What do we ask in return? Firstly, please visit, consider the services, and spread the word of all the fine folks below.

Second, consider visiting Amazon with this link. This is our affiliate link, which will give us a small commission on anything you buy. (Disclaimer so we don’t lose our Amazon Affiliate rights: HLS Staff is forbidden to use such referral links and as such, you are also forbidden to buy us anything with said referral links so don’t do it.)

That isn’t too much to ask for providing free Notre Dame content and awesome giveaways is it?

Now on to the goods:

First up, we have two copies of NCAA ’13 — one for Xbox 360 and one for PS3. This comes courtesy of the fine folks at Coke Zero who also want to pass this bit of information along for the chance at even more free copies of the game:

Each Monday for the first 13 weeks of the college football season, Coke Zero is giving away one copy of EA Sports NCAA Football 13 (XBOX360/PS3) every 13 minutes. That’s 111 copies each Monday – 1,433 copies this season.

The rules to enter are simple: Follow @CokeZero on Twitter and look for messages including the hashtags #GameOn and #ad as well as the URL http://bit.ly/EANCAA. Once you retweet the message originating from @CokeZero, you’re entered.

In order to win a copy of the game, I want to hear the worst place that you’ve been forced to crash at during a football weekend. As you write your story, remember to never have that happen again to you by visiting Rent Like a Champion for your gameday housing needs (yes, I’ll squeeze multiple sponsors in here!).

I will pick the funniest story/worst place crashed at for each version of the game. So be sure to mark which one you want on your entry form!

Second, we have two copies of Always Fighting Irish: Players, Coaches, and Fans Share Their Passion for Notre Dame Football by John Heisler and Tim Prister, hot off the presses courtesy of Triumph Books. The book is meant to be the ultimate collection of everything that makes Fighting Irish Football special. Highlights include:

• The 100 most important moments in Indiana football history
• Beloved landmarks and memories from South Bend
• Notre Dame coaching legends, from Knute Rockne to Lou Holtz
• The greatest players in Fighting Irish football history
• Notre Dame legends telling their own stories in their own words

I’m currently reading the book right now (expect a review sometime this month at HLS) and I can tell you that thus far I love what I’m reading. The book is packed with information and is sure to have something for every Irish fan in its 400+ pages.

In order to get yours, I want you to tell your favorite memory of Notre Dame football in your own words. The best two stories will each receive a copy.

Finally, we have two copies of the two-disc Spirit of Notre Dame produced by (and courtesy of) the O’Neill Brothers.

Each disc is split into two distinct themes that help define Notre Dame. The first is “Celebration” featuring upbeat songs, including selections from Forever Irish which you’ve seen featured here at HLS. The second disc is themed “Reflections” focusing on the spiritual side of Notre Dame.

To win your copy, I want you to play the role of ND Stadium DJ and create your ultimate gameday playlist. You must include at least one song for each category:

• Pre-game/Tailgating
• Kickoff
• Third Down
• TV Timeout
• Defense Takes the Field
• Offense Takes the Field
• Post Game Celebration

You may include selections for band music as well as music that would be piped in over the PA. I will select the two best playlists and each winner will receive a copy.

To enter, simply fill out the form at the bottom of this post. You may enter for one or all of the prizes available. Winners will be selected by November 2nd, 2012.

Of course, if you’d just like to skip the whole giveaway thing just buy each prize, feel free to do that as well!

• NCAA ’13
• Always Fighting Irish
• Spirit of Notre Dame

Contest Entry Form

Entries are now closed!

The post I Hereby Declare October “HLS Giveaway Month” 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.

Last month, Twibby took a look at some of the leaked ratings for Notre Dame to whet our appetite. With the game’s release though, we now have the full ratings and EA’s projection of depth charts as well.

Inspired by Adam Kramer’s (you may know him as @KegsNeggs) annual simulation and summary of the entire 2012 season, I decided to run my own, but keeping my focus on the Irish. I didn’t want to stop there though. I also made sure to log every single rating and depth chart position for the Irish.

After hours of staring at my TV screen, I am pleased to present the fruits of my labor. The “Depth Chart & Ratings” tab provides not only every single rating for every stat of every ND player in the game, but also allows for sorting and filtering by each column. This will allow for easy viewing by position, name, or stat.

Do note that EA’s rosters aren’t perfect and some things like jersey numbers won’t match. Other players are also missing completely (mostly freshmen, even Gunner Kiel didn’t have the chest to make it in). I did my best to match everyone up properly which wasn’t all too hard by using height and weight. I’m confident that the names match up with who they should.

As for the simulation of the season, I made no edits to the depth chart or roster in any way. I simply advanced my season all the way to Conference Championship week and then simulated the bowl game.

Below are the results week by week. Unfortunately, I couldn’t track everything like I’d hoped (for instance, I wanted to track ND’s ratings every week, not possible with bulk simulation). However, I think this simulation still paints quite the picture despite that.

Week 1: @ Navy

After a long and hotly debated QB battle, Brian Kelly not only names Everett Golson the starter, but Andrew Hendrix as his backup, causing Grantland-X much grief amongst our joy.

The Golson-led, and 24th ranked, Irish start off slow, netting only a FG in the 1st, but quickly pick up the pace with a Theo Riddick rushing TD and FG to close the half. Navy scores the first points of the second half, but the Irish hit their stride, scoring 17 unanswered points on the back of two Golson TD passes to Goodman.

Even better: the Irish turn the ball over zero times.

Final: 30-10 ND

Week 2: Purdue

Bayou’s expected “bye week” starts off as planned…until Golson is knocked out of the game with an injury. The stunned Irish go into the half leading only 10-7. ND fans brace themselves for the worst, but Andrew Hendrix makes a statement and leads the Irish to a TD on their first drive of the second half.

Purude puts up 10 unanswered points, but a 21 yard connection from Hendrix to Toma puts the Boilermakers away despite the Irish’s three turnovers in the game (1 fumble, 1 INT by each QB).

Final: 24-17 ND

Week 3: @ #12 Michigan State

And thus begins the 2012 gauntlet.

With Golson ready to roll once again, the Irish and Spartans trade TDs in the first two quarters going into the half tied at 14. It remains that way until 10:14 left in the 4th when ND notches a FG.

The Irish defense continues to hold the Spartans for the rest of the game and a Golson TD run with less than 4 minutes to go ices the game.  A Riddick rushing TD two minutes later twists the dagger in Sparty’s back.

Final: 31-14 ND

Week 4: #9 Michigan

ND’s quest for revenge under the lights starts with a heart attack: Golson is knocked out of the game just minutes in. Hendrix once again steps in and finished the first Irish drive off for a first-blood TD.

Then Michigan runs all over ND and scores 17 unanswered points and go into the half with a 17-7 lead. As Notre Dame Stadium collectively thinks “here we go again,” Michigan tacks on another FG.

The Irish manage to score a TD before the end of the 3rd, but it is quickly mitigated by two more Skunkbear FGs in the 4th as they lead comfortably under the lights 26-14.

Then the unthinkable happens: Michigan turns into 2011 Notre Dame.

Hendrix torches the Michigan secondary, capped off by a Goodman TD with 1:44 left. After an onside kick recovery, the Irish find pay dirt again on a Riddick rush. The 2-point conversion fails, but there is no 30 second comeback this time and somehow the Irish are a shocking 4-0.

Final: 27-26 ND

Week 5: BYE

We all spend the bye week laughing at Michigan. Repeatedly.

Week 6: Miami

Golson is still out and the Irish look rusty after the bye. A subpar Miami teams hangs with them at the half trailing by just 1. Brain Kelly must turn purple in the locker room because Hendrix leads the Irish on a TD drive that lasts only 55 seconds. As the 3rd wins down, Bennett Jackson finds himself in the endzone with a pick-six. Miami tries a late comeback, but can’t recover.

Final: 42-30 ND

Week 7: #20 Stanford

The Irish are now 5-0 and we are all just waiting for the other shoe to drop. The still Golson-less Irish have yet another rough first half, trailing 17-7, but two quick TDs in the 3rd save the Irish who shut the Cardinal out for the remainder of the game.

Final: 21-17 ND

Week 8: BYU

Hendrix apparently doesn’t get started until the second half. After the Irish let BYU hang around 7-7 in the first half, Hendrix lights the Cougars up for 3 TD passes in a comfortable victory.

Yes, the Irish are still undefeated. Is this real life? (no it isn’t…)

Final: 31-14 ND

Week 9: @ #5 Oklahoma

The thought is now starting to creep in: “if we find a way past OU, we could find ourselves in the title game.”

Yep, that thought should have never happened. OU curb-stomps the Irish in Norman in an ugly, ugly blowout.

Final: 44-14 OU

Week 10: Pittsburgh

Golson finally returns to the Irish and finds himself a bit rusty throwing 2 INTs in his return. Thankfully, his running game bails him out, starting with a 65 yard Cierre Wood TD run in the 1st.

The Irish put up 199 rushing yards and 3 total rushing TDs in an ugly victory that sees four Irish turnovers.

Final: 28-19 ND

Week 11: @Boston College

Golson is once again shaky starting the game off with a pick-six and then fumbles twice more in the game. Despite his new Rees-like syndrome, Golson still manages to throw 2 TDs and rush for one on his own. The Irish gave Fredo many chances, but the game was never close.

Final: 30-10 ND

Week 12: Wake Forest

And on the third week, he rose again.

Golson remembers how play football once again, throwing 3 TDs and rushing for one himself. He isn’t perfect as he does cough the ball up again on a fumble, but it doesn’t matter. Wake gets absolutely murdered.

Final 45-10 ND

Week 13: @ #2 Southern Cal

It’s come to this. The one-loss Irish still have an outside chance at the title if they can manage to beat their rivals in their own house. Title hopes for both teams are on the line–it doesn’t get much bigger than this.

ND leads off with an opening FG and Southern Cal immediately responds with a Barkley TD pass just 53 seconds later. As the first quarter winds down, Golson responds with a TD pass of his own to T.J. Jones. On the ensuing drive, Barkley comes out and throws what will end up being the first of his two interceptions on the evening. ND capitalizes with a FG taking a 13-7 lead.

Fast forward to the 4th and the Irish have kept the Trojans at bay, leading 23-21. Much like they did in Kelly’s first year, the running game takes over and the Irish score two rushing TDs in the 4th while the defense shuts the once Heisman hopeful down.

Final: 37-21 ND

Weeks 14 & 15

At this point, I was able to check out the BCS standings. Surely the Irish would be at least #2 after that kind of a schedule right? In fact, there is only one undefeated team–UCF. Who somehow is ranked #1 in all polls. Coming in at #2 with one loss is K-State.

I’m not even sure how to describe this kind of bizzaro-world in which ND’s title hopes could be crushed by those two.

Thankfully, UCF falls flat on their face in the C-USA final, allowing the Irish to claim the #2 slot despite being ranked #3 in both human polls (yes, the voters tried to get UCF in…).

ND manages to win some hardware as well. Stephon Tuitt allows us to not miss Aaron Lynch at all as he takes home the Bronko Nagurski and Lombardi Awards. Also of note in both awards, Kapron Lewis-Moore was also a finalist.

Ben Turk also brings home some hardware by winning the Ray Guy Award.

Championship Week: vs #1 Kansas State

This game could only be described as a complete disaster. Early on, Tyler Eifert gets a brutal nine week injury on the biggest stage in the nation. Golson and company fail to pick up the slack and it’s Norman all over again. The Big XII owns ND in 2012 and everyone starts bitching that ND got an “undeserving” title shot as the other 2 one-loss teams (Wisconsin and Texas) begin their bitching in earnest.

Final: 44-14 K-State

Epilogue

The polls backlash on ND, dropping them to #5 in the coaches’ poll and #7 in the AP.

Hilariously enough, Kelly’s job security only slightly slides into the “safe” category despite taking his team to the BCS title game against one of the toughest schedules in the nation. I’m sure much of the debate in this theoretical offseason is “can Kelly win the big one?”

All in all, this was a rather shocking conclusion to my simulation. I seriously thought this would have ended up much worse, especially with the injury to Golson and his subsequent issues with turnovers on his comeback.

While I definitely think EA is being overly generous with ND’s rating, it does provide just a small glimmer of hope that maybe ND can indeed conquer their rough schedule.

…well, that is, if we bench Rees.

The post NCAA ’13: Complete ND Ratings & 2012 Season Simulation appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

This week, we dive into the art of the trick play.

Weis made a point to have at least one trick play up his sleeve every week. Some were simple and were just more complex versions of a play-fake that you’d likely see and not think it was actually a trick play. Others, however, were true gimmick plays that were so off the wall that no one would see them coming.

My favorite of these plays was never actually executed during a game, but was practiced during Tennessee week. The play was “OH SHIT! Screen Right”–no that isn’t a typo.

Many of us know Weis loved the screen, but this one was a particular stroke of genius that was also unbelievably hilarious in both its simplicity and execution.

The Irish would line up with Anthony Fasano to the left. After the snap, Fasano would run a drag route across the line; however, once he got to the center, he would intentionally trip himself, fall down, and yell “OH SHIT!!!”

The defenders would then ignore Fasano while two offensive linemen crept up right in front of him. Once those linemen were in position, Fasano would pop up and receive an easy pass from Quinn. At this point, the defense that completely ignored him now had to find a way around two big uglies and Fasano barreling down their throats.

Sadly, the Irish never had a need to run this play against Tennessee and quickly tossed the play the following week. However, for all the talk that Weis had about a “decided schematic advantage”, this play would definitely qualify.

I won’t lie, if Kansas somehow pulls this out of their hat, I will have a small celebration in honor of this play actually seeing the light of day.

The Roundup

Need an excuse to go to Vegas? The undefeated Mike Lee will be fighting on August 4th at the Texas Station Casino. Should you not be able to make it out to Sin City, the fight will be televised on Telefutura. Now, being Mexican and from Texas, this fight screams all kinds of good mojo for me. Also, if you’ve never watched a sporting broadcast in Spanish, you should–knowing the language is not a prerequisite to enjoying it.

Les Miles finds his way into the Roundup yet again. This time, he is angered by his own mascot finding a QB that is far better than the disaster he fielded last season.

So, Notre Dame isn’t the only school with an embarrassing video. Just ignore the video-that-shall-not-be-named and revel in the fact that there are far worse things that other schools have published on YouTube.

Johnelle might need a few bucks. Seriously.

Law & Order: The Isaiah Crowell Special. First, he melts our hearts by showing his commitment to Georgia with a baby bulldog. Then he’s caught packing heat and runs to the FCS.

One Foot Down finds a way to make me sad about the Lou Holtz Era. Couldn’t we just skip this particular trip down memory lane?

When I was a manager, I had to memorize this and more. Subway Domer has all your freshman roster assignments–study up.

The Beer

This week will be the first week that I recommend a beer that I have not yet tasted. Thanks to the magic of Twitter, @okerland suggested that, based on the heels of last week, I examine Sam Adams Porch Rocker.

While discussing the beer, the Sam Adams Twitter account chimed in as well:

@okerland @HLS_NDtex Technically it’s a radler, a German style beer which takes a Helles style brew and blends with fresh lemon juice.

— Samuel Adams Beer (@SamuelAdamsBeer) July 2, 2012

Another American themed beer that tastes like lemonade on the heels of the 4th? I’m all in.

The post Friday Roundup: The “Best Trick Play Ever” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

He may have filmed the 16 most boring minutes on YouTube, but he gave us college football fans and gamers some golden offseason fodder to argue about. Starting with the overall team ratings, Notre Dame is given a 97 overall (WOWsers!), with a 94 offense rating, 95 defense rating and 6 star prestige. I would love to say I agree with this number…but it seems high to me. For context, 97 ties ND for the 6^th highest rating behind Wisconsin, Texas, LSU, Oregon and USC who each are rated 99 overall. Tied with the Irish at 97 overall are Florida State, Georgia, Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Michigan. Other Irish opponent ratings include: Navy (77), Purdue (87), Michigan State (93), Miami (91), Stanford (93), BYU (89), Pittsburgh (85), Boston College (85) and Wake Forest (81). Considering the real life talent differential between teams like USC and LSU compared to Boston College and Wake Forest, there certainly doesn’t seem to be much ratings disparity built into this year’s version of the game.

Grantland-X is going to appreciate the Notre Dame QB rankings, which are as follows:

With Rees having far more experience under his belt than any of the other 3 scholarship QB’s, we can’t be shocked that the guys over at EA Sports took the safe route and rated him slightly higher than Hendrix and Golson. Tommy’s speed rating is surprising, as I would have expected it to be in the mid-to-low 60s. The fact that Hendrix’s strength is a 53 and break tackle is a 67 is ludicrous – each should be much higher. I would probably lower the awareness rating for both Hendrix and Rees as well. Throwing power and throwing accuracy ratings are not yet available, but based on Tommy’s inferior athletic ratings coupled with the fact his overall rating is the highest, you would expect him to show the strongest numbers in those categories. Of course, whether or not you agree with those ratings is an entirely different story.

Moving on to the running backs:

I love speedy RBs when playing this game, and the Irish backfield stable does not disappoint. For those of you that plan on playing in Dynasty Mode, the Carlisle/Atkinson combination is going to be one of the strongest in the country when you enter your 3^rd season and they are each seniors. Here’s to hoping that the on the field product turns out similarly.

And now the entire EA Sports ND roster (note: their 70 man roster is mostly made up of current players and early enrollee freshmen. For the few freshmen enrolling in the fall that appeared on the roster, I generally didn’t try to guess who the game was referring to.)

The Top 10 ND Players:

***Update: Manti Te’o is tied with Matt Barkley and Montee Ball as the highest rated player in the game. Tyler Eifert is in a tie for 4th with Marcus Lattimore. The Irish coming in with two of the top 5 players in the game? Not too shabby….

Questions/Comments:

Players ranked 11 through 30:

Questions/Comments:

Players ranked 31 through 70:

Questions/Comments:

How do you feel about the team rankings and the individual player rankings? Would you have made any significant changes if you were running the show at EA?

The post NCAA Football 2013 – EA Sports Player Rankings Leaked appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.