Tag: South Bend Tribune

Spike in COVID-19 Cases Happening at Notre Dame

As the ACC pushes forward with its fall football plans, COVID-19 continues to run rampant everywhere.

As the ACC pushes forward with its fall football plans, COVID-19 continues to run rampant everywhere. One question on Notre Dame fans’ minds has to be what happens to the season if the South Bend campus sees an outbreak of the virus. If present trends continue, we might get an answer soon.

The South Bend Tribune has reported a COVID-19 spike at Notre Dame. Before descending on campus, the nearly 12,000 returning students had to get tested for the virus. Only 33, or less than a half percent, tested positive. Now that students are back, things have taken a dramatic turn.

From Aug. 6 to Friday, Notre Dame has reported 29 positive tests, including 10 on the final day of that span. Since Aug. 3, there has been an 8 percent positivity rate. One university spokesman attributed many of the positive tests to an off-campus party, which was covered by WSBT-TV.

While Notre Dame is not at critical mass yet, it continues to be worth questioning what happens if students are sent home this fall and football continues to be played. What will it say if the players have to remain while their fellow students are elsewhere? At that point, the university would have some serious explaining to do for what would seem like reckless behavior. A lot of soul searching might be on the horizon.

Notre Dame Recruit Tristan Bounds Uses Loophole to Visit Campus

Much has been made about how much Notre Dame has been hurt by its inability to recruit players during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Much has been made about how much Notre Dame has been hurt by its inability to recruit players during the COVID-19 outbreak. The university’s location puts it at a disadvantage. Still, that didn’t stop one recruit from stopping by campus anyway.

Tristan Bounds, a three-star offensive tackle who’s part of the 2021 recruiting class, has eight schools at the top of the list. The pandemic had prevented him from visiting four of them, including Notre Dame. But Bounds, the 39th-ranked offensive tackle in his class according to 247Sports, made the trek to campus Tuesday, one day after he visited Michigan. Though the dead period has been extended to June 30, a loophole allows recruits to visit colleges as long as they aren’t accompanied by or in contact with anyone affiliated with the football program during their trip.

Bounds, who measures at 6-foot-8 and 280 pounds, plays for Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut, still has to make visits to Boston College and Texas. So far, he also has set foot on Virginia Tech, Virginia, Maryland and Vanderbilt. It’s a lot of traveling, but nothing the student at a boarding school over 300 miles from his home in Bethesda, Maryland, can’t handle.

Jeff Quinn, the Irish’s offensive line coach, offered Bounds a scholarship May 1, the day Notre Dame was revealed to be on Bounds’ list. The Irish emerged as a late contender for his services. However, his visit to campus means they’re still in the hunt.

 

Is Lost Graduation Weekend Precursor to Football Season for Locals?

Typically at this time of year, thousands of families flock to South Bend to watch their loved ones graduate from Notre Dame.

Typically at this time of year, thousands of families flock to South Bend to watch their loved ones graduate from Notre Dame. But like at every academic institution, 2020 commencement was a virtual affair. And it wasn’t only the graduates who were robbed of something. Hotels, restaurants and other businesses in and around South Bend didn’t see the money they usually would.

The South Bend Tribune published a story that mentions the local revenue taken in during graduation weekend is the equivalent to what comes in during a home football weekend. With Notre Dame officials expecting games to be played this fall but with limited attendance and tailgating, a further, more sustained blow to the community is expected. The estimated 7,700 local hospitality workers already are facing significant losses thanks to the COVID-19 outbreak. Nothing close to the normal sellout crowds that fill Notre Dame Stadium will make it all the more devastating.

If you live in the South Bend area, please do whatever you possibly can to support the local businesses that have been severely hampered the past two months and surely will be for the foreseeable future. With unemployment higher than during the Great Depression, this is the time to help people keep their jobs. We don’t want this to community to be a shell of what it’s been when this pandemic is over.

Muffet McGraw Settles Into Post-Coaching Life

South Bend Tribune columnist Bill Moor wrote about Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame’s legendary and recently retired women’s basketball coach.

Appropriate enough for Mother’s Day, South Bend Tribune columnist Bill Moor wrote about Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame’s legendary and recently retired women’s basketball coach. The column includes quotes from Muffet’s husband, Matt, about their dating days and how she continues to have a competitive drive. Granted, she’s not long removed from her position, but that doesn’t make her any less of a perfectionist.

Muffet isn’t completely done with Notre Dame. She’s now a special assistant to athletic director Jack Swarbrick. She’s also spending time helping the community. As of Thursday, she’s hit five neighborhoods to gather donations for a Food Bank of Northern Indiana food drive she’s spearheading.

It’s safe to say Muffet already has settled into her new life just fine. Sure, it’s an adjustment, and the COVID-19 outbreak has made things more challenging than they otherwise would be. But she’s definitely made peace with her decision to step away from coaching, and she’s looking forward to the future. Hopefully for her, that future includes grandchildren, which would come from her son, Murphy, who has been married for almost two years.

“As far as I’m concerned, they can start popping out kids any time,” Muffet said.