Irish Insights

The Blue-Gold Game Gets Real Coaches

Sorry Jerome Bettis -- not this year.
Notre Dame is bringing back legendary Irish coaches Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz to man opposite sidelines for the Blue-Gold Spring game on April 21. The game, which is sponsored by Home Run Inn Pizza and in this space will now be called the "Homer Bowl" until the game, will start at 1:35 p.m.

Parseghian will have former assistants Brian Boulac and Joe Yonto to help out while Holtz will look to former assistants Foge Fazio and Tony Yelovich. We're just hoping for a pre-game media session where he plays Ara's team up to be the No. 1 team in the country while Lou's team couldn't beat Oberlin if they didn't play their best game.

Honorary captains are Ross Browner (Team Ara) and Tony Rice (Team Lou). No word if Mark May will show up to disagree with Holtz on everything.

Spring ball starts on March 21.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Your Daily Bracket -- Wednesday

Notre Dame had another idle day and another switch in ESPN's latest bracketology. The Irish remained as a No. 6 seed and stayed in Columbus -- The Boss remains happy -- but left No. 11 opponent Old Dominion behind. Instead, it is back to playing No. 11 Illinois, with the winner facing No. 3 Southern Illinois or No. 14 Oral Roberts. Plus, the Irish were moved back to the East instead of West. ESPN also still considers the Irish a lock for the Tournament.

The Bracket Project keeps Notre Dame on the 8/9 line -- as do most of the other "bracket experts" out there. And what, really, makes someone a bracket expert? The actual Bracket Project people have Notre Dame as a No. 6 seed in Lexington, but the Irish's opponent doesn't bode well. It is Vermont-esque (with T.J. Sorrentine and Taylor Coppenrath) and  No. 11 Winthrop, a team that will likely be a secure upset pick for a lot of brackets no matter the opponent. Speaking of Coppenrath, he's got his own Web site.

And in the all-important Jerome, critical games tonight include Navy at Bucknell and Lafayette at Holy Cross in the Patriot League Tournament. 
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Your Daily Bracket -- Tuesday Night

Just a couple thoughts while we're watching Michigan-Michigan State, checking the Tennessee Tech and Winthrop scores for "the Jerome" and waiting for Florida-Tennessee. And in Jerome matters, the highest-scoring team in college basketball, VMI, remained alive, knocking off Liberty, 79-78, in a Big South quarterfinal. Watching the bunch from Lexington, Va. is always a good time. Props to anyone who knows VMI's nickname. Post it below.

ESPN is doing a daily bracket now, which means we'll have a daily update. Notre Dame remained a No. 6 seed Tuesday, but shifted in Lunardi's mind from Sacramento to Columbus, Ohio. Good for the boss, who won't have to pay for a plane ticket to Sac-Town. We won't lie. We're rooting for a return trip to New Orleans. Good times all around.
We're still unsure how Lunardi decides who goes where. The seeds we get, but we're thinking he randomly guesses on that. If Joe -- or anyone surrounding him -- reads the blog, let us know.

The Bracket Project hasn't moved the Irish off the 8/9 line yet, but that could be because some brackets haven't been updated in a while. Every one updated as of today have the Irish as a No. 6 or No. 7.

The New York Post breaks down the NCAA chances of the Big East contenders and Dick Vitale endorses the Irish this week, giving Mike Brey national Coach of the Week honors and Tory Jackson co-Rookie honors along with Villanova's Scottie Reynolds.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

You Tube Classic ND-UNC Hoops

After receiving an E-mail about Russell Carter's pinned-to-the-backboard block on Saturday against Marquette, we went hunting on YouTube for the requisite video. We couldn't find it, but instead found this, part of Notre Dame's upset over No. 1 North Carolina at the Joyce Center in 1987.

Check out how the Joyce Center rocked that day.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Send It In, Jerome...It Begins

The E-mail popped into the box, much like it has every year around this time. It's the last week of the Big East season -- and also the starting point for what we here at Insights call "The greatest six weeks of the year." Why, you ask? Well, it is simple. Conference tournaments start Tuesday and it is all college hoop, all the time until the Final Four in April.
As a confessed basketball junkie, it is great. But the first two weeks offer another avenue of fun. Tuesday marks the beginning of the E-mail I referenced, otherwise known as the entry ballot for the sixth annual (except for the year we skipped) "Send It In, Jerome," contest.

The "Jerome," as it is affectionately known, was started by Orlando Sentinel Florida beat writer Dave Curtis and New York Times national college basketball writer Pete Thamel at our common alma mater of Syracuse. More of an explanation of its origins can be read here, with the Jerome picks of Andy Staples, another yearly Jerome participant.

Essentially you get five points for picking a correct champion, two for a runner-up and bonus points for correctly choosing a low seed or a neutral-site tournament winner. This is all for pride, but the annual list of Jerome participants ranks with some of the heavy hitters of college basketball journalism. We're just lucky to be invited. We don't remember our finish last year, but we've always been a middle-of-the-pack Jeromer.

The selection process is broken into two parts. First with the tournaments beginning this week and then again next week. Without any further extrapolation, here are our picks for the first week of tournament action. Feel free to comment, mock or otherwise degrade or praise our picks below. Any ones you would change? Am I completely nuts? Heck, throw your selections in the comment box and we'll go at it one-on-many with the same rules applying.
It's the best time of the year. Enjoy it.

America East -- Vermont
Atlantic Sun -- Belmont
Big Sky -- Montana
Big South -- Winthrop
Colonial Athletic Association -- Hofstra
Horizon -- Loyola-Chicago
MAAC -- Loyola-Maryland
Mid-Continent -- Oral Roberts
Missouri Valley -- Creighton
Northeast -- Central Connecticut State
Ohio Valley -- Tennessee Tech
Patriot -- Bucknell
Southern -- Davidson
Sun Belt -- Western Kentucky
West Coast -- Gonzaga

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

It's Monday...So Brackets and Rankings

Notre Dame had a good week last week -- sweeping rivals DePaul and Marquette and re-emerging as a player in the Big East race and the NCAA Tournament. Barring an unexpected loss at Rutgers, the Irish will have a bye on the first day of the Big East Tournament. This is critical because Notre Dame would then only need to win three games in three days to win the BET instead of the Syracuse Special (4-in-4) from last season.
And as far as the NCAAs go, the Irish are rising up the brackets -- including one guy -- the aptly named Mr. Bracket -- having the Irish as a No. 4 seed.

As for rankings, Notre Dame jumped up six spots to No. 17 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll and moved back into the Associated Press media poll at No. 22, one slot ahead of football rival USC. CBS Sportsline's Gary Parrish has Notre Dame at No. 20 in his Top 26.

In bracketland, ESPN has Notre Dame as a lock for the first time in over a month and Joe Lunardi has the Irish as a No. 6 seed playing No. 11 Illinois in Sacramento.  And Insights friend and Orlando Sentinel Florida beat writer Dave Curtis has Notre Dame as a No. 7 seed in New Orleans in his latest mockup, including a first-round game against football rival Boston College and a potential second-round game against Florida. Talk about your storylines.

Also, freshman point guard Tory Jackson was named Big East rookie of the week and freshman forward Luke Harangody ended up on the weekly honor roll.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Some (Grant) Irons Advice

When Auburn running back Kenny Irons found out he'd be going to the NFL combine, he had plenty of places to turn for advice. His brother, David, would also be going. His dad played football. Everyone in the Irons family did -- including Grant Irons, a former Notre Dame linebacker currently with the Oakland Raiders.
Grant and Kenny are cousins, and Kenny said he sought out him out for advice.
"He said one day can make you or break you," Kenny Irons said. "He said the best thing was to come in and do everything, come in healthy, do your 40, do your short shuttle. Don't leave anything to chance at your pro day because a lot of teams might not be able to make your pro day if it is the same day as another team's pro day with another athlete that is highly recruited by them. So make sure you do everything at the combine and don't leave anything to chance."
So what's it like growing up in the Irons family? Kenny gave some insight about what Grant might have gone through, because it is what Kenny went through.
"Your whole family played football," Irons said. "You couldn't play another sport. If you played another sport, it was like 'Oh, you're not a real Irons.' That's what we call my little brother because he doesn't play football."
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Falls and Carter Post-Game Speech

We heard ABC cut away from Colin Falls and Russell Carter speaking to the crowd after Notre Dame beat Marquette on Sunday. We happened to tape the short speeches -- which Falls said were impromptu and suggested by Notre Dame coach Mike Brey -- and we'll provide the full transcript below.

"On behalf of the seniors, the coaching staff and this basketball program, thanks for kind of helping us re-establish the basketball program this year and this ride is not over," Falls told the crowd, which erupted in cheers.

"Thank you for your support. Everyone, all the bigs (Eds. note, thanks to reader Tony, Carter was actually saying "wigs"), you know, the raisins, I see them. Thank you for coming to all the games, supporting us. No one believed it but y'all and us (Thanks to reader Just Visiting for the clarification). So let's keep it going," Carter said.

Editors Note: We're not sure what Carter was saying, really. Actually, we're baffled and aren't sure if some of the words were English or code for something with students. If anyone can help fill us in on what he was referencing with "bigs" and "raisins," it'd be great. That said, we're not even sure if he said bigs or raisins. That's just what we made it out as. Readers out there -- help us out. Help us understand what Carter, who reminds us more and more of Gilbert Arenas both on-and-off the court, was saying to the student section of the crowd.

Otherwise, we'll ask Carter this week. But we'd like to know beforehand.

We spoke with Falls about his speech during the post-game interviews. He wished afterwards that he was a little more eloquent.
"Honestly, me and Russ didn't have anything to say," Falls said. "If I would have thought about it, I would have gone out and said something better now, but Coach Brey told us we were doing it and we were like 'All right.'"

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Spitting Sunflower with Samardzija

In the continuing phenomenon known as writing about Jeff Samardzija, Yahoo! Sports got into the act, including some interesting quotes about running the 40-yard dash. Insights friend Jeff Passan typed up the piece, which is one of the better reads we've seen on Samardzija.

Plus, he compares Notre Dame to Spacely Sprockets. You can't beat that. Unless, of course, you got meet George Jetson and his boy, Elroy.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Zibby Back To The Ring

It's been almost a year since he made his professional debut -- but Notre Dame senior safety Tom Zbikowski is heading back to the boxing ring.
Zbikowski will fight a four-round exhibition on March 6 at the Century Center in South Bend, the headline fight with an undercard for youth fighters, his father, Ed, said Sunday.
Proceeds from the fight will go to Hannah & Friends, which is the charity started by Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis for children with special needs, and the Make-A-Wish foundation. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster at $20 for general admission, $50 for seats and $100 for ringside, which will include wait service.
The fight will not count on Zbikowski's professional record, which currently stands at 1-0 after he defeated Robert Bell on June 10, 2006 at Madison Square Garden.
"I'm not trying to go in there and just knock somebody out," Zbikowski told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I want to show off my actual skills."
Ed Zbikowski also said Sunday there are negotiations for a potential professional fight in May, possibly at Madison Square Garden or in Chicago or on ESPN's Friday Night Fights, but that "it has to be the perfect situation to fight."
Zbikowski's father said his son wants to focus on football because he was bothered by the way the 2006 season turned out with a 10-3 record and losses to LSU, USC and Michigan. Notre Dame begins its spring practice March 21.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette