Dec. 19, 2014
For those of you who just months ago feared our men’s basketball program was adrift, I believe you would agree that far from that, we are extremely entertaining to watch and not too shabby, even with our freshmen-sophomore domination. Come see for yourself. In sports, recoveries can be as near as a new player or two or a group of guys maturing together. You might keep this same thought in mind when pondering the state our football program.
The SEC Network has been up and operating for about four months. As many of you know, there is the linear network (i.e. television) and the digital, SECN+, which live streams over your computer. We have been putting our non-televised basketball games – both men’s and women’s – on the SECN+. Our partners at ESPN tell us that the average streamed football game had about 11,000 viewers online at any given point in the game and so far the most watched men’s basketball games are attracting just over 8,000 unique viewers a game.
Did you notice that our department once again sent a contingent of student-athletes on an international service trip with Soles4Souls?Thirteen student-athletes and two staff members were in Costa Rica for eight days just before Christmas. In the summer of 2013 we had sent a similar group to Tanzania and it was wildly successful, changing how many of our group will think about the world for the rest of their lives. For those who wonder how we can pay for such a trip, the funds come from a special Opportunity Fund provided by the NCAA to member institutions.
Former Vanderbilt media relations staffer Leigh Torbin now works at Notre Dame and will be in town over the holidays with his Irish football team at the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl.
We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and will reconnect in 2015. Anchor Down!