Well, DomerMQ is on vacation AGAIN, so I guess the Friday Roundup falls on me, which is slightly better than having Coach Weis’ D.U.F.F. here fall on me.

The Roundup:

• The gentlemen at BGS break down tomorrow’s Irish-Yellow Jacket matchup, complete with starting QB theme songs, invented words like “Wheelerific” and “cheapshottery,” a partially mummified Jerry Jones, and the delightful Elizabeth Banks. They also talk about football.
• Demetrius Jones’ high school coach, Lexie Spurlock, steps away from the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise to inform the media that he’s pretty sure Demetrius is starting tomorrow.
• Like a child tugging on the legs of those sticky octopus things you used to get from McDonald’s, and you’d throw them on the window, and they’d slowly work their way down, Jason Kelly stretches an analogy about as far as an analogy can possibly be stretched.
• No matter what the Observer says, I’m setting the over/under on Corwin Brown screaming at someone tomorrow at 5 minutes into the second quarter. And I’m taking the under.
• In case you didn’t get a chance to watch football last night, you missed some real nail-biters. Yawn.
• Remember, if anything about the game pisses you off tomorrow, you can always blame Robot Charlie. Everyone else is.

Enjoy the game tomorrow. Go Irish!

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You had to see it coming, right? I mean, it only makes sense now that people at ESPN or some other MSM locale are comparing the Poodle to Rockne.

Last year, SoCal was merely good. Very good, yes, but still only good. They weren’t quite the same as the 2005 edition of “the greatest team ever, ever, ever,” but they were still damned good. And while the offensive firepower dropped from 49.1 points a game to 30, the defense started to become the beast that the Poodle had envisioned in so many of his dreams. I can just see the little guy dreaming now. Kicking his hind legs out. Must think he’s chasing a squirrel. And this year, returning 10 starters on defense, the talking heads on ESPN may reverse from their previous discussions of “how many will USC score today?” to “How few will USC allow?” They’re going to be awesome on D.

Offense: John David Booty returns, but he finds himself short 2 NFL caliber wide receivers. Of course, they’ve got a stable of 29 28 27 26 highly regarded running backs to take the heat off of him. They’ve also got guys like Sam Baker on the OL ready to provide plenty of protection, just like a Trojan should.

Defense: Speed. There were times last year when the SoCal defense was so fast that I was sure they were playing with an extra man, and now they’re almost all back for another year. Not only will they be fast this year, but they’ll really know where to go. They’ve got one of college football’s best D Lines, probably the best Linebacking Corps in the country, and, lemme see here, ah, yes, probably the best defensive back field in the country too. Good grief.

Special Teams: Pete Carroll (a girl’s name, ha!) once had Reggie Bush returning kicks, and he still only managed a mediocre performance of the art. If there’s one weakness, it’s here. With all the talent on the roster, it should be so, but we get a feeling that the Poodle would rather joke about suicide than spend much time working on the Punt Team.

Facts:

• Southern Cal has defeated Notre Dame 5 straight years. 4 of those 5 times, the wins were by a margin of 20+ points.
• 10 returning starters on defense makes for the most returning defensive starters any SoCal team has had in 20 years.
• SoCal’s loss to UCLA was also the first time in 63 games that the Trojans scored fewer than 20 points.

HLS Top 25 Meta:

• Highest spot on a HLS Ballot: 1
• Lowest spot on a HLS Ballot: 3
• Average ranking on HLS Ballots: 1.5

Why Alex Trebek Loves Them:

• The winner of the 2007 College Jeopardy Championship was a UCLA student, despite the tournament taking place on SoCal turf.

Around the Web:

• Trojan Wire
• Boi from Troy

HLS Tracker 10 Forecast Technology Says:

Until October 20th, there’s no reason to think that SoCal will be anything but unbeaten. Nebraska on September 15th? Please. That game last year was not “close.” Callahan played not to lose too badly.

But come October 20th, a new era shall be heralded in. Men will cheer, women will swoon, children will cry with joy in their hearts. Because on October 20th, it all starts to fall apart for the Boys from Troy, and their incessant songs and cheers will be snuffed out forever. Stone.

Editor’s Note: Whew. I can’t believe how painful that was. Fun, but painful. I’m not sure I ever want to do it again. Maybe from now on we’ll just tell you who’s #1-25 and feel no compulsion to explain our intelligent reasoning.

I’d intended to so a synopsis of all 25 teams, but time is short, and the pilots don’t really wait around for me at the gate like they once did, back when I had all that power. All that money… So just click on the tag for this post if you want to see the rest. It may or may not be worth it. I’m going to let it all sink in before I decide. That’s how you have to approach these things. It’s like a fine wine, or a Farrelly Brothers movie.

Now let’s go see some G-D Football!

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By the time I got around to writing the top 5 of the HLSTNHT25-PE, I stopped reading as much Phil Steel and started going more by memory because the programs are pretty well known commodities.  But now I’m at #2 and I’m back to paging thru Phil’s work, trying to commit plagiarisms provide you with anything useful because, well, they’re pretty unknown to me.  All I know is that they should be good this year.  Very good.

And how’s that work, exactly?  After all, they did lose to KSU and Texas A&M in back-to-back games to finish the season.  And then they barely got past Iowa in a bowl game.  I didn’t even realize Iowa had earned a bowl game last year!

Maybe it’s just the fact that they have their pick of the most fertile recruiting ground in the world that causes our over-enthusiastic #2 ranking.

Offense:  They get back a healthier and more seasoned Colt McCoy at QB.  They’ve got a young RB that averaged 7.4 yards/carry last year.  That’s not bad.  Not bad at all.  And they get back a lot of experience at receiver while giving up a lot of experience at the OL.

Defense:  After giving up just 18.3 points a game last year, they lose about half their manpower.  Good news: They get back all of their guys at linebacker.  And they’ll be standing behind one of the best DLs in the country (allowed 61.2 rush yds/game).

Special Teams: VaTech gets all the special teams hype, but have they blocked at least 4 punts in each of the last 6 seasons?  Have they?  I dunno.  I don’t have that information.  If you know, feel free to let us know.

Facts:

• The ‘Horns get back 13 starters this year.
• Last year’s offense averaged 35.9 points per game.  Pretty good until you realize that’s a 2TD drop off from the previous year.
• Before Mack Brown took over, Texas had only 3 winning seasons in the previous 7.

HLS Top 25 Meta:

• Highest spot on a HLS Ballot: 1
• Lowest spot on a HLS Ballot: 4
• Average ranking on HLS Ballots: 2.5

Why Alex Trebek Loves Them:

• The Eyes of Texas is sung after every Texas sporting event, whether it’s swimming, golf, or badminton.

Around the Web:

• Burnt Orange Nation
  
• Long Horn Nation

HLS Tracker 10 Forecast Technology Says:

The Horns find themselves in that delectable position of being in a one-mighty conference that pollsters often forget ain’t no longer so mighty.  As a result, they can go a cream a bunch of non-cons, then beat up on the rather sorry members of their conference, and it all looks pretty good while it’s happening.  They don’t run into Oklahoma until late in the year, so expect a lot of NC talk until at least then.

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As much as you’ve been anxiously awaiting the start of College Football Season, truth be told you’ve really been awaiting the 2007 Edition of the HLS Expert Picks!

Well, now you may rejoice!

Go on. Rejoice. Get a move on. Where the hell is the sousaphone? I ordered a sousaphone.

There it is!

And here are our games for week 1:

• The Big Game: Notre Dame v. Ga Tech
• The Other Big Game: Tennessee v. Cal
• The Other Other Big Game: FSU v. Clemson

What’s that you say? Who won last year? Well, that would be Sed!

Sed, shown here, with a defenseless creature his trophy.

Week 1 Picks (now in easier to format lists!)

• domer.mq: ND 42, Cal 55, FSU 30 – QB: Cal
• Biscuit: ND 31, Cal 69, Clem 41 – QB: Cal
• Sed: ND 27, Cal 48, FSU 24 – QB: Cal
• Sed’s Dog: ND 45, Tenn 45, Clem 45 – QB: Tenn
• ChisND: ND 49, Cal 35, FSU 42 – QB: FSU
• Bad Kermit: ND 31, Tenn 45, FSU 27 – QB: Tenn
• The Bear: ND 70, Tenn 54, Clem 27 – QB: GaTech
• DNeelan: ND 30, Cal 40, FSU 28 – QB: FSU

In case you care, here are the rules for the 2007 Version of the Expert Picks

1. domer.mq picks 3 games each week. On weeks when ND is playing, the ND game is considered “the big game.”
2. The experts then choose the winner of each game, the total points scored in each game, and which of the 6 teams’ quarterbacks will have the highest total passing yards.
3. Selecting the winner of a game correctly will result in +10 points.
4. Selecting ND to lose, and being correct about it will result in +30 points and the loss of your friends forever.
5. Selecting ND to lose and being incorrect will result in -50 points. Hey, it should hurt just that much more.
6. Each expert will predict total number of points scored by each team in a game. Guessing the total score within +/-7 points will result in +10 points. Within +/-10 points total score will result in +5 points. Anything outside that range will result in 0 points awarded.
7. Selecting the correct QB will result in +15 points.

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When Ohio State soundly defeated the Irish in their BCS game 2 seasons ago (despite ND being “in it” pretty much until the end), it was pretty clear that Ohio State was going to be a buzz-saw during the 2006 season, and, likely, would be going to the National Championship game.  Last year, when LSU soundly defeated the Irish in a BCS game, it had the same feel.  It just looked like LSU was playing on a different level, and were, possibly, at the time, the best team in the country.  But I’m not so sure they’ll be a buzz-saw this year.  For Les Miles, they’d better be.  As far as LSU fans are concerned, this is the year for Les Miles to win his NC.  But Les loses JaMarcus Russell and Dwayne Bowe, points A & B in the most prolific scoring connection in LSU history.  So while there’s just a boat-load of talent on this roster, Les had better prove that he’s worthy of such lofty heights, and he’s not getting any help from the most important position on the field.

He also wears funny hats.

Offense: No more Mr. #1 Draft Pick at QB.  Now they turn to Senior Matt Flynn, holder of 1 start in 3 years, with a 55% completion rate.  No more Dwayne “He’s Open to Reception” Bowe.  But they do have a ton of speed at talend at receiver.  Oh, and only 3 previous starters on the OL with a new OL Coach.

Defense: They’ve got Glenn Dorsey.  That’s enough to knock most offenses back 50 yards and 2 scores.  They’ve also got a lot of talent at Linebacker.  Not to mention tons of talent, young talent, but talent, in the defensive backfield.

Special Teams: They were, frankly, pretty poor last year.  Miles has a reputation for good special teams, but they were so bad last year that even excellent coaching might only make them mediocre this year.

Facts:

• The 2006 Tigers were the first LSU squad to beat 2 top 10 teams on the road in the same year.
• LSU played 4 top 10 teams on the road in 2006.
• Just 1 of 5 2007 road opponents finished with a winning record in 2006.

HLS Top 25 Facts:

• Highest spot on a HLS Ballot: 2
• Lowest spot on a HLS Ballot: 11
• Average ranking on HLS Ballots: 4.5

Why Alex Trebek Loves Them:

• The Bengal Tiger is the most common subspecies of tiger in the world. (source)

Around the Web:

• And the Valley Shook
• Tiger Smack

HLS Tracker 10 Forecast Technology Says:

If not now, when?  The schedule is set up for a nice run thru the SEC.  The talent is there.  And Miles is in the unenviable position of having to prove that any of his previous success at LSU isn’t just the result of not breaking what Nick Saban left behind for years and years of work in the NFL.   We’ve got a feeling Miles is going to miss Mr. #1 Draft Pick quite a bit.

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In lieu of the usual wit and insight, I give you the lyrics to “Take Me Home Country Roads.” Cherish them. Sing them loudly. And drunkenly. Always drunkenly.

Almost heaven, west virginia
Blue ridge mountains
Shenandoah river -
Life is old there
Older than the trees
Younger than the mountains
Growin like a breeze

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

All my memories gathered round her
Miners lady, stranger to blue water
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky
Misty taste of moonshine
Teardrops in my eye

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

I hear her voice
In the mornin hour she calls me
The radio reminds me of my home far away
And drivin down the road I get a feelin
That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads
Take me home, now country roads
Take me home, now country roads

Offense: Pat White and Steve Slaton. As all the cool kids like to say these days, “‘Nuff Said, hommies.” Or maybe not. See, they lose their amazing Center, Right Guard, and Left Tackle from last year, guys that made some amazingly huge holes in defenses in 2006.

Defense: What defense? I kid! I kid! They actually only gave up a little over 21 points a game last season. They just have a habit of giving up 44 points a game against Louisville. And now this team is pretty darned experienced… at giving up 44 points a game to Louisville.

Special Teams: Should be excellent. Lots of speed to burn, and their kicking specialists, who all did “very well” this year are back to become “excellent.”

Facts:

• Rich Rodriguez may seem like the hottest ball of burning hydrogen in the galaxy right now, but his first year at West Virginia, he went 3-8.
• Last year’s pre-season #5 ranking was the highest a West Virginia team had ever been ranked to start the season.
• The 38.8 points scoring that they averaged in 2006 was the best average West Virginia had enjoyed since their 1989 season in which they went undefeated.

HLS Top 25 Meta:

• Highest spot on a HLS Ballot: 4
• Lowest spot on a HLS Ballot: 5
• Average ranking on HLS Ballots: 4.75

Why Alex Trebek Loves Them:

• West Virginia is considered the southern most northern state and the northern most southern state (source). This explains so much.

Around the Web:

• We Must Ignite this Couch
• WVU Talk

HLS Tracker 10 Forecast Says:

I can’t remember what I said of Louisville and Rutgers, so I’m shooting from the hip here and guessing they’ll get a Big East championship and a BCS berth. Of course, somewhere along the way they’ll give up 44 points to somebody. Recent trends suggest Louisville.

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Despite Urban Meyer’s poaching habits, the Gators aren’t so loaded with talent that they can just “reload” rather than “rebuild.” But if this is a “rebuilding year,” where they get to start somewhere in the top-10, I’ll take it.

The defending National Champs actually have a lot of questions this year. Will the ill-fitting Chris Leak be missed as Timmy! Tebow takes over full-time at QB? Will the almost completely new personnel at defense be able to keep up while the offense learns to find it’s groove? Will that offense continue to look like Frankenstein’s monster merged with the dead body of Pop Warner? How much butt sweat is absorbed by the average pair of jorts in The Swamp during a Florida home game in September?

Timmy! is very excited to be taking over the offense.

Offense: Returning 6 starters, this is supposed to be The Year of the Timmy! But we’ve got a suspicion it’ll be more about Percy “Just Give Him The Damn Ball” Harvin… so long as he can stay healthy and upright. Either way, their OL returns almost intact, so they should have a fair chance to win the LOS battle often enough to let Timmy! and Harvin and Co. to figure it all out.

Defense: Return 2 starters. 2. Two. Ouch. They go from having probably the most verteran LB corps in… ever to the least experience corps in memory. Their DL has one returning starter, and their DBs also have one. That’s it. Good grief. Luckily they play in the SEC, where offensive scheming takes a back seat to cocktail dresses on most game days.

Special Teams: Despite Meyer’s rep for strong ST, expect a very blah performance here. They’ve got a freshman kicker who could only be an improvement over the previous starter, and their return guys are good, but they’ve also got a freshman punter. I’ve got a guy feeling that either the K or P will disappoint this year.

Facts:

• Urban Meyer has perfected the art of poaching to the point of making citizens of the Ivory Coast blush.
• During Steve Spurrier’s tenure, the gators won 9+ games for 12 years in a row.
• Florida returns 8 starters total.

HLS Top 25 Meta:

• Highest spot on a HLS Ballot: 3
• Lowest spot on a HLS Ballot: 8
• Average ranking on HLS Ballots: 5.5

Why Alex Trebek Loves Them:

• Gatorade was originally created for the University of Florida Gator Football Team. You already know that, but that’s as well as I can do given the fact that there’s nothing fun about Florida. Except for Disney World, or, as I call it, “God’s Country.”

Around the Web:

• Every Day Should Be Saturday
• Alligator Army

HLS Tracker 10 Forecast Technology Says:

We hatesssssssssssssss Urban Meyer! We hatessssssss him! We hates him and his ring! But we also haven’t seen any reason to really doubt him on the results front. I don’t think he can win it all, but he may be able to win the SEC if the SEC tears itself apart mediocre bit by mediocre bit. So that might not look too bad in the end.

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Before I get into the preview of the Skunkbears, I’d just like to point out a little tidbit I heard on ESPN Radio today provided by Michigan (sucks!) Alum Dana Jacobson. Apparently she had just finished an interview with Llloyd Carr, and they’d discussed the importance of these little “tune-up” games with football luminaries like Appalachian State. In Dana’s words, these games are important because you’d never want to start the season against someone like Notre Dame. It’s funny because from 1985-1990, Michigan (sucks!) started every year against Notre Dame. Weird. Must have been a scheduling mistake.

Anyway, Michigan (sucks!) wont be making that mistake this year. No, they’ll give Chad Henne, Mike Hart, and a relatively new stable of defenders plenty of time to prep for any real games.

Offense: Hart, Henne, Manningham. Oooooh. How will any of them win the Heisman if they’re all stealing eachother’s votes? Henne is a 60% passer. Hart averages 5.2 a rush. Manningham lives behind the safeties. How ever will they be stopped but for Llloyd Carr’s inexplicable desire to hobble an offense?

Defense: Remember how scary they were last year? Not so much this year. Everyone’s got 1 year of tape on Ron English’s tendancies, and they’ve lost 7 starters from last year, notably Alan Branch and LaMarr Woodley and their top 2 tacklers Harris and Burgess. Still, English really impressed us last year, and we expect more excellence this year.

Special Teams: They lose a lot of kickers and All Never Was American Steve Breaston. Expect a lot of blah this year, but at least they have All Name Punter Zoltan Mesko.

Facts:

• Llloyd Carr is 5-7 in bowl games.
• Michigan (sucks!) has ended the last 3 seasons with 2 losses.
• Michigan (sucks!) has lost 4 straight to Ohio State (also sucks!)

HLS Top 25 Meta:

• Highest spot on a HLS Ballot: 6
• Lowest spot on a HLS Ballot: 8
• Average ranking on HLS Ballots: 6.5

Why Alex Trebek Loves Them:

• “Maize” is a cereal grain that was domesticated in Mesoamerica and then spread thru the American Continents. (source)

Around the Web:

• Maize and Brew
• Stadium and Main

HLS Tracker 10 Forecast Technology Says:

Well, the organized scrimmage against App State probably wont tell us much. Things get slightly more interesting the next week when they meet up against Oregon. But let’s face it, Notre Dame is the game that makes or breaks almost their entire season (shut it, OSU). Newton’s little know 4th law of motion involves the momentum of a Llloyd Carr coached team, and it states that any Llloyd Carr coached team that loses to Notre Dame after being a highly ranked, heavily favored contender in the match will henceforth suck even more than usual. We predict a Michigan loss against ND, so…

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Derrell Hand is still with the Notre Dame Football Team.

Notre Dame defensive lineman Derrell Hand, arrested last month on a misdemeanor charge of propositioning a prostitute, will be allowed to play for the Fighting Irish after serving a three-game suspension imposed by coach Charlie Weis.

It’s a surprising turn of events because it sure seemed like people in the know (read: not usually us) expected, at the very least, for Hand to be suspended not just from the team, but the school, for a minimum of a semester.
We also don’t know what sort of details played a role in this decision. It could have been mitigating factors in the case itself, it could have been an issue with Res Life deciding at some point to handle legal issues differently than in years past, or it could have been a matter of Res Life interpreting the application of Du Lac rules to this case in a way that lead to this conclusion as a matter of “law.”

UPDATE:  We’ve massively edited this post seeing as Bonger has removed his post on the issue.

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Mike Frank of Irish Eyes with Mike Frank has what many Irish fans would consider a dream job: To cover Notre Dame athletics. Every day. All day. Year Round. In doing so, Mike’s provided the Irish fan base with tons of excellent coverage of ND athletic programs, a wonderful community for Irish fans, a podcast that should be a national radio show, and more inside recruiting information than you could shake a stick at.

Anyway, we at HLS were curious about what it’s like to have such a cool job, so we did a little Q&A with Mike via e-mail…

HLS – A lot of ND fans would love to have a career covering Notre Dame Football and Recruiting. How did you get into the business? Did you cover other teams before the Irish? Were you always a Notre Dame fan?

Mike Frank – I grew up a Notre Dame fan. My parents are from Kansas, and since there wasn’t good football teams in Kansas, and the fact that my parents are Catholic, Notre Dame became the school of choice. My dad’s side of the family is full of ND fans. It rubbed off on me. I grew up loving the Irish in the land of Huskers. I somehow managed to get into this business by chatting in a chat room of all places. I happened to run into Jamie Newberg, who is a great friend of mine and a Scout.com national recruiting expert. At the time Jamie was starting in a business called Border Wars. He followed recruiting in the state of Georgia and Florida. He was somewhat new to the business, and I was really into recruiting. I told him I’d help him for free. I did that for about two years as well as called for free for a company called Studentsports.com. They then helped me get started with my own business.

HLS – What’s the toughest part of your job? On the opposite end of the spectrum, what keeps you waking up day after day and pursuing leads and news?

MF – The toughest part of my job is missing all the football. That’s very true. I get to watch ND and that’s about it. While everyone is at home watching the morning games, I’m at the tailgates meeting up with our customers. As soon as the game is over I’m doing our post-game radio show. I rarely get to watch much college football other than the ND games. I really miss that. As for what keeps me going, how could you not love a job like this? I keep reminding myself how many people would kill to have my job and so that keeps me going. It can be a grind, but it’s also a great job to have.

HLS – How has the exponential growth of sports blogs affected your business? There are more Notre Dame blogs than we can count. Do you enjoy reading any sports blogs in particular?

MF – I think the blogs have been outstanding, actually. There are a number of great ND blogs out there already, and I think they do a fantastic job of bringing some perspective we don’t have time to do or can’t do. I do read some of the blogs when someone draws my attention to a particular article, but I don’t read anything other than our stuff on a daily basis. I simply don’t have time to check all of that out. Wish I did because I know there is some great stuff out there.

HLS – How on earth do you go about picking such diverse music for your Irish Eyes Power Hour Podcast? Any chance we could hear “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” by Looking Glass soon?

MF – I have a very diverse music taste I guess. I like music from all kinds of different time periods and genres of music. What I like is good music. I don’t care if it’s blues, rock, country, funk, rap, etc. The problem is the best musicians and songwriters rarely get played because we’re bombarded with what MTV and the record companies think they can easily market, not what’s actually good music. So I’ll gladly pick up the torch and run with it when it comes to introducing people to truly talented and gifted people who deserve some exposure. I actually don’t own the song “Brandy,” although it’s a fine song.

HLS – Did you have any aspirations to play a role in the sports world as either an athlete or coach? Are there things about either role that you really envy? Are there any things about either role that you look at and think, “Man, I’m glad I’m not that guy?”

MF – Who wouldn’t want to be the starting QB at ND? Sure, I would’ve loved to be physically gifted enough to play at the college level. I even enjoyed coaching when I coached baseball many moons ago. But I wouldn’t want to be a college coach. While the job has it’s perks, I can’t stand to travel via the airlines. These guys are gone for months at a time traveling on the airlines. Too many hours. Too much travel. Too little job security. As for the player aspect of it, I don’t think anyone wants to be the guy who cost ND the game, and unfairly, that’s usually someone, even though it isn’t just one guy that costs ND a game.

HLS – Who’s your dark-horse candidate to be, let’s say, “Impact Player of the Year” for Notre Dame?

MF – My dark-horse candidate would have to be Armando Allen. I just think coach Weis will find a way to give him opportunities to make big plays. I think we’ll see a lot of him on the field in 2007.

HLS – What 2007 Freshman, aside from JC, do you think will have a real opportunity to compete for playing time and make real contributions this season?

MF – Armando Allen, Duval Kamara, Robert Hughes, Ian Williams, Brandon Walker, Kerry Neal, Brian Smith and probably Golden Tate. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Harrison Smith and Mike Ragone on the field as well this fall.

HLS – When the transition from Ty Willingham’s coaching regime to Charlie Weis’ occurred, what sort of obstacles did you find you had to overcome in order to establish connections with the new coaching staff, and continue to pursue information about Notre Dame’s quickly changing recruiting “landscape?”

MF – With change always comes uncertainty. I just did what I’ve always done. I think we’ve been around long enough for people to know who we are, what we do, and how we operate. It’s always a slow process, but if you do things right, problems like this always seem to work itself out.

HLS – Are there any players in this year’s 2007 Notre Dame squad that you covered during recruiting that you find yourself cheering for because of what you came to know about them as people?

MF – That’s a good question, and for the most part, all of them. I know some of them better than others through the recruiting process, and I probably clicked with some better than others as well. That’s just natural for anyone. There are some that I do really hope succeed because they’re very nice young men trying their best to succeed. I don’t think most people realize the pressure that many of these kids are under. All of them hope to play in the NFL. All of them want to succeed. All of them want take care of their families with a big NFL contract. The reality of the situation is very, very few will actually accomplish that goal, so I’m more hopeful they’ll get their degree because I know that the real world is their future reality, at least for most of them. I do have my favorites though—like anyone. If you watch a game with me, it’s pretty obvious. I’m not good about keeping quiet during the games.

HLS – What past players have you maintained relationships with even after they’ve left Notre Dame?

MF – A good number of them, actually. Probably the most recognizable to everyone is Sean Milligan because he and I work together with his bus trips and my speaking at Victory Liquors. Ryan Robert is another many know about because he helped out for a long time on Power Hour. There are quite a few others, but I’m not sure they’d want me to “out” them.

Thanks a ton, Mike! We’ll be sure to get a copy of “Brandy” to you soon.

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Last year, Frank Beamer and the boys went thru the bizzaro-world of the ACC, winning 10 games, beating Miami, and yet still failing to appear in the ACC’s BCS berth. Frankly the ACC wasn’t what it normally is and neither, really, was VaTech. They managed to lose to Georgia Tech and Boston Freaking College in back-to-back weeks. Beamer must have thought he was having a bad dream at that point.

Things look to improve this year as we can’t imagine Boston Freaking College winning in Blacksburg, and the Hokies get back 16 starters this year versus the 9 they had last.

Offense: They’ve got a QB sitting on the wrong side of a 60% completion rate that isn’t named Vick, a pretty experienced OL, and a full stable of running backs. Hrm. Run.

Defense: These guys were awesome last year, allowing just 219 yards per game (best in the NCAA). They’ll be even more awesome this year. They get back 8 starters versus 5, and have one of the best linebacker corps in the country.

Special Teams: Say it with me, now: Beamer Ball. Seriously, have you ever seen so many blocked punts returned for touchdowns on a Thursday night on ESPN in your life?

Facts:

• Beamer has been HC of the Hokies for 21 years, going 156-82-2.
• Beamer is only 6 and 8 in bowl games with the Hokies.
• Still, Beamer accounts for 6 of the Hokies’ 7 total bowl wins ever.

HLS Top 25 Meta:

• Highest spot on a HLS Ballot: 6
• Lowest spot on a HLS Ballot: 9
• Average ranking on HLS Ballots: 7.5

Why Alex Trebek Loves Them:

• And no, we’re not being funny here. We’re just trying to inform some of you: Frank Beamer’s facial disfigurement is the result of burns he suffered as a child.

Around the Web:

• V-TFootball.com
• Blacksburg Beacon

HLS Tracker 10 Forecast Technology Says:

It all really hinges on September 8th. The Hokies travel to LSU. If they can win there, then it should be very smooth sailing until November 10 against FSU, and then Miami, and then Virginia. Given the tragedy that VaTech suffered this Spring, I have a feeling the entire community will rally behind the football program as a source of joy. My money is on an ACC championship and a real argument for a National Title game berth. Taken separately, no team on their schedule other than LSU should be able to beat them this season. However, things have a funny way of adding up over the course of a season.

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First, let’s just absorb this for a moment.  Because any Irish fan’s thoughts on UCLA should be framed within the context of this…

Good.  Everyone got Europe’s finest work firmly implanted in their consciousness?  Yes?  Ok.  Now that we’re in this place together, we can continue…

The UCLA bruins suffered thru a year that, all else being equal, should have placed head coach Karl Dorrell on the hottest of seats after the 2006 season.  In fact, watching the scene above in a live setting, one could almost feel Karl’s “signature win” turn into “career terminator” over the course of a few minutes.  But then Karl and the gang did the unthinkable, and went on to defeat then #2 Southern Cal in their cross-town rivalry game to end the season, and suddenly Karl’s beginning to feel pretty comfy.

The real reason for optimism for UCLA in 2007 is their defensive coordinator, DeWayne Walker.  He took a fairly miserable defensive group and turned them into an absolute power.  In 2005, before Walker’s tenure, the Bruins gave up 34.2 points a game.  Last year they gave up just 19.9.

Offense:  Return 10 starters.  They also get a brand new offensive coordinator.  What might get interesting is that both of the QBs that played in the starter role last year are back for more this year.  The coaches will need to find a way to pick one guy and stick with him, though that should be helped if both guys can remain healthy thru the year.

Defense:  Also returning 10 starters.  This is a really solid group.  Last year’s defensive line recorded 40 sacks and allowed just 90 yards rushing per game.  This year they lose All Nightmare Team Defensive End, Justin Hickman.

Special Teams: They lose a guy with an absolute monster leg, but then bring in a kid who’s rumored to be even better.  With the speed on the return teams, this group should be a real strength and help level some of the playing field against top competition, so long as their frosh kicker is as good as advertised.

Facts:

• When UCLA beat Southern Cal last year, it was the end of a 7 game win streak in the series for the Trojans.  Prior to that, UCLA had won the last 8.
• Last year, UCLA lost to Washington.  Consider that for a moment.
• The Bruins also managed to lose to FSU in the Emerald Bowl last year.  The score?  27-44.  In a game they led by 4 heading into the 4th.

HLS Top 25 Meta:

• Highest spot on a HLS Ballot: 2
• Lowest spot on a HLS Ballot: 15
• Average ranking on HLS Ballots: 8.5

Why Alex Trebek Loves Them:

• A “Bruin” is a large, ferocious bear.  The term apparently originated in a story called “Reynard the Fox.”

Around the Web:

• Bruins Nation
• Trojan Haters Club

HLS Tracker 10 Forecast Technology Says:

Wait and see.  Their early schedule is Stanford, BYU, Utah, and Washington.  If they tear thru that like The Shark thru a Bruin Backfield with less than a minute to go, then look out. Here come the Bruins.  But if they struggle even a little bit, and I mean they win all 4 games but with an average margin of under 10, then I’d look for Karl Dorrell’s head on the chopping block come Christmas.

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At some point last week (apparently August 21st), while I was helping with hurricane recovery efforts in St. Lucia by ensuring that no toddlers would stumble upon dangerously full bottles of rum on the beaches, our 1st “blogday” occurred.  It’s like a birthday, except there are no embarassing considerations about the fact that, yes, at one time your parents had to dance the forbidden dance in order to make it all happen.  Most likely your parents dancing the forbidden dance had little to do with the creation of Her Loyal Sons at all.  And for that, we can all be thankful.

Frankly, we think the term “blogday” is lame, so we promise not to use it again until our 5th.  At which point we plan to get Congress to recognize HLS for our important contributions to… something.

Anyway, some stats, facts, and thoughts:

• We’ve got somewhere in the neighborhood of 52,000 unique readers.  And, amazingly, most of you come back to read more.
• Our most popular story of the year was “When Buckeyes Attack.“  But that was released long ago, and Biscuit’s interview with Tony Roberts is catching that quickly, despite being released just a couple of weeks ago.
• Other than people reading the site by finding us directly, our top source of traffic has been BGS.  Thank you, BGS.
• Someone is reading us, or has read us, from Antarctica.  Hello, Antarctican Dude!
• “Funny” is an art, and it’s best form is simple.
• Up to this post, HLS has made 660 posts.
• Upon those posts, our readers have left 1,832 comments.
• Also upon those posts, spammers have left 28,526 pieces of spam.
• In late September of 2006, we had 200 readers in one day, and we all thought that was pretty darn amazing.  Heh.

Thanks to you, readers, for giving us here at HLS a reason to wake up in the morning.  If it weren’t for your enthusiastic rate of 2.78 comments per post, we’d feel like nobody was really paying attention.

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MQ is out of town so this Roundup action fell on me.   Oh, the responsibility!!!

He is down here somewhere, sipping on a fruity drink, sucking big time.

• Michael Vick, @$$hole of the year, pleaded guilt to these charges.  Almost made me vomit.  What’s worse?  His dad does an interview and says he really likes it.
• Rock’s House comes up big this week.   First they tell everyone to stop whining about not knowing who the QB is. You know what?  They’re right.  Shut it.
• And then ShermanOaksND (West Coast Represent!) puts to bed the question of ND’s difficulty of schedule.  This is a hot button for me, so this analysis rules.
• EDSBS has this gem in the archives.  I love dumb criminals.  I swear, if I had the scruples to be a criminal, I would rule the world one day.  Cuz these guys are morons.
• Finally, IRT has a great analysis showing the talent gap between ND and Georgia Tech.  Guess who has the advantage?

So while MQ sips his ‘ritas, enjoy reading about your beloved Irish.  It’s the one thing he can’t do down there, and I bet that by now he’s freaking jonesing for his sad little cubicle, and that magic bright box that lets him worship his favorite college team from afar.

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Thanks a lot to LoR for linking to this video over on Rock’s House.  The Rivals video (don’t worry, it’s a free-bie) shows Charlie’s latest interaction with the press on the QB situation.

Let’s just say he puts the smack down, old school style.  I’m talking Jimmy Supah Fly Snukah here.

We don’t learn anything really. There’s a starting QB (which we knew) and Charlie isn’t telling anyone (which we knew) because he wants everyone to find out on the first play against Tech (which we knew), and the Press are a bunch of morons that repeatedly ask stupid questions (which we knew). 

While I’m at it, isn’t Charlie looking svelt these days?  I’d say he dropped 20 or 30 since last season.  Not that he’s what I’d call slim or anything, but I think it’s a good thing for him physically.  Well done Chaz.

Will Charlie give Nicole Richie a run for her skinny money?  He’s on his way.

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