I must say, I came away very impressed.

As Heisler notes in his acknowledgement, he wanted this book to be the ultimate collaboration of the history of Fighting Irish football to celebrate its 125 history. To do this, he expanded on Prister’s original work, What It Means to Be Fighting Irish, which contained many interviews from former Irish stars dating from 1938 to 2003. Much of Prister’s work is dropped into Always Fighting Irish, but to say this is simply adding on nine more years of history would be a great disservice to this book.

Always Fighting Irish easily reaches Heisler’s lofty goal. Whether it is Notre Dame traditions, notable games, or the people that shaped ND football to what it is today, this book contains everything that anyone would ever want to know about ND’s 125 history. This book is basically the equivalent of taking hundreds of media guides, history books, and interviews and mixing them all together in an easily digestible format.

The book is split into very logical sections, allowing for easy reference for future lookups or for allowing the reader to quickly jump to the section their section of interest. The book starts with what I’d call a “quick primer to ND football” with chapters on ND and its traditions, 125 “firsts” that ND had, and ND and our rivals and “rivals”.

The book then gets into the real “meat” of ND’s 125 year history with chapters on the 125 most important games in ND history (with a separate chapter devoted entirely to the Irish’s bowl history) and the 125 most important people in ND football history. Each of these two gigantic topics are further split into two separate chapters covering the “old school days” and the more “modern era” of ND football. The result is five chapters of everything you ever needed to know about Fighting Irish football, with the aforementioned interviews from ND players and coaches mixed in.

The mixing of the straight history and stats with the interviews is easily my favorite feature of this book. I’m a stats guy and love digging into the numbers, the history, etc, but even I would get bored of reading hundreds of pages of stats and box score recaps with nothing to break it up. The interviews allow for not only that needed break, but also allow you to go beyond the box scores and stat lines. After all, Notre Dame football isn’t Notre Dame football without the personal stories and experiences — the magic that makes ND what it is.

I also appreciated that the “most important people” goes beyond just the coaches and players. Included in the list are national writers, university presidents, and others, that, while they may not have had a presence on the field or sidelines, had a major impact on making Notre Dame football what it is today. Leaving these men out would’ve been a great disservice to ND’s history and their inclusion shows that Heisler wanted to make sure that readers would see the bigger picture.

The book then concludes with two chapters devoted to the eleven national championship teams and the teams that just barely missed their shot at national title glory. Once again, interviews are sprinkled throughout both chapters and contain some of my favorites.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend this to any Irish fan, especially ones interested in the programs history. It will definitely have a spot on my bookshelf for constant reference alone.

If you are interested in a copy, you can try to win one in our October Giveaway. The book is also available in paperback and Kindle formats at Amazon. Be sure to pick up a copy today!

The post HLS Book Review: Always Fighting Irish appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

What do we ask in return? Firstly, please visit, consider the services, and spread the word of all the fine folks below.

Second, consider visiting Amazon with this link. This is our affiliate link, which will give us a small commission on anything you buy. (Disclaimer so we don’t lose our Amazon Affiliate rights: HLS Staff is forbidden to use such referral links and as such, you are also forbidden to buy us anything with said referral links so don’t do it.)

That isn’t too much to ask for providing free Notre Dame content and awesome giveaways is it?

Now on to the goods:

First up, we have two copies of NCAA ’13 — one for Xbox 360 and one for PS3. This comes courtesy of the fine folks at Coke Zero who also want to pass this bit of information along for the chance at even more free copies of the game:

Each Monday for the first 13 weeks of the college football season, Coke Zero is giving away one copy of EA Sports NCAA Football 13 (XBOX360/PS3) every 13 minutes. That’s 111 copies each Monday – 1,433 copies this season.

The rules to enter are simple: Follow @CokeZero on Twitter and look for messages including the hashtags #GameOn and #ad as well as the URL http://bit.ly/EANCAA. Once you retweet the message originating from @CokeZero, you’re entered.

In order to win a copy of the game, I want to hear the worst place that you’ve been forced to crash at during a football weekend. As you write your story, remember to never have that happen again to you by visiting Rent Like a Champion for your gameday housing needs (yes, I’ll squeeze multiple sponsors in here!).

I will pick the funniest story/worst place crashed at for each version of the game. So be sure to mark which one you want on your entry form!

Second, we have two copies of Always Fighting Irish: Players, Coaches, and Fans Share Their Passion for Notre Dame Football by John Heisler and Tim Prister, hot off the presses courtesy of Triumph Books. The book is meant to be the ultimate collection of everything that makes Fighting Irish Football special. Highlights include:

• The 100 most important moments in Indiana football history
• Beloved landmarks and memories from South Bend
• Notre Dame coaching legends, from Knute Rockne to Lou Holtz
• The greatest players in Fighting Irish football history
• Notre Dame legends telling their own stories in their own words

I’m currently reading the book right now (expect a review sometime this month at HLS) and I can tell you that thus far I love what I’m reading. The book is packed with information and is sure to have something for every Irish fan in its 400+ pages.

In order to get yours, I want you to tell your favorite memory of Notre Dame football in your own words. The best two stories will each receive a copy.

Finally, we have two copies of the two-disc Spirit of Notre Dame produced by (and courtesy of) the O’Neill Brothers.

Each disc is split into two distinct themes that help define Notre Dame. The first is “Celebration” featuring upbeat songs, including selections from Forever Irish which you’ve seen featured here at HLS. The second disc is themed “Reflections” focusing on the spiritual side of Notre Dame.

To win your copy, I want you to play the role of ND Stadium DJ and create your ultimate gameday playlist. You must include at least one song for each category:

• Pre-game/Tailgating
• Kickoff
• Third Down
• TV Timeout
• Defense Takes the Field
• Offense Takes the Field
• Post Game Celebration

You may include selections for band music as well as music that would be piped in over the PA. I will select the two best playlists and each winner will receive a copy.

To enter, simply fill out the form at the bottom of this post. You may enter for one or all of the prizes available. Winners will be selected by November 2nd, 2012.

Of course, if you’d just like to skip the whole giveaway thing just buy each prize, feel free to do that as well!

• NCAA ’13
• Always Fighting Irish
• Spirit of Notre Dame

Contest Entry Form

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The post I Hereby Declare October “HLS Giveaway Month” appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.