The Amazing, Multi-tasking Donald Glover

It's hard to say where most people know Donald Glover from. 

You might know him from his cult hit show Community on NBC. You also may know him as rapper Childish Gambino, or perhaps you're more familiar with his hilarious stand-up routines. 

Yes, Donald Glover is a true renaissance man taking the comedy world by storm. 

Glover started his career fresh out of NYU as a writer for what was then the new show 30 Rock, also on NBC. 

After several years, Glover left to pursue a career in stand-up and the results have been quite astounding. 

His Comedy Central special 'Weirdo' (see below) is an outstanding hour of very funny and sometimes very odd bits that come together to make his unique brand of nerdy comedy fun for everyone. 

Community returns to NBC in the fall, but moves to the black hole of Friday nights at 8:30 p.m. 

It's a very funny, quirky show and you should watch it. Just like Donald glover.

Notre Dame Football 2012 Preview

Notre Dame gets a lot of press - both positive and negative - wether it's in-season or in the doldrums of the offseason, but the intensity always seems to rise this time of year.

Joining together to form the 2012 edition of Fighting Irish Football squad are veteran players growing into new roles and a talented group of underclassmen and new players.

It sounds like a lot of change on paper, but in reality not much should change from last season.

Sure, several key players are gone from the 2011 team, such as Michael Floyd, the school's all-time record holder in many wide receiving categories and 1st round NFL draft pick, and Safety Harrison Smith, another 1st round draft pick. Jonas Gray, a late bloomer at running back, graduated and is attempting to create his own NFL destiny. Ethan Johnson, a four-year starter at DE, Trevor Robsinon (OG), and CBs Gary Gray and Robert Blanton moved on to chase their NFL dreams as well.

For as much as those players will be missed, the group of returnees and newcomers should put the Irish on a level playing field talent wise in 2012.
Manti Te'o (ILB) and Tyler Eiffert (TE) were expected to bolt for the NFL, but both return as the superstars and likely captains of their respective sides of the ball.

On offense, RB Cierre Wood looks to build on his 1,000+ yard season behind a veteran offensive line anchored by C Braxston Cave. Michael Floyd's graduation leaves a tremendous hole in the Irish receiving corps but Eiffert's unlikely return and pass-catching dependabilily will help comfort the to-be-determined starting quarterback.

On defense, DE Kapron Lewis-Moore and DTs Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt will anchor a stout defensive front to Notre Dame’s standard 3-4 set. Aaron Lynch, who transferred to South Florida in the off-season due to homesickness, will be sorely missed but for the first time in many years there is considerable depth with veterans Sean Cwynar and Kona Schwenke and can supplement when needed. In all, they will help clear the way for Te'o and his fellow linebackers (Danny Spond, Prince Shembo, Carlo Calabrese, Dan Fox) to attack opposing quarterbacks.

Nonetheless, two monumental questions (at QB and in the secondary) loom that will determine how good the Irish can be in 2012.

First and foremost, who will be under center for the Irish in Dublin and beyond?

Tommy Rees, last year's starter, won't step foot in Dublin, so the answer to the first part of that question becomes a little easier. Rees was suspended by Coach Kelly as a result of a charges stemming from an off-campus incident in the spring (resisting arrest and punching an officer). While his suspension doesn't mean he's entirely out of the picture for 2012 it does put him at a considerable disadvantage.

Andrew Hendrix, Everett Golson, and Blair Kiel will all compete for snaps in Dublin. Golson, whose performance in the spring game was spectacular, seems most likely to earn the first opportunity. Although Hendrix actually saw sparingly meaningful minutes on the playing field last season, Golson is essentially a more athletic, quicker, and younger version of Hendrix.

Regardless of who starts, the inexperience at the position will yield mistakes. Unlike last year and with any bit of luck, though, there will hopefully be fewer than 10 turnovers in the first two games of the season. In building the future of the program it is more likely Kelly will side with someone who has more upside and development potential. That doesn't rule out freshman Blair Kiel, but chances are he will redshirt and preserve a year before being thrown to the wolves.

The second biggest question is who will step up in the defensive secondary? Stout veterans Robert Blanton, Harrison Smith and Gary Gray are all gone, rendering the defensive backfield with inexperienced raw talent.

Jamoris Slaughter and Zeke Motta, who have each seen meaningful minutes and have already made positive contributions at the safety position, will attempt to fill some shoes but their inexperience in pressure situations may leave the Irish vulnerable. Bennett Jackson and Lo Wood are two upperclassmen cornerbacks with blazing speed and minimal experience, and being the only non walk-on upperclassmen makes them the likely starters in the high-pressure position.

David Ruffer, the alk-on turned scholarship sensational kicker, graduated but his roles will be assumed by experienced place kicker and Kyle Brindza and former placekick starter Nick Tausch. Ben Turk, who struggled at the start of last season but recovered by mid-year, returns as the team's punter.

Without a doubt this is the most difficult schedule (on paper) in years. After starting the year overseas against an ever-challenging Navy team, the Irish return home to face Purdue, Michigan State on the road, and Michigan at home all before October.

A bye week preceeds the continuation of the Shamrock Series, Notre Dame's now annual offsite home game, against the Miami (Fl) Hurricanes. Consecutive home games against Stanford and BYU will prep the Irish for arguably their toughest opponent of the year as they head on the road to face Oklahoma. Easier breathing will ensue with a home game against Pittsburgh, road game Boston College, and home game against Wake Forest. All of that leads up to the regular season finale at USC, argubaly the second toughest opponent on this year's schedule.

With all of that in mind, this will certainly be a defining year for Coach Kelly's program. He has publicly stated that this his finally his team as they've begun to reflect his personality. One can only hope that fewer turnovers and more consistent quarterback play will steer the Irish to their third consecutive season of at least eight wins. If so, it would mark the first time since the Lou Holtz era that Notre Dame teams accomplished that pedestrian feat.

Objectively speaking, the translation of the aforementioned challenges and aspects to Notre Dame's 2012 season will likely equate to seven or eight wins and a modest bowl invitation. Given what is probably the nation's toughest schedule, earning more than six wins would surely be a treat. After all, last year's team was a few turnovers away (South Florida, Michigan, Florida State) from finishing 11-2 with at least a New Year's bowl berth.

Double digit wins seem highly unlikely given the magnitude of questions and difficult schedule, but Kelly will go a long way in earning some good faith with AD Jack Swarbrick in guiding the team to eight regular season wins and a bowl win to boot.

Time to get to work, Irish!

Curiosity Killed the Cat...And Landed on Mars

NASA's successful Curiosity rover is a mind-blowing feat of technology that defied odds, but not logic or reason.

Careful planning by NASA scientists coupled with countless hours of design and testing here on Earth set the stage for one of mankind's truly remarkable achievements.

That being said, while the Internets [sic] have been super excited about humans building and landing what is essentially a nuclear-powered SUV 350,000,000 miles away, I worry that people as a whole are sufficiently jaded to the point where this isn't viewed as an impressive feat.

Certainly, sending a rover (no matter how incredible) isn't as sexy as landing humans, but these are crucial missions if we ever want to get to that point.

This isn't the sixties moon missions where we strapped young men to rockets and wished them the best of luck.

An amazing composite photo taken by Curiosity.

The stakes are higher because the challenge is significantly greater. Everything from communication issues to the mental health of the astronauts, even the difficulty of creating the spacecraft is magnified.

As for Curiosity, you've likely seen this video detailing the outrageous landing procedure by now but even so, you should watch it again.



On a side note, I'm totally down to volunteer for a one-way mission to Mars.

Sure that would mean dying on the red planet, but that's extraordinarily selfless to be the first person knowing fully you aren't coming back.

They'd put my face on money and have a federal holiday in my honor. Also, aside from the various rovers NO TRAFFIC.

Sold.

General Musings About Football Season 2012

It's been painfully quiet around here lately. I return with a Hokie-centric look at the coming football season, pro and college.

First, Virginia Tech continues an unofficial quest to become the Oregon of the east coast when it comes to uniforms.

Tech will continue the now common practice of using multiple helmets throughout the season including this fairly tasteful camouflage helmet for Military Appreciation Day Saturday, September 22 against Bowling Green.

Then there are these controversial helmets for the White Out game Saturday, September 8 against Austin Peay.

Now they're only controversial insofar as they're ugly, but for a one-off they're tolerable. Gobbler tracks aren't remotely approaching the most offensive thing I've seen on football uniforms. 

Of course, most folks have been less forgiving of the new design, including starting quarterback Logan Thomas who chimed in on Twitter:

Indeed.

As for the action under the helmets, Virginia Tech is in Frank Beamer's favorite position. 

The Hokies are ranked fairly low, return a talented albeit somewhat unproven roster, and no one is really talking about them. Perfect.

On to the NFL (which sucks), and the myriad of Hokies on NFL rosters. That may thin out a bit as the teams make cuts, but I was surprised at the sheer numbers.

Some are no surprise as this season will mark the debuts of two of Tech's most exciting and successful running backs, second-year man Ryan Williams of the Arizona Cardinals and back-flipping rookie David Wilson of the Super Bowl Champion Giants.

Williams missed all of his rookie campaign with a significant knee injury, but appears to be back at full strength going into the preseason and the coaches in Arizona love him.

Praise has been equally high for Wilson in New York, where players and coaches alike have marveled at his maturity and athleticism. He demonstrated the latter in his first preseason game, nearly returning a kick-off for a touchdown.

The trick for the rabbit-catching phenom is to learn the playbook and continue to bulk up, while Williams needs to get some game contact to regain his confidence. 

Both appear poised to make an impact as complimentary backs—especially Williams because Beanie Wells is mediocre on a good day.

I guess the other main story no one has talked about regarding "the shield" is the fact that negotiations with game officials are still not settled and the NFL may use back-up referees into the regular season. 

Fans complain regardless, but given the number of competent, high-level football referees in this country, I think it's safe to say we'll see a drop-off in quality officiating the first few weeks.

Obviously, we'll have more detailed thoughts as the rapidly-approaching season nears. 

Virginia Tech kicks off Labor Day night when they host Georgia Tech at 8 PM on ESPN.

The winner of that match-up has represented the Coastal division in the ACC Championship game every season since the Hokies joined the conference in 2004.

Notre Dame will begin their season whenever they find a quarterback, or September 1 when they take on Navy in Ireland, whichever comes first.

Also, that game appears to start at 9 AM here on the east coast. Those with big tailgating plans may want to save the bratwurst until at least halftime. 

Windy City to Feature Notre Dame Hockey in Outdoor Game

Notre Dame will play Miami twice at Soldier Field in the span of four months. On October 6, the football squad will play Miami (Fla.) in the annual offsite 'home' game at the historic Chicago location. Anticipation is high as the two storied programs rekindle a rivalry born in the 80's during the Jimmy Johnson and Lou Holtz eras.

Several months after that game, on February 17, Notre Dame will again meet Miami at Soldier Field with a slight twist. It will be the Irish Hockey squad against CCHA conference rival Miami (OH) in the program's first outdoor hockey game.

That game is part of the Hockey City Classic, pitting the Irish against Miami (OH) and Minnesota against Wisconsin. A possibility remains that one or more of the teams in the event will don throwback uniforms, but it is still too early to tell.

For reaction from Irish Head Coach Jeff Jackson and Center Anders Lee watch this (lengthy) video.

For the official game announcement and interviews with Chicago native Defensemen Sam Calabrese, watch this video.

Notre Dame Isn't Joining A Conference Anytime Soon

It’s been a long time coming, but there simply hasn’t been enough commentary or postings from us around here lately. I’m mostly to blame – Justin has been the most frequent infrequent poster of the two of us. During the time span of now and my previous post, a LOT has happened in the world at large so I figured it’s time I catch up and re-engage my passion. After all, why leave my handful of readers wondering (or worse yet perhaps not caring) about when my next post will be. While the latter may already be true, it’s time to dive in with as broad of a (keyboard) stroke as I can fathom.

BCS and Notre Dame’s position

Justin already touched on this from the VT perspective so it’s time I chime in a little on this one. Given heightened awareness around the BCS this one really hits home for Irish fans.

Notre Dame’s AD, Jack Swarbrick, has truly been an impact player and advocate for the Fighting Irish during the recent conversations amongst conference officials in determining the future state, or lack thereof, of the BCS. To make a long story short (watch the video below to see what I mean), Notre Dame came out of the whole BCS playoff picture and conference alignment mess unscathed. If anything, they’ve enhanced their position by 1) not needing to join a conference to gain access to the new playoff model and 2) enhancing their bowl partnerships with a premier bowl opportunity.

There has been much speculation about whether or not the Irish are delaying the inevitable of joining a conference by aligning to certain conference’s bowl allegiances (i.e. Orange Bowl via ACC). But with the Irish eligible for the playoff and bowls like the Orange Bowl, there is no rush to abandon the Independence Ship.

None of this, however, means the Irish won’t shop around their Olympic sports to a conference not named the Big East. Academically speaking, the ACC is the most closely aligned given the intellectually driven universities like Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Virginia (sorry Justin), and Virginia Tech (yay Justin!). Notre Dame has little in common with the Big XII except that Texas forged it’s own quasi-independent football alliance by negotiating special TV rights outside of the Big XII’s contracts.

The fact of the matter is, Notre Dame is staying put and will do so for the foreseeable future in football. Olympic sports remain a question mark but will not be a driver in moving football into a conference. Football membership, or the absence of a clause requiring all sports to join, will be the primary cog in the system determining the fate of the University’s cash cow and identity.

Lacrosse

The season didn’t end too nicely for Notre Dame Lacrosse as they failed to return to the title game despite advancing to championship weekend. A slow start doomed the Irish against eventual national champion Loyola (MD). Despite the disappointment, Head Coach Kevin Corrigan has done an outstanding job not only putting Irish Lacrosse on the map but turning the program into a perennial title contender.

Tiger Woods

Somebody’s got his mojo back and it’s not Austin Powers. Tiger Woods appears to be channeling visions of his former self with three tour wins already this season and one second-place finish. He passed Jack Nicklaus for all-time wins with a strong showing at The Congressional a couple weekends ago. While I’m sure he thought that was a nice notch on the belt to pass Jack, that’s not the record of Jack’s he has been most focused on breaking. At 14 major wins he still has some work to do to catch Jack (18), but given his past dominance and his recent turnaround it’s hard to imagine him not getting closer to that mark.