Confirmed: an announcement is expected later tonight about whether ND will even play in the Insight Bowl. If they back out, it could result in there not being enough bowl-eligible teams!! If they do play, it’s ‘unlikely’ Ty will coach the bowl.

This reporter says, if I understand her correctly, that it’s up in the air whether the team will even go to the Insight Bowl. But I have tickets, dammit! :)

Another shot of the tail end of things inside the press conference room. In other news, it appears neither Ty nor the players are speaking publicly tonight.

Local NBC affiliate live shot.

AD’s press conference over; head of football sports information John Heissel (?) answering questions.

Press conference underway. They just said something about ’substandard.’

audio post powered by audblog

They just handed us the statement that they’ll read inside. I’ll read it via audio blog momentarily.

A bunch of students with no hope of getting in are gathered around, watching the scene. ‘It’s like watching a beheading,’ one said.

The powers-that-be seem disinclined to let a mere blogger into the press conference room. Looks like you folks watching on TV will have a better vantage point…

The scene in the press conference room.

Satellite trucks at the Joyce Center for the press conference.

Grocery shopping postponed. I’m heading over to Joyce Center after class to try and get a glimpse of the press conference. Will try to Moblog.

Our CrimLaw class just voted, 20-18, that firing Ty was the wrong decision. At least two (including me) were undecided.

~12:50 PM: Tipped off via AIM by The Backer, who has sources inside the Sports Information department, ND blogger Robert Cox of The National Debate posts a “TND exclusive” announcing that Ty Willingham has been fired. (For unknown reasons, the timestamp on this post reads 1:37 PM, but Cox says he actually posted it sometime between 12:47 PM and 12:55 PM. He says he is “certain” it went up before The Backer’s post.)

12:52 PM: The Backer posts his own bulletin breaking the story. (His timestamp says 11:52 AM because he’s in Chicago.)

1:17 PM: The Backer leaves a comment on BrendanLoy.com saying “Ty has been fired!!!!”

1:22 PM: Blissfully unaware of The Backer’s comment, I post an already-obsolete bulletin about a planned “Call For Change” rally planned for Tuesday night, calling for Ty’s head.

Sometime before 1:27 PM: The official Notre Dame Athletics website posts a press release announcing Ty’s departure. Professor Dutile later told his CrimLaw class that this statement was originally scheduled to be released at 1:30, but early leaks forced them to release it early. I’m not sure if The Backer was the original “leaker,” or if there were others.

1:27 PM: NDToday.com member “stuhatesdisco” posts on the message board, “according to UND.com, Ty is gone.”

~1:30 PM: In Alan Gunn’s Torts class, word of Ty’s firing begins to spread. My roommate Chris gets an IM from his friend Freeman saying that ESPN TV just reported Ty has been fired. Two rows in front, at roughly the same time, another student gasps as she hears the news. Other students hear the gasp and start investigating. Within minutes, everybody knows.

1:32 PM: I post my initial bulletin.

1:33 PM: Kristine guest-blogs a second bulletin (having not yet seen my initial one).

~1:36 PM: I finally notice that the official press release announcing Ty’s firing is online at UND.com.

1:38 PM:, I post, “It’s official.” Various updates follow.

~1:43 PM: ESPN finally posts an article about Ty’s firing, placing it as the top story on the homepage.

So far as I know, BrendanLoy.com was the third website on the Internet — after The National Debate and The Backer — to have this story (when The Backer posted his comment at 1:17 PM).