Your weekly dose of Notre Dame news, opinion, and other stuff.

Top News

Notre Dame has named Sam Hartman, Joe Alt, JD Bertrand, and Cam Hart as football captains for the 2023 season.

The Irish open up the season ranked no. 13 in the pre-season AP Poll.

Both tight end Kevin Bauman and defensive end Aiden Gobaira are out for the season with knee injuries.

According to Pat Forde, George W. Bush (SMU) and Condoleeza Rice (Stanford) are lobbying the ACC for those teams to join the league.

Former Arkansas running back Alex Collins passed away this week.

Jim Harbaugh has not been suspended for 4 games this season as his case will go to the Committee on Infractions and likely be heard in 2024, so that’s nice.

Graham Mertz has been named the starting quarterback for Florida. The Gators also announced they will wear all-black uniforms for their home game against Arkansas this season.

Texas A&M starting tight end Donovan Green will miss the 2023 season after tearing his ACL.

Ohio State tight end Bennett Christian has been suspended for the 2023 season after testing positive for a banned substance.

Uniform of the Week

A lot of people have said how lost in the woods Purdue has been with their uniforms in recent years. If you go through and catalog their changes they’ve really messed with things pretty substantially since the Joe Tiller era. Well, maybe not anymore! This week, the Boilermakers unveiled Drew Brees era throwbacks that is believed to be taking the place of their standard home uniforms.

They look…okay? As Notre Dame fans know well, a lot can go wrong with the gold pants. I’m not sure those light cream-ish pants really work with the uniform. Back in the day, the pants were more metallic gold and that isn’t happening with these new sets. There hasn’t been any confirmation yet but people are expecting Purdue to use a road white jersey option of this throwback, as well.

Recruiting

2025 tight end Nate Roberts (0.9519) has decommitted from Notre Dame and is expected to verbal to Oklahoma.

Wide receiver prospect Jeremiah McClellan (0.9493) committed to Ohio State.

The nation’s top defensive lineman Williams Nwaneri (0.9987) is staying in-state and verballed to Missouri.

Florida picked up defensive back Wardell Mack (0.9467) this week.

Interior offensive lineman Isendre Ahfua (0.9468) committed to Texas A&M.

A quick check in with the 2025 recruiting class……….

One of the nation’s top wideouts Jamie Ffrench (0.9937) gave a verbal to Alabama.

LSU also added top wide receiver Dakorien Moore (0.9943).

Quarterback from Ohio Tavien St. Clair (0.9408) committed to Ohio State.

TCU added quarterback Ty Hawkins (0.9378).

Safety prospect Elijah Thomas (0.9345) committed to Oklahoma. The Sooners also added wide receiver Jaden Nickens (0.9501).

Oregon added both quarterback Akili Smith, Jr. (0.9627) and wide receiver Adrian Wilson (0.9606).

Corner Tae Harris (0.9313) committed to Georgia.

YouTube Channel

Hey, did you check out the study of modern college football network theme songs? Recently, ESPN released their 2023 college football anthem featuring Post Malone singing “Something Real.” The song is on his new album AUSTIN and was released a couple weeks ago. In terms of exposure, these types of pop songs used in college sports dominate coverage more so than the old school network themes. So get used to this one from Post!

I think the song is way too slow and doesn’t fit that well with college football. It’s an interesting choice for sure. The gospel singers are prominent and will probably be just as big of an addition to the broadcast than any singing from Post Malone. Do we call it singing?

Tunes

In recent days, I heard “The Twist” from Chubby Checker twice and figured it was meant to be included in this week’s Rambler. I’m always learning about music and in my head I always thought this song was from the mid-to-late 1950’s and not a 1960 release from Checker. There was an original version recorded in 1958 that became a moderate hit but this recording from Mr. Chubby went to no. 1 in September 1960.

I don’t think it’s crazy to say “The Twist” is one of the most important songs of the 20th Century. This version of the song had a separate run 18 months later that morphed into the new discotheque scene that spawned the dancing craze that took over America. Plus, while most wouldn’t consider this rock ‘n roll by today’s standards it was close enough in those days that it opened doors to people accepting different music.

Trivia

Who is the last Notre Dame football player to score 3 rushing touchdowns in a game?

The Other Football

The Premier League is back! Defending champions Man City beat Burnley 3-0 but lost midfield star Kevin De Bruyne for 3-4 months with an injury. Newcastle looked strong with a 5-1 win over Aston Villa. Everton lost 1-0 to Fulham. Brighton smoked Luton Town 4-1. Arsenal overcame Nottingham Forest 2-1. Both Chelsea/Liverpool and Spurs/Brentford ended in draws while Man United got past Wolves 1-0.

Man City won the UEFA Super Cup 1-1 on penalties this mid-week against Sevilla.

In the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Spain scored in the 81st minute, Sweden tied it in the 88th minute, and Spain scored the game-winner just 1 minute later to reach the final. In the other semi-final, England beat host-nation Australia 3-1. The Spain vs. England World Cup Final will be played on Sunday, August 20th in Sydney’s Stadium Australia.

According to reports, Vlatko Andonovski has resigned as the USWNT manager.

Messi scored yet again. Inter Miami took down Philadelphia Union 4-1 in the Leagues Cup semifinals. He now has 9 goals in 6 games with Miami and the club has yet to lose since he arrived.

Neymar’s career with PSG is over as the Brazilian is off to Al-Hilal for a nearly $100 million transfer fee. Neymar will make 200 million Euros per season with the Saudi Arabian club.

Defensive midfielder Moises Caicedo is headed to Chelsea from Brighton for $125 million. Chelsea also reportedly are signing Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia for $74 million. So far, the Blues have spent $350 million during this transfer window.

TV & Movies

This week I finished up the latest edition of Netflix’ UNTOLD: Johnny Football. Poor Johnny Manziel, my goodness. You feel a little bit of sympathy for him at the very end of the documentary when he discusses mental health issues and possible suicide but throughout it’s really hard to find even a shred of likability for him and what transpired in his life beginning at Texas A&M. It’s clear that the coaching staff for the Aggies really let him down too, and his parents (themselves no saints) mentioned that, as well.

Manziel even admits, he was basically a frat boy who happened to play football. He wasn’t really interested in practice and working out to get better. His best friend turned business associate mentioned how Manziel never talked about football or watched film. To think about how well he played in college, but A&M did lose 6 games across 2012-13–imagine what they could’ve done if he applied himself!? The documentary doesn’t spend much time on his short NFL career but it was funny and sad to see he never watched film (in the NFL, that’s suicidal!) with the staff telling his agent his iPad hours were at 0.00 total. He’ll be coming into his 8th season without playing in the NFL (he’s still only 30!) and it doesn’t shock anyone that Manziel played in only 14 career games before being cut by the Browns.

A Look Back

I found this video from an account called Fighting Irish Digital Media that appears to have stopped about 12 years ago. On their channel this 2008 highlight reel from Jimmy Clausen caught my eye. The way he held the ball up high prior to release will always be an iconic part of Clausen’s legacy to me. He could really zip the ball when he was able to use all of his (somewhat) robotic mechanics. Sadly, this highlight video isn’t that inspiring. We do see a handful of beautiful throws but it’s short and sweet.

This wasn’t a very memorable season either way. It felt a lot like some of the Bob Davie-era teams, except with better offense and not as good defense. I would imagine the Michigan, Pitt, and Hawaii games were some of the most memorable. Are there others that stick out? Maybe the what-if’s from the road game at North Carolina? The game against Stanford was my first inside Notre Dame Stadium and I don’t really remember much happening in that game. It bothers me to this day, I have maybe 2 distinct memories from action during the game.

18S Paddock Club

Summer break is over starting next weekend when F1 returns live from Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Until then, we are finishing up our 1st half grades for the teams.

Red Bull – 1st (503 points)
Grade: A+

It hasn’t been perfect but it’s hard to argue with a team winning every single race of the season so far. Sergio Perez has had his fair share of poor moments (he hasn’t been on the podium in 5 races) especially in qualifying. However, he’s still won 2 races with Max Verstappen taking the other 10 grand prix so far in 2023. It’s becoming very boring but all Red Bull have left to do now is chase history.

Aston Martin – 3rd (196 points)
Grade: A-

Aston only managed 55 points all of last season so the first half of 2023 has been one of the best turnaround efforts in recent memory in F1. Former champion Fernando Alonso has made 6 podiums and allowed the Silverstone team to be ahead of Ferrari at the summer break. However, after off-season and early-season upgrades brought the team a boost they have struggled more in the last 4 races which prevents them from receiving a better grade. Lance Stroll’s 47 points total with a car that was 2nd best for two-thirds of the season so far is a really, really poor performance.

McLaren – 5th (103 points)
Grade: B

Using recency bias, this grade for McLaren may feel harsh. However, they legitimately were on pace to have a grade of F through the first 8 races where they only totaled 16 points. Since then, they’ve turned into one of the best stories of the season with 87 points in just the last 4 races, which includes a crash DNF. It’s been a great story for a team that was really down on their luck. Suddenly, the career prospects for Lando Norris staying at McLaren look bright again and Oscar Piastri has been one of the most impressive rookies in recent seasons.

Williams – 7th (11 points)
Grade: B

If you’ve read about the history of Williams and their struggle to have a functional modern factory it’s surprising that they can even keep a car on the grid let alone have Alex Albon Doing Good Things™ on most weekends. They are technically tied for 7th place but are unfortunately carrying the poor performing American rookie Logan Sargeant who hasn’t done much to think he’ll have a long-term future in F1. It’s been the opposite for Albon who has been getting plenty of love and calls for him to sign with a stronger team. Overall, Williams has improved their car a little bit and look to be on a good trajectory in this regulation ruleset.

Alfa Romeo – 9th (9 points)
Grade: D-

For a while, Alfa was the most invisible team on the grid. That changed last year with a full driver lineup change and Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou putting together some solid performances to finish in 6th place among all teams. This year, they are back to being completely uninteresting and non-threatening nearly every weekend. Surely, no team gets less television over a grand prix weekend. They are on track for half as many points as last year–it’s been a pretty dismal season for Alfa Romeo. They appear stuck in neutral as they await the Audi takeover still 2.5 years away.

Trivia Answer:

Kyren Williams, 3 TD, Clemson, 2020