Let’s face it: the rest of the month will be devoted exclusively to College Basketball. We can accept that. Hell, we even like it. It’s not exactly the major focus of Her Loyal Sons, but we’re flexible. Not Cirque Du Soleil flexible, but flexible enough to embrace this time of year and let it embrace us. As such, we’re starting a little NCAA Men’s BBall Tourney Bracket Game. Feel free to sign up and add it to your 4500 other bracket games.

Bracket Site: http://herloyalsons.mayhem.sportsline.com/e

Password: louholtz

What you get if you win: Nothing but the satisfaction of knowing that you understand the world of college basketball better than the 1000s 100s 10s several readers of Her Loyal Sons.

Who can play: Anyone. If you’re reading this, you’re invited. Hell, maybe you aren’t reading this. Maybe you just stumbled on the bracket site and guessed the game’s password. If so, good for you.

Good luck!

Update! If you’re having trouble joining and still want to play, email us at the address over on the right, and we’ll get you straightened out.

Share This

• Don’t Forget Your Bracketitis!
• This Reminds Me Of My Entire Life
• HLS Bracketitis: The Recurrence!

All 19 of our regular readers may have noticed that the site is being a bit “tricky” today like my hip. It’s not our fault. We have a feeling that one of the several 3rd party “widgets” we employ behind the scenes have broken due to the time change or stupidity. We just removed one of them, and suddenly the site works fine. Web 2.0 my ass.

UPDATE: Aha! It’s not our fault! Turns out our ISP GoDaddy has been having issues with Daylight Savings Time. GoDaddy: We hire really ugly, well endowed women for our marketing and idiots for engineers!

I’ve got a bad feeling about the likelihood that we’ll stay with GoDaddy.

Share This

• WSJ Unfairly Characterizes/Bashes ND Football in Headline
• The Urban Meyer Translator
• Urban Meyer Blames Someone Else for His Program’s Troubles.

Found this little summary of the day on YouTube.  If you can stomach the horrible voice-over (I’d suggest muting it until the interviews at the end), it shows you some of Brady’s throws.  As most of the articles stated, he seems to have taken on everything you he could to demonstrate his passing skills and footwork.

Very nice of the editors to show ALL FIVE of the missed passes, even though he only missed 5 of 63 throws, one of which was simply dropped.  But, you see some solid, accurate throws in there.  The comment wondering about his accuracy is ludicrous - we all saw BQ put SICK balls right on the money over the last 2 seasons. 

Despite these flaws, at least we get a good look at the highlights. 

Share This

• ND Fans Experience Flashbacks to “The Season” on ESPN, Convulse Violently.
• Happy Pills - In Video Form
• Behind the Scenes - ND Signing Day: In The War Room

Some Southern Cal football players took time out from their busy class schedules and created a “group” on the Facebook website with very racist overtones, including a featured image of a black child in handcuffs. (HT: tcob of NDN)

Junior linebacker Clay Matthews created the group, “White Nation,” which featured a graphic with the caption, “arrest black babies before they become criminals.”

Teammates David Buehler, Brian Cushing, Dan Deckas and Dallas Sartz joined the group.

“This group is not for the faint of heart,” read the group’s description. “All members are athletes of Caucasion (sic) descent. DISCLAIMER: In no way are the following memebers (sic) intolerant of others, we are just doing our duty of protecting the Arian (sic) brotherhood.”

But hey, they say it’s all just a joke, so no biggie. Right? Right? Man, those Trojans know how to have a laugh! I bet Poodle thinks this is about as funny as joking about suicide.

Share This

• UCLA: Racist As All Hell
• Fraudriguez Offered Job to Dude that Might Be Racist. Or Might Not. Could Be Though!
• Now We Get It! And RichFraud Looks Even Worse, If that’s Possible.

The Odyssey, Gilgamesh, The Original Star Wars films minus the Ewoks and Lucas’ self-aggrandizing digital “remastery,” The Lord of the Rings, and now Mike Frank’s Latest Power Hour.

Epic. If you’re a dork.

A couple of things we can pick up from all of this:

1. We have it on good authority that Barry Alvarez was one hell of a defensive coach.
2. Bengal Bouts are a very, very cool recruiting tool.
3. Corwin Brown hasn’t coached a single down at Notre Dame, but he’s already the best recruiting DC we’ve had in at least 8 years.
4. Mike has pretty good taste in music if you just ignore the whole Oasis obsession.
5. Star Trek movies are neither epic nor cool.

Share This

• Why is this the first I’m hearing about this site?
• Dumb Luck???
• Report From the Front: The Peej Manifesto

With Leather has directed our attention to this. Is former Southern Cal standout OJ Simpson actually Anna Nicole Smith’s Baby Daddy?

When the blond bombshell died last month and at least three men claimed to be the father of her baby girl, Dannielynn, the double-murder acquittee “said he was throwing his hat into the ring,” [Simpson videographer] Norm Pardo told Page Six… “He said he knew Anna Nicole pretty well, and he said he had slow-moving sperm, and he might be the father.” Simpson and Smith were castmates in “Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult” (1994), and Anna Nicole was certainly O.J.’s type… Simpson, who often visits the Bahamas, also joked to Pardo, “I hope they don’t do a DNA test on Anna Nicole’s baby. If they find out Dannielynn is mine, I don’t want Fred Goldman trying to seize her money - or the baby herself.” Goldman - the father of Ron Goldman, who was killed with Nicole - has been the most relentless in pursuing damages over the murders in civil court.

That Southern Cal man is just all class.

Share This

• Trojans are Racist and/or Don’t Have Very Good Senses Of Humor. Probably Both.
• Sanchez Picked To Get Dirty This Fall
• ESPN College Gameday To Attend Notre Dame/Southern Cal Game.

Mike Brey, head coach of the oft-neglected men’s basketball team of Notre Dame (At least around here. Sorry. Sports where they play more than 13 games a year don’t mix well with my ADD. We’ll try to do better.), has been named The Big East Conference Coach of the Year.

What Coach Brey has accomplished despite off-court issues, ill-timed injuries, and awkward use of the faux-turtleneck is really impressive. Congratulations to Coach Brey!

Coach Brey reacts as the elastic in his “turtleneck” snaps.

Share This

• Weekly Hoops Post
• Louisville to World: Nobody Likes Us!!!
• Mike Golic Jr. is Irish!

New “The U” head coach Randy Shannon means business.  No longer will the days of Donna Shanananana and her unruly Thieves run amok in the hallowed halls slums of the big U.  He is bringing down discipline, and he is serious.

“Zero tolerance,” Shannon told reporters Monday, as spring practice started for the Hurricanes. “You get caught with a firearm, you get dismissed from the university.”

WHAT?  You mean, a Miami player can’t bring his gat out to the club?  He can’t be strapped while going to Basket-weaving 101?  That is preposterous!

Seriously though, it’s INSANE that this is a NEW THING for a high profile, D-1 football program.  I am happy that Mr. Shannon is taking some steps, and this one is a no brainer.  But why in the WORLD is this a new policy?  Can anyone even imagine a kid packing his Glock on his way to Calc II at ND?  Ummmm, no.  And you shouldn’t envision that at any institution of higher learning. 

Well, maybe that’s the rub.  Do people learn at Miami?  For Randy’s sake, I sure hope they do.

Good for you Randy.  But I would suggest you add Kevlar to your wardrobe the week after you dismiss your first gang-banger for bringing his Sawed Off Shotgun/RPG Launcher/Sniper Rifle to practice.

ESPN Link:  http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2789611

Share This

• Miami to Play Nevada in Next “Battle of the Titans”
• Nick Saban Drinks Like A Sissy
• Miami Hires DC Shannon to Replace Coker