Don’t worry, everyone. I watched all the Trick Shot Monday videos I could find and analyzed them for your pleasure.
When you think about Notre Dame football, what typically comes to mind?
If you said ping pong balls, Gatorade cups, and a bunch of college kids going bananas once per week, then clearly you’re a fan of the still-pretty-young tradition of Trick Shot Monday.
In 2011, ND footballers Mike Golic, Jr., Jake Golic, Kapron Lewis-Moore, and John “Johnny G” Goodman decided to film themselves trying to bounce a ping pong ball off of their general surroundings in the locker room into a cup of water after a Monday practice. The resulting made shot, along with the spirited celebration immediately following it, were placed on YouTube by the Notre Dame football communications/marketing department, and the rest was history (if the history you’re learning about includes popular Notre Dame-related YouTube videos).
Now, fans love spending a couple minutes every Monday during football season – a day of the week typically spent tired and depressed because the weekend just ended – basking in the creativity and anticipation and goofiness of various members of the Notre Dame football team.
With that being said, I wanted to go through as many of these videos as I could find and do the most Buzzfeed-y thing (YOU WON’T BELIEVE #7!!!) I could by providing you all with the definitive rankings of Trick Shot Monday videos. For the record, there could be videos I missed, as I essentially searched for “Trick Shot Monday Notre Dame” on YouTube and watched three pages’ worth of videos before I got to a page where there were just a bunch of
Michigan Wolverines
posers trying to imitate the masters of trick-shot ping pong games. So, let’s get into it!!!
Next: Living On A Prayer
The Opposite of What I Was Looking For
Before we get into the good ones, I wanted to quickly shout out a couple videos that were just terrible displays of ping pong prowess.
You Give Love Trick Shot Monday A Bad Name
This is one of my all-time favorites, but I couldn’t have a clear conscience and put it in the top 10 Trick Shot Mondays because, well, I don’t think something qualifies as a trick shot if the shot is never made.
Jesse Bongiovi, walk-on cornerback and son of the owner of the Philadelphia Soul, John Bongiovi, is brought in for what the kids call a “celeb shot” on the Monday of USC week in 2013 (Beat SC!) after several of his teammates failed to make a shot.
Many probably doubted the young defensive back’s ability to hit a trick shot, but Jesse stepped up to the plate anyway, because it’s his life and he’s not going to live forever. He probably imagined he would hit his shot in a blaze of glory and feel like he’s lying on a bed of roses, but in retrospect it might have been better for him to runaway and have a nice day.
Nevertheless, Jesse tossed his greatest hopes to the heavens, living on a prayer as he hoped for a miracle. As the ball caromed off the wall and toward the Gatorade cup sitting precariously on the edge of the team’s Pop-a-Shot machine, Bongiovi was just trying to keep the faith and make a memory. Unfortunately, the ball was not on-line, and instead of going in the cup, it managed to deflect off of the cup and topple the vessel into the Pop-a-Shot, spilling the water prematurely.
The amount of times the Trick Shot Monday shot is made? Always. The amount of times this has happened? Well, let’s just say that young Jesse was wanted dead or alive by his teammates for what he did, as knocking over the Trick Shot Monday cup before a shot is made is akin to living in sin.
It was historic and momentous and will forever be remembered, but for all the wrong reasons. Jesse Bongiovi will go down as one of the most nefarious characters in Trick Shot Monday history, someone who was misunderstood but who clearly was someone we weren’t born to follow.
Next: Old People
Old Guys Playing
This was uploaded by “insidendfootball” and appears to take place at a Notre Dame football-sanctioned event – some sort of “fantasy camp” or something. So, I want to give it a quick shout out, because these guys, despite their best efforts to remain young (you still are at heart!!!!), just completely butcher what Trick Shot Monday should be.
The guys at this fantasy camp are in an orderly line, taking very stiff shots off the wall and trying to land the ball inside a blue Solo cup, instead of the iconic Gatorade cup the players always use. Then, the second guy to shoot steps up and hits his first shot, which should be cause for a jubilant celebration involving dumping the cup of water on someone, hooting and hollering for at least 20 straight seconds, and doing a hilarious post-shot interview with this guy who clearly played a few games of beer pong back in his day.
Instead, just a couple of the guys go nuts like they should (hats off to Bald Guy in White Shirt Who Jumps Forward Screaming Before Calmly Grabbing the Cup, and Two Guys in Blue Shirts Who Enthusiastically Go For A Double High Five from The Shotmaker) for just a couple seconds, and then faceless white-sleeved guy comes in, begins bouncing the ball on the table, and asks who has the next shot, completely oblivious to the fact that once a shot is made, it’s all over and it’s time to head to the training table. It’s just not what you want to see from Trick Shot Monday. I can’t consider it for the top 10.
Next: Honorable Mention
Okay, Now the Good Stuff – Honorable Mention
I narrowed down my favorites to roughly 16, so here are 6 that didn’t make the cut but had fantastic moments I wanted to briefly discuss because I’m too indecisive to exclude them.
Poignant Shot by Sports Medicine Kid
This Trick Shot Monday comes from just this past October, when the players were too distracted preparing for Temple to hit the shot, passing the reins to a young man named Anthony who appears to be a trainer, as his shirt indicates and also as Joe Schmidt calling him “sports medicine” indicates.
He takes the ball, confidently bounces it over multiple trainers’ tables, and then gives a delighted shrug as his shot drops into the cup and the players go wild. It’s also fun to find out that the training staff apparently has Benjamin Button on the payroll, which is both exciting and surprising.
DeShone With the Fresh Cut
There are just a couple things I want to mention here.
First, it’s both awesome and ridiculous that the football team has their own barbershop. It makes sense in some ways because of the amount of time they spend around the Gug and whatnot, but it’s still funny to think about them all lining up to get haircuts.
Secondly, the creativity of this locale and just the shot in general is pretty neat, so props to the squad on putting this one together.
Finally, DeShone’s celebration of pounding his chest like King Kong and asserting his dominance over his teammates is sensational, and I hope he can incorporate said celebration into future touchdowns – say, when he scores the game-winner against USC in the Coliseum to cap an undefeated regular season?
Torii Hunter Jr.’s Dominance Deserves A Shout Out
As I watched these videos, I tried to keep a running tally of how productive every player was. Obviously, players like Joe Schmidt and Romeo Okwara are going to put up big numbers, because they were the most recent regulars, essentially running the Trick Shot Monday show the past 3 years after the graduation of the Golics, Lewis-Moore, and Goodman. However, there was another player who really shined despite not constantly appearing in the videos – Torii Hunter, Jr.
According to my very possibly flawed statistics I accumulated in a hastily-made table in Google Sheets, Hunter was second only to Schmidt (9) in made shots with 6, and added 2 assists (tossed the shot that got headed/blown/knocked in somehow by another player) to boot. Thus, although I don’t think I picked any of the videos where he made a shot for the top 10, he was consistently the guy they called upon to make a tough shot that everyone else could not, so that everyone could go eat dinner.
That’s why I love this video, with the massive celebration and Hunter proclaiming “let’s eat!” over and over as he is mobbed by his teammates.
The Championship of Trick Shot Monday
This one just had to be mentioned. The Irish were in the ‘ship, the Trick Shot Monday guys are surrounded by cameramen and reporters, and Sam Ponder hits the Trick Shot Monday shot. This was the peak of Brian Kelly’s tenure as a coach, and I will stand by that forever and always.
Chuck Martin Swoops In for the Burn
Chuck Martin is now the head coach of Miami of Ohio’s football team, but back in the day, he was Brian Kelly’s offensive coordinator. And he made sure the Trick Shot Monday elites didn’t get too cocky about their abilities, as you will see in the two videos below. Chuck Martin rocks his two cameos here.
The indifference with which Chuck tosses that ball and walks off without watching it land? Legendary.
Absolutely savage. Gotta love his ability to keep these guys grounded.
I Miss Jamoris Slaughter So Much
There is no real need to watch this video past his opening line. It’s poetic, it’s profound, and damnit if it ain’t the perfect way to start off a Trick Shot Monday video. Jamoris Slaughter is the best.
Next: Start The Top 10 Already
TOP TEN, LET’S DO THIS
Alright, now that we have it down to my ten favorite, let’s just jump on in and start soaking up the trick shot tremendousness.
I reserve the right to have ranked these completely wrong, so feel free to comment your differences in opinions and I will probably just reply with sarcasm or links to funny GIFs.
10. Isaac Rochell – The One-Hit Wonder
Isaac Rochell probably has participated in various Trick Shot Mondays, but this was honestly the only one I can remember him doing anything noteworthy. And so that made me very excited when he drained his first shot with ease and then played it off as if he were expecting Trick Shot Monday glory the entire time.
As the video begins, the players appear to be in the game room at the Gug, and after one of the worst-ever attempts, both in skill and effort, by Romeo Okwara, Rochell takes his shot from outside the frame of the video and bounces his shot off the wall, into the cup, ending Trick Shot Monday almost before it started. Tyler Stockton’s reaction was equivalent to mine, and any time you can make me and/or Tyler Stockton scream with delight and awe, you’ve done well for yourself.
Rochell’s post-shot interview says it all, as he says “I just changed my life.”
Little does he know, though, that he just changed all of our lives, here in the audience, for having seen such a determined display of getting the team to dinner ASAP.
Bravo, Isaac. Bravo.
Next: MVG 4 Life
9. Just Start the Man Already
I penned an article back in late April about the answer to Notre Dame’s QB controversy, and explained with clear and persuasive facts that Montgomery VanGorder was that answer.
So, it was a no-brainer to get the one shot “Gummy” makes into my top ten list, especially considering it takes place in a stairwell and features a graceful header by the man, myth, and legend himself. The lead-up is full of tension as shot after shot narrowly misses the cup, until finally a toss from an unknown source is tapped home by a perfectly placed head of ginger hair.
The bedlam that ensues, with the camera shaking wildly as Gummy is treated like a king, brings you to your feet, and then the declaration that Gummy is “going to Disneyland” to celebrate this monstrous accomplishment just makes the entire video perfect.
Montgomery “Monty” “Gummy” VanGorder is a superstar, and it’s about time the coaches let him show it on the field. This is Exhibit Z as to why he deserves that chance.
Next: Oh Joe
8. Fortune Favors the Painstakingly Persistent
This video is amazing because it’s easily the longest amount of time the players have spent trying to make a shot, going for a very difficult one at Loftus. Unfortunately, the majority of the team gave up after awhile, leaving Romeo Okwara and Joe Schmidt, the unquestioned leaders of the past couple years’ worth of Trick Shot Mondays, to keep at it in tedious fashion until they finally hit the shot.
Before they do so, though, there are some great moments. Every time someone gets close to making the shot and the team gets excited, the band who is practicing on the Loftus field begins to cheer, leading to various false-alarm cheers from the instrument-toting masses. Later on, a shot by Okwara manages to get the ball stuck in the support beams, meaning the players have to obtain another ping pong ball.
The very next shot is a miss from Schmidt that Okwara fumbles on the rebound, inadvertently stepping on the ball immediately afterward, forcing the players to try to get the first ball unstuck since he destroyed the backup ball. After some finicking with some long poles, they are finally able to get the stuck ball down and continue on their Trick Shot Monday Marathon.
According to the video, 45 minutes pass before finally, with great relief and frustrated enthusiasm, Okwara bounces a shot from on-high off of Schmidt’s waiting head and into the cup, ending the session. Okwara’s pumped-up celebration and the band’s finally-the-right-time cheering is a fantastic pay-off for the longest, most arduous Trick Shot Monday we have ever seen.
Oh yeah, and then Joe and Romeo simulate a fencing match against each other for some reason.
Magnificent.
Next: Johnny Be Good Man
7. Johnny G Makes History
When I attended Notre Dame, John Goodman was in the class just above me, and since he played five years in an Irish uniform, we had the fantastic opportunity to see four years of the man we only knew in our friend circle as “Johnny G.”
Let me clarify here, my friends and I did not know Johnny G personally, although a few of us did chant “Let’s go, ‘cers!” with him while leaving Finny’s on the night of graduation, bonding over our shared love for the Indiana Pacers. Nay, we instead just loved rooting for him, as he was a consistently decent wide receiver who rarely got the ball, except of course when he was setting the NCAA record for fair catches on punts or making one-handed catches on Everett Golson bombs during the 2012 undefeated season.
So, of course, this video means a lot to me, as one of my favorite players to root for drains the first-ever solo, unassisted shot of Trick Shot Monday, banking it off of the wall and setting his teammates ablaze with raucous cheers.
Brandon Newman is wearing a shirt with ice cream on it, Tyler Stockton is still wearing his helmet for some reason (all while clarifying that Trick Shot Monday occurs “only on Mondays”), and Cierre Wood inserts himself into the post-shot interview with an afro-pick in his hair, only to be made fun of by Johnny G for having nothing to say.
And then, Cierre comes back, looks into your soul as the audience member, and speaks the following words:
“This is a very compelling sport. If you are not of, you know, the tough-hearted, tough-spirited, tough-everything, do NOT try this game.”
Johnny G is clearly of the tough-everything, and so it was easy to include this video in the top ten. All hail Johnny G.
Next: ESPN Theft
6. College Gameday Chooses to Come to Trick Shot Monday
This is the first time Samantha Ponder stars in Trick Shot Monday, as College Gameday does a segment where she partakes in the now time-honored tradition the Monday before the 2012 Stanford game.
After Ponder snubs Golic Jr. on a handshake and talks a bit of smack while remaining untrusting that anyone will help her make a shot, she gets everyone started with the first shot of the evening, tossing the ball off the wall opposite the cup. Her shot is relatively close but not really a threat to go in the cup. We then see her attempt to head in a Jake Golic attempt, but to no avail.
Then, it happens. Calabrese shoots it off the wall. Cave gives it a standing header, and a kneeling Cierre Wood, always the opportunist, finishes it off with the simple header into the cup. The team mobs Wood, with Ponder caught up in the throng of bodies jumping and chanting.
Ponder then is instructed by Golic Jr. to dump the water cup in front of the camera, and she rudely but hilariously dumps it on his head instead. Then, not to be outdone at her own game, Ponder shoves Tyler Stockton out of the way mid-interview with Wood, who goes on to give a shout out to all the other players there, including a purposefully-butchered pronunciation of Okwara’s last name and calling Roby Toma “The Rugrat.”
Just a fantastic team performance in this video, earning a spot just outside the top five.
Next: Skunkbear Week
5. The Iconic Montelus Shot
Jerry West is the inspiration for the NBA’s logo, and for that he has been called iconic and legendary (as well as for his general basketball abilities).
Similarly, John Montelus will forever be iconic in the Trick Shot Monday league for this video, whose audio was subsequently used as the intro audio for this one and every week’s Trick Shot Monday video from then on.
The video itself is pretty typical. A shot is shot by Danny Spond, and Montelus finishes it off with a neat little header. Montelus’ header is even softer than most that we see, displaying an incredible amount of finesse for such a big man.
But the lead-up and celebration are what put this over the top. As the ball is in the air, a player who I think is cornerback Bennett Jackson says some fairly unintelligible words before seeing the ball bounce toward Montelus and shouting out fortuitously, “Joooooohn!”
The aftermath is anarchy, as this is one of the larger groups of players to take part in Trick Shot Monday and the squad is, how youths today might say, “lit.” Tyler Stockton (of course) begins to interview Montelus, who says “It feels great, man” before the video freezes, displays his name as the winner, and plays the kind of jingle you’d hear when you beat a level in Sonic the Hedgehog.
The rest of the video is alternate angles of the shot and celebration, and my earlier diagnosis of “lit” is confirmed, as the team proceeds to toss water on each other, scream into the camera, etc.
This Trick Shot Monday will forever be ingrained in the annals of Trick Shot Monday lore, as John Montelus earned himself something that all Trick Shot Monday competitors spend their careers searching for – immortality.
Next: Creativity
4. Creativity, Thy Name is Trick Shot Monday
This video is just awesome, as the guys really get creative at Loftus, using bleachers and something called a “Quick Goal” that just looks like yellow plastic in the shape of a foosball player.
That foosball player is bent backward and then launched forward by Schmidt as another player bounces the ball off of the top of the bleachers, looking to have the Quick Goal smack it backwards into the cup that waits on the middle bleacher.
After a few failed attempts used to calibrate the power and speed needed on both the shot and the Quick Goal-launch, the guys absolutely nail it and it’s just so rewarding and cool to see the ball go into the cup again and again and again.
Then, in the post-shot interview, Schmidt is his normal Schmidt self until the end of his speech, when he sends out a serious message to anyone who thinks they’re better than Trick Shot Monday. I don’t normally find Schmidt’s schtick too funny, but I really enjoyed this and hope anyone out there hating on Trick Shot Monday immediately started bawling out of fear and distress.
Finally, to finish out an awesome video, they interview Quick Goal, who has Micah Dew-Treadway’s face peaking through his head as he moves slightly but says nothing in response to Schmidt’s questions.
I love a player who doesn’t boast and shows humility, so that was really nice to see from the shot-maker, Quick Goal. What a guy!
Next: You Got IT
3. The ‘It’ Factor Personified
Jake Golic is one of the founders of the game. He is a first-ballot Trick Shot Monday Hall of Famer, and everyone in the sport respects him and what he has contributed to the community. So, when I was able to find this video of him banking a shot off the lip in the ceiling directly into the cup and then having one of the best celebrations to go along with that, I had to put it up there in my rankings. The man just has that intangible factor that makes him great. It’s hard to explain.
Golic picked the ball up off the floor, shot it with the utmost confidence, and then with a stoic look on his face, stood stock-still as his teammates picked him up and carried him around, as he remained expressionless and serious and goose-bump-inducing until the moment when his teammates nearly drop him. This entire party of greatness is then capped off by his strikingly honest interview where he tells the world that nothing was/is going through his head, because he’s very tired.
A true professional who acts like he’s been there before? I wouldn’t have expected anything less from one of the geniuses behind the idea for Trick Shot Monday. Well done, Jake.
Next: Stakes Are High
2. Tyler Stockton Gets Emotional
Tyler Stockton came into Notre Dame as a certified blue-chip prospect, but by the end of his career he was mostly just a decent backup defensive tackle and an incredible locker room presence for his teammates. However, this moment, during his senior season, erased any and all thoughts of fans that he “didn’t reach his potential.”
Stockton’s header of a Carlo Calabrese shot was nothing short of gorgeous, but what really makes the video so great is everything that follows. It’s utter chaos.
Stockton is screaming and pacing around, mobbed by teammates. Jamoris Slaughter, God bless his soul, is hobbling around on crutches in a display of complete bliss. Carlo Calabrese is proclaiming himself “Assist Master” and no one is even listening. Stockton shouts “It’s what I do!” as if he is majoring in shooting ping pong balls into Gatorade cups. It’s insanity.
And then the interview happens, and the whole moment goes from crazy to inspiring. Stockton details how it’s been a long four years, how he’s been there working on his game every Monday, and how he ‘s finally reached champion status. Close the video with a nice chant and some Cierre Wood dance moves, and you’ve just watched art, in ping-pong-shot-in-a-football-locker-room-YouTube-video form.
Thank you, Tyler Stockton, for giving us this treasure. We will always cherish it, now and forever.
Next: Game Changer
1. Justin Utupo Revolutionizes the Game As We Know It
This video grabbed the number-one spot because it’s simply better and more unbelievable than any of the other Trick Shot Monday videos.
A guest appearance from former running backs coach Tony Alford and several missed shots by various team members leads to, finally, someone bouncing the ball close to the cup and someone helping it get in there.
However, in the first take, we cannot see the ball go in, only seeing the ensuing celebration and wondering what happened. The players begin dog-piling on someone, and someone off-camera exclaims that they can’t believe what just happened, adding to the suspense for the viewer who just wants to see this glorious shot.
Finally, we get an angle from the front of the locker room and see a player throw the ball off the wall. It bounces near the cup, but begins to bounce away as it appears to be another harmless miss.
However, Justin Utupo lies in wait, eyeing the ball floating near his face. Without giving it a second thought, Utupo blows a nice gust of breath at the ball, altering its bounce path and pushing it perfectly into the cup of water. No one had ever blown a ball out of the air into the cup before. This was a complete and utter game-changer, and deserves the top spot just due to difficulty and, honestly, the fact that it will likely never be duplicated or topped.
The celebration was so wild for Utupo (rightfully so), he didn’t even attend his post-shot interview, instead allowing Brandon Newman and Mike Golic, Jr. to quickly sum it up in saying that Trick Shot Monday had reached a whole new level.
Next: Top Five Offensive Players Notre Dame Will Face in 2016
They were absolutely right, as Utupo permanently raised the standard for what a great Trick Shot Monday entails.
With this and all the other videos having been examined, I now pronounce you ready for the 2016 season of Trick Shot Monday. God bless and go Irish!