Campus News:
This week's news will not focus on construction but money, as in the U.S. Mint. Domer senior Patrick Quill is one of six (out of a pool of 306) art students in the nations to be chosen as an associate designer for the U.S. Mint. These six associates and 18 professional "master designer" artists will periodically submit designs for circulating coins. The artists will also design for commemorative coins and medals. Quill's first task is for the front and back of the 2005 nickel. The coin is to honor the bicentennial of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase and the 1804-06 Lewis and Clark expedition. The front will feature Thomas Jefferson. Quill will also work on state quarters scheduled to be issued in 2005.
Quill is a business major taking art classes. He will graduate in May with a marketing and studio art double major. Quill applied for the Mint gig after spotting a newspaper article about the competition. The deadline was a few days away and Patrick hastily submitted his resume, slides of his work and a design for a proposed state quarter for Maryland, his home state. "I did it on a whim. I figured, 'Why not? I'll apply,' " he recalled. "I didn't go in expecting anything." Quill recently toured the Philadelphia mint and learned about design and production. Most coins circulate for 30 years. One person had to draw, carve and polish the initial coin to make sure the coins come out correctly. The "United States of America," the coin's value and the year must be placed in specific areas. Only certain portraits of Jefferson may be used for the coin likeness. The artwork cannot be too detailed or two close to the edge. For each of the Mint's requests for ideas, Quill will receive $500. If the design is chosen, Patrick will receive and additional $500. I wonder if he will be paid in nickels.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
This begins as a typical SYR story. Boy meet girl. Couple makes out while friends take photos. Only after the incident, however, does our dashing dude discover that his dame was none other than the little sister of his dorm's president. When photos later arrived on the president's door, Il Duce was less than pleased, to say the least.
A pungent pile of excrement was found several days later outside our dude's door. One report indicates that Il Duce was seen fleeing the scene of the crime while pulling his pants up. So far, Gipp has been notified that no disciplinary action has been taken yet, but hopefully this at least will spark a healthy dialogue among the residents in this particular dorm.
Hall Notes:
For the first time in recent memory, a track athlete is calling Carroll home. Not only is junior Selim Nurudeen on the track team, but he is alos the best male runner on the squad. Selim competed in the 60 meter hurdles at the Big East Indoor Track & Field Championship. The Houston-native came away the Big East Champion with a winning time of 7.78 seconds. With that time, Selim qualified for the NCAA Championships. He was the only male team member to make the NCAAs. Unfortunately, the competition was stiff and Selim did not earn All American honors.
NDSportscenter:
The hockey team defeated Western Michigan 3 games to 2 to advance to the CCHA Super Six at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The Irish were appearing in the Super Six for the fourth time in five years. The #15 Irish took on #12 Ohio State. The Suckeyes came away with a 6-5 overtime win and knocked out the Irish. It was the second year in a row we lost to Ohio State in the Super Six round 1. And it was our third year in a row to be booted in round 1. The squad ended with a 20-14-4 recond and a few post-season honors. Aaron Gill, Rob Globke, and Brett Lebda were named to the 2nd Team All CCHA. Neil Komadoski won the CCHA Humanitarian Award.
Then came the GREAT news. The hockey team received an at-large bid to the 16-team NCAA tournament. For the first time in the 36 years of the program, the Irish were going to the NCAAs. We were the #4 seed in the Midwest region with a first round opponent of the defending champion Minnesota Gophers.
Selim Nurudeen led the men's track team to a second place finish at the Big East Championships. The women also placed second behind junior Lauren King who won the mile in a time of 4:53.95. The 4x400 relay also won (3:45.23) for the lady Irish. Seven athletes qualified for the NCAAs. Selim went with six women. (Selim! What a stud! Six chicks!) Of the six ladies only two garnered honors. Junior Kerry Meagher came in seventh in the mile and earned All American honors. Sophomore Molly Huddle was seventh in the 3000 meters and third in the 5000 meters. Huddle's third place finish tied the highest ever NCAA finish for a female Domer. Those two All-American honors gave Huddle five for her career. She's the first female Domer to ever win five such awards and she did it in only a year and a half of college competition while running cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track. As a team the women finished 21st at the NCAAs.
Campus News:
More construction news. But this has to do within the South Bend community, not the campus. It involves the Logan Center, the facility immediately south of campus that serves develop- mentally disabled people. The University bought the center in 2001 for $2.6 million and has been leasing it back to the center since then for the nominal amount of $1 a year. A new facility is scheduled to be ready by July 2005. The new 40,000-square- foot, two-story building will be re-located a few miles south. Logan has collected $3.4 million in donations and is over halfway toward the goal of $6.2 million for construction. The site for the center is set for demolition of the existing buildings. The razing has just begun. With the movement of the Logan Center, it opens the door for the University to remove the old building and push the city to realign Edison Road south to meet up with Angela Street south of campus. So now we see why the University bought the center back in 2001. It's all part of a master plan for world domination.
The new Logan Center will have an expanded assistive computer technology center, a wheelchair-accessible garden and kitchen, an art center, and plans for an autism resource center in conjunction with local hospitals, school corporations and the University.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
This one is an oldie, but a goodie. Caution: It's not for the easily disturbed. Longtime Gipplings, you may remember a tale from last March about one individual's preoccupation with his posterior. During last year's spring break in Mexico, our old pal Penetration Pete showed off his ability to consume a bottle of beer through his "out-hole," as it were.
Well, ladies and gents, he is back at it again, and this time, there's a twist. It seems that our pal was able to outdo his Spring Break '03 feat by involving third-party participation in his most recent undertaking. Just this last December at Castle Point, Pete was able to intake only the majority of a bottle of Guiness in his now-patented reverse style. He and his cronies decided to leave the remainder of the bottle for an unsuspecting freshman.
What has been described as a "half-filled bottle of Guinness whose rim was lubed with eight ounces of Vaseline" then was chugged by our poor, poor bystander, wholly unaware of what had taken place. Upon his discovery, our freshman friend forcibly purged himself of his evening's refreshments and, much to his delight, was even able to find a junior girl to hook up with later in the evening.
The Gipp has received conflicting reports on just exactly what happened next. But suffice to say that the unfortunate affliction was spread to at least one other party that night. So let this story serve as a word of caution to all: Take care to stay safe next time you venture into the unknown on a weekend night. Be sure to know where your beer bottles and your partner's lips have been.
Hall Notes:
Vermin Bert Berry '97 has made the most of the NFL Free Agent market. On March 7 Bert inked a new deal with the Arizona Cardinals. He signed a five-year contract that includes a reported $5 million signing bonus. Last year Arizona had the third lowest sack total in the league with 21. Bert alone recorded 12 sacks for the Denver Broncos. The Cardinals were quite pleased to land the 6'3", 250lb. Vermin. Coach Dennis Green stated, "We're excited for Bertrand Berry, defensive end, right end for us. It's an ideal position because of the style of defense we're going to play." Sweet move, Bert. Way to make the most of a golden opportunity.
NDSportscenter:
Is Chris Thomas going to come back next year? He struggled throughout the season and only made the All Big East 2nd Team. His game did pick up after the injury to Torin Francis, but would he do even better if he played another year with a healthy Francis? (By the way, Torin went under the knife for a herniated disc on March 8. Recovery is expected in two to three months.) Thomas has not made his plans clear but some quotes seem to hint he is thinking about staying. Thomas was quoted as saying that "it's clear basically, to everybody." Well, it's certainly clear that he had the worst shooting year of his ND career. Another line that hints he will return was this sentence about next year: "I predict us to be Top 5 in the country." Come on back, Chris.
The hockey team has definitely ridden a roller coaster this year. The Irish were tops in the CCHA in December for the first time ever (14 years in the CCHA). Senior Rob Globke was leading the Irish and CCHA in goals. The team was ahead of Michigan and Michigan State in league play and #14 in the nation. The Irish also knocked off #1 boston college, #3 Maine, #4 Michigan, and #6 Wisconsin. But the lads struggled mightily on the road and eventually finished fifth in the CCHA. During the last fifteen games at home, the Irish were 13-0-2. They had the best defense in the CCHA and the best penalty killing in team history (90%). The team finished strong at the end of the season, beating Michigan twice at the JACC. It was our first Wolverine sweep since '81-'82. We now have 3 wins in a row versus Michigan. Freshman goaltender David Brown got the wins. Brown has had an amazing year. He has set records as a frosh with 4 shutouts, 193 consecutive shutout minutes, save percentage, and goals against average (GAA). His regular season record was 11-5-3. Brown was 8th in the nation in GAA (2.08) and 3rd in save percentage (0.930). More on the hockey team next week.
Campus News:
The Big Dig. Campus construction is partying like it's 1999. The new security building/post office is going up over by Stepan Center. The backhoes are digging for China in front of Rolfs Recreation Center for the new science building. And half of the outdoor tennis courts have been torn up as well as the parking lot in front of Loftus for a sports facilities expansion. The IU medical center, which will have some ND departments in leased areas, is climbing skyward immediately south of campus across Angela Street. Finally, the Performing Arts Center interior is being shaped up for a late summer opening. So many areas are fenced off you'd think you were in the midst of a prison. Who's up for a conjugal visit?
That leads to, of course, plans for even more construction. Father Mark Poorman recently addressed the Campus Life Council. Part of that address focused on further campus expansion. Poorman spoke of plans for the construction of four new residence facilities. A goal was to reduce the occupancy of existing dorms by 10% to relieve overcrowding. Another goal was to increase the number of on-campus seniors from the current 46% to 52-54%. The overall scheme is to increase the on-campus percentage from 79% to 82%. Stepan Center is slated for demolition. A new facility will be constructed to accommodate 3,500 to 4,000 people. The last construction issue Poorman touched on was that of LaFortune. Since the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center will be opening soon, Washington and Crowley Halls will be relocating their contents to the new center. LaFortune will be expanded to include these vacated Halls. Think they'll put in a bowling alley? We can only hope.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Following Alumni Hall's bowling alley formal, 16 people were shoved into one taxi, a situation just begging for problems to arise. Our story centers on a group of three individuals, roommates "Adam" and "Sam" along with Sam's date "Alotta." Top to bottom, Adam, Alotta and Sam were stacked three people high on one seat in the cab when Alotta "decided she was in the mood" about halfway home. Sam's hand worked its way under Alotta's skirt, which soon was noticed by Adam, who, as you may recall, was sitting on top of the two. Alotta then asked Adam if he would like to join in the fun.
Apparently, Adam was not the only one who noticed the sub-skirt endeavor. Reports indicatd that the taxi driver almost blew a red light because he, no doubt, was having a hard time focusing on the road.
Unfortunately for our two Dawgs-in-waiting, Alotta had other plans on her mind upon arrival back at campus and Adam soon spotted her in a compromising situation with another man. Luckily for our protagonists, Sam was able to find another girl to satisfy his hormonal urges for the evening. Looks like all's well that ends well. But here's hoping the cabbie can keep his cool in the future when things heat up, and his curiosity can take the backseat while driving.
Hall Notes:
So Father Poorman spoke of adding four new residence facilities. I had heard awhile back that the University was aiming to build two new dorms. I believe the other two "residence facilities" may be a new married student housing building and possibly an on-campus apartment-style structure meant only for seniors. That's what I'm hoping, anyway. If the University decides to build four new dorms, I fear Carroll's days are numbered. Of the four dorms, two would most likely be male. The University has stated it doesn't want to increase enrollment. Overcrowding relief in current dorms of 10% would be about 400 students. Carroll has a little over 100 men. New dorms usually accommodate 250 Domers. You do the math. (Don't read too much into those numbers. That's just a Vermin alum paranoid to the point of conjuring up conspiracy theories.) Carroll's maintenance fees can't be cheap. The operating costs for heating the Vermin home must be through the roof. My junior year alone was downright ridiculous. The aptly titled "MegaHeater" was cranking our warmth to the tune of 80 degrees every single day of the school year. It was an uncontrollable beast. I half expected to come home from class one day to see Satan himself sitting on the couch watching Jerry Springer and commenting on how he had to get the hell out of hell because it was just too "nippy" compared to 421 Carroll. I've got my bases covered concerning Carroll's future: the heat is on.
NDSportscenter:
Hockey coach Dave Poulin has been inducted into the Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame. Poulin is the 18th Flyer to enter the Hall. Dave played eight seasons in Philly and was a six-year captain. He scored 161 goals and assisted on 233 goals for a total of 394 points. That point total was good for 17th on the team's all-time scoring list. Poulin participated in two All Star games and helped the Flyers to three Division Championships and two Conference Titles. Dave is an '82 Domer and is currently in his ninth year of coaching at ND.
The #20 women's swimming and diving team won the Big East Championship for the 8th consecutive year. Freshman Katie Carroll became the fourth first year swimmer in conference history to win three events in the Big East meet. Katie was named the Big East Most Outstanding Swimmer. Meghan Perry-Eaton was named the Most Outstanding Diver. Caiming Xie was named the Big East Diving Coach of the Year.
The men's swimming and diving team took second at the Big East Championships. The men recorded their highest ever point total for the Big East meet. The team set seven school records at the meet and Tim Welsh was named the Big East Coach of the Year.
Some quick football notes: secondary coach Trent Walters has left to become the secondary coach for the Philadelphia Eagles....freshmen receivers Chinedum Ndukwe and Ambrose Wooden have been converted to defensive backs. Sophomore defensive end Dan Santucci is moving to the offensive line. Senior linebacker Jerome Collins will be a tight end if he is granted a fifth year....Spring practice begins March 27th and concludes with the Blue-Gold Game on April 24th.
Campus News:
Man, oh man. The construction the University has planned for the next ten year is alarming. Specifics on the construction plans will be revealed over many weeks and possibly months. Obviously funding is a sticking point. Just as difficult, though, is getting permission from the City of South Bend and the State of Indiana for some of the work. That leads to the University's first step of closing Juniper Road through campus.
Multiple public information meetings have already taken place on the Juniper closing. The University wishes to take Juniper Road north of campus to the east where it would meet up with Ivy Road. (Ivy is immediately east of Alumni Soccer Field and the Eck Tennis Pavilion.) Another issue is moving Edison south to line up with Angela Street just south of campus. The new road would run through properties owned entirely by the University. University officials have agreed to pay for most of the work, which they estimate would cost about $10 million for Ivy and about $6 million for Angela-Edison. About six homes on the west side of Ivy might be in the way of a widened Ivy. The University would negotiate to buy any properties that are needed. (Note: Supposedly the University is in the market to hire a full time realtor strictly for ND. The University is a real estate-buying machine. Whenever homes go up for sale south of campus, the University immediately swoops in offering a much higher price so they can secure the property. In other words, don't expect football ticket prices to stop rising any time soon.) Residents along Ivy and Juniper are less than pleased with what they feel is ND bullying its way to get whatever it wants. The University, though, is willing to at least make a slight sacrifice. The re-routed road would involve the University carving up its brank spankin' new golf course. The new road would cut a swatch through the southwest corner of the course.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
After a successful night at the 'Backer, two seniors discovered an empty keg in their dorm. Rather than simply ridding themselves of it, however, the two took it upon themselves to make a special late-night delivery to a position of honor: None other than the steps of Main Building, of course. (A photo was taken and emailed to the Gipper.) But along the way, they made a few stops at campus landmarks such as Touchdown Jesus, First Down Moses and Stonehenge. (Photos were also taken and emailed thanks to a handy dandy digital camera.)
Hall Notes:
Vermin to Vermin. It was previously revealed that a member of Carroll was the editor in chief of Scholastic. He has now passed the torch to another Vermin. Matt Killen just finished up his term leading the magazine with following signoff: "Matt Killen, editor in chief, somehow tricked everyone else on the staff to do work and managed to slack off for 12 consecutive issues. He thanks them for that. Next year, he'll harness his skills at obnoxiousness as he attends law school somewhere. 'Crippling loneliness, here I come!'"
The editors in chief for next year area a male (non-Vermin) and female. Now usually the new chiefs take over immediately. However, both juniors are abroad. Junior Vermin Ryan Greenberg was appointed to serve as editor in chief for the remainder of the spring semester. Ryan came on board as a designer his freshman year. His current position is executive design editor. Ryan was quoted as saying: "I can't possibly run the magazine into the ground in two months. Can I?"
NDSportscenter:
Basketball coach Mike Brey has already received a verbal commitment from a current junior. Zach Hillesland of St. John's Jesuit High School in Toledo, Ohio accepted the scholarship offer within a week of it being put on the table. Zach is a 6'7" guard/forward and is rated the third best junior in Ohio. Hillesland shoots 59% from the field, scores 12 ppg, and snags 8.7 rpg. Zach is also a star in the classroom with a 4.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale.
Eight Domers have been invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Injury shortened seasons did not prevent safety Glenn Earl and kicker Nicholas Setta from being invited. Defensive linemen Cedric Hilliard and Darrell Campbell will try to impress scouts. Vontez Duff is expected to be a top defensive back. Offensive tackle Jim Molinaro was invited despite not starting until his senior year. Courtney Watson is looking to prove he is not an undersized linebacker. But Julius Jones seems to have the most draft potential. If he can show scouts he can catch the ball he could be a first day selection in the NFL draft.
The Irish fencers saw their 90 match win streak snapped by St. John's. The streak had dated back to 2000. It is the third longest streak in team history. The young men's squad brough the team down. The men are ranked second in the country now. The women continue to be #1 in the nation.
The #10 baseball team has started strong. Senior second baseman Steve Sollman was named a pre-season All American while two of his teammates dropped from consideration altogether. Pitchers John Axford and Jeff Manship were lost for the year with arm injuries. Manship was rated the third best freshman pitcher in the nation but is now working back from Tommy John surgery on his elbow. The team has rallied around its healthy staff. Sophomore left-handed pitcher Tom Thornton got the 3-1 victory over #20 USC. The team has opened the year 6-0 for the first time since 1960.
Campus News:
According the The Observer, University administrators rejected a proposed concert starring U2 and Bruce Springsteen. The concert was proposed last spring by Student Union Board manager Charlie Ebersol. It was to have been held in Notre Dame Stadium with the proceeds going to benefit AIDS efforts in Africa. The show was originally planned for last fall, but Ebersol resubmitted the proposal for the concert to be held this year. Ebersol said V.P. of student affairs Father Mark Poorman was interested at first but then became less positive. Poorman would not comment on the concert. Poorman supposedly told the Board of Trustees concerts are not prohibited in the stadium but that security and human resources were the problem. A University spokesman said officers decided against the show because they "did not have the resources or personnel to pull off an endeavor of this size within the necessary time frame." Really? The University seems to pull off stadium events that involve 80,000 people, two teams with 100+ personnel, a television network, and 100+ media people. Six times each fall they do that. Couldn't pull off the concert? Interesting.
The prime beneficiary of the event would have been The Nelson Mandela Foundation. The foundation sponsors efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, including public awareness and research initiatives. The overall budget for the show would have been about $1.25 million. Ebersol said SUB had received nearly $1.5 million in pledges from several major corporations. A $1 million pledge came from telecom giant AT&T. Because the pledges would cover the budget costs, all the money raised would go to the charity. The concert was expected to seat 65,000 people and millions of dollars could have been raised.
Charlie Ebersol continues to pursue the concert and has not given up on getting approval.
Campus Watch by Me:
Know who Billy Palmer is? He is one of our tight ends. He's been here a few years and finally caught some passes last year. Palmer is from Florida, as I recal. His brother, Jesse, was a quarterback at Florida. Last I heard, Jesse was a backup quarterback in the NFL for the New York Giants. Well it turns out Billy and Jesse have a brother. Apparently the brother was jealous of those two always being on television. Word on the street is that Billy's brother is the new "bachelor." The television show, "The Bachelor," is on its third installment, I believe. Football players sort of get an indirect meat market. Billy's brother gets a blatant meat market. Lucky bastards.
Hall Notes:
Jim Aviles '82 majored in Philosophy while living in Carroll back in the day. Jim had this to say: "I was told Arts and Parties was the way to go....Wrong. I never wrote so much in my life - and it was either long hand or typewriter, no Microsoft Word." Grad school was summed up with..."You kidding, my fingers were crippled from all the writing." Since Jim tells it so well, I'll let him tell of his work since graduation: "Pulled a 6-month stint as a security guard then got somewhat serious and went into banking. Spent '83-'85 with Bank of America in San Francisco, moved to Chicago with CitiBank until '89 then moved back to San Francisco and Bank of America. Left Bank of America in 1999 when NationsBank took over and with 4 other managers of the merchant services business formed our own company - Merchant e-Solutions. Been here ever since, and am thankful everyday I am no longer at a big bank." This June will mark 17 years of marriage for Jim. He has three kids: a sixteen-year-old future Vermin, an 11 year old girl, and an 8 year old girl.
NDSportscenter:
Men's
basketball games on the tube:
G'Town to the JACC on Thursday, March 4 on ESPN2 at 7pm EST
@ St. John's on Saturday, March 6 on CBS at 4pm EST
Women's soccer star Vanessa Pruzinsky recently received the 2003-04 Big East Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The Trumbull, Connecticut native was selected from a pool of 15 candidates covering 13 Big East sports. In addition to winning the honor Vanessa shall receive a $4000 stipend applicable to graduate studies.
Men's distance runner Todd Mobley of West Bloomfield, Michigan was the ND nominee for Big East Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Todd did not win but as a nominee he received a $2000 stipend for postgraduate studies.
Basketball
news: Chris Thomas broke the school record for career assists. The previous
record holder was David Rivers with a tally of 586....Thomas did not make the
midseason cut for the Wooden Award. Thirty finalists are up for the award that
recognizes the best player in college basketball....Thomas has been slowed by
a knee injury this year. He has continued to play on the knee but it may require
offseason surgery...alum Matt Carroll was waived by the Portland Trailblazers
just days before he could have been allowed to stay on the season roster and
received the league minimum of pay which is around $400,000....alum David Graves
has been holding his own in the CBA. Graves suited up for the Gary Steelheads
and led the CBA in 3-point percentage. Last year David played with fellow alum
Harold Swanagan on the Dodge City Legend in the USBL. Graves was in Germany
this past fall. In five games he averaged 18 ppg, 6 rpg, and 4 apg. After that
very brief time in Germany, Graves joined the Steelheads. David was shooting
55% from 3-point range and averaging 12 ppg and 3 rpg in 20 minutes of action
a night.
Campus News:
A study was recently made public about the University's economic impact on the surrounding area. The impact was $833 million in2002. That year the University spent $536 million on goods andservices, with $306 million of that spent in St. Joseph County. The six home football games generate more than $6.3 million each. Thattotals about $38 million in visitor expenditures.
The study was done because of requests over the year for economic data. The report was prepared by Bay Area Economics,a private consulting firm out of Berkeley, California. The information is based on the fiscal year 2002, from July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002.
The employment numbers of the University are astounding. Theannual payroll was $290 million. There are 4,070 full time employees and 688 part time workers. The number of employees living in St. Joseph County is 4,152. Spin-off jobs outside the University total 8,655. ("Spin-off" means jobs that exist locally because of spending related to ND and its visits.) The school received 673,000 visitors (a third of which come during football season) who spent about $92 million at area hotels, restaurants, and retailers. ND is the second most visited attraction in Indiana behind the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Because the University is a nonprofit organization, most campus facilities are exempt from property taxes. Still the University paid $285,000 in hotel-motel taxes and property taxes on off-campus properties. ND students and employees volunteer an estimated 455,000 hours annually. From 1997 through 2002, ND spent an average of $52 million annually in building construction. Finally, 4,097 Domers live and work in St. Joseph County, including 2,269 in the city of South Bend. (That would be me.)
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
We all know that South Bend isn't Manhattan. Heck, it probably isn't even Muncie. Well, the Gipper has learned that two bored students attempted to find out just that. Our tipster tells us that he and a friend took a journey south, safely out of the bubble, under the motto of "Why not?" The couple ventured to the lovely Ball State University, a school at which they had absolutely no acquaintances. Their plan was to simply wander around until they found a party or two. And, for reasons unbeknownst to the Gipp, the pair told people they were from a northeastern school. They reportedly spun tales the whole night about life at "their" school, and it made them a hit with their host crowd. The highlight of this adventure, says our informant, was when, after the two had settled in for several hours at the house of four Ball State ladies, his friend "was hooking up with one of these girls we met and she started to pass out. He yelled 'Are you done?!' at her and then proceeded to say 'Fine. This is me leaving. Good talk.' It was a pretty sweet time." Hmm, pretty sweet indeed, dude. The Gipp doesn't get the point of this roadtrip or what part of it the tipster thought to be Gipp material, but whatever. In an effort to promote random behavior, the Gipp will give it a thumbs up.
Hall Notes:
Last week history was given on parietals in Carroll. Some information remains to be told...
In 1969 parietals were so welcome that The Observer headline screamed "Parietals This Weekend!" The Board of Trustees was more giving in '69 than '04, but they still let it be known that they were in charge. The Observer told that there was a "misconception of the experimental basis of the rules and the actual feelings of the Board of Trustees on the subject... This experimental period extends to January, not to June. The trustees want to get a good idea of how responsible the students can be." Giving the students a chance... what a novel idea.
NDSportscenter:
Only one men's hoops game on TV this next week. We play at UCLA on Saturday, February 28 on CBS at 4pm EST (I believe). And it looks like Torin Francis is done for the year with a herniated disc.
A week and a half ago the Chicago Tribune ran a story about a letter signed by 412 Domers that was sent to the Board of Trustees. The letter was signed by alums from years 1949 to 2003. Forty-one states were represented. To sum up: the letter blasted the University for allowing the football program to wallow for a decade. The letter demanded things be corrected from the top down, starting with the administration. The signers wanted a layperson assigned to the executive vice president position and for the athletic director's job performance to be determined by the football program's success. It was not a shot at Tyrone. In fact it stated: "This is not a call to fire Tyrone Willingham." They planned to give him the 2004 season to turn it around. The letter to the Board became a news story because the main author went public. He did not feel the letter was getting an adequate response so he went to the newspapers to put some pressure on the Board. So of course there has been no response.
On February 5th the JACC hosted the ND baseball Opening Night Dinner. The featured speakers were former centerfielder Steve Stanley and author John Grisham. Grisham's name helped draw approximately 1,300 people to the event. The author spoke of his love for college baseball. He had become familiar with Irish baseball in 2000 when we played a memorable series versus Mississippi State, his alma mater. Grisham came to admire the program and he followed its progress. When his son went to Virginia to play baseball and they were looking for a new head coach, John recommended to Virginia that they look into hiring Brian O'Connor, the Irish assistant coach. O'Connor now runs the Cavalier program and Grisham and Notre Dame far forever linked. The baseball team is about to open its season. For the fifth straight year they are ranked in the top 20.
Campus News:
Last weekend the Board of Trustees met for its winter session. The big question is whether or not the Board will address the possibility of Monk's retirement. Malloy is expected to step down in 2005. If that is so, one would expect the Board to discuss it. According to a University spokesman, there is nothing on the agenda relating to a major administrative announcement. No decision has yet been made about retirement. Monk, 63, said in a 2001 South Bend Tribune interview that he expected to retire in 2005. Malloy has been president since 1987. He is near the end of a five-year term. In 2000 he agreed to a request by the Board for 5 more years.
The University president must be a priest of the Indiana Province of the Holy Cross order. The Board of Trustees elects the president. This election is done after recommendations from the Board's governance and nominating committee.
The University is still rolling along without an executive vice president. The position has yet to be filled since Rev. Timothy Scully resigned last May. Malloy and other administrators have been operating as interims since Scully's departure. It is doubtful the Board will select a new executive vice president at this meeting. An announcement may come this spring. The executive vice president is third in command after the president and the provost.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Our next tip is much less disturbing, but nonetheless just as odd. Our tipster informs us that as she was taking a late-night stroll back to her campus domicile on a Friday night, she witnessed an individual making a Rocky Mountain out of her dorm. Apparently, he or she was using a pipe to scale up the backside of the building. Eventually, says our leak, "the individual had made it to a ledge and was inching along it, arms outstretched against the wall, in a Spiderman-like fashion." The superhero then reached his or her desired destination and dove in head first in true Hollywood style. Because this was a post-parietals and pre-Thanksgiving occurrence, we'll assume this was not Santa Clause delivering some goodies but rather just a young fellow who was really in the mood to touch someone's goodies. The ever-cynical Gipp is left wondering: Had the climber slipped and fell to his freakishly amusing but nonetheless tragic death, would our shot-callers have been more concerned with losing a student or with the close-call on premariital relations? Sometimes it's difficult to tell.
Hall Notes:
Parietals in Carroll. Quit snickering. There were and are parietals (wink, wink). The introduction of parietals was mentioned in the Friday, March 28, 1969 Observer. It's introductory form was nothing like what we know it to be. Since it was 1969, and the campus exclusively male, the students actually looked FORWARD to parietals.
The Observer declared Carroll to be one of six dorms trying out parietals. Parietals were brought forth by the Tripartite Hall Life Board. The Board of Trustees approved the attempt. The halls, though, had to meet the requirements. The Observer stated parietals permit "women visitation hours in the residence halls for a total of no more than 24 hours from 5pm Friday through 11pm Sunday." The paper continued that "no hall's hours may extend beyond one a.m. any day nor begin earlier than one p.m. any day but Friday." Also, "the formulation of the exact hours in each hall is left to the discretion of the individual hall councils." Oh how the times have changed.
NDSportscenter:
More
men's basketball games on the tube:
@ Syracuse on Monday, February 16 on ESPN at 7pm EST
@ UConn on Saturday, February 21 on CBS at 2pm EST
Ten fifth year seniors applied to return for next year. Amongst those ten were Carlyle, tight end Gary Godsey, linebacker Derek Curry, defensive end Kyle Budinscak, cornerback Preston Jackson, defensive tackle Greg Pauly, tight end Jared Clark and tight end Billy Palmer. Two players turned down the option of a fifth year. Starting strong safety Garron Bible has decided to move on for two reasons. He cited personal reasons and injuries. Bible has had problems with both shoulders and his back. Receiver Ronnie Rodamer is also leaving. He will have one year of eligibility left and may go to a Division I-AA school to finish out his playing career.
Alum receiver David Givens caught a touchdown pass in the Superbowl for the New England Patriots. For the game Givens had 5 catches for 69 yards.
On Superbowl Sunday Julius Jones competed in a college football all-star challenge. Julius was one of eight, along with four quarterbacks, two receivers, and another running back. Each quarterback was teamed with a back or receiver. Julius was the teammate of PIttsburgh quarterback Rod Rutherford. Julius and Rod came from behind to win the competition.
For the first time in school history, the men's soccer program produced two players that were selected in the MLS draft. The first ever Domer to become an MLS draftee was Kevin Richards. He was the fifth pick in Round 4 (35th overall) and will play for the Colorado Rapids. Justin Detter then went to the Kansas City Wizards. Detter was the seventh selection in the fifth round, the 47th player taken overall.
Campus News:
The lawsuit filed by the Hannahville Indian Community against the University and the U.S. government has received the attention of a federal judge. The judge has signed an order to dismiss the lawsuit once either a settlement is reached or the government grants additional land for the tribe's reservation. The suit claimed the state of Indiana illegally transferred land belonging to the tribe to the University. University spokesman Matt Storin stated that if a settlement is reached, it would most likely not require the University to make a payment. If the government is to grant additional land it would require the President of the United States to issue an Executive Order directing the Secretary of the Interior to give non-contiguous land to the tribe in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois to be added to the tribe's reservation. The tribe's reservation is currently located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The judge's signed order of dismissal followed a stipulation of dismissal filed by attorneys for the tribe and the University that called for the suit to be waived if either of the two options were met. The University does not have a preference for either option, but would be pleased to see the suit end. (Duh.)
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Sure, the whole marshmallow debate is old news, but this one was too good to leave unpublished. The Gipp recently received a pictorial explanation of exactly how those sneaky students slip by stadium security (taped to a gent's calves). The Gipp usually doesn't allow tipsters to use the Gipp's pen as a campus-wide microphone to spread their propaganda, but he'll make an exception this time: "This reader wants to express his disgust at the rest of the seniors for being scared of the ushers and not continuing the tradition," concluded our tipster. The Gipp agrees. They can't possibly have 2,000 pairs of handcuffs. So listen up, seniors. If EVERYBODY smuggles in a bag or two, NOBODY can get in trouble. Plus, confiscating your empty ticket book isn't too much of a threat at this point. The Gipp strongly urges you to unify and make your last halftime a memorable one.
Hall Notes:
Claire Kittle's self-starring photograph graced the cover of the Student Film Festival program. Who is Claire Kittle? Vermin from the mid '90s remember her well. She was a freshman in 1994 and no lass was better known amongst Vermin. Claire was a Lyons resident who loved the great outdoors. Early in the school year when the temps were high she would venture from Lyons to a tree near St. Mary's Lake. She would lean up against the tree and diligently engage in her studies. The sturdy trunk was stationed (thankfully) next to the road leading to Carroll. And the best part.... she wore a stars and stripes bikini top. The Vermin passed by at full attention. In fact one time she was serenaded with the Star Spangled Banner as a pack of Vermin coasted by in a shuttle. One stud approached the fair maiden. Rudy Christopher '96 was the fella who asked her out and proceeded to date her for many moons. He escorted Miss Kittle to the Vermin tables to dine in SDH. She was a regular and honorary Verminette. Fantastic young lady who continued to dine with the Vermin even after Rudy graduated.
NDSportscenter:
The men's basketball team plays UConn in the JACC at 7pm EST on Monday on ESPN.
February 4th was the official signing day for high school football recruits. Tyrone inked 17 recruits. So far information has been given on the first 11. And to continue...
Justin Brown was our 12th commitment. Brown is out of Forestville Bishop McNamara High School in Clinton, Maryland. Justin is a 6'3", 215 lb. defensive end with 4.8 speed. Last year he recorded 55 tackles and 9 sacks. Penn State was turned down for us.
The next recruit was Junior Jabbie, a 6'0", 185 lb. athlete. Junior attends The Hun School in Sayreville, New Jersey. Jabbie runs a 4.3 - 40 and may be a cornerback and/or kick returner. Last year he accounted for 1,200 all-purpose yards, 20 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions. ND was selected over Penn State, Temple, and Hofstra.
The 14th verbal came out of St. Peter's Prep in Springfield, New Jersey. Leo Ferrine is a 6'0, 182 lb. cornerback with 4.4 speed. Leo had 4 interceptions and 10 touchdowns as a receiver. Once again Penn State came in second, along with Virginia.
Our second quarterback in this recruiting class was our 15th verbal commitment. Darrin Bragg of San Jose, California was also sought by Utah. The Bellarmine Prep product threw for 2000 yards and 17 touchdowns last year. Bragg is 6'1 1/2", 195 lb. and primed for some competition at QB.
The 16th recruit to verbally commit was a player out of Indianapolis. But on signing day he didn't sign.
So the NEW 16th recruit is wide receiver Chris Vaughn. Vaughn is a 6'4", 205lb. player out of St. Thomas More School in New Haven, Connecticut. Vaughn turned down Iowa and UCLA. Tom Lemming said Vaughn could turn out to be the best player of this class.
Terrail Lambert was the final recruit. He is rated #85 overall by Tom Lemming. Terrail is a 5'10", 190 lb. defensive back from Oxnard, California. Florida State came in second. Lambert goes to St. Bonaventure, the same school that produced running back Lorenzo Booker. We missed out on Booker a few years ago when he made an 11th decision to switch to Florida State. Booker consulted Lambert and told him to go with his heart and not just follow him to Florida State if it didn't feel right. Lambert has pure speed. He was clocked at a Nike scouting camp and ran a 4.21 - 40.
Overall, Lemming feels we have the 24th best recruiting class with 3 players from his top 100.
Campus News:
This didn't mean much to me since I was and am an engineer. After over twenty years of sophomores in the College of Arts and Letters receiving a broad base of knowledge in the form of a structured, year-long program, Core has been eliminated as a requirement. Instead sophomores will be able to take College Seminar, a one-semester course. Core relied on a series of requisite texts based on a program-wide theme. College Seminar will offer a variety of interdisciplinary course options, based on proposals awarded development grants by the College of Arts and Letters. The College will attempt to get the faculty working on a common topic. Although the year-long Core program is not required, next year students will have the option of taking College Seminar, a one-semester Core course, or the full Core program. So Core will live on as an optional class, but it will no longer have a restricted curriculum. The faculty members will be able to address the topic using whichever materials they choose.
The campus has now supposedly undergone full security for all dorms. Apparently all entrance doors to female and male dorms must remain locked 24 hours a day. ID cards are required to gain entry. Dorm residents can get in at any door that has a swipe card reader. Non-residents will be able to go to other dorms and use their IDs to get in at a designated main door. Lockdown is in effect and Campusland Security is in full swing.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Would a Gipp column be a Gipp column without lowbrow urine jokes? Don't answer that.
It has been brought to the Gipper's attention that certain flaws exist in the architectural design of our campus' most recently updated edifice. The Gipp is sure that when the clever engineers dreamed up tinted glass that would allow restaurant patrons to see out but not passersby to see in, they didn't run through this scenario: You're eating a pre-game cheeseburger and enjoying "Beer #507" from the sophisticated list, when a subway alum six cans deep into his tailgating routine decides to cut the port-a-pisser lines and relieve himself on the innocent-looking wall of a nearby building. He sees only brick and black glass, but you get a free show. "Hey waiter, nix that lemonade order, please." For some asinine reason, probably something like "Pleasing customers" or "Not ruining business," the staff of this eatery sent an employee outside to warn the clueless performer.
Hall Notes:
About a week and a half ago I saw the following title on The Observer's "Viewpoint" page: "Defending Carroll." What the ?!?!?! Who's attacking the Vermin? I was steamin', 'bout ready to throw down. Current Vermin Ryan Greenberg is the author of the Letter to the Editor. He is responding to someone's answer to the previous day's "Question of the Day." Apparently the question was something like "What should the University do to settle the lawsuit brought on by an Indian community?" One female responder must have answered: "Give them Carroll and we'll call it even." The actual response by Vermin Greenberg is posted on the "Articles of Interest" page.
NDSportscenter:
The men's basketball team plays Pitt on Saturday, February 7th on ESPN2 at 7pm EST.
After going about one month without a verbal commitment, we landed three in one week. We are still hoping to sign 17 this coming week.
Our ninth commitment came from Maurice Crum Jf. out of Tampa, Florida. Crum committed after a campus visit. Maurice is a 6'1", 205lb. linebacker and was rated a "good, solid player" by Tom Lemming. Last year for Tampa Bay Tech he recorded 70 tackles in 8 games. Crum has a 3.2 GPA, scored a 900 on the SAT, and plans to major in pre-dentistry. Maurice's father played linebacker for the Miami Hurricanes from 1987 to 1990. South Florida, Tennessee, and Michigan missed out on Crum's services.
David Wolke was rated the top quarterback in Tennessee. The Smyrna High School product is out 10th verbal commitment. Wolke is a tough QB. He played six games with a broken bone between his left ankle and foot. David still threw for 1850 yards and 15 touchdowns. Wolke is 6'3", 205lb and even has his own self-title website. His ACT score was 21 and his GPA is 3.4. Wolke turned down Wake Forest.
Darius Walker was a BIG catch for Tyrone. Our 11th verbal is rated the 15th best running back by Tom Lemming. Walker is a 5'11", 195 lb. back out of Buford High School in Georgia. ND was selected over Ohio State, Alabama, Arkansas, and Stanford. He led his team to a 15-0 record and a state title. Darius put up some RIDICULOUS numbers last year. He ran for 2,400 yards and 46 touchdowns. 46!!!! Walker broke the high school records of another Walker: Herschel.
Campus News:
In December an article came out discussing a nationwide trend of escalating salaries for university president and executives. The piece examined the 2001-02 school years. Rates for Notre Dame officials remained relatively low. According to a Chronicle of Higher Education report, Father Malloy's salary grew from $315,000 in 2001 to $362,860 in 2002 - an increase of almost $48,000. However, the vast majority of Monk's annual earnings are given to the Congregation of the Holy Cross. University spokesman Matt Sorin stated, "He lives on a modest stipend...[but] Notre Dame does choose, interestingly, to list his salary....A few Catholic universities list zero for their presidents, and of course that's [Malloy]'s net [income]. But we do feel that it's good business practice to report payment for service rendered." A University compensation committee determines Malloy's raises. On a national level, Monk's salary ranks far below that of some of his private university peers. Notre Dame's executive compensation increases in 2001-02 were fairly minor compared to nationwide hikes to lure qualified personnel despite the economic recession of the time. (That certainly irked many students and parents paying tuition.) Our endowment had a banner year in 2002 compared to 2001. Notre Dame Chief Investment Officer Scott Malpass saw his salary rise because of that growth. His jump was from $408,800 to $757,992. (How much does that suck?!?!) University provost Nathan Hatch had a 2001-02 compensation of $411,507. (Seriously, can that be justified?) Average yearly increases for University staff are approximately 4 percent.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
First, we travel back to this past weekend, and meet a birthday girl who says she had the noble and classy 20th b-day wish of having all of her friends get some sweet lovin'. Now, the Gipp wasn't provided pseudonyms, so he'll have to give his own names to our five-member cast of characters: Tipster's Dirty Roomie, Destiny, Ginger, Ace and Gary.
The drama began when Ace (Destiny's boytoy) and Gary decided that they would sincerely enjoy witnessing Roomie, Destiny, and Ginger enter into some type of arrangement dubbed "a triple kiss." Why the hell not, replied the ladies. But, alas, their acceptance was contingent on one minor detail: Ace and Gary must swap spit too. So, as the story always go, the females lived up to their end of the bargain but the males reneged. Ah, the old "you go first" trick - brilliant.
Roomie proceeded to tell Gary that he will, in our tipster's eloquent phrasing, "get laid" if he tickles Ace's tongue. Destiny swears that she will never lay next to Ace again if he doesn't do as he promised.
We all know that sex sells, and apparently it persuades, too. "This was no peck... everyone at the party saw it," says our birthday baby in describing the encounter. Then, in logic-defying fashion, the two couples joined forces in the upstairs bathroom for four times the fun.
In our denouement, both gents got lucky (Ah! Crucify those bastards, ResLife!), but they weren't winners in all senses of the word. As expected, the subsequent ridicule was harsh, and probably was expressed best by the "Go Ace, Love Gary" signs that appeared on an interhall football field the following afternoon. Hmm, maybe that's why Alumni's players are known to be softies.
Hall Notes:
The photo is in and it has been scanned. The Carroll Christmas Tree is available for your viewing pleasure. The photo was snapped mid to late December. Snowfall was sparse at the end of 2003, unfortunately. It would be nice to see a pine drenched in snow. Maybe the future Vermin can turn up the creativity with greater decorations. Possibly some wind-tested ornaments or all-weather tinsel. I would suggest a string of popcorn and candy canes, but I think the inhabitants of B.P. would scarf them down. I don't even know if B.P. fat jokes still apply in 2004. Considering how the University is pushing diversity I wouldn't be surprised if B.P. is now the home of the eating disorders. Is that a tasteless joke? Must be since hungry B.P.-ers rarely take the time to taste. Forget the Keenan Revue, where's the Carroll Def Comedy Jam?!?!
NDSportscenter:
Signing day is less than two weeks away. Here's the word on some other verbals...
John Kadous was our 6th commitment. John is a 6'6", 310 lb. offensive lineman out of Salpoint Catholic High School in Tucson, Arizona. Kadous is a quick-footed tackle (5.3 sec - 40) who was won over by our academics. We were selected over UCLA.
The 7th verbal caused a bit of a stir. Tregg Duerson is a 5'10", 170 lb. running back/cornerback who will most likely be a defensive back or kick returner. Tregg hails from Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois. Does his last name sound familiar? Tregg is the son of Domer great and former NFL star Dave Duerson. Feathers were apparently ruffled because we gave Dave's son a scholarship. The feeling seems to be he was offered solely because his father was on the Board of Trustees and is the President of the Notre Dame National Monogram Club. Tregg is not considered to be a top talent. Maybe that seems obvious when listing the other schools interested in Duerson: Cornell, Northern Illinois, and Indiana.
Ronald Talley of Detroit is verbal #8. He is a 6'4", 245 lb. defensive end from Renaissance High School. Ronald had 60 tackles and 5 sacks last season despite missing five games with an ankle injury. The injury probably limited his appeal. When healthy Talley runs a 4.8 - 40. ND was selected over Iowa, Michigan State, Louisville, and Indiana.
And
that was our list as of January 18th. We were stuck on 8 verbals for about a
month. This is the most disappointing recruiting season I can ever recall. Yet
the coaching staff is still expecting to sign 17 recruits. Let's hope we finish
with a flurry. Analysts have already said our recruiting started late, was not
consistent and steady throughout the year, and that we could not even have a
top 20 class if we did sign 17. Ouch.
Campus News:
Yet ANOTHER lawsuit. And this one is a whopper. An Indian tribe in Michigan's Upper Peninsula claims to be the owner of a piece of property on our campus. The Hannahville Indian Community cites a pair ot 19th century federal treaties in its federal lawsuit that seeks a judicial declaration of ownership and damages for the "unlawful trespass" by the University. The legal description of the tract puts it at an area near the WNDU television station. The tribe would like to be awarded damages by determining a fair rental value of the land and collect back rent to 1842, when the University was founded. The suit was filed on December 23 and names the U.S. Department of Interior and Interior Secretary Gale Norton as defendants along with ND.
Hannahville Indian Community is a federally recognized tribe. It is one of the seven bands of the larger Potawatomi nations. (South Bend is home to the Potawatomi Zoo.) According to the suit, the current tribe of 600 members are historial successors to the Potawatomi who ceded lands in present-day Indiana, Michigan and Illiois to the U.S. government under certain treaties in the 1820s. The tribes were removed from their ancestral lands. In return, the Potawatomi were given a 100-foot-wide strip of land from Lake Michigan to the Wabash River for a road. Contiguous land tracts were given for every mile of the road, the suit also alleges. The lawsuit claims the government gave the state the right to locate the road and transferred the land to the state for that purpose. Supposedly the state then conveyed the disputed property to the University without proper title. The suit continues that the possession, occupation and claim of ownership by ND is a violation of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.
Campus Watch by the Gipper:
We can only absorb so many incidents of drunken male urination. But drunken female urination opens up a whole new set of floodgates. So the Gipp was more than happy to investigate this next tip, which shows us that the Y chromosome is not a prerequisite for late-night leaks.
Our scene is an off-campus living complex, and our time of occurrence is unknown. But due to the nature of this report we can only pray it was a pre-parietals party. One unidentified male and one unidentified female were probing each other's bodies as a third bystanding party lay innocently in a nearby bed. Detective Gipp has been informed by the bystander that after the thug's few good minutes were up, he and his lady partner-in- crime passed out on their cot. (Blood-alcohol levels were not reported.) Later on that night, the sinner's slumber was suddenly interrupted as he realized he had been sleeping in a pool that our witness described as "the size of Rhode Island." Apparently, the ultimate party foul had been committed, and this time a male wasn't to blame: Sleeping Beauty had some nocturnal discharges (but not the cool kind).
Hall Notes:
The Denver Broncos lost to the Indianapolis Colts a few weeks ago in the NFL Playoffs. Despite the loss, Vermin Bert Berry '97 had an excellent year at defensive end for the Broncos. The South Bend Tribune ran a piece on Bert just before the game. It told not only of Bert's year but also of the ups and downs of his NFL career since he left ND. Please go to the "Articles of Interest" page to read the details of the piece named "Seizing the Moment."
NDSportscenter:
The women's basketball team slapped UConn. We dropped the Huskies 66-51 at the JACC. The ladies finished the game with a 13-0 run and held UConn to 31% shooting from the floor. We entered the game unranked. The Irish victory ended the Huskies' 121-game win streak versus unranked opponents.
Here's a week-long heads up for you. Next Sunday, January 25th, the men's hoops team plays powerhouse Kentucky at the JACC. The game will be on CBS at 4pm EST. The Superbowl isn't until the following week so you have no reason not to watch this game.
We are 12th in the Directors' Cup after the results from all the Fall sports. We came up from 24th after the first set of the Fall sports.
Speaking of athletic directors, the Sporting News named Kevin White as one of the top 100 people in terms of power in the athletics world. White was one of five "Front Office" men in the "Power 100." Of the five front office players, White was third and was the only non-pro director of the bunch. In fact he was the only college athletic director listed. In addition to that, last August Sports Illustrated.com named White the third most powerful person out of 20 college football top dogs. Tyrone was ranked 19th.
Some final soccer notes: Senior forward Amy Warner was named 1st Team All-American. She is the first Domer forward to be 1st Team.... Defender Melissa Tancredi made 2nd Team All-American....for the men, our leader in goals, senior Justin Detter, was named a 3rd Team All-American....Goalkeeper Chris Sawyer made the 1st Team....Central defender/center midfielder Greg Dalby was on the All-Freshmen team.
Campus News:
What's a new year without some mention of legal proceedings? This past fall a local judge ruled a former St. Mary's student alleging rape by a former football player may pursue her federal lawsuit against both ND and St. Mary's. The federal lawsuit seeks damages due to the two schools' alleged misconduct. The woman was a freshman at the time (March 2001) and maintains Clifford Jefferson raped her in his car. She claims the school is liable for the circumstances contributing to her being raped and the failure to discipline Jefferson, who graduated in 2001. Spokespeople for both universities declined to comment.
The universities had motioned to dismiss the suit because the woman failed to serve summons within the proper time frame. The woman is representing herself. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Miller dismissed the defendants' motion. The woman has amended her complaint and the suit will proceed.
A jury awarded the woman $1 million in damages in her civil suit against Jefferson. No formal criminal charges were ever filed.
Speaking of legal wranglings, Minnesota State Supreme Court Justice and former Irish gridiron standout Alan Page recently made news. Page received the 2003 NCAA Theodore Roosevelt Award. The award recognizes success and contributions to intercollegiate athletics and higher education. Page is the 37th "Teddy" recipient. A full article on the outstanding Alan Page has been posted on the "Articles of Interest" page.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
We've all had to say the line, "Sorry, wrong number." But would you be polite enough to say "Sorry, wrong screen name"? According to a recent report, one Irish senior sure wasn't. Due to serious similarities between his IM screen name and that of a Michigan high school boy (Let's call him...Joe - real names are much funnier), our digiphile, over the course of a couple weeks, managed to meet, court, ask out and break the heart of Joe's crush, Emily, without ever saying a word to her in person.
Now, this one was complicated, so pay close attention as the Gipp gives his best summary. One day, Emily accidentally IMed the senior about a Friday night football game. The senior began on an information-gathering quest, and soon the clues started to fall into place for him. After realizing he was talking to a high-school girl who mistook his screen name for that of one of her classmates, the self-promoting tipster says he proceeded to ask Emily to "be my girlfriend." So poor Emily planned for a hot date with clueless Joe. Of course, the lack of conversation between the two at the lockers between study halls started to confuse Emily's cronies.
Senior:
(5:49:29 PM): so what do you think about me and emily?
Emily's friend (5:49:43 PM): its very cute.
Senior: (5:49:56 PM): yeah, i think so too
Emily's friend (5:50:15 PM): BUT WHY DON'T YOU TALK TO HER AT SCHOOL?
Senior: (5:50:51 PM): i get nervous about things like that
Emily's friend (5:51:40 PM): well most people do
Senior: (5:51:58 PM): so, it's understanable (sic) then.
Emily's friend (5:52:07 PM): yes it is
Fortunately, the senior, still aliasing as "Joe," managed to placate Emily with some online schmoozing. Their relationship appeared to be headed toward cyberheaven. But, alas, not all Gipp love stories have a happy ending.
So, to make a long, sketchy story short: Somehow, Emily and the real Joe were tipped off as to these ongoings (supposedly by an insider at ND), so our senior's fun died. But somewhere north of us, a confused young girl had her heart toyed with simply because this jerk-off Domer had too much time on his left hand. Beautiful. The Gipp's hoping for permanent emotional scars.
Hall Notes:
This also happens to be from the Gipper in Scholastic. Something tells me it's about a current Carroll resident....
Earlier this month, a fresh-faced vermin was getting into the holiday spirit a little early by enjoying some ho-ho-ho'ing on his computer screen while playing with his candy cane. This wouldn't be Gipp-worthy, of course, had the young man remembered that ResLife gives us locks for a reason. During the festivities, his roommate walked into the room to witness this elf trying to make his little Rudolph's nose turn red. The roommate gathered himself enough to realize that he would be selfish to not share this with the rest of the dorm. Quoth our tipster, "As word caught on, over 25 people were congregated outside the unlucky person's room for the 'You have to see it to believe it' event." Now THAT'S dorm unity. You'd think it's be hard to miss two dozen people snickering outside your door, but the yuletide tunes blaring from his headphones prevented our Santa from catching on. Oh, and for all you detail-oriented Gipplettes out there, our source noted that "we found out [he] was a southpaw because he needed his right hand to do the scrolling and his left hand to do the stroking." Hmm, there's a lovely mental image. So, male readers, the next time you decide to jingle your own bells, please ensure that your door is at least CLOSED.
NDSportscenter:
The Men's Basketball Team plays Pittsburgh on Monday, Juanary 12 at 7 pm EST on ESPN. The Men also play on Saturday, January 17 at 6 pm EST vs. Syracuse on ESPN2.
Some final football notes before recruiting news: Julius Jones finished the year with 1,268 yards. That tied Autry Denson for the 4th best single season total in Irish history....Twelve seniors are eligible for fifth years including Mike Goolsby, Carlyle Holiday, and Gary Godsey....We had the most difficult schedule in the country. (Duh.) Our opponents had a 0.667 winning percentage. Three made the BCS. Five were in the top 15. Nine competed in bowl games....Freshman offensive lineman Ryan Harris was named a freshman All-American by two publications....Sadly, we only had four recruits at the football banquet. And two of the four had already verbally committed....Six graduating seniors played/will play in four post-season senior games. Offensive tackle Jim Molinaro played in the Blue-Gray Game on Christmas in Troy, Alabama. Linebacker Courtney Watson and cornerback Vontez Duff suited up for the East-West Shrine Game in San Francisco. Julius Jones will be in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Defensive linemen Darrell Campbell and Cedric Hilliard will be in Florida for The Villages Gridiron Classic....Joe Theismann is one of thirteen recently inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He will be enshrined next August along with Barry Sanders....NBC recently announced a new five-year extension that will televise Irish home games through 2010. (So much for the pundits that questioned whether NBC would stick with us.) The deal is supposedly for about $9 million a year despite the ratings being down 23% this past year. NBC Sports & Olympics chairman Dick Ebersol made the announcement. Ebersol's son, Charlie, is a current Domer. Our television relationship started back in 1991. We were not in trouble concerning losing a TV deal. NBC people said they saw other network reps at our home games. Had NBC passed, many others would have tried to intercept. Revenues from the deal play a key role in the financial aid endowment. Since the inception of the fund, 1263 undergraduates have received more than $12.6 million in aid. $5.5 million went to endow doctored fellowships in the Graduate School. $4 million has been used to endow MBA scholarships in the Mendoza College of Business.