At the risk of sticking a finger in the eye of corporate powers, it is a Saturday in August. College football does not begin for another three weeks. Notre Dame will not take the field for four weeks. Why toil here?
Then again, it is a Saturday in August. You don’t want to mow the lawn just yet. There is nothing wrong with a bit of procrastination. It is encouraged, in fact.
Let Blue & Gold Illustrated’s Lou Somogyi, the Indianapolis Star’s Laken Litman and the South Bend Tribune’s Mike Vorel aid in that accomplished delay.
The below pieces from Somogyi and Litman go hand-in-hand, hence their link availability here, while Vorel’s column is simply well done. It is not often a football column uses a Belgian surrealist painting as its hook.
Checks dictionary. “Definition of OFTEN: many times; frequently.”
More precisely, it is exceptionally rare a football column uses a Belgian surrealist painting as its hook.
Before getting to those links, one Ara Parseghian-related note: His funeral Mass will be Sunday at 2 p.m. ET in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame, followed by a memorial celebration at 3:30 in the Joyce Center. Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz and former Irish basketball coach Digger Phelps, among others, will both speak at the memorial celebration, hosted by NBC News correspondent and Notre Dame alumna Anne Thompson. Both events will be streamed live on UND.com, per the University.
Blend of Old and New Highlight Deep Notre Dame Tight End Corps: Somogyi works through Notre Dame’s plethora of tight ends one-by-one, noting just how much of a role the position should have in the Irish offense this year thanks to coordinator Chip Long’s preference for two-tight end formations. Tuesday’s opening preseason practice showed nothing to dissuade those expectations.
Position primer: Experience, depth makes wide receiver a strength for Notre Dame: The aforementioned tight ends will serve to complement a stocked receiving corps. With up to 12 pass-catchers, Litman points out the possibility it is “the deepest position group on Notre Dame’s depth chart” which will present junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush “unlimited tools in the passing game.”
How Notre Dame’s ‘Traits of Excellence’ might translate into wins: Irish coach Brian Kelly might have embraced certain catchphrases and buzzwords this offseason, but they will not matter unless they translate into wins. Yes, Vorel makes that point while talking about this painting:
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 09: A visitor looks to " This is not a pipe” at the exhibition ‘Rene Magritte - The Treachery of Images’ (German: Der Verrat der Bilder’) at Schirn Kunsthalle on February 9, 2017 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (Photo by Hannelore Foerster/Getty Images)
Getty Images
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