Miscellaneous Ramblings
- How did I let this get under the radar? Megan Duffy helped lead the US team to a gold medal in the 2005 University Games. Duffy was named a co-captain by her teammates before the tournament, responded by averaging 6.1 points per game, leading the team in 3-point percentage (8/12, .400), and picking up the second-most assists (15).
- For all of you Darrell Campbell fans out there, here's a nice little article about his thoughts and his mom's thoughts on Darrell's first game at Soldier Field. Unfortnately, Darrell's chances of making the Bears may be slipping. Originally, Chicago planned to carry him as a 5th defensive tackle (teams normally keep 4) due to his exceptional performance in training camp. However, his performance in actual games has been inconsistent so far. They and we may know for sure by 4pm eastern Tuesday, the day rosters must be cut down to 65.
- Two ND alums didn't survive the round of 65: Javin Hunter was released by the 49ers, and Vontez Duff by the Steelers.
- In other ND alum news, Carlyle Holiday is one of five people competing for the final two wide receiver spots in Arizona, while John Owens was traded by the Bears to Miami for linebacker Brendan Ayanbadejo. (Hat tip to reader Tara for keeping up on her ND alumni.)
- How long before people start throwing out completely inappropriate Katrina and the Waves comments? ("KATW" was famous for "Walkin' on Sunshine.")
- I've been wondering what GEICO stands for. Now I know, thanks to, of all places, The Bad Guys Won!, the story of the '86 Mets. In the book, a woman with insurance from the Government Employees Insurance Company tries to get money from Doc Gooden after he "allegedly" collides with the back end of her car.
Pitt Depth Chart Thoughts
It may be old news by now, by I did have a few thoughts on the depth chart for the Pitt game.- When it comes to college coaches, there's no set system for naming the positions. Here are Charlie's "variations on a theme" (with alternative names in parentheses): X, Y, Z receivers (SE, TE, FL), WLB - weak or "Will" linebacker and Apache LB (OLB), WS - weak safety (FS).
- The thing that stands out in that naming convention (now that were' all familar with the Apache positon) is the fact that the tight ends are labeled as Z receivers. This tells me that Charlie is going to do a lot more with them than just put them in a three-point stance next to a tackle.
- Travis Thomas will get a chance to redeem himself as the second string running back.
- Some outsiders had senior Brian Beidatsch as a starter on the defensive line. But, he instead will be backing up the very talented Trevor Laws, while Chris Frome will be the "second" end across from Victor Abiamiri.
- What isn't surprising is that Brandon Hoyte and Corey Mays will start at linebacker. What is surprising, somewhat, is that sophomore Maurice Crum, Jr. has played his way into the starting Apache spot, with Anthony Vernaglia as his backup.
- The last small surprise is Chinedum Ndukwe at the WS spot. As I mentioned in my season preview, seemed to be loaded at strong safety (Vernaglia, Tom Zbikowski, Chinedum Nduwke), but without a true free safety. Enter Ndukwe, hard-hitting former wide receiver. Let's hope that one year plus one summer of practice is enough experience at safety for him to keep the job.
Coming Thursday: The return of the ND Football Previews.
