The Pythagorean expectation—brought into the sports vernacular by baseball statistician Bill James—in its most simplest form is a tool used to describe how “lucky” a baseball team was in a given season. By comparing runs scored versus runs allowed, James was able to derive a relationship between winning and scoring margin, and thus could show a team to be performing above or below expectation. For…

It’s been a quiet month and a half around here. Never fear, we’re not going the way of Blue-Gray Sky (thanks for the shout out, guys and, more importantly, for inspiring so many of us to start writing online about this love we all share), but real life commitments, some even Notre Dame-related, have definitely demanded more of our time here in the off season…

With the eve of the 2010 Blue-Gold game upon us, I thought I would sit down in advance of the game and remind myself of the potential pitfalls and healthy guidelines one needs to keep in mind when viewing the Fighting Irish’s spring scrimmage. All too often, those of us that bleed blue and gold forget to put down the Kool Aid long enough to…

As multiple media outlets have reported over the past several days, future Notre Dame offensive lineman Matt James suffered a tragic accident that resulted in his death. By all accounts, Matt was a fine student, person and friend, and his contributions to the Notre Dame family will be missed.

It is times like these that force Irish football to the background and bring forth the…

Spring is definitely in the air. The trees have started to bud and most of the snow is melted away. People have pulled their grills out of the garage and the bravest of souls have taken the chance during the mildly warm weather to sport their flip-flop sandals. Fortunately, to beat the winter blues out of our systems, spring also brings spring football, much to…

Usually, when a coach gets let go and a new regime is brought in, it’s because the original system wasn’t producing results and, like a pendulum, the administration heads to the opposite side of the philosophical spectrum. The transition can be full of bumps and many things can happen in that short period of time. You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet,…

While the defense may be a bigger problem, one of the primary concerns for many Irish fans is the spread passing offense of new head coach Brian Kelly. Kelly makes no secret of his offensive goal, he wants to be aggressive and vertical, scoring on every possession. As such, he favors the pass over the run, operates heavily from the shotgun, and employs an up-tempo…

For most Notre Dame Football fans this off-season has been a whirlwind of news—a somewhat reserved excitement and hopeful optimism for what the 2010 season holds for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame let a coach go, hired a promising replacement, said goodbye to a handful of players who are currently demonstrating their abilities for the NFL draft, welcomed eight new position coaches (nine if you…

With few exceptions, the 2009 Irish offense had a very productive year. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen and wide receiver Golden Tate turned in brilliant performances and led an explosive unit that generated over 30 points per outing.

But if there was an Achilles’ heel—and there was—it was red zone point production.

The Irish struggled inside the 20-yard line in 2009, but this is hardly a new…

The possibility of sanctions to our respected rivals USC and Michigan makes me flashback to Notre Dame’s only major NCAA sanction in its history a decade ago. Call it PTSD, but the similarities and obvious dissimilarities combined with the agony of the process haunt me.

Notre Dame’s NCAA Infractions, 1999

The majority of Notre Dame’s NCAA violations involved a South Bend bookkeeper, Kimberly Dunbar, who…