Started an open thread here. Jump on in and say hi! ...
Time, Time, Tickin’… Tickin’ Away…
As some of you may recall, while previewing Michigan State, I took a look at how well both MSU and Notre Dame have been utilizing their time of possession. After all, it's one thing to possess the ball for any period of time, but it's quite another to actually do something productive with the ball while you've got it. And sure, there's plenty of relatively difficult to quantify benefits to simply "matriculate the ball down the field" to engage and defeat the opposition in the "field position ...
Rees Is On A Hot Streak
Notre Dame is currently ranked dead last in turnover margin. If you're reading this and didn't already know that, welcome to earth. Enjoy your stay. Avoid the hotter climates, they tend towards violence. Anyway, yes, dead last in turnover margin, and tied for dead last with Tulsa for turnovers lost. So while there may be some value in nuanced discussion over the Irish philosophy of gap discipline and good tackling over strip attempts, the undeniable truth is that the Irish offense is ...
Sideline 2.0: We have the technology…
I'm really excited to announce our new upgrade of our Sideline Forums! More than a year ago we integrated a 3rd-party forum service into HLS because we wanted to help foster the great community interaction we've been enjoying at HLS over the last 5+ years. But that integration was always half-hearted, more than a little confusing, and practically entirely out of our control. But no more. Today we've got a fully integrated forum within the HLS website, allowing you to login once (notice the ...
ND / Pitt Gameday Open Thread
I've started a new thread on our Sideline forum so folks can gather there and discuss/rant about the day in real-time. I'll pop in there as often as I can, though dad-life demands I not see the ND game until this evening. See y'all in there! Go Irish! Gameday Thread ...
NCAA Launches Investigation Into Notre Dame
...to determine how the Irish managed to beat Michigan State. Notre Dame Victory Sparks Widespread NCAA Investigation Eh. It's Friday, and this made me chuckle. ...
Getting Plan-B Right: The ACC is the Only Choice
Far be it for me to want to enjoy a day or two of post-victory soak in the sunlight of vicarious triumph. Whatever happens through the rest of this seasonal plot-line, nothing, it seems, will get to overshadow the epic confusion and hysteria that is conference realignment and expansion. And while part of me still strongly suspects that, long term, this tendency of conferences to expand is actually part of some post-mortem bloat, even I have to admit that it's time to consider some short term ...
Looking Back On What’s To Come: MSU and Wasting Time
When I think of Michigan State over the past few years, the terrible images of the beast known as Jehuu Caulcrick, the former Spartan running back, come to mind. And make it hard to sleep. Jehuu, as mental-prototypes of Spartan running backs tend to do, has/had thighs so massive that the surface area would make emperors day-dream of colonization. And when I think of such big-bruising running backs, I get a mental picture of a conservative, clock controlling offensive system that would make ...
Irish Blogger Gathering: The Reckoning Edition
This week's IBG is hosted by long-time HLS tweep, NDTex. Tex has been blogging for quite a while, but only recently has he re-dedicated himself to Notre Dame football blogging. Go check out his site for the the rest of the IBG, stay for his completely insane but fascinating Top25 ranking system (and you know that's really something when I call it insane). 1. Let's go ahead and talk about the big pink elephant in the room. After two absolutely horrid, heart-breaking, and downright ...
I Can Explain: Luck Has Nothing To Do With It
With all due respect to Biscuit, I feel an intense need to take the meme he's helping progress through our world with the post below and smash it into a billion pieces. If it were a living, breathing thing, this meme, I'd take it out back and shoot it. Many times. There's nothing "magical" about what's happened to this squad in 2 losses to start the 2011 season; Not even dark magic. And, obviously, fans tend to default to explanations involving insulted totems, disastisfied deities, or moping ...