Sean O'Shea

Dayne Crist out for the season, Armando Allen also gone, Kyle Rudolph out until next year, likely Theo Riddick too. Michael Floyd playing injured.

Can anything else go wrong for the Fighting Irish?

Yes,actually, they could lose all three of their final games quite easily.

You are down by 1 in the last minute, you have a field goal kicker who is 18 for 18 so what does coach Brian Kelly do?

He calls a pass play with a freshman quarterback.

And Andrews Rees throws an interception. Tulsa, yes Tulsa defeats Notre Dame .If you though the loss last year to Connecticut was bad this one really stinks.

Fox sports are calling for Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly to be canned after the death of young junior Declan Sullivan,(pictured), who was taping practice when the lift he was on collapsed.

Others are claiming Kelly was negligent because Sullivan and every other cog and wheel in the football program is his responsibility.

To which I say no way.

A Notre Dame junior, Declan Sullivan, was killed on Wednesday when a video tower was blown over by strong winds.

Sullivan, 20, was rushed to a South Bend hospital but died from his injuries.

The football team and coaches were said to be in a deep state of shock after the incident .

When Brian Wilson entered the game in the ninth inning the music was 'Jump Around' by the Irish hip hop group House of Pain.

And House of Pain was what it was for the Texas Rangers last night in ATT Park in San Francisco.

Wilson loves his Boston Irish roots and he looked pumped up and psyched as the music played..Last summer he backpacked around Ireland playing their music.

He's the owner of the most famous beard in baseball but San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson has plenty other reasons why he stands out.

Apart from likely being the star of this year's World Series that is.

Here's a little taste of what Wilson, the most lovable character in baseball right now by a mile, is really like as he recently answered five question about himself.

If you are a senior at Notre Dame this year you will likely live through the worst Fighting Irish teams in history matched only by the 1964 graduating class.

That's what the Charlie Weiss, (pictured), reign means to you as well as year one of Brian Kelly and it serves as a stinging reminder of how far the mighty have fallen.

In a letter to the school's newspaper, Matthew McManus, a senior at Notre Dame, told it like it is.

Is there a new quarterback controversy at Notre Dame after Dayne Crist's deeply disappointing outing against Navy and the poised play of Tommy Rees, (pictured), when he stepped into the game in the fourth quarter?

Sure a touchdown in garbage time is no indicator of anything, but Crist was so poor in this game that the old questions about him are sure to resurface.

Sure the defense was terrible playing the triple option like they had never seen or heard of it before.

BY BRYAN FITZGERALD

The storied college football rivalry, dating back to 1927, between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Navy Midshipmen will begin a new chapter this Saturday. Navy have won two of the last three - an unimaginable feat a few years back. You have to go back to the Roger Staubach era to find their last victory before that. Coach BrianKelly (pictured) will be keenly aware of the Navy upset potential.

Navy's triple option offense is almost a throwback to the time when there was no forward pass and it will cause huge headaches to the Irish.

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One of England's leading young professionals has signed for ireland to repay his parent's love for him.

Ciaran Clarke was the England under 18 captain and plays on the first team at Aston Villa, one of England's top clubs.

A Notre Dame source tells me that the 'Fighting Irish" will indeed go back to their roots and wear green against Army when they meet them on November 20th in Yankee Stadium.

The Irish will come prepared, wearing their green uniforms, a throwback to the Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy days when green was worn to put the fear of God into opposition teams and show that Notre Dame meant business.

Leahy, perhaps because of his Irish heritage, had the team wear the green jerseys more often than not.

Alex Ferguson has revealed how devastated he is over the expected departure of Wayne Rooney from Manchester United and his disbelief that it has come down to this

He says he found the decision “inexplicable” admitting he was “dumbfounded”.

The player, he stated , is “adamant” he wants to leave.

Wayne Rooney's decision to quit Manchester United as reported by The Guardian is a real shocker.

The striker has clearly had it up to here with Alec Ferguson and has decided to quit before being fired.

It may also spend the end for Ferguson who has clearly mishandle done of the greatest talents ever given to him in Rooney.

The facile victory over Western Michigan is the turning point in the Notre Dame season.

The kind of disaster season that beckoned after the 1-3 start is now banished forever.

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly knows today's game against Western Michigan is fraught with peril.

Sure the Irish are now in the easier part of the schedule but the temptation to let down their guard must be contained,

Western Michigan have a good passing game and could keep it close early and the one thing we know about this Irish side is that they can be very unpredictable in close games.

Irish manager Giovanni Trapattoni has said he may drop star forward and captin Robbie Keane because of his lack of first team football.

Trapattoni made his remarks after Keane missed a vital penalty against Slovakia and looked far from his best.
He has been used as a substitute this year by Tottenham Hotspur and can not make the first team.

If Ireland wanted to erase the memory of the abject performance in the first half against Russia, which ended in a 3-2 defeat, they’ll have to do better than this. 1-0- up for most of the half, thanks to an opportunist’s goal from Sean St Ledger, an equalizer from a perfect Slovakia corner ended in a bullet header by Durica and leaves Ireland with 45 minutes to find the killer instinct. And then Robbie Keane showed his lack of confidence by missing a penalty just before the half-time whistle. Ireland have 10 minutes to buy a killer instinct. Time for Trap to justify his enormous FAI salary. 

Irish manager Giovanni Trapattoni has rejected criticism that his side played too cautiously in his side's 3-2 defeat by Russia on Friday .

"In 30 years I've had many good results and bad results. It is more difficult to analyse things beforehand. If I said I had foreseen the exact situations we ended up in, you wouldn't believe me.

'My job is predicting. If I change things and we lose, then people would be asking why am I changing everything? It's normal.

After yesterday's victory The Fighting Irish now have a break from the toughest part of their schedule and can look forward to a victory over Western Michigan next week.

The Irish could go 9-3 for the year by running the table in their remaining games.

Two tough ones stand out. Utah have an unbeaten season so far and also beat Pittsburgh while USC will be USC no matter what their record shows.

South Bend: It was his birthday today and Dayne Crist was making Notre Dame fans forget Jimmy Clausen pretty fast.

His display against Pittsburg today, when he handled the offense with skill and confidence was a clear indicator that he is ready for the big time.

He would have had a huge day but for the two touchdowns that were called back, the second one for a bizzarre call in my opinion.

Pittsburgh veteran players are familar with Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly's offense and will be using this knowledge to their advantage for their upcoming game this Saturday. Kelly coached against Pitt for many years when head coach at Cincinnati

Most players compare his signature spread offense and quick plays to a run-and-gun basketball team that features full-court pressure and fast breaks. It's design aims to spread out defenses and keep the pressure on by not huddling, assuming the line and snapping the ball.

George Gipp is the most famous figure in Notre Dame history, right up there with his coach Knute Rockne.

His legend endures while others fade and he seems as mythical a figure as ever.

Partly it may be because many confuse him with Ronald Reagan who played him in a 1940 film but forever after became known as the Gipper himself.

After dominating the first half and clearly the better team, Russia were caught off guard in the second half when Ireland came back with two goals but they maintained their composure, scored another goal leading them to victory over the Republic of Ireland in the Euro 2010 qualifier.

To date Ireland have won their first two matches and are currently at the top of their own qualifying group. They won by one goal against Armenia away from home and then they defeated Andorra by three goals to one playing at home.

But today, in a match that commentators predicted they'd win, they've hit a Russian minefield.

In a shock move Tipperary hurling manager Liam Sheedy who led his side to the All Ireland title this year has announced his resignation. His selectors and trainer have also stood down.

Sheedy cited 16 hour working day and incredible pressure on his work and domestic life as the reason.

Ryder cup hero Graeme McDowell will play on the U.S. PGA Tour next year he has announced.

The 31-year old US Open champion, has a home in Lake Nona in Florida, and will compete in the lucrative FedEx Cup next season.

As the London Daily Mail put it “It had to come down to the Irish again hadn’t it. “

Graham McDowell was just the latest Irisman to make the critical putt that gave Europe the Ryder Cup over America.

For Brian Kelly there is no place like home.

Back in his native new England, the Notre Dame coach gained the most important victory of his young career at the Fighting Irish with a comprehensive defeat of Boston College 31-13.

Now that not-so-jolly giant green leprechaun that has been perched on his shoulders can finally jump off .

Leinster sprung a major surprise by defeating Munster 13-9 in their Magners League rugby clash at the Avva Stadium in Dublin before 45,00 spectators.

Brian O'Driscoll, who else, got the winning try for Leinster midway through the second half , taking a pass on the overlap and running in from twenty yards out.

O'Driscoll also pulled off some incredible tackles and was deserved man of the match as chosen by TG4 television station.

The Holy War, the clash of the two great Irish Catholic colleges takes place on Saturday night in Chestnut Hill when the Irish and Boston College clash.

It is strange to note that they have only been playing each other since 1975 because it feels like an age old rivalry.

It is one that Boston College have taken a recent edge in. They have won six of the last seven with Charlie Weis finally eking out a victory last year.