This isn't the first time Digger Phelps has gotten his groove on, and it will most certainly not be his last. During Gameday, at Clemson University on Saturday, Digger decided it was high time to walk it out with a cheerleader, and here is the clip (wait until the 2 minute mark for it to get good)....

Obviously that little choreography was planned out in advance. I mean Digger couldn't know all of the lyrics to a Kelly Clarkson song, could he?

ESPN Analyst Digger Phelps Gets Down At Clemson Game (Palmetto Scoop)

NESW Sports came across a hilarious video of Dick Vitale yesterday, that I just had to share. Not only does Dick Vitale actually try to play The Temptations' "My Girl" while on the air, but he dances to it, and actually brings out Digger Phelps' ego....

No way! 66,000 hits, Digger!? That's unheard of on Youtube....that has to be some kind of record or something. Oh and Dick, you might want to try and test the levels next time. Pretty sure no one could hear the song on that one.

Dick Vitale Dancing, and Digger Phelps is a Narcissist, Video (NESW Sports)

If there was one thing I never thought I'd write on this site, it was Dick Vitale getting into an on-air spat with a Duke alum. Not only that, but that he was even so fired up that he actually used the quote, “you went to Duke, you must be right." You have no idea how great this clip is....best five minutes I've ever spent in my life. Sorry, but I just really had to get that out there before posting it. Enjoy! Via College Hoops Journal....

Actually, I take that back....Digger Phelps saying, "Dick, let's get realistic," is my new goto phrase. Good lord he got owned during that segment didn't he? To tell you the truth, I would have let in St. Mary's before Arizona, but the dynamic duo of Jay and Digger convinced me otherwise.

Now if Digger could only explain how he has Pittsburgh playing Xavier in the Regional Final, I'll be convinced he's the Messiah....


Bilas and Vitale Go At It Over Arizona/St. Mary’s Debate (College Hoops Journal)
Digger Makes Some Interesting Picks (DC Sports Bog)

We've known for some time, that Digger Phelps is an interesting character, but I think this video from Bruins Nation makes him officially a wack job. Here is Digger breaking it down before the UCLA-CAL game yesterday....

Interesting technique to say the least. I'm pretty sure "Dancing With The Stars" won't be beating down his door to give him a spot next season.

Digger Phelps A Wimpy Tool (Bruins Nation)

Hilarious moment following the Marquette-Notre Dame game last night, and amazingly it involved Digger Phelps again. While it's not his fault, maybe it's just time that they stop talking about Notre Dame when he's around. Watch closely during this discussion of the game for a very interesting stat that decides to show up seemingly out of the blue....

Hilarious. Those trades went down in what, July of last year? I don't know how someone could have possibly pulled such an old graphic, but I'd love to see more of this. Just try and throw random people off at times. During a Stephen A. Smith interview, you could put up the old reel of Nancy Kerrigan crying after being hit with the lead pipe. How about airing the tale of the tape for Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas, when NFL Live is discussing Bill Belichick?

The possibilities are really endless, and hilarious!

(Thanks to HK for the clip)

There are a lot of unfunny things that are said during broadcasts, but Digger Phelps might have just taken the cake this past weekend. During the College Basketball version of Gameday on Saturday, Rece Davis commented on a green carnation that Phelps was wearing in honor of the show being at Notre Dame University. Of course Digger couldn't just say that he was wearing it because he used to Coach in South Bend. No, he decided to make a joke that he robbed a corpse at a funeral earlier in the day....

"This has been thirty five years old, this....yeah. I stole it from a grave yesterday, it was a funeral, I went and got it."- Digger Phelps

Not funny. There are certainly worse things that can and have been said, but that comment just made me sick to my stomach. Good job by everyone else on the set moving on, and not coming up with any tacky "Grave Digger" followup attempts at humor.

Now if you want funny, you need go not go any further than ESPN.com's unintentional headline in regards to the same game....



Mmmmmmm.....Steak. Now that's funny!

(Thanks to DH for the screenshot)

Cleveland State took out Syracuse with an amazing half court (plus) buzzer beater, and that's obviously the first video below, but the fun didn't stop there. Following that game, we get a hilarious look at Jim Boeheim taking his frustrations out on a microphone....

Great stuff. Even though Syracuse had no business tying that game, I can understand Boeheim's frustration. Mark Cleveland State down for an ESPY now, people!

Jim Boeheim Hates Mics! (NESW Sports)

Unlike the College Football version of the show, College Gameday for the NCAA Basketball season is planned out ahead of time. Actually five months in advance. ESPN passed around their travel plans for Rece, Digger, Hubert and Jay today and they've done a good job of coming up with completely new schools from last year. The crew will hit eight institutions starting with North Carolina on January 17th, 2009.

Here's the rest of the schedule. The primetime game that night will be in parenthesis.

Jan. 17- Chapel Hill, N.C. (Miami at North Carolina)
Jan. 24- South Bend, Ind. (Connecticut at Notre Dame)
Jan. 31- Knoxville, Tenn. (Florida at Tennessee)
Feb. 7- Spokane, Wash. (Memphis at Gonzaga)
Feb. 14- Madison, Wis. (Ohio State at Wisconsin)
Feb. 21- Austin, Texas (Oklahoma at Texas)
Feb. 28- Berkeley, Calif. (UCLA at California)
Mar. 7- Morgantown, W.V. (Louisville at West Virginia)

A good bit of variety there, but I thought it was good last year when they threw in a mid-major like Southern Illinois. The Saluki fans looked like the only student body that entirely filled the stands that early in the day. I'm also hoping for another quarterback or Football player to come hype the team before their broadcast ala Tim Tebow....

Tim Tebow Pumps Up The Gameday Crew (Awful Announcing)

I've really never hated or loved Digger Phelps, but the guy's incessant attempts at trying to be relevant are getting old. First he "tried" to run for President and now he wants to fill Notre Dame's open Athletic Director position....

II: What do you believe makes you qualified for the position?

DP: "I just think when you look at my whole life, I don’t know if you’ve read Undertaker’s Son but what you’ve seen what’s happened to me in my life’s journey, from politics to education to what I’m doing building homes now in New Orleans to carrying the torch that Father Hesburgh has inspired me as a President for 35 years, what Mother Teresa is a nun, he is as a priest. I think Hesburgh a living saint. He’s taught me to be more than just a basketball coach. He taught me from coaching basketball to coaching the streets. I just spoke to the one-year MBA students at orientation. Of the 60 students in that program, four are Notre Dame graduates which means 56 of the students are non-Notre Dame undergraduates, which is what Notre Dame wants in its graduate schools, the same thing Notre Dame wants in its two-year MBA program. I’m speaking at their orientation coming up in August.

"What this university does, especially through athletics as well as academics is to have that balance to where you make a difference in someone else’s life that you have the ability to do that. It’s more than just being accounted, it’s going into the community and making a difference doing that. The 20 years I coached here, the 56 guys who have played for me all graduated and they’ve gone on and become more than basketball players. They’ve given back to communities and that’s the real, true message of what Notre Dame is."

I think going into an interview and referencing your own book is a little weak, but I've gotten by with worse in interviews ("My greatest weakness? Well my greatest weakness is that sometime I'm just TOOOOOOO organized!). I guess it's not a bad answer, but just because I believe I can manage the Redskins Draft and Salary Cap better than Vinny Cerato (and I could).....doesn't mean I should get the job. Wait......

The ND AD Chronicles: Digger Phelps. Yep, He's Interested (Irish Insights)
Digger Phelps, Commander In Chief? (Awful Announcing)

Caught this clip right before the OSM last night and it cracked me up. Digger Phelps is trying to explain how Memphis fouling at the end of regulation would have helped them and that they didn't need a timeout to set up their defense. Jay Bilas and Bobby Knight disagree. Watch as Digger slowly starts to lose it...

I absolutely love it when people get into a heated argument about two completely different things. The best part is that they got back into it after the break and the whole debate started all over. Also, Bobby Knight's reaction is priceless. Everyone starts to laugh it off, but he just looks fed up.

It's been a long month Bobby, you really think you deal with Digger on a full time basis?

So at halftime of the MSU-OSU game on ESPN they decided to give a live look-in of the USC-TENN game. South Carolina hit a basket to go up one and Tennessee decided to call timeout. What happened next almost made me cry I was laughing so hard....

Ha....I love how Digger is looking at Hubert and John Saunders like they're crazy and they're doing the same in return. The only problem I have is that Saunders and Davis seemed scared to call him out. Tell him he's an idiot if he's acting like one.

Too funny.

I don't know if Digger thought he was back in the time of the Great Depression or what, but this hat just cracked me up....



That's just straight pimpin right there.

This video seems a bit too long at first but you have to stick around until the end when Digger throws the "come hither" finger motion at this KU cheerleader....

Not bad at all Digger. Was that the Lindy Hop or the Charleston?

Digger Phelps is a Dancing Machine (The Big Lead)

I'm not quite sure why Digger Phelps is THAT pissed about this, but I think he's definitely right. The quartet is discussing how some of the Indiana players skipped out on practice yesterday and what new coach Dan Dakich should do about it. Digger had already said that he would have benched DJ White when the fireworks start....

He almost looked ready to walk off set by the time Hubert Davis started laughing at him. Deep breaths Digger....deep breaths.

ESPN's Basketball version of College Gameday is set to kick off this Weekend and they have seemingly pulled out all the stops (not really) to let you know it's coming. I'm sure you've seen this ad on the "Leader", but if you haven't it's about the weirdest thing you'll ever see.....

What the hell was that? I always thought the name Digger Phelps sounded like an STD ("Did you get the results?", "Yes, and I've got the Digger Phelps."), but that's just scary.

Anyway, Rece Davis is your host and he's with analysts Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps and Hubert Davis in Gainesville, Florida this weekend. The Basketball version of Gameday consists of two one-hour shows leading up to Saturday Night's action with the first at 11am and another at 8pm leading up to the game at 9pm. Here's the rest of the schedule for the Season.....

January 19- Kentucky at Florida
January 26- Creighton at So. Illinois (ESPN2)
February 2- Arizona at UCLA
February 9- Georgetown at Louisville
February 16- Michigan State at Indiana
February 23- Tennessee at Memphis
March 1- Kansas State at Kansas
March 8- North Carolina at Duke

Not only is our friend Digger Phelps running for President, he's also going to be the lead in a play entitled "Love Letters". Via Wikipedia....

Love Letters is a play by A. R. Gurney. Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, it centers on just two characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepiece Ladd III. Using the epistolary form sometimes found in novels, they sit side by side at tables and read the correspondence - in which they discuss their hopes and ambitions, dreams and disappointments, victories and defeats - that has passed between them throughout their separated lives. It is only at the sad ending that they realize they were really love letters all along.

Sounds moving actually, and cute. I've been to one play in my life (Camelot starring the late/great Robert Goulet), so if anyone's seen it please tell me if there's a love scene. Also, if you're in NYC this Saturday be sure to check Digger out!

(Many thanks to Justin for sending the lovely photo above!)

Great find by the guys at Lion In Oil this morning. Digger Phelps just penned a book about his year as a coach called "Undertaker's Son: Life Lessons From A Coach". Now I have nothing against DP, I think he loves the game of Basketball and I'm sure he portrays that in the hardback. There is one thing non Basketball item though that strikes LIO and myself as odd....

Head basketball coach of Notre Dame at age 29, a position he held for more than two decades with a 100 percent graduation rate, an attention-getting figure in President George H. W. Bush’s anti-drug program, part-time ambassador, a nationally adored ESPN commentator, and a possible Presidential candidate, Richard “Digger” Phelps has done it all.

Presidential Candidate?!?!?!?! How random is that? And what exactly is "an attention-getting figure"? I have thousands of questions that I don't think will ever get answered, but I think I might vote of this combo...

DIGGER-GOTLIEB '08


Digger Phelps...For President? (Lion In Oil)
This Weeks Sign Of The Apocalypse (The New Republic)