Great recap! I was looking for some pictures of the trip, and of course the galleries come out two days after my post!
OC Domer | Email | Homepage | 05.29.08 - 5:29 pm | #

Go ahead and roast me for this comment, but my level of interest in Notre Dame Football would go down if Charlie Weis was not the head coach. Yes, the guy has some flaws, but his attitude on family, service, hardwork and integrity make him a role model in an era void of true leaders.

I truly believe there is no better fit for the program than the man leading it right now. I can't wait for what's in store.
Treyu | Email | Homepage | 05.29.08 - 5:31 pm | #

How about training camp starting off this summer with a little visit from Sargent Hartmann?

Even Coach Tenuta might be afraid.
dbldomer7375 | Email | Homepage | 05.29.08 - 7:47 pm | #

Here's link to Sargent Hartmann.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C...h? v=C1zGjiqV5cE
dbldomer7375 | Email | Homepage | 05.29.08 - 7:48 pm | #

so apparently Aaron Nagel is leaving Notre Dame..????
marmar | Email | Homepage | 05.29.08 - 8:33 pm | #

I hope Charlie brings over to the team that first day some of the instructors (especially NCOs) from Army and Marine Corps ROTC on campus. If he really wants to bring the point home about teamwork and self-sacrifice, they can tell a few stories of their own, I'm sure.
Anon | Email | Homepage | 05.29.08 - 10:01 pm | #

Nagel is transferring and Yeatman is back.
I wish Nagel 'Godspeed'. While I think he should gut it out, if there is ever a good time to transfer, it is after the dust has settled from Spring Ball. You take as many academic credits with you as possible while inflicting minimal negative impact on eligibility.

And I am thrilled Will Yeatman is back. I feel sure that he will lead an exemplary existence in order to prove that he's worthy of the second chance he has been afforded. If every kid who went for a drunken, midnight drive on a campus sidewalk was banished to Hell (or a Nameless State University), you wouldn't have ol' Voice to kick around. The Olds 88 was sometimes seen, sans headlights, gliding onto campus over by Our Lady's library. By the grace and mercy of our loving God, nothing horrendous ever happened.
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 05.29.08 - 10:44 pm | #

I've been off the board for a while. I found a post that brought me back (sans crabcakes, thankfully) .

VIW, you're always good for a laugh. I'm trying to imagine you at 4am rolling past stonehenge (which we now know is a burial site... right?) on your way to the library.

I gotta say... I have been a fierce critic of charlie. Not so much here on the board, but let me tell you, my GF and some of my former dorm-mates got an absolute earful last fall. But I value his appreciation for the position of ND head coach. I cannot imagine Boob of Golfingham doing something like this. And razzing the guy about the USC shirt... perfect. Even if they have spanked us the past few years... he get IT.

I truly hope that he turns it around this year. I really want him to succeed. I think that he is not only an exceptionally gifted football-mind, but also a genuinely good human being. God bless him, and I can only hope that God will bless the irish....

PLEASE!!!
domer03inbmore | Email | Homepage | 05.30.08 - 1:24 am | #

CW makes us all proud of Notre Dame and what she stands for.
jim masterson | Email | Homepage | 05.30.08 - 2:07 am | #

Regarding the positive comments on Charlie.....they encapsulate my regard for him as well.
Kudos to the coach[es} and thanks to those who serve!
Dana Payne | Email | Homepage | 05.30.08 - 7:50 am | #

if a drunk can't find mercy on this board, god help us.
indy | Email | Homepage | 05.30.08 - 9:01 am | #

Most importantly, I'm really proud that Charlie Weis is the coach of my favorite team. He doesn't get nearly enough credit for being such a good guy, in my opinion.

But secondly, has everyone seen that Phil Steele has Notre Dame at #19 on his preseason poll? I don't really know what to think about that. My most optimistic outlook for '08 has the Irish going 8-4 and then winning the bowl game, which I suppose would put them near #19 status. But it was still very surprising to see Phil Steele put ND there.
Jade | Email | Homepage | 05.30.08 - 12:55 pm | #

Courtesy of our friends at EDSBS, the BGS of the college football humor blogsphere:

On Wednesday, we reported that during a blocking drill in a Notre Dame defensive practice, a collision occurred between Pat Kuntz and co-defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta. The description follows:

…he decelerated from 120 miles per hour to 0 in 1.4 seconds, and gained two huge black eyes from the force of his own slammed-forward eyeballs punching him on the inside of the face. The impact blinded him for two days, during which we must imagine his response was to walk around and simply dare the world to put things in his way. Oh, and he also broke his back, arm, wrist, lost six fillings and the icing on the cake? He got a hernia.

This came not from any actual description of reality, but from a Cracked.com top six list describing the exploits of rocket tester John Paul Stapp. Stapp survived these injuries. Kuntz, however, died on impact with Tenuta. We regret the error.
Domer Guy | Email | Homepage | 05.30.08 - 2:32 pm | #

Pat,

Nassau or Nashua?

Superman trippin' again?
ThE LoSt BoY | Email | Homepage | 05.30.08 - 10:05 pm | #

Kevin White to be the new AD at Duke. Go crazy guys
Domerplayer | Email | Homepage | 05.31.08 - 12:12 am | #

POP!!!!! Look out for that cork! Champagne is flowing!
OC mj | Email | Homepage | 05.31.08 - 1:24 am | #

WOW!
Duke is a step down!
Though they love their non-revenues.
jim masterson | Email | Homepage | 05.31.08 - 7:43 am | #

White had to have been pushed out! Hooray!
Now I hope that the University's contract specialists/ attorneys work at warp speed to undo lots of his lame brain "accomplishments". He lost me when he gave away ND's ability to retain all of it's own bowl game revenue. Also, making ND a de facto member of the Big East is maddening, as is his future "pointless barnstorming tour" for the football team.
Who's next for the job?
My vote is for Steve Orsini, ND '78, and current AD at S.M.U. Steve was a running back at Notre Dame and is a great guy. Of course, his teammate was Gene Smith, the AD at tOSU, and, like Orsini, is widely respected and well liked by his peers.
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 05.31.08 - 8:45 am | #

Orsini or Smith would be a great hire. We need to get a Domer back into the AD seat (although Wadsworth, rest him, was a step back.) We need to put value back in the AD job, someone who truly values all that is Notre Dame.
Doug | Email | Homepage | 05.31.08 - 8:57 am | #

Driving over to South Bend to help Kevin pack and make sure he does not change his mind.
Please Father Jenkins, pick a new AD who knows what butters the bread at Notre Dame.
Subway Alumni | Email | Homepage | 05.31.08 - 11:03 am | #

He wasn't pushed. The Willingham episode and the manner of his release had a lot to do with it as did White's continuing authority. So too does the disaster that might be in the making with Weis. The interesting question is Smith. Would the U and the trustees have the guts to go after him 'cause if he came here he would be untouchable. The boys don't like that. Does Jenkins last past five years? Riddle me that one and you'll have a better handle on the next AD. Interesting and mysterious place our little U.
Domerplayer | Email | Homepage | 05.31.08 - 11:40 am | #

Okay! Let's not beat around the bush. Domerplayer, are you saying that White has chosen greener pastures in Durham, NC because his authority is being usurped? I am not disputing your allegation. Maybe your real name is Lou Nanni or Monk, or your are inside the ND braintrust. But it seems to me that if White is just a puppet, then keeping him around at any cost would be the smartest thing to do.
And I certainly agree with your assertion of what hiring Smith might mean. It would mean that any and all criticism of his job performance would be called 'racism', and since, as with ND's hiring of Willingham, no good deed goes unpunished, serious deliberation should precede any move that could possibly land the University in a similar beartrap as the Golfingham Debacle. Intersting dilemma.
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 05.31.08 - 1:51 pm | #

I'll drink to that and I don't even drink!
ThE LoSt BoY | Email | Homepage | 05.31.08 - 1:52 pm | #

Steve Orsini...said that in posts past...say that now.

He has had a variety of different types of AD jobs as well, at different types of institutions.

Definitely a good day anyway.
Dana Payne | Email | Homepage | 05.31.08 - 2:18 pm | #

Very good, Voice. But what makes you think that either Nanni or Monk are on the inside? And in case you missed it it's really hard to keep anyone around who doesn't want to stay around since 1863...or was it 1864? I wasn't there. Wish him good luck and let us move on.
Domerplayer | Email | Homepage | 05.31.08 - 2:25 pm | #

NO NO NO NO NO....

There is only one person out there that I want at Notre Dame as an AD.

LOU FRICKIN' HOLTZ!

Come on, nobody out there better encapsulates not only what Notre Dame is, but what Notre Dame SHOULD be. Holtz would probably relish the opportunity as well.

I know Orsini and Smith would both be great. But MAN would it be great to have Holtz back around. If Osborn can hack it over at Nebraska, there's no reason Holtz can't do the job.
Brad | Email | Homepage | 05.31.08 - 3:45 pm | #

I personally think the only good thing White did for ND was signing the long term extension with Michigan. Glad he is gone. Time for an ND grad with a sense of the tradition and standards of Notre Dame du Lac.
bgreany | Email | Homepage | 05.31.08 - 3:58 pm | #

Wasn't Holtz forced out by our illustrious admins?
ThE LoSt BoY | Email | Homepage | 05.31.08 - 5:41 pm | #

Kevin White left. I think he could have done better. I wonder who will fill in for him?
Austin The Mexican Leprechaun | Email | Homepage | 05.31.08 - 7:30 pm | #

I said this before when the trip was announced, but as an Alum currently serving in the US Army, THANKS, CHARLIE, and Thank you ND. I'm overseas, though not in harm's way, and get up in the middle of the night to either watch ND or listen to the game online. It's that much more important when your days are filled with the type of crap those guys deal with over there. Any distraction is welcome.

All of those guys that went are A+ in my book. Never really been a big Auburn, GA, or Yale fan, and of course hate Miami. But I'll be feeling more positive towards them than not this upcoming season.
Nate | Email | Homepage | 06.01.08 - 3:35 am | #

As an ND grad and Iraq veteran, I'm pretty annoyed that the tour couldn't be troubled to stop in Iraq and just flew over like Bush over NO to visit all the guys camping in safe places.

What a transparent crock. I still can't bring myself to hold it against Charlie as I'm sure he had little to do with the route and going on the tour at all was a sacrifice, but it still just falls far short in my estimation.

There are other members of the ND family in Iraq, but for them it's just too bad I guess. They'll just have to keep getting up at 3AM to try to see a game this fall and Jr. wearing a headset on the sidelines.

And that should be Gunnery Sergeant or 'Gunny' Hartmann, for what it's worth. And somebody needs to teach Charlie how to handle a weapon. Yikes.
Rrryan | Email | Homepage | 06.01.08 - 6:13 am | #

I'd rather fly over New Orleans, too.
Because it smells like poo. | Email | Homepage | 06.01.08 - 11:55 pm | #

Did anyone here see this coming or hear rumblings in advance that Kevin White was leaving? I think he and his wife, Jane, were just named honorary members of the Alumni Association last week -- might have been on Wednesday.
Love Thee Notre Dame | Email | Homepage | 06.02.08 - 8:55 am | #

What are the chances that we can readjust our football schedule now and do away with this silly 7-4-1 idea?
Berger | Email | Homepage | 06.02.08 - 9:37 am | #

Nate and Rrryan,

As a fellow alum and vet, thanks for your service!
Anon | Email | Homepage | 06.02.08 - 11:21 am | #