These New NFL "Blaze" Alternate Helmets are Awesome! Pre Order Here!

Next season every NFL team will play one game with an alternate helmet called "Blaze."

Basically they reversed the color schemes making the secondary color of the helmet the primary and I got to admit most of them look great.

Check out all 30 NFL Teams Blaze Helmets here and let us know what you think.

PRE ORDER YOUR BLAZE ALTERNATE HELMET HERE!  SHIPS AUGUST 2017

Notre Dame Releases New Stadium Crossroads Renovation Video

Notre Dame's $400 million plus "Crossroads" expansion to fabled Notre Dame stadium is expected to be finished before kickoff vs Temple in early September.

First off thank god they are redoing the bathrooms.  While it may be charming to some to piss in a nearly 100 year old urinal I for one hated the smell of someone else's urine that burned the nostrils upon entry.  I don't want to taste the bathroom walls and floors when I'm taking a pisser either.  But hey that's just me.  The fact that they are renovating the bathrooms with new toilets but also keeping the 1930's charm is a nice touch.

I know the players will think it's cool but I'm a little disappointed they gutted the original home team locker room.  I've been in the locker room a couple of times and you can't help but get those chills/goosebumps on the back of your neck when looking at it.  And no I'm not talking about the creepy chills of a Penn State locker room.  Just the aura of knowing Rockne and Leahy and Holtz gave inspiring pep talks to their players before battle was one to make the hair stand up and become fully aroused.  Reminder again NOT LIKE PENN STATE SHOWERS.

At least the stairway to the tunnel from the ND locker room will remain the same.  That's a tradition unlike any other and the players will still hit the Play Like A Champion Today sign.  Also I think it's cool that the visiting team will come out of a separate tunnel.  Hopefully the home crowd can give them an intimidating welcome as they come out of the new tunnel.

All in all I'm looking forward to seeing all the new renovations to Notre Dame stadium.  The one I'm most looking forward to is the new video board which as you know ND has never had.

Go Irish!

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The new IT trailer looks terrifying

No lie the original "IT" movie with Pennywise scared the living the shit out of me as a kid.  I literally went from being totally cool with going into sewers to get my Rawlings to a complete 180.  In fact I don't think I've been in a sewer since the early 90's and I'm a grown ass man.

This new trailer gets my jimmies all rustled.  It plays into not only my fears as a kid but now as a parent the worst nightmare of losing your child.  Blood sucking clowns exist.  I'm convinced.  They are called politicians these days.

Melo Trimble Declares for NBA Draft, Thanks Maryland

Here's Trimble's statement: pic.twitter.com/zWoDG3kmgQ

— Roman Stubbs (@romanstubbs) March 29, 2017

Classy gesture by All Big Ten guard Melo Trimble to thank the Maryland coaches, fans, and school.

 I remain torn on Melo's impact/legacy in College Park.  When he came to Maryland as a scrawny little freshman I got Juan Dixon flashbacks going in my head.  I figured Melo would lead the team to at least a Final Four if not a championship like Dixon did 15 years ago.  They had the same game and could hit daggers behind the arc and were both local products.  The problem was were Dixon continued to get better and his game progressed I really think Melo peaked his freshman season in 2014.

Melo did help take Maryland to 3 straight tournaments including their first sweet 16 in 13 seasons last year.  I'll give him a big tip of the SportsCrack hat to that.  But after finishing his junior season (first round loss to Xavier) no one can argue that Melo was a much better player three years ago.  He could have been a lottery pick if he came out after his freshman season but now I really don't see him getting drafted.  He's not a point guard and he's not a good enough shooter.  He's also sloppy with the turnovers.  His best shot is to go to Europe for a few years, hit some threes and bang some 8 and 9's.

Good luck Melo!

Tic Toc Irish T-Shirts Are Here! #TicToc

We got a ton of requests from Notre Dame fans and Alize Jones fans to make a Tic Toc Shirt.   If you haven't heard Alize started the twitter hashtag #tictoc and it soon went viral.  Now you can get the unofficial official Tic Toc t-shirt on our store page!

Notre Dame Practice Highlights from today reveal a LOT of poor tackling

When the smallest guy on the Notre Dame football team, Nico Fertitta, is the only guy showing proper tackling form and technique you know new defensive coordinator Mike Elko has his work cut out for him. Granted we are only looking at a quick highlight video courtesy of Irish Illustrated but it looks like the ND secondary has a LOT of work to do.

Maybe they should focus on the opposition's belt buckle and not their helmets.  Just a thought.

Senior captain Drue Tranquill looked like he was trying to tackle his shadow and not the ball carrier.  No wonder they went 4-8 last year.

The good news is it's just the start of spring practice and they got plenty of time to fix their fuck ups.

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Notre Dame Football Spring Practice Highlights March 8 2017

Notre Dame football officially kicked off 2017 spring practice today.  Here are some video highlights courtesy of BlueandGold.com



With a new strength and conditioning program led by Matt Balis and a revamped coaching staff minus head coach Brian Kelly who remains despite the 4-8 disaster of 2016 the team is looking to be more energetic, more up tempo and more fundamentally sound.  From most media accounts it did just that.

Kelly says not to take too much into account about the depth chart this early in spring practice as it will be fluid and of course change as new offensive coordinator Chip Long sees fit.  Fingers crossed Long gets to mold this offense into using more of a run game/get the ball to the tight end which was seriously lacking in 2016.  Tight ends combined for 13 catches all season in 2016.  That's unacceptable.

Here is how the offense lined up today in practice:

OFFENSE

FIRST-TEAM
LT: Mike McGlinchey; LG: Quenton Nelson; C: Sam Mustipher; RG: Alex Bars; RT: Tommy Kraemer
QB: Brandon Wimbush
RB: Josh Adams
TE: Durham Smythe
W: Equanimeous St. Brown
X: C.J. Sanders
Z: Chris Finke

SECOND-TEAM
LT: Aaron Banks; LG: Robert Hainsey; C: Tristen Hoge; RG: Trevor Ruhland; RT: Liam Eichenberg
QB: Montgomery VanGorder
RB: Dexter Williams
TE: Nic Weishar
W: Miles Boykin
X: Chase Claypool
Z: Austin Webster

THIRD-TEAM
LT: Hunter Bivin; LG: Logan Plantz; C: Parker Boudreaux; RG: Jimmy Byrne; RT: Sam Bush
QB: Ian Book
RB: Tony Jones Jr.
TE: Aliz'e Jones
W: Javon McKinley
X: Kevin Stepherson
Z: Deon McIntosh

First thing that shocked me was seeing Stepherson on the third team after his productive freshman season.  As Kelly mentioned don't be too worried this early about the depth chart but after hearing rumors all offseason about Stepherson possibly being in the doghouse/transferring this doesn't do much to dispel the notion that he could be on thin ice.  Guys like walk-on's Chris Finke and Austin Webster shouldn't be getting more reps at this point but then again Kelly did stress he wants to keep Stepherson at the X receiver slot and both of those guys play the Z.  

But overall if you look at the totality of the offensive depth chart it has to be one of the most impressive during the Kelly era.  The offensive line is stacked with experience, talent and depth.  Getting McGlinchey and Nelson back is huge for protecting the QB's blindside and both of those guys should dominate during their senior season with more strength and endurance with the help of Balis.  

The QB position should be excellent this season with redshirt sophomore Brandon Wimbush going into his third season of college football off season training and by most media and coaching accounts the most talented of the QBs during the Kelly era.  

Tailbacks are stacked with Josh "The Gazelle" Adams getting the majority of carries with Dexter Williams and Tony Jones looking to get 40% of the load.  

The receiving core which was inexperienced last season comes back as a strength especially with the tight ends included.  Any time you get talents like Equanimeous St. Brown, Chase Claypool and academic suspended tight end Aliz'e Jones back on the field it's a good thing.  Wimbush will have plenty of weapons to choose from.  Even though he isn't listed on the depth chart watch out for early enrollee Brock Wright at the tight end position.  Wright provided a lot of oh's and awe's today.

Overall the tempo and energy of the offense was improved from what we saw last spring and it appears to everybody that Wimbush is the clear cut leader at the QB position.  Hopefully this helps the team's leadership and cohesion because it was a clusterfuck last year with Deshone Kizer and Malik Zaire battling it out.

Here is how the defense lined up today in practice:

DEFENSE

FIRST-TEAM
DE: Andrew Trumbetti, Daelin Hayes
DT: Jerry Tillery, Jonathan Bonner
LB: Nyles Morgan, Green Martini
ROVER: Asmar Bilal
CB: Julian Love, Nick Watkins
SS: Drue Tranquill
FS: Nick Coleman

SECOND-TEAM
DE: Jay Hayes, Julian Okwara
DT: Micah Dew-Treadway, Elijah Taylor
LB: Jonathan Jones, Te'von Coney
ROVER: Robert Regan
CB: Troy Pride, Donte Vaughn
SS: Devin Studstill
FS: Jalen Elliott

THIRD-TEAM
DE: Khalid Kareem, Adetokunbo Ogundeji
DT: Pete Mokwuah, Brandon Tiassum
LB: Jamir Jones, Josh Barajas
ROVER: Devyn Spruell

If Notre Dame is going to field a legit defense under first year coordinator Mike Elko they got to get pressure and push up front with their big linemen.  Looking at the personnel it is clearly the weakest link on the depth chart.  Trumbetti has to have a break out senior season.  Hayes has to stay healthy and both turned heads today in practice with their performances.  Daniel Cage didn't practice and there are still concerns about his concussions even though he has been cleared to play according to Kelly during yesterday's press conference.   Not sure why he wasn't out there because he would start next to Tillery.  You can't really tell much about the defense early on especially with the linemen but it did appear to be a more physical unit and hopefully will get stronger under the tutelage of Balis and play better with Mike Elston now moving back to defensive line coach.

Bilal is the early leader to play the ROVER position and he looked OK out there.  His speed and athleticism is good enough for him to cover RB's and slot receivers but he still tends to over think instead of just playing.  The linebacker core is solid but not spectacular.  Morgan should be a beast but Coney and Barajas are too highly recruited LBs who need to step up now if this defense is going to be formidable.

I really like the secondary even though they are still considered young.  Watkins and Coleman made plays all over the field this morning which is great considering both struggled last year.  The corners on the outside of Love, Watkins, Pride and Vaughn are all great athletes who with the right coaching and preparation should excel.  The safeties of Tranquill, Coleman, Studstill and Elliott all have experience and smarts to play better than what they showed last year.

Overall it was a good first practice.  You never know how a team is going to respond after so many changes are made coming off one of the worst season's in ND history but clearly they are out there battling and hustling to leave it a distant memory.


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