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Hitting The Links: March 23rd, 2013

No recruiting today, just hitting the links.

The NCAA Tournament didn't go so well for Mike Brey and his squad but we still have the Muffet, McGraw Skylar Diggins and the rest of the women's team poised to make a run. In the mean time let's hit the links.

As always starting elsewhere and ending in South Bend.

Jake Ryan tears ACL in spring practice: go ahead and cry now - Maize n Brew

Michigan's best defensive player is an early spring casualty. The guys at Maize N Brew summed it up pretty well.

So yeah, this is bad. Like, really about the worst thing that could have happened. The timetable on recovery from these injuries isn't favorable to Ryan being able to play this season, and it could limit him until spring practice next year (or longer).

Bellmont, Failing The Texas Standard - Barking Carnival

I have long been a fan of Scipio Tex. Texas is in an interesting place right now and Scipio captured their feelings in a way that only he can. The whole post is well worth your time but the two bits below really cut to the chase.

The current athletic program is a mansion built of wormwood, run by caretakers who religiously collect their rents, mind the exterior gardening, buff the brass, ignore foundation and infrastructure; and pray that the closets full of skeletons pointing their fingers at a basement filled with bodies won't be discovered until their annuity milestones are realized or their personal ego narratives are fulfilled.

Mack Brown is a Dockers commercial. Vague images of satisfied well-being punctuated by meaningless slogans. When some outside force shakes him from his happy place, we see Tough Mack, but Tough Mack is a reactive force, not a vital one. He flails around, mindlessly apes the successful (We Gonna Run SEC Offense!), reverses course again (Oh No, We Aren't!), and Bellmont sells it as tactical flexibility.

Mal Moore resigns as Alabama AD, citing health concerns - College Football - SI.com

Dennis Franchione, Mike Price and Mike Shula didn't work out but Moore landed the big fish when he snagged Nick Saban with hire # 4. Whatever happened to Dennis Franchione anyway?

Alabama athletic director Mal Moore is stepping down to become special assistant to the president because of health problems after a lengthy reign at his alma mater that ended with the Crimson Tide's football program back on top nationally.

Bill Battle expected to be next Alabama AD, according to report - SBNation.com

The hiring of Moore's replacement was finalized on Friday.

The Alabama Crimson Tide have found the successor for Mal Moore, as former-Tennessee Volunteers head coach and University of Alabama graduate Bill Battle has been recommended as new athletic director.

Fans will be rolling wires and poles instead of trees on Toomer’s Corner this fall | Dr. Saturday - Yahoo! Sports

I have been to a game at Auburn, and I have witnessed the post game festivities on Toomer's Corner. Very cool. As a guy that appreciates the tradition and pageantry involved with college football this makes me a little bit sad.

"Where we’ve settled is a series of three poles that will be concrete poles not unlike the size of a telephone pole or the size of a light pole on the end of the road," Kevin Cowper, Auburn’s Assistant City Manager, told The War Eagle Reader.

Harvey Updyke receives 3 years for Auburn tree poisoning - College Football - SI.com

And on the other end of this story we have Harvey Updyke Jr. Roll Tide.

Harvey Updyke Jr. pleaded guilty on Friday to criminal damage of an agricultural facility. The sentence requires him to serve at least six months in jail and spend five years on supervised probation for the Class C felony. He has been credited with 104 days already served.

NBC to air interview with Jerry Sandusky on Monday - College Football - SI.com

Ummmmm why? Does anyone care what he has to say at this point?

Minnesota lost money on alcohol sales - CBSSports.com

This is impressive.

Over half the $900,000 in sales went to Aramark, the company that had the contract to sell the alcohol. The school was left with $450,000, and when you take into account the money Minnesota had to spend, like equipment rentals and additional police and security -- turns out people do things they wouldn't normally do after drinking -- it starts making a lot more sense.

Louisville Places Clint Hurtt On Administrative Leave - Card Chronicle

Charlie Strong is not pleased.

Louisville defensive line coach Clint Hurtt has been placed on administrative leave while he prepares to answer the alleged of violations the NCAA says he committed while he was at Miami, U of L announced on Friday.

Hal Mumme joins SMU Mustangs' staff - ESPN Dallas

What did we decide? Run N' Raid or Raid N' Shoot?

Fighting Irish by Fighting Irish Athletics on Spotify

This Spotify playlist is actually pretty cool. And yes, the controversial Crazy Train is included.

NBC and Notre Dame - Notre Dame Football | UHND.com

Over at UHND Bob Kollars weighed in on the future of the Notre Dame NBC contract. Barring an early extension of some kind this should make for some fun speculation over the next couple of years.

NBC has owned the exclusive rights to Notre Dame home games since 1991, but that could soon come to an end. The newest contract between the National Broadcasting Company and Notre Dame football will have run its course at the end of 2015. Of course the network will most likely want to keep the exclusive rights, but does it make sense for the Irish and NBC to continue the long-standing relationship?

Notre Dame football: Alabama inspires emphasis on special teams - southbendtribune.com

The list of lessons learned goes on, and on. I'm okay with that, some lessons can only be learned through experience. I suspect that the next time CBK takes the team to a BCS Bowl they will come out firing on all cylinders. CBK's take on special teams is pretty much summarized below.

"I'm standing on the sideline for the national championship game, and we're ready to kick off," Kelly recalled Wednesday after ND's first practice of the spring. "And Alabama's got 11 starters on kickoff return. Kickoff return! Which nobody wants to be on kickoff return.

Competition: Crowded depth chart part of evolution | Inside the Irish

Keith Arnold has a great piece on the competition within the ranks.

"Everett Golson has experience, but that’s all he has," Kelly said, when asked about the battle at back-up quarterback. "It’s your job to go out there and show us that you can be the starting quarterback, not to settle for being the backup. When you’re given your opportunity, to compete and keep pushing. If you back off at all, you don’t want to be the starter, we can make that happen for you."

Tabling The Issue: Turnovers Over Time | Her Loyal Sons

Here is an interesting piece on turnovers from the crew at HLS. What a difference a year makes.

Is there a correlation between turnovers and success? What is success? Great question. For the purposes of this article, I defined success as nine or more wins in a season. And what’s a turnover? A turnover is a fumble lost or an interception. So, with those definitions in mind, please, if you will, this:

Notre Dame Football: Golson rolls with the changes - southbendtribune.com

Don't sleep.

The most twisted sign that Everett Golson's life has decidedly altered since ascending to and solidifying his spot on the top of the Notre Dame depth chart is his seemingly recent popularity on Twitter. Roughly 5,400 people follow the 4-month-old account of @EverettGolson5, which has openly interacted with Irish legend Joe Montana and Clemson QB Tajh Boyd, taken questions from Irish football fans and most recently lamented New Mexico's loss to Harvard for ravaging his NCAA tourney pool. And to think, it's only someone masquerading as ND's incumbent starting quarterback.

Here at OFD the staff has been all over the NCAA Tournament and spring football so if you missed anything hit the front page and get caught up. The Notre Dame Spring Football news will be continuous.

Have a great weekend!