Brady Hoke Archives - Her Loyal Sons https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog A Notre Dame Football Blog Tue, 22 Mar 2016 21:45:47 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.3 https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/HLS-Avatar-Option-2-150x150.png Brady Hoke Archives - Her Loyal Sons https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog 32 32 Notre Dame Football, The Organization – Part 2 https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2016/03/23/33573/ Wed, 23 Mar 2016 10:00:33 +0000 http://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/?p=33573 If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, do that now. In Part 2, we’re comparing numbers. To start, how has Notre Dame compared on the recruiting trail to its direct market competitors? (In Part 1 we defined the market as Ohio State, Michigan, Stanford and USC) Using 247sports.com composite team rankings, here are the ranks...

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]]> If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, do that now.

In Part 2, we’re comparing numbers. To start, how has Notre Dame compared on the recruiting trail to its direct market competitors? (In Part 1 we defined the market as Ohio State, Michigan, Stanford and USC)

Using 247sports.com composite team rankings, here are the ranks for each recruiting class:

[table “” not found /]

* Stanford only signed 13 players in 2013.

I think the rankings draw out what we all probably thought to be true: Notre Dame and Stanford are peers; both are trying to punch above their weight with the other three. (Michigan’s Rich Rod and Brady Hoke disaster aside, Jim Harbaugh is recruiting at a level UM faithful expect.)

How about on the field? Again, let’s check the record book:

[table “” not found /]

In terms of wins and losses, Notre Dame is in the middle of its peer group. Two ten win seasons since 2010, same as Michigan and USC, but well behind Ohio State and Stanford — who have eclipsed 10 wins five of the last six seasons.

And lastly, how about developing players into NFL Draft material?

[table “” not found /]

One thing that this chart makes remarkably clear is how rare it is for top high school talent to actually make it to the NFL. These five schools recruit “blue chip” players and more often than not sign full classes, and in any given year they place about a quarter of their draft eligible players on NFL rosters.  

The other thing that recent draft history reveals is that Notre Dame is certainly able to match the top-end player development of its direct market competitors (2016 will likely rate as ND’s best year yet in terms of players drafted).

Given the qualitative assessment in Part 1 and now this quantitative breakdown, Notre Dame football from an organizational standpoint is in an extremely competitive space of the college football market. While the Irish have certainly made strides under Coach Kelly they’ve yet to differentiate themselves from the field. I’ll grant that simply catching up to its direct competitors was the goal of the first phase of the Kelly tenure at Notre Dame. But with a new six contract extension, success in the second phase will be defined by the ability of Notre Dame football to top each of these charts come 2021.

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]]> Notre Dame Has Talent To Win 10 Games in ’16 https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2016/02/11/notre-dame-has-the-talent-to-win-10-games-again-in-2016-history-says-so/ Thu, 11 Feb 2016 14:00:35 +0000 http://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/?p=33132 Winning on Signing Day is critical to winning on Saturdays, or so we’re told. Given that it’s the middle of February and we’re a long way away from actual football, I decided to investigate the veracity of this so called truism. I went back to the 2009 season and compared 247sports composite team recruiting rankings,...

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]]> Winning on Signing Day is critical to winning on Saturdays, or so we’re told. Given that it’s the middle of February and we’re a long way away from actual football, I decided to investigate the veracity of this so called truism.

I went back to the 2009 season and compared 247sports composite team recruiting rankings, final BCS or Playoff Committee rankings, year-end AP rankings, wins/loss, and s/p+ strength of schedule for more than a dozen teams. There is a lot of really interesting data that I hope expand on in future posts. Now, though, I want to focus on what we can learn from the four undefeated seasons since 2009 in what we now call the “power five + Notre Dame”.

2009 Alabama
2010 Auburn
2012 Ohio State*
2013 Florida State

With one exception, those teams had two top-five composite recruiting classes on the roster for their undefeated campaigns. The exception – and it’s notable – was the 2010 Auburn team. That team, as we all know, benefited from the transfer of a Blinn Junior College quarterback: Cam Newton. Newton went on to have, by most accounts, the single most dominant season in college football history. (Plus, the seniors left on that team were part of a top 10 class.)

So, if you’re not going to be loaded with blue chip recruits in multiple classes, you’d better have a historically great QB (or maybe a spare $200,000 to acquire one).

For Notre Dame, the only top-five class on campus (2013) was just gutted by early NFL draft entries. By missing on five-stars like Caleb Kelly, Ben Davis, and, likely, Demetris Robertson the Irish won’t be bringing a top-five class on campus this season either.

That means it would take a total aberration for Notre Dame to go undefeated in 2016. 

Many of you will bring up the 2012 season in which Notre Dame finished the regular season 12-0 and played for the national championship. Even that group had one top 15 class (2009) and the composite number one overall class in 2008 still on the roster, at least in part.

So, given who the Irish signed on Feb. 3rd, and who’s still on campus, what can we expect in 2016?

The track record of the power five programs I’ve looked at that have multiple top 15 classes on the roster suggests 10 wins is a solid bet.

Yes, there are a few notable exceptions. None more so than the 2012-2014 Michigan teams who not only failed to reach double digit wins but did so with two top six classes on the roster – which really just goes to prove Brady Hoke was in so far over his head it would not have mattered if he wore the other team’s headset.

But the trend is pretty clear: multiple top-15-class-teams win 10 games far more often than not. Three of the four classes reporting for spring football in South Bend fit that bill. Or to put it another way: To win fewer than 10 games next season would be under performing relative to their level of talent.

—
*was serving a bowl ban for the NCAA violations.

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]]> Morning Roundup: Feb. 5, 2015 https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2015/02/05/morning-roundup-feb-5-2015/ Thu, 05 Feb 2015 13:00:17 +0000 http://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/?p=27778 Good morning! National Signing Day is now over, but not without a little midday excitement. Here are your headlines: FROM OUR SITE National Signing Day so far: The Irish at 24 SIGNING DAY/RECRUITING NEWS NY Times: National Signing Day, when college football makes a spectacle of itself UND.com: Fighting Irish add 24 names to 2015...

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]]> Good morning! National Signing Day is now over, but not without a little midday excitement. Here are your headlines:

FROM OUR SITE

SIGNING DAY/RECRUITING NEWS

VIDEOS

PODCASTS

RB JOSH ADAMS

LB JOSH BARAJAS

LB ASMAR BILAL

TE MILES BOYKIN

DB SHAUN CRAWFORD

CB NICK COLEMAN

OL/DL LINCOLN FEIST

S NICCO FERTITTA

WR JALEN GUYTON

LB BRANDON HUTSON

TE ALIZE JONES

QB ROBBY REGAN

G TREVOR RUHLAND

WR CJ SANDERS

LB/WR DEVYN SPRUELL

WR EQUANIMEOUS ST. BROWN

DT ELIJAH TAYLOR

DT BRANDON TIASSUM

DE BO WALLACE

CB ASHTON WHITE

RB DEXTER WILLIAMS

S MYKELTI WILLIAMS

QB BRANDON WIMBUSH

K JUSTIN YOON

OTHERS

COACHING

CURRENT TEAM

HISTORY

MISC.

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]]> National Signing Day So Far: The Irish at 24 https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2015/02/04/national-signing-day-far-irish-23/ Wed, 04 Feb 2015 18:58:42 +0000 http://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/?p=27769 Well, it’s been a good day, so far, for the Notre Dame Figthing Irish, with twenty-four recruits, including early-enrollees, in the bag. Once again, Coach Kelly and his staff trolled far and wide to land this class, pulling athletes from what appear to be thirteen (13) states, giving Brian Kelly 224 votes in the Electoral...

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]]> Well, it’s been a good day, so far, for the Notre Dame Figthing Irish, with twenty-four recruits, including early-enrollees, in the bag. Once again, Coach Kelly and his staff trolled far and wide to land this class, pulling athletes from what appear to be thirteen (13) states, giving Brian Kelly 224 votes in the Electoral College.

37-0But the biggest troll of the day, so far, was the (tragically-incorrect) news that Brady Hoke had joined the Irish coaching staff as a defensive coach. This would have been so fantastic on dozens of levels, such as cronut, but also because Hoke was responsible for one of Notre Dame’s more impressive defensive performances last year.

Author’s Note: apparently, as I understand from the multiple tweets and reports this morning about the Hoke non-hire, Brady was “in for a penny, in for twelve hundred pounds,” as it were, until he learned that the Irish signed “Nicco Fertitta” and not, as Hoke believed, “heaps o’ fritattas.”

As of this writing (1234 CST), the Irish received NLI’s or early-enrollments from the following student-athletes: Equanimeous St. Brown, Alize Jones, Dexter Williams, C.J. Sanders, Nicco Fertitta, Shaun Crawford, Brandon Wimbush, Bo Wallace, Nick Coleman, Ashton White, Brandon Tiassum, Miles Boykin, Josh Barajas, Trevor Ruhland, Jalen Guyton, Justin Yoon, Elijah Taylor, Mykelti Williams, Josh Adams, Asmar Bilal, Te’von Coney, Micah Dew-Treadway, Tristan Hoge, and Jerry Tillery. All of their bios and video highlights can be found here, which is just a fantastic effort from the folks at und.com.

Thirteen defensive players, ten offensive players (at least one of whom is TRI-LINGUAL), and a magnificent kicker should see the Irish with significant depth at all positions, something Coach Brian Kelly emphasized in his mid-morning interview with a man who always seems to “got it,” the incomparable Mr. Jack Nolan. You can watch that interview here. Coach Kelly’s end-of-the-day presser, scheduled for 3:15 p.m. EST, can be watched here, which is just a fantastic effort from the folks at WatchND.

The day has not been without its losses, too, as QB coach Matt LaFleur has seemingly signed on with the Falcons of the NFL. This lead to cryptic/sad tweets from Irish players, to include Malik Zaire. LaFleur, it should be noted, recruited Brandon Wimbush, so we’ll see.

In any event, it’s been overall a very good day for the Irish. Stay tuned for actual analysis and stuff later today and during the week. In the meantime, bid these young men wilkommen, bienvenue, and welcome.

 

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]]> Friday Roundup: The “Signing Away the Heisman” Edition https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2014/10/10/friday-roundup-signing-away-heisman-edition/ https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2014/10/10/friday-roundup-signing-away-heisman-edition/#comments Fri, 10 Oct 2014 15:35:01 +0000 http://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/?p=26623 Yesterday, all potential Friday Roundup topics promptly took a back seat in my brain once Todd Gurley’s suspension hit the newswire. Georgia originally announced the suspension as “indefinite”, but Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman and his source believe the suspension will only last two or three games. Regardless of suspension length, Gurley will likely bid farewell to...

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]]> Friday RoundupYesterday, all potential Friday Roundup topics promptly took a back seat in my brain once Todd Gurley’s suspension hit the newswire. Georgia originally announced the suspension as “indefinite”, but Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman and his source believe the suspension will only last two or three games. Regardless of suspension length, Gurley will likely bid farewell to any chance of winning the Heisman thanks to this mess.

Regardless of where you might stand on the NCAA rule about a student-athlete making money off their own likeness, Fox Sports’ Stewart Mandel sent a friendly reminder that the judge in the O’Bannon case, the supposed death blow of NCAA amateurism, had the chance remove that restriction but passed. So by all means, call the rule dumb, stupid, or whatever else you so chose, but Gurley indeed broke a rule that put his eligibility, and his Heisman, at risk.

Still…something smells different about this case and the stench isn’t coming from the NCAA, college football’s favorite scapegoat.

Andy Staples of SI.com reported that Gurley signed 80 pieces of memorabilia and earned $400 doing so. Let’s take a step back and put that $400 in perspective. Back in my student manager days at Notre Dame, I stayed on campus over the summer and received the same per diem as all student athletes did since the dining halls were closed. Todd Gurley allegedly signed away his Heisman chances for less than two of those per diem checks.

And let’s put that value in perspective against the stuff that he signed. An eBay search on Gurley autographs shows that memorabilia dealer could recoup the full cost of the signing fee by selling just two signed jerseys. The dealer then has 78 pieces of autographed merchandise left to sell, making his ROI on that $400 signing fee simply absurd as is his overall profit margin as I’d wager any dealer is marking up by at least 100%.

So if we wish to remain serious about preventing exploitation of student-athletes, we might want to start with this asshole as he will make a killing off Gurley’s signature. Georgia certainly isn’t reaping the benefits of those particular profits. Even worse, the person that provided the smoking gun to trigger this suspension is most likely the same guy that paid him.

SBNation revealed that someone sent them an email about this story and its original contents looked suspiciously like the evidence that SI.com claimed they had seen. Two weeks prior, the sub-Reddit for college football, /r/cfb, had a thread in which someone claimed that a Heisman favorite would soon find themselves suspended. The information provided by that poster, who since deleted their Reddit account, looks eerily similar, but a later post by that same user looks even more damning. The Reddit mods that run their Twitter presence confirmed that post was from the same user that did an AMA (ask me anything) about paying college players for their autographs.

Reading between the lines on this, it almost appears at if this memorabilia dealer saw that Gurley took money from other dealers, flooding a market that he thought he had cornered. I don’t think it is that large of a stretch of the imagine to assume that, in response to his profits taking a hit, he decided to leak this story and provide evidence against Gurley. With all NCAA eyes on Gurley, the steadily increasing supply of autographed items now comes to a stretching halt, which will eventually lead to prices rising back to where this dealer wants them.

If my theory is true, this dealer effectively exploited Gurley twice. That is the real heart of the problem here and the NCAA is powerless to do anything about it other than suspending Gurley. While this suspension will certainly cost Gurley the Heisman, in a strange twist of irony, it will probably increase his draft stock as NFL scouts and teams will see more tread on the tires and a longer potential career for Gurley.

In the end, Gurley will still get paid and handsomely. He will eventually retain an agent that will ensure his client is paid properly for his signature. Heisman or not, he’ll be just fine as will the autograph dealer who will still rake in the profits from his stock.

Georgia and their fans are the ones that take this bullet. It’s the only recourse that the NCAA bylaws allow punish the breaking of their bylaws. But, even if the NCAA decided tomorrow to remove this rule from the books, they still will be unable to stop crooked memorabilia dealers like the one involved here in their exploitation attempts.

Their money goes straight into their pockets while schools take their money an reinvest it into their own institution whether it is the football team itself, other sports, education, etc. Yes, I realize people love to debate just how much is spent in those efforts in relation to the salaries for employees of the athletic department; however, I can guarantee every school is making some sort of attempt to put football profits back into their schools while these memorabilia dealers watch their bank accounts inflate.

Do I believe the NCAA needs some changes? Definitely. Their system of enforcement is laughable at best, but more concerning is that all of these amateurism rules in place are also supposed to protect student-athletes from the vultures circling these kids in order to profit off of them. As seen in this case with Gurley, that too has been a complete and utter failure.

The Roundup

Your weekly Savin’ Aven update: I’m going to start providing weekly updates on our fundraising efforts here in the Roundup. If I get some bigger news from the family, I will be sure to make a separate post. In week one of this effort, y’all have helped push this fund to $5,332 which is over one-third of the original goal. Keep it going and keep spreading the word. For more on Aven’s story and donation information, please check out this post.

Trevor Knight and Katy Perry look to be a Craigslist missed connection. Knight hasn’t called her, but then again, he doesn’t have her number. Poor guy.

Irish in Rome? AS Roma, an Italian Serie A team, wants to host the “Holy War” between ND and Boston College, with the pope tossing the coin. Not joking.

Some CFB writers got a chance to act as the playoff committee. The results were interesting and I’m going to link Forde’s experience for one reason only: he was forced to play the role of Ty Willingham (and was the butt-end of golfing jokes) which is beyond hilarious after he took ND to task for firing him years ago.

And now your moment of Nix… How long can you watch Brady Hoke clap?

The Booze

So I wanted to see if North Carolina had some kind of unique cocktail it could claim for this week. Hilariously enough, I found more drinks that were inspired by Cheerwine than the Tar Heels. However, I did manage to stumble upon one recipe that I guess is Tar Heel inspired based on the color, but to hell with it. After all ND has been putting the opposing team’s color of Gatorade up on BK’s podium for giggles the past couple of weeks, so let’s roll with it.

The “Tar Hell” (aka Blue) Margarita

2 oz Tequila
1 oz Triple Sec
1 oz Blue Curaco
1 oz Lime Juice
Sugar (or salt) to rim glass (optional)

Simple enough to make. Throw everything into a shaker and pour into a glass. Added bonus, this blue ends up dark enough so you can pass this off as a Notre Dame inspired margarita at your tailgate instead of screaming that you are drinking the blood of your enemies, which might be concerning to some outside Southern Cal week.

As for the beer, I think I’m going to give a nod to the native Cheerwine of North Carolina and suggest Sam Adam’s Cherry Wheat.

 

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]]> https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2014/10/10/friday-roundup-signing-away-heisman-edition/feed/ 5 Friday Roundup: The “Sum of All Fears” Edition https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2014/10/03/friday-roundup-sum-fears-edition/ https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2014/10/03/friday-roundup-sum-fears-edition/#comments Fri, 03 Oct 2014 16:13:47 +0000 http://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/?p=26520 I believe that Notre Dame fans can more or less be classified into two distinct groups: those that prefer the status quo and those that embrace and/or desire change. I think it is a more apt description than “traditionalist” and “non-traditionalist” as all Irish fans certain have their own “thou shalt not touch” list when...

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]]> Friday RoundupI believe that Notre Dame fans can more or less be classified into two distinct groups: those that prefer the status quo and those that embrace and/or desire change. I think it is a more apt description than “traditionalist” and “non-traditionalist” as all Irish fans certain have their own “thou shalt not touch” list when it comes to certain traditions and even standards at Notre Dame.

Debates centering around change at Notre Dame infuriate me. Part of it has to do with my steadfast belief that Notre Dame doesn’t receive the benefit of the doubt that they can do change well. That doesn’t mean that I believe ND is perfect because, let’s be honest, to crawl out of the abyss that life after Lou Holtz brought, ND has changed presidents once, athletic directors twice, and Kelly is the fifth head coach hired since Lou (because yes, George O’Leary happened). So while I can understand concern in the change debate, I’ve found it hard to reconcile some of the slippery slope arguments that I’ve seen.

And then a look at Michigan. This has to be the nightmare scenario for the status quo crowd.

Dave Brandon appears completely tone-deaf to the fans and alumni of Michigan. Cries of Michigan football creating too much of a corporate, money-making atmosphere matter not to him. Alumni have been angry about this new direction and students have been upset with changes to their seating policy as well as prices for tickets increasing in the face of terrible Michigan seasons and equally poor home schedules. Even Notre Dame fans have reported that the game atmosphere in the Big House now is horrendous in comparison to previous years.

The entire Shane Morris debacle served as the last straw for many Michigan fans. The circus Michigan threw together in trying to handle the PR disaster only made matters worse. A random post on MGoBlog called for a student rally to call for Brandon’s head. The folks behind the site were more than happy to promote and encourage the idea in hopes to kick Michigan into action.

The fallout, however, hasn’t gone in the direction any Michigan fan had hoped. The rich folks (aka the real power) seem to be circling the wagons in defense of Brandon. Brandon went to the media in private interviews, starting first with the student newspaper, and absolved embattled head coach Brady Hoke of all blame for putting Morris in danger. The entire medical staff at Michigan found themselves thrown under a bus and now Brandon will implement a new policy to have a “medical replay official” in the press box to prevent the situation from happening again.

Brandon acts as if he knows he’s bulletproof. I’m certain Hoke will still find himself fired upon the end of the season, but it will be for wins and losses and nothing more in Brandon’s mind. Brandon will then make another (likely sub-par) hire much to our delight as Irish fans because Michigan appears more concerned with a bottom line on a balance sheet.

Perhaps eventually the cries will become too much and Brandon is let go. The aforementioned MGoBlog is most certainly trying their damnedest to stoke that fire. Another post on their board posted a screen shot of a rather curt email from the hated AD. The problem though is that the original email that caused it hasn’t been released. However, later in that thread (yes, I read the whole thing), Brian Cook, the Michigan man behind the site, stated that based on previous emails from Brandon sent to him, he believed that this was worth filing a FOIA request over.

That’s the point Michigan fans are now at: FOIA requests for emails to prove their AD is a dick because they don’t feel Michigan will can him. And, for them, this all started with a few changes away from the tradition that they felt was Michigan.

Could you imagine Notre Dame in this same scenario? I still don’t personally believe Notre Dame would ever come close to that road, but I also imagine Michigan will be exhibit A for reasons to be concerned about proposed changes.

So thanks Michigan, you have now managed to throw so much jet fuel on to your tire fire that it’ll likely spread to ND debates in the future. You can’t even fail properly. I know I’m laughing right now (with the exception of the Morris situation because I’m not that evil), but I can see this causing headaches in a future debate. Thanks, jerks.

The Roundup

Michigan has clearly made bad decisions. But it’s okay, we all have.

And in the file of terrible ADs: Steve Patterson. In last week’s Roundup, I spoke out his rocky relationship with Notre Dame, but now he looks ready to piss off every taxpayer in Austin.

Roll Teenage Witch. Melissa Joan Hart, this is creepy.

Ole Miss is definitely rising in the SEC. Congrats the full-fledged NCAA investigation! S-E-C! S-E-C!

This is sad week for basketball fans everywhere. Red Panda has hung up her unicycle. The bowls are now back in the cupboard. Halftime shows will never be the same.

BAH GAWD, KING, THAT’S WEST VIRGINIA’S MUSIC! I have no idea what prompted them to stage WWE matches in their locker room, but it’s hilarious.

Take a virtual tour of Brian Kelly’s office. Seriously, this is a really cool photo gallery that ESPN put together.

Is Schmidt going to get a movie? I definitely have to agree that he is certainly finding more success than another well-known ND walk-on.

Another week in the academic investigation, another week of no news. KeiVarae Russel voiced his displeasure on Instagram and the Observer has called for more transparency in what has been an incredibly long process.

And now your moment of Nix…

https://twitter.com/oaknd1/status/517687036338507777

The Booze

In honor of Stanford week, I present to you the Irish Lumberjack, a twist on the Irish Coffee concept:

Ingredients:

  • 2 oz Bailey’s
  • 1 oz Irish Whiskey
  • 1/5 tsp Cinnamon
  • 2-3 oz espresso
  • Half and Half
  • Milk

Pour Bailey’s and the Irish Whiskey and the brewed espresso into a coffee cup. Add in the half and half until the cup is 3/4 full. Steam/froth the milk and top off the cup. Garnish with the cinnamon.

Now, for those of us that don’t have the fancy coffee equipment (/raises hand), go to your favorite coffee stop (even McDonalds will work because it’s the booze that’s important) and order a café latte and spike the sucker with the booze, topping it off with cinnamon.

Granted, this isn’t a drink that you’re going to consume all game. So once you have this in your system as a kick-starter, if you want to continue the lumberjack theme you can brave maple flavored whiskey. Personally, I find that too sweet for my taste, so after I make my tree joke via beverage, I’m going for the Oktoberfest brews before ALL PUMPKIN EVERYTHING kicks in full-force.

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]]> https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2014/10/03/friday-roundup-sum-fears-edition/feed/ 1 CFB Week 5: A Tale of Two… https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2014/09/28/cfb-week-5-tale-two/ Sun, 28 Sep 2014 21:32:00 +0000 http://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/?p=26443 Years 2008: Notre Dame vs. Syracuse, L 23-24 2014: Notre Dame @ Syracuse, W 31-15 In 2008, Notre Dame managed to win the turnover battle (+2), out-gained Syracuse, and had Jimmy freakin’ Clausen at QB, yet still managed to lose against a team that had just fired their coach. There’s a reason One Foot Down...

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]]> Years

2008: Notre Dame vs. Syracuse, L 23-24
2014: Notre Dame @ Syracuse, W 31-15

In 2008, Notre Dame managed to win the turnover battle (+2), out-gained Syracuse, and had Jimmy freakin’ Clausen at QB, yet still managed to lose against a team that had just fired their coach. There’s a reason One Foot Down named this the worst loss of the Weis era. It all but glued Weis’ rear to the hot seat in 2009.

Last night, Notre Dame lost the turnover battle in a big way (-4) and completely re-shuffled their offensive line, yet somehow managed to both out-gain and comfortably beat Syracuse. I don’t believe that the 2014 version of Syracuse will end up being too much better than their 2008 counterparts, but regardless, it’s quite a jump from 6 years ago.

We are now saying “man, we won, but we need to play better” instead of “no wonder we lost, look how we played”.

QBs

Add to that, Golson had 2 fumbles and Winston had 1 with 21 rushing yards to Winston’s -3.

Even with more turnovers, Golson still managed to put up just as positive a performance as Winston did when all was said and done. An argument could be made that Winston did this against better competition, but the fact that Golson had a wrose game taking care of the ball and still pulled that off is rather impressive regardless of the competition. Also, consider that FSU had a rusher with 126 rushing yards helping Winston out while the Irish had 140 total when you remove Golson’s yards.

Firings

Charlie Weis
Brady Hoke (it’s going to happen)

Weis’ firing has been a looooooooong time coming as he’s led Kansas into a black hole. While Hoke hasn’t been canned yet, the writing is certainly on the wall; however, while Michigan doesn’t want to do their first mid-season firing in their history, they likely have all the ammo to do so after Hoke put an injured and concussed Shane Morris back in the game.

There is simply no excuse for that. I don’t care if Morris was waving off a sub or the third-stringer couldn’t find his helmet. You eat a timeout and protect the kid under your care. Everyone on the sideline from Hoke, the assistants, and the training staff should be held accountable for putting Morris’ health in danger.

Opponents Showing Flaws

Stanford
Florida State

The two toughest Irish opponents for the month of October each had their own unique set of issues.

Stanford needed a late 4th quarter TD (under 5 minutes) to hold off Washington. Their once vaunted rushing attack sits at 70th in the nation while their red zone scoring rate sits at 121st in the nation. They still have the best defense in the nation to this point in the season, but needless to say, holes are starting to show for them.

Florida State has now had two consecutive weeks of dodging bullets. Last week, they could have the excuse of not having Jameis Winston. This week, Winston (as shown above) did a poor job of taking care of the ball and put Florida State in a hole early. Even the Seminoles defense, considered one of the best in the nation, gave up two 75 yard TD drives to start the game.

While both of these games are far from easy, they are certainly looking more winnable than they did before the season started.

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]]> Notre Dame and Michigan: The End https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2014/09/10/end/ https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2014/09/10/end/#comments Wed, 10 Sep 2014 15:50:14 +0000 http://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/?p=26181 I’m not used to storybook endings for Notre Dame football. That might sound a bit strange for a program full of feel-good lore, legends, and even a movie about a walk-on that managed to record a sack on his only defensive snap. That was all “back then” as many people that love to hate the Fighting...

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]]> I’m not used to storybook endings for Notre Dame football. That might sound a bit strange for a program full of feel-good lore, legends, and even a movie about a walk-on that managed to record a sack on his only defensive snap. That was all “back then” as many people that love to hate the Fighting Irish will consistently remind me.

Recently, the script for Notre Dame football ends in nightmares.

The 2012 season, and the events that followed after it, serves as a perfect example. After an undefeated season, everything came crashing back down to earth as Alabama demolished the Irish. The destruction of our dreams didn’t end there. The feel-good story of the season, Manti Te’o dealing with the tragic death of his girlfriend and excelling to a Heisman-caliber level of play, transformed into a PR disaster and added the term “catfishing” into many a vocabulary. A few months later, Everett Golson found himself dismissed from Notre Dame.

Granted, 2012 was full of fantastic moments and memories; however, when the time came to close the book on the season, the final pages were filled with nothing less with some of the most awful things that we could imagine.

“Ow, my balls.”

“Hold me, I’m Irish.”

These became better descriptors for Notre Dame football than “Play like a Champion Today” or “Win one for the Gipper.” Good things would happen, but, eventually, the other shoe would drop.

Travelling to Notre Dame this past weekend, I couldn’t help but think the end of the Michigan series would have a similar disappointing and painful end. And, yes, I had these feelings despite the fact that I was confident ND would win comfortably. That’s just what ND football does to my brain.

Just think about everything that happened leading up to this game. Notre Dame finally got to be the one to put a hiatus on the series. The final game would be a home game. Jack Swarbrick stuck it to Michigan by announcing a series with Ohio State in a clear message that there are no plans to revive the series anytime soon.

I will forever remain convinced that Swarbrick firing that final salvo Michigan was in direct response to Michigan’s reaction to the cancellation. Dave Brandon told anyone in the media that would listen of Swarbrick’s cruelty. Brady Hoke began the “chicken” narrative that he damn well knew fans would grasp on to.

Notre Dame couldn’t have asked for a clearer path for final vengeance. They could go 2-1 since the cancellation notice, killing the chicken narrative for anyone with a brain. With Brandon determined to channel his predecessors’ arrogance in ND relations, he all but guaranteed that such a result would stick for the remainder of his tenure. His constituents could beg him for a rematch, but we’d let the phone ring when his name shows up on caller ID.

You couldn’t ask for a better set up for a storybook ending on our end. That meant something had to go wrong.

Truth be told, while 2012 is a great example of our dreams falling back down to earth, 2011 is the bigger culprit, especially in regards to Michigan. 2011 should have gone down as a beautiful ass-kicking of Michigan under the lights if the game had ended after the three quarters. But that fourth quarter was played and instead of a 24-7 win, we had a 35-31 loss.

No loss had ever stung so bad. I had never been so angry about a ND result in my life, Bush Push included.

That game marked the first time that my wife realized I care way too much about ND football. Instead of running for the hills years ago, this Southern Illinois alumna sat next to me on the flight into O’Hare airport, excited to spend a weekend with myself and our friends at Notre Dame whom we hadn’t seen in almost four months at the day of our wedding. As we prepared to take off, the plane stopped mid-taxi and we were informed that we’d be stuck on the runway for an hour and forty-five minutes. Thankfully, the delay was only a half-hour; however, any temporary relief quickly disappeared as our flight was suddenly diverted to St. Louis.

As we waited for O’Hare to give us clearance to resume our flight, I received some text messages from my friends that had arrived in our rental house. A power line by the house went down and half of our block was without power. Soon after, two more members of our eleven person group informed us their flights were cancelled. Soon after that, we received word that he had been cleared once again for takeoff–and right before I put my phone away, I saw on Twitter that Ron Washington, the manager of the Texas Rangers, my other love, had abruptly resigned for “personal reasons” that still aren’t clear today.

What in the hell just happened? An anxious pit in my stomach, born in 2011, resurfaced. Before we took flight again, I expressed my concern on Twitter and saw this reply:

https://twitter.com/IDtheMIKE/status/508055912582742016

Son of a bitch, that’s right. I have to write about this one way or the other. Please be the greatest retribution win ever, please.

The rest of the evening went much smoother than the flight. The house got power back so we didn’t have to drink beer with LED headlamps on anymore. And, of course, it’s Friday night, we are back at Notre Dame, and that means one thing: ‘Backer.

To no surprise, we had to stand in an hour and thirty minute-plus ‘Backer line in the rain since everyone and their uncle was in town for this game, tickets or not. At some point in that slightly miserable existence, I noticed dehydration had kicked in. Fun fact: a steady diet of caffeinated drinks that begins to take over your usual water intake as a result of a hectic work and blogging schedule that further results in little to no sleep will cause your body to start hating you because you have made poor life decisions.

But into the ‘Backer I went and decided double-fisting a long island and water would get me through. That gameplan quickly switched to water-only after swallowing yet another cup of poison, but, dammit, I was going to close this place down tonight. This is my one ‘Backer trip this year.

Yes, body, I know I’m too old for this shit. A smarter person than I would’ve been very concerned that they are unable to sweat in this crowded mass of humanity and left. Unfortunately for you, body, I am drunk and can no longer make good choices. I’m not drunk on ‘Backer long islands, but on being here at Notre Dame, my second home, in the shittiest of all shitty dive bars that I have the deepest of love for because of all kinds of illogical reasons. I’m sure if we asked Joe Theismann, he could come up with the worst quote ever to put on a shirt to describe it, but the point is that I’m going to dance with my wife, hang out with my friends, and pretend I’m 22 for few more hours and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Well, expect for the drinking water part. You win that battle.

See, I have grown up.

Thankfully, I acquiesced to re-hydration demand from my body. I woke up the following morning feeling like a normal person once again. Unfortunately for my poor body, that meant that I was fully ready to tailgate my ass off for about ten hours:

Tex Fireball

Not pictured: the forty I was drinking during this time and the shotgun that caused the spill on my jersey.

I would come to find out later that posting this picture on social media made a lot of you concerned about my potential well-being for the remainder of the day, including concern that I would fail to make it to the game. Truth be told, even the people with me were questioning my decisions at the time.

Silly people, there would be no way in hell, copious amounts of morning alcohol or not, that I would miss this game.

Sure, my morning sprint required that I take a breather and sober up a bit on the way to campus (and get drunk again while tailgating), but I made it to the stadium, happily buzzed and ready to watch ND beat Michigan. As an added bonus, at this point, my capacity for worry about potentially disastrous things happening on the field was long gone.

Until Everett Golson called a timeout to avoid a delay of game penalty on the very first play of the game.

Okay, that’s a bit rough, but maybe we’ll be fine–oh, nevermind, he had to call yet another time out. Oh, sweet, the drive’s over. 6 plays, 14 yards, and two timeouts dead–all in three minutes and eleven seconds. The efficiency in which we shot ourselves in the foot? Kind of concerning.

Here comes Michigan with three plays and two first downs. Well, I’m sobering up in a hurry now. And now there’s a fourth down conversion. Oh hey, terrible 2011 feelings, there you are again. I didn’t miss you at all, can we please make this stop?

Thankfully, Michigan’s kicker heard my screaming internal dialogue and sends his field goal attempt well wide-right. For once, I’m thankful NBC has long TV timeouts so I can calm the hell down.

Golson returns to the field and, in almost half the time it took Michigan to miss a field goal, puts together an 8 play, 71 yard drive. Joy has returned, but more so, relief. The lead is nice, but taking advantage of a Michigan failure is even better. 10 point swings are good.

Yes, I’m choosing to ignore the fact Notre Dame used it’s last timeout on that drive. Shut up, 2011 feelings, LEAVE ME ALONE.

Michigan begins another drive with promise. That promise dies in a spectacular blaze of glory with a field goal attempt that doesn’t even reach the endzone on the fly. I do not yet know that Michigan’s kicker shanked the attempt so bad ND partially blocked the kick with a facemask because that was apparently where Matt Wile was aiming. All I know from my vantage point is that it’s the worst field goal attempt I’ve seen in recent memory and I’m laughing my ass off.

After trading punts, the Irish are driving towards my seat in overlooking the south endzone. I see Corey Robinson make a wonderful play, diving just short of the endzone. From my vantage point in the corner, I’m slightly offset from the goal line, but I know he isn’t in. Whatever, we will just punch this in from the…three?!

“The previous play is under review.”

Well, thank God. That spot is terrible, B1G refs. I’m glad our new ACC friends in the booth will correct this injustice.

“The ruling on the field stands.”

I hate everything.

The 2011 feelings are back again, taunting me. I tell them to shut up, but they get louder as both Tarean Folston and Golson fail to punch it in the endzone on the next two plays. The jubilant screams of 80,000+ drown them out as Amir Carlisle hauls in a Golson pass for a touchdown.

With only 3:58 left in the half, I know this stand for the defense is beyond crucial. Sheldon Day knows it too. That’s why he shoves a Skunkbear lineman all the way into Devon Gardner who panics, tries to hold on to an attempted pass and fumbles. Notre Dame doesn’t recover, but they didn’t need to. The resulting 3rd and 20 on the 17 yard loss kills the drive.

Notre Dame gets the ball back damn near in Michigan territory thanks to a 12 yard punt return by Cody Riggs. My excitement for seeing an actual Irish punt return quickly subsides as I realize the realty of the situation: Golson has 1:24 left to take the Irish 56 yards and he has no timeouts.

He needs only 50 seconds.

The Irish go into the half up 21-0. I’m beside myself. This doesn’t feel real. The Michigan fans spotted around me are even more stunned than I. They’ve been silent all game, completely shell-shocked by the first half. As the break winds down to a close one mentions that crazier things have happened before in this series. Perhaps Michigan could find a way to come back.

2011 is back. It fled from my body and possessed other people and is now speaking through them. I need this demon slayed in the worst way.

Max Redfield does his best to answer the call. His first career interception couldn’t have come at a better time. Michigan is on the ropes now after their first drive fails in spectacular fashion, unfortunately, their defense counter-punches by giving the Irish their first negative yard drive in the game. The momentum starts to creep towards the Michigan sideline.

But sometimes the unlikeliest of heroes manage to stand. Like Neville Longbottom pulling out the Sword of Griffindor to halt Voldemort’s army, Kyle Brindza and the Irish punt coverage team pin Michigan on the two yard-line. Momentum continues to wear blue and gold.

Michigan can only reach their own 32. They pay for their failure with another Notre Dame touchdown. The score is 28-0, there is 3:02 left in the third quarter. 2011 is nowhere to be found. After another Gardner fumble, like many Michigan fans, 2011 departs from Notre Dame stadium.

Molly, you asked me earlier this week when I started to get greedy and want the shutout. That fumble was the moment. The forth quarter was just around the corner and 28-0 wasn’t enough. A win wasn’t enough. I wanted blood. I wanted the shutout. The entire crowd wanted the shutout.

So did the ND defense. In 2012 Denard Robinson fashion, the next play that Gardner got resulted in an interception. Kyle Brindza adds on three more points for good measure. 31-0.

Michigan doesn’t even cross the 50 again until the forth quarter is well past its halfway point. It’s now 4th and 10 on ND’s 22. Michigan is so close to actually running a play in the red zone for the first time all game. The lone Michigan fan in our section is begging Hoke to play for the field goal. I become slightly aware of Michigan’s scoring streak thanks to his cries. I have no idea this will be the first time Notre Dame will ever pull off the feat. I have no idea that it will be the first time Michigan will be shutout in 365 games and the first time a non-conference opponent will do this to them since the 1920s.

I’m not sure if Brian VanGorder knows. I’m not sure if he cares. He wants the shutout just as much as the Notre Dame faithful that are, in a move not often seen in the stands with a 31 point lead in the forth quarter, all on their feet screaming for blood. VanGorder gives it to them and brings the house. I do not see the fist pump, but it is unknowingly fueling my joy.

https://vine.co/v/OuYHajJMHFh

At this point I see the student section waving. A few minutes earlier, I was hoping we’d sing “Goodbye” to our enemy should this result hold. I’m straining my ears, hoping that’s what’s happening. It was. I join in on the chorus. It is the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard.

https://vine.co/v/OuYgia6jdx5

Michigan receives one final chance to save themselves from embarrassment. Gardner delivers his final act of failure, this time into the hands of Elijah Shumate who runs all the way into the endzone. The clock reads 0:00, 37-0. It’s over.

I’m jumping around in seats once occupied by Michigan fans. My cracked voice strains to deliver the amount of joy I’m feeling. My wife has as big of a smile on her face as I do and I’m sure she thinks I’m acting like an idiot right now.

I don’t care. Neither does she. We both remember 2011. Fuck 2011. That game is dead, gone, and we will never speak of it again. 2014 is all that matters and Michigan still hasn’t scored.

The B1G officials, however, aren’t aware that the game is done. They have issue with Max Redfield delivering a block to Devin Gardner.

The block is delivered from the side and Redfield hits Gardner square in the front of his shoulder. Michigan fans will later call this a dirty hit and the B1G officials agree. Roughing the passer is called, the touchdown is removed from the board.

And not a single Notre Dame fan in the stadium gives a damn.

We aren’t even aware what the call actually is. We can’t hear the officials and we are too busy laughing at Michigan players sheepishly trotting back on the field so Zaire can run an untimed kneel down. We all have pictures of the 37-0 scoreboard right now and 31-0 isn’t any less embarrassing.

So enjoy that final act of B1G defiance, Michigan. It matters not.

I wouldn’t go to sleep for another 6 hours. I would manage to become drunk again for the third time in 24 hours while enjoying s’mores by our house’s firepit. I would wake up tired and hungover as hell the next morning. Much like that worthless penalty at the end of the game, I didn’t care.

I got my storybook ending. It couldn’t have been written any better if I had penned using my wildest dreams. We beat Michigan–no, we destroyed them. We ended them. They won’t get another shot for years. We got the last laugh.

Michigan went back to the same well they usually do in response. It’s just one game, the B1G title is what really matters after all. Some of the usual suspects tried to rationalize that the loss really wasn’t that bad because, after all, they gained more offensive yards than us!

But Michigan still hasn’t scored.

The End.

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]]> https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2014/09/10/end/feed/ 8 Friday Roundup: The “Sticking It to Michigan” Edition https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2014/09/05/friday-roundup-sticking-michigan-edition/ https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2014/09/05/friday-roundup-sticking-michigan-edition/#comments Fri, 05 Sep 2014 12:43:43 +0000 http://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/?p=26128 Jack Swarbrick wore the biggest grin on his face since perhaps the conclusion of the 2012 regular season. His masterful plan now public, he opened his bottom desk drawer, revealing a bottle of scotch and glassware. Certainly some might think scotch before ten in the morning on a Thursday a little concerning, but not this...

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]]> Jack Swarbrick wore the biggest grin on his face since perhaps the conclusion of the 2012 regular season. His masterful plan now public, he opened his bottom desk drawer, revealing a bottle of scotch and glassware. Certainly some might think scotch before ten in the morning on a Thursday a little concerning, but not this day. This is a day for celebration.

After pouring his morning beverage, his phone predictably rang. He had been waiting for this.

“Hello, this is Jack.”

“YOU SORRY SON OF A BITCH!” screamed the voice on the other end.

“Well, good morning to you too. Now who might this be?” asked Jack, full well knowing the angry voice was none other than Dave Brandon.

“Don’t you play dumb with me, Jack.”

“Why so tense today, Dave? Why the angry phone call. Did someone forget to pay for a pizza?”

“That’s not funny.”

“Indeed it isn’t. An unpaid pizza is an unforgivable crime. Hang on a second,” Jack said trying to contain his laughter as he screamed across the office to no one, “DID ANYONE ORDER A PIZZA? ANYONE?”

“Jack, stop being an asshole. This joke is never funny.”

“Hold, on an intern just walked in,” half chuckling to himself Jack continued talking to thin air “You ordered the pizza…ok…you paid…forget to tip…OH!” Jack returned to the phone again to torment his victim. “Dave, we did in fact order a pizza, but I was just told we’d never order the shit that is Dominos when we have a Pizza Hut on campus.”

“DAMN YOU, JACK, STOP! YOU KNOW THIS IS ABOUT OHIO STATE!”

“Why are you pissed at me for failing a two-point conversion last season? I had nothing to do with that.”

“Jack, I don’t understand why you are being such a dick right now.”

“Oh you don’t? Hold on let me send you an email that will explain it.” Swarbrick already had the draft ready to go. One click of the mouse and yet another needle would antagonize Brandon.

Over in Ann Arbor, Brandon opened Jack’s message to see only this:

Yost B1GOT

“Can you and your school not let that crap go? It’s been a century for crying out loud.”

“Let it go? Look, Princess Elsa, if it weren’t for Yost’s irrational hatred, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. We could be an annual conference opponent, but noooooo–some small little Irish Catholic school beat Yost’s juggernaut so he took his ball and went home.”

“Yes, yes, I know the story, Jack. Then he blackballed you from the Big Ten while refusing to schedule you. We know. What does this have to do with scheduling Ohio State?”

“Everything,” said Jack pausing to take a sip of scotch, “Look, I know when football gets involved, academics go by the wayside over there, but even you should know that every action has a reaction. Every decision, a consequence. Yost put the wheels in motion for our independence and no one at Michigan ever tried to correct the course. So by the time the Big Ten came knocking in the 90’s, we preferred to close that door rather than give up the national schedule and rivalries that we had in place. You know, the one that Yost forced us into in the first place.”

“Again, telling me nothing new here, Jack.”

“Again, Dave, that decision in the 90’s mattered two decades later when Jim Delany decided he wanted to turn the college football upside down with his conference expansion. Every action has a reaction, and in this case, the eventual reaction was the death of the Big East. So now, instead of Notre Dame being a happy little member of the Big Ten since the early 1900s or even in the 1990s with a nine-game conference schedule, I’m forced to start looking for a place for all our other sports to play. I brokered the best deal that I could, but the five game agreement with the ACC practically gave us an eight-game conference schedule of our own with Southern Cal, Stanford, and Navy. Something had to give, Dave.”

“Do you like hearing yourself talk, Jack? You kicked us to the curb and scheduled another Big Ten team with that so-called ‘impossible’ to handle nine-game conference schedule. Somehow it worked out just fine.”

Jack’s smile somehow grew even larger. Now was the time to lower the boom.

“Well, I suppose you have a point. There’s only one small issue. If you recall, back in the summer of 2012, you wanted a two-year break from us. It was like that phone call you get in a relationship when you say you want to ‘see other people’ for a bit and see if you can’t pick up right where you left off. But even prior to that in 2011, you saw the nine-game conference schedule coming and told people that you simply couldn’t live in a world in which the Big Ten forced you to have only four home conference games and one of your other three non-conference games, namely us, would be in South Bend. That would leave you just one home game short of your magical seven home games, which I figure would be a favor to you anyways considering how your ticket sales went this year. The way I see it, we did you a favor.”

“This is the same load of crap you said in 2012 when you canned the series, Jack. You still need to explain Ohio State.”

“Oh that–well you remember that BS you feed to the press that I blindsided you, even though I freakin’ called you before the game to let you know it was coming? Or Brady Hoke calling us ‘chicken’ for the decision? Or someone thinking they were cute by playing the chicken dance over the Big House PA last year? You’ve all handled this situation about as well as Yost handled his first loss to ND. After a century-plus of our relationship really being about Michigan’s convenience, you wanted to make us the bad guy. And mang,” said Jack slipping into his best Razor Ramon impression, “if you want us to be the bad guy, chico, we are more than happy to play along.”

“Wait, wait,” said a now slightly confused Brandon, “You mean to tell me you are actually petty enough to schedule Ohio State out of spite?”

“Call it petty if it makes you feel any better. I call it righteous rage and a well played middle finger in your direction. I mean, have you read our press release yet? I called this a great move from a strength of schedule perspective, just so other people would take a look at just how far mighty Michigan has fallen. Brian Kelly even called it an even of “huge national significance” just to throw some shade at Hoke’s comments earlier this season. While you chose to very publicly and loudly paint us in the worst light possible, we prefer to respond with a calculated, under-the-radar approach and have everyone else do the dirty work for us. The nation is already laughing at you and I haven’t said a single direct, derogatory insult to Michigan in public.”

“We are going to beat the living piss out of you Saturday, Jack. This will move will motivate Michigan in ways you can’t even possibly imagine.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Dave. Remember, the last time you came to South Bend, our best player and fans rallied around the death of someone that didn’t even exist to take you out. But this hate? It’s real, it’s damn real. If you think our boys don’t want to paint our new turf red with Skunkbear blood and wash it with the tears of the Ann Arbor faithful, you’ve got another thing coming. Once we hand you the beating you deserve, you’ll go back to Ann Arbor and, Dave, your failure as Michigan’s AD will be complete. Angry fans will beg you to get ND back on the schedule so they can have hope to end the torment of their final loss. You’ll try to come crawling back to us and I won’t so much as pick up the phone as long as you’re still the AD.”

The other end of the line fell silent. All Swarbrick could hear was heavy, angry breathing and a pound on a desk from the other end. He could restrain himself any more, he had to laugh.

“Tell you what Dave, just to prove I’m not that much of a jerk, I have a couple more presents for you. You sound really tense. You need a moment of zen–well, actually around here, we call them moments of Nix–but anyways, let me send you another quick email to make you feel better.”

The silence on the line was broken up by a few mouse clicks and the sounds of the video Jack sent Brandon:

After hearing what he swore was a monitor being thrown across the room, Jack continued, “And I’m sure you need a drink or two while you’re here witnessing the death of the program you run. So there’s an entire crate of Arrogant Bastard Ale just for you. Don’t worry, no one will touch it, it’s got your name on it after all: Arrogant Bastard.”

The next sound Jack heard was the slamming of a phone and a dial tone. Jack gently placed his phone back in place and finished the rest of his drink as reward for a job well done. His eyes went to the corner of his office, “I’m surprised you managed to stay quiet this long, Everett.”

“And screw up that epic trolling effort? Never.”

“Well, my role in this play is over. It’s time for the final act, Everett. I usually don’t call players into my office like this. I don’t want people to think I’m interfering with Kelly’s job like that idiot that just hung up on me. All I want to do is ask you a simple favor. I need you to destroy them, Everett. You have the chance to claim final victory on over a century’s worth of piss-poor relations with these assholes. Break their spirit. Leave no doubt.”

Jack paused as he examined his empty glass before returning his gaze to Golson a final time.

“End them.”

The post Friday Roundup: The “Sticking It to Michigan” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

]]> https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2014/09/05/friday-roundup-sticking-michigan-edition/feed/ 6 Friday Roundup: The “Game of Titles” Edition https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2014/08/22/friday-roundup-game-of-thrones-cfb/ https://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/2014/08/22/friday-roundup-game-of-thrones-cfb/#comments Fri, 22 Aug 2014 11:30:09 +0000 http://www.herloyalsons.com/blog/?p=25743 A song of wins and losses shall resume its tune next week. The weekly battles shall resume as shall the feasts, drinking, joy, and pain. Brace yourselves, football is coming. Lord Brian Kelly is looking to lead his once proud house back to its former glory. The house of DuLac was once an undisputed king of...

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]]>

A song of wins and losses shall resume its tune next week. The weekly battles shall resume as shall the feasts, drinking, joy, and pain. Brace yourselves, football is coming.

Brace Yourself 5 Wide

Lord Brian Kelly is looking to lead his once proud house back to its former glory. The house of DuLac was once an undisputed king of the north and their influence extended across the realm. The game has changed and Lord Kelly is trying to change with it in the face of a new king of football that has risen from the south.

King Jameis Winston

Jameis Winston lords over the realm. The young lord found success unlike any that had ever been seen for someone his age. While much has been made of some young, rash, and possibly terrible decisions, there is no disputing that the path to the title will run through Lord Winston.

It was once thought that Lord Kelly would reclaim that throne. He was close, thought he had reached the pinnacle, until he ran into another ruthless lord that left many of his northern men a bloody, murdered army. That battle is now forever known as the the Red Bowl in which Lord Saban took no prisoners.

Nick Saban as Walder Frey

As if those challenges weren’t enough, Lord Kelly still has to deal with another northern house looking to wrest power away in his northern territory: House Ann Arbor.

Brady-Hoke-Sausage

That house is known to hold some ruthless, and possibly insane, members of its own. Although Kelly’s eyes are trained to the south, the northern threat remains ever present. The crazed Brady Hoke has found a way to get the best of the DuLac house in recent history, but Lord Kelly has one more chance to eradicate the threat for good.

But north and south aren’t the only directions of concern. The House Troy from the west, clad in their cardinal and gold, are looking to worm their way to the title by any means necessary.

With so many threats to face, it would seem the goals of house DuLac are folly. But fear not, loyal bannermen, for recent history has shown us that, even in the depths of great despair, an unlikely hero can emerge and slay a powerful foe. In fact, such an unlikely hero from the west rose up and delivered a might blow to Troy from which they have yet to fully recover.

Rees-Kills-Kiffin

So let the games begin once again with renewed hope. Even if dragons could be lurking around the corner.

Brace yourself…the Irish are coming.

The Roundup

This week, I am going to provide only one link. Because SBNation put together a huge pre-season guide with multiple features that you could (and should) spend an entire day or two reading. However, if you can only pick one thing to read, check out Bob Diaco discussing on how to rebuild UCONN.

And now your moment of Nix… Featuring the namesake of the this feature with a hearty h/t to @tricerapops for bringing this Vine of Nix looking deliciously evil into my life:

https://vine.co/v/h6HLL7qBpb3

The Booze

While the drinks of Westeros typically consist of wine and ale, I decided to have some fun and dig up a GoT themed cocktail for our final weekend without college football. I found one that includes whiskey, fire, and is a nod to Tyiron so we have a winner!

Wildfire on Blackwater Bay

Mix and strain the following into a small glass: 2.5 oz. rye whiskey, 0.5 oz. simple syrup, and 5 dashes angostura bitters.

Next, take a lime peel and float it on your drink. Pour about 0.5 oz. of 151-proof rum and light that sucker up. Protip: blow out the fire before you consume.

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