And the Emmy goes to...

Well the hard work finally paid off, and I got my first Emmy. Well, second if you count my beautiful wife Emily. I had 3 nominations going into Saturday, however, lost 2 in a crowded group of talented players. Two of the nominations were in producing categories, one was for stricktly editing. I won in the Crime Program/Special, a producing category in which I was going head-to-head with a reporter/anchor I work with at Fox 2-WJBK. He's a really nice guy, loud....but really nice. The other producing category I had 3 others against me, and the editing category I was jam packed with 5 others. So, I'm glad I didn't come home empty handed. I have to give a lot of credit to the Executive Producer of the Macomb County Bar Association who supported myself, and my co-producer Charlie Langton. Rick Troy has let me drive the bus for a long time now, and it's paid off for not only Charlie and I, but also for the MCBA. Thanks Rick! I also want to say thanks to Mr. Ken Wyniemko, who was the basis for the program entitled "Price of Innocence". Ken spent 9 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit, finally being exonerated through the use of DNA testing. Hopefully there will be many more Emmys and other awards to come, stay tuned.

What a swell guy!

Weis was recently at a Chicago luncheon, talking about the upcoming fall camp, and how it would play out. This guy has all angles covered, even being as gracious enough to look out for the well being of my liver.

"When prognosticators say: 'How are you going to do this year?' Well, I'm not stupid enough to give that answer. Every time we play, my goal is to win that game. And I'm very short-sighted. … I'm only worried about Georgia Tech on September 2 at 8:08 (Eastern time). So if you're down there, time your drinking accordingly."

- Charlie Weis

The name is THE TOMMY Z

The results are in! Knowing that most people wouldn't pay $40 to see 4 rounds of Tom Zbikowski fight in his first pro boxing match, myself along with a team of scouts, have gotten the early reports. Good thing you didn't waste your money, because Tommy Z knocked out Robert Bell (the Ohio State fan) in 49 seconds. Yep, you read correctly, 49 seconds to see the Blue and Gold ripping him across the chin, just as fast as he ripped the ball out of Jason Teague's hands while playing Michigan State in 2002. Now remember, Tommy Z was almost 15 pounds lighter than this idiot Bell. Not that makes it a big deal, but the jackass kept referring to Z as "Rudy" at the press conference on Friday.

Not sure if you're seeing this, but this senior class is something special. Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija, and Tom Zbikowski (Quinn being the only name that most people can pronounce correctly) are not only putting up headlines as college football elites, but they are taking other sports headlines away as well. I'm sure the video will be on the net shortly. Stay tuned to Juniper Junction, but for right now read the fight notes on fightnews.com.

Update...ESPN.com has a more in-depth tale of the speedy fight. I will have the video, but not until August. Apparently, HBO is planning on broadcasting the fights on August 5th, at 7 p.m. as part of their World championship Boxing. However, HBO is not currently advertising the event on their website, but according to the MSG website it is.

More Zibby updates...back to the gridiron, Z was named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List, as the top defensive player. Makes sense.

Dreaming, I'm still dreaming...

Watch out Mark Prior, here come the IRISH! Today, Mr. Jeff Samardzija was picked up in the First Year Player Draft, Day One, pick number #149 by my favorite team, the Chicago Cubs. A little background baseball info on Jeff as a RHP, last month, Notre Dame Baseball Coach Paul Mainieri clocked Samardzija's fastball at 99 m.p.h. Holy shit! 99 m.p.h.! He also said that Jeff's fastball has been consistently in the 90's. This is good news for Cubs fans worldwide, because fucking Tommy John screwed up our last smoker. Remember the days of Kerry Wood, 20 some strikeouts in a game, well, hopefully Jeff will realize that he's the next Bo Jackson, and lead the Cubbies to a World Series. On the other hand, Jeff has made it public that he will not skip out on his last year of eligibility as the #1 returning WR for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. However, it probably looks like he will skip his last year as pitcher for 2007 Irish, and begin preparing for the NFL draft. Side note, Notre Dame got their ass kicked in this year's College World Series. Good reason not to come back. So unless he can handle the workload, we probably won't see him suit up in a Cubbies uniform anytime soon. Unless, the Bears pick him up in the draft, then maybe, maybe. Okay, I'll keep dreaming.

Jersey is Mine Bitches!

Weis has pulled in another BIG DOG! This time DT Justin Trattou from New Jersey. The NCAA might as well make a rule that only allows Charlie to recruit in the state, because the rest of the teams are just wasting their time. Trattou is listed as 6-3, 230, and some say he looks a lot like Michael Stonebreaker.

Mother of boy who called ND Play Dies

Cathy Mazurkiewicz, mother of the boy named Montana, who called the first play of the ND vs Washington game, as promised by Coach Weis, has passed away from melanoma. From what I've read, this woman chose to hide her disease, just so she could focus on Montana's inoperable brain cancer.

If you remember the story, ESPN put together a tear jerking package on the story of Montana, and how he died the day before the Washington game. Many of us fans didn't know why Weis would pass when they were backed up on their own 1 yard line, but later we found out that he was keeping his promise to "Pass Right", as wished by Montana.

For those of you who want to see the video, just click on the above title.

Research pays off

After what seemed to be seconds of searching on the internet, Juniper Junction has obtained these rare photos of Mr. Kevin McDougal. After getting shafted for the National Championship in '93, Kevin moved on to smaller, and worse things. Playing for the Arena Football league, and the one and done XFL. It's all Boston College's fault, bastards!

Rivals.com, Back to the future.

Apparently, Rivals.com is spending this summer tracking down some the college stars of the 80's and 90's. This week they've decided to focus on a past QB from Notre Dame that was famous. Is your mouth watering yet? You're thinking..."Yeah, what ever happened to Tony Rice, or what has Ron Powlus been up to prior to him returning to the team last year to assist the coaching staff?" Well, apparently Tony finally finished up his Masters degree at ND and has fled the country. And for good 'ol Ronnie, well the new Jenny Craig diet he's on this off season has kept him in the weight room rather than in the media room. What about Ricky Waters? Bobby Brown? Derrick Mayes? Bobby Taylor? Joey Getherall? What about all the rest of the great players in those two decades? Who knows. Instead they decided to focus on......Kevin McDougal. That's right. Of all the famous people in those 20 years, the best they could start off with was Kevin McDougal. I've got 2 questions for Rivals.com.

First, try doing a Google Image search of the name Kevin McDougal. The only thing you get that's even ND related is a signed ND helmet by him and a picture of ND's "Snow Bowl" game where Rick Mirer is at QB. Rick Mirer??? The bulk of the images are of some guy named Kevin McDougal that apparently played defense for Colorado State.

Ok...ok. Let's give Rivals.com the benefit of the doubt. Let's look at the ND record books. Ahhhhhhh, yeah. Kevin who?

Riiiiight. Way to start your story off on an exciting note Rivals.com. Wake me up when you do a story about Reggie Ho.