Your weekly dose of Notre Dame news, opinion, and other stuff.
Top News
Notre Dame is expected to hire Matt Jansen from West Virginia as the school’s new head director of scouting.
The DI Council is proposing new requirements for FBS schools which will, among other things, increase the transition fee from $5,000 to $5 million and be required to provide 90% of the total number of allowable scholarships over a two-year rolling period across at least 16 sports, including football. The D1 Council has also proposed reducing the overall transfer window days from 6o to just 30 days.
The NCAA Football Oversight Committee is also recommending that the D1 council extend the 4-games + post-season redshirt rule, plus permanently eliminating the signing limit each year as long as a school stays under the 85-man limit.
Texas has sold a record 68,000 season tickets for the 2023 football season.
Former Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallet died after drowning in Florida.
Texas A&M defensive end coach Terry Price passed away.
EA Sports says next summer’s college football video game release is on track and an official offer to players for image and likeness has not been agreed to yet.
Uniform of the Week
Which college teams can you not visualize in football ahead of basketball? Kentucky is no. 1 atop my own list. Every time I see their football uniforms I compare them to the basketball team. Like many other programs, UK has messed with gray, black, and chrome on their uniforms. None of it looks particularly appealing. What about this all-blue look from a recent game?
The Wildcats often wear this uniform but with white pants. I like that look much better. The checkerboard pattern on the shoulder sleeves is a nice touch. It looks like the jersey tag on the bottom left is checkerboard, but I like how they don’t overwhelm the uniform with such a busy pattern. For example, you could put checkerboard down the pants but is that necessary?
Recruiting
Wide receiver Keondre Henry (0.9192) committed to Purdue. The Boilermakers also added top safety Koy Beasley (0.9443).
Florida added wide receiver Jerrae Hawkings (0.9173).
Clemson picked up a verbal from safety Ricardo Jones (0.9390).
Safety Marquis Gallegos (0.9136) committed to USC.
Interior offensive lineman Daniel Cruz (0.9183) is headed to Texas.
Tight end Carter Nelson (0.9535) is staying in-state and committed to Nebraska.
Linebacker Jeremiah Beasley (0.9027) has committed to Michigan.
YouTube Channel
This isn’t the first time we’ve discussed the Titanic on the Rambler. Recently, terrible news struck as 5 people perished as the submarine Titan exploded last week while descending to view the Titanic. At $250,000 per person, OceanGate founder Stockton Rush was running what amounts to a tourist visit to the wreck on the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean. In a way, the gig seemed pretty cool and I say that as someone who is completely freaked out by the ocean.
I immediately got bad vibes from watching Rush, though. His sitting posture and personality reminded me of Steve Jobs, and turns out that Rush was born in San Francisco so the vibe similarities make sense. It takes a certain personality type to try something like this. At first, I wondered how long the crew were stuck in the submarine and possibly aware of all the problems happening to them. But from the available evidence, it sounds like the sub imploded fairly quickly upon its descent to the Titanic. If you’re squeamish maybe don’t Google what that would do to everyone inside the vessel.
You know, I was watching a video recently about how there are still shoes at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean from the Titanic and my first thought was that they fell off from passengers. But the guy explained how the ocean floor would’ve had a shower of all these bodies and due to the specific nature of the shoes construction they have barely changed. In other words, people fell with their shoes on and the sea plus animals took everything from these bodies and all that’s left are the shoes. He said, maybe it’s time we respect the dead and leave the Titanic alone.
Tunes
I was at a food festival about 15 years ago when I saw this aging man playing guitar for people and as I was walking by he was playing “Helplessly Hoping” from Crosby, Stills, and Nash. He was knocking it out of the park with the finger picking and singing a difficult song solo that has a hallmark harmony from all 3 band members. And while CSN was known for trademark harmony, my goodness, this song hits you hard with some of their best singing.
The song was the 8th track off their self-titled debut album from 1969. That record is outrageously impressive and one of my favorites. They recorded it in early 1969, released it on May 29th that year, and were performing songs from it at 3 o’clock in the morning on August 18th with Neil Young in tow (except for the acoustic part of their set) at Woodstock.
Trivia
Who had the most tackles for loss in a single season during the Brian Kelly era (2010-21)? Have I asked this trivia question before??
The Other Football
Toronto FC has fired manager Bob Bradley. The team has the 2nd worst record in the Eastern Conference of the MLS a year after finishing in that same spot in 2022.
Inter Miami has hired former Barcelona manager Tata Martino to reunite with Leo Messi.
Arsenal have signed midfielder Declan Rice for $133 million from West Ham United.
Tottenham have signed midfielder James Maddison from Leicester City for $40 million.
American forward Timothy Weah is headed to Juventus on a $13.1 million deal from Lille. USMNT striker Ricardo Pepi is headed to PSV from Augsburg on a $11 million transfer.
A year after joining Chelsea from Napoli, central defender Kalidou Koulibaly is the latest player to head to Saudi Arabia on a $21 million deal to Al-Hilal. Goalie Edouard Mendy is also headed to Saudi Arabia from Chelsea. It’s a nice little way to reduce Chelsea’s wage bill, so that’s wonderful.
TV & Movies
Hollywood tackling the infamous GameStop shares and squeezing a pair of hedge funds is coming to the world this September. This week, the trailer for Dumb Money dropped featuring Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Seth Rogan, and Nick Offerman without a mustache. The film looks promising, almost something like a combination of The Social Network and The Big Short. Maybe not quite as dramatic as either, but we’ll see!
I had completely forgot that Mets owner Steve Cohen was involved in this mess. That was a really funny aspect to this. It should be pointed out that Cohen is still worth $9.5 billion, the poor guy. And the other hedge fund guy Kenneth Griffin is worth an astonishing $35 billion. Some people have entirely too much money. The protagonist Keith Gill took $50,000 and turned it into $50 million, per a Google search. Further research shows his net worth at $30 million today. I hope he’s made it out okay.
A Look Back
I came across this video from the Late Kick show with Josh Pate from not that long ago, so barely a Look Back as it were. Pate pops up on my feed from time to time and without listening to him that much I tend to like his takes and the way he delivers his information. Is there anyone out there who listens to him more often?
It’s interesting to hear him be so high on the Irish receivers. I think a lot of people would push back on that but with Hartman in town it’s also a savvy move to buy stock in the pass catchers. Someone has to break out, surely. He also picks Tobias Merriweather as the breakout player.
18S Paddock Club
We are back in the beautiful Austrian mountains as F1 returns to action for race #9 with another sprint weekend format. If you’re unfamiliar we will have one practice session on Friday followed by qualifying for the race. On Saturday, we will have another qualifying to set the grid for the sprint race and then commence said sprint race later that evening. On Sunday we will have the normal grand prix.
At this track last year they also ran a sprint weekend and it was the scene of Charles Leclerc’s last win for Ferrari. Max Verstappen took pole but wasn’t happy with his setup and there was talk of too much tire degradation during the sprint, which Verstappen also won.
On race day, Leclerc overtook Verstappen and went on to an emphatic win as Red Bull really struggled to maintain their tires.
Round 9 of 22
Austrian Grand Prix
Date: July 2nd
Race: 9:00 AM ET
Location: Spielberg, Austria
Circuit: Red Bull Ring
Laps: 71
Tire Compounds:Â C3, C4, C5
Track Evolution: 3 out of 5
Asphalt Abrasion: 4 out of 5
If there’s been a weakness for Red Bull (and there haven’t been many!) it’s that they sometimes don’t dial in their setup very well with just 1 practice session. Verstappen especially likes to fine tune things and progress nicely through a normal 3-practice session weekend.
Ferrari are not sitting idly by and will be bringing an upgrade package to their car featuring a revised front wing, floor, and underbelly of their sidepods. McLaren are also bringing updates but only for Lando Norris’ car as they rushed some things through production to get things on track on Friday.
Fewer race tracks are as scenic as Red Bull Ring.
The sprint weekend should spice things up a little bit, we hope. There’s also plenty of rain forecast throughout the weekend and that helped a lot last time out in Canada. Most are expecting the short, fast, and flowy Red Bull Ring to suit the Red Bull car as well as any track on the calendar. But occasionally, the tracks throw a curveball.
The brewing rivalry between Aston Martin and Mercedes can’t be ignored either. Both have brought upgrades to previous races and should be fighting hard for podium places if not being the cars to challenge Red Bull.
Trivia Answer:Â
Sheldon Day, 15.5 TFL (2015)
Will be fascinating to see who else takes their talents to South Beach to team up with Messi. Can’t imagine he signed on to MLS without some guarantees there would be talent on the way, given Miami is a solidly in the bottom two of all of MLS (in case you were wondering who keeps finishing in last place behind Toronto FC).
As far as the Pate bit, still in the “see it to believe it” stage with Meriweather, but do believe competent QB play means we could be looking at multiple 800 yard receivers.
As far as basketball school first schools, it’s a close race, but I’m picking Kansas. Kentucky has had some flashes in football recently and get points for being in the SEC. But Kansas is horrible in the Big 12.
When I hear KU, I just think of the Mark Mangino baby. No basketball, no football, just a chubby baby in KU gear with a mustache.
UConn
Indiana
I miss Mangino’s velour track suit.
I completely acknowledge that KU has been historically the worst college football team ever over the last 10-12 years. But I am a homer, and KU had a breakout year last year (it’s all relative given the years preceding), and I think the Jayhawks should be good for another 6-7 wins this year–though the schedule is tough.
Leipold is the real deal and KU’s offense is very fun to watch if you didn’t tune in last fall. With some of the transfers and recruits they have been getting, I truly believe KU could be pushing for 9-10 wins in 2024 and knocking on the door of the playoffs in 2025.
I know I sound crazy.
It does sound a little crazy, but playoffs are going to 12 and Texas/OU are leaving the Big 12 and someone has to step into that vacuum. So it’s not really as crazy as it sounds, though I’ll believe a big Kansas football glow up when I see it.
For some reason (speculation welcomed), many bloggers have an east of Mississippi mindset and miss the developments in Big 12 and Pac teams. Kansas has the second highest returning production (to FSU) of all 133 FBS teams. Ten returning starters on an offense that was second only to TCU in scoring offense. Of the ten returning starters on offense, only one is a true Junior. The rest are four or five year players. The matchup with TCU was wild – 38-31 with the winning TD scored in the last 1:36 and with Daniels out for the entire second half. Daniels may be a top ten QB and their RB (Neal) was fifth in the Big 12 in rushing and the four in front of him moved on. So, it’s a balanced, productive and exciting attack.
Kansas State won the B12 title over TCU by a field goal. Like Kansas, Michigan could not stop Duggan and Johnson in the CFP. K-State may well have beaten Michigan, too. Oklahoma and Texas with additions have to be favored in the B12. KU has Oklahoma at home. But Kansas’s transfers have shored up their front seven.
Kansas has winnable games against Mo St, Illinois, Nevada, Iowa St,, Texas Tech and the three newcomers – BYU, Cincy and UCF. Leopold knows how to coach, is a good recruiter and now they have experience winning. The two Oklahomas, Texas and K-State will be tough games, but representative of the strength of the Big 12. Then there’s TCU and Baylor.
Sorry but I am completely lost on the whole transition fee thing in D1.
That’s cause it’s $5,000 and no one even knew about it!
I get it in theory — to run an FBS program, you need to have at least $5 million sitting around that you can throw away essentially without a second thought. That’s what you’d need to replace a coaching staff at a low level G5 school. I think the idea is to prevent teams that should really be FCS from lunging at FBS TV money.
Now why that $5 million just goes straight to the NCAA, I do not know. There are better ways of testing a school’s financial wherewithal.
Re: The Titan, James Cameron’s take is all you really need to watch to understand what fundamentally went wrong. Anybody who’s taken a Materials class (I was lucky enough to take mine at ND) was shocked to hear the submersible was made of carbon fiber. And it was bought on the cheap from Boeing because it was past its safety date.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/23/us/james-cameron-titan-submersible-ac360-interview/index.html
Heartbreaking but it was only a matter of time.
NHL hockey sticks are a prime example of what stress eventually does to carbon fiber.
Yep. But in high end sports equipment, CF is a reasonable material choice because its advantages (strength to weight ratio) outweigh its disadvantages (brittleness, especially under repeated stresses) at least if cost is not a priority. Underwater, the weight savings thing becomes moot. I can only guess that the CEO picked CF because aerospace uses it so it must be the best. I am hoping some more story comes out about what engineers he employed and what they said. This reminds me a lot of the Challenger disaster, where the head engineers advised calling off the launch and were overruled. I want to hear this story from OceanGate’s engineers.
I believe that I’ve read that the stresses in space are less severe (less Atmospheres) than they are underwater. The stress intensifies to far greater levels, the deeper you go underwater. The “they use it in outer space ” argument, holds no water….I’ll show myself out.
Spot on!
Background: I ran the mechanical Quality Assurance for a nuclear submarine, and I’ve almost died under the ocean via flooding leading a test procedure, so this sub thing is weirdly in my wheelhouse.
Thumbrule: 44lbs/square inch for every 100 feet of depth in the ocean, i.e. 1000 feet is 440lbs of pressure.
Space is basically a vacuum, so let’s call it 0 lbs. The max pressure differential in space is nominally 14.7lbs (normal human atmospheric pressure is 14.7lbs)
Pressure differential at 100 feet of depth is 30ish lbs, and goes up by 44 lbs for ever 100 feet of depth in the sea, so this sub was under IMMENSELY more pressure than anything in space. Further, the “fluid” (travel medium) in space basically nothing, whereas the ocean is saltwater, which is hyper corrosive.
In summary, I maintain the depths of the ocean are fathoms (pun) more severe than space. As such, the material selection, build strategy, and operational considerations must be rigorous to ensure adequate safety. It doesnt appear the owner of this sub adhered to such a mindset, and the result is both tragic, and inevitable.
I’m also super biased, as I know the depths of the ocean pretty well, and have never (will never) be in space, which I’m sure has it’s own challenges, like no natural radiation shielding from the sun, 0 gravity, etc.
Radical football helmet design may prevent concussions: Stanford study
i may have gone a little insane but if you guys are missing nd football as much as i am
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4oO1zT3ZgCQqTedWEVsxHaolAve_Bs14 here is every game i could find (with some exceptions lol) from 2000 onwards
Sheldon day. King of the almost-a-sack
Sorry to come in late, as so often I do, not that my comments ever offer any much. To answer your question, Josh Pate has been showing up on my feed, and I agree, his takes seem balanced, pretty insightful, and reasonably well researched.
Like many of us below, I do hope Tobias M. may break out this year.
I’ll be in Dublin and maybe we’ll see.
Speaking of which, nobody has expressed an interest in those tix, so I am gonna give ’em to my French sports medicine therapist guy unless I get some 18 Stripes interest.
Otherwise, I’ll be in the Bend for the USC game, and thinking we could have an 18 Stripes event then?
Finally — as you surface some great oldies stuff, Eric, I highly recommend a piece I just saw on my feed (bizarre, feeds…) of Patti Smith talking about the Stones TV appearance that inspired her onto the rock music path. He dad’s reaction to the TV event is priceless, same exact as mine !
For ref, the Patti Smith article is from Farout Magazine in the UK, “The Rolling Stones song that froze Patti Smith”
Noise, I missed any discussion on Dublin tickets but as a fan living in Stuttgart, it’s not outside the possibility I could make it. I don’t know if we can private message but happy to make contact and discuss.
Hi Irish Spring — yeah, private message sounds good. Is there a way to do that on this site?
Like, Eric/staff — can you put Irish Spring and me in contact?
Noise, my email is first.mi.last## at gmail with David and M. and Kaley and 70 to fill in those blanks.
Giving it a try!