The Cincinnati Bengals took Eifert  with their pick, 21st overall. Te’o, however, slide out of the first round completely. This shocked quite a few Irish fans, especially after Minnesota traded up to the 29th pick, their third pick in the first round. The seemingly ever growing home for NFL Domers decided to take Tennessee WR, Cordarrelle Patterson, instead.

Yes, it was definitely disappointing to watch one of Notre Dame’s favorite sons fall out of the first round; however, it shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise, nor is it the end of the world.

Personally, my draft predictions had Eifert as the only no-doubt first round pick, with Te’o possibly sliding into the second round. While the combine results certainly weighed heavily in my decision there were several other factors in play as well.

Firstly, just look at how the first round played out. Offensive and defensive linemen ruled the round, as the majority of the elite talent was found there. Usually, you would also see a few QBs and RBs taken as well, but no RBs were taken and the only QB taken was Florida State’s E.J Manuel (another huge storyline slightly buried by the Te’o slide was Geno Smith falling to the second round). What you do not see in this first round, nor in any first round, are LBs of any kind being taken in large numbers, especially inside LBs like Te’o.

The first LB taken in the draft was Georgia’s Jarvis Jones, an OLB that excels in pass rushing, at #17 by Pittsburgh. As a pass rushing LB, he fits perfectly into the 3-4 defense of Pittsburgh whom were looking for a new sack threat. Pass rushers are always at a premium in the first round, so it is no shock Jones found his way off the board in short order.

The only other LB taken was ILB Alec Ogletree (Gerogia) who was selected by the Rams at #30. Even before the combine, many draft experts had Ogletree above Te’o, and after, there was no doubt he was above Te’o on just about everyone’s draft board. Either way, realize that it took until pick #30, the third-to-last pick of the first round for anyone at Te’o’s position to be selected.

It isn’t a huge knock on Te’o and Notre Dame fans don’t need to wonder what is wrong with teams that passed on him. The fact is that there are loads of ILBs still available and teams realize that. I expect that, when the dust settles, Te’o will still very likely be the second ILB taken in this draft and that’s nothing to be upset about in the least.

Yeah, it sucks that the payday won’t be as big, but I have a feeling someone of Te’o’s character will be perfectly fine with having to play his way into a larger contract. Feel free to be disappointed, but don’t go into “what does this mean?”, “what did Te’o do wrong?”, “did the whole Leenay thing mess this up for him?”, or “what’s wrong with NFL teams?” mode — ESPN and the NFL Network more than enough of that for everyone.

The Roundup

RIP stupid conference realignment. Our new friends at the ACC effectively killed the insanity and it all was indeed completely, bat-shit insane.

RIP BCS — we now have a new, exciting playoff which is called…The College Football Playoff. Yes, this is a thing that a group of people sat down and decided, along with the title game’s location and all the other new playoff bowls.

Coaches can use Photoshop and Twitter to recruit, this will end well. Check that, this will end hilariously.

CAST DA FIRST STONE. Twitter is the perfect medium in which to admit an NCAA violation, especially when you can claim you were hacked after your PR team turns your brain back on for you.

Notre Dame continues to collect more of the last Big East titles. This time it was Women’s Golf, who took not only the team title, but also had two golfers tie for top individual honors. And yes, they are in the Roundup because I used to manage them back in the day. Good work, ladies!

Speaking of awesome Notre Dame female athletes…Skylar Diggins has inked a contract with Jay-Z’s new agency.

Make your travel plans now. Basketball has announced their new ACC schedule, with highlights being home games against Duke and North Carolina. All kickoff times for the 2013 football season have been announced as well.

Normally, I would try to make a joke for this story. However, Holly Anderson stole all the Bon Jovi puns and I simply need to tip my cap to her.

The Beer My Liver HATES Me Right Now

To recap, two weeks ago I was in Vegas. Last weekend I was at Notre Dame pretending like I was still in college. This weekend, I will be attending a bachelor party that will start at a ranch and then move into College Station.

The weekend will include far too much beer, a trip to the Dixie Chicken and visiting far too many shot bars for my own good.

Oh, and Cinco de Mayo is next weekend.

Forget suggesting a beer, someone donate a liver for a transplant. I need it.

The post Friday Roundup: The “Sliding” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Yeah, realignment has officially gotten weird, especially since it’s hard to figure out what’s next. Notre Dame now finds themselves in limbo for all sports currently in the Big East and I’m not even sure what to call the soon-to-be former Big East. Perhaps we should just rename the conference as a symbol and call them “The Conference formerly Known As the Big East”?

While Friday’s Big East meeting in Atlanta provided no clarity on the big question of when this move will take place, we do know the following:

• No matter when this goes down, Notre Dame football is still on the same scheduling plan as before with ACC games starting in 2014
• The Conference Formerly Known As the Big East will still have an automatic BCS bid in the 2013 season
• As of right now, The Conference Formerly Known As the Big East looks would look like this for 2013-2014, minus the Catholic 7: Connecticut, Cincinnati, Rutgers, South Florida, Temple, Central Florida, Memphis, Louisville, Houston, SMU, Notre Dame (non-football), Navy (football only), East Carolina (football only), and Old Dominion (field hockey only…seriously)
• Louisville leaves for the ACC and Rutgers leaves for the Big Ten in 2014
• Tulane is scheduled to join in 2014 as a full member

As for what we don’t know, Jack Swarbrick had the following to say:

I know a lot of people want me to answer, “If this happens, what will you do?” The problem with that is there are a lot of flavors about what might happen. It’s not just one thing. I just haven’t spent a whole lot of time investing in scenarios and trying to play it out, because I figure soon enough I’m going to know one way or another.

At that time, I’m going to be able to deal with real facts and evaluate where we are and what our options are.

The previously linked SBT article mentions three options for Notre Dame: leave early for the ACC, stick with The Conference Formerly Known as the Big East, or join forces with the Catholic 7. However, I’m not so sure those options are as cut and dry as they appear, especially since Swarbrick mentioned “a lot of flavors” in this change and that it’s “not just one thing”. Swarbrick mentions this again when discussing a possible one year alliance with the Catholic 7:

As far as the Catholic 7 goes, we have great relationships with those schools and, of course, there are circumstances under which it could be appealing if there would be an opportunity to go with them.

But I don’t even know if that’s realistic or not. And even then, there are a million different flavors. That’s what makes all of this stuff so hard.

The “different flavors” quote again makes another appearance, making me wonder what complications could arise. With this in mind, I want to take a look at each possibility available should the Catholic 7 leave early and hypothesize as to the different “flavors” each could offer.

Join the ACC a Year Early

Seems simple enough. An agreement with the ACC is already in place, so this definitely makes a lot sense; however, there are two major road blocks. First, the Big East would have to allow Notre Dame to accelerate the agreed upon timetable to leave, a move that might be easier if the Catholic 7 does indeed jump this season, but there’s no guarantee. The second issue is whether or not the ACC could even accommodate all non-football sports at zero hour.

I also see a potential scenario in which the ACC requires the Irish to start their football ACC scheduling a year early as well. After all, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for the ACC to bend over backwards and not take advantage of potential revenue that ND Football could bring. Doing this though would complicate all other ACC football schedules, causing yet more headaches on the scheduling front.

Stay with The Conference Formerly Known As the Big East

This appears to be the path of least resistance, but also one that has a ton of potential pitfalls. An early departure of the Catholic 7 might not just make Notre Dame want to leave early as other member institutions might start looking elsewhere.

Taking Notre Dame out of the equation, 50% of the schools in the Big East will be brand new in 2013. Louisville and Rutgers already have one foot out the door, leaving only Connecticut, Cincinnati, and South Florida as the legacy members remaining. They have to be concerned about their futures in a potential 8 team conference in 2014, over half of which will be new schools are likely worried about the same thing — perhaps considering pulling a TCU and backing out of their agreements as well.

When Swarbrick talks about all the different possibilities, this is the area in which I see it. There has to be a major concern for a domino affect, and if the Catholic 7 is allowed to jump ship early, other Big East members might want the same courtesy and that completely changes the potential attractiveness of this option.

Join the Catholic 7 aka the Big East for a Year

I’m with Swarbrick on this one — I’m not even sure how realistic this is. This is mostly because I wonder what the benefit would be for Catholic 7/Big East to take in Notre Dame for just a year.

I’m sure that whatever the new TV deal that the Big East gets, doesn’t have Notre Dame involved at all, nor would the terms of the deal change if the Irish came on board. In fact, this might complicate whatever revenue sharing deals are in place, potentially hosing members out of some revenue.

In short, the Catholic 7 would more or less be doing Notre Dame a favor here.

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All the scenarios above hinge on the Catholic 7’s exit date from the Big East, which we may not know until tomorrow at best. Obviously, a 2014 departure date would be preferable for Notre Dame as that aligns with their departure as well. Should the Catholic 7 be allowed to leave next season, expect things to get quite messy.

The post Catholic 7 to Leave Big East, Become Big East, Notre Dame Waits for Next Move appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

At a time when personalized technologies like the iPhone and Hulu have eroded the natural ebb and flow of time and season, sport provides most of the few remaining way-points on the calendar. With our smart phones and tablets, we can time-shift “must see t.v.” to fit our individual schedules, rendering the start time of a particular game less meaningful than ever before. The release of the House of Cards remake on Netflix this month is perhaps the first step in the permanent decoupling of serial television from its historical and highly-choreographed season long unfolding. But until someone figures out a way to do that with sporting events, the start of a season will remain immutable.

And, for whatever reason, no sport retains its talismanic place on the calendar like baseball. Starting with the gathering of pitchers and catchers in warmer climes, everything about the start of a new baseball season finds its simulacrum in the natural world: the swallows returning to Capistrano, Punxsutawney Phil, etc. This year, I was fortunate enough to cover the start of Notre Dame’s 2013 baseball campaign and its three game series against Tulane, played out over the weekend of February 22-24, at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

Coach Mik Aoki’s Fighting Irish came into the weekend at 2-1 and on the outside-looking-in on the nation’s Top 25. Having defeated Florida Gulf Coast and Ohio State, the Irish lost to Mercer in a Florida tournament before heading back to South Bend for a week of practice and classes. “I don’t know who puts the travel day together,” said junior pitcher Sean Fitzgerald when asked about the effect of Notre Dame’s early-season travel schedule, which sees the Irish play in Sarasota, New Orleans and Los Angeles on successive weekends. “But, our team does a good job of getting their naps in.” Continuing, Fitzgerald noted that Notre Dame’s emphasis on academics adds to the challenges faced by the team. “We leave as late as possible in the week so we can get in our classes.”

This is a team, however, that is well-suited to rise to any challenges, whether on the field or in the classroom. “This is as talented a team as I’ve been on in my time here,” said Adam Norton, a senior pitcher. “The juniors and seniors in the team are really strong and have set a good foundation for the younger guys, each year building on the year before.” Facing a veteran-laden team like Tulane, this experience would pay dividends. 

Coming into the weekend, Tulane brought its own 2-1 record along with all four starting pitchers from last year and a total of seven returning position players. “Tulane is historically very good,” said Adam Norton when asked Wednesday about the weekend series. “We’re not going to walk in there and they’re going to lie down.” After completing the three game sweep to bring the Irish to 5-1 on the season, Coach Aoki was pleased. “I’m really proud of our club. We came down and played well. Tulane didn’t get timely hits and we competed. We did a good job and executed offensively.”

By game time Friday night, the weather was chilly (for New Orleans) and a fine mist descending. When it was over, a two-run homer by junior Eric Jagielo was the difference maker for the Irish, who held off a Tulane threat in the bottom of the ninth, to preserve the win for Fitzgerald who went 6 and a  third innings, with two strike outs. Saturday’s game was another win for the Irish, this time 3-1 over another Tulane squad who scattered hits harmlessly across the innings. Adam Norton went seven innings, striking out five and walking two.

On Sunday, the Irish offensive came alive, led by Ryan Bull who went four for five and crushed a two run blast deep into left field. Nick McCarty got the win for the Irish, on the back of great bullpen support from Donnie Hissa and David Hearne. “I thought Hissa was a little shaky, but he got us out of a tough spot,” said Coach Aoki.

Following the game and with his squad at 5-1, Coach Aoki was decidedly upbeat. “We had good at bats. [Tulane’sTony] Rizzotti is a Friday night guy for anybody. I feel good about our offense [. . .] our kids played.” Even before the three game sweep and crucial away wins, pitchers Fitzgerald and Norton were predicting big things for the Irish. “We’re projected to finish in the top three [of the Big East],” Fitzgerald offered. “If our offense stays consistent and our pitching comes around, we’re going to be really good.” Adam Norton continued, saying that “[there is] no reason we can’t win [the Big East]. Louisville is always good, but I think if we play our game [and] stay focused, I don’t see why we can’t be near the top.”

Special as the sweep was, an equally special moment came on Saturday, when the New Orleans Notre Dame Alumni Club hosted the team, coaches and staff at a meal and a mass on Tulane’s campus. Giving the Notre Dame community the literal and figurative opportunity to break bread, heaping plates of jambalaya, crawfish pasta and warm bread pudding became conversation starters and relationship builders. Whether they were genuinely taken by the moment, or just genuinely that giving of themselves, Captain Frank DeSico and freshman Kyle Richardson fomented a game of catch in the hallway with some of the children.

Commenting on the mass and the relationship between the team and its fans, Coach Aoki said “I think it’s a unique and special thing that we have at Notre Dame. It’s such a testament to what our university does. People don’t do that for a place at which they didn’t have a special time. [The mass and events like it] teach our kids to give back. Our kids are fortunate to play at Notre Dame. This teaches them to give back and break out of an entitlement mode.” Having witnessed the delight in the eyes of the children and adults who got to share some remarkable hours with the Irish, Notre Dame is fortunate to have a baseball team, staff and coaches such as these.

Author’s Note: I’d like to thank Josh Flynt (@NDSportsBlogger) for hooking me up with Michael Bertsch, Assistant Media Relations Director, whom I would like to thank for hooking me up with my interviews of Sean, Adam and Coach. I’d like to thank Sean, Adam and Coach for taking time to speak with me. And, finally, Frank and Kyle for playing with the kids, one of whom is feverishly writing cards to her new friends as I write this article.

The post We’re Talkin’ (Irish) Baseball appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.