamous fruit throwing incident:

[T]he student was playing catch with fruit on the upper balcony and fell off while trying to catch a piece of fruit.

The lesson? On St. Patrick's Day, avoid balconies at College Park.

St. Patrick's Day - Countdown

A week until St. Patrick's Day - here is something for all of you fans of the Irish, with more to come as we get closer to the day of.



(This post may also be filed in the "why won't spring football just hurry up and get here already" category).