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As always, starting elsewhere and ending in South Bend.
Another mid-week HTL brought to you courtesy of new and exciting drama! Before we get into tornadoes and Vanderdoes let's start with the run of the mill off-season "news" items.
Here's a little something to argue about.
College Football's Top 25 Greatest Dynasties of the AP Era | AthlonSports.com
Roll Tide Y'all. Got me some trophy fragments!
Alabama's broken 2011 BCS trophy sells at auction for $105K | Campus Union - SI.com
You might recall that Alabama’s 2011 BCS national championship trophy suffered an unfortunate and painful ending during last season’s spring practice. Carleton Tinker, the father of former Tide longsnapper Carson Tinker, mishandled the crystal ball, allowing it to shatter into several assorted pieces.
On an SEC note Finebaum has resurfaced. tWWL yay!
Paul Finebaum to join ESPN and SEC Network, but who is Paul Finebaum? - SBNation.com
The great radio silence has ended: Paul Finebaum, the troll-god of SEC sports radio, will begin a new "multi-tiered" media deal with ESPN starting August 1st. Finebaum, a longtime stalwart of the Birmingham sports scene, will move to Charlotte as part of an upcoming role on the SEC Network and a larger role on ESPN's television broadcasts.
The Pac-12 doesn't want to go down without a fight though. Conference wars.
Documents: Pac-12's Larry Scott now highest-paid commissioner | Campus Union - SI.com
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott pulled in more than $3 million for the calendar year 2011-12, according to tax documents released by the conference on Sunday. That number makes Scott the highest-paid conference commissioner ever, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Former Arkansas quarterback Brandon Mitchell says he is transferring to North Carolina State to play his final season.
Michigan and tOSU. All of the hate.
Michigan brands new footballs: ‘Made in USA, Not in Ohio’ (Photo) | Dr. Saturday - Yahoo! Sports
Wide receiver Bo Dever posted a photo of the Wolverines new footballs and while they are made in the USA (wooo, patriotism), they are not manufactured in Ohio. See, it says so on the ball. Because a Michigan man would never, ever be caught playing with a football that was produced in that God forsaken state… Or so I’m told.
It wouldn't be a links post without a Johnny Football story.
Manziel threw only two uncatchable passes in 29 blindfolded attempts, the report said. Wow.
Thoughts and prayers to all of those affected by the tornado in Oklahoma. The University of Oklahoma and our sister blog Crimson and Cream Machine have a few ways that everyone can donate if so inclined.
Oklahoma football affected by tornado, and reaching out to help | Dr. Saturday - Yahoo! Sports
The Sooner football program is already helping as it can, and we're sure it and the other college football programs in the state will be doing much more to help the people of Moore when it becomes clear what is needed.
We have started a page where you can donate through us (who we assume you trust) to the victims of today's tragedy. No donation is too small. Anything you can do to help would be very, very much appreciated.
Now on to all things related to the potential transfer of one Eddie Vanderdoes. We'll start with the article that threw the "rumors" into overdrive and go from there. You can find our post on Vanderdoes HERE.
Prep Blog: Is Placer High School football star Vanderdoes on the move? Signed with Notre Dame
The 6-foot-4, 305-pound Placer High School senior defensive end signed a national letter of intent in February with Notre Dame, ending a whirlwind recruiting run, but there was rampant speculation on the Internet from media outlets, recruiting services and chat boards professing to be in the know on Monday night that the All-American may not head to South Bend.
Notre Dame football: Status unclear for blue chipper Vanderdoes - southbendtribune.com
Less than a month before he was to start his Notre Dame football career with summer school and informal workouts, defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes and his future morphed into a runaway rumor Monday. And seemingly the only two people not talking about it in the college football cyber-world were the two who could bring actual substance to the discussion -- Irish fourth-year head coach Brian Kelly and Vanderdoes himself.
Rumors fly about Vanderdoes’ commitment to Irish | Inside the Irish
For the past few days, rumors have been swirling about high-profile prospect Eddie Vanderdoes. The blue-chip defensive lineman, who made the dramatic decision to sign with Notre Dame on Signing Day, is reportedly having some second thoughts on that commitment.
Vanderdoes Having Second Thoughts? Let the Speculation Begin | Her Loyal Sons
The only thing that is for certain is that no one seems to want to make any declarative statement one way or the other right now. Everyone, even those media members that are rather well connected, are waiting for Vanderdoes to break his silence and clear the air.
Okay enough of that. Here are a few other ND related stories on other topics. Let's start with something resembling a "feel good" transfer story.
Notre Dame football: Jake Golic transferring to Cincinnati - southbendtribune.com
"Can't thank the ND family enough for all the love and support over the last 4 years at ND. You have made it a pleasure to be Irish!" Golic wrote. "With that being said, I am incredibly excited about the opportunity of attending the University of Cincinnati and being a #bearcat!"
NDN is talkin' Ara!
Just to get into the running for the position, Ara had to overcome two hurdles. One, Ara didn’t go to Notre Dame and to that point in time, Notre Dame had a history of only hiring Notre Dame alumnus for the head coaching role. Two, Notre Dame had an unwritten rule that it did not "poach" coaches and Ara was the coach of Northwestern.
Te'o off-limits to media but not Maxim party - southbendtribune.com
Maxim confirmed Monday that Te'o attended a party last week in Hollywood after the magazine included his fake girlfriend on its list of the world's hottest women. Rookie coach Mike McCoy says he didn't know Te'o went to the party.
Attacking the Boundary with the Switch Concept | Subway Domer
For those of you who like X's and O's, the folks over at Spread Football were kind enough to post notes from the 2013 Notre Dame Coaches Clinic on their site. The notes are very informative and fun to read during the football-starved offseason. While there are a number of interesting tidbits from this year's clinic notes, I found the diagrams of the Switch concept particularly interesting.
We haven't really talked about this bowl situation yet but it is a little bit tricky. That said I can't imagine that some bowl wouldn't find a way to make room for Notre Dame if they don't end up in a BCS game.
Bowl options make BCS the only sure thing | Inside the Irish
But the edict "BCS or Bust" shouldn’t just be a mantra in the Gug. It’s also a potential reality, thanks to the final year of Notre Dame’s rather sparse bowl affiliations.
Have a great week!