Her Loyal Sons Podcast

The title of this episode is the actual mood in the podcasting room. This week has not been kind in terms of COVID cancellations, leading Eddie and I to fear that quite a few of these picks may end up being meaningless by the time Saturday comes around. But, we persist, if for nothing else but to have another chance to talk about Notre Dame being Clemson once again. Seriously, that will never get old. Unless we lose to Boston College. Please don't do that. That would be silly. #HAILGAMBLOR --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

What. A. Weekend. On Saturday, I started a 24-hour charity marathon stream, the beginning of which was completely devoted to Notre Dame's gigantic matchup, and, ultimately, a victory, against the (former) #1 team in the land, Clemson. What I could have never expected was that the guests and segments that I would have during this stream would create a time capsule of one of the most extraordinary Saturdays in ND history. A huge thank you to all my guests and especially all the donors to my Extra Life campaign. As of this episode's release, you have helped me raise over $12,000 for the Blake Shelton Cancer Research Fund at the Children's Hospital Foundation of Oklahoma City in honor of Aven. While the marathon is done, donations are open until the end of the year via extralife.ndtex.com--I hear donations of $47.40 are particularly popular these days. As this is a very large (and will forever be ad-free) show, below are the timestamps for all segments. Apologies for some audio being rougher than usual as all rec

Friendly reminder: The HLS Sim exists in an alternate, COVID-free reality, complete with it's own victories, losses, and injuries. Somehow, Notre Dame still plays in the ACC in this parallel world. Folks, this is the sim I've been dreading. With Sim Notre Dame constantly sputtering throughout the virtual season, including a mind-boggling blowout loss to USF, I've dreaded facing a mostly full-strength Clemson squad that includes a very healthy and very COVID-free Trevor Lawrence. Yet, this sim somehow actually resembled a real football game--by far the biggest upset of the season. Perhaps it will deliver one more...? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Welcome back Pac-12! We missed your after dark insanity and our college football lives feel complete once again. Oh, and don't forget about the big thing going down on Saturday: Extra Life. 24-hour charity stream starts live at 6 PM Central, 7 PM Eastern. The stream will kick off with a live reaction stream about some game happening in South Bend this weekend. So get your picks ready for the weekend. I will be up all night, even past the final whistle of Hawaii's first home game. I couldn't be more excited and terrified all at the same time (please, Irish, win for the love of God). --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

It's the week we've all been waiting for since the final whistle of the 2019 season: Notre Dame vs. Clemson. We shorten our typical national recap for an more in-depth discussion of the game, using the final two data points of Boston College @ Clemson and Notre Dame @ Georgia Tech. In fact, we were so excited, that we completely forgot about our ACC Sim recap, so that will have to wait until Thursday. Oh, and don't worry, we laughed at Michigan. Hard. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Friendly reminder: The HLS Sim exists in its own COVID-free reality, in which Notre Dame is still somehow oddly playing in the ACC. At this point, Shane and I feel like that we've seen everything that the sim can possibly throw at us. Every week, we're proven wrong. This might just be the most bonkers sim we've ever run. If you check out the episode length, you can probably guess what happened. Oh, and a quarterback that Notre Dame will play soon in the real world had some rather major COVID-related news. We discuss that during the pregame because--yeah, that was just way too big to ignore. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

The universe must always be in balance. Apparently this means when Notre Dame blows out Pitt, GAMBLOR comes for our picks. It's been a good run this season, but Eddie and I are determined to get back on track. It's a new ballgame for the Extra Life charity bet (fundraising marathon next Saturday by the way!) as we are all tied up. This week's slate had a lot of shine and the Big Ten found out playing football can tarnish some of it. Despite that, we know IN THESE TRYING TIMES that we must appreciate what we get every week. So join us at the altar of GAMBLOR as we prepare for the final week before the big showdown with Clemson. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Wait...a Notre Dame/Pitt game can be...fun?! What madness is this?! After witnessing a game that WE WILL NEVER MENTION AGAIN, this was quite a nice bounce-back for the Irish. The offense got right and Clark Lea put together another defensive masterpiece. Meanwhile, the Big Ten officially started their season, meaning Shane and I give some initial thoughts to the madness that included an improbable Indiana upset and a Rutgers win. Also featured this week: another ref bailout for Auburn, Florida State still real bad, Alabama still real good, and...*checks notes*...Clemson might have a Dino Babers problem? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Friendly reminder: The HLS Sim exists in an alternate, COVID-free reality in which Notre Dame is still somehow playing in the ACC. What happens when you mix the usual insanity of the sim with the usual pain and suffering of Notre Dame/Pitt? THIS. We apologize in advance. Please do not watch or listen with fragile or valuable objects as well as small children. Strong beverages recommended. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

It's been a while since our slate has really felt like it was truly stacked, but the return of the Big Ten and Mountain West are giving our Saturdays just a bit more of a feel of The Normal Times. We have a few top-25 matchups to talk about as well as the  glorious return of late night football from the West Coast. As we've always said, we need to enjoy these moments while they last. So settle in, get your winners, and get ready for a near-complete college football Saturday. Oh, and #HAILGAMBLOR. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

We should've known that the Sim resembling something of a normal result via reasonable means would through the Notre Dame universe upside down. We can't take credit for what happened around the nation. After all, top 10 teams losing in 2020 seems rather normal at this point. We do, however, apologize for making your Saturday a bit more stressful than needed. That being said, we do not apologize for being happy about a win and embracing the Irish's new #3 ranking. Winning is the damn point and we are here to remind you of that in this episode. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Friendly reminder: the HLS Sim exists outside of reality. The records and results reflect an alternate, COVID-free reality in which Notre Dame is still strangely in the ACC. Unfortunately this week's sim did a get bit of a dose of reality as Shane had real life take him away from sim booth duties. However, the sim cannot be stopped. Enjoy (?) me flying solo as virtual Notre Dame has a game that...surprisingly isn't completely rage inducing?! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Considering that, just a few hours before recording, we found out that LSU @ Florida was postponed, Ole Miss has a COVID outbreak, and Nick Saban has COVID--yeah, we're not overly confident that all eight games on our slate will happen. That being said, they weren't cancelled as of recording. They had spreads. GAMBLOR demands tribute. Who are we to argue? #HAILGAMBLOR --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Turns out not playing for two weeks and having a decent chunk of the roster bouncing around isolation and quarantine can lead to sloppy football. Despite that, Notre Dame flat out plowed through Florida State for a comfortable win, even with all the rest. While the Irish kept on trucking, others weren't as lucky. We were close to a blood weak with multiple ranked teams finding themselves on the wrong side of the score sheet. We were also blessed with what had to be the most insane Red River Shootout and Mike Leach setting a record he probably never expected to. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Florida State, who has been just as bad in the sim world as the real world, is forced to start Jordan Travis due to injuries. What could possibly go wrong for Sim Notre Dame? If you've watched any HLS Sim, you know the answer to this. Everything. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Don't look now, but Eddie and I are having a real nice hot streak going in this weird 2020 season. Somehow, in THESE TRYING TIMES™ we've remained consistent. With Notre Dame finally back on the docket for what feels like the first time in the decade, this is no time to celebrate or rest. Return to the altar of GAMBLOR with us and get your winners. #HAILGAMBLOR --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

After our annual bye week gong show, it's time to get things back to normal and, hopefully, the Notre Dame schedule will as well. Considering that I had one hell of a time getting this audio together in a listenable form (please pray for my PC), those odds are good. Traditional technical issues aside, the rest of college football is keeping the straight up rollercoaster of 2020 alive and well. The Big XII continues to lobby their way out of the playoff, Mississippi State got the full Mike Leach experience in two weeks, leading Shane and I to try to figure out just what we actually know about the national picture at this point. We also take a look ahead to Notre Dame and Florida State and discuss the roller coaster of emotions of these last couple of weeks, including Notre Dame getting far more of a pandemic spotlight than either of us ever wanted. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

If you know, you know. If you don't, I'm going to say what I said to Mrs. Tex this morning: I'm so sorry. (Thanks for listening) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

We're bypassing the cold open on this on as we're going to have more than enough hijinks and stupidity on tomorrow's episode. So for this one, we stick to business and look to continue our winning ways as Eddie and I set at a solid 13-8-1. Will we agree on everything like last week? Will we disagree on everything? The only thing that is certain in THESE TRYING TIMES is that we will treat each game and pick as a blessing. #HAILGAMBLOR --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

So how do you recap an unplanned bye week? Well, you can read some podcast reviews, laugh at the ones demanding you stick to sports. Next, you immediately pivot to Fr. Jenkins showing up at Washington D.C. without a mask. An act of "leadership" that I'm sure went over real well for every Notre Dame football player sitting at home this weekend as well as students that aren't allowed to go see their friends in any type of situation that resembles normal. Finally, you top it off with the most epic edition of #snacktalk possible as it was the true highlight of football this week. After that's all done, then, and only then, do you actually stick to sports. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message