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This comes courtesy of RocketShark:
What a glorious day...not a cloud in the sky. There were only about 30 people there, including Mr. & Mrs. Walker. As you can see, I brought my camera with the 500mm telephoto lens. Looks like I still have a bit of an exposure issue, but they're sufficient.
As usual, the team started with stretching, then basic agility drills. The skill positions broke off into differnet areas. At this point I was nearest the safeties who were hitting the skid then wrapping up a player.
Then there were contact scimmages where the 1st team offense would practice mid-field plays against the 1st team defense. What I really loved about this, aside from seeing the Irish play football, was hearing the talk, particularly hearing Quinn yelling out plays and things like, "Watch 40! Watch 40!" Walker and Schwapp looked good. Asaph (the coaches call him Ace) dropped a pass early, but the rest of the day he was great, breaking through tackles.
Shark and Rhema both caught long balls, Carlson struggled a bit. Robby Parris pulled down a great catch floated into the corner by Evan Sharpley. Sharpley looked good as well. Poised, was basicially on-target. The second team was going through a 2 minute no huddle scrimmage, and Sharpley was connecting on the short passes to the sidelines. Darrin Bragg caught at least one, carefully keeping his first foot in-bounds. Unfortunately in the red zone, Sharpley threw a pick.
Also, Travis Thomas got to play a little running back today during scrimmaging. He still looked really good on offense, and I was glad to see coaches keeping him experienced on that side of the ball.
One funny moment was when Coach Weis said, "10 yard penalty against Kuntz for being ugly." And sure enough, the offense got the ball on the 40 instead of 30. Frankly, I loved hearing all the swearing by the coaches. Not that there was that much, maybe 4 times. But they made me chuckle.
Punt returns were practiced by Zibby. Some kick returns were handled by others. Nothing really to report there. They were basically going at 3/4ths speed. I'm sorry to report that there was at least one injury. I don't want to give specifics because Coach Weis is always saying that he doesn't discuss injuries. Everything I heard was 2nd and 3rd hand. I'm sure a more informed report will appear if it hasn't already.
After practice, I managed to speak with many on the team as they walked by.
Konrad Reuland. It's pronounced "ROO-land". I made a joke saying, "See, the climate here isn't all that different from California." He laughed and said it's a little different. He has never been in snow. Every time he visited the weather's been nice. I said maybe he'll be our good luck charm and we'll get light winters. "For four years??" was his reply.
Darrin Bragg. I asked him how he liked wearing number 81. He said it was cool, being it was Tim Brown's. I told him about Ken MacAfee, who also wore #81. I told him about the '77 championship team how he was Montana's favorite receiver. On another note he wasn't sure his brother would be able to attend the UCLA game (he's a Bruin) because he'll be in Chicago to play the Bears the following day.
Munir Prince. I wish I could remember specifically what we said. Something about how he's trying to have fun and look good on the field.
George West. "How many credits do you have?" I asked. "Oh man...fifteen," he said. "Oh, the rest will be cake!" What do I know? I didn't go to ND.
On seeing Demetrius Jones I said, "Hi Double-D" and he came over and shook my hand and asked how I was.
Other guys included Chris Stewart, Chinedum Ndukwe, Jeff Samardzija, Tom Zbikowski, Darius Walker, Rhema McKnight (who held a baby for a mom who wanted their picture together...talk about soft hands!), and just about everyone. A great day for an Irish fan (except for the injury/injuries).
What a glorious day...not a cloud in the sky. There were only about 30 people there, including Mr. & Mrs. Walker. As you can see, I brought my camera with the 500mm telephoto lens. Looks like I still have a bit of an exposure issue, but they're sufficient.
As usual, the team started with stretching, then basic agility drills. The skill positions broke off into differnet areas. At this point I was nearest the safeties who were hitting the skid then wrapping up a player.
Then there were contact scimmages where the 1st team offense would practice mid-field plays against the 1st team defense. What I really loved about this, aside from seeing the Irish play football, was hearing the talk, particularly hearing Quinn yelling out plays and things like, "Watch 40! Watch 40!" Walker and Schwapp looked good. Asaph (the coaches call him Ace) dropped a pass early, but the rest of the day he was great, breaking through tackles.
Shark and Rhema both caught long balls, Carlson struggled a bit. Robby Parris pulled down a great catch floated into the corner by Evan Sharpley. Sharpley looked good as well. Poised, was basicially on-target. The second team was going through a 2 minute no huddle scrimmage, and Sharpley was connecting on the short passes to the sidelines. Darrin Bragg caught at least one, carefully keeping his first foot in-bounds. Unfortunately in the red zone, Sharpley threw a pick.
Also, Travis Thomas got to play a little running back today during scrimmaging. He still looked really good on offense, and I was glad to see coaches keeping him experienced on that side of the ball.
One funny moment was when Coach Weis said, "10 yard penalty against Kuntz for being ugly." And sure enough, the offense got the ball on the 40 instead of 30. Frankly, I loved hearing all the swearing by the coaches. Not that there was that much, maybe 4 times. But they made me chuckle.
Punt returns were practiced by Zibby. Some kick returns were handled by others. Nothing really to report there. They were basically going at 3/4ths speed. I'm sorry to report that there was at least one injury. I don't want to give specifics because Coach Weis is always saying that he doesn't discuss injuries. Everything I heard was 2nd and 3rd hand. I'm sure a more informed report will appear if it hasn't already.
After practice, I managed to speak with many on the team as they walked by.
Konrad Reuland. It's pronounced "ROO-land". I made a joke saying, "See, the climate here isn't all that different from California." He laughed and said it's a little different. He has never been in snow. Every time he visited the weather's been nice. I said maybe he'll be our good luck charm and we'll get light winters. "For four years??" was his reply.
Darrin Bragg. I asked him how he liked wearing number 81. He said it was cool, being it was Tim Brown's. I told him about Ken MacAfee, who also wore #81. I told him about the '77 championship team how he was Montana's favorite receiver. On another note he wasn't sure his brother would be able to attend the UCLA game (he's a Bruin) because he'll be in Chicago to play the Bears the following day.
Munir Prince. I wish I could remember specifically what we said. Something about how he's trying to have fun and look good on the field.
George West. "How many credits do you have?" I asked. "Oh man...fifteen," he said. "Oh, the rest will be cake!" What do I know? I didn't go to ND.
On seeing Demetrius Jones I said, "Hi Double-D" and he came over and shook my hand and asked how I was.
Other guys included Chris Stewart, Chinedum Ndukwe, Jeff Samardzija, Tom Zbikowski, Darius Walker, Rhema McKnight (who held a baby for a mom who wanted their picture together...talk about soft hands!), and just about everyone. A great day for an Irish fan (except for the injury/injuries).
