Bobref

While they’re at it, they can track Indiana people crossing the border to buy weed at Illinois dispensaries.

Indiana has a population of less than 7 million. Michigan has almost half again as many.

Actually, the 1973 game was even better. I was a senior then. The crowd was unbelievable. First offensive play of the game, Pat Haden throws a flanker screen to Lynn Swann, and Luther Bradley bust through the screen and almost decapitates Swann. Knocked his helmet off and it rolled through the end zone. I thought the walls were coming down.

Now I really feel old. I had just been admitted to the bar then.

I’ll try this again. I made this post earlier this morning, and it looked fine. But when I looked at it 30 min. later, there was a completely different image clip attached to my post, and I have no idea how it got there. It was too late for me to edit it. So, I’m trying it again. Got some tickets yesterday to the Notre Dame - Cal game this September. Coach Freeman announced earlier this week that the Irish will wear green for that game. Made me think back to the very first “green jersey” game of the modern era, the 1977 USC game. I was there that day and it was one of the most electrifying moments I’ve experienced in that stadium … and there have been a lot of them. The Irish hammered #1 USC that day, 49-19, on their way to a national championship. What many people don’t remember is when the Irish came out of the tunnel they were preceded by a large “Trojan Horse,” and no one had any idea what that was about. The idea was actually Digger Phelps’ and Coach Devine embraced it. Probably his finest moment as ND Coach.

Got some tickets yesterday to the Notre Dame - Cal game this September. Coach Freeman announced earlier this week that the Irish will wear green for that game. Made me think back to the very first “green jersey” game of the modern era, the 1977 USC game. I was there that day and it was one of the most electrifying moments I’ve experienced in that stadium … and there have been a lot of them. The Irish hammered #1 USC that day, 49-19, on their way to a national championship. What many people don’t remember is when the Irish came out of the tunnel they were preceded by a large “Trojan Horse,” and no one had any idea what that was about. The idea was actually Digger Phelps’ and Coach Devine embraced it. Probably his finest moment as ND Coach.

They got him on the causeway.

They provide nothing in the way of useful information, so no.

What I remember about that game was it was on a Saturday. The previous week, Notre Dame had beaten #1 Florida State and moved into the #1 position in the polls. Our crew drove down to the game together, and I made them turn off the radio which was carrying the ND - Boston College game so we could concentrate on our pregame conference and be as ready as we could be for the game. Drove all the way, got dressed, went through our last minute stuff, and then walked out to the field with no idea what had happened in South Bend. I introduced myself to the chain crew and the first words out of the box man’s mouth were “Can you believe Notre Dame got beat by Boston College on a last minute field goal?” Just what I needed to hear going into a big game.

I understand Dan is also quite the fisherman.

You Highland guys really stick together. 😂

Maybe you should just routinely downvote me, like @gonzoronsuggested. 😂🤣

More like tomato/watermelon. Don’t play dumb with me, because you’re not. I know you appreciate the difference.

Can you post the links by which donations can be made?

Just a minute now. I never said that. In fact, I have gone to great lengths not to say that. What I have consistently said is that regular season games would be more meaningful with a playoff qualification format. There’s a big difference.

I’ll try not to be so rational next time. 😂

No argument. He’s proved he can buy top quality groceries. Now let’s see if he can cook. I’m excited about the recruiting … because that’s all there is to be excited about this time of year.

The hits keep on coming. What a class Freeman has put together. https://theathletic.com/news/notre-dame-recruiting-christian-gray/ggeIqgCvpFTs/ Notre Dame adds 6th top-100 prospect to '23 class, 4-star CB Christian Gray commits By Pete Sampson July 4, 2022Updated 6:15 PM CDT Not only did Notre Dame fill a major need on July 4 with the commitment of four-star cornerback Christian Gray of St. Louis, the Irish completed a red-hot recruiting run of five commitments in six days that’s maintained the program’s position atop the team rankings on 247Sports, Rivals and On3 in both the 2023 and 2024 classes. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound Gray is the 19th verbal commitment in Notre Dame’s ’23 class, which added receiver four-star Rico Flores Jr. (July 3), four-star corner Micah Bell (July 1) and four-star offensive lineman Charles Jagusah (June 30) in the past week, with junior receiver Cam Williams also joining (June 29). Gray chose the Irish over finalists at LSU, Ohio State and USC. He’s a unanimous four-star prospect whose rating ranges from No. 51 overall on Rivals to No. 159 overall on 247 Sports. He currently plays at DeSmet, whose head coach John Merritt previously coached freshman defensive lineman Tyson Ford at the John Burroughs School. DeSmet is also the high school that produced former Irish receiver Jordan Johnson, who played for former head coach Robert Steeples, now a member of Brian Kelly’s staff at LSU. Gray ranks No. 94 overall in the 247Sports Composite, the sixth top-100 prospect in Notre Dame’s class. The Irish signed just one top-100 prospect last cycle. The last time the Irish landed six top-100 recruits in a single class was in 2011 — Kelly’s first full cycle — that included Aaron Lynch, Ishaq Williams, Stephon Tuitt, Ben Koyack, Matt Hegarty and DaVaris Daniels at the top. The significance of Gray’s commitment extends beyond rankings to need, as cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens now has two prospects committed at a position that has not always been easy to recruit for the Irish. Notre Dame lost four-star commitment, Justyn Rhett, in April when the product of Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas flipped to Georgia. That put the pressure on Mickens to land Bell and Gray from a target board that didn’t expand much during the past few months. Gray had visited Notre Dame a half-dozen times during his recruitment. Notre Dame signed two true cornerbacks last cycle in Jaden Mickeyand Benjamin Morrison, with Jayden Bellamy a potential corner or safety. With Bell and Gray committed at corner and Peyton Bowen and Adon Shuler committed at safety, Notre Dame’s recruiting haul in the secondary rates is among the program’s best in the past decade. All four are four-star prospects, with Bowen the second-highest prospect in the class at No. 51 overall. Not only did the Irish fail to sign two top-100 defensive backs in a single class during Kelly’s 12 seasons, but they also signed just four total: Kyle Hamilton, Elijah Shumate, Houston Griffith and Max Redfield. Top prospects who remain in play for Notre Dame this cycle include receiver Jaden Greathouse, linebacker Jaiden Ausberry, athlete Ronan Hanafin, running back Jeremiyah Love and defensive end Jason Moore. All five are four-star prospects and have already taken official visits to South Bend.

????? Seriously, what are these “reputation points” of which you speak? I’ve never even looked at that in all my years on the GID. Is it like the coaches’ vote? 🤣😅

The IHSAA should be applauded for their efforts to enlarge the pool of crews available to advance. Unfortunately, this amounts to putting lipstick on a pig. As long as the coaches’ vote is the primary factor in advancement, the problem remains. Perception is reality. And the prevailing perception among officials is that there is no direct connection between the coaches’ vote and officiating proficiency. It is very difficult to convince officials that if they pay more attention to things like proper mechanics and consistent application of proper philosophy, they will became better officials, when the perception is that coaches don’t know anything about mechanics or philosophy, nor do they care and, therefore, excellence in those areas is not reflected in the coaches’ vote. This perception is bolstered when, for example, a crew shows up every 4 years for decades in Indianapolis on Thanksgiving weekend, and their mechanics look like a Saturday Night Live skit. Other officials see that and ask themselves why they should care about those things if the coaches who hold the crews’ tournament advancement in their hands don’t. It’s hard to fault that logic. So, some officials quit in frustration. But even those that don’t are not being properly incentivized, and the quality of officiating suffers as a result.

Irish with another really good get on the offensive side of the ball, beating out Ohio State and Georgia. https://www.si.com/college/notredame/recruiting/wide-receiver-rico-flores-commits-to-notre-dame-football Wide Receiver Rico Flores Jr. Commits To Notre Dame Notre Dame picked up an important commitment from California wide receiver Rico Flores Jr. Notre Dame is back on the board at wide receiver as Folsom (Calif.) High School standout Rico Flores Jr. committed to the Fighting Irish. Flores picked Notre Dame over Ohio State and Georgia. For a long time the Buckeyes were considered the leader for Flores, but the Irish staff - led by Chansi Stuckey, Chad Bowden and Tommy Rees - continued to battle and ultimately landed Flores. The 6-1, 190-pound pass catcher visited Notre Dame for the first the weekend of June 10-12, and that is when the staff made their final move. Flores joins a Notre Dame class that is already ranked No. 1 in the nation by 247Sports and ESPN, and Flores joining the class pushed the Irish to No. 1 in the Rivals rankings. He is ranked as the nation's No. 106 overall player according to Rivals. He is the second wideout to pick Notre Dame, joining Round Rock (Texas) Stony Point standout Braylon James. Flores had a brilliant junior campaign, hauling in 81 passes for 1,157 yards (14.3 YPC) and 11 touchdowns. He has already caught 129 passes for 2,141 yards (16.6 YPC) and 24 touchdowns during his career. The Folsom star makes plays in every facet of the game, which includes a 97-yard kick return for a score last season and he also registered 18 tackles, broke up three passes and intercepted another while playing defense. Flores hauled in 8 passes for 117 yards in a playoff victory over national power Concord (Calif.) De La Salle and Irish commit Cooper Flanagan. He caught 9 passes for 108 yards in the championship game loss to San Diego (Calif.) Cathedral Catholic.

Pay close attention to the excellent Referee in that game. 😉

So, having given the idea of Notre Dame to the B1G considerable thought, here’s what I came up with: It depends on what format the B1G adopts. The key question is how many non-conference games ND could play and still join the conference. If they could play 3 non-cons + USC in conference, that would allow them to keep traditional rivals like Navy, show the flag in other parts of the country, and still have the benefit of being able to play in a conference championship game to enhance their playoff chances. If they could do that, I’m all for it.

I will be interested to see if Munster, who showed incremental improvement last season by winning 3 games after going 3-27 the previous 3 seasons, can continue the long climb back to football relevance.

Two questions: Would the B1G TV rights be worth more if ND was a conference member than otherwise? Would the B1G be more likely to have representation in the playoff if ND were a member than otherwise? As for the “fit,” no argument there. And the addition of USC to the conference makes it more likely, since that’s a storied rivalry we could keep without using up one of the few non-conference games we’d be able to play.