Things I've Seen Around Campus This Month

[NDinL.A.]

So I'm on break for a couple of months, and other than some short mini-vacations, I've been in town. I usually am on campus daily, whether it is to work out or eat lunch with my wife who works on campus, before picking up my daughter from daycare after her nap. Seen some football related things things...here they are:

* If you are going to visit campus, summer is great just for the fact that most students are gone, leaving nothing but athletes. I've seen an incredible amount of football players, but also athletes from all sports (and the ND women athletes in skimpy clothing walking/running around doesn't suck). 2 guys that are yoked that have stood out to me are Prince Shembo and James Onwalu (sp). Prince gets out of class with Bennett Jackson at the same time I finish working out, so I see him all the time. He's in phenomenal shape. And James O is absolutely jacked. He's been putting in time in the weight room, and isn't afraid to show it off LOL. I've seen him on campus 3 times and only once has he had his shirt on. Dude is put together.

* Luckily at the barber shop off campus, I walked in just as Lou Holtz and Stephon Tuitt were getting done with their haircuts. Awesome moment. According to my barber they had never met. Lou gave Tuitt some advice and gave him his personal card so he could reach him whenever he wanted. They took a picture with my barber (who is 6'4"-6'5")...classic seeing Tuitt and Holtz next to each other.

* I saw Tuitt before the spring game and he had a boiler on him. Really out of shape. That's what happens when you fix a sports hernia and aren't able to work out. Well, he looks A LOT better now. Told me barber he was up to 330 before, but has got it down to 315 and expects to start the season at 310. Good news. FWIW, the general consensus at the barber shop is that he will go pro after the year, and no one would blame him one iota. Only hope is his mama wanting that degree (of course) and he's got a steady girl at ND. Selfishly I want him to stay, but that's a ton of money he'd be passing up for a degree that he can come back and get. Plus, he already has had a pretty tough injury, so he knows how they feel.

* Saw Kona and Justin Utopo together a few times. Utopo has a small-ish cast on his hand that runs from his wrist halfway to his elbow. Hadn't seen that reported, and while he's obviously not a huge piece to this team, he is one injury away from being a very important piece. It didn't look like a major injury and hopefully he'll be 100% by August. Kona is a large human being LOL.

* Saw Manti last week. He is fantastic shape. So much different than his junior year. My barber cuts his hair and said that Manti was here from Thursday-Sunday cause he had time off from the Chargers. Said that Manti's graduation weekend went by so fast because he had to move out that he didn't really get a chance to take it all on in and say good-bye to everyone. He LOVES South Bend/Notre Dame and calls it his 2nd home. As someone from the west coast who has embraced South Bend as my new home, it's cool to see such a celebrity embrace this place. He got to work out with the guys, and it must have been cool for the freshman to see an NFL player work out with them.

Also, he says it's going great with the Chargers and the guys have been really accepting. The smack talk has been all but non-existent. He thought for sure he was going to the Vikings but the Chargers have been a perfect fit.

* This was cool...I park right next to the Gug and the practice field, and one player had his bag and walked into the practice field alone. White guy, tall, absolutely ripped. I'm horrible with faces but it HAD to be Danny Spond. Anyway, it's 1:00 in the afternoon, and he went in there to work out by himself. I caught a glimpse and he was putting in work boy. I went and worked out myself (in the air-conditioned Rolf Center LOL), and when I walked out he was finishing up his workout and locking the gate. Dude was drenched with sweat.

In my school we define integrity as doing the right thing when no one is looking. Well, no one was looking (but me lol), and Spond was doing whatever it takes to keep his spot. Love it.

If I think of anything else I'll add it...

 

[woolybug25]

Bravo. Thanks for the insight.

Btw, one of my nephews goes to the ND daycare too. He's a little bit older than your daughter though, so probably not the same class.

 

[NDFANnSouthWest]

Great post, thanks for the info. Now IM jacked!

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Great stuff, thanks for sharing

 

[magogian]

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[notredomer23]

Reps. It is going to be hard to keep Spond off the field regardless of how good Jaylon is.

 

[military_irish]

Thanks for the share. Wish I could be around campus more to experience the little things like this.

 

[NDinL.A.]

Pics or it didn't happen.

Not really a picture guy, but here's a couple:

Bennett and Prince on their way to the Gug after class:


Manti and I got a haircut at the same time after his Heisman ceremony. I had to go pick up my daughter so I couldn't wait until he was done to take a pic with him, but my students love him so I HAD to take of with him to show them. He looks pissed but he was laughing just before he took the pic. You can see me busting up in the mirror behind him.


Wooly, we actually take our daughter to a daycare just off campus (waaaayyyyy cheaper LOL).

 

[irishog77]

So 20 years or so from now, Wooly's nephew and NDinL.A.'s daughter.

I'll be awaiting my invitation in the mail.

 

[arrowryan]

Replacing two first round picks in the same season is going to suck

Good stuff man

 

[magogian]

Awesome!

 

[NDinFL]

Great post, Hollywood

 

[Pachuco]

Accurate thread. The campus is hopping with athletes. The ND courts by the Bookstore are often crowded in the evenings, and I've seen players walk through frequently (Zaire, Daniels, and others). I've also seen Farley and B Jackson at Chipotle in the Eddy St. Commons complex. I've also walked past Elmer at Walmart off campus. Giant guy and polite. It's definitely a time for anticipation in the Bend, no doubt.

 

[WaveDomer]

Sitting in the plane last week and Te'o comes down the aisle. I think I was the only one on the plane who recognized him. He sat directly behind my daughters. I didn't want to say anything to him because I didn't want him to get bothered through the flight. I did tell my wife later on in the flight. When we got off she approached him at the gate and asked if we could get a picture. I shook his hand, told him my dad was a grad '67. We took a picture and I wished him luck. I guessed he must have been at ND during some time off.

 

[arrowryan]

Accurate thread. The campus is hopping with athletes. The ND courts by the Bookstore are often crowded in the evenings, and I've seen players walk through frequently (Zaire, Daniels, and others). I've also seen Farley and B Jackson at Chipotle in the Eddy St. Commons complex. I've also walked past Elmer at Walmart off campus. Giant guy and polite. It's definitely a time for anticipation in the Bend, no doubt.

Chipotle is a very popular spot for the whole student body at all three schools (Notre Dame, St. Mary's, Holy Cross). I've seen Zack Martin, Dan Fox, TJ Jones, Jake Golic, and many others there

 

[Pachuco]

Chipotle is a very popular spot for the whole student body at all three schools (Notre Dame, St. Mary's, Holy Cross). I've seen Zack Martin, Dan Fox, TJ Jones, Jake Golic, and many others there

Makes perfect sense. It's central (though more convenient for the ND crowd), and a notch above your typical fast food. The traffic can be awful through there, but walking is fine. It's kinda funny to see these guys around town. The one guy I have seen that struck me as small is Carlisle, or rather smaller than I expected.

 

[cody1smith]

Makes perfect sense. It's central (though more convenient for the ND crowd), and a notch above your typical fast food. The traffic can be awful through there, but walking is fine. It's kinda funny to see these guys around town. The one guy I have seen that struck me as small is Carlisle, or rather smaller than I expected.

Lets hope he puts enough weight on this year to carry the ball 15 plus times a game. Our backfield although very loaded with talent has me a nervous wreck this season.

 

[greyhammer90]

Lets hope he puts enough weight on this year to carry the ball 15 plus times a game. Our backfield although very loaded with talent has me a nervous wreck this season.

I'd be more worried about our passing game. Our RBs mixed with our OL will be solid. That's the good thing about a running offense, it's simple and predicable. 1st Question: Is your OL good? Yes. 2nd Question: How good? Pretty damn good. Answer: You'll be fine.

 

[BobD]

Thanks for the great post!

If you happen to see Danny again, tell him the "Candy Man" from Colorado says hi. He'll laugh.

 

[NDinFL]

Thanks for the great post!

If you happen to see Danny again, tell him the "Candy Man" from Colorado says hi. He'll laugh.

That's weird

 

[BobD]

That's weird

What's wierd? That's what he called me when he was a kid.

 

[woolybug25]

What's wierd? That's what he called me when he was a kid.

Ha. I just imagined Hollywood stopping him on campus, telling him that he looks ripped and that the "Candyman" says hi.


Nope... Nothing weird about that


Missed ya Bob. Hope all is well!

 

[BobD]

Ha. I just imagined Hollywood stopping him on campus, telling him that he looks ripped and that the "Candyman" says hi.


Nope... Nothing weird about that


Missed ya Bob. Hope all is well!

I wouldn't suggest that any man tell another man how he looks.

Ok, so there is no misunderstanding.....

My nephew and Danny are childhood friends. They played on a baseball team together from age 7-13 ( Columbine Rebels ) coached by Danny's dad and my brother-in-law. We use to travel quite a bit to watch their tournaments and to the world series every year. I love youth baseball and coached for years so, I use to hold a hitting stick while the kids warmed up before they went up to bat and after the games we would always have candy for the team...I was the Candy Man or coach candy man and my wife was Mrs. Candy man.

 

[NDinL.A.]

If you happen to see Danny again, tell him the "Candy Man" from Colorado says hi. He'll laugh.

Haha...I would, but I'm not big on talking to celebrities/athletes. I figure they get hounded so much that they don't need it from me as well. And in L.A., especially in my 20's, I used to see quite a few. I've only approached a few and that was to get an autograph for a friend (also got the guy from the Green Mile - RIP - Michael Clark Duncan (?) at a bar to take a picture with my wife, and he was GREAT!). Even now I see all these athletes and keep my mouth shut most of the time. GOIRISH!! came up to SB and stayed with me and we watched the WF game together, and he saw Kona Schwenke at Martins and talked to him and his family and they were great people...I hear that a lot about ND athletes.

Rambling...if I see Spond again, I'll tell him that the guy who can take the sunlight, sprinkle it with dew; Cover it with chocolate and a miracle or two, the Candy Man says 'hi'.

(Yes, the Candy Man can 'cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good)

Viva Willy Wonka!

 

[NDinFL]

I wouldn't suggest that any man tell another man how he looks.

Ok, so there is no misunderstanding.....

My nephew and Danny are childhood friends. They played on a baseball team together from age 7-13 ( Columbine Rebels ) coached by Danny's dad and my brother-in-law. We use to travel quite a bit to watch their tournaments and to the world series every year. I love youth baseball and coached for years so, I use to hold a hitting stick while the kids warmed up before they went up to bat and after the games we would always have candy for the team...I was the Candy Man or coach candy man and my wife was Mrs. Candy man.

Cool story Bob, I was just giving ya a hard time

 

[NDhoosier]

Lets hope he puts enough weight on this year to carry the ball 15 plus times a game. Our backfield although very loaded with talent has me a nervous wreck this season.

Gotta remember, Carlisle is the very definitely of a "scat back." the ND fanbase shouldnt really expect Carlisle to be a downhill runner. He is almost as fast as GAIII, but he is much more agile.

You can see him here at :11, 3:15 and the following 2 plays; #41. He can do it, but he always been more about speed, not power.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9vi-xN4Jq94" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[NDinL.A.]

Gotta remember, Carlisle is the very definitely of a "scat back." the ND fanbase shouldnt really expect Carlisle to be a downhill runner. He is almost as fast as GAIII, but he is much more agile.

You can see him here at :11, 3:15 and the following 2 plays; #41. He can do it, but he always been more about speed, not power.

Yup...guys, I'm not even close to exaggerating when I say that Amir is the most pure, fluid runner we have on this team, and really, it's not even close. Ask Buster or TP or anyone else who attended the practices this spring - Amir is just different than the other RBs/WR's on the team. He has a burst that is absolutely sick. The difference between him and GA is that he gets into his 2nd gear exceptionally quick, and then he is gone.

Also, he catches the ball with such ease; it's effortless. The ball makes no noise when he catches it; he doesn't fight it like CJ Procise does. And when he catches punts, same exact thing. Nobody catches punts better than he does.

Problem is:


He's tiny. I've said this many times but there is no way I can see him getting the ball 15 times a game from the RB position. Maybe not even 10 times a game. First time I saw him I thought he was a walk-on...he looked like he was 15. Not only the baby-face, but the fact that he looks 5'6" but he doesn't have that Barry Sanders thickness to him. He's been hurt almost his entire college career so far. But that doesn't mean that he's injury prone yet; hopefully he's just been unlucky so far.

There's a reason Kiffin and the coaches raved about him all camp his freshman year and gave him first team reps...he's electric.

 

[NDhoosier]

I do appreciate these updates though LA, I wish there was a weekly report from you and your observations.

 

[Irish2155]

Haha...I would, but I'm not big on talking to celebrities/athletes. I figure they get hounded so much that they don't need it from me as well. And in L.A., especially in my 20's, I used to see quite a few. I've only approached a few and that was to get an autograph for a friend (also got the guy from the Green Mile - RIP - Michael Clark Duncan (?) at a bar to take a picture with my wife, and he was GREAT!). Even now I see all these athletes and keep my mouth shut most of the time. GOIRISH!! came up to SB and stayed with me and we watched the WF game together, and he saw Kona Schwenke at Martins and talked to him and his family and they were great people...I hear that a lot about ND athletes.

Rambling...if I see Spond again, I'll tell him that the guy who can take the sunlight, sprinkle it with dew; Cover it with chocolate and a miracle or two, the Candy Man says 'hi'.

(Yes, the Candy Man can 'cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good)

Viva Willy Wonka!

I met Tommy Rees at Martins, was next to him in the salad bar line. Timing was weird, was literally right after FSU bowl game. I wasn't very happy with him at the time but it was still kind of cool.

 

[ulukinatme]

Put Amir in the slot, keep him away from those big linemen. He's shifty and can do some real damage once he's in the secondary anyway.