Tag: fighting irish wire

Fighting Irish Wire makes Notre Dame Stadium debut at Blue Gold Game

Major stepping stone for our site.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The first Notre Dame event Fighting Irish Wire covered on location was the final edition of the Crossroads Classic. That was in late 2021. Since then, we have covered many Irish men’s and women’s basketball games at Purcell Pavilion and elsewhere. We also traveled to Boston a year ago when the baseball team played at Fenway Park.

However, we never have had media access to any football events, let alone one at Notre Dame Stadium. That changes today with the annual Blue Gold Game to wrap up spring practices. Yes, you read that correctly. Fighting Irish Wire is covering its first event inside the House That Rockne Built.

As of this writing, we aren’t entirely sure what we’ll be writing about today. What we are sure of is we’re excited to be here, and we hope this will serve as a dress rehearsal to covering at least some regular-season games here this fall. We appreciate your support on this big day for our site.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Watch Notre Dame conduct draft for 2024 Blue Gold Game

Which team will you cheer for?

This Saturday will mark the most exciting day for Notre Dame football since the 2023 season ended with a win in the Sun Bowl. The Blue Gold Game that has concluded spring practices for nearly a century will take place at Notre Dame Stadium.

Since [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] took over as coach, it has been customary to live stream the draft for that game. In case you missed it live, the whole thing is available here:

Hopefully from this, you can determine which side you would like to root for. It really doesn’t matter though because everyone is on the same team at the end of the day. The important thing is to provide the fans who come out a great competition and not get injured.

Most importantly for us at Fighting Irish Wire, we will be on site at Notre Dame Stadium to cover this yearly program tradition. We can’t wait to do so.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame appearances at MLB ballparks through the years

The Irish have been well-represented during ceremonial first pitches.

This is an exciting week for Notre Dame. Not everyone can say they’ve been at MLB’s two oldest ballparks during the same week, but this year’s Irish will be able to make that claim. They’ll face Northwestern at Wrigley Field on Tuesday before meeting Boston College at Fenway Park on Friday. The best part for us at Fighting Irish Wire is that we’ve been credentialed for both games, so we’ll be reporting the action directly from these historic venues.

With these two games taking place during the final week of the regular season, we thought it would be nice to take a look back at Notre Dame figures making appearances at MLB ballparks over the years. We’re not talking about when the football team has played games there or former Irish players who have made the big leagues. We’re talking about when figures have made appearances on behalf of the university. If you have a really good memory, maybe you can recall at least one of these:

Noie: Starling, Campbell and Carmody enter transfer portal

The situation with the basketball program is going from bad to worse.

Less than 24 hours ago, we made a damning prediction about Notre Dame’s future. Specifically, we expressed doubts whether the 2023-24 Irish will make a run with the few returning rotational players, a couple of guys who have yet to see the court for the Irish and a new coach. It turns out even having those guys might have been an overly optimistic outlook.

Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune is reporting the Irish stand to lose two freshmen, including the player who would be their highest returning scorer, and an oft-injured veteran to the transfer portal. That might just be the tip of the iceberg, too:

So again, we can’t emphasize enough just how much of a missed opportunity this past season was. Now, with the uncertainty of who will coach the program going forward, a bad situation is becoming worse fast. Stay tuned to Fighting Irish Wire for all of your roster changes, of which there appears will be many.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Legendary coach Jim Boeheim done at Syracuse after 47 seasons

Another coaching legend is out the door.

Jim Boeheim, the second-winningest coach in Division I basketball history, has coached his last game for Syracuse. Only a few hours after the Orange were eliminated by Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament, the university announced that Boeheim’s 47th season at the helm was his final one. He will be succeeded by Orange assistant Adrian Autry, who played for Boeheim from 1990 to 1994.

Notre Dame’s first game against Boeheim’s Orange was a 65-62 loss Feb. 9, 1985 at Purcell Pavilion. Most recently, the Orange had a come-from-behind 78-73 victory Jan. 14 in Syracuse. Overall, the Irish went 16-31 in the rivalry during that time. The programs have battled every year as conference rivals since 1996 – first in the Big East with the Irish losing two of three meetings in that conference’s tournament, and then, in the ACC.

Fighting Irish Wire was lucky to be in South Bend for what turned out to be Boeheim’s final trip there. After his team’s 62-61 victory, we were able to sit in on his postgame news conference. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to snap a photo of the Hall of Famer, which is what you’re seeing at the top of this story.

Much like [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag], who coached his own final game for an ACC program he has become synonymous with less than 24 hours earlier, Boeheim will be missed, and we wish him well.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Demetrius Jackson supporting both Notre Dame teams for weekend

Hope you’re showing as much support as he is.

SOUTH BEND – Fighting Irish Wire is on site to cover both Notre Dame basketball games this weekend. However, we are far from the only people who are enthusiastic about the next two days. [autotag]Demetrius Jackson[/autotag] was one of the Irish’s best players during their back-to-back Elite Eight trips in 2015 and 2016, and he hasn’t lost one iota of school spirit. If you don’t believe that, check out this tweet from the man himself:

And both programs are grateful for his support:

Jackson is acting as a cheerleader for the Irish during an important weekend. A win over Wake Forest would give the men consecutive wins for the first time since they started the season 5-0. Meanwhile, the women beating Duke would break a first-place tie between the programs and put the Irish in the driver’s seat in the ACC. This is the time to follow Jackson’s example and show just as much enthusiasm for both teams.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Ven-Allen Lubin will miss Notre Dame’s game vs. Wake Forest

Will Dom Campbell get more minutes in light of this?

[autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] had “hope” that [autotag]Ven-Allen Lubin[/autotag] would be ready for Notre Dame’s contest against Wake Forest. He said as much after the Irish beat Louisville ahead of a week off of games. It turns a week won’t be enough time for the tendon in his left ankle to heal. The freshman forward will not play against the Deacons.

Lubin aggravated his ankle in practice the day before the Irish’s win over the Cardinals. That opened up a spot for [autotag]Dom Campbell[/autotag] in the rotation for that game, but he only played four minutes. Many Irish fans didn’t like Brey giving Campbell so little time, but that also was part of the criticism for him not going deeper into his bench against an inferior opponent. It will be interesting to see if Brey mainly plays only six players again.

Fighting Irish Wire will be in South Bend for both basketball games this weekend, so keep it here for all of the best coverage!

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Revisiting some of Mike Brey’s local media day comments

Do you think Mike is regretting any of these preseason quotes?

Back in October, Fighting Irish Wire was lucky to attend Notre Dame’s media day for South Bend outlets. [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] spoke with the assembled reporters before the players entered the room, and every answer he gave was a clue into the workings of his team. The atmosphere was an optimistic one as the Irish were coming off a couple of NCAA Tournament wins in the spring. Why couldn’t it happen again with all of these older players returning?

Well, the Irish have reached a crossroads much sooner than they would have liked. They are 8-7 and have lost their first four ACC games, tying with Louisville for last in the conference. The fun of last March has given way to frustration and bafflement as to how things have gone so wrong. Even most of the nonconference victories have not been very satisfying, and there is no reason to think this season will last beyond the ACC Tournament.

So how have some of Brey’s preseason words held up? Let’s take a look:

Prayers up for former Notre Dame opponent Damar Hamlin

We all need to come together for this man right now.

We at Fighting Irish Wire are incredibly concerned as Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin fights for his life in a Cincinnati hospital. Hamlin collapsed after making a tackle during the “Monday Night Football” game against the Bengals. After being administered CPR, he was taken away in an ambulance, and the game was postponed soon after. As of this writing, he is listed as being in critical condition.

Hamlin faced Notre Dame twice while at Pittsburgh. During those games, both won by the Irish, he recorded 14 tackles, deflected one pass and was credited with half a tackle for loss.

Hamlin also was a teammate of Houston Texans rookie and former Irish defensive lineman [autotag]Kurt Hinish[/autotag] at Central Catholic in Pittsburgh, and Hinish tweeted his prayers for a man he once played with:

Everyone send the best vibes and prayers that you possibly can to Hamlin. He needs all of them right now. Let’s hope we have some good news very soon.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Fighting Irish Wire mourns the loss of ESPN reporter Jeff Dickerson

We are deeply saddened by the loss of a great sports reporter and even better human being.

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While we at Fighting Irish Wire are here to cover Notre Dame athletics, every sports journalist feels like family to us. It doesn’t matter what team they cover or who they work for. In the end, we all are part of something much bigger than ourselves.

That’s why we were devastated to learn of the passing of ESPN reporter Jeff Dickerson from colon cancer at the age of 44. Publicly, Dickerson was best known for covering the Chicago Bears for the outlet. For those who worked with him or had a chance to know him, he was an all-around good guy who made everyone feel like they mattered to him. That alone makes this news tough to take, but even sadder is that Caitlin, his wife, lost her own battle with cancer two years ago, meaning Parker, his 11-year-old son, now has lost both parents to cancer.

While I never worked with Dickerson professionally, I did meet him on one memorable occasion. While pursuing my master’s at DePaul, he came to speak to my online sports reporting class, which was taught by Adam Rittenberg, his ESPN colleague. That course featured many prominent guest speakers, but Dickerson easily was the best because of his graciousness, enthusiasm and the obvious vibe that he was happy to be there. If he had talked long into the night, it’s doubtful many in that room would have complained.

Keep the Dickerson family in your prayers as they go through this difficult time. This was one individual who deserved a much better end to his story, but as we know all too well, cancer is a disease that does not discriminate. He will be missed terribly, and that hole never will be filled in this life.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.