Think Green

Tom Knight is letting his distaste for the road post-season uniforms known.

Without question, the "Shamrock Shake" green uniforms worn by Notre Dame's Men's Basketball team during the Big East Tournament are ugly. There's no way to sugar coat, not even with an extended challenge by my colleague.

Nonetheless, here's my attempt at making some sense of the Adidas experiment gone wrong.

Cincinnati, Kansas, Notre Dame, Baylor, UCLA, and Louisville show what happens when camo meets the hands of an unskilled fashion designer.

1. Adidas didn't just mess with ND, they also somehow tricked several other programs to join in the post-season 'fun'
2. The 'home' white versions of the uniforms, save for the camo shorts, aren't half-bad
3. Notre Dame's uniforms are far from the worst of the bunch. That distinction should belong to Baylor, who not only utilizes a brighter, more neon uniform but also features built-in sleeves. Gross.
4. It's March, ND is simply being on brand.

From the waist up, the home white uniforms are tastefully done.

On a final note, Notre Dame Women's Basketball team is also sporting an alternative look this post-season. They aren't likely to face anywhere near the criticism as their male counterparts, though, because they opted out of the camo look.

Winning also helps, too, as the Lady Irish earned their first (and last) Big East Conference Tournament Title by defeating the Connecticut Huskies in Storrs, CT last Tuesday night.

Skylar Diggins and the rest of the Irish Women's Basketball team celebrate their hard-fought Big East Conference Tournament Title.

Now, the Skylar Diggins-led Irish look to earn the school's second National Championship.

Irish Basketball and Hockey Teams are Polar Opposites

It's hard to believe how drastically different Notre Dame's men's basketball and hockey programs have performed relative to preseason expectations

Hockey was supposed to be a lock as a national title contender. In fact, in some polls they were ranked #1 entering the season.

Basketball, on the other hand, was left for dead entering the year with the graduation of Ben Hansbrough and Ty Nash and early departure of Carleton Scott as he (unsuccessfully) tested the NBA waters. For these reasons, the Irish were picked to finish in the bottom half of the Big East conference and nowhere near the top 25. Tim Abromaitis, seemingly the lone reason for hope, tore his ACL early in the season and it appeared the Irish wouldn't even have a shot at the NIT.

Both teams are more than halfway through their respective seasons and it is abundantly clear that games are not played on paper.

Hockey's Shortcomings
Starting with the hockey program, after starting out the year strong with series splits against Minnesota-Duluth and Ohio State the Irish appeared to be gaining momentum with a 3-2 OT win against Boston College that extending their unbeaten streak to 9 games. Shortly thereafter, though, they would fall in 4 straight contests.

With a couple wins around New Year's hope still remained for a competitive Irish squad. But a falling in a weekend sweep to Western Michigan in mid-January was a reminder that this team is far from complete. Most recently, back-to-back series losses against Ferris State (#1) and Miami (OH) helped the Irish to its current five game losing streak.

Two games remain against Michigan State before CCHA playoffs begin. It will take a small miracle, such as splitting against the Spartans and at least making it to the CCHA conference finals, for Notre Dame to earn an NCAA Tournament bid. Needless to say, head coach Jeff Jackson won't be up for any awards this year after unless he has some magic left up his sleeves.

Basketball Boon
Mike Brey has probably gotten more out of his group of players than any other NCAA Men's Basketball coach this season. After the aforementioned circumstances losing four of his top players from last season's team, there was virtually no possible way the Irish could earn an NIT bid, let alone an NCAA Tournament bid.

On the heels of an eight-game winning streak, though, Brey has his club primed for a mid-level seed in the NCAA Tournament. As of this post, Joe Lunardi's Bracketology has the Irish as a 6 seed.

The improbable streak started with an upset of then #1 Syracuse and includes home victories against Marquette, Depaul and Rutgers and road triumphs at Seton Hall, Connecticut, West Virginia and Villanova. Last Saturday, it appeared the streak would end at 7 games as the Irish trailed by 20 at the half at Villanova. Resilient as they've been throughout the season, though, they clawed back and emerged victorious in an overtime thriller.

Next up for Mike Brey's squad is Bob Huggins' West Virginia squad, who narrowly lost to the Irish two weeks ago.

Work Left To Do
I actually was hesitant to even post about the basketball team as I am quite superstitious, but they have been truly too remarkable to ignore any longer. Perhaps I've paid too much attention to hockey this year, but with so much anticipation and with the added bonus of breaking in a new facility how could they be left in the dark?

Suffice it to say, both teams have cannot lose focus during this critical stretch in their seasons. For basketball, they need to keep winning games and make a run in the Big East tournament to secure a strong seed in the NCAA Tournament. Hockey has much more work cut out if it hopes to attain its lofty pre-season goals, but if any team can do it it is one led by Jeff Jackson. After all, it was an improbable late season burst in 2008 the led Notre Dame to its first ever Frozen Four appearance.

Good luck to both squads as they look to put strong finishing touches on very divergent seasons.

Oh, and good luck to the Women's Basketball team as they look to secure their first Big East regular season title since 2001, when they shared with the Connecticut Huskies en route to the school's first ever Women's Basketball National Championship. Two words: Skylar Diggins.

It's Been Awhile

No, I'm not referring to the once popular song by Staind. It's been awhile since I've posted and, therefore, awhile since we've had some ND coverage on the blog. The following will serve as a download of happenings since my last post.

Notre Dame Men's Basketball Wonders What Could Have Been
As Justin had mentioned, the Irish men's basketball season came to a screeching halt on the heels of a flat performance against Florida State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Expectations were high on Mike Brey's squad after a tremendous regular season found the Irish ranked in the top 10.

A disappointing early loss in the Big East Tournament apparently did not leave as bitter a taste as one would have expected in the player's mouths. They looked relatively unimpressive against their first round NCAA opponent Akron and then struggled out of the gate against the Seminoles. As much as the pro-Irish crowd in Chicago was supposed to help the Irish it wound up being a non-factor thanks to the slow start.

Accolades continued to roll in for the Irish though even in defeat. Head Coach Mike Brey added to his Big East Coach of the Year award by being named AP Coach of the Year, beating out San Diego State's Steve Fisher. It marks the first such award for an Irish skipper. Notre Dame finished the season ranked No. 5 in the final poll, it's highest ranking under Brey.

Ben Hansbrough added to his Big East Player of the Year honors when he was named a second team All-American by Sporting News and third team All-American by Basketball Times. It capped a tremendous season for the veteran leader and heart of the Irish squad. Hansbrough now looks to earn a spot on an NBA roster as he prepares for the NBA draft.


Sky(lar) Was The Limit For Women's Basketball Program
Switching to the women's side of hoops, Notre Dame advanced to the NCAA championship game where the lady Irish fell to Texas A&M in a game that many, including yours truly, found more entertaining than the men's national championship game between Butler and Connecticut.

Skylar Diggins led the charge for the Irish throughout the entire tournament, putting up 20+ points during four out of the six tournament games and each of the final three.

En route to the title Notre Dame ended a 20-game losing streak to Pat Summitt's Tennessee Volunteers squad. It was Notre Dame's first ever win against the Volunteers. Perhaps more impressive than that feat was the Final Four victory over expected champion Connecticut. Maya Moore was the force behind the Huskies and took the game over late in the fourth, but Notre Dame's defense held strong in the waning minutes of the game to secure the Irish's second title game appearance in program history.

The pro-Irish crowd at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN certainly helped will the Irish against the Huskies but could not stop the force of Danielle Adams from Texas A&M in the title game.


Irish Iced Over At Frozen Four In St. Paul, MN

Notre Dame's hockey team reached the Frozen Four for the second time in school history this season after defeating Merrimack College 4-3 in OT in the Elite Eight. Unfortunately the Irish did not fair as well in St. Paul as they did in Denver during the 2008 Frozen Four, where they advanced to the championship game before falling to Boston College.

Eventual champion Minnesota-Duluth held off the Irish in what started out as target practice during the first semifinal of the tournament. Five total goals in the first period saw the Bulldogs head to the locker room with a 3-2 lead.

Notre Dame rallied in the third period after entering down 4-2 with a short-handed goal from Calle Ridderwall, who was the hero in the 2008 Frozen Four that netted the game-winner against Michigan. The Irish could not sneak another past the Bulldogs' goalie and wound up a goal short with a 4-3 final score.

At least Irish fans can take solace in the fact that Minnesota-Duluth went on to defeat Michigan in the title game.

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the first set of games (Notre Dame vs. Minnesota-Duluth and Michigan vs. North Dakota) thanks in part to the Notre Dame Club of Minnesota and to fellow Dillonite Jamie R for winning a lottery opportunity for tickets. Our view was great (see picture above) and even though the result was an Irish defeat it was still an amazing experience to be part of an NCAA championship event. The Excel Energy Center was a great venue to host the event.

Head Coach Jeff Jackson has clearly built the Irish into a perennial powerhouse and hopefully it will eventually lead to the first of many national titles for the Irish icers. What better way to christen the beautiful Compton Family Center opening next fall than by winning a national title? Seeing as the Irish were young this season (12 underclassmen saw significant ice time) they should make a run within the next few years.

Post season awards trickled in for the Irish as freshman T.J. Tynan was named National College Hockey Rookie of the Year by the Hockey Commissioners' Association. Tynan became the first player from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) conference to earn the honor. He led his fellow classmates across the nation in scoring with 23 goals and 21 assists for 54 points.


All in all it was a strong winter season for the Irish. Stay tuned in the coming days for a few updates on how the spring sports are faring.

Until then, Go Irish!