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

3 News Stories

#1 ND & USC Return

It’s now confirmed there will be a 4-year gap in the Notre Dame-USC series after the school’s announced the rivalry will return in 2030. That’s far enough way that Kenny Dillingham might be coaching the Trojans by then, or something. None of this feels great, though. The new contract is only for 4 years (2030-2033) and it feels like schedules have never mattered less in college football history than they do right now. I’d rather play USC than not, of course.

I completely misread what they playoffs would do to athletic departments, particularly as we moved to 12 team (and soon to be larger) fields. In the BCS era it at least made some sense to play the easiest schedule humanly possible because 1-loss could be devastating. These days, you can lose 2 games and be fine. And these schools have become weaker than ever when it comes to regular season competition. It sucks.

#2 Coaches Poll

Everyone was waiting for the Coaches Poll to be released with such anticipation and it’s finally here. Sure, it’s no 18 Stripes Top 20 Ranking that was already published here. But, we’ll give the coaches and their associated athletic department staffers making their lists some air time today. Notre Dame comes in a little disrespected, IMO, at 5th nationally.

This graphic didn’t get the memo about Texas Tech’s new logo. 

I didn’t have Michigan, Tennessee, or Washington inside my Top 20 and I would be surprised if 2 out of those 3 end up finishing the year ranked anywhere near that high. By the way, this is the lowest Alabama has been ranked in the preseason Coaches Poll in 18 years.

#3 More UNC Troubles

North Carolina opens up the 2026 college football season later this month when they face TCU in Dublin, Ireland. They may now be heading into that game without their defensive coordinator. Steve Belichick, son of head coach Bill Belichick, is currently out on indefinite medical leave with a return not know.

As of this writing, the Tar Heels are set to kick off the season in just 22 days.

Uniform of the Week

A while ago this off-season, we featured the LA Rams updating their standard uniforms. You can see them below in the middle and first uniform to the right. Their changes were subtle but an improvement on their overall look. They also are set to continue their all-black uniform on the far right which I’ve found intriguing (and kind of dig the color combination in a weird way) although that one just doesn’t seem to come to together very well. Perhaps it needs to do something else and break away from looking so much like their normal Rams uniforms.

This is a slick NFL closet now. 

Not too long ago, the Rams also unveiled two new throwback uniforms and they are both terrific. The white with blue trim uniform is a nod to their 1960’s uniforms (think of Andy Reid in the pass, punt, kick competition) although they have added black outline throughout which I’m not sure if exactly period correct. I think only blue would look better. The other uniform is a throwback to the 1950’s and I really, really like this one. Something about that screams 1950’s Hollywood to me. Overall, great job by the Rams to have a really nice varied but not too crazy look these days.

Media

Cool gear stuff, I am here for it. Today’s video goes through 20 pieces and I expected some fireworks. Unfortunately, there is an awful lot of overlap on his list. This is basically travel-based as well. I’m not sure how amazing a Swiss army knife tool is for someone just going about their business working in an office. However, there were a couple highlights for me.

That tiny flashlight that leads off the video is something special. It’s so bright! I’ve gone down to the rabbit hole of numerous pens that pop up on these “best of” lists and never find them too convincing. Show me something that can beat my Pilot G2 1.0mm because that bar is set way up in the heavens. I do like the backpack that can fold up into something super tiny. That’s legit an awesome piece of gear to have pretty much anywhere in your life, particularly in your car.

Tunes

I feel bad for thinking Jason Mraz is a big dork. Well, I guess technically he kind of is a big dork. His song “I Feel Like Dancing” has been on rotation on Sirius so often lately that I thought it was a new song. Nope, it was released back in 2023 so I’m not sure what is going on. Maybe the song is having a revival? Anyway, I was recently shaking my head at how cringe of a song this is and how Mraz has really grown into a a very specific type of mom music that I instinctively revolt against. Or maybe he’s kind of always been that kind of artist? Are there any Mraz fans amongst us? What are his concerts like?

Anyway, while doing some research he is genuinely a really good person. And fair play to him, he’s made a ton of money and his music career is still going pretty strong after almost a quarter century. So he may be dorky, but he’s doing a lot of great things with his money and influence. So Mr. Mraz, maybe you can continue being your silly little self.

One More Thing

In the mid-1990’s roller hockey was a whole thing. There was a time when Pro Beach Hockey seemed so cool to me. Roller hockey on ESPN! Awesome! About half of my AAA hockey team joined a small roller hockey league in the summer of 1996 and we were wrecking local kids who were not very good. Then we were told there were regionals and then a state championship. We breezed through all of it and found ourselves booking flights to Las Vegas for the USA National Championships. It was insane in so many ways.

This was cool, I swear!

We played 3 games in Sin City. The opener outdoors (in Vegas summer heat) against a team from Pasadena. Then, two games inside a convention center against a team from Hawaii and then Edmonton. Why was an Edmonton team in the USA Nationals?? We beat the American teams by a combined 40 goals or so, then tied the Edmonton team–the only real hockey team we faced the whole summer. The Pasadena team’s goalie got hurt when they were playing Edmonton, and we didn’t advance based on goal differential. Guess who ended up winning the USA roller hockey national championship? We were robbed.