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

Top News

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick held a live stream talk on Wednesday covering a wide range of topics. Among the more interesting items he mentioned include: It’s unlikely a 3rd major conference develops, recent events have validated the decision to stay independent, 12 teams is the ideal number for playoff expansion, the school supports NIL for true value, and Marcus Freeman has the most cohesive staff he’s seen in his time at Notre Dame.

Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, and Notre Dame round out the top 5 of the pre-season Coaches Poll.

Big blow for Wake Forest as quarterback Sam Hartman is out indefinitely with a non-football medical condition but he is expected back at some point during the 2022 season.

Arizona State transfer wide receiver Rickey Pearsall has injured his foot at Florida and is out indefinitely. Alabama sophomore receiver and former top 50 overall recruit JoJo Earle is also out 6-8 weeks with a broken foot.

Notre Dame football just got new field turf put in this off-season and the Irish basketball teams are responding with a brand new floor in the Purcell Pavilion.

A new NIL collective is being set up to pay players at USC, against the school’s wishes. This should end well.

Former Washington State head coach Nick Rolovich is suing the school for $25 million after being fired because he wouldn’t get the Covid vaccine.

Long-time Oklahoma assistant Cale Gundy has resigned after using a racially charged word in front of players. Some people believe there’s more to the story, it’s been pretty damn strange.

Uniform of the Week

The Summer of FCS continues with a look at South Carolina school Wofford, a private liberal arts school in Spartanburg. The school has fewer than 2,000 undergraduates and yet still fields a football team at this high of a level. This is amazing. Less amazing, are the Terriers’ uniforms. Adidas is doing this program no favors. This is some early 2000’s EA Sports create-a-uniform disaster class stuff:

It’s like taking a Wake Forest template and trying to make it much worse. I can appreciate a plain helmet but this sandstorm gold Wofford is using needs to go immediately. Using that for lettering on their chest and on the end of their sleeves, it looks so amateurish. The easy move would be to embrace more black. Which is odd because just about every program in the country would be doing that.

Recruiting

Notre Dame added safety Ben Minich (0.8778) last Friday evening, commit post HERE. The Irish also added running back Dylan Edwards (0.9000) on Saturday afternoon, commit post HERE.

Texas has picked up edge rusher Derion Gullette (0.9373). Texas also dipped into Florida for the commit from running back Cedric Baxter (0.9782).

One of the top players in Louisiana, wideout Shelton Sampson (0.9841) is staying in-state with LSU. So too is quarterback Rickie Collins (0.9285) who decommitted from Purdue on August 1st.

Alabama got a commit from St. Louis offensive tackle Miles McVay (0.9262) on Thursday.

Orange Park running back Samuel Singleton (0.9052) has committed to Florida State.

Edge rusher Braylan Shelby (0.9412) committed to USC.

YouTube Channel

The embedded video below does a taste on chicken nuggets from 6 different places: Hardee’s, Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s, Wendy’s KFC, and Tyson frozen brand. I think I may have eaten at a Hardee’s once in my life but by a process of elimination this taste test is about as easy as it gets for any type of food. At home, we recently started putting Tyson chicken in the air fryer and that is a big time winning combination.

Traditionally, I think it comes down to McDonald’s (don’t say MAC-Donald’s like the guys in the video) and Wendy’s for the best ‘popular’ nuggets, at least that’s what I grew up devouring in large amounts. Unfortunately, about 2.5 years ago Wendy’s changed their BBQ sauce and it’s now too sweet and too vinegary. It ruins the experience and I’m now heavily favoring McDonald’s. Although I will put in a plug for Burger King, their chicken offerings in general are very underrated.

Tunes

Everyone knows I’m a huge Paul McCartney fan. He just turned 80 years old this past June and this dude’s body of work as a musician and celebrity in the music spotlight probably will never be repeated ever again. Immediately after releasing the Wings album Back to the Egg in the summer of 1979, he embarked on his ‘solo’ career again and put together McCartney II released in May 1980. This was the last McCartney album to be released before John Lennon was murdered in December of 1980.

The album was led by the hit single “Coming Up” (Lennon loved the song) which most fans will remember from this McCartney era. However, one of his best attributes was picking up on new sounds coming through the business, focusing on them for a bit, and then moving on to other things. Nowhere is that more obvious than in today’s featured song “Temporary Secretary” one of the weirdest of McCartney’s career and a delightful synth-pop jam.

Trivia

Which Notre Dame team during the Brian Kelly era (2010-21) intercepted the most passes in a season?

The Other Football

The first weekend of the Premier League is finished and Tottenham is atop the table. You love to see it.

Liverpool midfielder Thiago looks to be out 6 weeks with a hamstring injury.

Timo Werner is leaving Chelsea and headed back to Leipzig for $30 million.

Champions League winners Real Madrid beat Europa League winners Frankfurt 2-0 on Wednesday to win the UEFA Super Cup.

The World Cup (remember it’s coming up this fall!) is set to begin a day earlier on Sunday, November 21st so host country Qatar can play Ecuador. Feel the excitement.

Streaming

I rarely sit down and watch a movie these days without being distracted by kids, my phone, or writing some of the world’s best chicken nugget reviews. I also have an absolute classic modern American life where my other half simply cannot stay awake for the length of a movie at any time of day nor any day of the week. It leads to a lot of half-ass watching of cable movies and incrementally getting through streaming options 10 to 15 minutes at a time. Occasionally, I’ll have stuff on and not really watch any of it.

I recently caught about 30 minutes of Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2 and I realized I find it a fun and entertaining movie but could not remember what the plot of the first movie was about nor could I put together what was happening in the sequel. Kurt Russell is some god-like character or something!? Anyway, great soundtrack.

A Look Back

The last win of the Brady Quinn era. The ESPN review of this game states, “Quinn keeps Notre Dame in the National Title hunt” which I thought felt weird but yes it’s difficult to remember that after how terrible that loss to Michigan was, technically the Irish were 10-1 and not super far away from a title chance–although they stayed at No. 5 in the BCS Standings after beating Army on Senior Day.

Do you remember Notre Dame going scoreless in the 1st quarter against Army and trailing 3-0 into the 2nd quarter? I can only imagine how we’d all be reacting if we had our game day Slack chat back then. The fun for Army would not last. While they started slow, the Irish offense had themselves a nice little day. Darius Walker rumbled for 162 yards and 2 scores, Quinn threw 3 touchdowns, and Jeff Samardzija caught 9 passes. All this before a terrible visit to Los Angeles.

18S Paddock Club

We’re through 13 races and just 9 remain in the Formula 1 season. It’s summer break so here’s my review of the F1 grid so far in 2022:

Red Bull
1st Place, 431 Points
Grade: 97/100

Red Bull has suffered 5 retirements but 4 of them have come for 2nd driver Sergio Perez and not championship leader Max Verstappen. That’s been a nice bit of luck. Beyond some reliability struggles it’s mostly been a perfect year for them. They’ve turned a controversial drivers title in 2021 and predictions of dropping down the grid for 2022 into a bit of a laugher this season as Verstappen is closing in on a second championship and would probably need to DNF in 2 to 3 of the remaining races to give someone else a chance.

 

 

 

 

2023 Outlook: Verstappen (2028) and Perez (2024) will be together for another 2 full seasons and Honda has signed up for 3 more seasons to supply their engines as Red Bull works out their new arrangements with Porsche likely to begin in 2026. They’ve made a lot of risky and bold moves recently but it’s all coming up roses lately.

Ferrari
2nd Place, 334 Points
Grade: 83/100

They just can’t get out of their own damn way. Several strategy blunders and 7(!) combined retirements have wrecked a championship fight that should be super close at this point. Credit to Ferrari, they’ve built perhaps the best car on the grid but cannot put it all together consistently enough. This grade could be lower based on essentially throwing away a good title chance, but there’s still the possibility Ferrari win a bunch of races and come back for 2022 if they don’t, well, Ferrari themselves.

 

 

 

 

2023 Outlook: Both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are locked up through 2024 and have showed enough this season where they each could be in line for new contract talks. Ferrari should remain at the top of the grid through these new set of regulations but will want more hardware in the coming seasons.

Mercedes
3rd Place, 304 Points
Grade: 89/100

Zero wins and our second highest grade, what a weird season for Mercedes! Their “zero sidepod” aero philosophy didn’t work on track, then they dealt with the bouncing, and it was all a bit of a mess for an organization not used to failure. But, they’ve had nearly impeccable reliability (0 mechanical retirements & only 2 mechanical retirements from the 6 total Mercedes engine cars) and consistently put themselves in a place to grab a lot of points every weekend.

 

 

 

 

2023 Outlook: Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton is signed through 2023 and the threat of retirement remains. However, if their car is fighting at the top next year, we can expect Hamilton to stick around for a while. George Russell’s contract is not public but it’s believed he’s signed through 2024, he’s impressed in his first season for Mercedes, and is the long-term future of the team.

Alpine
4th Place, 99 Points
Grade: 73/100

It’s a massive drop down to the fight in the midfield for 2022 but Alpine has arguably been improved from 2021. They’ve been plagued by some reliability/strategy mistakes but Esteban Ocon is on 11 more points compared to last year, and that’s with him winning Hungary a year ago. Fernando Alonso has overcome issues earlier in the year and heads into summer break with points in the last 8 straight races. Sticking strictly to things on track, they’re fine!

 

 

 

 

2023 Outlook: Alonso set off a bomb on August 1st by announcing his departure next year for Aston Martin after some contract squabbling and a lot of feet dragging from the French team. Alpine announced reserve driver Oscar Piastri for their 2023 car but he tweeted out a big old nope to that as await the legal ramifications of such decisions. Now, the team is in shambles. Signing Ocon to a 3-year deal through 2024 seemed a bit aggressive at the time but maybe sticking with Ocon long-term will end up working out as he’ll likely become the veteran leader of the team.

McLaren
5th Place, 95 Points
Grade: 74/100

McLaren has taken a sizable step back from last year and struggled mightily early this season with brake problems and poor top-end speed. They’ve been able to claw back some performance but it’s not nearly been good enough. Lando Norris has persevered his stock as a hot commodity picking up 80% of the team’s points and at 22 years old continues to have a bright future in F1. Veteran Daniel Ricciardo has only finished higher than 8th just 2 times over his last 18 races stretching back to last year and is in danger of losing his seat despite being one of the most marketable athletes on the grid.

 

 

 

 

2023 Outlook: Ricciardo’s tenure at McLaren has been a disaster and he just cannot get comfortable in the car. Now, despite a contract for 2023 he may be bought out ($21 million is the reported fee, sheesh!) with rumors that Piastri has signed a contract for the team next year. Maybe it works out but McLaren CEO Zak Brown has growing contract disputes on both sides of the Atlantic (including IndyCar) that could turn disastrous. If it does work out, Norris and Piastri (still just 21 years old) would form a sensational young tandem.

Alfa Romeo
6th Place, 51 Points
Grade: 77/100

Alfa Romeo have almost quadrupled their points through 13 races compared to all of last year and on their day are squarely in the mix at the top end of the midfield. The Ferrari engine and a solid aero platform have given the team a big boost, especially in qualifying. But, the reliability has been poor (7 overall retirements, although one was a huge crash) and the race pace can be pretty spotty. Still, it’s been a very exciting 2022 with veteran Valtteri Bottas settling in well and rookie Zhou Guanyu showing promise when he’s able to finish races.

 

 

 

 

2023 Outlook: Bottas signed a long-term contract for the team is likely set to stay for several years as he creeps towards his mid-30’s and is becoming a F1 elder statesman. Zhou is rumored to be only on a 1-year deal but after flashing some quickness as a rookie and bringing plenty of Chinese money he’s very likely to stay onboard.

Haas
7th Place, 34 Points
Grade: 75/100

The “American” team on the grid is fun again! They’re actually trying! Well, not too much but at least a little bit and they’re not in last place! Like Alfa, they’ve benefitted from the upgraded Ferrari engine but the same story exists that they don’t finish enough races. Veteran Kevin Magnussen has injected some excitement into the team with 5 races in the points. Second-year driver Mick Schumacher had a super rough start to the year but is improving with a couple solid races and his first career points recently.

 

 

 

 

2023 Outlook: Magnussen is locked in through next year although the future of Schumacher is still in question with his contract up after 2022. Obviously, his name brings a certain cachet and he brings a decent amount of money in sponsors, too. It’s been reported Ferrari doesn’t hold as much sway over one of the Haas seats as they used to and may drop him from their academy, however, you have to think unless silly season really gets crazy they will opt to bring Schumacher back. Is there someone else ready to bring a ton of cash with them?

AlphaTauri
8th Place, 27 Points
Grade: 67/100

The likes of Ferrari and McLaren have been taking up a lot of bandwidth due to their struggles against high expectations. However, AlphaTauri has been quietly terrible with these new regulations coming off a 2021 where they fought hard against Alpine for 5th place. Yuki Tsunoda has been more consistent than his 2021 rookie season with fewer mistakes but isn’t doing a whole lot overall. Pierre Gasly (110 points last year) has been struggling and not getting along very well with this iteration of their car. Really, outside of Azerbaijan this year it’s been a really dark season for Red Bull’s “B” team.

 

 

 

 

2023 Outlook: Gasly signed an option to come back for 2023 and with the currently boiling silly season (and poor current car) he probably wishes he waited a couple months to try and leave the Red Bull family for a better seat somewhere. Tsunoda’s 2-year contract is up and he’s probably sweating that an extension hasn’t been done yet. He might be saved by the bulk of Red Bull’s academy being too unproven to jump in and replace him at the moment, plus the decision of Honda to continue providing engine support for the next 3 seasons.

Aston Martin
9th Place, 20 Points
Grade: 63/100

Aston Martin continue to pour money into their team and it’s yet to see results–in fact they have been going backwards rather strongly. They were comfortably in 7th place last year–and much more feisty a handful of times during the season–while 2022 has brought a bunch of misses in development. Sebastian Vettel started the year with Covid, has looked checked out, and recently announced his retirement. Lance Stroll continues to be mediocre (highest finish 10th this year) and hasn’t looked comfortable in the car all year long.

 

 

 

 

2023 Outlook: With Vettel retiring, Aston threw a pile of money at Alonso to give us the super weird pairing with Stroll for the next 2 to 3 years. It’s possible with continued investment they jump up the grid and make some noise in the next year or two. Odds are better their dysfunction and Alonso-led drama continue to cause issues.

Williams
10th Place, 3 Points
Grade: 65/100

This time last year, Nicolas Latifi was coming off a 7th and 9th place finish for the highest peak of his career. In 2022, his highest finish has been 12th while he’s now been outside the points in 50 out his 52 career races, all with Williams. Alex Albon has injected some life into the team with points finishes in Australia and Miami, while nibbling around the edges of the points in a few other races. The car is just way too unstable and poor in qualifying to be competitive.

 

 

 

 

 

2023 Outlook: Albon recently signed a multi-year extension (likely through 2024) which is a little surprising given Williams’ struggles but he’s probably happy to secure a seat after being dropped by Red Bull after 2020. By all reports, Latifi is done after this season or at least Williams has finally decided they can do without his Canadian millions only to finish last. Piastri looked probable to take his seat on loan from Alpine but after recent events that may not be the case. Mercedes reserve driver Nyck De Vries could be an option (although he’s turning 28 before next year) or current Williams academy driver and American Logan Sargeant could slide into the seat if he continues to impress in F2 where he’s currently in 3rd place.

Trivia Answer:

2010, 18 interceptions:
Harrison Smith – 7
Darrin Walls – 3
Robert Blanton – 2
6 others with 1 interception each.