When Subway rode off into the sunset and placed the IBG into my care, he probably didn't anticipate that I'd start tinkering with the thing before the season was even done. However, soon after I took hold, I couldn't help it and the wheels started spinning in my head for how to shake things up again. When another member of the IBG came to me asking for change as well, I took it as a sign to go for it. I threw out an idea. It wasn't hated. So here we go. I took inspiration from the roots of ...
George Atkinson III
Irish Blogger Gathering: Requesting a Fly-By
So, I had the joy of being at work until 1am last night and I'm just now playing catch-up to get everything out. So instead of a well, thought out intro, you're getting a bulleted list of highlights. Tower, this is Tex, requesting an IBG fly-by: Mike Coffey of NDNation answers my questions below I answer Frank Vitovitch's questions over at UHND.com Visit the other IBG members: NDN will query Keith Arnold of Inside the Irish who will serve as inquisitor to UND.com's Aaron Horvath of the ...
An Impressive Outing for the Irish Offense
Notre Dame met the Air Force Falcons on Saturday, the 30th meeting between the two teams in the last fifty years, most of them ending in a similar outcome, a Notre Dame victory. And this meeting was no different. While the results of this series may be lopsided, a program like Air Force built on service and honor always has a chance. The 2013 Falcon squad, however, was no match up for Notre Dame’s impressive offensive showing. Coming into the game there was some talk that the altitude and ...
A Game of Mistakes
I can find no other way to describe Notre Dame/Oklahoma than a game of mistakes. Yes, we are all well aware that the three Irish interceptions were by far the most costly. Each of those three interceptions resulted in Sooner touchdowns and you don't need a blog post from me to tell you that handing an opponent 21 free points will end poorly. However, what was more mind-boggling to me was that ND even had a shot at making a game out of this. Oklahoma was practically spotted 14 points in the ...
8 Big Questions: Where Do the Irish Stand?
Back in August, I outlined 8 big questions that were on my mind for the upcoming season. Now that we are three games in, I wanted to take a look at where the Irish currently stand. 1. Which Tommy Rees will show up? So far, we've seen good Tommy Rees, Touchdown Tommy, Reesus, whatever you want to call the opposite of Turnover Tommy. Thus far, Rees is 65/107 (60.7%) for 969 yards (323 yards/game), 7 TDs, and, most importantly only 2 INTs. Further, only one of those INTs was really a bad ...
“The Arena” — G. K. Chesterton’s Poem Explained
Here at HLS, we are always striving to increase our understanding -- some days we discuss the art of the 3-4 defense, and others (like today) we expound on the liberal arts. In 1930, University President Father J. Hugh O'Donnell invited G. K. Chesterton to Notre Dame to conduct a series of lectures. Coincidentally, he was present at the Dedication Game of Notre Dame Stadium and wrote a poem to commemorate the occasion. Let us pause now and see how this work illuminates the current state of ...
Irish Blogger Gathering: The Penultimate Hate Week
Ah, Hate Week, it's good to see you again. I must admit, this week is when I really miss the "Old School" IBG in which every corner of the Notre Dame Blogosphere would tear Michigan a new one. The annual vitriol was simply amazing. However, much like the ND/Michigan series itself, the Irish Blogger Gathering has changed, but that doesn't mean I didn't give Keith Arnold of Inside the Irish a chance to do some Skunkbear damage. But did he take a swing at our enemy in Ann Arbor? Find out ...
Four Pleasant Surprises and Four Areas of Concern
Week one is in the books. While all of us here at HLS will start diving in to some deeper analysis of the game, for now, I wanted to share some of my initial thoughts and takeaways from the tilt against Temple. So without further ado, here are four pleasant surprises and four areas of concern from last Saturday's game. Four Pleasant Surprises 1) Tommy Rees Has Improved And not just his stat line either. Oh sure, he had a career day going 16-23 for 346 yards, 3 TDs, and, most importantly ...
Ranking the Irish Roster: Tex’s Top 25
Every year, Keith Arnold over at Inside the Irish does an annual ranking of the top 25 players on the Notre Dame roster. This year marks the second year that I have been able to contribute and, this time around, I wanted to give a break down of my rankings. Thankfully, I don't have to justify ranking a kicker #1 (NEVER FORGET) or leaving our starting QB off the top 25 list (NEVER FORGET THIS AS WELL). So without further ado, let's get to the rankings. ...
Irish Blogger Gathering: Spring Fling with NDNation
Yes, you read the title correctly: The Subway Domer has pulled a recruiting coup for the IBG and NDNation has joined the fold. For the post Blue/Gold Game edition, we got the first crack at asking questions of Mike Coffey, aka El Kabong, of NDNation. He, in turn, has asked his questions three of Kieth Arnold of Inside the Irish who will eventually have Subway's answers up. And you can find my answers over at The Subway Domer this week. Eventually, we will have the Strong and True blog back in ...