Finally, football is upon us (LOTD 8/10)

Finally, FINALLY, fall practice has started, and you can almost smell the grass of Notre Dame Stadium in the fall. Frankie V, at UHND, has an update on what went down. Also, kudos to Frank and Kyle on the new site design.

Armando Allen looks disappointing early on, "going through the motions a little too often", which shouldn't really surprise anyone. On the other hand, Theo Riddick looks very impressive. Robert Hughes is injured again, which is a bummer, since I fully believe he is the best back we have. Te'o looks like a deisel in pads, and looks very athletic for a linebacker. The kid could be great. Another freshman, Shaq Evans, looks to be a threat in goalline situations, as his size could be to our advantage, and we know how much Weis loves to throw the fade down by the goalline.

Former Irish great Jeff Samardzija will start for the Cubbies on Wednesday. Samardzija could prove ot be a good fifth starter for the Cubs down the stretch, and but it wouldn't surprise me to see him return to the bull pen if the Cubs make the playoffs. I have to say, the decision to go with baseball over football seems to be working out well for Jeff. His ascension to the majors in quick fashion is very impressive.

The Onion, in the way that ponly the Onion can, has a funny story up on Brady Quinn.

Browns quarterback Brady Quinn announced Wednesday that he had been staying up all night to prepare for the written portion of the starting QB competition by learning the history of the Cleveland Browns, studying football vocabulary words, and memorizing all the symbols in the playbook. "I'm really organized and feel equipped to answer the toughest true or false, multiple choice, and fill-in-the-blank questions," said Quinn, who was spotted using a flashlight to study underneath the sheets of his training-camp bed.

It's a short story, but worth a read.

Finally, some non-ND news: Matt Barkley, the wunderkind QB at USC, is apparently pushing Matt Corp for snaps. Barkley held his own against Corp and Mitch Mustain (HA!) in "vigorous" throwing drills at USC's first practice. Petey Poodle was muddled in his response to the QB situation:

'Barkley is a whole big leap ahead of where he was, and that's what we need to see,' Carroll said. 'You guys will keep asking me, and I'll keep saying the same thing. Right now, Aaron is in the lead position, and we'll keep coming out here.'

That's all for today Blarneys. Site news may be coming soon, and there's a possibility of a constest (!) as we head into the season. Stay tuned.