White House initiative comes to Notre Dame, promotes dialogue on sexual assault
By RACHEL O’GRADY News Writer
Thursday evening, the Notre d ame student government hosted a training session for those interested in volunteering for the “It’s On us” campaign on sexual assault awareness and prevention.
The Notre d ame campaign is part of a nationwide “It’s On us” initiative, which the White h ouse Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault launched in Sept. 2014. According to a White h ouse fact sheet, “It’s On us” takes its name from the notion of communal responsibility for all cases of sexual assault and aims to create a safer communities at universities.
“It’s On us is a national campaign that we have tailored to reflect the values of our Notre d ame community,” Loehle said. “We focused
“The ‘It’s On us’ campaign is a campus-wide movement to change the way we view sexual assault on our campus,” sophomore Kristen Loehle, student government’s director of gender issues, said. “It calls all members of our community to actively create a positive environment that prevents sexual violence by looking out for one another, intervening when necessary and spreading awareness.”
SMC revives music course
By NICOLE CARATAS News Writer
Saint Mary’s College started the new semester off with the reintroduction of an old course in the music department: global music.
Assistant professor of musicology and ethnomusicology Emily McManus reimplemented the class, which is open to both music majors and students in other fields.
“It is fascinating how much we can learn about other people and cultures through the music and dance that they perform,” she said.
McManus said the class, through music, discusses different cultures and places across the globe each
Professor earns research grant
By GABRIELA MALESPIN News Writer
Mayland Chang, a professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry, received the American d iabetes Association’s Accelerator Award for her research project on chronic diabetic wounds.
According to a u niversity of Notre d ame press release, the Accelerator Award is a $1.6 million research grant that will fund Chang’s
project, “A Strategy to Accelerate d iabetic Wound r epair,” over the course of five years.
Chang’s project investigates the causes and molecular inhibitors of chronic wounds in diabetic patients. Chang said traditional treatments such as debridement remain ineffective for many diabetic patients.
“There are 73,000 amputations of lower limbs in diabetic patients in the u.S every year,” Chang said.
“We’ve been trying to understand why the chronic wounds in diabetic patients do not heal.”
Chang said a key focus of the project is identifying and isolating MMP8 and MMP9 enzymes, also known as matrix metalloproteinase enzymes. She said one of these biological agents is critical to the healing process of diabetic wounds. Chang said a challenge the team will face is detecting and differentiating the
three enzymes.
“It turns out that these enzymes are involved in the pathology and the effort of the body to heal the wounds ... The challenge is how to distinguish between the three enzymes. Current methods cannot differentiate between the three, and only one is involved in the pathology of the disease. ” The team will also focus on activating and
Women’s club rugby grows, thrives
By ABIGAIL PIPER News Writer
Although varsity sports are a big aspect of the Notre d ame experience, club sports also have a large impact at the u niversity.
The Notre d ame women’s rugby football club, which is growing both in numbers and competitively on campus, is one example.
“We’re a d ivision I club sport [in the Midwest r ugby
u nion] and we play in the Big Ten,” senior Colleen Tigani, president of the club, said. “We usually play local teams like Michigan or Michigan State, but then we also travel to Penn State and Ohio State. We are a very competitive club. We have regular practices twice a week, meetings as well, run-throughs on Friday and games on
Photo courtesy of Notre Dame women’s rugby
The Notre Dame women’s rugby club plays in a tournament at Ohio State. The club competes against other Midwest teams.
Beverly Kyalwazi sophomore Lyons hall “California.”
Jessica Wang junior Pasquerilla East hall “The Bahamas.”
Maddie Wrobkewski sophomore howard hall “yosemite.”
Shayna McCarthy senior Lyons hall “hawaii.”
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Graduate Student Mass
Basilica of the Sacred Heart
5:15 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. Worship Service.
“Ronald K. Brown/ Evidence” DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Dance performance. Saturday
Tennis Match Eck Tennis Pavillion
2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Men’s tennis plays Oklahoma State.
Vigil Mass
Basilica of the Sacred Heart
5 p.m. - 6 p.m. Worship Service Sunday
“National Gallery” DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
3 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Film about London’s National Gallery.
Rejoice! Mass Dillon Hall Chapel
8 p.m. - 9 p.m. Worship service in the African-American tradition.
Monday
Undergraduate Workshop: “Crafting a Strong Grant Proposal” Brownson Hall 4 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Sustainability
Film: “Rashomon”
Hall hosts annual Casino Night for charity
By PETER DURBIN News Writer
Students can put all their cards on the table this Saturday at Mc g linn h all’s signature event, the Mc g linn Casino Night.
The event will take place from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. in the LaFortune Ballroom. Student Activities Office (SAO) will provide food, according to the event’s Facebook page.
Junior Evelyn huang, who organized the event along with sophomore Emily Shira, said the money raised will benefit St. Adalbert Catholic School in South Bend.
St. Adalbert was chosen because of a sustained relationship between the school and the girls of Mc g linn, who tutor in after-school programs
at the school on weekdays.
huang said the event will be action-packed and students will have the potential to win a plethora of prizes.
“After paying a $5 entrance fee, students are given a bag of paper money. They are then free to use this money to play unlimited rounds of blackjack and roulette,” huang said. “At the end of the night, they can trade in the money for raffle tickets. These raffle tickets can win them many different door prizes.”
huang said the event will also include a Texas h old ‘Em poker tournament, open to the first 65 people who enter.
“The winner will get a $100 gift card to the bookstore, and second place will received a $50 gift card,” huang said. huang said she got involved
because of the multitude of benefits this particular event offered.
“I think that it is a really unique and fun way to raise money for a great cause and help our local community,” huang said.
Although volunteers are not needed for the event, huang said she hopes students from Notre d ame, Saint Mary’s and h oly Cross participate.
huang said she hopes for 400 guests, who would contribute an expected $2000 for charity.
“It is a great event for a great cause,” huang said. “I am hoping to break a record for the money raised this year.”
Contact Peter Durbin at pdurbin@nd.edu
ND researcher joins international consortium
By CAROLYN HUTYRA News Writer
Notre dame professor of biological sciences Edwin Michael, an epidemiologist and member of the Eck Institute for global health, was recently invited to join a new consortium of select individuals who will create mathematical modeling techniques for factors affecting the spread of neglected tropical diseases (NTds). The university of Warwick, u.K., has been awarded an $8 million grant from the Bill and Melinda gates Foundation to establish and support the work of the consortium, which ultimately hopes to reduce the burden of infectious diseases amongst the poorest billion people in the world.
“We are one of the leading groups that are building mathematical models for vectorborne diseases, and I’ve worked on lymphatic filariasis since my postdoctoral research times,” Michael said.
Michael, who is well-known in the mathematical modeling field for his work with the lymphatic filariasis, a parasitic infection that results in the disease called elephantiasis, said his original
modeling work focused on elimination of the disease through mass drug administration.
“[Modeling] showed that using mass drug administration would be a way forward to break transmission, so in short we were the first people to actually model lymphatic filariasis,” he said. “That is one of the reasons that we were chosen to be a member of this consortium.”
Although Michael has not directly worked with the Bill and Melinda gates Foundation in the past, his prior work experience includes interactions with the National Institute of health (NIh), the Wellcome Trust and Medical research Council.
“This is a very complex, dynamical system,” he said. “The tools that you have are mathematical models, ultimately, because those thresholds for which the [disease] will be eliminated or transmission will be broken can only be derived using mathematics. you cannot do this using sensical methods.”
A few of the key questions Michael said members of the new consortium are asking are whether the World health Organization’s goals of eliminating lymphatic filariasis can be met by 2020, and if not, what remedial measures can be taken.
Michael said models may aid in determining when to combine programs such as mass drug administration with vector control, or they may inform global health workers to switch from annual to biannual treatments.
“I think in many ways it’s lymphatic filariasis that puts [the possibility of] elimination back on the map,” he said. In creating these models,
Saint Mary’s replaces Le Mans doors
By OLIVIA JACKSON News Writer
A new set of doors will welcome students and faculty this semester in Le Mans h all at Saint Mary’s. Notre d ame alum r obert O’g rady and his wife Beverly, a graduate of Saint Mary’s, donated the doors.
Special assistant to the SMC president Susan d ampeer said she worked with the O’g radys throughout the process of creating the doors.
“[Mr. O’g rady] loved Le Mans h all but was very upset about the condition of our front doors,” d ampeer said. “ h e and I had talked about doing something about them but then he died unexpectedly. h is widow Beverly, who knew about those plans, wanted to complete them in his honor.”
Michael said it is also important to take into account the benefits of economic development, including housing situations and nutritional factors, in helping combat the prevalence of NTds.
“What we’re also trying to do is to pull all this data in and build this kind of socioeconomic model that allows us to also look at these other things that are going on in development and how does that impact the control of diseases,” he said.
The goal is to take a holistic approach to combatting NTds, Michael said, including structural programs aimed at water provision and sanitation, microfinance and overall governance.
“At Notre dame, what we’re trying to do is to push the modeling, aid the modeling into the next generation of models, which are actually not going to simply look at biology and biomedical interventions but also at how does this world [work] in the context of broad scale development,” he said.
The poor are the ones who face the burden of NTds, Michael said, which means an innovative strategy is necessary to manage the various factors these affected populations face daily, to bring all of these perspectives together in order to find a solution.
“At heart, people at Notre dame are interested in poverty at the core, and I’m hoping that we can put together a team as epidemiologists, as modelers, congregational people as well as economists and development people,” he said.
Contact Carolyn Hutyra at chutyra@nd.edu
O’g rady especially wanted the doors to shine during that important occasion for the graduates. Senior Kelsie Plesac was excited to hear about the new doors for commencement.
“I think it is a very nice indicator of the Notre d ame and Saint Mary’s family, that this is something [O’g rady] felt he needed to do for Saint Mary’s students,” Plesac said.
The old Le Mans doors were original to the building and had been in use since 1925.
“Weather had taken a major toll on them and they could not be repaired adequately for outdoor use,” d ampeer said. “The old doors are being repaired and we hope to put them in h aggar h all in the parlor if they can be retrofitted for that space.”
d ampeer said r obert O’g rady was born and raised in Argentina. It was there that his family became acquainted with r ev. Theodore M. h esburgh, C.S.C., who convinced the O’g rady family to send their son to Notre d ame and their five daughters to Saint Mary’s.
d ampeer said O’g rady was a r enaissance man with an extensive knowledge of art. h e and his wife were donors to both Saint Mary’s and Notre d ame, particularly to projects at the Snite Museum.
A valued tradition for Saint Mary’s graduates is exiting Le Mans through the front doors at the beginning of the graduation ceremony, d ampeer said.
The new doors were handcarved by Verlin Miller, a local woodworker who has restored doors for Notre d ame in the past. Susan d ampeer said the new doors were constructed in the exact same way as the old doors were in 1925 — by hand and with the same tools.
“The building has an old look to it, so an exact replica is nice because it doesn’t take away from the character of the building,” Plesac said. “It just revamps it.”
Beverly O’g rady resides in New york and will be returning to Saint Mary’s in April to see the doors for the first time, d ampeer said.
Contact Olivia Jackson at ojacks01@saintmarys.edu
CAITLYN JORDAN| The Observer
The old Le Mans doors were taken from the entrance to Le Mans Hall and will be placed in the parlor of Haggar Hall.
Campaign
on being our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers and aimed to reach out to all different voices that make up our community.”
Loehle said beginning Monday, student volunteers will distribute pledge cards to dorms and in facility building across campus, similar to those distributed during the “One Is Too Many” campaign last year. She said the pledge cards will hang in the dorms as a demonstration of Notre d ame’s support for sexual assualt awareness.
“I’m excited for this very visible commitment that we will all be making to one another, and hope it drives participation in sexual assault education, a culture of respect in our dorms and an understanding of the reporting and support structures that exist on campus,” junior Bryan r icketts, a g ender r elations Center FI r E Starter and participant in “It’s On us,” said.
r ickets said the initiative is a way for students to become involved in sexual assault prevention on an individual level.
“The ‘It’s On us’ campaign is a way to bring the
Ten junior faculty win science research awards
By Alex Cao News Writer
A record number of eight junior faculty from the university of Notre dame won Early Career Awards (CA rEEr) from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and two faculty members won the young Investigator Program ( y IP) Award from the Army research Office, according to a university press release.
According to the NSF’s website, the organization provides approximately $220 million per year to approximately 600 scholars who “exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations according to the National Science Foundation,” according to the NSF website.
y IP Awards are given to outstanding researchers in the fields of science and engineering, according to the press release.
At least two faculty members have been recognized for the CA rEEr Award in each of the past five years, the press release said. The recent spike is due to an influx of young talent at Notre dame, associate professor of mathematics and CA rEEr award recipient gábor
conversation about sexual assault back to what each of us can do to protect our friends, classmates and peers,” he said. “It’s about creating a culture of love and responsibility where respect for others, intervention in dangerous situations and support for those who are victims of sexual assault are the norm.”
r icketts said he hopes the university and its students will support the initiative.
“We want to attend school at a place that helps to change entitlement into respect, harm into help and victims into survivors,” he said. “Notre d ame, both as an institution and as a student body, will need to take further steps, such as increasing resource accessibility, but this campaign is an important part of the transition from education to action.”
Loehle said while the campaign is national, the issues still remain local.
“There is overwhelming support for this cause at Notre d ame and it has been inspiring to see such a strong response throughout this process,” she said. “We want to make sure that every student and every place is safe here at Notre d ame.”
Contact Rachel O’Grady at rogrady@nd.edu
Székelyhidi said.
“If you looked at all the faculty when I first came here — then, I think there was only one other non-tenured person,”Székelyhidi said. “The faculty was generally older. There was a huge gap in hiring. Then a couple of years ago, [the university] started hiring younger faculty, so then you’ll be more likely to get grants specifically designed for them. There’s just more people, at least, for the math department.”
diogo Bolster, an assistant professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering and earth science, also received a CA rEEr award. he said aggressive hiring despite the economic downturn and initiatives from the university to prepare faculty for research helped sponsor success of the junior faculty.
“One of the things you have to remember here was that we were at the peak of the recession,” Bolster said. “I remember the first time I applied for a job. I applied for 36 jobs, and I got almost 30 letters back saying the jobs were just canceled because of the recession, and Notre dame was one of the only schools that interviewed me.”
Bolster said the resources the university offers to junior faculty also contributed to his
PAId AdVErTISEMENT
recognition.
“The Office of research hired a couple of consultants that helped junior faculty write proposals,” he said. “Most of us, the first few proposals we wrote aren’t very good … and I have had active mentoring in that from consultants that the university hired. . . . resources like that have been very helpful to me. Those two things have been what worked for me, and I have seen similar things from other young faculty.”
Jill Lany, assistant professor of psychology and another recipient of a CA rEEr award, said the awards help fund outreach to more graduate students, undergraduates and scholars from different universities or institutions who want to participate in research.
“One of the things that’s really great about the grant is that it provides funds for my case to support graduate students,” Lany said. “I can really add to the pool of talented students that we train in psychology and also have funds to bring in visiting scholars and building bridges in the intellectual community. … That is really important and is the heart of what we do as scientists.”
Contact Alex Cao at acao@nd.edu
ERIN RICE | The Observer
Diabetes
Chang said the project has primarily used mouse models (diabetic mice) to analyze the MMP8 and MMP9 proteins, but she hopes the project can take further steps to determine whether or not these proteins are found in human patients.
“ r ight now we have identified that an enzyme called MMP9 is involved in the
pathology of the disease,” Chang said. “We have identified that MMP8 is what the body uses to heal. Our strategy would be to inhibit the bad enzyme [MMP9] and leave the good enzyme [MMP8] untouched.”
Chang said activating and
weekends.”
Senior Claire Kozlowski, the team’s field captain, said they originally played only a version of rugby that had fifteen-member teams, but it added a team of seven in order to go to Philadelphia for the Collegiate r ugby Championship this May.
“This is our first year starting a sevens team, which is actually the type of rugby that is going to be in the Olympics in 2016,” she said. Kozlowski said the team aspect of rugby is what motivated her initially to join the club.
“When I was a freshman one of the upperclassmen in my dorm, who I played flag football with ... was like, ‘ you should come play rugby.’ and I said, ‘No thank you, I don’t want to die.’” Kozlowski said. “I went to a practice and never played rugby in my life … but fell in love, and everybody was super encouraging [and] super welcoming, and that’s how it has been the past four years.”
Tigani said the team, which also includes Saint Mary’s students, has improved her entire experience at Notre d ame.
“For me right now, it’s kind of like a second family.” she said. “ you run into girls on the team outside of practice, and it’s like, ‘Oh I know you!’ And it’s weird to explain, but it’s kind of like you always have a person on the team that’s going to be there for you in your classes or outside of sports, then you also have that bond of coming
deactivating the enzymes would be facilitated by a set of inhibitors her team has been able to identify. Chang said these inhibitors are “small molecular compounds that selectively inhibit the bad enzyme and do not inhibit MMP8.”
There is a lack of research and pharmaceutical interest in diabetic wounds, Chang said, despite the chronic health problems these present. She said she hopes her research will be able to translate to human trials.
“We do want to see our work translated into a therapeutic tool that will help patients with diabetic wounds,” Chang said. “We want to analyze the [diabetic] tissue to see if we see the enzymes that are present in animals are present in humans. If we find them, this will give us more confidence that whatever will cure the wounds in mice will translate to humans.”
Contact Gabriela Malespin at gmalespi@nd.edu
together and playing as a team.”
Kozlowski said rugby teams have a camaraderie that makes the sport less intimidating than it seems.
“ r ugby is one of those games that unless you play it it’s really hard to explain,” she said. “Literally every single moment, you lay your body out on the line for your teammate … and you know that your teammate is doing the same thing for you.”
Tigani said the team will host events this semester in order to fundraise, including Breakfast Bingo on Friday at 10 p.m. in LaFortune Ballroom.
“There will be breakfast food, and there’s going to be a bingo tournament and different style bingo games and prizes,” Tigani said. “But I think our biggest event will be the weekend of April 12, our Charity d ay. We do pink jerseys and pink socks, and we raise money for breast cancer awareness and research. It’s actually going to be paired with our alumni game this year, so some friendly faces will be back to play us.”
Looking forward, Kozlowski said she would like to see an increase in membership.
“The less they know about rugby the better, we like to say,” she said. “We really like to teach people. That’s how every single one of us started.”
Tigani said she encourages those interested in joining women’s club rugby to email her at Colleen.M.Tigani.1@ nd.edu.
Contact Abigail Piper at apiper2@nd.edu
semester.
“This class prepares students to engage with an increasingly globalized world and to recognize and think critically about navigating cross-cultural interactions and communications,” she said.
The course, which has currently only has four students enrolled, has two components, McManus said. The first focuses on case studies from around the globe.
“Case studies range from the Aymara indigenous community in Peru/ Bolivia/Chile to global hiphop, and from music and nation formation in Israel to music as form of political resistance in the Islamic r epublic of Iran,” McManus said.
McManus said the second component involves learning research methods and writing case studies on
music in South Bend.
“Part of this project is realizing that this kind of research can be conducted anywhere and that our local communities are increasingly globalized,” McManus said. “Ideally, students will leave this course with a greater understanding of the cultural diversity of South Bend.”
Senior r achel Schwartz, who is taking the class to finish her music minor, said the small class size helps facilitate discussion and opens the door to all students to get a word in.
“I’m hoping to come out of this course having learned more about music from other cultures and other parts of the world, as well as just learning about music from a more academic point of view,” Schwartz said.
Julia Crant, a junior psychology major taking the class as an elective, said the course helps her think in a more global context and develop a better understanding of music and cultures
from across the globe.
“[The course] makes me think of music in a different way,” she said. “I wasn’t aware of all the different styles of music each culture has.
McManus said the course does not require any previous experience with music, since many of the cultures that the students examine do not use the same musical system Saint Mary’s students learn.
“Non-majors and majors will all be starting in the same place and will need to learn techniques for analyzing music that are not culture-specific,” McManus said. “These are methods that can easily be applied to the music of your daily life. More importantly, I think non-majors will gain a great understanding of the ways in which music and dance function in their own daily lives, as well as the lives of people across the globe.”
Contact Nicole Caratas at ncaratas01@saintmarys.edu
Mayland Chang professor ofchemistry and biochemistry
Photo courtesy of Notre Dame women’s rugby
Women’s rugby poses for a team photo. This year, the group added a sevens team so the club could participate in the Collegiate Rugby Championship in Philadelphia in May.
Photo courtesy of Notre Dame women’s rugby
Players run down field in a tournament at Ohio State University. The team will host Breakfast Bingo on Friday at 10 p.m. in the LaFortune Ballroom as a fundraising effort.
We must keep moving
Mike Ginocchio Sports Writer
he would have turned 86 this year. Monday was Martin Luther King day. Every year it is a day to celebrate a man who did more than any of us can imagine, and if it wasn’t for his assassination it is more than reasonable to think he would still be working today in the name of equal rights for everyone.
One of the more famous photos connected to Notre dame is of dr. King standing alongside Father hesburgh, arms locked in brotherhood and solidarity, as they sang “We Shall Overcome” during a 1964 civil rights rally at Soldier Field in Chicago. It’s a rather ubiquitous photo, located all around campus.
The prevalence of this reminder is much more important than one might think. It can be easy to see the accomplishments those brave men and women made 50 years ago and assume that they accomplished the lion’s share of the work. The “hard” part is over.
While, in a way, that is true, one only needs to look at the news to see that there is still plenty more that needs to be done. The “hard” part may be over, but the journey is far from over.
The reverence given to the memory of dr. King and all those who have struggled for civil rights is an absolute necessity because they struggled for a right: that all human beings deserve to be treated as a human.
human society and progress is not about reaching a destination and then resting on the laurels of those who came before us; rather, it is a continuous journey. It’s about striving to meet the great iniquities of our time and working to overcome them. It doesn’t have to be one grand event of great and mighty pomp and circumstance; if, like a wise man once said, at the end of the day we’ve done to the best of our abilities something to make others a little happier and ourselves a little happier, then we’ve done something to be proud of.
That requires taking the step to do something in the first place.
If dr. King were alive today, I’d like to think that he’d be flattered at the heightened place he holds in our collective conscious for the things he did during his lifetime. But, at the same time, I get the feeling that he wouldn’t take too much time to be flattered before getting back to work. And neither should we. Working for civil rights and happiness for all people no matter what their skin color, personal or religious creed or orientation, is something we can all do.
It can be scary to push for these things. And it certainly won’t be easy. But it is the right thing to do.
At the end of the day, it’s better to do right and risk the consequences, than to not do anything at all.
Contact Mike Ginocchio at mginocch@nd.edu
The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Taking on MLK Jr. Day every day
Instead of worrying about whether we have Martin Luther King Jr. d ay off each year, we should focus on how we can take the day on and follow King’s example.
At a panel held this week to discuss black students’ experiences at Notre d ame over the past 70 years, alumnus Azikiwe Chandler expressed that knowing what he knows now about Notre d ame’s race relations, he probably would not have decided to come here.
h is is not an uncommon opinion; many students of color who have attended Notre d ame have shared this sentiment. As mentioned in a Letter to the Editor published earlier this week, some students of color feel so discouraged by race relations here that they consider transferring and sometimes ultimately decide to do so.
This is an enormous problem. For one person on this campus to feel disrespected or unloved is an unacceptable failure for our entire community.
As a university rooted in Christ’s love, we have a responsibility to our fellow students and to ourselves to make Notre d ame a more welcoming home for all. While none of us can solve the problem of racism completely, we must do everything in our power to build a better community for current and future students.
The student body must actively seek out opportunities not only to discuss but also to listen to the experiences of minorities. Though students rarely act out of hostility, racism still exists here. It exists in the aggressions at off-campus parties and in microaggressions that appear on whiteboards and posters in O’Shaughnessy. Being aware of these incidents is just one of the first steps in combatting racism at Notre d ame.
As panelist Olevia Boykin noted, many white students feel uncomfortable facing issues of race relations.
EDItORIAl CARtOOn
however, as Pope Benedict XVI said, “ you were not made for comfort. you were made for greatness.” To truly achieve greatness as a university, no student should avoid things that make him or her uncomfortable. No Notre d ame student should ignore racism occurring on campus or beyond. We all must appreciate and acknowledge the experiences of our peers, even if their words are difficult to hear. We must never stop listening to each other, realizing that every Notre d ame experience is different and offers insight into how we can work to make our community a more loving one. Further, we must realize that no matter how much we listen to our friends and love them, there will always be gaps in our understanding of experiences other than our own — especially since our experiences vary so greatly.
If we as a student body are to make Notre d ame a more welcoming place for all, we must stand together and support each other. We must speak out when we hear racist remarks and support each other when we are called to speak out against racism. We must help those who want to speak on race issues find a forum to do so. We must work to have the Notre d ame minority experience — whether it is our own experience or the experience of others — be acknowledged, respected and accepted.
Instead of taking Martin Luther King Jr. d ay off, we can encourage faculty members to take on issues of race and racism in their classes and encourage minority students to share their experiences. Instead of taking the day off, we can call on the administration to listen and learn from the experience of black students at Notre d ame over the last 70 years. Instead of taking the day off, we can all join hands in a sign of support, just as university President Emeritus Fr. Ted hesburgh did with King himself. Instead of taking the day off, we can take it on — not only on that day, but every day.
Gary Caruso Capitol Comments
Je suis ND women’s basketball
Notre dame women’s basketball forward Taya reimer launched a moral benchmark for her team by convincing the Irish to don “I Can’t Breathe” warm-up shirts during a game in mid-december. The gesture was intended to show support for the family of Eric garner, a Brooklyn man who gasped that he could not breathe before he died in July after a New york City police officer placed him in a chokehold while trying to arrest him. The team wore their shirts a week after protests erupted in New york when a grand jury refused to indict the officer involved with garner.
If reimer’s effort ends with that one poignant moment, then she and the women’s team have failed to stand solidly on their social principles. The sophomore indicated that her inspiration arose after witnessing a “die-in” demonstration on campus — dramatizations intended to vividly convey recent incidents of alleged police brutality nationwide. While some participate to call attention to what they believe are pervasive and indistinguishable abuses throughout all of law enforcement, others participate to express support for the people who face prejudice, racism and police brutality daily in our nation.
Notre dame was the first women’s basketball team in the nation to join a growing list of both amateur and professional teams wearing similar shirts to express a social statement while standing in solidarity for equity, restraint, compassion and justice. Importantly, reimer’s own words quoted in uSA Today describe her gesture not as anti-law enforcement. “A few of us talked about it,” she said, “and we thought wearing these shirts for the game would be a cool way to show our support and give our condolences to families that have lost someone.”
For that exact reason reimer and the team must also express strong support for N y Pd officers rafael ramos and Wenjian Liu who were assassinated as pay back for garner’s death while sitting in a marked patrol car in Brooklyn. Their assassin, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, in his own warped way also protested excessive police force by arbitrarily slaying two men wearing police uniforms — men faithfully dedicated to their families and to the welfare of the public. reimer and the team must universally commit to constantly stand in solidarity for equity, restraint, compassion and justice.
I applaud but strenuously caution reimer and the team going forward. For their civil voices to be one and done on the matter makes their previous effort look merely like a stunt regardless of how genuine their intentions. respect and justice are not values upon which to bestow selectively and with whimsy. Therefore, at an upcoming game the team should wear warm-ups bearing some manner of slogan demonstrating that mindless revenge is not an American value — or the Christian character Notre dame is well known for living by example. Their shirt slogan should honor life and the rule of law all of us must follow — something in the vein of “Blue Lives Matter” or “remember Slain N y Pd.”
Like the Nd women, but on a larger collect scale, the French citizenry recently embarked on publicly establishing their own moral yardstick after 12 people were massacred early this month at the Paris offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie hebdo. Coining the slogan, “Je suis Charlie,” or “I am Charlie,” they stood up against a senseless ideology of murder conjured by Muslim extremists who attempt to force their twisted brand of justice through acts of terrorism — in this instance in response to their profit Mohammed appearing in a cartoon. Ironically, the Islamic extremists gunned down a Muslim police officer along with 11 newspaper employees.
More than 3 million people paid tribute to the victims by marching through Paris while grieving for those dozen killed, and by extension, expressing support of freedom of speech and resistance to armed threats or violence. Social media sentiment exploded globally. The “I am Charlie” slogan adopted by supporters became an international icon.
In late december on the day Officers ramos and Liu were killed, my email exploded when one of my more politically conservative college classmates in New Jersey took offense to the Notre dame women basketball team’s decision to wear the warm-ups the previous week. his blast email to us former Lyons hall residents criticized the “liberal” Notre dame administration — hardly a label us real liberal Catholics would ever use to describe the Nd leadership style. But another classmate, originally from Ohio, reminded us of how committed and excited we were while students on campus during our unified outspoken opposition to the Vietnam War.
Moving forward, reimer and the team need to be cognizant of how enduring and how steady their commitments must remain. Anyone from my generation knows that in our youth we count our achievements one at a time, but as we age and accomplish more, we count them in lots of dozens. Once reimer and the team exercised their civic speech and civic participation on a national scale, they are required to become Charlie in support of all who suffer senseless sacrifices.
Gary J. Caruso, Notre Dame ‘73, serves in the Department of Homeland Security and was a legislative and public affairs director at the U.S. House of Representatives and in President Clinton’s administration. His column appears every other Friday. Contact him at: GaryJCaruso@alumni.nd.edu.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Strength in forgiveness
Think back to the last time you were hurt by someone. I mean really hurt. Whether you were angry, sad, insulted, disappointed or some ugly combination of all of these, you felt wronged. Maybe it was your fault, maybe it wasn’t – what matters is that you were hurt.
In moments like these when we feel attacked or offended, it’s almost second nature to immediately put up a wall and shun the other person, while firing our own arrows over our defenses. you choose the direct route and fire thorned text messages like a Mongolian warrior or maybe you choose the indirect route and post an incredibly passive-aggressive Facebook status directed to no one in particular, yet very specifically targeting that certain someone. Like a savage instinct, we shut down the critical thinking centers of our brains and focus instead on distancing ourselves from the vulnerability we feel by thinking about how we can get even. We internalize what was said or what was done and how it made us feel. We resent whoever caused us this pain and sometimes we shut them out of our lives altogether. As these bridges burn, we vow never to repair them. It seems inconceivable to forgive. In a world that has always valued strength, the idea of forgiving seldom comes to mind as an act of fortitude. yet, forgiveness is one of the strongest actions a human can take because it’s tough. It goes
against our instincts to forgive. Nobody jumps to forgive someone after a serious conflict, the same way you jump to block an incoming dodgeball in gym class. It’s just not our first reaction … or our second, and if we never make the deliberate effort, the bridges we burned will remain as they are, broken down remnants and relics to something that was once meaningful.
The toughest things in life often mean doing the opposite of what we would want to do. The oftcited g andhi is a great example; his non-violent resistance techniques were counter-intuitive, but were ultimately what was best. As Civil r ights fighters allowed themselves to be hurt and offended strategically, they knew that there was a greater purpose in the end. The importance of doing this kind of tough work can be seen in our own lives. When your joints hurt and you are out of breath, it’s hard to say that running is fun, yet we want to be in shape. When you study long hours and miss out on doing other things, it’s easy to pity yourself but it generally pays off. you do it because you know it’s what is best, even if it’s the opposite of what you want in the moment, because you know it will be worth it.
Such is forgiveness. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons why this is true is because the thought of forgiving the person who has offended us seems like a sign of weakness. As a defense mechanism,
we often want to prove our strength by showing just how well we can get on without them. yet, forgiveness implies an even greater strength than grudge-holding. It’s hard to open our hearts to forgiveness because it makes us feel vulnerable. Nevertheless, forgiving someone is a beautiful display of love, kindness and peace.
Forgiveness looks different based on a variety of factors. For one, you can forgive someone even without letting them know. This can happen when the offender is deceased – even after their death, they can still be forgiven. Even if they are still with you, you do not necessarily need to let them know – you can always forgive them quietly in your own heart. The point is to replace enmity with love.
It’s easy to let those burnt bridges remain the way they are, derelict and crustier than the dining hall’s re-heated macaroni and cheese. On the other hand, it’s much tougher to revisit those bridges and try to build something new. If nothing else, you can simply wipe the ashes away, quietly forgive them and feel that weight leave your body. It’ll be worth it, I promise.
Eric Villalpando junior Siegfried h all Jan. 22
By ISAAC LORTON Assistant Managing Editor
Tucked into the side of The State Theater, South Bend Brew Werks is unassuming and dwarfed by the large theater sign. Once inside, a completely different identity comes together. Combined in a small area is a clash between rustic and modern, harkening back to South Bend’s working-class identity, while looking toward the future growth of South Bend. The L-shaped bar is polished pine wood reclaimed from an old bowling alley lane, the barstools are all made from wood pallets, the tap handles are varying-sized chunks of wood with the South Bend Brew Werks’ cog logo carved into the handle, hand-crafted ceramic mugs hang from the back wall behind the bar, blackboard chalk menus are framed by pallets.
“It’s hard to find a place that is more South Bend,” d rew Elegante, Maestro of Brew Werks, said. “Almost everything in here is repurposed from some historical part of South Bend, or we have local artists, or locally sourced food items, or locally crafted beers that we make here.”
Local modern art work decorates the walls, surrounded by more wooden-pallet frames. All art is for sale: 50 percent goes to the artist, while 50 percent goes to a local charity organization. The air vents are visible hanging from the ceiling, while the floor is polished and a d r. Seussesque mural of brewing equipment is painted on the cement. r eds, grays and blacks grace the walls, giving the small room a modern, yet comfortable feel.
There are 65 unique ceramic mugs behind the bar.
“We have the original Founders Mug Club, which were the people who during the crowdfunding campaign donated to the mug club,” d rew said. “So those were the people who essentially invested with us from the beginning, so they will always hold
a special place in our heart. We sold out that mug club and we limited it because we wanted to have a close relationship with those people.”
Next to the stone mugs are handled-glass mugs, designating the second-tier mug club.
“A lot of people were almost angry that they couldn’t get in the [Founders] Mug Club, so we created a second mug club,” d rew said. “It’s still a larger pour ... they get a T-shirt and 25-percent-off merchandise. Our mugs are an annual renewal, but when you renew it you get another T-shirt and an additional mug club refill.”
Above the stone and glass mugs sits a golden chalice. d rew said this is the ultimate reward given out by South Bend Brew Werks, and of course it involves good deeds in South Bend.
“The third tier is the golden chalice,” d rew said. “That’s something you can’t buy, but have to earn. We wanted to be able to celebrate people — maybe undersung heroes — who were doing great things for the community and this was our way of saying thanks and say here is a mug, come and drink. So the first one we did Mayor Pete [Buttigieg] because he was just coming back from Afghanistan and doing a ribbon cutting. I wouldn’t say Mayor Pete is an undersung anything, but for us it was a great marketing opportunity to get the idea and concept out. It’s just another opportunity to talk about really good things going on in South Bend.”
The beer color spectrum sat before me in liquid form. Ten miniature glasses, collectively known as a flight (the flights at Brew Werks are served on old curving desktops, the ones that look like a curved pizza peel, with holes cut out where one would write), were lined up in front of me: the 9 Aye, Mr. Elegante, Juniper IPA, IPA #002, Colonel Eddy, Cascading Wheat, Nut Brown, Midwest Session, Pale Ale #001 and r ye Stout. All were uniquely colored — ranging from the golden blonde color of the
Cascading Wheat to the warm glow of the Nut Brown to the thick chocolate ink of the Mr. Elegante. It was all of the beers Brew Werks made — for now. There are five house beers (9 Aye, 1865 Amber, Cascading Wheat, Colonel Eddy and Mr. Elegante), which are always on tap, while the five remaining are on rotation and are whatever the master brewer Jason comes up with in the basement.
I tasted each of the ten beers. The black IPA, «9 Aye» was the best beer I tasted. There were hints of tangerine with touches of spice, and the beer was surprisingly light for being a dark beer. The Nut Brown tasted like savory-liquid Nutella, while the Juniper was subtle with the juniper flavoring, which made for a nice, interesting tasting IPA. The Colonel Eddy would be a good beer to finish a meal with, as the oatmeal stout tasted of chocolate and coffee. Mr. Elegante was the most interesting beer I have tasted in a while, with a smoky and bacon-y flavor. Mr. Elegante was the brainchild of d rew’s tastebuds and the original brewers’ beer savvy.
“My favorites are darker beers,” d rew said. “ you can see Mr. Elegante on the menu. It’s a smoked porter, it has a little bit of bacon flavor in it from the malt. It’s probably our most distinctive beer. It’s something that you will not find anywhere else. A lot of people come in and try it; some people love it, some people hate it. There are very few people in between.”
The other five beers on the menu were less impressive. IPA #002 seemed weak and not fully formed, while the Cascading Wheat lacked the crispness and zing wheat beers usually have. The stout/IPA combo Midwest Session failed to bring the two together successfully and the Pale Ale #001, although an APA, tasted too similar to IPA #002. The r ye Stout was smooth but lacked flavor. Overall, the uniquely-flavored beers stood out and the others were unassuming in the background.
South Bend Brew Werks is more than beer, though. Charitable giving is a large part of Brew Werks’ identity in the form of a “beer-for-good” program.
“The beer-for-good program with the donations is something I think is out of the ordinary here,» d rew said. «I’ve heard talk about the d owntown d ining Alliance, which is all of the downtown restaurants and bars, doing something similar at each location, which I think would be extraordinary because then it does become part of the South Bend culture: ‘When you go to South Bend you always give back.’”
d epending on the size glass a patron buys, he or she will receive a colored bottle cap designated 10 cents, 25 cents or 50 cents. It is then up to the customer to decide which of the three community organizations he or she will donate to. On the central pillar there are three green-glass mason jars waiting for the uniquely colored bottle caps. Behind each glass are pamphlets for each respective organization: Neighborhood r esource Center, La Casa de Amistad and The Music Village. I donated three of my 10-cent bottle caps to both N r C and La Casa de Amistad and four to The Music Village.
Through everything Brew Werks does, the aim is always “Building a stronger community, one brew at a time,” as its motto says. “I think the way craft breweries impact identity is by creating really good memories for people of a city and a region, or by promoting the brand of that city,” d rew said. “It’s one of the ways in which to market and brand your city and right now craft beer is super popular. So it’s a really good way to get people to come and visit. It contributes to the identity and it’s a part of carving out more space for South Bend to be South Bend.”
Contact Isaac Lorton at ilorton@nd.edu
By MATTHEW MUNHALL Scene Writer
reunion albums are typically met with a deserving degree of cynicism. The conventional narrative in rock is that it’s music for and by young people; bands that stay together over multiple decades are believed to be on an inevitable downward slide. So many reunion albums are more an excuse for the band to go on tour and play the hits than to contribute anything new to their discography.
Enter Sleater-Kinney, a band that has built a career out of subverting rock conventions. “No Cities to Love,” the trio’s eighth studio album and their first in nearly a decade, honors their legacy as one of the most important rock groups in the world. It’s the rare reunion album that sounds just as urgent as the band’s earlier work.
Coming out of the Olympia, Washington riot grrrl scene, SleaterKinney quickly became one of the most
vital bands in indie rock. The combination of Corin Tucker’s howl, Carrie Brownstein’s angular guitar work and Janet Weiss’s expert drumming was electric, but they were driven by restlessness to never become stagnant. The group went on to release seven albums between 1995 and 2005, each successive release building on their sound in inventive ways. Their self-titled debut was a sparse punk record, but by their last record, 2005’s “The Woods,” they were working with The Flaming Lips producer dave Fridmann and exploring classic rock and psychedelia. d uring their decade-long hiatus, Tucker released two solo records, Weiss played with Stephen Malkmus and Bright Eyes and Brownstein cocreated the IFC sketch comedy show “Portlandia” with Fred Armisen. d espite their individual endeavors, «No Cities to Love» makes the case that the three women work better together than they do apart. «We win, we lose / Only together do we break the rules,»
Tucker belts in the chorus of the triumphant «Surface Envy.» The second time she sings the line, it becomes «Only together do we make the rules.» It›s a great summary of Sleater-Kinney›s ethos as a group that has continually redefined what it means to be a punk band.
What’s remarkable about “No Cities to Love” is how alive it feels — it’s a record that is deeply human, both in its sound and its politics. Opener “Price Tag” explores working class anxiety in the post-recession years, with its angst channeled into Brownstein’s explosive guitar riff and Weiss’ frenzied drumming. The poppy “A New Wave” expresses the band’s refusal to be pigeonholed by their gender, with Brownstein emphatically declaring that “no outline will ever hold us.” On “hey darling” Tucker gives a phenomenal vocal performance, as she voices her concerns about returning to Sleater-Kinney after so much time away. “It seems to me the only thing
that comes from fame’s mediocrity / how could you steal the thing I love and keep it from me just out of touch,” she roars, her voice full of uncertainty and doubt.
“I still feel like there really just isn’t a settled version of this band,” Brownstein said in an interview this week. “This is an entity that, for me, really encompasses a constant sense of agitation at the world.” That refusal to settle more than justifies the existence of “No Cities to Love;” it’s the kind of thrilling record that feels like it requires another hundred listens to comprehend in its entirety. Sleater-Kinney have not only met but exceeded expectations of what these three women can create together 20 years into their existence as a band. On “No Cities to Love,” Sleater-Kinney rip the rock playbook to shreds, making and breaking the rules together once again.
Contact Matthew Munhall at mmunhall@nd.edu
By MADDIE DALY Scene Writer
Listen up, y’all: Legends of Notre dame is once again going country.
Courtesy of SAO, Joel Crouse will be coming to Legends on Friday at 10 p.m.
If you missed the impressive performance by Cole Swindell before break, this is your second chance to catch an up-and-coming star before he makes it big time. however, don’t get me wrong: Crouse has already succeeded quite a bit in the country music industry. Even if you haven’t heard the name Crouse yet, odds are you are familiar with country stars Taylor Swift, Toby Keith, The Band Perry and darius r ucker. Crouse is familiar with them
as well, as he has toured with all four headliners. he toured with Swift on her red Tour, Keith and The Band Perry in 2011 and is currently on the road with r ucker. Every musician has to make their start somewhere, and touring with these household names is not a bad start; this country cowboy has the talent and the drive to make a sure name for himself.
If this remarkable resume isn’t impressive enough, how about adding on the fact that Crouse is only 22 years old (scarily the same age as me) and has already accomplished all of these impressive acts? Like many before him, he is getting his start young with the hopes of capturing the hearts of fellow young country fans around the world.
Coming to a college campus is therefore ideal, as we are the target audience for such a singer.
Crouse had a big year in 2014, as it marked the release of his first album, “Even the r iver r uns. In 2011, he signed with Show d og-universal Music, a label founded by Keith. The album was released in August and contains singles such as “If you Want Some,” “Why g od Made Love Songs” and “d on’t Tell Me.” The album reached no. 183 on the Billboard top 200 and no. 20 on the Top Country Albums list.
unlike many country stars, Crouse was born and raised on the East coat, in holland, Massachusetts, albeit in a rural area. he prides himself on telling stories, saying that, “deep down,
country music is about the story.” he was inspired by his grandfather, born in Alabama, and began writing his own music by the age of 16. Since then, he has been writing and performing his songs in the hopes of being “discovered,” a goal that has clearly already been achieved.
Crouse is a young singer with heart and passion for country music, so it is basically a guarantee that his show at Legends will be worth your while. The show begins at 10 p.m. and is followed by a “Legends g oes Country!” party at midnight. Entrance is free for students.
Contact Maddie Daly at mdaly6@nd.edu
Manning’s time has come
Daniel O’Boyle Sports Writer
you may have almost missed it among all the tedious stories about deflated footballs, but on Wednesday, a piece of NFL news that actually matters came out: Peyton Manning plans to return to the d enver Broncos in 2015. Manning, 39 years old and coming off a quad injury that seriously affected his form late in the season, will have to undergo a physical before the d enver Broncos decide to keep him on for another year, but sources close to the quarterback claim he hopes to come back.
At first, I was elated. I love to watch Peyton Manning play, and I’m usually a huge fan of watching older players continue on even if their best is behind them. Every time a team’s starting QB goes down, I kind of hope Brett Favre will get a phonecall. I’d still like to see Terrell Owens return to the league for one last obnoxious celebration. When a 52-year-old herschel Walker said he could still play in the NFL last year, I hoped to see him try. But for Manning, the time has come to say goodbye. Sure, Peyton’s stats over the course of the season would still put him firmly among the top 10 quarterbacks in the league. Before he strained his quad in week 14, he was arguably in the top 5. And sure, great players sometimes just have a blip in form: Tom Brady and Aaron rodgers both had shaky starts, and both turned it around. And sure, maybe you don’t want your last memory of Peyton on a football field being the disappointing, overthrow-ridden performance he put in against the Colts, but for the sake of Manning, the Broncos and NFL fans everywhere, it is best if his team decides to go on without him.
First, Manning is owed $20 million next year if he isn’t cut by March 9th, compared to just $5 million in dead money if the Broncos move on. Even with the way quarterback contracts have grown recently, that’s a lot of money. With 17 contracts set to expire at the end of the season, including both Julius and d emaryius Thomas, John Elway could do with freeing up that kind of cap space to lock down the younger players on his team long-term.
But can the Broncos replace Manning? It’s obviously an important question to ask. Not every team moves from hall-of-Famer to
hall-of-Famer like the Packers did. d enver fans can’t have forgotten that three years ago their quarterback was Tim Tebow, and no one wants to go back to that. But what the Broncos do have is a young player with incredible raw talent and one of the best nicknames in football in Brock “Brock Lobster” Osweiler. Osweiler will be entering his fourth year in the league and for the sake of the Broncos’ future, it’s time they know what they have in him. A 6’8” monster with a huge arm, Osweiler could be lethal with the right coaching, but the Broncos need to find out before his contract’s up and make a huge decision. d enver will need a quarterback soon whether Manning stays or goes — it needs to start the search now. regardless of whether or not Osweiler works out, if the Broncos care about winning a Superbowl, they should move on from Manning because ultimately he’ll never win another. “Peyton can’t do it in the playoffs” has been said for years, but now it’s undoubtedly true, and not because he’s “not clutch”. Manning simply doesn’t have the body for 19 games. he can start a season well, like he did this year, but between his neck surgeries and the rest of his aging body he just can’t keep it up. he was already in a decline before his quad strain this year, and if he comes back, he’ll find it even harder to keep his earlyseason form up next year.
And let’s not forget the long-term effects of Peyton’s health. h is neck remains a risk, not just to his hopes of playing pro football, but to his quality of life in the future: one bad hit could cause serious harm. you can’t ignore the effect of concussions in the modern game either — Manning singing advertising jingles to his chicken parm may soon be depressingly close to reality.
At this point, it’s inevitable he’ll go soon. you just have to come to terms with Peyton exiting the league: with 4.6 yards per attempt in a 24-13 playoff defeat. Maybe it’s not perfect, but if he has to retire on a bad note, at least it was against Indianapolis. Let Peyton’s last pass be the torch to Andrew Luck, who can lead the Colts and dominate the NFL the way Manning once did.
Contact Daniel at doboyle1@nd.edu
The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Jeff Gordon announces retirement next season
Associated Press
Jeff g ordon, with a nagging back injury, a young family he wanted to spend more time with and a phenom waiting in the wings at hendrick Motorsports, knew midway through last season that he had one more year in him.
NASCA r’s most charismatic driver, the man behind the wheel of the famed and sometimes feared No. 24, had decided it was time to call it quits on one of the most successful careers in motorsports history. The four-time champion conferred with r ick hendrick, the only team owner he has had over 23 years of Sprint Cup racing, and settled on a date.
The 43-year-old g ordon announced Thursday that 2015 will be his final season as a full-time driver, saddening legions of fans, fellow drivers and others who watched him became the face of stock car racing as the sport exploded in popularity a generation ago.
In an interview with The Associated Press, g ordon said
GOlF
he reached his decision last summer. he had seen other drivers embark on distracting farewell tours, and he didn’t want to be that guy. Although he told his crew chief of his decision after narrowly missing out on shot at a fifth championship, it took time to settle on the day to tell the world. It started with a conversation with his two young children when they woke up for school. They worried they won’t go to the race track anymore, that other kids might think of them differently if their father is not a famous race car driver.
The conversation with Ella and Leo made the decision a reality for g ordon — and he wept.
“Ella just stared at me, she’d never seen me cry like that before,” g ordon told AP. “After that, I seriously broke down. It hit me like a ton of bricks, and I got so emotional and thought, ‘how am I going to get through this day?’”
g ordon said he sobbed during the entire 30-minute drive to hendrick Motorsports,
where he tearfully informed his team and his longtime employees of his decision. g ordon choked back tears yet again during his interview with AP when his mother sent him a text message that he read aloud: “I never knew watching SportsCenter could be so emotional.”
cover of a g Q magazine.” g ordon became such a household name that he even hosted “Saturday Night Live” and was name-dropped in a Nelly song. he did it all while dominating at the track as the “rainbow Warrior,” teaming with crew chief ray Evernham to collect checkered flags at a record pace.
g ordon, who debuted in the final race of the 1992 season in Atlanta, won championships in 1995, 1997, 1998 and 2001. he also has three daytona 500 victories and a record five Brickyard 400 wins. g ordon told AP that his 1994 win in the inaugural Brickyard 400 — NASCA r’s first race at historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway — was easily the highlight of his career.
Mickelson returns at Humana Challenge
Associated Press
LA QuINTA, California — Phil Mickelson got most of the attention in his return to competition after a four-month break. Blake Adams got a lot more out of his comeback round.
Mickelson shot a 1-under 71 on Thursday in the humana Challenge in his first event since the ryder Cup, leaving him eight strokes behind leader Michael Putnam.
“Even though this score is the worst I’ve had in a long time, in months, I’m excited about my game and getting back out tomorrow,” Mickelson said. “I can’t wait to get started again, because I just feel like I played a little tight today, kind of steered it a little bit.”
Adams had a 64 on PgA West’s
Jack Nicklaus Private Course in his return from hip replacement surgery. he last played a PgA Tour event in March and had surgery in July.
“Very, very blessed to be back out here,” Adams said. “It’s been a long road to get back. you never know what you’re going to get when you have total hip replacement.”
The 39-year-old Adams had six straight birdies from No. 14 to No. 1, added three in a row on Nos. 5-7 and closed with a bogey. Playing on a major medical extension, he has 16 events to earn $497,044 to keep his tour card.
“If the putts fall, great, if they don’t, so be it,” Adams said. “I had a great day today. I’m going to go out there tomorrow and do my best and if I shoot 64 again, great. If I shoot 74, so be it.”
Mickelson opened at treelined La Quinta Country Club. he made a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 third, holed out for birdie from a greenside bunker on the par-4 fourth and made a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 sixth. After dropping shots on Nos. 12, 14 and 16, Lefty hit a wedge to 2 feet for birdie on the par-4 17th.
“It was the first round in four months and I’ll loosen up,” Mickelson said. “hopefully, the way I’m playing will show in the score. But today, it just didn’t.”
The 44-year-old Mickelson, the 2002 and 2004 champion, is winless in 27 PgA Tour starts since the 2013 British Open. he has lost weight and gained strength working with trainer Sean Cochran during the long break from competition.
Griffin scores 24, Clippers blow out visiting Nets
Associated Press
LOS ANgELES — The Clippers built a double-digit lead and then turned things over to their reserves, who kept pummeling the Nets.
Blake griffin scored 22 of his 24 points in the first half, when the Clippers led by 33, and Los Angeles went on to its largest victory ever over Brooklyn, 12384 Thursday night.
J.J. redick and reserve Jamal Crawford added 17 points each, deAndre Jordan had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Chris Paul had a season-high 17 assists for the Clippers, who have won nine of their last 12 and three in a row.
Coach doc r ivers credited the bench for keeping the pressure on the Nets.
“It was their defense that got us going,” he said. “Two things they’ve done better is they start with defense and get the ball
movement. The bench is alive and that hasn’t been the case all year. It’s called growth and it’s good for our team.”
With Kevin garnett resting, the Nets were led by Mason Plumlee with 16 points. darius Morris and Jerome Jordan had 11 points each, and Jordan grabbed 11 rebounds. They have lost nine of 11.
“It was unfortunate for us, very embarrassing, considering it was a nationally televised game,” Jordan said. “The only thing that counts is that it was only one game, and now we’ve got to move forward.”
The Clippers put the game away in the first half, when they shot 66 percent and Jordan had already secured his doubledouble. They were especially dominant in the second quarter, outscoring Brooklyn 36-14.
“We had tried to stay with them, but it just didn’t work out
that way,” Nets coach Lionel hollins said. “The game plan was just obliterated by their play.”
Los Angeles’ reserves continued the offensive momentum from late in the first quarter, when the Clippers used a 19-4 run to go up 34-21. Led by Crawford, the second unit overwhelmed the Nets 14-4 to extend the lead to 48-27. Crawford scored nine points, including six straight, to start them off.
“This is what we’ve been talking about all year, finding that consistency,” Paul said.
griffin, Jordan and Paul returned halfway through the second quarter and put on a show. Jordan had back-to-back dunks, powering over Brook Lopez on the second one, while Paul hit a 3-pointer. griffin scored their final six points, hitting a 22-footer, to give the Clippers a 70-37 lead at the break.
Turner’s late 3-pointer lifts Celtics over Trailblazers
Associated Press
POrTLANd, Ore. — Evan Turner was confident from the moment the shot left his hands.
With just 1.9 seconds left and trailing the Portland Trail Blazers 89-87, Turner launched a shot from about 23 feet out. It fell, giving the Boston Celtics the 90-89 victory on Thursday night.
The victory snapped a threegame losing streak for the Celtics, who had four starters in double figures paced by Avery Bradley with 18 points. Jared Sullinger added 17 points and nine rebounds.
“I was able to shoot it high enough so it felt good,” Turner said of the game-winner. “I kind of prayed to make a big shot and it happened.”
Boston’s victory also snapped a four-game losing streak to the Blazers.
damian Lillard had 21 points and seven assists to lead Portland, which has lost five of their last six as the team struggles with injuries to their front line. Already without center robin Lopez and forward LaMarcus Aldridge, fellow starting forward Nicolas Batum left the game with a wrist injury that has been nagging him.
“Everybody knows what Nic can bring and what LA brings, so we have to figure out diffident ways of scoring and sometimes different ways of playing,” said Blazers coach Terry Stotts. “The differences are fairly obvious.”
Lillard’s 3-pointer put Portland up 87-81 with 4:44 left, but the Celtics answered, pulling
Pro Bowlers debate ‘Deflagate’
Associated Press
g LEN d ALE, Ariz. — Indianapolis Colts linebacker d ’Qwell Jackson says he noticed nothing wrong with the football he intercepted against New England in last week’s AFC championship game.
Talking after his Pro Bowl team practiced at Luke Air Force Base on Thursday, he said he merely wanted to keep the ball as a souvenir.
“Some guys, you make a big play, you want the ball,” Jackson said. “That was my intention.”
h e said he took it to the sidelines, hasn’t seen it since and probably never will.
“I’ll do my best to try to get ahold of it,” Jackson said. “But right now it’s in the middle of, what do they call it, ‘ d eflategate.’”
The normal procedure when a player wants to save the ball, he said, is for it to go to the equipment staff “and you have it in your locker come Monday morning.”
within 87-85 on Bradley’s pullup jumper before Sullinger’s put-back layup tied it.
Wesley Matthews missed one of two free throws to give the Blazers the edge, and a turnover gave Portland the ball on the other end. But the Blazers struggled to score and settled for Thomas robinson’s free throw to lead 89-87 with 26.6 seconds left.
Scrambling on the floor, Sullinger flipped the ball to Turner for the go-ahead 3-pointer, and Lillard couldn’t get a shot off before the buzzer.
Turner said he loves taking those critical shots.
“Oh yeah, for sure,” he said. “I like them even more when they go in. I’ve missed a couple this year, but I’m glad this one went in and most importantly I’m glad we won.”
The Blazers were hit before the game with the news that Aldridge had torn a ligament in his left thumb and would need surgery. The 6-foot-11 power forward is expected to miss from six to eight weeks.
Aldridge was injured in Monday’s 98-94 victory over the Sacramento Kings. he leads Portland with averages of 23.5 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.18 blocks per game.
“It’s tough,” Aldridge told reporters in Portland’s locker room before the game. “I definitely didn’t want to have anything like this going on right now.”
h arbaugh said it’s not for him to say “what another coach would be thinking about or what he would know about.”
Asked if he would be aware of the condition of his team’s footballs, h arbaugh said, “I would be aware of a lot of things.”
“I try to be aware of as much as I can,” he said. “I think any coach would. But I can’t say what another coach would be aware of.”
Wide receiver Jordy Nelson of g reen Bay said he thinks quarterbacks have the ball the way they like it, within the rules.
Packers quarterback Aaron r odgers likes the ball filled to the max.
d etroit quarterback Matthew Stafford said he knows equipment staffs rub up the ball to get it the way the quarterback likes, but he’s never dealt with how much air is inside.
“Everybody likes it different,” Stafford said. “Apparently, Aaron r odgers likes to throw a beach ball — whatever.”
“I don’t know how it got to this point,” Jackson said, “but somehow I’m in the middle of it.”
Jackson said he doesn’t handle the ball enough to know whether it was properly inflated or not.
“The deal about me saying that I noticed anything about it, that’s totally false,” he said.
Baltimore’s John h arbaugh, who will coach Team Carter at the Pro Bowl, said that it would be “an unfair advantage” to play with a deflated football.
h arbaugh’s r avens lost at New England the previous week. h e declined to discuss any specifics of the Patriots’ case, referring questioners to what he said at a news conference in Baltimore earlier in the week.
“I will say that I think the league is on it,” h arbaugh said. “They’re going to do whatever is right and proper. They’re going to make sure the game is played with integrity and it’s played the right way — it’s fair and there are no unfair advantages for either side in any game.
“That’s what sports is all about. That’s what football is all about. That’s their obligation and I’m confident that they’re up to that responsibility.”
While questions about deflated footballs dominated the discussions so far this week, there is a football game to be played on Sunday. The game at u niversity of Phoenix Stadium, site of next weekend’s Super Bowl, is sold out.
Chris Carter and Michael Irvin are honorary captains and chose the players on their teams on Wednesday night, so it will be Team Carter vs. Team Irvin.
It’s the second time for this setup after the AFC vs. NFC format was scrapped.
On Thursday, each team had a workout at the Air Force base east of Phoenix, with hundreds of soldiers and their families surrounding the football field. After each practice, the players signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans.
“It’s an incredible scene,” h arbaugh said. “It’s neat to be a part of it. We drove up and the place was ringed with military personnel and the fighter jets were taking off over the top of us. To me, that’s what it’s all about, the sacrifices their families make all across this country to keep us safe and keep us free and give us a chance to play a big game like this and be a part of this. That’s America.”
Belles’ struggles continue against Comets
By MICHAEL IVEY Sports Writer
Saint Mary’s dropped a 74-54 decision to conference foe Olivet on Wednesday at the Angela Athletic Facility on the campus of Saint Mary’s College.
The score was tied at 13-13 halfway through the opening half. Over the next 90 seconds, the Belles (3-14, 1-7 MIAA) went on a 7-2 run to grab a 20-15 advantage with eight-and-a-half minutes to go in the first half. however, the Comets (9-8, 4-4 MIAA) went on a 19-11 run to close out the half and head into the locker room with a 34-31 lead.
“I thought we did a really good job on defense in the first half despite losing the rebound advantage,” Belles coach Jennifer henley said. “We attacked them defensively and got to the foul line like we had planned.”
Saint Mary’s went on an 8-0 run to begin the second half and jumped to a 39-34 lead. Olivet
nbA | BuLLS 104, SPurS 81
responded with a 16-0 run over the next seven minutes to take a 50-39 lead and they never looked back.
“The second half Olivet made some adjustments on offense and we couldn’t stop their run like we did in the first half,” henley said.
Senior forward Carli reid paced the Comets with 23 points and four rebounds and senior center Stefanie Lang scored 19 points to go along with 16 rebounds to record the double-double.
Junior forward Elani Shea led the Belles with 15 points with seven rebounds, while junior forward Krista Knapke added 10 points and four rebounds.
Freshman forward Molly robinson had nine points, freshman forward gabby diamond added seven points and five rebounds and junior guard Maddie Kohler contributed five points and one rebound for the Belles.
St. Mary’s shot 37 percent from the field in the first half and 33.3 percent in the second half
while Olivet had a 42.1 percent field goal percentage in the first half and a 45.5 percent field goal percentage in the second half. The Belles attempted only three 3-point shots the entire game, making only one. The Comets attempted 18 3-point conversions throughout the game, connecting on only four of them. Saint Mary’s went 15-of-21 (71.4 percent) from the free-throw line while Olivet made eight-of-12 (67 percent) attempts.
“Saturday starts round 2 of MIAA play,” henley said. “At this point in the season, teams know each other pretty well. We have to really take a stand on defense and look to outwork opponents down the stretch.”
The Belles will attempt to turn their season around during the second half of conference play, starting with a road game against Alma on Saturday.
Contact Michael Ivey at mivey@nd.edu
Rose’s 22 points lead Bulls past Spurs
Associated Press
ChICAg O — derrick rose scored 22 points and the struggling Chicago Bulls beat the San Antonio Spurs 104-81 on Thursday night.
The Bulls came away with a much-needed win after dropping six of eight and handed the defending champions their most lopsided loss of the season.
The Central division leaders broke this one open in the third quarter, outscoring the Spurs 31-20, and snapped San Antonio’s four-game win streak.
rose, who called out his team after Monday’s loss at Cleveland, backed it up by going hard to the rim and hitting 9 of 16 shots. he led six Bulls in double figures.
Pau gasol added 12 points and 17 rebounds after being voted to his fifth All-Star game and first as a starter.
Jimmy Butler scored 17. Taj gibson added 15 points and nine rebounds. Aaron Brooks scored 15, and the Bulls snapped a three-game home losing streak.
After giving up at least 102 points in six of the previous eight games, Chicago held San Antonio to 37-percent shooting. The Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard scored all of his team-leading 16 points in the first half. rose had it going right from the start with 15 points the first half, and Chicago headed to the locker room with a 46-40 lead that was about to get much bigger.
Tony Snell converted a three-point play with 17.3 seconds left in the second quarter to start a 14-2 Bulls run that made it 57-42 early in the third. The Bulls stayed in control the rest of the way, putting aside the chaos for at least one night.
The recent struggles
combined with rose’s criticism and a meeting between the players and coach Tom Thibodeau painted an ugly picture for a team that was rolling along before the recent slide.
There is speculation that Thibodeau’s job is in jeopardy and that he is losing the locker room. But Spurs coach gregg Popovich was not buying that.
“he’s not gonna lose any team,” Popovich said. “I think you guys just have to have stories. So somebody loses a few games, there’s got to be a reason. I guess that’s the one that was picked. Sometimes players listen to me. Timmy stopped listening to me a long time ago. I don’t even coach him. you guys think I’m kidding. he just plays. I talk to him once in a while, but sometimes some guys don’t want to hear it. But as far as the team and being lost and that kind of thing, that’s not what’s happening here.”
Irish resume action in New York
By BRETT O’CONNELL Sports Writer
The fencing travels to New york this weekend for invitationals at St. John’s on Saturday and New york university (N yu ) on Sunday.
The Irish head into the weekend’s action just a few days after having ranked first overall in the first women’s coaches’ poll of 2015 and second overall in the men’s poll. This ranking follows a 2014 campaign that saw Irish individuals take national titles in the men’s and women’s foil but sixth overall at the NCAA championships.
Still, the Irish enter 2015 as the only program with a top two ranking in both the men’s and women’s polls, and this marks the women’s squad’s 21st number one ranking. The men have held the first slot in the poll 16 times.
St. John’s also earned a favorable position in the year’s initial rankings. After a final 2014 ranking of seventh, the red Storm men rise to fifth in the poll, and the women sit at eighth.
Over the two days of action, Notre dame will see several top-10 squads of both genders from teams like harvard and Columbia.
“This one is probably the most important before the qualifiers because this one really sets the tone for what’s actually going to happen in the season,” freshman foilist Spicer Emge said. “The toughest opponents are at this one. Columbia’s there; harvard’s there. All the people that, when we go to NCAAs, those are going to be the people we are going to be duking it out with for the championship.”
This weekend’s inviationals mark the debut of new Irish sabre coach Samir Ibrahimov, whose hiring was announced by head coach
gia Kvaratskhella on Jan. 15. Ibrahimov joins the fencing team after a three-year stint in hong Kong, where he brought home a number of accolades as the sabre coach of hong Kong’s national team.
The team most recently saw action last November at the Penn State Open although the Irish were missing ten starters due to international competitions. despite this setback, the Irish earned three medals in both the women’s and men’s competitions. Sophomore sabreist Allison Barry shared a bronze medal with Pennsylvania sophomore dana Kong. Junior epeeist Catherine Lee and junior foilist Nicole McKee both earned silver medals in their respective weapons.
In men’s competition, junior sabreist John hallsten proceeded to the round of eight until falling to Penn State junior and defending NCAA champion sabreist Kaito Streets. u ltimately, hallsten earned a fifth-place finish on the day.
Looking forward, the Irish have approximately one month between them and the ACC championship. This marks Notre dame’s first chance to compete in the tournament after having left the Midwestern Fencing Conference to join the ACC in 2014.
“I think this year, especially since last year we didn’t do that well, and yet we’ve always been one of the top teams in the country, I definitely think this year we’re going to come out pretty strong,” Emge said.
The Irish continue that push Saturday as their season resumes in Queens, New york, at the St. John’s Invitational followed Sunday by the N yu Invitational in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Contact Brett O’Connell at boconne1@nd.edu
WEI LIN | The Observer
Junior foilist Nicole McKee competes in the DeCicco Duals at the Castellen Family Fencing Center on Feb. 8.
hockey
16 conference.
The duo looks to continue a run of Northeastern success against Notre dame. The huskies have taken three of the last four games from the Irish over the past three seasons, including handing the Irish a 9-2 drubbing in 2011.
“They’ve given us fits in the [offensive zone] over the last three years,” Jackson said. “They’re very good in the offensive zone and very good on the power play.”
As a result, Jackson said
playing well on the penalty kill will be key and overall team defense will be a focal point.
“We still have to play our game,” Jackson said. “We’ve made progress over the last several weeks as far as our transition game ... our special teams have been better for us.”
After capturing his 400th collegiate victory on Saturday, Jackson said he prefers to shy away from the spotlight and focus on the road ahead.
“It’s about the journey,” Jackson said. “It’s about the people involved in those 400
victories. Coaching is all about moments … they don’t happen enough. But the only win that matters to me is the next one. I would trade all 400 victories if it meant a chance to win a national championship at the university of Notre dame — that’s the ultimate.”
Notre dame battles Northeastern on Friday and Saturday at Matthews Arena in Boston, with the puck dropping both nights at 7 p.m.
Contact Brian Plamondon at bplamondon@nd.edu
Irish to start year with high hopes
By GREG HADLEY Associate Sports Editor
Coming off a national championship loss, No. 2 Notre dame takes the field at Loftus Sports Center for the first time in 2015 this Sunday for an exhibition match against Bellarmine.
Irish coach Kevin Corrigan said he knows what the preseason polls predict for Notre dame this season — second in the country, first in the ACC and five All-Americans — but he does not put any store by them. The only things that matter to Corrigan are the mindets of his players and staff, he said.
“you can’t completely ignore [the preseason hype] just because the guys are aware of it and everything,” Corrigan said. “But listen, what it means is that people think we should be competing at a really high level this year. That’s not anything new to us or anything that’s going to change our expectations of ourselves every day. We try to be demanding on a dayto-day basis because we don’t want our guys feeling any special pressure on game day. We’ll continue to have high standards ... every day and we’re not too concerned with what other people’s expectations of us are.”
The Irish returned early from winter break to begin training Jan. 11, but in the weeks since, training has hit some snags, Corrigan said.
“Practice has been going well,” Corrigan said. “The guys have been doing a good job, but we’ve have had a bunch of injuries that have caused a variety of guys to miss practice. But the guys who have been out there have been doing a pretty great job. ... We’ve probably had 10 different people miss time already, which is pretty unusual this early in the year. guys are taking it as a challenge to take on a bigger role, but I think it hurts our overall competitiveness on a day-to-day basis.”
Corrigan said that the exhibition this weekend should help spark some of that fire, as well as give him an opportunity to see how his players compete in game situations.
“To get into the rhythm and pace of what an actual game is like is much different from practice,” he said. “In practice, when you’re working on, say, your half-field offense, it’s
really hard to get a feeling for what the value of a possession is. Because if a ball goes out of bounds, you just restart, and in a game, that might be a ball you don’t see again for three or four minutes. So you have to play some whole-field game-type situations just to really get a feel for the tempo of real-action play.”
The Irish and the Knights are familiar foes, having played each other in several preseason matches and this fall in an exhibition. The two squads also have three programs — Michigan, Ohio State and Air Force — in common on their 2015 schedules.
“We know that they’re a good team that’s very well-coached,” Corrigan said. “They’ve brought a Canadian influence in the past two years. We don’t do a lot of scouting for a preseason game, but we expect to get tested in some areas like the two-man game, that will be very good for us. More than anything else, we just want to see someone else.”
Last season, the Irish won six straight games in the postseason before falling to duke, 11-9, in the NCAA title game May 26. Of the 10 starters in that game, the Irish return eight, as well as another eight off the bench who played too. however, a good portion of the Irish bench graduated last spring, and Corrigan said he has used this winter practice to identify several players whom he expects to see the field often.
“[Junior defender] Edwin glazener is playing very well for us defensively and is someone who hasn’t had a lot of [playing] time in the last couple years,” Corrigan said. “he could play a lot for us this year. [Junior midfielder] Cole r iccardi ... has earned himself some playing time right now, and we’re anxious to see how he does. So there’s a couple of guys who have both been working very hard. They’re both juniors, they worked extremely hard to get to where they are right now, and we’re extremely excited to see both of them play this weekend.”
Notre dame kicks off its exhibition schedule this Sunday at noon against Bellarmine at Loftus Sports Center.
Contact Greg Hadley at ghadley@nd.edu
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
Irish junior left wing Sam Herr takes a shot on goal in a 3-3 overtime tie against Connecticut at the Compton Family Ice Arena on Jan. 16.
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CONTIN u E d F rOM PAgE 16
Though the Irish entered the game coming off tough victories against No. 12 North Carolina and No. 5 Tennessee, Loyd said they need to perform at a high level in every matchup, no matter the opponent.
“That’s not an excuse,” she said. “We have to be ready for every single game. There are no off days.”
Irish starting freshman forward Brianna Turner played only 17 minutes after picking up two fouls in each half. yellow Jackets sophomore guard and leading scorer Kaela davis also rode the bench more than usual Thursday with foul trouble herself.
Even without davis on the floor, the yellow Jackets reached their season average of 75.9 points per game as a team.
“... A win over North Carolina, a win over Tennessee, it’s a huge game; there’s a lot of emotion,” Mc graw said. “They come out tonight — ‘We’re supposed to win, so let’s give it half the effort.’”
g eorgia Tech junior guard
Aaliyah Whiteside said her team missed opportunities
to jump on Irish lethargy and earn an upset on the road.
“We just kept playing hard, and I thought we got some key defensive stops that led to some baskets on our end,” Whiteside said. “But we just never were able to get it all the way down. They just would get a transition bucket, or we would turn it over.”
Mc graw said she hoped her team would get in a good workout — “mentally, at least” — tomorrow before it faces off on the road with Clemson.
The Tigers (9-10, 1-5) enter the game with five consecutive losses, two of those at home.
Mc graw said Notre dame needs to tap into its focus for the contest with Clemson, the second in a string of 11 straight ACC games.
“This is a really tough stretch coming up, and we need to be ready every single night because everyone in this league can beat us, and we still, even after the Miami game, are not aware of that,” she said.
The Irish meet the Tigers on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, South Carolina.
Contact Mary Green at mgreen8@nd.edu
M bball
boards against the hokies (810, 0-5) and forced nine turnovers, which largely led to 15 fast break points.
“I think when we run, we really have a great feel,” Brey said. “We’re very unselfish, we throw ahead, we’ve got big guys running the floor.
“We love playing together, and when we get in our rhythm, we’re really hard to guard.”
Junior forward Zach Auguste returned to Notre d ame’s starting lineup for the first time since Jan. 10. Auguste, the team’s secondleading rebounder and thirdleading scorer, didn’t travel with the team to g eorgia Tech on Jan. 14 due to an academic matter and came off the bench in the team’s win Saturday against Miami.
Auguste scored eight of Notre d ame’s first 14 points, sparking the Irish to an early 17-8 lead. Virginia Tech thrice closed its deficit to seven points in the first half, but each time Notre d ame answered, twice with 3-pointers and once with a layup.
“I thought it was a big night for Zach Auguste to
come back and be that guy for us after a week of some distractions academically,” Brey said. “That was a key for him.”
After taking a 38-28 lead into halftime, the Irish showed few signs of slowing down, as they scored nine of the first 12 points in the second half. Notre d ame extended its lead to 20 points on a 3-pointer by senior guard/forward Pat Connaughton with 12 minutes to go and led by as many as 29 in the contest.
After scoring 23 points Saturday, senior guard Jerian g rant led the team with 18 points and six assists and added seven rebounds.
“There’s not anybody playing better than Jerian g rant in the country,” Brey said.
“What he is doing, some of the passes he throws … man, does he stir the drink for us.”
Three other Irish starters ended up with double-figure points. Connaughton totaled 17 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double, making five of his six shots from 3-point range. Auguste finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, and sophomore guard d emetrius Jackson had 12 points. Notre d ame will continue
NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL | dEPAuL 64, SETON hALL 60
its conference road-trip Sunday night when the Irish meet North Carolina State. The Wolfpack (13-7, 4-3) lost to Miami, 65-60, on Thursday and have lost three of their last five games, though they did pick up a victory over No. 5 d uke during that stretch.
North Carolina State has been led by redshirt junior guard Trevor Lacey and redshirt senior guard r alston Turner, who have averaged 17. 1 points per game and 13.7 points per game, respectively. The Wolfpack topped the Irish, 77-70, in the teams’ meeting at Purcell Pavilion last season.
With wins in its first three conference road games, Notre d ame is beginning to establish itself as a strong road opponent, Brey said.
“I think they’re starting to get a little bit of a road swagger,” Brey said of his squad. “They’re even starting to use the term ‘road dogs.’”
Notre d ame will look to continue its hot start when the Irish face off against North Carolina State on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at PNC Arena in r aleigh, North Carolina.
Contact Brian Hartnett at bhartnet@nd.edu
DePaul upsets No. 24 Seton Hall
Associated Press
d ePaul was trailing by eight points on the road to a nationally ranked team with five minutes left and its best player was soon to foul out.
But Blue d emons coach Oliver Purnell gave his team one message down the stretch as they faced No. 24 Seton h all on Thursday night.
“It’s simple: Just believe,” Purnell said after his team rallied in the closing minutes for a 64-60 win. “These are the things you have to do. The game was not over. I tried to preach to them that they had done it before, coming back from 13 against Marquette and 10 against St. John’s. This was like that. We had experiences like that.
“They had to believe.”
But not on the road and against a Top 25-ranked team. d ePaul had lost 51 straight games against ranked teams dating to 2008 (No. 17 Villanova at home) and 2005 on the road (No. 16 Wake Forest).
“I wasn’t aware of that, but I’m not surprised,” said Purnell, in his fifth season at d ePaul. “A lot of that happened before I got here, but I knew we hadn’t beaten once since I’ve been here.”
The Blue d emons (11-9, 5-2 Big East) are off to their best start in any conference since d ePaul left independent status in 1991. d ePaul joined the Big East in 2005.
The Blue d emons rallied after trailing 55-47 with 5:05 remaining. Soon after, the team’s leading scorer Billy g arrett Jr., whose father was once an assistant coach at Seton h all, fouled out with 14 points. But the Blue d emons didn’t get demoralized.
“We certainly believe and have confidence that a team can build off things like this,” Purnell said. “We were behind, so that made things hard. Billy fouling out made things harder. But we’re in a good mindset right now. We had other guys who stepped up offensively and made big plays. This is a really nice win for us.”
Myke henry also scored 14 for the Blue d emons, who defeated Seton hall (13-5, 3-3) for the first time on the road after four previous losses. darrick Wood (11 points) and r ashaun Stimage (10 points) each hit clutch free throws in the closing seconds to enable the Blue d emons to get the win. Stimage, who came in averaging just 1.8 points per game, also
grabbed a huge rebound with 3.9 seconds to ice the victory. d ePaul outscored Seton h all 17-5 over the final five minutes.
Angel d elgado set career highs with 19 points and 19 rebounds for the Pirates. Khadeem Carrington added 12 before fouling out. Brandon Mobley added 10 points and eight rebounds.
Leading scorer Sterling g ibbs scored just four points, shooting just 2 of 16 shots from the floor and missing all seven of his shots from beyond the 3-point line.
“he’s been playing at such a high level and getting a lot of attention, but tonight, he just had a bad night,” Seton h all head coach Kevin Willard said. “It’s a good learning lesson for him. When he’s not making shots, he still has to make plays for his teammates.”
It looked as if Seton hall had the game won, going on a 10-1 run, thanks to Mobley, who had two free throws, then had a monstrous breakaway dunk. Jaren Sina capped the run with a long 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 55-47 with 5:48 left.
The Pirates held the Blue d emons for more than five minutes without a field goal.
AMY ACKERMAN | The Observer
Irish freshman forward Kathryn Westbeld surveys the court during ND’s 89-76 win Thursday over Georgia Tech at Purcell Pavilion.
AMY ACKERMAN | The Observer
Irish sophomore guard Lindsay Allen pushes the pace during Notre Dame’s 89-76 win over Georgia Tech on Thursday at Purcell Pavilion.
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DOME nuts | ALEXANdrIA WELLMAN
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Win falls flat for McGraw
Coach praises Reimer but expresses disappointment with team’s overall defensive effort
By MARY GREEN Sports Editor
No. 6 Notre d ame may have come away with a win over g eorgia Tech on Thursday, but coach Muffet Mc g raw was far from satisfied with her team’s performance.
“It is about how you play and the attitude that you have, the toughness that you show, and we did not show any toughness today,” she said after the 89-76 victory at Purcell Pavilion. “We had no pride in our defense whatsoever. I was extremely disappointed with the defensive effort, the rebounding effort.”
The Irish (18-2, 5-1 ACC) jumped out to an 18-point lead over the yellow Jackets (12-8, 2-4) midway through the first half, but g eorgia Tech gradually cut that advantage to seven points at halftime.
Notre d ame did not struggle much offensively, shooting 56.5 percent from the floor, but it did have trouble
stopping the yellow Jackets, who shot 50 percent for the game and notched 40 points in the paint.
“The only reason we won the game was because we outscored them, and it looked like that was our mentality,” Mc g raw said. “We are just going to try to outscore them. We are not gonna try to stop them, and that is not acceptable.”
Junior guard Jewell Loyd paced the Irish with 29 points, hitting all nine of her freethrow attempts, and seven assists.
Sophomore forward Taya r eimer grabbed eight rebounds, and Notre d ame squeezed by in the battle on the boards, 34-30.
“I thought Taya r eimer did a great job on the defensive glass,” Mc g raw said. “No one else did their job. It was extremely disappointing to watch.”
ND offense rolls in road win against Hokies
By BRIAN HARTNETT Managing Editor
After playing down to the wire in its last five conference games, No. 8 Notre dame gave itself some breathing room on the road Thursday, riding hot 3-point shooting to earn an 85-60 victory over Virginia Tech at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Virginia.
With the victory, the Irish (18-2, 6-1 ACC) are off to their best start since the 1973-1974 season when Notre dame won 23 of its first 24 games. Notre dame is also off to its best conference start since the 2002-2003 season, when the Irish jumped out to 6-1 in Big East play.
“I thought we really focused,” Irish coach Mike Brey said in a postgame interview with u N d.com. “… Our defense was great both halves; we were in a really good offensive rhythm.
“… Some of our transition decisions were just beautiful basketball. I just don’t think a lot of teams can play like us.”
Notre dame shot 49.2
Dame’s 75-70
hOCkEY
Irish travel after strong home stand
By BRIAN PLAMONDON Sports Writer
Notre d ame looks to build off a strong performance last weekend when it travels to Boston for a pair of hockey East games against Northeastern.
Notre d ame (10-11-3, 5-23 hockey East) is coming off a 1-0-1 weekend in a homeand-home series against Connecticut, in which senior defenseman robbie r usso netted four goals and earned hockey East Player of the Week honors. h is hat trick, part of a 6-1 Irish victory Sunday, was the first by a Notre d ame defenseman since 1988. r usso’s 24 points now give him the season lead among all defensemen nationally.
“I just think [ r usso] is finally playing up to his potential,” Irish coach Jeff Jackson said. “Sometimes it takes kids a little longer. It’s really about him taking the responsibility of his ability level.”
The Irish now turn their attention to Northeastern, a team looking for its first NCAA tournament appearance since
2009. The huskies (8-11-4, 4-7-2 hockey East) return to action after also going 1-0-1 this past weekend against No. 12 Vermont. Jackson said he believes the huskies have gotten back into the right mindset after a tough start to the season.
“I think the biggest thing is that their goaltender [redshirt senior Clay Witt] is playing more like he did last year,” Jackson said. “That’s a big part of it, since preseason he was considered one of the top goalies in the country coming back.”
Witt, a hobey Baker Award candidate last year after sporting a 2.37 g AA, is just 5-6-2 this year while carrying a 2.75 g AA.
The huskies strongest play this year has come from their forwards, as sophomore forward d alen hedges finds himself tied for third in hockey East with 16 assists. Junior forward Kevin roy has been a catalyst as well, adding 12 points on the power play, good for a tie for first in the
AMY ACKERMAN | The Observer
Irish junior guard Jewell Loyd drives against two Georgia Tech defenders during Notre Dame’s 89-76 win Thursday at Purcell Pavilion. Loyd led the team with 29 points and seven assists.
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
Irish senior guard Jerian Grant drives in traffic during Notre
