Hendrix "nearly" commits, Pep Rallies are in doubt, and Manti Te'o's impact as a frosh (LOTD 6/9)

Big news of the day actually comes from a headline (that's the crack reporting your used to). IrishIllustrated has a story up with the headline "Hendrix nearly commits to Irish". Rejoice!... sort of.

So let the speculation commence. It obviously isn't a verbal commitment, but it appears to be good news all the same. The Irish are looking to take at least one elite commitment this year, though I don't think they would turn away Hendrix or Nick Montana if both were to want to commit to the Irish. There's a few scenarios that present themselves with this news:
1) Hendrix does in fact commit, giving the Irish their QB for the class of 2010. Weis shuts down QB recruiting and Montana goes elsewhere.
2) Hendrix does in fact commit, Montana wants on board as well, and Weis takes the two, similar to what he did with Zach Frazer and Demetrius Jones (hopefully with much better results).
3) Hendrix does not commit, the Irish get Montana.
4) Hendrix does not commit, Montana goes elsewhere, Weis is left scrambling.

1 and 2 seem the most likely at this point. I would take either. Scenario 4 is the one to be most worried about, though it seems the least likely at this point. Either way, Ohio State has apparently heavily backed off of recruiting Hendrix at this point, which points to good things happening. I would assume the Buckeyes will now put the full-court press on Montana, though Nick has a lot of interest from plenty of other big name schools.

In all honesty, I would expect a commitment to come from Hendrix in the next couple of weeks (based on the news). The longer it drags on the worse things get for the Irish, and Charlie has said that a soft commitment means a recruit is looking and so are we.

Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick is trying to figure out what to do about pep rallies for the upcoming season. The Friday night pep rally used to be held at the Joyce Center, but that option is no longer available with the renovations being done to the JACC. Swarbrick told the Journal-Gazette's Michael Rothstein, "[We're]Trying to figure that out right now, what the alternatives are. I think we'll probably do a number of different things."

A lot of other bloggers have commented that they would like to see fewer pep rallies, mainly for the big games and not for some of the lesser opponents. I understand the point of view for those who regularly attend games, but as someone who went to one game at Notre Dame Stadium, I disagree. The Friday pep rally was a big part of the football weekend in South Bend, and for many others who make the pilgrimage once or twice a decade, the pep rally is a great part of the experience. I hope Swarbrick can figure something out, even if it is a scaled back version of what we're used to. I'm pretty sure of one thing. The USC pep rally will probably be in the Stadium, similar to 2005. That's just a hunch though.

Everyboy's favorite group of hack journalists, CollegeFootballNews.com, had a roundtable with the subject "Who does less with more?" My first thought was CFN itself, considering they have the resources for Rupert Murdoch and the talent of Rupert Bear, but apparently that's not the case.

The roundtable was split between the Irish (surprise!) and the Clemson Tigers. I can see Clemson making the list, but the Irish haven't exactly been playing with a full cupboard the past two seasons, and if you look at Weis' results when the talent was there, you will find two BCS bowl games. But we've come to expect this from CFN. The story was just another chance to take unwarranted shots at Notre Dame, which might be the only thing CFN is actually good at.

HeismanPundit recently posted a list of freshman he thinks could make an impact on the field in 2009. One name was left off the list: Manti Te'o. HP addressed that yesterday.

A few commentators have asked why I don’t have incoming Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o on my list of impact freshmen. The reason is because I don’t think he will be much of an impact freshman. I think he will have an adjustment year and be much better as a sophomore. Honestly, I was never super impressed by him in the first place (yes, I know, internet gurus say he’s the No. 1 LB). I am prepared to eat crow later on over this…

HP appears to be the only person I've heard from that is NOT impressed by Te'o. It could be because the linebacker didn't select his beloved USC Trojans when making a commitment, or maybe he just sees something everyone else hasn't. I personally think Te'o will have an impact next year, whether as a contributing member of the linebacking corps or as a freshman starter. I guess only time will tell.

In the only non-ND related story of the day, the SUPERFANS have gone the Chris Weinke route in trying to find their new quarterback. BC received a verbal commitment from 25-year-old former baseball player Dave Shinkskie yesterday, and Shinskie will apparently be on campus for summer drills.

Shinskie has spent the past 6 years in the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays minor league farm systems. He was released by the Jays this year and decided to go out for football, which he played in high school for Mount Carmel HS in Pennsylvania. Shinskie had some interest from schools out of high school, including BC, Indiana, Iowa, and Temple, but decided to try baseball when he was selected in the 4th round of the 2003 draft by the Twins. This time around he had interest from BC, Temple, Rutgers, and Pitt. Shinkskie has four years of eligibility left, so he will be 29 or 30 when he finishes up at BC.

Alright, that's all for today. A Sparty preview will be up in the next day or two. Stay tuned.