I’m told this fellow attended no fewer than three colleges. Though he learned about criminal justice at one of them, he obviously did not major in communication studies at any of them.

I understand that newspapermen can be a tough crowd. Plenty of Notre Dame officials and student-athletes have had to face the glare of the bright lights and the shouted questions of the rabble, defended by nothing more than a podium and their wits. As an educator, I will take this opportunity to show how one should handle the loyal opposition…er…I mean the media. I present to you a hypothetical press conference.

[We enter in medias res.*]

Coach Kelly’s contract was just renewed for another five years. Since he hasn’t won a championship, hasn’t produced a Heisman winner, and lost his most recent bowl game to a far superior coach whom you couldn’t lure to Notre Dame, isn’t it clear that you’ve settled for annual mediocrity and given up on Irish football greatness?

You must have graduated from the University in the 1960s. Brian Kelly is an excellent coach. He has over 200 victories, 55 of them with the Fighting Irish. We competed for the National Championship in 2012, a season in which we were ranked first on the football field and first in graduation success rate. That had never been done before. He is a good family man, a pillar of the community, and a snappy dresser with a dazzling array of tartan sport coats. Though in the past he may have toyed with the idea of coaching a professional football team, he has come to appreciate what Ara Parseghian knew, Dan Devine experienced, and Lou Holtz learned the hard way – it’s far more rewarding to stay at Notre Dame than to go anywhere else. The NFL isn’t for everyone…just ask Nick Saban.

I have a follow-up screed. But Kelly obviously can’t recruit. He had a lackluster class this year, falling far behind the likes of Alabama, Florida State, and even Michigan. By the way, did you see the glory and majesty that was Michigan’s “Signing of the Stars?” You must admit that Jim Harbaugh is indeed touched with the purest magic.

Since there was no interrogative sentence in there, I can’t really answer a question. But I can reflect on your flight of fancy. Coach Kelly recruits what he needs, and develops what he recruits. Isn’t that the goal? Coach Kelly does not oversign, does not revoke scholarships, and does not deceive his players. They will have to work as hard in the classroom as on the field, and graduation is their ultimate goal. After all, this is Notre Dame, not Alabama.

Since I’m fixated and rude, I’ll continue my panegyric to The Harbaugh, blessed be he. How could Notre Dame have fallen so far, that no less than Lou Holtz joined The Harbaugh on stage to serenade the Michigan recruits and fans with a ballad to the greatness of Big Blue? Clearly Notre Dame’s shameless and dastardly cancellation of the series with Michigan caused one of its most devoted acolytes to convert to the one true faith in The Harbaugh, all praise and honor to him.

While you befoul yourself in ecstasy, let me point out once again, that scheduling difficulties on both sides of the Notre Dame-Michigan series necessitated a temporary hiatus. It is out of the ordinary that Notre Dame initiated this pause in the action, since it was Michigan that created the original 33-year rift after Fielding Yost became inconsolable in the face of his first defeat by Notre Dame. But Michigan fans really need to have some self-respect and stop acting like jilted lovers who hate their former paramours so much that they can’t stop thinking and talking about them. Harbaugh should be happy that he has had the opportunity to get his (clay) feet under him without having to fight the Irish. The series will commence again, and Harbaugh will have his shot, since his electronic leash doesn’t allow him to be farther than 50 feet from his Michigan keepers.

As for Lou Holtz, he was returning a favor as any man of integrity is expected to do. Michigan had him for a day, but since Holtz has a reservation in Cedar Grove, we have him for eternity. Besides which, Holtz was talking about his experience coaching against the Wolverines; he had no part in recruiting players for Michigan. He remains loyal to Notre Dame, but he is free to participate in events of his choosing. That said, I will not be joining in Jesuit Vocation Awareness Week.

Since my colleague from Ann Arbor has collapsed in a spittle-flecked trance, I’d like to redirect our focus to Notre Dame’s real rival, USC. Pat Haden is stepping down as athletic director, meaning that the momentary stumble before Notre Dame in football will immediately return to a decade of Trojan victories. Ready?

Allow me to wish Pat Haden well. He is a gentleman and a scholar. For several years he called Notre Dame games from our press box along with that older Hammond lady who, I presume, is his wife. May they both have a happy retirement together. Pat did the best he could at USC, but he was truly like Daniel in the Liars’ Den. I would need medical attention, too, if I tried to do that job. As for a replacement, I understand the Manziel fellow is looking for work these days. I know he doesn’t have a college degree, but let’s face it – USC athletics has never been about education. And Manziel’s lifestyle would fit quite nicely with the USC campus ethos. In the alternative, Urban Meyer could take over as USC’s athletic director, since he’s been at Ohio State for four years, and that’s far too long for him to remain at any dream job. Besides, if Urban left the Big Ten, Harbaugh would sleep better…in whichever recruit’s bunk bed he is camping out.

A junior on the football team has just been elected Student Body President. How can he do both?

If Knute Rockne could teach chemistry; serve as athletic director; run the business office and the ticket office; coach track and football; design football equipment, uniforms, and the Stadium; write newspaper columns and books; broker stock and sell Studebakers, all while raising four children, I think our Robinson lad can make the Dean’s List, make the catches to score the touchdowns, and faithfully execute the office of Student Body President all at once. That’s why we recruit scholar-athletes – they’re just more interesting.

Back to Harbaugh. Michigan will be holding football practice over Spring Break in Florida. Isn’t that a hoot! How brilliant of them! But the University of Florida is saying that’s not fair. What’s their problem, and why is Notre Dame so backward?

After a long and cold first half of the semester studying and keeping themselves fit, our scholar-athletes have earned a week’s respite. The University of Florida is angry because it is school policy that Spring Break is for lewd and lascivious behavior, hospitalizations, and arrests, not football practice. And Harbaugh needs to get a life and let his players have their own – one of them is going to take out a restraining order against him sooner or later.

At a recent basketball game, your students stormed the court after defeating top-ranked North Carolina. But don’t Notre Dame students rush the field and storm the court too much? Isn’t it too dangerous?

It’s a game, it’s excitement – deal with it. If we have rules for when and how to spontaneously express emotion, we’ve really gone way too far (though I wouldn’t put it past the Oberkommando der Student Affairs). Games are for cheering, yelling, and when you come from behind to win, running onto the court to celebrate. If you don’t like that, betake yourself up to that quaint little club overlooking the court where you can enjoy a genteel aperitif and canapés without those obnoxious students and fans. And just wait until we open the Decadence Boxes in the Stadium addition – fainting couches and intravenous booze delivery will make it more silent that a church on Good Friday.

How can a supposedly Catholic school permit an event like the Keenan Revue which annually manages to insult everybody and crosses every boundary of taste and decorum?

It’s vulgar, obscene, and bawdy. It’s just what this place needs. For those offended, I have extra Holy Water to use as eye-wash and ear-rinse. I would make the Holy Oils available, but the dancing lads would just grease themselves up for that smutty kick-line. It’s filth…but it’s our kind of filth.

That’s all the time I have for now. Your questions have been patronizing, condescending, and offensive. I have tried to respond in kind.

And now I’m going to drink a lot of Budweis cheap red wine.

EFS CSC

* This is Latin, students. You would be able to translate it if we still required you to study the great Classical Languages. If you don’t think it’s cool to study Classics, I would remind you that the Englishman who sang at halftime of the Super Bowl graduated with a degree in Latin and Greek…trusa illud in fistulam tuam et id fuma!

Padre’s book Father Sorin Says: The Founder Comments on Today’s Notre Dame, is available from the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore and Amazon. Don’t give it to a Michigan or USC fan…or may be you should…

The post Good Fridays w/Padre: Bad Question appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Think of all those stories you hear about Notre Dame fans growing up and knowing nothing but the love of Our Lady’s University and a closet full of blue and gold. That’s me and Rangers baseball.

People my age have fuzzy, fond memories of the final years of the Lou Holtz era. I had the end of Nolan Ryan’s career. You’d often find me out in the backyard trying to pitch my own no-hitter and become his successor.

I’ve been a Rangers fan for nearly three decades. My ND fandom/obsession is only just now starting it’s second. What I’ve witnessed as a fan of both has been remarkably similar.

If history starts for both teams when I became a fan (late 80’s for Rangers, 2003 for ND), both would be filled with absolutely terrible results with the occasional glimmer of hope. The two Weis BCS bowl appearances were the 1996, 1998, and 1999 AL West Division Championships. The postseason games of those years might as well have been a mirror of each other as the Rangers only managed one win against the Yankees in all three divisional series. The hope of victory went right out the window once the games commenced.

I’m not sure I have a Notre Dame comparison for the 2010 and 2011 World Series appearance. In 2010, Rangers fans were simply happy to be there. Sure it sucked that the Giants handed us our lunch, but we got to see the Rangers in the World Series before we died–something none of us thought possible. 2011, and in particular game 6, is the lowest of the absolute lows of my sports fandom that has no comparison.

Not even the ass-kicking the Irish received at the hands of Alabama in the BCS Championship could compare. Oh, sure, it was terrible and definitely ranks quite high on the “ow my balls” terrible sports moments in my life; however, there was no doubt what the result of that disaster was going to be mid-way through the first half (and probably sooner to be honest). The Rangers were one strike away from winning the World Series.

Twice.

I held a bottle of champagne in my hand when Nelson Cruz managed to turn a routine fly ball into a David Freese triple. To be more accurate, I was practically uncorking the thing once I saw the ball go off the bat. I went from pacing anxiously around the living room to falling to my knees in despair once the ball sailed past Cruz’s glove.

Despair gave way to hope when Josh Hamilton blasted a two-run homerun in the top of the 10th. The Cardinals were again on the ropes and managed to scrap a run together. I still felt confident though, surely they wouldn’t tie it again. Again, down to their last strike, future Ranger Lance Berkman did just that. An inning later, Freese sent a Mark Lowe pitch sailing over the wall to win the game.

That’s devastation you can’t put into words. My wife tried to console me, as a lifelong Cubs fan, she knew heartbreak, but her comparison of the Steve Bartman game six to this just wasn’t even close.

And to any Cubs fan reading this getting pissed, yeah, I know that game sucked and the Cubs have been terrible for longer than the Rangers entire existence. However, after Moises Alou threw his fit in front of one his own fans, the Cubs were still up 3-0 and at best there would have only been two outs (and this is in the NLCS by the way). Prior walked Luis Castillo, the man that hit the foul ball. Alex Gonzalez managed to screw up a double play ball that should have ended the inning (seriously, how do Cubs fans not give him the Bartman or even Buckner treatment?). The Cubs still had a two run lead at that point until Derek Lee chased Mark Prior out of the game with a game-tying double then the floodgates opened.

That entire inning was just a gigantic collapse. The Rangers managed to bounce back from their horrible moment of outfield play only to watch a championship slip away once again.

All this is a very long way of fast-forwarding to 2014 and the current situation the Rangers find themselves in now. Slated as playoff contender, it looked like this squad a decent chance to try a make another run at things. If you remember, in a previous Roundup, things weren’t going so well. The injury situation hasn’t gotten much better as the Rangers seem to be going through players like toilet paper at this point.

A team that once had the best record in the American League, still leads the league in shutouts, and has the AL batting leader (Adrian Beltre) now has the worst record in baseball. Just as I thought the Rangers found rock bottom Wednesday night when the Astros completed a sweep against ace Yu Darvish, the Rangers game right back and got demolished by the Angels 15-6. 13 of those runs were scored in three innings and all given up by starter Colby Lewis–a new Rangers record in futility.

Ron Washington lit up the team last night in a 30-minute closed door furry in response. I fired up Hell’s Kitchen from the DVR instead of watching another disaster.

I’ve never witnessed a team get so ravished by injuries. I’ve never seen a team sink so low, so hard, so fast. I’ve never seen a group of “fans” react so illogically to it as well, Notre Dame fans included. For this group of idiots, the blame for this lies squarely at the feet of GM John Daniels who “forced out” figurehead Nolan Ryan from the front office.

They know this is true because their gut tells them so and a retired local sports writer loves pushing that narrative every chance he gets.

All I can hope is that this snake-bitten season is one gigantic sacrifice for 2014 ND football glory. Between the disaster on the field and dealing with terrible fans, I’ve hit rock bottom myself in baseball fandom. This was a lot easier to take when the Rangers just flat-out sucked to begin with.

The offseason can’t end soon enough.

The Roundup

Here’s a football reason for why this offseason needs to end. Johnny Football-watch has reached critical mass.

Jesus, take the wheel. Or the scooter equivalent.

Add Southern Cal to the list of teams tinkering with their uniform. It’s a small change, but a change nonetheless.

ND has a new sideline reporter. The 411 you are looking for is here.

As we’ve mentioned before, Ricky Watters is back in school. ESPN’s Matt Fortuna has done a great piece on Ricky’s mission to complete his degree.

And now your moment of Nix… Mark Richt has lost control of the Star Wars universe and it has invaded his campus. No, seriously, one of his players made a Star Wars tribute and he makes a cameo and does nothing (h/t: WithLeather):

[youtube id=”nsJU5Ebka44″]

The Booze

When sports disaster strikes, there is only one choice. Bourbon. Lots of bourbon.

The post Friday Roundup: The “I Hope This Is a Sacrifice for ND Football” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Let’s finish this sucker strong.

As a reminder, all members of the IBG will send a single question and we will all answer of them on our sites, with the exception of our own query. So be sure to visit all the other IBG members to see their answers throughout the day.

My Question: BYU and Stanford are somewhat similar offensively: a strong rushing attack paired with a quarterback that can go mobile. Does the defense’s performance, injuries and all, against BYU make you feel any better going up against Stanford or are we facing a totally different beast in the Cardinal? 

Answers will be linked as posts go live

NDNation warns Stanford is much better than BYU, but there is hope.

Strong & True

Inside the Irish

UHND.com says a similar performance should land us a victory.

Frank Vitovitch (UNHD.com): It’s been a long time since Notre Dame has won a game it has been as big of an underdog in as they are this weekend.  Where would this game rank in your mind in terms of upsets for Notre Dame and when was the last time you went into a game thinking Notre Dame had no chance and they walked home with the victory.   As a bonus, would a win over Stanford this weekend be Brian Kelly’s signature win up until this point in his tenure at Notre Dame?

Honestly, I don’t think it would be overly shocking. Stanford has been far from untouchable this season. The loss to Utah looked like the exception to the rule, but falling to a resurgent Southern Cal was completely unexpected.

They will be a tough test for sure and easily one of the better teams we face all season, but I think that the initial lines that I’ve seen are very much over-valuing Stanford. If I could compare it to anything, it’s how I felt when I saw the initial line for ND at OU. I knew OU would be a very tough win to pull out, but I felt like the Irish did have a chance with the way they were playing. The result: the Irish did what I deemed “double cover” as they won by the same amount of points that OU was originally favored by.

As far as I game in which I thought the Irish had no chance of winning and they won — I think any such game that I was sure the Irish would lose, they lost. Perhaps 2011 Utah might be the closest to fitting that description though. After losing to Tulsa and Navy back-to-back I definitely wasn’t expecting much and the Irish pulled the game out.

As far as a signature win, for me it’s going to be hard to top last year’s win against the Sooners in Norman. That was the game that supposedly would expose Notre Dame, but the opposite happened. With Stanford, they’ve already taken a couple of lumps. This isn’t David vs Goliath.

Aaron Horvath (Strong & True): If someone would have told you that Tommy Rees would leave Notre Dame with 7,000+ yards and most likely 60+ touchdowns when he committed out of high school, most people would call that person crazy. Needless to say, he has surprised many. What are your thoughts on what Rees has been able to accomplish during his tenure at Notre Dame and what other Irish senior went above and beyond your expectations during his time at Notre Dame?

Forgive me if it seems like I’m mailing in this answer, but I think I’ve already put together a good response to this question last week. Simply put, Tommy has done a fine job and I’m glad that the students gave him his proper credit this past weekend. This program is likely struggling mightily if Tommy doesn’t put together the seasons that he has.

As far as another senior exceeding expectations, I’m going with T.J. Jones. Prior to his junior year, I wondered if he’d ever be able to figure it out. In 2012, he had a very solid year and went neck and neck with Tyler Eifert as far as stats are concerned. This season though, he is the unquestioned “go to” guy that will find a way to make a play, especially after the catch. Quite a long way from having a ball bounce off his helmet in 2011.

Mike Coffey (NDNation): Which of ND’s strengths do you believe has the greatest chance of getting ND the win on Saturday, and which of ND’s weaknesses do you fear might keep it from happening?

RUN THE DAMN BALL!

I’m serious on this one. I know it may come as a shock to some people that have read some of my previous posts these past couple of weeks. The main point I have made in those posts is that I think the line of thinking that Notre Dame is a crazy pass happy offense is a bit misguided nor do I think there is some “magic number” of rushes that the Irish need to win.

The simple fact though is that I do understand that this team performs at its best when they establish the run as a legitimate threat which opens up deep play action strikes and the passing games as a whole. Note that I said the rushing game needs to be established. Running into a brick wall over and over again means Stanford has won that battle and Tommy will have to find a way to win. I’m not saying that Tommy can’t do that; however, there is no question in my mind that the easier path to victory is a solid rushing attack.

The biggest weakness that scares me is our lack of depth in the front seven and what that can mean to the rushing defense (hence the question I posed to the group). Stanford will be the most physical team that we’ve faced all season and I am terrified that they can wear the line down and begin to look unstoppable by the end of the game. On top of that Hogan can hurt you with his feet as well and I worry about this depleted unit’s ability to spy properly (just take a look at some of BYU’s bigger plays on scrambles).

Keith Arnold (Inside the Irish): You’ve got your choice of bowl game locations and opponents. Put yourself in Jack Swarbrick’s shoes: Give me the ideal opponent and location.

This means I can be in fantasy land right?

In that case, give me the Cotton Bowl vs. SEC in my own backyard. This season that SEC team is slated to be Texas A&M and I think every Notre Dame fan would be lying if they didn’t want to take some slight Heisman vengeance on Johnny Football and just knocking him down a peg or two in general. Plus, an Irish/Aggie matchup would be more combined tradition that you could ever ask for in a game and the surrounding events.

Oh, and believe me, the Aggies can tailgate. That could probably be one of the most epic tailgating scenes in college football if those two worlds collide on neutral ground.

In general, if I’m still in fantasy land and have my picks of bowl tie-ins, I’m looking for every possible SEC match-up for two reasons. First, because those matchups just simply don’t happen in our schedule, making it the big hole from a conference and even recruiting perspective. People think ND can’t hang with SEC (thanks, BCS championship…) and I’d love to put that to the test every year we aren’t in the playoffs (or this year, the BCS picture). Secondly, such a matchup would be in the south/southeast area which ND would most certainly love to have a game annually, but again, the schedule doesn’t always allow for (hence the reason for the Shamrock Series in Jerry World).

Sure, the new ACC away games will help, but it still feels like a big void. I want to butt heads with the SEC every year.

The post IBG in the Trees appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

I threw out an idea. It wasn’t hated. So here we go.

I took inspiration from the roots of the IBG. Previously, there was a host blog that would come up with five questions and every other ND blog under the sun would answer. The issue though was that one blog ended up playing gatekeeper and the results were quite mixed depending on who was hosting. That led Subway to doing the pairings to try and get more voices heard in a more consistent manner; however, that can led to more of an isolation rather than a true roundtable discussion.

So I’m mixing the best of both worlds here. All five members of the IBG have submitted questions and we will answer them on our own sites. After all, people visit and are loyal to each of our sites for various reasons, but at the heart of it, you are there because you want the opinions of that person(s). So now at HLS, you’ll get our voice, but answering the questions from all other IBG members. As for my question, instead of answering it, I will include links to each IBG post as it goes live, keeping the intent of traffic sharing and promotion that is also at the heart of the IBG.

I think it’ll be a good change and hopefully the retired godfather of the IBG approves.

Without further ado, let’s get to it.

NDtex, Her Loyal Sons: Tommy Rees has very quietly put up some rather impressive passing numbers. His 22 TDs and 8 INTs are surprisingly not far off from Heisman candidate QBs such as Jameis Winston (24 TD, 6 INT), Johnny Manziel (26 TD, 8 INT), and Marcus Mariota (20 TD, 0 INT). While “Rees for Heisman” is an obvious stretch, especially since he isn’t a dual threat like the previously mentioned QBs, I’d wager tied 8th in the nation for TD passes is a lot more than most Notre Dame fans were expecting. Should we all be making a much bigger deal about this or should we wait and see how he ends the season?

Posts will be directly linked as they go live:

NDNation says it’s a big deal

Inside the Irish sees a lot of Tony Pike in Rees

Strong and True (UND.com) doesn’t think Tommy is getting the credit he deserves

UHND.com isn’t surprised with Tommy’s numbers

Frank Vitovitch, UHND.com: Tarean Folston broke out in a big way against Navy last week with 140 yards.  How big of a role do you think the freshman back will play in the final three games and what level of production are you expecting from him down the stretch after his break through performance last weekend?

If Folston doesn’t have a major role, I’m going to be seriously disappointed.

We saw some flashes of this brilliance against Air Force as well and, even though these are lesser opponents, the difference between the runs that he makes as opposed to George Atkinson III, Amir Carlisle, or even Cam McDaniel is simply staggering. I really think Folston and Cam are the one-two punch that the Irish have been trying to find all year. Cam will get the tough yards, but Folston can be the feature back that is also a homerun threat.

Further considering that BYU and Stanford have some pretty stout rushing defenses, it will be even more vital that the Irish have their best backs in. Leaving Folston on the bench would be a serious mistake that will force the Irish to go one-dimensional and completely lean on Tommy Rees. Even though he’s had a solid season, that simply isn’t a plan for success.

Mike Coffey, NDNation: Lots of comments after the game concerned the poor condition of the turf in Notre Dame Stadium and what can/should be done about it.  One of our number has contended the BYU game on November 23^rd will be the last with the current grass in the Stadium.  What kind of a playing surface do you believe the Stadium should have and why?

I want a playing surface that isn’t awful. I don’t care if it’s grass, turf, or some kind of future-space-age surface that we’ve never even heard of before.

The condition of the field has been simply horrid. And, at this point, I don’t think we can point fingers at the groundskeepers who I’m sure are doing everything in their power to get the sod to work. There is probably other environmental factors at play that is making this so difficult and Notre Dame could very well be fighting a losing battle trying to stick with a natural playing surface. Just take a look at Soldier Field in Chicago, they are having similar frustrating issues.

Now, I’d prefer grass if at all possible because I just think it looks better, but if what we’ve continuously seen year in and year out is going to be the result than to hell with it.

I know a lot of people want the turfmaster system like what Green Bay has and I’ve been on board with that; however, getting that system to work means a lot more than just installing a special blend of natural/synthetic grass. At some point, the costs of such a project seem like a rather ridiculous waste of money, personally.

I also realize a lot of people have pointed to Michigan State’s stadium, citing the use of a modular tray system. The truth is that the modular system was replaced completely in 2011 after U2 performed (and footed the bill for the new turf). In that article, the company that Sparty bought their sod from is the exact same vendor that supplies Soldier Field. They didn’t get some kind of special turf so it stands to reason that East Lansing is fortunate enough to simply have better growing conditions for turf whether it is the soil, water table, sunlight, or some other combination of growing factors.

I know a lot of people love the grass and think proponents of field turf are trying to destroy the tradition of Notre Dame Stadium. We aren’t, we are being practical, and I say we because I’m now convinced at this point that grass simply isn’t a long term solution for the House Rock Built. With players getting bigger, stronger, faster, and football moving to a style of play that uses the entire the field on a more consistent basis, I think the surface of ND Stadium has taken more abuse than it ever did before and it’s showing.

We got a way to make grass work? Fine, let’s see it. We can’t make it work? Fine, bring in the field turf. Just fix it.

Aaron Horvath, Strong and True (UND.com):Due to the immense amount of injuries during the past few weeks to the Irish defense, do you think that playing both option teams on our schedule in back to back weeks was a good idea? And… Due to the thin defensive depth chart, what player who saw little playing time in the first nine games will breakout in the final three?

I don’t think playing Navy and Air Force back-to-back is an awful idea; however, doing it in the middle of the season when your team is already banged up is a recipe for disaster. Had the first two games of the season led off with the option teams, I think the damage would’ve been lessened a bit.

Now, with that all being said, I hope we never do it again because I simply don’t like the risk. It isn’t that I think cut blocks are inherently evil because every team, including ND runs plays that include them. However, Navy and Air Force are throwing these blocks every single down. The chances of something bad happening will just naturally increase.

As far as someone to step up in carnage, I am hoping it’s Max Redfield. Yes, I’m well aware his particular position isn’t facing the severe depth issues that the front seven are; however, with the front seven hurting, the secondary is going to have to step up. Quite frankly, our safety play has lacked a lot to be desired and something has to change there. I’m hoping Redfield has been able to get up to speed to make an impact because this defense could surely use some safety help at this point.

Keith Arnold, Inside the Irish: With the defense so beaten up, is winning out still possible? Would you prefer a lopsided match-up in a BCS bowl or a potential bowl win and possible 11-win season? Would the offseason narrative be better if ND won a second-tier bowl or lost a BCS bowl?

Winning out is definitely still possible. It will be harder for sure if we can’t get healthy, but I don’t think injuries alone will make me rule this out as a possibility.

As far as my opinions on what bowl scenario is better and the resulting narrative, my stance is simple. If we lose a BCS bowl or win a second tier bowl, the narrative will remain the same for decades: ND went 0-for-the BCS era. So with that in mind, what do you have to lose?

Give me the BCS berth any day of the week. I don’t care about how potentially lopsided the matchup supposedly or actually will be. I think it is simply stupid to try and lower the bar because we think the chances of winning are better. That’s like saying we should’ve hoped we wouldn’t get in the title game so we could get a more favorable game against a lesser BCS opponent. That makes zero sense to me.

Besides, “sure” losses in the BCS have had some surprising results. Just ask Florida how their “easy” BCS matchup against Louisville turned out.

The post Irish Blogger Gathering: Let’s Shake This Thing Up appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Yes, what a fantastic gesture by these conferences. It’s a move that draws a clear line in the sand that amateurism and student athletes matter.

Except for the minor detail that EA Sports has separate agreements with the schools and they don’t need conference approval anyways.

Even if these dominoes are falling due to the O’Bannon lawsuit and brings us to a world without video game college football, it amazes me that these major conferences felt the need to make such a meaningless gesture.

Why not band together to prevent oversigning? How about pushing for guaranteed scholarships instead of one year agreements? Where is the concern for GSR? You know, things that would actually protect student athletes.

Instead, the primary concern appears to be covering their collective asses from a lawsuit.

I’m all for some changes to the NCAA. I think there is a lot that could and should be done to put the focus back on where amateurism and college athletes should be (although that’s a whole other post I’m putting together).

But meaningless gestures to keep your precious logos out of a video game? Please.

The Roundup

First, a HLS silent auction update. Due to strong initial responses, Biscuit wants to get people locked in and ready to roll. Therefore, the bidding deadline for the ticket packages have been bumped up to Wednesday, August 21. Winners will be announced the following day. Get those bids in! For further details, check out the original post.

Oh hey, look, Johnny Manziel news. Yeah, this story isn’t going anywhere to say the least. Dez Bryant says he’ll be pissed if Manziel isn’t suspended, but then agreeing, much like Adrian Peterson, that he should be able to sell his autographs. Oh and if you happen to be in Aggieland don’t expect anything to get anything signed ever again. And, in a final lovely twist, Texas A&M could sue the pants off the brokers that ratted Johnny out due to an obscure Texas law that I had no clue existed.

I would enjoy reading more completely biased Top 25 rankings. Dead serious on this too. Check out Spencer Hall’s overly biased take on such a list. This method would sure make the coaches’ poll a lot more interesting (and hilarious).

Come hop on the USF bus. There really aren’t sufficient words to describe this. Just watch.

This gives “2 QB System” a whole new meaning. UL Monroe’s offense might just be a stroke of pure mad genius.

Thanks, Obama. This drone thing is really getting out of control.

Want to learn more about how ND runs the damn ball? Stop by the Subway Domer to see Blog Davie’s excellent post on the matter.

On a more serious note, Coach Alfrod. His brother, Aaron Alfrod died from a heart attack at just 39. ND Nation has information on how you can help Aaron’s family in their time of need. Let’s help our extended ND family, y’all.

The Beer

As fall continues to creep ever closer, the time for recommending summer seasonals is soon at an end. This means you will again be hot with one of my favorites, but this time, it’s a newer one for me: St. Arnold Summer Pils.

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

In case you missed it, on Wednesday Jay Bilas partook in one of his favorite pastimes: dropping bombs on the NCAA’s head. He discovered that you could enter names of athletes the search feature of the NCAA’s store and actually find the “generic” numbered jersey that just so happens to match said athlete like say, Johnny Manzel, who is currently under investigation for taking payment for signing memorabilia:

Go to http://t.co/qpH4tNnIpH, type in "Manziel" in upper right search box, hit enter. This comes up. pic.twitter.com/N7KNvXIu24

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) August 6, 2013

But surely someone like Everett Golson who was dismissed from ND wouldn’t be included, right?

Even suspended, http://t.co/qpH4tNnIpH will sell your stuff. Notre Dame's Everett Golson is still for sale. pic.twitter.com/gY6vRDJCK1

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) August 6, 2013

Ok, well that might be excusable due to laziness, I mean the NCAA would never sell anything from people they heavily punished, right?

NCAA Shop site selling Joe Paterno 400-Win gear: http://t.co/fG5cmer80a The "culture of football" ain't so bad when you profit off it, huh?

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) August 8, 2013

Needless to say, this created quite a firestorm on Twitter, leading the NCAA to shut down the search feature of their website…or so they thought:

http://t.co/qpH4tNnIpH can still be searched by typing "/search/braxtonmiller" in the URL. This comes up. Have fun. pic.twitter.com/8Zp4Iza6jt

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) August 6, 2013

This lead to NCAA President, Mark Emmert, declaring that the NCAA store would no longer sell memorabilia and admitting the practice was probably a bit hypocritical of them.

While there is a whole separate debate to be had about jersey sales and whether member institutions should be allowed to continue to do so when the NCAA isn’t, the kicker for me was this:

Emmert says his understanding is NCAA made no money off that online store. Was an aggregator site.

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) August 8, 2013

So, clearly the NCAA must not understand how the internet works. That’s like me saying if you click one of our Amazon links, HLS would never see a penny.

Beyond that, they thought removing a search box would remove search functions. Every search function on the internet, Google included, has a specific URL that goes in your browser address bar to make it work. Even if they somehow didn’t know that, during the Twitter shitstorm, people, like myself, were making fun of the NCAA by tweeting out these exact URLs so it’s all out in the open for everyone to see.

Removing that box was equivalent to being an ostrich and sticking their head into the sand.

I don’t expect the NCAA to be full of internet experts. Hell, I’m knowledgeable about it and still have issues that have been quite publicly displayed when HLS went boom multiple times. But the fact that they could overlook something this basic, do something so stupid to “fix” it, and then claim “well, gee, I don’t think we made any money anyways” is just laughable. They are either just that dumb or believe everyone is beyond stupid to not see through it.

Having this blow up in their faces after suspending players for selling their own memorabilia (Ohio State) and investigating someone for profiting of his signature (Manziel) makes the entire NCAA look like nothing more than a bunch of idiots throwing rocks in their own glass house.

/waits for karma to crash HLS

The Roundup

Speaking of internet things, here’s an update on HLS. Last week I moved us to a different host to try and stop the constant crashing of HLS. During the move, they did a review of the entire site and had no complaints. Hopefully this means that the last issues we saw before the move were the fault of the old host and not something I’ve done. After the move, I also saw we had quite the spam problem. I deleted over 3,000 spam accounts and installed some additional safeguards to prevent this from becoming an issue again. Hopefully, no legitimate accounts got nuked during this, but if it did and you can’t register again for some reason, please let us know.

Because the Johnny Football saga wouldn’t be over until the damn lawyers got involved. So Manziel hired the same attorney that represented Cam Newton and he made sure to proclaim that Johnny would without a doubt be playing when the season starts. You should really check out the attorney’s web site too. I mean, I’m a proud Texan and all, but cowboy hats, seriously?!

Two of the things I hate most in the sports world combined. New York Yankees’ Manager, Joe Girardi, spoke to Alabama. Roll vomit.

No shirt, no shoes, let’s coach practice. Never change, Steve Spurrier.

The OU game just got even more interesting. Their already thin defense just took another hit.

Finally, make sure to stop by the Subway Domer. They have a pretty badass printable ND schedule available.

The Beer

Believe it or not, summer is quickly coming to a close. I would be greatly disappointed in myself if I don’t recommend one of my favorite summer seasonsals before the season starts up: Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy.

Yes, it’s not exactly a “craft” selection, but it’s so damn tasty. I make no apologies.

The post Friday Roundup: The “Failing to Understand the Internet” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Yes, this also means closing the book on the Eddie Vanderdoes situation.

While we may not know the lasting effects this may have on the National Letter of Intent, there is nothing more that will come of this situation. Keith Arnold over at Inside the Irish has the best account of the entire saga and, unless he is somehow able to change UCLA’s mind on his Freedom of Information Act petition, we won’t find anything more out. Vaderdoes is fully within the UCLA fold and they would be crazy to go on the record and add fuel to the fire.

Even Joe Davidson of the SacBee won’t get anything out of him at this point. In his latest on the situation, even Davidson, who has had an inside line to the family got nothing:

Vanderdoes, who enrolled at UCLA after it was announced he would not play at Notre Dame, did not return The Bee’s calls. His father said Vanderdoes was moving into his dorm in Los Angeles and preparing for the start football camp this weekend in San Bernardino.

Vanderdoes is more worried about starting his college football career. He has better things to worry about than rehashing a situation that is closed (and closed in his favor at that).

Likewise, we as Notre Dame fans have better things to worry about. Remember Aaron Lynch? Remember how quickly his departure became a non-factor even though losing him sucked?

What if Lynch went on the record now and scorched the earth by going off on Notre Dame, would you really care? If somehow it does, I suggest you re-check your priorities as a ND fan.

What’s done is done. If something else happens to come to light, it won’t really move the needle much anymore. It isn’t bringing Eddie back to South Bend and I’d much prefer to worry about Notre Dame trying to make a national title appearance once agian.

The Roundup

Speaking of offseason insanity, Johnny Football-mania has reached critical mass. He now finds himself the subject of two cover stories. One for Sports Illustrated (no free link for this one) and one for ESPN the magazine. God help this kid if his season goes in the tank.

The Carlos Hyde saga is also at an end. No charges will be filed, but Meyer has benched him for three games.

Kiffykins, the gift that keeps on giving. In a change from their usual policy, the media is now banned from Southern Cal practices. I know it’s standard operating procedure for most teams, but seeing any heat come Kiffin’s way warms my heart.

EA’s lawyers could be working overtime. With the O’Bannon case is still outstanding, EA got smacked with a loss in another case allowing ex-NCAA atheletes to sue the video game publisher.

Oregon has built a Death Star. Seriously.

Forgive me while I bring the room down. This should put our offseason worries in perspective: two young men gone way too soon.

And now, your moment of zen. Because after that last story, something like this is definitely needed:

.@EricLeGrand52's #52 will be the first jersey retired in 144 years of #RFootball. #bELieve pic.twitter.com/IrroZQsnNP

— Rutgers Football (@RFootball) July 30, 2013

The Beer

One of our Loyal Readers, Kevin Burke is also moving on this week. Except what he is moving on is much bigger than an offseason or college football as a whole.

Kevin has just finished his tour of Afghanistan and will be coming back stateside. Upon hearing this, I told him this week’s beer selection was completely in his hands.

His choice is his favorite beer, Blue Moon.

So have one to celebrate the impending end of the offseason, for Kevin, for our troops, and for AMERICA!

Welcome back home, Kevin!

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

Some of you reading might be good friends of mine. If you have no idea who I am, howdy.

I might bleed blue & gold, but when it comes to college football in the state of Texas, my loyalties lie with Texas A&M.

I am writing this because I see something developing around your football team. It’s something that Notre Dame fans have dealt with for the better part of 25 years and I feel like someone needs to properly prepare y’all for what’s about to happen.

It’s a moment best described as “ow my balls”, a phrase I first saw on a ND message board and man has it ever rung true.

You take one step forward and then you take two steps back in the most frustrating and worst ways possible. Just look at us: freshman QB led us to a national title and the other shoe dropped when Alabama destroyed us. And if that wasn’t enough, he’s now ineligible to play. Heisman candidate? Watch him get torn apart in a fake girlfriend internet scam that had zero do with actual football.

And that’s just a really small sample of awful things we’ve seen to add on to the Boston College upset of 1993, the Bush Push of 2005, and the entire 3-9 2007 season that followed two BCS berths among other things.

Usually the Roundup is devoted to sharing links of college football news, but this edition will be a primer of how to prepare yourself and deal with this new reality.

The Roundup

So many people will now find a reason to hate you. Firstly, you pissed off Nick Saban. Actually, this is probably Saban in a good mood because he still won the SEC and the BCS title; however, the Aggies are public enemy number one in the eyes of the Tide. Beyond that, the Big XII still has to be stinging. Not only did you give the whole conference the finger, but you then proceeded to curb stomp OU into oblivion in the Cotton Bowl. The rest of the SEC wants blood too because the new kid on the block made them look silly. Oh, and Johnny Football being the only freshman to win the Heisman doesn’t help your cause either. Speaking of Johnny…

Perception is now reality. Now, here’s the thing about Johnny. He’s not doing anything most 20 year old kids in college aren’t doing when you break everything down. The problem is that the spotlight this kid has is unheard of. So when the youngest ever Heisman winner has pictures floating around partying as Scooby Doo (slightly NSFW link) and well, just partying his ass off, the perception is that the man is a party animal. So this means, when things like the Manning Camp fiasco happen, the initial reports are going to assume he was drunk because, in reality, he isn’t like any other 20 year old and doing 20 year old things gives him a major image problem.

Enjoy falling victim to “the narrative”. In the past month, you’ve had several HOT SPORTS TAKES about Johnny. Editorials have been written about this “spoiled brat”, roundtables discuss on whether his offseason antics will hurt his season, and ESPN dug deep to show that he could’ve been suspended. So when there is a close win or, God forbid, a tough loss, it won’t be because of football (unless Alabama does it because Roll Tide or something) but because PARTY ANIMAL. And even if the Aggies start 8-0, there will be a picture of Manziel at Northgate showing up on College GameDay and there will be a segment wondering if Johnny has really learned his lessons.

This all leads to irrational hatred. People will cherry pick from some of the reasons above to justify, but in the end it really won’t make a lot of sense. Hell, Notre Dame has been Independent in football for over 125 years and it is still a reason why people hate the Irish (see: Steve Spurrier). The Aggies could go 12-0 and there would be a gigantic contingent hoping for failure because Manziel had a beer before he was 21 or because they are still sour over the conference switch.

Advice: embrace the heel turn. Here is something y’all can do that we can’t. As I’ve said before, college football tends to resemble the WWE in may ways. Notre Dame though, tries to remain the ultimate babyface/good guy no matter what. We have to stay John Cena, even if it’s a bit annoying. Y’all can embrace the Johnny party angle and go full Ric Fliar, stylin’ and profilin’ without giving a damn who it pisses off. The heat is going to come your way no matter what, forget about deflecting it, revel in it.

The Beer

As I said to start this post, Texas A&M seems to have all the warning signs of taking some kind of a fall in the worst possible way. If such a painful event happens, I have the cure: booze.

Now, traditionally, this section suggests a craft beer that might be a bit off the beaten path. So with that in mind, I suggest New Republic, a brewery that is right in your backyard.

Of course, depending on just how bad said fall ends up being, beer might not be enough. In that case, I suggest, in the words of one of my good Aggies friends, to “switch to missiles” and find yourself a good stiff mixed drink. But sometimes even that isn’t enough and you need something resembling a nuclear bomb. If that’s the case, head on over to the Dry Bean and order a shot that my future best man (also an Aggie) gave me once (and only once): Liquid Cocaine which is practically guaranteed to completely remove any memory of the night.

The post Friday Roundup: The “Open Letter to Aggies” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Anyways, this week has been rather brutal. Thankfully I got some time to unwind at last night’s Rangers game, but once I returned I too damn sleepy to think of anything to write. I made an executive decision to punt the Roundup to this evening, likely making Biscuit’s head explode that I put baseball as a higher priority than football writings.

Either way, the delay actually gave me something to write in this intro which is the delay itself. Writer’s block solved, I guess.

Oh well, you’re here for the links and beer anyways right? Let’s get to it.

The Roundup

This might be the most Southern Cal thing ever. Dr. Dre has made a donation to Southern Cal. For Academics. Seriously. Making this even more hilarious is the juxtaposition of this news release the very next day.

Johnny Baseball? So here’s one advantage to delaying the Roundup. I am able to include Johnny Manziel’s antics from the Padres game last night, including his recreation of his Alabama game-winning pass.

It’s nice when stats work out in your favor. Check out this preview from one of the minds at Football Outsiders. Spoiler Alert: Notre Dame is still damn good.

USF is apparently excited about Aaron Lynch. However, I’d be slightly concerned with his weight loss not working out during his year off if I were them. But, hey, hopefully the attitude change his coach sees is true because the kid has loads of talent that shouldn’t be wasted.

A look into the college football future. I don’t know about y’all, but all I read in this piece was that ND makes a lot of title games.

And now, your moment of STOP USING PHOTOSHOP FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. This week’s entry, Preston Pehrson of Georgia Tech.

The Beer

Before we start, I’d like to make a quick note about this section. Mostly because Slate wrote something mind-numbingly dumb on the topic.

You see, I’m not trying to “beer snob” it up in this section. Nor am I picking beers because OMG HOPS Y’ALL. I’m more in line with several of the opinions noted here.

Those that have read a fair share of Roundups know that I have suggested some “mainstream” beers either tongue-in-cheek or simply because I was in the mood to that week. My whole goal here is to either:

• Be funny (rare)
• Share a good beer I’ve discovered/liked/consumed liberally
• Ask readers for beer suggestions

Because quite frankly beer is good and expanding horizons on said beverage is equally awesome. It’s really hard to go wrong here.

With all that being said, this week I am making good on my promise to go back into the craft beers. Hilariously enough, I had planned on “easing” back into it with a rather simple local lager before I even read the Slate insanity.

That brew would be Rahr’s Blonde Lager from Ft. Worth, Texas.

Admittedly, the distribution is quite limited (but I’m sure you can find similar in the same style), but if you are ever in DFW or at a Rangers game you’ll be able to find this rather easily.

Yes, my baseball team actually serves legit local craft beer (looking at you, Yankees).

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

Attrition has definitely set in. These days, it’s an annual expectation. Thankfully, the Notre Dame Football program is healthy enough to handle it.

That may sound a little strange, especially since we (1) aren’t used to that line of thinking these days and (2) Brian Kelly has made several references to a lack of depth in 2012. However, it’s the truth.

Consider the fact that after Lynch left, our defensive line was still a dominate force in 2012. Despite not having Tee Shepard to fill some huge holes in the secondary, the Irish still managed to hold it together. We still have three more years of Golson with Malik Zaire waiting in the wings, softening the loss of Kiel. While our WR corps isn’t as stocked as I would prefer, I have little doubt Kelly and company will be able to use the talent available to compensate.

Further consider the recruiting mindset of Kelly. He wants to land a QB every year. He is constantly looking for what he calls “big skill” players that could possibly fill a couple of different roles if needed. A solid group of starters at any position isn’t enough — he wants them two-deep for constant depth and to keep his roster in a state of constant competition.

This season, we have seen the fruits of those three years of recruiting labor. Despite the attrition that has hit the Irish, we still find ourselves only able to offer well below 20 scholarships to the class of 2014 because we are so close to the maximum of 85 scholarships for the entire roster. While every player that leaves the Irish is definitely a disappointing loss, it now opens up a precious roster spot for a potential fifth-year, an extra offer to an elite recruit, or even the chance to reward a deserving senior walk-on.

So as far as attrition goes, I’m going to use a rather infamous Kelly quote: “Get used to it.”

Some guys might leave for personal reasons, but we are also seeing our former blue-chip recruits leave simply because they don’t think they’ll get the playing time they want. That speaks volumes for the level of talent Notre Dame now has. A couple of years ago, if a huge get in the recruiting class had a guaranteed three or four years of playing time. That simply isn’t the case anymore.

So bring the attrition on. “Next man in” as Kelly would say. This is exactly where we want to be.

The Roundup

I guess this counts as WAC attrition. Idaho and New Mexico State are fleeing the WAC for the Sun Belt. The Sun Belt is also grabbing Appalachian State (HEY MICHIGAN) and Georgia Southern from the FCS. Care to take a stab at which group is the better get?

And the 2014 National Championship game will transfer to… DALLAS! Win-win for me. Either Notre Dame makes a title run in my backyard or I’m renting out my house, making a mint, and going on vacation.

Johnny Football is gone. From Twitter. Wait, what did you think I was going to say?

Southern Cal has lost another player. This time, due to injury.

The NCAA might be able to use a little attrition themselves. Someone else has apparently dropped the ball in the Miami case.

This qualifies as what I like to call “Saban-style attrition”. Four players are gone from UCLA. One for violation of team rules and the other three…well, this article outright calls it “roster maintenance”.

The Beer

My beer choice is also suffering from some attrition because I’m still cleaning out my beer fridge of brews that have been donated for one reason or another. Considering I have a Vegas trip coming up to save money for and because I’ve been ridiculously busy for work (because of the Vegas trip, the main reason I’m there is because of work), I have had little motivation to go buy more beer as of late.

Ok, it’s probably not attrition, it’s being lazy and cheap as hell, but I don’t care.

On the chopping block this weekend: Dos Equis.

Stay thirsty, my friends.

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