As always, starting elsewhere and ending in South Bend.
We haven't really discussed this very much but if this ruling goes against the NCAA it really could have a major impact on college athletics as we know them. Just think of all the potential ripple effects. Ugly. I'm guessing that EA Sports is probably sweating this one a bit too.
USC athletic director Pat Haden says he's concerned the NCAA may lose the pending Ed O'Bannon antitrust suit regarding the commercialization of college athletes. He is encouraging conference and national colleagues to start discussing contingency plans. "We ought to be kept abreast of it at all times, and we ought to prepare for it in case we lose," said Haden, a former practicing attorney and businessman who became an athletic director in 2010. "I haven't followed the case closely, but what I read from legal scholars, it's not a slam dunk for the NCAA."
Michigan QB Russell Bellomy has a torn ACL - CBSSports.com
It looks like Russell Bellomy will be joining Jake Ryan on the sidelines this fall. Al Borges is now wrapping Devin Gardner in bubble wrap.
While the school says Bellomy is out indefinitely, ACL injuries generally take about a year to fully recover from, so it's safe to assume that Bellomy will not be seeing the field in 2013. Bellomy saw major playing time in only one game for Michigan last season after an injury to Denard Robinson, and had a nightmare performance.
Conference realignment: Western Kentucky to Conference USA in 2014 | Campus Union - SI.com
Cue up the circus music. Realignment mania will never ever stop.
The dumbest Johnny Manziel column of the month, April 2013 - SBNation.com
I should probably be used to these back and forth opinions about Johnny Football by now. He's out of control! No he's fine. No really he's a ticking time bomb. No he's not, he's just a fun loving guy taking some online courses and winning football games! Time will tell right?
In this installment we have Jason Kirk going all FJM on the Orlando Sentinel's Matt Murschel who is apparently no fan of JF. I suppose the Manti Te'o references are something that we are going to have to live with as this Manziel debate continues. Manti is just too convenient for the pro-Manziel crowd. As a side note Murschel used to work at the South Bend Tribune back in the early 2000's.
Former Notre Dame QB Kiel visits UC | UC Athletics Blog
So what do you all think? Will Kiel end up at Cincinnati with Tubs? I honestly hope that this all works out okay for Kiel in the end but right now I'm still in the "hey Gunner are you sure that this is what you want to do?" phase.
Gunner Kiel, a former five-star quarterback recruit who recently decided to leave Notre Dame, attended the Cincinnati Bearcats’ football scrimmage today at the Bengals’ Paul Brown Stadium. Kiel is looking for a new school, and a UC source said the Bearcats believe they have a good shot at landing Kiel. Kiel has been visiting in Cincinnati for the past two days.
Kc McDermott announcement: 5-star picking Miami or Notre Dame - SBNation.com
Unfortunately I don't think this one is looking too good for us. Playing with your brother has to be a hard thing to say no to. We will know for certain in a few hours.
Blue chip offensive line prospect Kc McDermott is set to announce his college choice between Miami and Notre Dame on Tuesday. The Palm Beach Central High School (FL) product is a consensus five-star prospect in the class of 2014; his brother, Shane, was the Hurricanes' starting center last season.
Spring solutions: Linebackers | Inside the Irish
Keith Arnold examines the Notre Dame Linebackers in this piece.
The linebackers meeting room will look remarkably similar to last season, though the missing face will be a big one. Yet Bob Diaco’s prized unit should still be impressive, as the talent returning should all be willing and able to pick up the slack. Let’s take a look at the depth chart at linebacker and run through some of the remaining objectives for spring.
Not A Slot of Options for Notre Dame - Notre Dame Football | UHND.com
Over at UHND Frank took a look at a different position group and broke down the options in the slot this fall. Needless to say it's a little bit thin at the moment! Who else is praying that Amir Carlisle bounces back and stays healthy all season?
#HLSRecap Madness: Final Four | Her Loyal Sons
HLS is running their own Twitter final four and there are some pretty entertaining Tweets in there. We are still protesting our lack of representation. Kidding.
Have you scrolled down and perused our new "OFD Film Room" hub? If you want to kill some time reading about X's and O's that's a good place to do it. Who wants to do actual work while they are at work anyway?
Have a great week!