Around the ND Universe, 8/3/07

Some things you know, some things you may have missed and "I Don't Know Butchie, Instead."

Some things you know:

• Charlie Weis and his wife, Maura, are having a groundbreaking Saturday morning for the Hannah & Friends residential community they are building in South Bend.
• Your Daily Brady: Quinn talked with the Columbus Dispatch about his holdout and, among other things, called it the longest week of his life.
• The preseason coaches' poll is out and Notre Dame received some votes -- currently just out of the Top 25 in 29th position. Of the Irish's opponents, USC is first, Michigan is fifth, UCLA is 17th, Penn State is 18th, Boston College and Georgia Tech are tied one slot out of the poll at 26th and Duke received one vote.

Some things you may have missed:

• Want to learn a little bit more about Georgia Tech? Check out today's Atlanta Journal Constitution, where Yellow Jackets coach Chan Gailey gave some insight into his new quarterback, Tyler Taylor Bennett, the departure of Calvin Johnson and opening against Notre Dame for the second year in a row.
• Player movement continued among former Notre Dame players who are now NFL rookies. Rhema McKnight -- who earlier this week was mentioned as someone who could end up playing for New Orleans -- was cut by the Saints on Thursday.
• Former Notre Dame soccer player Greg Dalby is playing in Europe, currently going through a trial with Bundesliga side Nuremburg.

"I Don't Know Butchie, Instead:"

• With Michael Strahan contemplating retirement, the New York Giants are looking at Justin Tuck to be his replacement at defensive end. The former Notre Dame standout left school just before Charlie Weis arrived and you have to wonder what the 2005 team might have looked like had Tuck been around for another year. Both Victor Abiamiri and Tuck will be pulling NFL paychecks for a while, so it gives the idea of exactly how much talent was on that defensive line in 2004.
• Notre Dame grad Jim Ryan wrote about the game day experience for students inside Notre Dame Stadium, something that was voted by the Sporting News as one of the best fan experiences in sports. Having traveled around the country and seeing games in a bunch of different venues, the push-ups in the crowd following touchdowns is definitely something different and quite cool. At our alma mater, Syracuse, only cheerleaders did push-ups following Orange (men) touchdowns and field goals. During our freshman year, when Donovan McNabb torched opponents with 50-plus points regularly, the female cheerleaders often gave up by the second half. What Notre Dame's students do is much better than that.

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette