Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/109499
Under the Dome Field, And Arena, Of Dreams In the January 2013 edition of Stadium Journey magazine's top 101 stadium experiences for 2012, Notre Dame was one of three universities to have two facilities ranked. The Compton Family Ice Arena, christened in October 2011, was ranked No. 3 overall, and first among all hockey arenas in the nation. Notre Dame Stadium, dedicated in 1930, was ranked 20th overall. Only Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium (No. 8) placed higher in college football. The top five were Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis Colts/NFL), Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox/MLB), Compton Family Ice Arena, the Daytona International Speedway and the Xcel Energy Center (Minnesota Wild/NHL). Joining Notre Dame as the only schools with more than one placement were Texas A&M with Kyle Field (No. 56) and Reed Arena (No. 69), and Wisconsin with Kohl Center (No. 61) and Camp Randall Stadium (No. 82). Stadium Journey visited 1,225 stadiums and arenas around the country and utilized the FANFARE scale that takes into account the food and beverage at the stadium, overall atmosphere, the neighborhood in which it resides, the access outside and inside the stadium, and return on investment, while also allowing room for "bonus points' for unique features. Seven categories were rated one through five, and then the scores were averaged. The Compton Family Ice Arena received a 4.9 score while Notre Dame Stadium had a 4.6. Irish Send Eight To NFL Combine It was announced Feb. 7 that eight invitations to the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine were extended to former Notre Dame players. Center Braxston Cave, tight end Tyler Eifert, defensive end Kapron LewisMoore, safety Zeke Motta, running back Theo Riddick, safety Jamoris Slaughter, linebacker Manti Te'o and running back Cierre Wood were among a total of 333 players asked to participate. The Fighting Irish boasted six players invited to last year's event. The combine runs Feb. 20-26 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and will be broadcast on the NFL Network. Lewis-Moore, who underwent knee surgery last month to repair a torn anTyler Eifert terior cruciate ligament in his right knee that he suffered in the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama, will not be able to take part in physical drills, though it's likely he'll be in attendance for interviews with general managers and coaches. Slaughter, who had a torn Achilles tendon surgically repaired in September, isn't expected to participate in most physical tests. It also depends on what he hears from the NCAA concerning his appeal for a sixth year. The eight invites are the most for Notre Dame since 2002, when Notre Dame produced 10. Florida State and LSU both had 13 players invited, followed by Georgia (11), Alabama (10) and Florida (10) and Notre Dame. — Wes Morgan