Fanshots

How to Email Brandon Hoyte

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Brandon Hoyte, a former Notre Dame football captain and 2006 graduate of the university, is unfortunately back in the San Diego County Jail. The GoFundMe organized by John Kouris '96 was successful in that it brought Brandon's ND family, his real family and his friends together and organized what the group believed was the best action plan for long-term rehabilitation. (It also paid for mental health treatment from a top San Diego-area facility, temporary housing, clothing, supplies and other items necessary to his survival.) Unfortunately, a confluence of factors -- primarily Brandon's neurological impairment -- have prevented the success we all hoped and prayed for. I've been told Hoyte appreciates the emails we collectively send to him, although he has no mechanism to respond. If you'd like to email him, follow these steps: 1. Visit 2. Type in his last name, then his first name and hit "lookup." 3. Complete the CAPTCHA. 4. Click on the hyperlink attached to his last name: "HOYTE." 5. There are four boxes: Email inmate, schedule a visit, status notification and shop commissary. Select "email inmate." 6. Enter your email, then go to your email client. 7. Click on the link provided in the email from NoReply@sdsheriff.net. 8. Fill in as much personal information as you wish, then compose your message. My recommendation would be to share with him a happy memory of a time that you interacted, or something about watching him play. General good wishes and prayers are also appreciated! 9. After you hit send, you should get a confirmation email from NoReply@sdsheriff.net with the text of your message. If you'd like to catch up on Brandon's journey since February, I've tried to keep it together in a single thread here. I also wrote a story for our website when the GoFundMe was launched, which is here.

40 Years Ago: Lou Holtz, Fortune-Teller?

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"But Coach Holtz, your interesting switch makes you an expert in both fields. So how about picking the two teams who will be in Super Bowl '77, and the top 10 college teams for 1977?

"He said he would and he did.

"He picked New England to win the American Conference and Los Angeles Rams to the win the National. Pressed, he took New England in the Super Bowl next January.

"The college? Since he's in that, he gave it a bit more thought, then picked Notre Dame to win the national championship.

"His top five, in order, were: 1. Notre Dame 2. Oklahoma; 3. Texas A&M; 4. UCLA; 5. Michigan. He said the next five, no particular order, would be Alabama, Texas Tech, Penn State, Ohio State and Houston.

"And Arkansas? How about Lou Holtz's first Arkansas team?

"'We'll have a better record than I had with the Jets.'"

- "Lou Holtz Likes Fishing Better Than NFL's Draft," by Tom McEwen, Tampa Tribune. (Reprinted in the Northwest Arkansas Times, May 8, 1977)

As for Holtz's predictions, New England finished 9-4, but out of the playoffs. Los Angeles lost in the wild card round. Notre Dame did indeed with the national championship. Oklahoma was 7th. Michigan was 9th. Alabama was 2nd. Penn State was 5th. Ohio State was 11th. A&M, UCLA, Texas Tech and Houston did not finish in the Top 20. Arkansas (11-1) definitely did better than the 1976 New York Jets (3-10).

32 Years Ago: Philly Alum Shows No Mercy At Communion Breakfast

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"Gerry Faust gave the Notre Dame Club of Philadelphia his best shot at Sunday's communion breakfast.

"He visited every table in the Four Seasons ballroom. He shook hands with all 450 alums and friends in attendance. He smiled for every nervous parent with a Kodak camera.

"He spoke for 20 minutes about the tears that fill his eyes when he walks past the Golden Dome and the pride he feels as part of an athletic department that still does things 'the right way.'" ...

"When he was done, Faust asked if there were any questions. A hand went up in the back of the room.

"'None of us doubt your sincerity or your feeling for Notre Dame,' the man began.

"Faust tensed. He knew what was coming.

"'But,' the man said, 'don't you think you might lack the experience to be a head coach at this level?'

"Faust swallowed hard. He had heard the question before but usually it was asked by a reporter outside a losing locker room. It cut a little deeper when it was raised at an alumni communion breakfast.

"'It was an adjustment, taking over at Notre Dame,' Faust said politely, 'but it wasn't because I went from high school. Any time you change positions, you have a new system, new personnel, new challenges.' ...

"A little girl near the front raised her hand.

"'Do you like being a coach?' she asked with the sweet innocence of youth.

"'I enjoy being a coach when it involves working with young people,' Faust said. 'But I don't enjoy being a coach when I have to answer questions like the last one.'

"The audience responded with its loudest ovation of the day."

"Dealing with the Echoes," by Ray Didinger, Philadelphia Daily News, May 7, 1985

Hi all. My brothers and i are finally making the trip to LA for the USC game that we've been...

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Hi all. My brothers and i are finally making the trip to LA for the USC game that we've been talking about since i moved to California in 2000. Can anyone give me some suggestions for places to stay near the Coliseum? Somewhere within a short cab ride or closer would be great. But i'm hoping to find a hotel the isn't too much more than $100/night. i know i can beat that by staying near LAX, but then the cab would be more expensive than renting a car. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

ND Stadium is getting artificial turf, but NOT for football field.

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ND Stadium is getting artificial turf, but NOT for football field.

* @leodelo2 Turf will replace asphalt track that surrounds field & also go into bench areas, eliminating use of tarps. Field is nat. grass.— Brian Hardin (@NDHardin) July 9, 2012

Notre Dame: A little too reliant on shooting from the perimeter. If you can defend the Fighting...

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Notre Dame: A little too reliant on shooting from the perimeter. If you can defend the Fighting Irish well on the perimeter and you have someone to match up with Jack Cooley, then you have a chance. Eric Atkins is a good point guard, but he's not good enough to get shots by himself. He needs the system, he needs weak-side movement to get himself an advantage. They have trouble guarding quickness. That's why Rutgers beat them, that's why St. John's beat them. Mo Harkless had a field day penetrating against them. That can be a problem against a really good mid-major, because those teams usually have two or three guys who can go off the bounce, including the four men.

Opposition scouting report of Notre Dame, from SI.com

College football's average 2011-12 bowl rating fell to a new low in the 14-year history of the Bowl...

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College football's average 2011-12 bowl rating fell to a new low in the 14-year history of the Bowl Championship Series. Viewership was down 8 percent from last year and dropped below 2007 for the lowest average rating since the controversial BCS began, according to an analysis by The Birmingham News of Nielsen Media Research data. The average rating declined for the second straight year and has dropped 37 percent since the BCS-era high of 1998, when there were 13 fewer bowls. Fewer TV viewers coincided with the average bowl attendance dipping below 51,000 for the first time since 1979.

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/01/college_football_average_bowl.html

Must-Read Recruiting Piece Gem: 3. DON'T TALK/LISTEN TO UNCLES. For some reason, national signing...

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Must-Read Recruiting Piece Gem: 3. DON'T TALK/LISTEN TO UNCLES. For some reason, national signing day is every sketchy uncle's Randy Quaid-In-Independence-Day moment. Oh, they may only get one moment, but this day of all days is it, since for one reason or another he has the ear of a very talented recruit, and will place himself between your lips and said ear until you give him what he wants. I have no idea how this happens. Sketchy uncles acquire a power unparalleled on signing day, suddenly growing to three times their size and becoming unofficial agents for athletes who are likely smarter than the Sketchy Uncle himself. After signing day they explode and disappear forever, perhaps reappearing only for the free booze and food at the NFL Draft party for the recruit four years later.

http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2012/1/13/2702332/college-football-recruiting-2012-national-signing-day

As reported last week on BlueandGold.com, Fresno, Calif., wide receiver commit Deontay Greenberry...

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As reported last week on BlueandGold.com, Fresno, Calif., wide receiver commit Deontay Greenberry confirmed with me that he was set to take an official visit to USC this weekend. Despite Greenberry telling me that his cousin, Irish cornerback commit Tee Shepard, was joining him, the early enrollee reported otherwise to me. In the end, neither pledge ended up making the trip. "I didn't go," Greenberry, a 6-3, 184-pound Washington Union High player, just told me while I was checking in to see how the trip to USC went. As long as Notre Dame stays on course to have Shepard on campus in January, the program should maintain their chances of having Greenberry join him in June.

http://notredame.247sports.com/Board/Topic/87/5988595