Your weekly dose of Notre Dame news, opinion, and other stuff.
Top News
Under Armour and Notre Dame have agreed to a 10-year contract extension worth $100 million.
Notre Dame football unveiled new green uniforms on Monday to be worn at night against Ohio State.
NBC has announced Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett as the Notre Dame home game announcing booth for the 2nd straight season with Zora Stephenson again on the sideline.
Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers is among 7 players accused of betting on their own games with both the Cyclones and Iowa players involved, as well.
Apple is the rumored television partner for the Pac-12, while Arizona and Arizona State may be the next team to leave the league for the Big 12. Additionally, Utah may be leaving, as well. There are also fresh reports that the Big Ten is considering poaching more teams from the Pac-12, including Oregon and Washington.
Temple has a new logo!
Former Notre Dame defensive lineman Jacob Lacey has blood clots in his leg and hopes to return to the Oklahoma Sooners by the end of September.
Bob Diaco will be coaching outside linebackers and special teams for LSU.
Nicole Auberbach is being hired by NBC as a college football insider reporter, while remaining with The Athletic.
Skip Holtz is being hired as the special assistant to the Northwestern football head coach.
Special prosecutors in the SEC (the financial not the conference) are investigating Miami booster John Ruiz.
Arizona State has re-named Sun Devil Stadium to Mountain America Stadium.
Uniform of the Week
This is objectively really funny. Prior to last season, the Hurricanes unveiled these “Miami Nights” uniforms that you can see below. They have tried something unique like this in the past and for 2022 the new look was really reaching a new level. Check out the combination of orange, volt green, gray, and black. The shoulder logo is a bending palm tree in a hurricane which was an early warning about Miami’s defense. Ha, got ’em.
Anyway, the funny part is that Miami’s season went so poorly that they ended up never wearing these uniforms. I wonder how Adidas felt about that? At least they got a cool photoshoot out of it? I was researching to see when they were going to wear them and it was scheduled for their home finale. Mario Cristobal must’ve squashed that idea.
Recruiting
Cornerback Aaron Scott Jr. (0.9714) committed to Ohio State.
Wide receiver Perry Thompson (0.9839) flipped from Alabama to Auburn.
South Carolina snagged a huge recruit as edge rusher Dylan Stewart (0.9953) committed to the Gamecocks.
Cornerback Charles Lester III (0.9900) committed to Florida State.
Linebacker Kristopher Jones (0.9417) is headed to Georgia.
Offensive tackle Isaiah Garcia (0.9198) gave a verbal to Utah.
YouTube Channel
Rest in peace Lance Reddick who passed away back in March at the young age of 60 years old from heart disease. Some may recognize him from his role in the John Wick series of films but I’m assuming nearly everyone sees him forever as Deputy of Operations Cedric Daniels on the HBO series The Wire. Here’s a funny skit Lance did with Funny or Die not too long ago:
He was an incredible actor. I walked into The Wire in season 5 pretty randomly one night when it was airing live on HBO. Luckily it was one of the first episodes. The story following the Baltimore Sun was something that reeled me in immediately and remains one of my favorite seasons of television ever. Then I re-watched the rest of the series and it was all great.
Tunes
I did a deep dive on the group Fifty Fifty whose song “Cupid” is currently 24th on the Billboard Hot 100 this week. It’s a Korean girl group of 4 members named Sio, Saena, Aran, and Keena. They released their debut album in November of last year and they released their newest single below in February. Like a lot of new music these days, it blew up on Tik-Tok and has turned the group quickly into international sensations.
This is a really catchy and cute song. I actually like the verses more than the chorus. The verse reminds me of the nearly 30-year old hit “Lovefool” from the Cardigans which is a 1990’s banger of a love song. That was one of my favorite songs from that era. 18 Stripes is the place for female K-Pop talk.
Trivia
Notre Dame and this other team tied for the national lead with 7 punt/kick blocks in 2022.
The Other Football
It hasn’t been pretty, but the United States have advanced in the Women’s World Cup. On Monday night in America, the team had a scary 0-0 draw with Portugal. The Portuguese hit the post in extra time on a play that would’ve sent the United States home. The U.S. will play this weekend in the knockout round of 16 against a tough Sweden team that went 3-0-0 and topped Group G.
Leo Messi scored 2 more goals in Inter Miami’s 3-1 win over Orlando City in the Leagues Cup. Miami have yet to lose since signing the Goat.
Man United are closing in on a $92 million deal for Atalanta forward Rasmus Hojlund.
Barcelona is working on a transfer fee that would send young star winger Ousmane Dembele to PSG.
Chelsea have signed Monaco defender Axel Disasi for $50 million.
Liverpool midfielder Fabinho is joining Al-Ittihad in the Saudi league. Newcastle winger Allan Saint-Maximin is joining Al-Ahli.
Legendary Italian goalie Gianluigi Buffon has officially retired.
TV & Movies
Who has seen Oppenheimer in the theaters so far? I’ve run it by my significant other and I think the topic is a tough sell in combination with the 180 minute running time. I’m probably better off going on a bro-night out or taking it in by myself. 18S movie night who says no? I recently listened to the Plain English podcast that had author Richard Rhodes come on to discuss Oppenheimer and his life which was a great interview.
Everything about this period with the nuclear bombs is awesome, scary, sad, and frightening all rolled into one ball of emotions. Lots of brave men trying to end WWII but also creating something evil and doing some terrible things along the way to achieve their goal. This part has always blown my mind about the Little Boy that was later dropped on Hiroshima:Â It contained 141 pounds of highly enriched uranium, although less than a kilogram underwent nuclear fission.
A Look Back
When was the last Notre Dame football game that was difficult to find and watch on television? Some might argue Peacock these days! I know there were some sketchy moments in 2007 and to this day I’m not sure I have watched 2007 UCLA in its entirety–it is uploaded to YouTube but I’m not going to sit down and give that season more of my time. I’m pretty sure I listened to that one on the radio anyway which is a one-and-done experience in my lifetime. Does anyone remember the 2006 Air Force panic, though?
If my memory is correct it wasn’t clear most of this game week where the Irish vs. Falcons would air but with Notre Dame sitting at 8-1 and back inside the top 10 it was assumed it would get picked up somewhere nationally, right? Surprise, it was broadcast on something called CSTV (acquired that year by CBS and later re-branded to CBS Sports Network in 2008) and we had to scramble that Saturday to a Tully’s (shout out to Tully’s chicken fingers) to find somewhere that carried this channel. This was an extremely fun game to watch, too.
18S Paddock Club
Once again we were very close and all lined up for an entertaining race weekend in Belgium that ended up the same way as always with Max Verstappen atop the podium.
The sprint shootout was highlighted by rookie Oscar Piastri qualifying and finishing 2nd with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly grabbing 3rd place. During the normal qualifying Verstappen (who won the sprint) grabbed pole but started P6 after taking a gearbox penalty.
This allowed Charles Leclerc to start from pole with Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton hot in pursuit behind. At turn 1, Carlos Sainz and Piastri collided–eventually ending both of their races. It was a crappy way to end an unbelievable weekend for Piastri.
Perez took over 1st in his much quicker Red Bull but of course it only took 9 laps for Verstappen to charge up to 2nd place. Perez would have a slow pit stop and on lap 18 he was passed by his teammate. Neither Red Bull driver would be threatened the rest of the race and Verstappen took home another dominant win by 22.3 seconds over his teammate. Brutal.
More notes from Spa-Francochamps:
- This is 8 wins in a row for Verstappen and Red Bull’s 12tht straight win to open the season. They’ve also won 22 out of the last 23 races stretching back to last year, yeesh!
- Not a bad weekend for Leclerc who picked up P3, just his second podium of the year.
- McLaren’s race pace on Sunday wasn’t good for Lando Norris who finished P7. They set up their car more for rain that never ended up having too much of an effect. Plus they need a new rear wing that is less draggy on these long Belgium straights.
- One point for Yuki Tsunoda! That was much needed for the Japanese driver who finished in P10 and has been battling new teammate Daniel Ricciardo (he finished P16 way down in the back).
F1 is officially on summer break now and will return for FP1 at Zandvoort on August 24th for the Dutch Grand Prix. That’ll be the race where Verstappen, on his home soil, can tie the all-time record for consecutive wins.
Trivia Answer:
Central Michigan
“Bob Diaco will be coaching outside linebackers and special teams for LSU.”
Don’t ever change, BK.
Kelly, Rees, Diaco, Denbrock. The SEC is becoming a Voltron of early 2010s ND football.
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
According to them #27 is JT Bertrand, or is that how JD is pronounced?
That Air Force game was my sophomore year. I watched it in a very cold and damp Stepan Center on a big projection screen.
Me too – I remember everyone in my dorm trying to get illegal streams with variations of success. Nobody wanted to go from South Quad to Stepan.
I remember being irrationally excited when it turned out my junior year college apartment in Muncie, Indiana randomly got CSTV on its cable system because it had been announced before the season that the Air Force game would be on that channel.
It also had the Chicago RSNs, which were impossible to find anywhere else, and that too was pretty cool.
Coolest part of the Miami unis is they can go straight from the football stadium to the laser tag arena without having to change
Since it’s Miami, I presume they will get their asses kicked by a 10th birthday party at laser tag.
This realignment seems to be inching closer and closer to Stanford being on the outside looking in, which I would find amusing.
Reporting is changing by the minute. We’ll seeSources: Big Ten adding Oregon and Washington, leaving Pac-12 with uncertain future (Yahoo, 30 minutes ago)
Northwestern departures – Nigel Glover, LB, who enrolled in summer school at NW, will join Ohio State, presumably as a PWO per Eleven Warriors, as is Lorenzo Styles. Glover had also had visits with Michigan and Kentucky. Justin Cryer, LB, is headed to Florida State. Dylan Senda, IOL, is transferring to Auburn. None of those three seem to have offers from the respective schools as prospects.
Jeremy Pruitt, fired from Tennessee for cause and under a six year show-cause by the NCAA, has been hired by his high school alma mater at Plainview High School in Rainsville, Alabama, as a physical education teacher. His wife, Casey Pruitt, was hired on July 13 as an English teacher at the same school. Prior to Jeremy’s tenure at Tennessee, Casey was a compliance worker.
In modern nuclear weapons, which use both fission and fusion, a single warhead can release more explosive energy in a fraction of a second than all of the weapons used during World War II combined—including Fat Man and Little Boy.
A study that just came out details that the fallout from the Trinity site explosion reached forty-six states and also documents significant deposition in Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona and Idaho.New Mexicans, their water, land, and livestock suffered the most radiation exposure.
Whatever else happens ND should probably sign their new TV deal to end at the same time as or prior to the Big 10 deal. One complicating factor with all of this is that once the deals are signed the TV companies don’t necessarily need to re-negotiate just because new teams are added as far as I’m aware.
Now maybe they would for ND (or maybe there’s already an ND clause in the big 10 contract) but the closer it gets to 2 big conferences the likelier it’ll be that ND will have to join the big 10. The ACC’s situation (and Olympic sports) is obviously key.
I think in the end losing independence might not be quite as big a loss as it would have been in the past to join a conference since the conference, likely, at that time will be a kind of coast to coast conference. The loss will be I suppose in the freedom to schedule. But we’re already pretty limited in that way with probably only a few of games a year that really change. (5 acc changing every year is not exactly part of the “freedom to schedule”), USC, Stanford, navy. That’s pretty similar to having 8 conference games every year. I’d certainly want ND to negotiate certain parameters with scheduling (like keeping USC on the schedule every year) before joining.
My understanding on the revenue from TV deals when adding teams is that the Big 12 got a unique term that provides a full extra revenue share for up to 4 Power 5 teams transferring into their conference and that the Big Ten does have a Notre Dame specific clause that would grant a share’s extra revenue but other than that there’s not guaranteed amounts of extra revenue per team.
That’s why the Big 12 could be so aggressive going after Colorado and Arizona, and maybe Arizona St and Utah, because it really costs them nothing in terms of revenue split.
Thanks. Very interesting and important tidbit there about those clauses.
I wonder how the money will breakdown with the big 10 adding Oregon and Washington. I think I’ve seen they will start with half-shares and it’ll grow. But that still means likely cutting into everybody else’s share right now.
Though on the other hand I think the big 10 had dreams of selling a late-night package of games for some money so they might be hoping it won’t cut into those other shares that much if they can still sell that kind of package of games (even though it’s not likely to be enough to be enough to pay for adding Oregon and Washington for this tv deal).
But it’s also why the SEC or the Big 10 is unlikely to take any more teams during the current set up.
I suppose the only other way that could happen is if they could find a way to sell a package of games to a network because they’ve accepted like 6+ teams that are all valuable tv teams (like if the ACC magically dissolves and they take FSU/Clemson and ????). In other words, it’s not that likely to happen.
The ACC teams will probably have to wait until the big 10 deal expires in 7 years (if they can magically find a way to break their grant of rights) and at that point the SEC will be left out in the cold since they’ll have to wait 3 more years before getting a new TV deal.
All about the Benjamins not the student-athletes who have to travel or traditional ties. Reportedly Oregon and Washington were also concerned about a decreased chance of going to the CFP but may accept that for the chances of playing Indiana and Purdue in Pacific time zone matchups. Would ND accept the same?
Without those clauses in media contracts that would bring in extra revenue for certain teams like the Big’s for ND, there’s a diminishing return per team in adding members with full shares, although adding the LA, Seattle and Portland markets is attractive.
The cynics among us see the anti-competitive aspect of ESPN and Fox not bidding for the Pac 12 media deal, combining on ones the Big 12 and part of the BIG’s billion dollar deal. Certainly the lack of a significant media deal for the Pac is a reason teams see a grass is greener reason to leave. Certainly Phil Knight was consulted on Oregon’s move. With Nike dominating the apparel market, perhaps he saw increased revenue and larger market share in joining the BIG. (Insert image of back room deal-making) Should ND join the BIG, they would cede a role in that to the BIG.
Cupid is my jam.
So, can we cancel the annual Stanford game now?
That’s what I’m hoping for. How far out do we have that scheduled? If we didn’t schedule any more, when would it end?
I believe they amended the current contract to keep the home-and-homes equal for the COVID year, and so it now ends after the 2024 game in South Bend instead of after this year’s game in Palo Alto as originally agreed.
O nice. I figured with games scheduled so far in advance that they might have been on the books for another 5-10 years.
But we need to keep up with our Peer Institution who keeps having notable alumni resigning and/or going to jail for widespread fraud
Thanks for the girl K-Pop. One of my students (Chinese in fact) in my master’s art of leadership class did a presentation on BTS (as an example of influencers). I had no idea there were women doing this. Totally a perfect perky tune!
As for Oppenheimer — I saw it in the biggest IMAX theater in Paris with my son and his wife, back from Hollywood. Hmmm. 3 hours really too long, Nolan has become completely undisciplined. Especially the last hour is nothing much to do with the bomb, it’s essentially about the McCarthy era. Nolan’s usual messing around with time lines for the hell of it.
All that said — it’s a good psychological treatment of an ambiguous personality, so there’s that (my French friends appreciate that angle, but that might be a turnoff 🙂
Also, it is a significant and IMO well done deep dive into the science, plus the wartime history. So there’s that. Matt Damon did a nice job with General Grove. Plus I’ll give Nolan credit, he allowed voices to lay out albeit briefly the case argued then for dropping those two bombs, namely preventing the mainland invasion of Japan, which my own research convinces me woud’ve cost way more lives, on both sides.
Seeing it in IMAX is not worth it, in fact why Nolan used 70 mm for a film that’s 85% interior shots is… weird. Did I say self-indulgent?
Finally, the sound track is pretty damn good, and the actual treatment of the bomb’s explosion is really damn good.
Well you asked, so there is my take!
I think there’s little doubt Noise that more lives would have been lost if the bombs had not been dropped. Curtis Lemay’s firebombing tactics on Tokyo March 9th, 1945, killed at least 100,000 Japanese and wounded or left homeless over a million more. Lemay’s plan was to bomb them into submission. With more bases being built for USAAF planes on Iwo and Okinawa, it would have been possible to level every city in Japan and that is what Lemay planned to do.