Your weekly dose of Notre Dame news, opinion, and other stuff.
Top News
Former Pitt Panther (heavily recruited by Notre Dame) and current Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field Monday night against the Bengals. I’m sure everyone has seen the story and is watching his recovery. Here at 18S we pray he keeps improving.
Georgia is 12.5-point favorites over TCU in the upcoming National Championship.
In the rumors department, Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren is being considered as the new president of the Chicago Bears. Also, several NFL teams are interested in Jim Harbaugh (you can’t lose bowl games in the NFL).
Alabama stars Will Anderson and Bryce Young are off to the NFL.
Clemson defensive tackle Bryan Bresee is headed to the NFL.
Kansas State running back Deuce Vaughn has declared for the NFL.
The MAC leading rusher Carson Steele is transferring from Ball State to UCLA.
Navy is hiring Kennesaw State offensive coordinator Grant Chestnut to keep the triple option alive in Annapolis.
Sad news as BYU freshman offensive lineman Sione Veikoso passed away recently after a retaining wall collapsed on him while working on a construction site.
Uniform of the Week
I had been waiting to see what Mississippi State would do to honor the recent death of head coach Mike Leach. The team played Illinois on Monday in the ReliaQuest Bowl and unveiled a pirate flag logo on their helmets. At first, I thought this was a really classy and neat touch to honor Leach. Then, I thought should they have done more?
Strictly in the universe of uniforms I say yes. For one, the flag was only on one side of the helmet. But also, going with black for mourning instead of maroon opened up the Raiders-esque color scheme. It was sitting right there! Also, this game had a crazy ending (especially for Vegas) as the Bulldogs took back a failed pitch (Illinois trailed by 3 with a 3.5 point spread) for a touchdown to win 19-10. One last laugh for the Dread Pirate.
Recruiting
Former Notre Dame recruiting targets from the 2022 class in receiver CJ Williams (USC) and defensive lineman Anthony Lucas (Texas A&M) are transferring with reported interest from the Irish.
The only recent big 2023 commit was Floridian wide receiver Raymond Cottrell (0.9375) signing with Texas A&M.
In the 2024 class, Chandler, Arizona quarterback Demond Williams (0.9157) committed to Ole Miss.
Also, Michigan State dipped into Murfreesboro for wide receiver Jaylen Thompson (0.9102).
YouTube Channel
Last week we featured the world’s largest sports stadiums (including cheese rolling, we have to bring that up again) and now it’s time for this YouTuber to give us the 15 Weirdest Football Stadiums in College Football. I was prepared to be disappointed with the list, but actually they did a pretty good job.
For those who would like a list typed out (they didn’t go in any sort of order):
Idaho State
Idaho
Boise State
Eastern Washington
Coastal Carolina
Central Arkansas
Northern Michigan
Maryland
Northwestern
Grambling State
Colorado State
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
UTSA
James Madison
Murray State
Yes, 4 of those programs are on there for their silly little turf colors and that’s fine. Some of these are actually fantastically weird. The Superior Dome looks like an absolute trip to play inside. The South Dakota Mines circular parking on multiple levels is the coolest things I’ve seen all week. I love the way Murray State’s whole package looks, too. There’s some surprisingly interesting stadiums out there.
Tunes
It’s Michael Jackson time. Thriller was the first album (on vinyl no less!) I remembering listening to as a kid, only because I remember handling the distinctive jacket cover of Jackson in his white suit, sitting at my parents tall record/radio system, and trying not to be scared by the Vincent Price talking sequence at the end of the album’s title track. We’re talking core early memories in my life somewhere as a 3-year old. By the way, thinking about how much slower the world turned back then, Thriller the album came out on November 29, 1982 and the “Thriller” video wasn’t released on MTV until December 2, 1983.
Of course, this album had 7(!) top 10 singles with “Thriller” being the last and final released so in that way it makes more sense why the video came out so late. “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” was also another top 10 hit and opened the album. It’s famous drum machine intro is always stuck in my head. The disco-ish feel doesn’t fit the album that well, and that’s because it was originally slated for Jackson’s previous disco-heavy Off the Wall record.
Trivia
How many Notre Dame quarterbacks have been drafted in the 1st round in the Super Bowl era? Can you name them?
The Other Football
The biggest news in world football has been the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo as a free agent by Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr. There were reports that Ronaldo was close to a long-term deal with Sporting Kansas City in MLS which would’ve been absolutely wild.
Al-Nassr, based in Riyadh, are currently leading the table by a point. I can’t help but think of their shirt manufacturer Duneus and how they may be the most happy group out of everyone. According to reports, Ronaldo’s contract includes commercial pay and is rumored to be as much as $200 million per year.
Surreal moment during Ronaldo’s introduction presser at his new Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr. Journalists shout “SUIIIIII” – his signature goal celebration – and CR7 looks like he wants to climb behind one of those giant lapels on his suit. SOUND UP FOR FULL CRINGE 🫣 🫣 🫣 pic.twitter.com/1rhZtfRGpZ
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) January 3, 2023
Quite the dichotomy to see rival Leo Messi winning the World Cup and two weeks later Ronaldo chasing endless bags of cash in one of the lowest leagues in club football.
The world also lost Pelé last Friday, the Brazilian legend was 82 and passed away from colon cancer. Certainly for my generation (and he’d been retired for 5 years before I was even born) Pelé was synonymous with soccer and famously connected to a sport in a way that I don’t think we’ll ever see the likes of again. In our recent YouTube video section he was listed as the most famous Brazilian and I don’t see that changing for many more decades to come.
Streaming
I don’t know where Home Alone stands among the greatest movies of all-time (it has to be way up there I assume) but for me it’s an A+ all-time keeper. It also seems to be on cable during the Holiday season more than any other Christmas movie which is helpful. So far, I haven’t grown tired of it. The older I get, the more silly and skeptical I grow of the ways preventing the Water Bandits™ from chasing down Kevin, though.
Marv falling on the Christmas ornaments is among my favorite scenes. He straight up smashes his feet on the ground from 18 inches and then proceeds to continue walking across the ornaments after standing up. The unlocked window part of the movie kills me. The whole sequence and the screenplay to complete it was so genius.
A Look Back
We can’t ignore mighty Tulane coming back to upset USC in the Cotton Bowl. The Trojans had several comfortable leads and blew them all, including leading by 15 points with 4:30 remaining in the game. Our grad transfer wish list (he’s staying at Tulane) quarterback Michael Pratt completed just 8 passes but for 234 yards as the Green Wave ran for 305 yards on USC. What really gets me excited though, is America’s team right now the TCU Horned Frogs:
Ohio State beating Georgia to go on to win it all, despite losing to Michigan, would’ve been objectively the funniest scenario of the decade. I would’ve cackled for years (for those saying Ohio State is worse, you are wrong). However, God bless TCU and noted Notre Dame fan Max Duggan taking down Michigan for all of us. Watching them win the National Championship would be such an amazing story.
18S Paddock Club
Previewing each team on the grid for the 2023 season…
Team: Alfa Romeo
Founded: 1993 (as Sauber)
2022 Result: 6th
Base: Hinwil, Zurich, Switzerland
Owners: Sauber Group
Power Unit: Ferrari
Team Principal: TBD
Drivers: Valtteri Bottas (11th season) & Zhou Guanyu (2nd season)
The Good: People were actually paying attention to them again! The droll Kimi Räikkönen and quiet Antonio Giovanazzi left for the grid’s favorite Finnish bro Valtteri Bottas and a new interesting rookie Zhou Guanyu. Their car was the lightest on the grid to start 2022 and paired with the Ferrari power unit brought some really promising results.
The Bad: Once the rest of the grid starting car shedding weight, things didn’t go so well for Alfa. Zhou experienced one of the worst crashes in recent years at Silverstone and was lucky to come away unscathed. They were plagued by too many reliability problems and eventually sank back into the bottom half of the midfield teams with no hope to claw back into contention.
2023 Hope: Alfa becomes one of the most talked about teams of the off-season thanks to the news that Audi will be buying into the Sauber Group and joining the grid as a works team (making their own power units in Germany) in 2026. After 2023, the Alfa Romeo badging will be removed–and while the team is likely to be called Sauber for 2024-25–it’s possible Audi money and technology start impacting the team sooner rather than later. The team did lose team principal Fred Vassuer to Ferrari in recent weeks which plunges them into a bit of chaos. But, with Audi lurking this becomes a fun team to follow.
Trivia Answer:
Brady Quinn, 2007
Rick Mirer, 1993
My kids watched Home Alone for the first time last Christmas (4 and 7 years old at the time) and the they lost. their. damn. minds. at all of Kevin’s hijinks. Maybe the hardest I’ve ever seen either of them laugh. Obviously, diminishing returns on the subsequent sequels. HA2 isn’t terrible. I don’t think I watched 3 or 4, but one came out last year and it wasn’t awful.
I was 8.5 when it came out in theaters, I was rolling on the floor too.
It has impressive re-watch potential as an adult. For instance, really the best part of the movie is the character arc of the South Bend Shoveler. As someone with estranged family members, little Kevin’s wisdom in the church hits pretty hard, yeah?
Also putting yourself in the parents’ shoes and what you would endure to keep your kids safe. Even hours and hours of polka music.
Screw those parents. They’re absolute dipshits. Full stop.
It’s been our kids’ (11 and 9) favorite Christmas movie by far for the last couple of years. Just the mention of the name Marv is enough to get them going.
And agreed, the church scene is excellent. Kevin’s wisdom plus the old man saying, “Well, you can be too old for a lot of things, but you’re never too old to be afraid.”
I’ve played at northern Michigan… the YOOPER DOME!
its surreal to say the least. For the longest time, it was astro turf, aka skin peeler 9000, but the most bizarro thing is the lighting. They just doubled down on fluorescent lights for the whole thing, and theres this weird amber evening glow all the time. I’m not sure what they put in the water there, but that whole team in monstrous, damn near had my collar bone broken by a 6’2″ RB, 0/10 dont recommend.
Also, Marquette is basically at the corner of civilization, 12 hour bus ride to get there from my hometown; about the same amount of time it takes to get from southern michigan to new England…
I had experience with a newer turf (2006-ish) and a skin peeler 9000 situation. I can’t imagine the pain of earlier versions.
First, thank you and blessings to you, hypnotoad.
Second, wasn’t Lucas one of the guys smoking weed in the lockeroom after the game? I’m all for expanding the portal outreach but, uhh, how is that guy going to clear the already huge undergrad transfer hurdles at Notre Dame? Skeptical on that, but we’ll see I guess.
Yeah, we’ve been discussing that in the writers room. Tough to see him coming to ND at this point. But who knows.
CJ Williams being in the portal and ND being in it, made me chuckle a bit. Southern Cal having two 5star WRs coming in and a transfer, not so much.
Yea, wonder why Williams is transferring already. USC should be a WRs dream – unless it’s somehow clear already he’s not that good or not good enough to get on the field.
A few random comments that come to mind as I enjoy the last, or nearly last, week (and rambler) of this NCAAF season; (1) thanks to the 18S crew and commenters for another year of great content, collegial celebration, and occasional therapy for shared misery, (2) I don’t tend to give much attention to commercials but I’ve found some of the Dr.Pepper Fansville ads to be pretty amusing, (3) Sean McDonough and Todd Blackledge are probably my favorite broadcasting duo.
Thanks to @murtaugh and crew. Go Irish. May Hartman make a decision sometime soon…
I liked seeing some of that video on weird stadiums, but it could’ve used better research and prob a few more interesting choices. 1) He showed both the old Hughes Stadium and the new Canvas Stadium for Colorado State [Hughes Stadium being the one that had some actual weirdness, and it was common for rattle snakes to be found in there cause it was right up against the foothills (CSU is where I went to grad school)]. 2) For Maryland he references the “u-shape,” seeming not to know that it’s called a horseshoe and that it’s common. Yeah Maryland’s is a little funky but not really all that weird. I want a bit more story with these types of vids. All that said, this is free content made by someone likely between the ages of 18 and 24 so I can’t complain all that much lol
When I was teaching at West Point, Pele joined the NY Cosmos. I got to see him play, and he was incredible — just so fluid. Like Kylien Mbappe when he scored. This short piece does a very nice job of reminding us just how important it was for the sport to start some momentum in the USA.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/12/31/football/pele-new-york-cosmos-north-america-revolution-spt-intl/index.html
“How do you spell Pele?”
“G-O-D”
I lived across the street from South Dakota School of Mines. We used to race go karts in the lower parking lot of the stadium. Never realized it had the tiered parking to watch the games, though it does seem typical of South Dakota, I’ve been to many high school games there where the parking lot surrounded 3/4 of the field and it was most people watched from their vehicles. Thinking about it now it was probably so they could drink while watching the game.
18S road trip?
Hartman on ND campus right now.
edit: My gif didn’t work, it is not my day today.
Hopefully Freeman has better luck
Little surprised the AF Academy didn’t make the list of unique football fields as it was built into a natural bowl in the foothills of the Rockies. I must admit that it doesn’t feel super unique when watching a game inside of it.
Not a lot of pictures really demonstrate the bowl, but there is one at this AF website.
I would argue that the spat between Berhalter and Reyna being refereed by the USMNT is the bigger story, but maybe not from a international perspective. Also, this story was just coming to light around the time you probably posted this.
That reminds me of Monterrey’s soccer stadium:
OK, why is Home Alone the best and Christmas Story the worst? They seem too similar to be on opposite ends of your spectrum. They’re both “strong-willed kid battles grown ups.”
I’m an Elf man, myself. And hence fully with you on “Baby It’s Cold Outside.”