BACK IN THE FIGHT:

***This scribe--old shillelagh--has been associated with Notre Dame football since the days of Frank Leahy; my companion--wee leprechaun--has lived and died with the Irish whence last they won the NC under Holtz. We don't remember when more excitement and, in some cases, more wishful thinking, abounded than for the upcoming season. Over the past several weeks, much attention has been paid to the recruiting efforts for 2006. Let's relax, ND will get its fair share of so-called 4-5 star players; hopefully, among them--and those already in the fold, especially James Aldridge--will be the outstanding Sam Young, Matt Carufel and Torryan Smith. Forget the top 100 list; forget about Tom Lemming's pronouncements. There is a lot of talent out there and good scouting will weed out ND types for CWs evaluation. The kid from Massachusetts, Brandon Flanagan, although about a "3star", will develop into a fine college center. I hope we'll get him. No need to worry about getting another QB from the prep ranks this coming year. 2007 and 2008 will do just fine. Until that time Quinn(see the Lep's blurb below), very under-rated Wolke, Sharpley, Frazer (a great, great catch), and Gorski, the latter who will surprise all, are going to be more than adequate. Gorski is a future first-line signal caller for the Irish. Beef and Speed on both sides of the line are what we should be emphasizing for the 2006 crop. By the way, being quite knowledgeable with incoming OLs Duncan and Turkovich and TE Hiben, I can predict much playing time for these guys , sometimes in starting positions. That also goes for DJ Hord, who will really push McKnight and Stovall hard.

***Looking slightly ahead to the 2005 season take our word for it--Pittsburgh is no pushover as many lads seem to think. Hell, the Panthers are ranked 17th in most polls. Their spring ball was impressive, but CWs flex offense should beat DWs conservative defense in a squeaker; Purdue and, yes, BYU (with which we are very familiar) will be stronger than last year! Methinks Purdue, our long-time nemesis, will probably be the one to nail us...again!! Believe me, I get sick just baring such thoughts. Tiller, I am afraid, has NDs number for just one more season.

USC is just too damn strong this year and Michigan should eke out--by a slim margin--a win, as well. Both victors will leave those games knowing they played against a near-equal.

Only Michigan State, Washington, Navy, Syracuse and Stanford should definitely fall into our win column, although Walt Harris' Cardinal may well be the surprise team of the year. My Palo Alto spy said team is very much in sync with a very good coaching staff.

Having said that, we will predict that the Irish will be in every game, knocking off Tennessee Again, ending with a record of 8-3 and a big bowl victory.

It should be a helluva season for the blue and gold and for Charlie Weis, God bless him!

CHANGING OF THE GARB:

***Speaking of blue and gold, let's talk about uniforms. Mundane, you say. Not really.
A handful of college teams have displayed their new 2005 fashions, with mixed fan reactions.
Many domers have nixed the idea of a change, citing that "tradition" negates such a notion.
Those of us of an age who must fight off old folks odor and angel feathers can assure you lads that the current uniform is not all that traditional; drab, like the recent teams, would be more descriptive.

The boys would look great (and, a new coach should be surrounded by a new look), with real Kelly green jerseys with names on the back, blue knee socks, retain the gold helmets, of course, and the current pant color, and add the leprechaun, shamrock, and ND logos where appropriate.
A stripe or two, here and there, also would add nice touches. What say you?

____Old Shillelagh.

OUT OF CWs BRADY MOLD:

****Brady Quinn, we ask of you, what will we see from you this season? The potential is great. What Quinn must do as the quarterback for Notre Dame is obvious. He must attain poise and precision, and win the National Championship. Simple. In this write up I want to focus on the possibility of Brady Quinn becoming a 3000 yard passer in his junior season. The idea of Quinn becoming a tremendous quarterback and throwing for 3000 yards is not far-fetched. Taking into consideration all that Quinn has going for him,most especially the tutelage of CW, one might say 3000 yards is a sure thing. Now, we of course, won't get so far ahead of ourselves. Brady Quinn, has of yet to show, that he can truly be a great Fighting Irish quarterback, no doubt caused by some obvious reasons, for example, he will be a different signal caller under Coach Weis. Recently, CW had this to say about Quinn: "He had some major flaws that we had to straighten out and we still have some work to do." Weis will not stand for having a mediocre QB, make no mistake about it. In fact, Quinn should flourish in Notre Dame's new system being implemented, and with a line packed with returning starters--headed by Mark LeVoir, who we believe will have a stellar year, and a terrific unit of veteran receivers, it becomes evident that there are no excuses. We predict an All-America-noticed year for Anthony Fasano. Now, let's say Quinn pulls it all together and is ready to perform, the question then is how will he get to that 3000 yard mark. Well, let's throw out a number, how about 275 . If we figure that Quinn was to throw for 275 yards a game not including a bowl, that would put him at 3, 025 yards. How about another look: If Quinn were to throw for 225 yards each in eight games, but 400 yards each in the other three, that would get him at exactly 3000 yards. Certainly these numbers could be different and still add up to meet 3000 yards or more, though the examples I have provided, show that 3000 yards for Quinn might be worthy of adding onto that expectation list. One point of interest I want to make is from the prior season and that is that Quinn had a not so bad season under very bad conditions. His stats from that season are as follows: attempts:191 completions: 353 completion percent:54.1 total yards: 2586 touchdowns: 17 interceptions: 10. I want to point out that he threw for less than 200 yards each in five games with three of those games being less than 150 yards. Here is a point to recall, Quinn's lowest yardage for a game that season was at 105 against USC while his highest yardage came at Purdue which was 432. Again, I repeat, a not so bad season under very bad conditions, still Quinn throws for 2586 total yards. This season, with a strong offensive line, a back field that excels and receivers that want the ball, mixed with Coach Weis and the rest of the outstanding coaching staff, as well as those of us that love thee Notre Dame , the conditions have ripened and are oh so sweet for Brady Quinn to become not only a 3000 yard passer, but the first ever Notre Dame 3000 yard passer.

_______Wee Leprechaun

"Go Raibh Mile Maith Agat"