Those that have been Loyal Readers and/or Listeners of HLS for some time know that I love professional wrestling. Hilarious true fact: it was banned while I was growing up. However, like any good, rebellious teenager, I broke the rules. One day, while flipping through the channels, I saw Hulk Hogan on my TV. Even though I wasn't allowed to watch wrestling, I knew who this all-American hero was--except fans were booing him and throwing trash at him. Before I could sort out my confusion, some ...
ACC
Blind Optimism: Path to ACC Title Paved
While a perusal of the HLS Twitter feed (and my own for that matter), paints a rather bleak picture in regards to the confidence that the 2020 college football season will even happen. However, I decided that, on the heels of our conference with benefits releasing the 2020 ACC football schedule, I decided to save the doom and gloom for another post. So, in this post, and perhaps slightly podcast-drunk from the triumphant return of the Shutdown Fullcast, I'm going to pretend that the 2020 ...
A Conversation Worth Having: Notre Dame and the ACC
In a time that is painstakingly slow in the Notre Dame and college football world, I was happy to see Twitter ablaze last week when Tim Brando suggested that Notre Dame was in talks to become a full-fledged member of the ACC. This led to Athletic Director, Jack Swarbrick, issuing a denial that no such talks had occurred. In a topic that has been discussed and debated forever, I think it is time to considering moving in that direction. The first time I recall this subject being seriously ...
Brando: ND Will Be Full ACC Member in 3 Years
FOX Sportscaster Tim Brando told The Aubible podcast today that he believes Notre Dame will forgo its independent status in football and become a full-time member of the Atlantic Coast Conference within three years. Brando added that Coach Brian Kelly would prefer the Irish join a conference than remain independent. "Rights fees continue to move upward," Brando told FOX's Bruce Feldman and Stewart Mandel. "I do believe it’s going to happen when Notre Dame understands that it’s in their ...
Rocket Men: Notre Dame Baseball’s Best Start Ever?
Appropriately lost in the wash of reportage springing from the passage of Fr. Ted is the fact that Notre Dame baseball is off to its best start since 2004. At 10-1 with a bullet, Coach Mik Aoki's Irish are three more wins from besting 2004's 12-1 start. If the weekend series' performance in the Mercer Baseball Classic is any indication, this may be the club to do it. Good teams find a way to win games and better teams win games, and tournaments, on walk-off wild-pitches. That is what the ...
Friday Roundup: The “Can We Keep the NFL Out of This?” Edition
After watching the Dallas Cowboys get bounced from the playoffs after a strange overturn of a Dez Bryant catch (cue Detroit Lions fans laughing at me), I figured I had enough NFL hijinks for the rest of the year. Instead, I've been treated to two solid weeks of a 2 PSI deflation in footballs as well as HOT TAKES on Marshawn Lynch's interview skills. For something so dumb, I have the usual reaction, but the NFL actually managed to make some headlines this week that had potential college football ...
Dear ESPN…It’s too Early in the Offseason for Clickbait
We aren't even past signing day yet, but the ACC blog over at ESPN decided it was time to get the Notre Dame clickbait rolling early this year. This particular entry dipped into the "lol Notre Dame sucks" pool by penning a hypothetical, tongue-in-cheek letter from the ACC to Notre Dame. And you know what such a letter deserves? A hypothetical, tongue-in-cheek, smart-ass response from Notre Dame. I'm more than happy to oblige. Dear ACC, Thanks for reaching out to us. It's been a little ...
Notre Dame to Be Prize in ACC Bowl Lottery
Notre Dame's final bowl destination will come down to a lottery drawing. It certainly isn't the end result that anyone expected when we linked this handy infographic from FIDM, but here we are. Now, the situation isn't as simple as the six "Tier 1" bowls all throwing their names into a hat. Nothing ever is when it comes to the bowls. I've done a bit of digging around to try and paint the best picture that I can, and this post will detail what I've found. To paint an easier picture, I will ...
Notre Dame’s Strength of Schedule Visualized
Strength of schedule is by far one of our favorite topics to discuss here at HLS. With conference's becoming more insular in their scheduling, the need to trumpet the gauntlet of a schedule that Notre Dame plays in becomes incredibly important to break the conference narrative. Enter Brian Freamau, member of the advanced statistics site, Football Outsiders, who came up with the efficiency rating, FEI, that is an essential competent of the F/+ rating, which is another favorite of ours to use ...
Plenty of Notre Dame to Go Around
As we enter the final week before Spring ball, I can't help but notice a certain level of restlessness around my fellow Notre Dame football fanatics. Especially after a disappointing, and yet still encouraging, 2013 campaign, it seems like the kids can't quite go to sleep at night. I'm always intrigued by this time of year. It seems like so much (national signing day, NFL combine/draft, spring practices) is going on and yet so little is actually happening. We fantasize about our abilities ...