I may not be one of those “damn Catholics” that he referred to and I don’t particularly put much stock into his opinions about Notre Dame either. I’m not offended by his comments — my actual reaction is probably the furthest from. What does boggle my mind though is how a university president can’t seem to figure out when to keep his mouth shut.

Of course, we’ve also experienced the other side of the coin. Eddie Vanderdoes has been doing a fantastic job of saying nothing, only releasing a statement that there will be statement in the future. While he and his family complain that fan speculation has moved too far from the actual truth of the situation, they’ve done absolutely nothing to quell it.

Compare that to Everett Golson who cleared the air the next day after news of his dismissal was public. He didn’t reveal every last detail about the situation, but he did enough to answer the big questions and kill any remaining wild speculation. He screwed up academically in some fashion, he knows it’s on him, and he’s going to work towards coming back to his home under the Dome.

But then we come back to Gordon Gee and his big mouth.

He bashed Catholics while his prized football coach isn’t just Catholic, but named after a pope, coached at Notre Dame, and even flirted with the idea of taking his “dream job” in South Bend. His Athletic Director, Gene Smith, is a Notre Dame alumnus.

And it doesn’t stop there either. He bashed the SEC for not being able to read and write, despite the fact that he gave a commencement address at LSU’s health sciences center and his own daughter is an assistant professor at LSU as well. I guess he spoke to no one and his own daughter is contributing to the academic decline of the SEC…or something.

Then to top it all off, he took a shot at his own conference commissioner. Now, I believe Delany is a money-grabbing idiot that has watered down his own conference, but you would think that one of his own would be just a little bit more delicate with his criticism.

Gee, How can you be this dumb?

I can understand an 18 year-old kid and his family not knowing how to play the PR game effectively, but a university president failing to do so — repeatedly — is both hilarious and sad.

The Roundup

Don’t feel too bad Ohio State, you could be Rutgers. There’s definitely a difference between saying something stupid and doing something that is simply beyond dumb…and wasting $70,000 to do it.

Speaking of doing dumb things, anyone remember Chris Martin? I guess there is just no way Weis can ever successfully recruit that guy. Way to blow a second chance.

Feel free to just disappear anytime, Paterno family. They have filed a lawsuit with the NCAA to not just overturn the sanctions, but also receive monetary damages as well. Seriously, just go away, please.

And now your moment of zen. Les Miles rappelling down a building because why not.

The Beer

Sometimes I pick a beer based on what’s in my fridge. Sometimes, it’s what I find in a store. Other times, I Google just to see if something exists to make a joke with the theme.

Today is one of those weeks.

The post Friday Roundup: The “Learning When To Speak” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

If there was one thing I loved about Weis, it was that he demanded that his players respected everyone, managers included. The day prior, the locker room was apparently quite a mess. Now, we usually have to clean up a few towels on the floor and some tape in the showers, but on this day is was so awful that Weis got rather pissed when he saw it.

So the next day, he came up to the locker room window that we worked at and handed down an edict: “When the guys come in, don’t give them any towels.”

I thought for sure that he was joking, but he was dead serious. The towel bin remained locked and in the back. The look on the players’ faces were absolutely priceless. Some refused to shower in the locker room and others were convinced that if they showered we’d give them a towel anyways.

Now, the window that we work at in the locker room (at this time, the Gug wasn’t in place, this was in the stadium), is right in front of the offensive linemen. Now there was no way in hell those guys were going home without a shower, so they decided to come up with a rather inventive way to dry off.

I’m not exactly sure what words give the proper justice to 300+ men running around naked with arms extended like airplane wings, but I’m sure everyone has a good mental image right now. Even Weis got a good laugh of watching his players struggle without a basic essential like towels.

Even though I have an awful image forever burned into my head, the message was clearly received. When we walked through the locker room for cleanup, there wasn’t any trash left around for us to clean up. Easiest locker room duty ever.

The Roundup

This week on Law & Order: Roll Tide – Kristen Saban has given her response to the assault and battery charges filled last week.

Dear Crazy Paterno defenders, shut the hell up. Seriously.

Andy Staples decided to run a NCAA draft. Quite and interesting concept that will never happen, but there is a whole lot of Irish in his picks.

Welcome back, Johnelle. We missed you.

The NBA comes to South Bend. Who cares if it’s preseason. This is huge.

I think One Foot Down wants a job at Adidas. They are redesigning more uniforms. This time, a look at the Shamrock Series.

Vomit.

If it’s in the game, it’s in the game. EDSBS runs the most accurate simulation ever.

Poot is a pre-season champion. He won the first edition of Subway Domer’s Twitter reindeer games. Game on this season, buddy.

The Beer

This week, we had a reader submission that had to be shared. Via Undunt:

I’m a daily reader, here and there poster (handle: undnut) on the site. Thank you for all the hard work you put in to maintain the best ND football blog on the internet. You guys do incredible work.

The reason for this note, however, isn’t actually football. It’s beer. And Ireland. Last summer my wife and I honeymooned in Ireland with a company called Vagabond Tours. We were lucky enough to have a phenomenal tour guide that possessed an incredible knowledge about the country, including all the best pubs. As we got to know her, she talked eagerly about her plan to one day start her own tour company focusing on the microbreweries of Ireland. While everyone thinks of Guinness (and to a lesser extent Harp and Smithwicks) when the subject of Irish beer comes up, Ireland is actually in the midst of a microbrewery explosion. (Akin to what we experienced in America the past 10-20 years.)

Anyway, since our visit last August, Mia (the tour guide) has realized her dream and started Brewery Hops of Ireland. I thought, perhaps, it might make good fodder some week for the beer-related segment of the Friday Rundown. Also, it’s quite timely with the team opening in Dublin.

You can learn all about Mia’s company and the tours at http://www.breweryhopsofireland.com/.

So if you are lucky enough to be heading to Ireland in a couple of months, be sure to check this out as it sounds unbelievably awesome.

The post Friday Roundup: The “Can’t Unsee” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

I’ve tried to keep most of the Jerry Sandusky news out of previous Roundups, save for major developments. Not because I wish to avoid the situation, but because it has just dominated the offseason news cycle and there wasn’t much for me to add besides additional disgust.

But then the Freeh report came out today. If you can stomach it, you can read it in full, but if you just want the highlights, those are available as well. Although Joe Pa and his family tried to plead ignorance, and many Penn Staters vehemently defended him, despite all logic, Freeh blew that all out of the water today. While there is certainly plenty of blame to go around, Freeh hit the nail on the head when he said the “Penn State Way” greatly contributed to the problem.

Make no mistake, the “Penn State Way” is Joe Pa’s way. He is Penn state. Their identities are intertwined like no other school that I can think of. Reading the Freeh report simply drives this home: janitors, the athletic director, university, and board of trustees all knew that Joe was the man in charge.

Yesterday, Bruce Feldman pointed out that this was the inevitable result of treating a football coach like a king, but the more I think about it, the more my mind boggles. A man with so much supposed integrity should’ve forced Sandusky’s retirement and banishment from campus, and with his power, he could do it without the public being the wiser if he so desired. However, he choose to ignore the warning signs in 1998.

And perhaps you could logically forgive him for that. After all, the police did investigate and determined that there was no crime committed. But then another coach comes and reports yet another case of abuse three years later. Again, Joe Pa passed the problem along instead of swinging his weight around to put an end to it.

Remember, this is man that created a culture in which $400 in illegal benefits given to one of his players was enough to permanently ban someone from campus, yet multiple reports of sexual abuse by the same person wasn’t cause enough for him to bother anyone on the weekend. Furthermore, the higher-ups that did executed said ban felt that Sandusky should be treated in a more “humane” manner and not report anything to police.

It just doesn’t add up.

Yet the Paterno family wants everyone to believe that Joe Pa was simply duped by Sandusky. Somehow he still creates blind loyalty that the student center refused to televise the unveiling of the Freeh report.

I truly feel sorry for all those affiliated with Penn State. Not just those that have such blind faith in Paterno, but more so those that were truly betrayed by a school they love. Everyone bought into the “Penn State way” and was completely duped. The man they trusted and lauded for his integrity has now helped bring a scandal upon them that makes the Pony Express look like child’s play. It’s a betrayal that simply has no equal in college sports.

Anyways, enough of that, back to your regularly scheduled Roundup.

The Roundup

Law & Order: ROLL TIDE! Saban’s daughter may just be a little bit unhinged.

Michigan made a music video. I had no idea that ND doing the Freekbass video was setting some kind of absurd bar for everyone else in college football. But anyways, here are two Skunkbears being very serious about their music, complete with Denard Robinson on a longboard.

We weren’t the only ones running a NCAA ’13 season simulation. Although this one doesn’t have such a bright outcome for the Irish.

Adidas–what the hell? I’m not even sure what in the hell you did to Texas A&M’s jerseys.

Smart Football creates more must read material. This is just a fantastic write-up on the history of the “Air Raid” offense.

Bruce Feldman files another column into “must read” territory. Before he eviscerated Joe Pa, he took a look at yet more NCAA insanity.

ND Hockey embraces the great outdoors. Football won’t be the only sport to play at Solider Field.

Recruiting is quite the complex science. Keith Arnold does a fantastic job in breaking down Kelly’s approach.

If you weren’t chillin’ at the Nokia ESPY pre-party, you missed out. Sounds like it was a blast considering that everyone under the sun attended.

Speaking of the ESPYs, there was a can’t miss moment. Eric LeGrand delivers a simply amazing speech. Warning: tears are practically inevitable.

The Beer

I was at a bar with a good beer selection recently and just started drinking random beers that I’ve never had the pleasure of drinking. This particular night had a clear winner: The Victory Golden Monkey.

Both the name and the 9.5% ABV immediately caught my attention, but the taste sold me: a bit of banana and citrus with a nice bitter finish that balances everything out rather well.

Unlike most of my recent beer experiments, this brew isn’t located in Texas, but Pennsylvania.

Yes…somehow I managed to come full circle in this Roundup without even trying.

The post Friday Roundup: The “Please Excuse the Rant” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.