Sky Writing | by Pat

First off, thanks to Jon P. for suggesting the name Sky Writing in lieu of BGS Bits. We're just days away from game week (and those position previews aren't writing themselves), so here's a quick rundown of some interesting stories from the past week or so.

• Weis knows who the starting QB is...but we're all still going to have to wait. I was in the Clausen camp all summer, but now I'm leaning towards Jones. Which means it will probably be Sharpley.

• John Sullivan is the 5th Captain. Sully was just named by the coaches as a team captain for 2007, joining John Carlson, Mo Crum, Travis Thomas, and Zibby. Congrats to Sully.

“The coaching staff has unanimously decided we’re adding a fifth captain to the team this year," Weis said. "Sully, you’re it. We feel that in the absence of Quinn, not only have Travis and John done their part, but since you’re the center of our offensive line and through this entire training camp have been part of our offense, we can’t see any better way to honor what you’ve done for us. Call it a coaches’ choice, even though you’re a pain in the butt.

• Four more scholarship were awarded. With one final year of low rosters numbers, Weis had four extra scholarships to give out to walk-on players and that's exactly what he did. The deserving four are long snapper J.J. Jansen, who earned one last year too, backup center/guard and Northwestern transfer Thomas Bemenderfer, and defensive backs William David Williams and Wade Iams. Williams and Iams were highlighted by Charlie for maintining a 3.9 and 4.0 GPA respectively. Very, very impressive. I highly suggest you read the transcript of Charlie's talk with the team as reported on Ben Ford's eTruth blog.

• Gate D of the Stadium has added a display of former national championship winning coaches. This continues the project to highlight a different aspect of ND football at each gate of the stadium.

• With Comcast still fighting the Big Ten over the rollout of the Big Ten Network, they have added a Notre Dame section to their On Demand service (for Chicago, Michigan, and Indiana). It will feature player and coach interviews for all sports, football practice videos, press conferences, and the Jack Nolan hosted pre- and post-game shows.

• As the high school football season kicks off, there are a few articles featuring ND commits, including Kyle Rudolph, Robert Blanton, Omar Hunter, Hunter again, Hunter as deep thinker, Braxston Cave, John Goodman, and Darius Fleming.

The quick version? Rudolph is predictably called "Rudy", Blanton is in ROTC, Hunter already bench presses 415 pounds, Cave wants to be the nastiest center in the nation, Goodman has been selected to the U.S. Army All-American game, and Fleming is a better bowler than you.

Around the ND blogosphere...

Irish Round Table puts out their annual tailgating Irish Mix Tape (part I and II). IRT also takes a look at the ND-Tech matchup through the lens of recruiting stars. Marco is whipping himself up into his normal frenzy. Her Loyal Sons has a fantastic interview with ND radio legend Tony Roberts. Very cool. OC Domer does an excellent job breaking down the first game as a starter results of every ND QB since 1963. I was a bit surprised at the outcome.

And finally, make sure to bookmark NDLNA, the Notre Dame Latest News Aggregator. It's an extremely well-designed site that serves as your one-stop shop for the most recent stories and blog posts about ND and the Irish. And with the digg-style user voting, the best stories of the day are easy to pick out.