Your weekly dose of Notre Dame news, opinion, and other stuff.
Top News
Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt has been named to the 1st-team pre-season All-American list from Walter Camp. Irish cornerback Benjamin Morrison was named to the 2nd-team.
Former Irish tight end Durham Smythe has signed a 2-year $7.75 million extension with the Miami Dolphins.
Michigan offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter have both been given new contracts and pay raises to $1.15 million per year.
Former Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo has been hired at UCLA as the “director of leadership.”
Division II football team Simon Fraser University is shutting down its program. They were the only Canadian team in the NCAA and ran into conference membership issues.
Uniform of the Week
Green and gold look so good together (gestures wildly at the Notre Dame athletic and public relations department) and Baylor have pioneered some tremendous uniforms in this scheme over the years. Today, I am looking at the 1992 Baylor uniforms, specifically this one from the Sun Bowl against Arizona:
It’s sad in a way that equipment changes have also changed the way uniforms are designed. For example, the era of large shoulder pads meant adding the Bear paws on this Baylor jersey worked really well. Today, you’d have a difficult time pulling that off. Also, the wider shoulders made the chest larger and allow the much more appealing large script across the front. These days, teams use smaller script or no script at all. Bring back the large script! Baylor used it pretty well during the Robert Griffin III era but have dropped it altogether in recent seasons.
Recruiting
The rich get richer as receiver Mylan Graham (0.9849) committed to Ohio State. The Buckeyes also picked up running back James Peoples (0.9626) on Sunday, as well.
Cornerback Jon Mitchell (0.9249) committed to Penn State.
Five-star quarterback Jadyn Davis (0.9848) gave a verbal to Michigan.
YouTube Channel
I’ve been trying to cultivate my appreciation for all forms of art even going so far as trying to deeply understand abstract painters like Mark Rothko. Sometimes I feel like, “I really get this!” and other times it feels like a trick that I don’t understand. I married someone not really into art (or art in general, including music and movies, at least she’s well below average in her love for these things) but she’s always bringing up wanting to go to the Louvre in Paris.
In this video the last piece discussed is from German painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer. He’s still alive and it makes me wonder how many people have something inside the Louvre while they are still living? His large painting Athanor is really haunting and was created in 2007. Looking into this more, the painting went into the Louvre the same year it was completed. Must be nice! It had to be commissioned specifically for that space in the Louvre.
Tunes
The Polyphonic video below looks at the best way to close an album and uses 3 different categories including climax, meditation, and call to action. I don’t love the categories, especially the latter two, but it includes the artists Pink Floyd, Gorillaz, David Bowie, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana, Public Enemy, Rage Against the Machine, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, and Beyonce. It’s a nice eclectic group, though.
I tried to think of great album closers off the top of my head and came up with this list:
Beatles – “Twist and Shout”, Tomorrow Never Knows”, and “Get Back.”
Michael Jackson – “Smooth Criminal”
Led Zeppelin – “When the Levee Breaks”
Tom Petty – “American Girl”
Rolling Stones – “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
Eagles – “Already Gone”
Fleetwood Mac – “Gold Dust Woman”
Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Free Bird”
Prince – “Purple Rain”
Oasis – “Champagne Supernova”
The Doors – “The End”
However, I’d spotlight “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by the Who to close out their 1969 rock opera Tommy. I’m actually shocked it wasn’t included in the Polyphonic video in the climax category as it neatly wraps up the entire album and is one of the band’s best songs. The Who also have “Won’t Get Fooled Again” which finishes their later period album Who’s Next, as well.
Trivia
Can you name the teams to give current National Champions Georgia football their last 5 losses?
The Other Football
Leo Messi has seemingly signed an extension with PSG several times, only for it never to become official. He’s been rumored to be leaving the team next year with fresh reports that he’s negotiating with Saudi club Al-Hilal for a cool $500 million Euros per season. What is even money? Count me skeptical that Messi will actually make the plunge to this terrible league and join the rivals of Cristiano Ronaldo, but we’ll see.
The seemingly ageless Karim Benzema scored a hattrick on Wednesday to move Real Madrid 4-0 past Barcelona in the El Clasico Copa del Rey 2nd leg. Madrid will face Osasuna in the final next month.
Frank Lampard has reached an agreement with Chelsea to be their interim manager until the end of the season.
An update in the MLS where St. Louis City prove to be mere mortals in a 1-0 loss to Minnesota United last weekend. However, the expansion St. Louis team remain atop the Western Conference table, 2 points ahead of the Seattle Sounders.
Streaming
If you need a good laugh head to YouTube and type in Dr. Steve Brule. Whether he’s trying to make sushi, interviewing inmates, investigating planes, or giving out health tips it’s some of the best comedy gold you can find. My favorite is Dr. Brule and his review of wine from the Tim & Eric show. “I nnnnddndn some cheese” is an all-time phrase you can use whenever you are buzzed or completely drunk.
I once listened to a podcast interview with John C. Reilly expecting him to be hilarious and really entertaining. Instead, he was completely normal and really reserved. It really threw me off. It made me wonder if he’s not naturally funny? Does that make him an even better actor having to turn on the comedy when it’s not that natural for him?
A Look Back
Below is a video from Irish Sports Daily showing the 4th quarter light show during the Clemson game this past season. You know the game that gave us the current header photo of Audric Estime on our site. Let’s imagine a wacky scenario where these type of breaks in big games were possible in the 1930’s through the middle of the century and it was a time honored tradition for nearly all Irish fans. Then, let’s consider the program stopped doing this in favor of people just sitting in their seats with no technology, video board, or other amenities while just listening to the band.
How many people would be like, “Cool, I like sitting in the quiet a lot better! Now I can really hear the band going through the Victory Clog for the 17th time today!” I can’t predict it would be 100% in favor of this type of light show, but it would be close. Also, if anyone sees a really high definition and wide photo that would work well on the site, let us know. We are open to submissions.
18S Paddock Club
I’d imagine most Americans didn’t stay up on Saturday night to watch the Australian Grand Prix and instead caught the replay the following morning. The poor souls who woke up at 1 AM on the East Coast to watch this crazy long race–I’ve learned never to do that ever again last year. What we encountered was one hell of a rollercoaster ride. To summarize:
- George Russell beat Max Verstappen for the lead into turn 1.
- Lewis Hamilton passed Verstappen at turn 3, while Lance Stroll beached Charles Leclerc after the 2 lightly collided.
- *Safety Car deployed*
- On lap 7, Alex Albon lost control of his Williams and crashed into the wall, knocking himself out of the race.
- *Safety Care deployed*
- Russell decided to pit from mediums to hard tires, giving up the lead and dropping to 7th place.
- *Red flag to clean up debris*
- The leaders change to hard tires.
- After a standing re-start, Verstappen passed Hamilton for the lead after a couple laps.
- Having moved up to 4th, Russell retires in the pit lane with an engine fire.
- *Virtual Safety Car*
- Verstappen led Hamilton by nearly 12 seconds but gave 3 seconds away after running wide on the penultimate corner.
- On lap 53, Kevin Magnussen clipped the wall in turn 2 shearing his right rear tire off.
- *Safety Car deployed*
- *Red flag 1 lap later to clean up the debris*
- Everyone puts on soft tires for a 2-lap shootout to end the race.
- On the re-start, Verstappen held the lead past Hamilton into turn 1.
- Carlos Sainz hit Fernando Alonso, both Alpine drivers crashed into each other & Logan Sargeant took out Nyck deVries.
- *Red flag to remove cars and debris off the track*
- After a 30-minute delay, the order is returned to the penultimate lap.
- The race finishes the final lap under Safety Car with Verstappen, Hamilton, and Alonso on the podium.
- Sainz received a 5-second penalty for his collision with Alonso, dropping him from 5th to 12th place, last among the finishers.
Yes, it was a lot of drama. We also saw Checo Perez (he had a nightmare weekend performing terribly during practice) crashing out of qualifying and moving up from 19th to finish in 5th with the fastest lap–limiting the damage to championship-leading teammate Verstappen.
Aston Martin’s strong season continued with a 3rd and 4th place finish in Australia, now they’re back in 2nd in the Constructors.
McLaren benefitted as much as anyone from the carnage, moving up from last place as a team to 5th thanks to Lando Norris in 6th and Oscar Piastri in 8th place.
Talk about an up and down weekend for Alpine. Gasly’s race pace was fantastic spending a lot of time in the top 5 only for the crash with Ocon to wipe them both out with 2 laps remaining.
Up next, Baku after a 3-week break!
Trivia Answer:
Alabama (2021, 2020), Florida (2020), LSU (2019), South Carolina (2019).
Sigh, the 18Stripes MLS curse. As soon STL City SC make the Rambler, they lose. Thanks for pointing out they play Seattle next, hopefully that curses the Sounders!
So no rest for the Toasted Ravs of SFC Provel as they follow a loss to a quality Minnesota team (#4 in the West) with Seattle (#2 in the west) and Cincinnati (#1 in the east) the next two weeks before catching a break in the schedule.
Cincinnati and Atlanta are staying hot out East to stay atop the table, with LAFC lurking at #3 out West.
You caught me, I’m angling for a coveted spot on the 18 Stripes writing team and all the fame, fortune, and benefits that go with it. Plus I hear I get the lifetime premium 18S subscription I’ve always wanted!
Oh, what have you done with the curse? Got it, we knew STL wasn’t that good and were getting a bit lucky, we’ll see how real they are the next two weeks.
Jan and Wayne Skylar, the only married news team in the tri-county area.
🙂
Continuing the Trivia on ND Head Coaches in the Bowl Era (Devine, Faust, Holtz, Davie, Willingham, Weiss, Kelly):
— Every HC improved on their first year record (including bowls) except two. Which ones were they?
— Every HC had a two year loss record of at least nine losses except two. Which ones were they?
(Barring a five loss season, Freeman would have a better two year record than only those two, who both had six losses in their two years.)
— Every HC improved on their first year record (including bowls) except two. Which ones were they?
Willingham and Kelly
— Every HC had a two year loss record of at least nine losses except two. Which ones were they?
Not quite clear on this one — do you mean a total of at least 9 losses in consecutive years? I’ll say Holtz and Devine. Doesn’t take much to have 9 losses in two seasons.
Right. Willingham followed his initial 10-3 season cratering to 5-7. Kelly finished another season at 8-5, losing the bowl game.
The only HCs who accumulated less than nine losses in their first two years were Devine (17-6) and Weiss (19-6).
The others’ cumulative records over their first two years: Davie (16-9), Faust (11-10-1), Holtz (!3-10), Willingham (15-10), Kelly (!6-10).
In their second years, Devine was the only one that won his bowl game. The twelve game season began in Weiss’s second year.
I never understood why Weiss could recruit QBs like Claussen and Chryst, but Kelley could only get Reese and Gholston. At least neither of them were as bad as Bob Davies.
Irish HC’s third years seem to be defining. Teams under Devine, Holtz and Kelly went on to play in the NCs. Teams under Faust, Davie, Willingham and Weiss struggled to finish .500.
Recruiting is as much or more as the surrounding cast. In Clausen’s three years, the Irish sputtered while Golson guided his to a NC game.
Of course, nowadays Freeman will not only need to recruit h.s. Seniors but keep QBs and may also need to recruit transfers. ND’s academic standards though have not changed which narrows the pool of QBs.
that was a spelling joke
Third years are the crucial tell. Ara specifically said it when he was negotiating his first contract with Father Joyce, and it’s historically true — even well before the coaches you cite. Like from Hunk Anderson, through Layden, thence Leahy, Brennan, Kuharich, and Ara. And then the ones you list.
That brings back nightmares of that Charlie Weis contract extension at ND since it was before his terrible third year. He was also fired at Kansas four games into his third season with a buyout of $7 mill there to add to his ND buyout.
Talking ND and Kansas makes me think of Jesse Harper, who had a great record in five years for the Irish, and retired to his farm in Kansas near where Rockne died.
Certainly when a coach has finished two or three years recruiting, there are not much reason for blaming the prior coach.
There’s something to be said for the continuity that Freeman following Kelly and the recruiting relationships that continue.
Phoebe Bridgers has the best album closer of this century do not @ me
Which song/album?
I Know the End – Punisher
Best experienced after listening to the full album. Or at least listen to Graceland Too first so you get some vibe shift.
OK, I have to join in about the Louvre. The video was fun, and at one time or another I’ve seen all those works shown, except the contemporary one.
Here’s the deal, Eric. If your wife wants to go see the Louvre…. why not go? I can help you find the best way to avoid the worst of the crowd, and set up the most targeted visits you would like.
The least I can do for your having put up with my old alum remarks!
“why not go?”
My first two guesses, not to speak for Eric, would be the thousands of dollars and intercontinental travel with small children.
Other than that, though!
Now I’m wondering if our last subscription increase is financing the Murtaugh family travel fund.
SOON.
Hey. Having done many, many transAtlantic flights with children of all ages starting very young, that should be workable for anyone whi manages the 18 Stripes Staff and Premium Subscription List… 🙂
Yeah, the $$, a bigger point. They can stay in my guest suite though
Album closers are easily some of my favorite songs, some incredible classics:
Street Spirit (Fade Out), Videotape, and True Love Waits all from various Radiohead albums
All Apologies by Nirvana
Inspector Norse by Todd Terje (incredible Norwegian electronic artist)
Home by LCD Soundsystem
Sprawl II by Arcade Fire
Train in Vain (Stand by Me) by The Clash
Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) by Jimi Hendrix
The Other Side of Mt Heart Attack by Liars
Let’s Call it Love by Sleater Kinney
Champagne Coast by Blood Orange
Rocket Queen by Guns n Roses
Would by Alice In Chains
A Dream if You and Me by Future Islands
Also, when it comes to art, I read a book called the Art of Cruelty by Maggie Nelson, it was a non-fiction examination of art whose subject is violence or cruelty or dark aspects of the human condition. It’s fascinating just hearing about a lot of the strange performance art people have done, but beyond that it taught me a lot about how to “look at” or perceive art that I wouldn’t otherwise have picked up. (Honestly I don’t think you could write a book about how to look at art and have as much of an impact on my perspective as that book did). Obvi it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but with checking out.
I will say, too, speaking of dark art, Dr Brule goes to some very strange and dark places lol. It’s really avant garde humor, I can enjoy some of the bits, the wine skit is beautiful, and I really like this one too https://youtu.be/CPFwbvWSwUA
but sometimes the Tim and Eric/Steve Brule stuff is so uncomfortable that I just can’t take it
“Would” came on the radio when I was taking my girls to the Super Mario movie this weekend. Absolute elite album ender.
We saw Mario this weekend, as well. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed it. I thought it hit a very narrow spot of nostalgia and story & brought them together really well.
I enjoyed it, too. It raked in a ton of money this weekend.
That was my first time back in a theater since Covid, and my daughters got to experience all the groaning from the crowd while watching 6 previews before Mario started.
Did one of your kids also ask you what “beach-off” meant after the Barbie trailer?
That trailer was on acid. I did laugh at the rollerblades, though.
I’d have to add some U2 – Love is Blindness is a fantastic ender to Achtung Baby, and Mothers of the Disappeared for Joshua Tree.