Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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fighting words Wes morgan that���s the missing ingredient in order to be great. Watching the Fighting Irish men���s basketball team the last three years, though not a huge sample size, I have only seen one player that scared people ��� Ben Hansbrough. He���s probably most notorious for rubbing his own teammates raw. He could jaw with the best smack-talkers in the Big East Conference and wouldn���t back down from anyone. So when freshman forward Cameron Biedscheid was ejected at the end of a March 5 home stomping over St. John���s for getting in a fight with the Red Storm���s Sir���Dominic Pointer, it got a lot of Irish fans excited. It was a situation Biedscheid, who had zero points in the contest and who has struggled with offensive consistency all season, probably should have avoided. Aren���t we all kind of glad he didn���t, though? With one minute, 46 seconds remaining in a 26-point blowout, Biedscheid, as the youngster likes to do, exchanged words with Pointer during a St. John���s trip to the foul line. Pointer, already agitated and guilty of a flagrant foul against Irish senior forward Tom Knight minutes earlier, waited until a timeout was called on the other end of the floor to show Biedscheid what he thought of those comments, taking two big swings before the freshman retaliated with a counter punch. When the players were tossed, Biedscheid ripped off his jersey as he exited the floor. He didn���t technically start the fight, but he showed he���s not afraid to go toe to toe. The kid showed some spunk. ���I���m not going to tell one of my guys not to defend himself when something like that happens,��� Irish head coach Mike Brey said after the altercation, which led to Biedscheid���s suspension for the regular-season finale at Louisville. ���I told him, ���You did the right thing. I���m sorry you have to sit out.������ Brey even got a kick out of Biedscheid yanking off his jersey, revealing a tight undershirt and rookie frame that could use a lot more time in the weight room. ���I loved it,��� Brey said. ���He was pissed. He was pissed off. That���s OK. I love the kid. He plays with great emotion. We���re going to need him for the postseason.��� One day, preferably soon, Biedscheid���s shooting stroke will catch up to his mouth. When it does, he���s the kind of player that won���t hesitate to seize the opportunity to deliver the knockout blow. For now, he���s just trying to figure out his role and adjust to the college game. Longtime Notre Dame scribes in attendance that night couldn���t remember the last time an Irish player was ejected for throwing a punch. In general, that���s a good reputation for a program to have. But it���s also been a while since any member of the program drew a line in the sand. It might be the kind of shot in the arm Notre Dame needs heading into March Madness. ��� Assitant Editor Wes Morgan has been with Blue & Gold Illustrated since February 2011. He can be reached at wmorgan@blueandgold.com