What this means for you, the Loyal Reader, is that HLS will be under maintenance throughout the entire Memorial Day weekend starting this Friday, May 24.

During this time, you will likely see a maintenance splash page all weekend. For parts of Friday, you will also likely see HLS outright inaccessible during the server move. This means we will have DNS changes that need to propagate which takes some time (non-nerd speak: the Internet will need some time to find us again).

I am also hopeful that I can figure out what happened to our forums during this time and get those back up and running. I’m pretty sure our theme is to blame, so don’t be surprised if I get frustrated enough to punt until we move to our new theme.

Speaking of the new theme, things have been moving at a snail’s pace as I’ve been in a whirlwind with little free time (and motivation) to work on it. The goal is to make that new theme look as close to what you see today as possible. To do this, I am having to put in a healthy dose of custom code and I want to make sure I do it right. I promise though, it will be worth it. It will remove a lot of headaches for me on the administration side and be a lot easier to use, most notably in the comment section.

I also fully expect more Eddie Vanderdoes news will break because why not.

So enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend. Rest assured that Father Sorin will be having a vigil for my efforts on what he dubs our “magic box” with his Good Friday post taking a week off. And, considering we will not have a Roundup this week as well, here is your beer suggestion for the weekend: exercise your freedom to drink whatever the hell you want because AMERICA Y’ALL!

Now, with that all being said (and hopefully a bit of perspective given), let’s dig into the latest with Eddie Vanderdoes.

Most of what we have are loads of rumors and nothing concrete. Here’s is a list of everything that flew around most websites today in discussion of said rumors:

• Major academic issues that would keep Vanderdoes from enrolling
• Minor academic issue that would be settled
• ND admissions dropped the ball
• Vanderdoes had a change of heart
• Vanderdoes had a strained relationship with the coaching staff
• There have been issues for months that have yet to be settled
• Vanderdoes expected to try and go to UCLA

All of the above possibilities came from just about all corners of the internet. Pick your favorite ND message board, recruiting site, or Twitter and you’ll find all of them mentioned there.

The only thing that is for certain is that no one seems to want to make any declarative statement one way or the other right now. Everyone, even those media members that are rather well connected, are waiting for Vanderdoes to break his silence and clear the air.

The only other thing that we know for certain is that, if Vanderdoes doesn’t go to ND, he finds himself in quite the bind. He has already signed his Letter of Intent and that is a binding contract for one year. Notre Dame would have to grant Eddie a release from this contract in order for him to attend another school. Otherwise, he will have to sit out for a year.

Notre Dame now finds themselves in a similar situation as Florida State, who are having some five-star issues of their own right now. Granting a release from a LOI simply because a student athlete changes their mind appears to be a rather dangerous precedent. We are already in an era in which a “commitment” can mean very little and if that extends to LOIs, signing day itself becomes rather meaningless as well.

And, with words I never thought I’d type, I”m definitely of the same mindset of Florida State in this matter. You can’t tear up LOIs based on what amounts to buyer’s remorse.

To add another layer to this story, late last night, Joe Davidson of the SacBee, and the man that emceed Vanderdoes’ signing day ceremony, took to Twitter to give his take as well as statements from the family and Eddie’s coaches.

Lot of speculation that national tecruit DT Eddie Vanderdoes may not be headed to Notre Dame after all. Tracking it now

— Joe Davidson (@SacBee_JoeD) May 21, 2013

Vanderdoes signed a binding contract with Notre Dame. Would need ND to release him if he wanted to head elsewhere – like UCLA. Tracking

— Joe Davidson (@SacBee_JoeD) May 21, 2013

Vanderdoes really liked UCLA. The Notre Dame appeal is powerful. Something is brewing but not exactly sure. High character kid he is

— Joe Davidson (@SacBee_JoeD) May 21, 2013

As emcee for Vanderdoes announcement on letter of intent day, EV was genuinely ecstatic about ND.Has worked out tirelessly of late

— Joe Davidson (@SacBee_JoeD) May 21, 2013

I did get this from Vanderdoes family: grades, eligibility or conduct/character “is not and has never been an issue.”

— Joe Davidson (@SacBee_JoeD) May 21, 2013

If Vanderdoes does indeed want out of ND commitment,Irish would have to release for smooth transition.If so,re-opens commitment.

— Joe Davidson (@SacBee_JoeD) May 21, 2013

This was really the first bit of information that came directly from anyone in the Vanderdoes camp, but then Davidson followed up with this tweet taking everything in a completely different direction:

Our Vanderdoes post from letter of intent day when Notre Dame gaffed on his early signature…blogs.sacbee.com/preps/archives…

— Joe Davidson (@SacBee_JoeD) May 21, 2013

It is quite strange to me that, of all things, Davidson decided to toss that post and ND gaffe back out into the spotlight as all eyes turn to him as a reliable source on this issue. Soon after, Davidson released his post on the matter and yet again, the signing day issue makes a prominent appearance:

Still, there was a snag with Notre Dame seemingly from the start with how the school handled his scholarship commitment. The Vanderdoes family made it clear that they wanted Notre Dame to keep his decision mum to the media so he could enjoy a letter-of-intent signing ceremony later in the afternoon with several classmates who also signed scholarship deals. Most announcements are made early in the morning as colleges prefer to have signed letters as soon as they’re allowed by the NCAA to receive them.

Notre Dame blew that seemingly simple request when Vanderdoes’ name was in fact listed on the morning letter-of-intent announcement released to the media. His name was immediately taken off the sheet, but the secret was already out and hit the national feeds right away.

It seems rather strange that a good portion of Davidson’s post is devoted to what we all thought ended up being a non-issue. Egg on our face for sure, but supposedly a non-issue.

Even stranger, the signing day “issues” followed this rather interesting quote:

As for grades, [Eddie's coach, Joey] Montoya[,] said Vanderdoes is fine academically, “for Placer and the NCAA, he is for sure.”

What about Notre Dame? Was there some misunderstanding of academic expectations by either party somewhere along the line that caused a snag? The omission appears glaring and definitely seems to be something that Montoya would have added in defense of his star player.

There definitely appears to be quite a bit to the story and it also appears that the Vanderdoes family is using Davidson as something of PR in this situation. Earlier in the post, Eddie’s father stated:

He added in the text, “let people speculate, but you will be the first to know, as always, when it’s time to let people know.”

And later on Twitter, Davidson also had this to add in response to an Irish fan:

@fresnoirishfan @hansenndinsider – It’s much deeper than anything petty. More to come in the coming days/weeks

— Joe Davidson (@SacBee_JoeD) May 21, 2013

Throughout the night he also made sure to tweet his article to many different media entities as well. Again, it all looked more like PR than anything else.

And honestly, I don’t really know if I can blame anyone for adopting that strategy at this point. Smoke appeared this morning and turned into a raging fire. That fire had to be put out and certain rumors needed to be put to rest. After all, if I’m Eddie’s father, and I know he’s a good kid and see nothing wrong with his grades, you bet your ass I’m texting the reporter I trust the most to get my side of the story out there. After all, Eddie has a future at stake here.

Despite that, I am still a bit soured by the repeated mention of Eddie’s name being leaked early by ND. It’s almost like the genesis of a narrative is forming: Eddie already had trust broken by ND with the leak, ND failed to repair it, and then the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back fell in place. I’m hoping that it this is simply a preemptive step in case things go sour; however, considering how I’m used to the other shoe dropping, I’m definitely ready to find out this is the groundwork for a nasty breakup.

Either way, no matter how the dominoes fall, I definitely hope all ND fans can do four things:

1. Leave Eddie alone on Twitter.
2. Seriously, leave Eddie alone on Twitter.
3. Remember that very little of what we hear, until it is direct from Eddie, his family, or ND, will be actual facts (yes, that includes most of what I wrote in here as well).
4. Losing Eddie would sting, but remember, we still have a badass class (and more five-stars) in this recruiting class.

I still remain hopeful that whatever has happened between Vanderdoes and Notre Dame can be reconciled, but I would be lying if I said I was completely optimistic about the situation. Signs thus far all seem to be pointing to bad news for Irish fans.

Here’s hoping I’m dead wrong.

There was a time, not too long ago, that Notre Dame couldn’t recruit the big guys anymore, most especially on the defensive side of the ball. This happened during Ty and was reinforced during Chaz. Yeah, the OL was decently talented but under-developed, and there wasn’t a coordinated focus on the trenches, and more often than not ND was whiffing on the top guys.

But B to the K came in with a plan to build the team from the inside out, and it is FREAKING WORKING. To wit, let’s take a look at the last O-line and D-line to take the field for Chaz, and compare that to what ND is projecting for next season:

CHAZ’S OLINE
Matt Romine 4-Star, #12 OG
Eric Olsen 4-Star, #49 OL
Dan Wenger 4-Star, #20 OL
Trevor Robinson 4-Star, #6 OG
Sam Young 5-Star, #2 OL

BK’S OLINE
Zack Martin 3-Star, #24 OT
Christian Lombard 4-Star, #2 OG
Nick Martin 3-Star, #39 OT
Chris Watt 5-Star, #1 OG
Connor Hanratty 3-Star, #31 OT

And the D…

CHAZ’S D-LINE
Morrice Richardson 3-Star, #64 DE
Ian Williams 3-Star, #36 DT
Ethan Johnson 5-Star, #4 DE

BK’S D-LINE
Sheldon Day 5-Star, #6 DT
Louis Nix 4-Star, #9 DT
Stephon Tuitt 5-Star, #10 DE

Without a doubt, there’s been a talent upgrade along the Defensive Line. And this isn’t even getting into the much improved depth at virtually every position. Add on top of this some amazing player development under The Diaco and this is really something to appreciate in the BK era. Big guys that can play. It’s a thing of beauty! The LB recruiting is equally impressive, which is icing on this big guy cake.

Along the OL, the strides taken in talent are harder to see, as the recruiting fruits haven’t quite come to bear (yet). While position rankings are similar, it’s a slightly lower-rated crew based on stars. But coaching and player development is there, and if you take the incoming frosh + the current class being assembled, ND is adding EIGHT 4-Stars + One 3-Star, with all fitting the profile that BK and crew look for in the big guys up front. So this is more of a work in progress, but it’s getting there.

ND is back on track to being a perennial powerhouse, and it’s starting in the trenches. And it is WORKING!

Go Irish, KILL EVERYBODY!

ps – Sorry for being MIA for a while. Hoping to be back more regularly!

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).

I know change doesn’t go down well here.  It never has.  But somewhere there seems to be written a list of things that can never change because of that equally elusive value called tradition.  I will now shatter a few ill-conceived, though perhaps cherished, notions about change and tradition with respect to things on this campus.  Shall we start at the beginning – yes, we shall.

My Log Cabin.  These days, that ramshackle old hovel where I sheltered from the blinding (literally) winter of 1842, is reverently called the Log Chapel.  Sure, we made it a chapel, after we built a suitable, modern building.  Believe me, there’s nothing that can’t be turned into a chapel, and no building is complete without one.  But the cabin was not my creation; it came with the property…and there was a reason Steve Badin was only too happy to be rid of all of it.  So every time you genuflect going by the cabin-chapel, remember that it’s an outbuilding I moved out of as soon as I could.  Oh, and it’s not real.  The original Log Cabin burned down, just like so many things here.  What you’re looking at is a replica.

My Old College.  That’s what it’s called now.  When I built it is was just The College, whole, entire, and complete.  It was basic, utilitarian, and constructed with absolutely no eye toward architectural beauty.  And it shows.  It probably should have been torn down at some point for the sake of reusing the bricks in something better.  But it’s built like a brick sh outhouse, so there was no sense in getting rid of a perfectly serviceable building.  Still, I’m sure the lads who live in it now would agree with the outhouse analogy on more levels than one.  Its floors slope at various angles in every direction; the doorways are low and trapezoidal; and it creaks and groans like a tramp steamer hung up on a rocky shoal.  Yes, our little carbuncle called Old College is what Notre Dame originally looked like.  How do you feel about change now?

My Sacred Heart.  Well, it’s Jesus’ Sacred Heart, but my church.  Again, not the original.  Check the cornerstone – it says 1871.  Did you think I had no church between 1842 and 1871?  And the Lady Chapel is an addition.  When The BVM says She wants a place of Her own, you build it, even if you have to add it onto the back.

My Main Building.  Everyone knows it’s not the original.  It’s actually the third.  Like it?  Most people do.  But it didn’t come with a Dome.  That wasn’t added until three years later.  And it wasn’t Golden until three years after that.  Again, when The BVM says She wants a giant gold footstool, you do it.  Remember, too, that the Main Building was offices, classrooms, dining hall, and dormitories all in one.  Change is a blessed thing when you can move a horde of raucous and pungent college lads out of your office.  Which brings me to…

My Hall.  The luxuries I gave my lads!  A standalone dormitory with private rooms!  I had already given them electric lights – first college in the country using that exciting modern science (really, I’d do anything to get away from open flames).  But My Hall, which now thinks it’s a college…fine…does not appear in its original form.  The wings are later additions so we could pack more bodies in there.  And the porch came even later than that.  The porch was built onto the front to prevent the lads from dumping buckets of water out the upper windows and onto unsuspecting victims entering through the main doors.  No joke.

The list could go on; but let’s focus on the thing at hand – the Stadium.  Built in a rush (as so many of our building have been) it was elegant in its own way.  But just ask my esteemed successor Ted Hesburgh and he’ll tell you the Stadium was unpopular just 30 years after its opening, by which time it was considered antiquated, undersized, and crude.  Ted considered demolition and reconstruction (a fire is much cheaper), but he had priorities: First a Library, and then Ned Joyce’s sports big-top.  So the Stadium survived until it was encased in a concrete shell that can never be called elegant in any way.

Onto the Stadium we now want to add offices, classrooms, dining facilities, and something called “luxury boxes” which is precisely what I called the private sleeping rooms in Sorin Hall when we built that.  So it will be just like the Main Building was originally.  We are returning to tradition!  But traditionalists aren’t happy because at Notre Dame there is a pervasive confusion between “custom” and “tradition.”

Custom is the way things are generally done, and have been done for a while.  Tradition is a collection of customs that have been handed on from generation to generation and age to age, so that they have become freighted with deep, symbolic meaning.  Customs change; traditions endure.  Anything that changes over time is, therefore, a custom.  Something that has never changed is a tradition.  And there are no such things as new or recent traditions – unless you’re talking about oxymorons.

Furthermore, we’re talking about THINGS here.  Buildings are things, and things cannot be traditions.  They can be old or beautiful or relatively unchanged for many years.  But they’re still just things, and we do not place inordinate value in things.  I was upset when my second Main Building burned – but I built a better one.  And then I installed electricity.  And recently, they entirely rebuilt the interior.  That sort of change is called progress.  This place started with someone else’s log cabin – but look at it now!  Since it’s summer, we’re going to build even more buildings that I never thought of.  So I suppose you could say it’s a custom at Notre Dame to preserve its older buildings; but one of our most cherished traditions is progress.

Do what you want to the Stadium.  It was already changed once.  And it’s just a thing.  Victory is a tradition.  We have preserved that tradition on Cartier Field and in Rockne’s original and into the current Stadium-within-a-stadium.  But the greater victory, the tradition of graduation, we have preserved even longer…on the Main Quadrangle, in Washington Hall, in the Fieldhouse now gone, in the Stadium, on the South Quadrangle, in the Joyce Center, and back in the Stadium again.  The location is just a custom; the graduation is a tradition – and a glorious achievement.  Congratulations, Seniors!  And be prepared: Notre Dame will have changed by the time you come back.  It always does.

EFS CSC

So let’s see how this class is doing compared to last years class at the same time. Needs for each year are different. Scholarship numbers change; however, by looking at the quantity and quality of the recruits we can get a better idea of how this class is shaping up.

So in May of 2012 where did we stand?

Well we had 12 verbal commitments. Eight 4 star recruits, and four 3 star recruits. We hit the Offensive side of the ball early, in particular the line. Five of twelve were OL, with two more being TEs. Our lone QB, 2 WRs round out the offensive side of these recruits. The only defensive recruits were a pair of defensive backs.

With the offensive line and defensive backfield being the primary concerns in 2012 most of the holes were filled early.

12 commits with a 3.67 star average, 10 Offensive, 2 Defensive.

What does May of 2013 look like?

We’ve got 9 verbal commitments. One is a 5 star recruit, five are 4 stars and three 3 stars. Again, it seems offensive early and often with a target on the line. Three lineman, a TE, RB, and a WR. Only three defensive prospects, a LB as well as two very welcome additions to our burgeoning stock of elite defensive lineman.

This year we had less holes to fill than in 2012, and no real area that is a glaring need. The areas of need include TE, OL, and maybe DL if you had to choose them. The needs again seemed to have been addressed early.

9 commits with a 3.78 star average. 6 Offensive, 3 Defensive.

There are some interesting similarities to these classes. 2012′s class ended up with 24 players, meaning half of the players were already in the fold at this time. Due to scholarship restrictions I believe this next class of 2013 may only have around 18 players, and maybe less depending on who leaves or stays with the program for various reasons. So it seems the target for the staff is to be half way home in May.

Both classes went after the offensive side of the ball early, in particular the lineman. A deep, experienced line that keeps reloading is the hallmark of a great program. This is true on both sides of the ball. It seems that this staff understands that and has addressed lack of depth on the offensive lines the past two recruiting cycles as early as possible. While in 2012 we didn’t have much on the defensive line early, we already have 2 commits for 2013. It looks like the area of emphasis early in cycles for this staff is the line, and I for one wholeheartedly support this, as games are won and lost in the trenches. (see-all of last year)

2012′s IrishMob13 demonstrated what I’d call the most visual impact of the “twitter era” on recruiting I’ve seen. I’m not sure if the coaches had much to do with this (they may have after the Tee Shepard/Deontay Greenberry debacle) but the way the previous class stuck together, as well as recruited each other seemed to be unique. As communication has become easier, it is interesting to see how this impacts recruiting. Maybe this has gone on to this extent before, only it was next to impossible to see unless you were in the all star camps.

This year’s “GoldenArmy14″  is beginning to do the same. As mentioned by Keith Arnold over at Inside the Irish Elijah Hood in particular has begun to recruit. This is a good sign about the strength of his commitment as well as the ability of the staff to sell a recruit. After a few de-commitments and transfers of elite prospects in early years, the coaches seemed to have reined in all of those issues.  When you convince a recruit to not only commit, but to preach his convictions to other elite kids making the same type of decision then you are doing something very well.

Last year’s recruiting class was one of the best in the country. In recent recruiting history we’ve had trouble, or been perceived to have trouble landing big defensive difference making recruits. That idea has been slowly laid to rest after we’ve consistently grabbed top tier defensive recruits, with last years class of Jaylon Smith, Max Redfield, and Eddie Vanderdoes perhaps being the most star studded defensively in a very long time.

So where do we stand? I’d say with respect to last year we stand in about exactly the same place, with slightly better talent. However, this year we’ve got less holes to fill. As we move forward in this cycle it will be interesting to see not only how many recruits we get, but the overall quality. I believe if we do well we will see an equally or more impressive class than last year. We may also strike out going after elite talent and not fill up the class. The way things have been going leads me to believe the former is more likely.

Hoke’s insertion of his foot into his mouth is simply begging for analysis ridicule as is this entire article, so let’s just get to it.

Brady Hoke has long trumpeted Michigan’s three primary rivalries against Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State.

Hoke is now entering his third season as the Skunkbears’ head coach. How does one “long trumpet” anything when they haven’t even eclipsed Ty Willingham’s tenure at ND?

If two years is a long period of time for Michigan, I think I understand why some rather obvious history is soon to be forgotten.

But now he’s losing one of them, at least for a time. And he’s clearly not happy about it.

“The Notre Dame game, that rivalry, which they’re chickening out of,” Hoke said Monday during the West Michigan Sports Commission Annual Luncheon at the J.W. Marriott in Grand Rapids.

The remark drew thunderous applause from the crowd.

Ok, fair enough, he’s angry, playing to a home crowd. Let’s see how he justifies this…

“They’re still gonna play Michigan State, they’re gonna play Purdue, but they don’t want to play Michigan”

Well, yeah, we are trying to, but that isn’t exactly certain right now.

You see, Hoke, your B1G commissioner decided to do this whole nine conference game thing that is kinda screwing up everyone’s schedule. Combine that with ND’s new ACC scheduling agreement and, surprise, there are some issues.

Want to know why we are trying to work around that with Sparty and Purdue? Some history for you, long trumpeter: Notre Dame and Michigan State have played 75 times, and only took 1995 and 1996 off since 1948. Notre Dame and Purdue have played 84 times, uninterrupted since 1946.

But Michigan? Oh, we’ll get to that in a bit.

Spoiler alert: Michigan has been a pain in the ass.

“I don’t know how they made that decision…

I don’t either, there is totally no history behind why we might decide to give Michigan the finger. NOPE, NONE AT ALL.

… I really do …

Wait, what?!

Hoke had to have done a shot mid-sentence or something. Or no one has the complete quote…you know what, I like my first idea better. Go home, Hoke, you’re drunk.

But anyway, that’s a great national rivalry game. It’s a great game.”

I’d argue it’s a regional rivalry, and really, I have a hard time saying it’s a rivalry because, let’s be honest, we both hate each other and each consider another school a bigger rival.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement of just what this series means to you and why all of us under the Dome are running away scared. I’m sure your beat writer will help you out…

Michigan has played Notre Dame 40 times, including every season since 2002.

..or maybe he’ll prove my point for me.

Michigan has treated us to three separate gaps in the past. After the 1909 game, we didn’t play Michigan again until 1942. After 1943, we didn’t face off again until 1978. Finally, we had a smaller two year gap between the 1999 and 2002 contests.

That’s 70 years total of scheduling gaps if you are keeping score at home. Or, to put it another way, Michigan has avoided playing Notre Dame for 56% of our 125 year football existence.

But man, uninterrupted since 2002 after these Michigan scheduling disruptions. How dare we.

But the Irish last year cancelled their games against Michigan from 2015-17, as they make the move to a scheduling alliance with the ACC.

ND, the dastardly villain, ditching the history of the Michigan series, chickening out for their new ACC friends.

The rivalry already was scheduled to take a two-year hiatus in 2018-19.

Small addendum: Michigan did that. That brings to the total to four different occasions in which Michigan, not Notre Dame, messed with the scheduling of the series.

Here’s the kicker: all Notre Dame has done so far is cancel two games — the exact same amount that Michigan already canned. But yeah, go ahead and blame us for chickening out on the whole thing. Solid logic there.

So, Michigan will host Notre Dame for the final time — at least, for the foreseeable future…

Now we’ve entered WWE-style promotion/hyberbole: “THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN…”

“…UNTIL IT HAPPENS AGAIN!”

– in prime time this year, then conclude the series next year in South Bend.

Notre Dame: chickening out…three years in the future.

The teams had been operating under a three-year rolling contract — meaning, either program could cancel the series with three games’ notice. Notre Dame served Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon with that notice in the moments leading up to kickoff of last year’s game at Notre Dame Stadium.

You mean to tell me Swarbrick did something within the terms of the contract? Man, we are truly awful.

Michigan State and Purdue are scheduled to continue their rivalries with Notre Dame, at least for now. Although, the Big Ten’s new nine-game schedule, and Notre Dame’s ties to the ACC, could also make those games more difficult to play.

And we’ve now come full circle. The B1G and ACC scheduling restrictions could make the MSU and Purdue series difficult to continue.

But the Michigan series? NOPE NO POSSIBLE ISSUES, CHICKENING OUT.

In conclusion, to Hoke and any other Michigan fan pissed off about this:

Firstly, memorial services have been announced for tomorrow at the Cameron Funeral Home in Hartford Connecticut. Visitation begins at 9am with his service starting at 11am (all times ET). According to the Facebook post, the service will also be streamed online. There is also an online guestbook at the same site to share your condolences.

Donations can also be made in Ace’s honor to two different charities:

Asaph D. Schwapp Memorial Scholarship Fund c/o Windsor Federal Savings
250 Broad St.
Windsor, CT 06095

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society – Connecticut Chapter
372 Danbury Rd. Suite 200
Wilton, CT 06897

HLS will certainty be involved in some fashion, but I am going to brainstorm a bit with the rest of our staff first. We will announce our plans soon.

Send three volleys of cheers on high for our Seniors! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hooray! As final exams end today, so begins your last week at Notre Dame. Be proud. Be gracious. Be generous. Be humble. But above all, be happy! For you have achieved something great. And you have achieved it together. When you arrived here as a herd of freshmen in 2009, did you think that in your Senior year you would see your classmates lead your football team to an undefeated season and a #1 ranking? Probably not. And so you have learned something – you have learned to believe. You see, we use football not just as a diversion, we use it as a teaching device. That’s the only way to be #1 on the field and #1 where we are now…graduation.

What, then, did you learn on the field and in the stands over the past four years? You learned that the only way to achieve victory is through very hard work, every single time. You learned that success is not instant – it is gradual and it requires both dedication and change. And you learned that to any goal which you ardently desire, you must devote your intelligence, your courage, and your strength.

In the classroom, which you have occupied far longer than the Stadium, and which you have shared not just with your classmates from the football team, but from every one of our tremendously successful teams, you have learned to think and to reason, to calculate and to deduce. In the classroom you learned to use your mind; in the stadiums and arenas, you learned to use your heart. And that is why, when you graduate, you wear a mortarboard on your head and a black robe across your chest. You are clothed in the uniform of achievement and victory.

But this cap-and-gown is really the Shamrock Series uniform of your life – it’s pretty funny looking, it’s comprised of a combination of odd colors, and you only wear it once. It also leaves out something essential…it leaves out your hands. You’ve learned to use your intelligence and your courage, your mind and your heart. But what about your strength? That’s in your hands. Hands that will write, compose, and design; hands that will care, heal, and cure; hands that will instruct, admonish, and encourage; hands that will pile up treasures and give away gifts; hands that will hold your children or be anointed with the oils of holy orders.

And it is onto your hand that is placed the most important symbol of Notre Dame graduation: The Ring. A beautiful ring that at graduation is taken off, flipped around, and put back on for the rest of your life. Our Lady’s Golden Dome on one side; Our Life, Our Sweetness, and Our Hope on the other; sprinkled throughout with the Irish symbol of blessing, the shamrock. It is not a symbol of graduation – it is a symbol of life.

Whenever you have the chance, look at the ring of an older alumnus. It is nicked and dinged, and there are chips missing here and there. So, too, will your life be marked by tests and trials, failures and losses. But these blemishes do not diminish the overall beauty of the ring; they make the ring unique to the wearer. And neither will these travails diminish the overwhelming beauty of your life; they will make it your life.

Whenever you have the chance, look at the ring of an ancient alumnus. It has been made smooth by age and years of hard wearing. All the sharp features are gone, along with all the scratches and scars, and it shines brightly all over. Let that happen to your life, too.

Make no mistake, your hands haven’t spent all of the last four years bent to work or folded in prayer. Your hands have caught footballs on the quad and held beer cans at parties. Your hands have clapped when your teams have won and when your friends have made fools of themselves in ridiculous situations. Your hands have stashed things in pockets, and executed pranks and dirty tricks. Your ring doesn’t somehow consecrate all these exploits, but it reminds you of all these good times that you’ve enjoyed under the Dome etched in its side – and in your hearts forever.

When you arrived here as a herd of freshmen in 2009, we said, “Welcome to Notre Dame!” As you graduate in 2013, we say, “Welcome to your lives!” No matter where you’re going, whether it’s across the country or around the world, you won’t be far. Because this place will always be here. And a good part of you will always be here…forever.

EFS CSC

This Roundup will not re-hash those thoughts. Instead, I wanted to pass along some sage advice my pastor gave to myself and my future bride last weekend:

The only thing that I need to do this wedding are the two of you, myself, and a marriage license. Everything else is just extra. You’ll have other people give you all kinds of opinions on what they think your wedding should look like, but never forget, all of that is just the gravy added on.

And really a potential addition of a jumbotron**, an installation of field turf, new helmets, piped-in music, or the Halloween costumes that are the Shamrock Series uniforms is just that — it’s all gravy. The meat and potatoes of a football game is simply two teams facing off against each other with a ball, some coaches to lead the men into battle, and some officials to make sure it doesn’t turn into the Roman Coliseum.

Notre Dame Football, however, is far more special than that. There is a dessert that follows this football meal that we like to call “The Forty Year Decision”, a specialty that the majority of the top college football powerhouses simply don’t offer. Many thought that entire meal couldn’t be served at Notre Dame anymore. We felt as if Notre Dame Football turned into the “let them eat cake” of the college football world. That’s why 2012 was such a big deal and Kelly went as far to call it “Faith Restored”.

#1 in the BCS and #1 in GSR should have been one of the biggest stories in college football and should be a huge focal point in this offseason, but it wasn’t and still isn’t.

Why?

Because the focus is on the damned gravy.

Every time these arguments surface, it becomes much like arguments in wedding planning. Everyone has their idea, their vision, for the Notre Dame Football Experience®. If you can’t see eye-to-eye, then there just must be something wrong with you and your understanding of tradition, Rockne, technology, or Notre Dame itself. The arguments and anger over the ancillary rise to a fever pitch and the true heart of the entire event is lost in the fire.

“But, Tex” you say, “how are you so blind? Don’t you see that when Notre Dame tries new things they fall on their face? Just look at the first attempts at piped-in music and Shamrock Series Helmets. These things matter!“

Want to know why both of those occasions were such disasters? It wasn’t just horrid execution (make no mistake, both were terrible). It was because the surrounding games left a lot to be desired.

Against Southern Cal, we were beaten over the head by more than just “Crazy Train”. Notre Dame stumbled out of the gate, trailing 17-10 at the half, and just when it looked like the Irish had a chance to tie it up, Crist fumbled a snap and it went 80 yards in the other direction. Everyone was already in a sour mood because the game itself was ruined and a “Seven Nation Army” couldn’t hold back the anger of the end result.

To put it another way: no amount of gravy in the world is going to fix a crappy steak.

For the first two quarters we were pissed that our steak first came out raw, then as jerky. In the third, it we saw that perfectly cooked steak coming our way only to have the waiter trip over himself and dropping it, completely ruining that one as well. Finally, we get one more serving of charred mess and we’ve had it by that point. We try to wash it down with the gravy just so we can eat something, but even that is sour.

End result: we hate everything and everything sucks.

While the Maryland game was a decisive victory, the game itself was a bore. Toss in a sub-par opponent that we really didn’t care about, mix in scoring lulls against said sub-par team and you are left with plenty of time to focus on bad helmets and mismatched greens on the uniform.

Compare that to the Miami game which had uniforms sporting helmets that were far worse than anything Adidas could’ve dreamed of the year prior. The Irish defense dominated and the rushing game obliterated the Hurricanes in the second half.  Oh, and it helped that this happened against Miami, a team universally hated by Irish fans.

Sure, the gravy might have been mysteriously two-toned and ugly as sin, but the main course was so tasty that you could happily ignore it and move it to the side.

“Well, Tex,” the other side now says, “thanks for proving our point!” As Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast!” (No, not that other famous Corso quote).

Just as no amount of gravy will save a piss-poor entree, far too much of it can smother and ruin it. Not only that, if too much focus is given to the sauce, you can likely expect the quality of your main dish to suffer as well. In short, there needs to be some form of balance.

To circle this back around to the original wedding analogy, I could easily ruin my own wedding by focusing on all the ancillary junk that really doesn’t matter. I could also go the opposite direction, completely bare-bones removing all the “gravy” as my pastor put it, but that would be a rather boring wedding. Adding a reception, family and friends, an open bar, and some music will certainly make the night more enjoyable for all and won’t completely overshadow the entire event of actually being wed.

And that’s pretty much where I’m at with anything added to ND Stadium or any future enhancements of the gameday experience. I’m fine with adding things as long as it doesn’t completely overrun the heart of Notre Dame Football.

By all accounts, ND gets that. The piped-in music has been reeled in and better thought out, complemented by mics amplifying the band (P.S. stop playing “Rumor Has It” for the love of all that is holy). Crazy uniforms have been relegated to one game a season, a game which isn’t even played in front of Touchdown Jesus. “Crazy Train” has turned into a punchline/actual thing that makes fans cheer despite its initial overuse.

But through it all, the heart of Notre Dame Football still remains: the quest for and expectation of excellence on and off the field. Until I actually see that change…well…it’s all gravy.

*I may or may not have totally made this up to properly equate said outrage

**Which, I want to note, was mentioned a grand total of zero times in the ND News release and not even pictured in an artist’s rendition of potential changes, but, hey, SPECULATE AWAY!

The Roundup

And when I talk about smothering with gravy, I give you Wyoming. While certainly not the worst of the field turf design offenders (hey, it’s at least green), going with mountains on this design is just a bit much.

I hope all of these go on Iowa’s jumbotron. I had no idea who Damon Bullock was before this week, but I now know he’s is absolutely hilarious.

Big Game Bob takes aim at the SEC. Oh man, I wish I had listened to Finebaum after these comments. Related, what in the hell happened to Stoop’s face?

The College Football Hall of Fame finally rights a major wrong. Tommie Frazier is finally in. Now let’s fix that whole Rocket not being in because seriously.

Want a look at the all-time wins race? Texas’ SBN presence, Barking Carnival, gives a mostly Texas-centric look; however, Notre Dame fans will be please to know just how close we are to surpassing Texas in this race.

So we’re making a little bit of our own gravy. Ok, that sounded completely wrong; however, we are dipping our toes into the merch pool with some #HLSRecap themed offerings. Yes, you can customize these with your Twitter handle if you so choose. Check them out, let us know what you think.

The Beer

I have, admittedly been slacking on really finding some unique brews. I will remedy this soon; however, I think it’s fitting that this week I go in a different direction.

As I mentioned before, I have a wedding in my future and it will occur one year from now on this exact date. With that in mind, I remembered that the first drink I ever bought my future wife was, in fact, a beer:

Yeah, I pulled out all the stops on this one didn’t I? In my defense, this was what she wanted. DON’T JUDGE!