The USC-UCLA rivalry is typically quite bitter, but if BoiFromTroy is to be believed, it seems this year’s Trojan-Bruin game will be unusually merry… downright jolly… you might even say… gay!

Under the circumstances, perhaps CNN anchor Anderson Cooper will come out (so to speak) to the Rose Bowl and support his fellow taxpayers.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. :)

You’d better watch out
You’d better not cry
You’d better wake up
those echoes on high [cuz]
Urban Meyer’s comin’ to town:

Wasting little time in its search for a new coach, Notre Dame will meet with Utah Coach Urban Meyer on Thursday, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions between Meyer and Notre Dame.

Notre Dame contacted Meyer, a former Irish assistant, on Wednesday, one day after it fired Tyrone Willingham. Meyer has also been contacted by Florida and Washington for their openings but has not been interviewed for either job.

The person said that if Meyer were hired by the Irish, he would still like to coach Utah in its bowl game, which is expected to be the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2. That decision would be made by Utah officials.

That’s from the New York Times. Hat tip: The Backer, who also has a good roundup of links to what they’re saying in Utah. Also worth reading on that front is Andy in Utah.

From the official ND Athletics website:

The University of Notre Dame’s football team will participate in the Dec. 28 Insight Bowl in Tempe, Ariz. - with current Irish defensive coordinator Kent Baer serving as the interim Irish coach.

That decision came tonight on the heels of the announcement yesterday that Irish head coach Tyrone Willingham would not be retained.

Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White met with a small group of senior players Tuesday to discuss the bowl situation - and then a larger group of seniors met on its own Tuesday. A full team endorsement came late this afternoon, with the understanding Baer would serve as interim coach. Other current Irish assistant coaches are expected to continue in their roles through the Insight Bowl preparation and game.

YAY!!! I still get to see them play!!! Bring on the Bruins!!!

P.S. But, um, the game is in Phoenix (at Bank One Ballpark), not in Tempe.

P.P.S. “Fiesta Bowl” headline fixed… sorry. :)

P.P.P.S. The New York Times adds this twist to the Kent Baer angle: “Baer will coach the Irish in the Insight Bowl unless he gets the vacant head coaching job at Utah State, his alma mater.”

“Do you really think your professor is going to ask an exam question about bestiality? I love to lie awake at night and conjure the bestiality question.” –USC Law Professor Charles H. Whitebread

We’re watching an annoyingly repetitive (but relatively useful… at parts) videotaped Bar/Bri pre-exam lecture for 1Ls on black-letter Criminal Law. I was going to turn off my wireless Internet connection while watching it, so I wouldn’t be tempted to blog… but the lecture is repetitive enough that I can take notes, then blog while the lecturer repeats himself five times, without missing anything. :) Anyway, here’s a photo of the girls in front of me, Toni and Rachel, watching it:

The videotaped lecturer is a rather, um, eccentric professor. I didn’t catch his name, but he said he teaches at USC. Everyone else in the room booed; I cheered and applauded. :) UPDATE: His name is Charles H. Whitebread, and here’s his USC homepage!

Here are some other photos of the last few days — including Professor Tidmarsh’s last tie of the semester (well, last of the semester in our CivPro class, anyway):

Over in my Ty fired gallery, a couple of photos of people watching Willingham’s press conference this afternoon:

Here’s a sound clip (648 KB) of the last 60 seconds of Brokaw’s final Evening News.

Bowl game is 100% set, according to local South Bend TV and radio, as quoted on the NDNation boards. I also think I just heard ESPN TV confirm this, though I missed the beginning of the sentence so I can’t be certain.

Another NDNation posting points out that if Urban Meyer comes to ND, his last game with Utah will probably be against Pittsburgh, and his first game with Notre Dame will be against… Pittsburgh.

It’s a back-door draft — of robots!

Oh, the humanity circuitry!

Tonight.

DRUDGE TO WORLD: “I ROCK!”

DEVELOPING…

Some people are just shameless. LOL.

At least it’s comforting to know that there’s at least one website out there that’s more narcissistic than mine… :)

Help Brooke name her bike!

Here’s the Observer’s take on the news.

A large crowd has gathered in the law-school lounge to watch Ty’s press conference.

The South Bend Tribune is now reporting that, according to Notre Dame tight end Anthony Fasano, the Irish will play in the Insight Bowl, and defensive coordinator Kent Baer will be the interim head coach. This corroborates previous rumors. Still no official word from the university.

In other news, ex-coach Ty Willingham is having a press conference at 4:00 PM, according to The Backer. I won’t be watching (let alone attempting to attend) this time, but it will be televised on ESPN News and WNDU, and broadcast over the Internet from the ND athletic website.

And with that, I’m off. Much work to do.

I’ve updated my Ty timeline to reflect the fact that Robert Cox of The National Debate was actually the first to break the story of Willingham’s firing yesterday. BrendanLoy.com was, to my knowledge, the third website on the Internet to feature the news, after TND and The Backer.

Also, TND has now posted an AIM transcript of the conversation in which The Backer tipped him off to the big news. This took place between 12:47 and 12:50 or so — 40-plus minutes before the press release announcing Ty’s firing was due to be released. The Backer is “NDgramps27″; Robert Cox is “Erasmus TND.” Excerpt:

NDgramps27: hey, ND student protest today at 5:30 … C4C Rally … Call for Change, get rid of Ty

Erasmus TND: really?
…

NDgramps27: now Im gettin word…that I should watch Ty’s press conference
…

NDgramps27: TY WAS FIRED

NDgramps27: HE WAS JUST FIRED~!!!!!!W

NDgramps27: my personjust told me

Erasmus TND: what

Erasmus TND: come on

NDgramps27: i just got the word

NDgramps27: from [my contact]

Erasmus TND: is this solid?

Erasmus TND: he has a bowl game coming up

NDgramps27: Im pretty sure … the press release should be coming out very soon

Erasmus TND: wow

NDgramps27: it has been confirmed

This began the posting frenzy. … and, eventually, the early release of the official announcement (1:27 at the latest, possibly as early as 1:10 or so), since the story had leaked already.

Witness, ladies and gentlemen, the blogosphere in action. :)