Today is not a happy day. Rent is due by tomorrow, as well as a ridiculous bill from the dentist who apparently think it's funny to overcharge a young married couple even though they have dental insurance (thank you, loopholes in the system that no one told me about!!). These two happenings wouldn't be that bad except for one thing-I can't find my checkbook. Also, Houston's under a severe thunderstorm/tornado watch today, and my umbrella is...wait, I don't have one.
Combined, these things wouldn't be allllll that bad, but to top things off, my Longhorns forgot to show up in College Station (but who could blame them?) and they subsequentaly got their butts handed to them in an embarrassing 80-63 loss on natty tv. And for anyone who saw the game...I mean good greif, is their a more annoying group of fans than the Aggies? Talk about insufferable, those folks kill me. This years version of the Runnin Horns has been about as consistent and heart-attack enducing as the 2007 football team. Tons of potential, a few wins that make you go "Wow," but not in the least bit consistent. They started the year with an impressive victory over Tennessee in a preaseason tournament, and followed that up with a last second-victory on the road against UCLA. (By the way, each of those teams have been kicking tail ever since, and will probably be a top two seed in the NCAA's.) UT, meanwhile has been up and down, going 5-4 since their 11-0 start. I understand that they are young and only go about six deep, but after the impressive start, the last month or so has been a bit disheartning. On the bright side, they may have found a little more depth last night, as Dexter Pittman played by far his best game as a Longhorn; unfortunately, Damion James, DJ Augustin, and AJ Abrams played one of their worst. All in all, I guess you've just gotta chalk this one up to a bad game against a good team with a-literally- crazy fan base. The season is not over, the sky is not falling (although it currently looks like it outside down here) the Horns still have a good team with a shot to advance in the Tourney, so last night wasn't a complete waste.
This column may sound life a self-therapy session, and maybe it is a little bit. I haven't brought this up yet, but here at Sartartia, approximately 98% of the teachers here are atm alumns. That's right, the students here are Patriot fans and the teachers are Aggs. Not good times. Bad times. So, even though I'd like nothing more than to forget last night, I'm probably going to hear about it all day. You know how Aggie fans are insufferable on TV? It's ten times worse in person. Seriously, shoot me now. If not, maybe I can just step outside and get blown away by the Armageddon that is currently in the Houston sky.
Gag me Gladdys,
Twig
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Let's stop before we get started....
Lets keep talking about football while we still can. Here is a story I heard last week that I thought was pretty dumb and just forgot about it, but now, 4-5 days later, it seems to be gaining a little weight, and I am getting pretty darn concerned. Here's the story:
Dolphins are willing to trade the Cowboys the Overall #1 pick this year, for both of our first rounders and Marion Barber.
At first, I thought this was so ridiculous that I didn't pay much attention to it, but after watching "Around The Horn", and having 3 out of 4 writers saying this was a good idea, I became very uncomfortable.
Did anyone see what MB3 did in the playoff game against the Giants? I did. I was there actually. You might say, well, what did he do in the second half?
He blocked. That's right. We completely got away from running the ball in the second half, which, I know, we are a passing team, so I'm not mad, but you can't deny, he is bad to the bone.
Did you know that was Marion 1st start of the season. Yeah. He has been sitting behind J.J. all year and was easily the better of the two backs. I guess what I'm trying to say is: Marion Barber III is not just good. I believe he could be one of the premier backs in the league. Give him the ball. Do not trade him. My father-in-law would so affectionally tell me that, "One bird in the hand is worth two in the bush". I cannot see the value in letting go of one of the best backs in the league to try and hit a homerun with Mcfadden. Listen to me. Keep both of the first rounders. Get a starting corner and maybe a reciever. Heck, get two corners. Let's save room in the cap, which we would have to pay to D-Mac, and resign Flozo Adams, or go after another big name OLmen so we can keep dominating on the line of scrimmage. Jerry, please, listen to me. Use the components that we have and try to fix our weaknesses. Let's not send one of our best players that brings a fire to the entire team away in hopes we can get a back that honestly can't be too much better than MB3. All of you out there, let me know how you feel, please tell me I'm not alone. Plus, I'm thinking about taking that Jordan Sparks anthem at over 1:42 during the Super Bowl. Let me know.
-JigB3
Dolphins are willing to trade the Cowboys the Overall #1 pick this year, for both of our first rounders and Marion Barber.
At first, I thought this was so ridiculous that I didn't pay much attention to it, but after watching "Around The Horn", and having 3 out of 4 writers saying this was a good idea, I became very uncomfortable.
Did anyone see what MB3 did in the playoff game against the Giants? I did. I was there actually. You might say, well, what did he do in the second half?
He blocked. That's right. We completely got away from running the ball in the second half, which, I know, we are a passing team, so I'm not mad, but you can't deny, he is bad to the bone.
Did you know that was Marion 1st start of the season. Yeah. He has been sitting behind J.J. all year and was easily the better of the two backs. I guess what I'm trying to say is: Marion Barber III is not just good. I believe he could be one of the premier backs in the league. Give him the ball. Do not trade him. My father-in-law would so affectionally tell me that, "One bird in the hand is worth two in the bush". I cannot see the value in letting go of one of the best backs in the league to try and hit a homerun with Mcfadden. Listen to me. Keep both of the first rounders. Get a starting corner and maybe a reciever. Heck, get two corners. Let's save room in the cap, which we would have to pay to D-Mac, and resign Flozo Adams, or go after another big name OLmen so we can keep dominating on the line of scrimmage. Jerry, please, listen to me. Use the components that we have and try to fix our weaknesses. Let's not send one of our best players that brings a fire to the entire team away in hopes we can get a back that honestly can't be too much better than MB3. All of you out there, let me know how you feel, please tell me I'm not alone. Plus, I'm thinking about taking that Jordan Sparks anthem at over 1:42 during the Super Bowl. Let me know.
-JigB3
I Bet You Won't
Whilst perusing through si.com to pass my lunch break, I came across this link to some of the most ridiculous bets one can make for the Super Bowl this Sunday. It's been well documented on JAT that neither of us could give a hoot about the game, so placing bets on commercials, halftime shows, pre and post-game coverage, and speeches may be the best way to lure both The Jig and Twig to the set this Sunday. Hold on to your butts folks, a lot of money could be lost in six days...
http://vegaswatch.net/2008/01/most-ridiculous-super-bowl-xlii-props.html
-Twig
http://vegaswatch.net/2008/01/most-ridiculous-super-bowl-xlii-props.html
-Twig
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Double Ball anyone?
In case you don't know, Double Ball is the game we made up during last year's Super Bowl. It was a ton of fun and we seriously missed 73% of the game because we were so wrapped up in it. I actually wanted to watch last year's game. I don't think I could state my feelings about this year's game any better than my boy Twig did, so I've decided to come up with a few things to make this years game a bit more fun. Come up with your own conclusions, keep score, and we will see who wins:
During the Super Bowl I say there will be:
-At least 2 references to Tony Romo's recent breakup with The Lizard (as so affectionally named by Randy Galloway) , Jessica Simpson.
- 2 Diet Pepsi Commercials featuring John Stamos.
-2 Interceptions, 1 Lost Fumble, by Eli Manning, however he has turned into a franchise quarterback.
-1 surgery on Tom Coughlin's face after frost bite claimed his lower lip and right eye lid. He was ugly to begin with.
-2 Orthodontist commercials featuring Michael Strahan.
-1 Horrible half time show by Tom Petty, Rolling Stones, or Randy Newman. Can't we get a lil, Outfield, perphaps, the Police.
-2 on screen cameos for John Madden.
-Archie Manning wearing a shirt that says, "Peyton is my only son".
-Terry Bradshaw yelling at Howie Long in the pregame.
-Jimmy Johnson saying his face didn't look as bad as Tom Coughlin's last week.
Let's be honest. For anyone who is a Boys' fan, this is probably the last matchup you would want to see. Unless your the Honorable Scotty Hot Spot Scott, who thinks his boy, Tom Brady, not only hung the moon, but probably threw it into orbit first, or Luke Reeves who was raised to like whatever team was cool, Lakers, Yankess, and now, would dump his future girlfriend to see 19-0. Perphaps I am again getting carried away with the excitement of the Texas Rangers Spring Training, but that would be stupid and I am not that.
-Jig
During the Super Bowl I say there will be:
-At least 2 references to Tony Romo's recent breakup with The Lizard (as so affectionally named by Randy Galloway) , Jessica Simpson.
- 2 Diet Pepsi Commercials featuring John Stamos.
-2 Interceptions, 1 Lost Fumble, by Eli Manning, however he has turned into a franchise quarterback.
-1 surgery on Tom Coughlin's face after frost bite claimed his lower lip and right eye lid. He was ugly to begin with.
-2 Orthodontist commercials featuring Michael Strahan.
-1 Horrible half time show by Tom Petty, Rolling Stones, or Randy Newman. Can't we get a lil, Outfield, perphaps, the Police.
-2 on screen cameos for John Madden.
-Archie Manning wearing a shirt that says, "Peyton is my only son".
-Terry Bradshaw yelling at Howie Long in the pregame.
-Jimmy Johnson saying his face didn't look as bad as Tom Coughlin's last week.
Let's be honest. For anyone who is a Boys' fan, this is probably the last matchup you would want to see. Unless your the Honorable Scotty Hot Spot Scott, who thinks his boy, Tom Brady, not only hung the moon, but probably threw it into orbit first, or Luke Reeves who was raised to like whatever team was cool, Lakers, Yankess, and now, would dump his future girlfriend to see 19-0. Perphaps I am again getting carried away with the excitement of the Texas Rangers Spring Training, but that would be stupid and I am not that.
-Jig
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Super Bowl, Anyone? No?
About three minutes after the NY Giants defeated the Packers in OT two days ago, my phone rang. I didn't need to see the caller ID, or even pay attention to the ring tone. It was Jig. If the only thing you can count on in this life are death and taxes, a third thing I can count on it getting a call from Jig within five minutes of the conclusion of a Cowboy game, or in this case, any important NFL game. Needless to say, neither of us were pleased with the results of either conference championship game. We weren't particularly surprised that New England won, but I don't think either of us saw the Giants winning a night game at Lambeau. The conversation then turned to what team we want to win the Super Bowl, which was a pretty good way to kill the conversation. Ya see, if there were two teams I really really really hope wouldn't win the Super Bowl this year, the Patriots and Giants would be right at the tippity top. Well, it's been two days since the conference championship games, so I've had time to think about who I'd be semi-rooting for when the "big game" kicks off after two over-hyped weeks. Here were my reasons for each team, followed by my final overall decision.
Reasons to root for the Patriots:
1) They're gonna win.
2) When they win, It'll shut the 1972 Dolphins up for good.
3) It's been three long, agonizing years for the New England faithful. How much longer must they suffer until they're released from their championship-less prison?
Reasons to root for the Giants:
1) Dallas did beat them twice this year
2) Seeing Eli match his bro in SB wins after everyone wrote him off as a serious NFL quarterback would be delightful, although the subsequent commercials and endorsements would not.
3) Having an NFC team defeat an AFC team would be nice; sorta like when Michigan, from the sorry Big 10 beat Florida, from the mighty SEC. Anything to shut up the 'experts' on TV.
There you have it. Those are really the only reasons I could think of for either team, and yes, I know they are pretty sorry reasons both ways. All that to say, I'm definitely not hopping on the NE bandwagon now. If I did, I'd be just like my students I wrote about last week. So, as much as it pains me to say it, and believe me, it's painful, Go Giants. Ugghh, that felt terrible, excuse me while I take a scalding hot shower to get this filthy feeling off of me. Disgusting.
-Twig
Reasons to root for the Patriots:
1) They're gonna win.
2) When they win, It'll shut the 1972 Dolphins up for good.
3) It's been three long, agonizing years for the New England faithful. How much longer must they suffer until they're released from their championship-less prison?
Reasons to root for the Giants:
1) Dallas did beat them twice this year
2) Seeing Eli match his bro in SB wins after everyone wrote him off as a serious NFL quarterback would be delightful, although the subsequent commercials and endorsements would not.
3) Having an NFC team defeat an AFC team would be nice; sorta like when Michigan, from the sorry Big 10 beat Florida, from the mighty SEC. Anything to shut up the 'experts' on TV.
There you have it. Those are really the only reasons I could think of for either team, and yes, I know they are pretty sorry reasons both ways. All that to say, I'm definitely not hopping on the NE bandwagon now. If I did, I'd be just like my students I wrote about last week. So, as much as it pains me to say it, and believe me, it's painful, Go Giants. Ugghh, that felt terrible, excuse me while I take a scalding hot shower to get this filthy feeling off of me. Disgusting.
-Twig
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Mail Time!!
Folks, today is a great day in JAT history for today we do our first ever Maibag issue!!! Wooo-hooo, we're hittin the big time folks! Actually, it's not really a 'mailbag.' Heck, it's only a response to a comment left from my previous article on annoying Patriots fans. The one and only Brandon "Joisey fo Life" Maenius posted an intriguing question/comment that probably all sports fans (and fantasy sports fans) have pondered at some point in their life. I'll break down the question and give my two cents on each subject. I don't claim to be a know-all and end-all for sports questions, yet I do feel somewhat qualified to give a semi-educated explination for Mr. B-Bong's queiries. Here goes:
B: I propose a series of loyatly questions: Is it possible to be a Mavs fan and a Spurs fan? (We all know where I lie)
Me: To be a true fan for any sport, I find it emparative to have one, and only one, favorite 'for better or worse' team. For me, these teams are the Cowboys, Spurs, Rangers, and Texas Longhorns. No matter who these teams are playing and regardless of the kind of season they are having, I'm rooting for them. Now, this isn't to say you can't like other teams or even cheer for them at times. Two years ago, when the Mavs beat the Spurs and played in the NBA Finals, I was pulling hard for them to beat the Heat, and am still a little bitter about how they got jobbed by the refs. That being said, I was still dissapointed that San Antonio fell to them two rounds earlier, but in the Finals I rooted for the Mavs because I'm a Texan and honestly, I like the Mavericks, and even the Rockets. Don't love them. Like them. Same thing for me and baseball. I love the Rangers, but lets be honest, they're awful. So, from April to September, they're my team, but when October rolls around, you can find me cheering for the Boston Red Sox. If they're not in the playoffs, it's Anyone But The Yankees. All that to say, one sport, one team people!!
B: Is it wrong to root for the Philadelphia Eagles, just because you have Brian Westbrook on your fantasy football team?
Me: Yes and no. If you're a true Cowboy fan, and I know you are Brandon, you never want Philly to win. However, if you have Westbrook, McNabb, or another Eagle on your fantasy team, I don't think it's wrong to root for that individual player to do well. This is really the Catch 22 of fantasy sports, and Bill Simmons wrote a great article about this very thing a year or so back, I'm just too lazy to find it in his archives and provide a link. (I'll leave that to you, Justin Scott) Anyway, if you have a good player from a rival team on your fantasy squad, I don't have a problem with wishing that player well, so long as his team loses.
B: Is it wrong to hate a team, but like one player on that team?
Me: I don't think so. The fantasy issue comes to mind here, because you'd obviously be partial to a player on your fantasy squad even if he plays for a rival team. For me, I like to root for former Longhorns in the NFL, even when they're playing for a team I don't like. For instance, I was happy to know that Aaron Ross played well for the Giants this season and was bummed to see him get hurt against the Cowboys on Sunday. Also, when the 'Boys played at Tennessee last year, I was hoping Vince Young played well, but that ultimately Dallas would win. All in all, I feel fine about liking and even rooting for opposing players, so long as it doesn't interfere with what's most important-rooting for your favorite TEAM.
That'll do it faithful readers. I'd like to thank Brandon for his comment, which gave me an idea of what to write. Hopefully my response was helpful, but again, I don't claim to be an expert, so feel free to form your own opinions, and please respond, I'd love to hear y'alls thoughts.
-Twig
B: I propose a series of loyatly questions: Is it possible to be a Mavs fan and a Spurs fan? (We all know where I lie)
Me: To be a true fan for any sport, I find it emparative to have one, and only one, favorite 'for better or worse' team. For me, these teams are the Cowboys, Spurs, Rangers, and Texas Longhorns. No matter who these teams are playing and regardless of the kind of season they are having, I'm rooting for them. Now, this isn't to say you can't like other teams or even cheer for them at times. Two years ago, when the Mavs beat the Spurs and played in the NBA Finals, I was pulling hard for them to beat the Heat, and am still a little bitter about how they got jobbed by the refs. That being said, I was still dissapointed that San Antonio fell to them two rounds earlier, but in the Finals I rooted for the Mavs because I'm a Texan and honestly, I like the Mavericks, and even the Rockets. Don't love them. Like them. Same thing for me and baseball. I love the Rangers, but lets be honest, they're awful. So, from April to September, they're my team, but when October rolls around, you can find me cheering for the Boston Red Sox. If they're not in the playoffs, it's Anyone But The Yankees. All that to say, one sport, one team people!!
B: Is it wrong to root for the Philadelphia Eagles, just because you have Brian Westbrook on your fantasy football team?
Me: Yes and no. If you're a true Cowboy fan, and I know you are Brandon, you never want Philly to win. However, if you have Westbrook, McNabb, or another Eagle on your fantasy team, I don't think it's wrong to root for that individual player to do well. This is really the Catch 22 of fantasy sports, and Bill Simmons wrote a great article about this very thing a year or so back, I'm just too lazy to find it in his archives and provide a link. (I'll leave that to you, Justin Scott) Anyway, if you have a good player from a rival team on your fantasy squad, I don't have a problem with wishing that player well, so long as his team loses.
B: Is it wrong to hate a team, but like one player on that team?
Me: I don't think so. The fantasy issue comes to mind here, because you'd obviously be partial to a player on your fantasy squad even if he plays for a rival team. For me, I like to root for former Longhorns in the NFL, even when they're playing for a team I don't like. For instance, I was happy to know that Aaron Ross played well for the Giants this season and was bummed to see him get hurt against the Cowboys on Sunday. Also, when the 'Boys played at Tennessee last year, I was hoping Vince Young played well, but that ultimately Dallas would win. All in all, I feel fine about liking and even rooting for opposing players, so long as it doesn't interfere with what's most important-rooting for your favorite TEAM.
That'll do it faithful readers. I'd like to thank Brandon for his comment, which gave me an idea of what to write. Hopefully my response was helpful, but again, I don't claim to be an expert, so feel free to form your own opinions, and please respond, I'd love to hear y'alls thoughts.
-Twig
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Don't Pull a Hammy Hoppin' Off
Bill Simmons (AKA the Sports Guy, AKA Tom Brady's Jockstrap, AKA Boston Apologist*) a writer for espn.com, has mentioned in the past about how much he despised the Cowboys in the early to mid-90's (You remember, when they were good) because so many people in his native New England jumped on the Cowboy bandwagon and pretended to be true fans, even though he knew that they were just rooting for the most popular and most successful franchise at the time. When I first read about his hatred for the 'Boys, I thought it was a little silly. I mean come on dude, it's just a team, who cares if your friends and neighbors in Bahston wanted to root for a winner? Well I'm here to say, I hate bandwagon fans and I hate, hate, haaaaaaate bandwagon fans of the New England Patriots.
When I moved to Houston last summer, I was warned about being a Cowboys fan down here. I didn't know what to expect; I had grown up in a place that's Cowboy crazy, and went to college in a town that felt the same bout the 'Boys. Well, Houston's a bit different. It really isn't as bad as I expected, there's actually a decent amount of Cowboy fans, so it's not like I'm the only one out of 2 million people who like them, but we're definitely in the minority. Anyway, the most surprising thing isn't that there aren't a ton of Cowboy fans, and it isn't that there are a lot of Texan and even Saints fans. The most surprising thing is that there is a large population, especially here at Sartartia Middle School, of Patriot fans. Now, I understand that a middle school mind makes about as much sense as the BCS, but for the life of me, I can't understand why anyone who's not from the greater New England area would root for a group of such arrogant, classless individuals. Unfortunately, Pats fans of today are like Cowboy fans of ten years ago and like Yankee fans of always: The only thing that matters is your record: local teams, loyalty, and class be darned. What aggrivates me the most is when the Cowboys lose, I get to hear about it at school, while these spineless 'fans' of the Patriots gloat about how awesome they are, and how they're gonna go undefeated, and blah blah blah. It got to the point that one day, during class, I had a 'Come to Jesus' talk with a couple of boys who were bragging about how good the Patriots are and how bad the Cowboys sucked (Even though they were like 10-1 at the time) What I told them was that they weren't real Patriot fans. When they insisted that they were, I proceeded to explain to them why they weren't real Pat fans. When, during your entire sports-watching life, there's only been one dominant team, latching on to them and claiming to be a fan is easy. There's nothing deep about your loyalty and devotion to that team. For the kids I teach, they were about 7-some younger-in Febuary 2002 when the Pats won their first of three Super Bowls. Tell me, student, do you remember the Patriots and their legacy before they beat the Rams in SB XXXVI? No, Mr Agan, give me a break, I was like five. Well student, here's the deal about your 'favorite' team. They were awful. They went to two Super Bowls EVER before then, getting beat in both of them. They were one of the perenial losers of the NFL, and had a smaller fan base than the Houston Dynamo. No one outside of Boston wanted any part of them, and if Drew Bledsoe didn't get hurt early in the 2001 season, Tom Brady doesn't play, and the whole dynasty never gets off the ground.
Needless to say, my teenage audience was pretty shell-shocked. I mean, I really thought I had gotten through to them, but their only response was, "So? The Cowboys still suck." Faaaantastic.
I guess I shouldn't be too surprised in the bandwagon-ability of middle school students. When I was a student teacher in Abilene, it was the spring of 2006-just weeks after the greatest day in college football history. As great of a time as it was to be a Texas Longhorn fan, I did have to question the loyalty of all the 12 and 13 year olds rocking burnt orange shirts, sweatshirts and jerseys (It was almost comical, every day in class it seemed like half the room was wearing some sort of UT garment.) I'm sure a good portion of them were true fans, but really, how many of them suffered through all the letdowns of previous years? How many of them remembered the Big XII championship against Colorado in 2001? How bout 'Route 66' against UCLA in 1997? (I do-I was there) What about all the losses to Oklahoma and many other late season choke-fests, where one or two more wins would place the Horns among college football's elite?
When it comes down to it, true fans are there in the good times and the bad. If these kids who claim to looooove the Patriots are still rooting for them in a few years when Brady retires, Belicheck loses his edge, Randy Moss gets tired of playing hard, and the Pats are another mediocre team in the NFL, then I apologize, I underestimated their loyalty. However, something tells me that when that day comes, they will have moved on to a second or third 'favorite team' because it's easy and fun to root for a consistent winner. So here's to you, Sports Guy, thirteen years after you were in New England, faithfully suffering through the atrocity that was the Patriots and despising the Cowboys and their bandwagon fans, the tides have turned. For today, here in Texas, a young man who knew of nothing other than Dallas Cowboy Super Bowls as a youngster, seeths at the sight of the Patriots and their young, uninformed, and probably unfaithful, 'fans.'
-Twig
*Editors note: Twig is actually a big fan of Simmons. He reads all of the Sports Guy columns, owns his book, and as soon as the second one hits the shelves, Twig will be first in line to snag a copy. He's just a bit preturbd at the way Simmons defends the Pats and wanted to throw a little jab at the BSG. Also, Twig feels like a complete tool refering to himself in the third person, and promises never to do it again.
When I moved to Houston last summer, I was warned about being a Cowboys fan down here. I didn't know what to expect; I had grown up in a place that's Cowboy crazy, and went to college in a town that felt the same bout the 'Boys. Well, Houston's a bit different. It really isn't as bad as I expected, there's actually a decent amount of Cowboy fans, so it's not like I'm the only one out of 2 million people who like them, but we're definitely in the minority. Anyway, the most surprising thing isn't that there aren't a ton of Cowboy fans, and it isn't that there are a lot of Texan and even Saints fans. The most surprising thing is that there is a large population, especially here at Sartartia Middle School, of Patriot fans. Now, I understand that a middle school mind makes about as much sense as the BCS, but for the life of me, I can't understand why anyone who's not from the greater New England area would root for a group of such arrogant, classless individuals. Unfortunately, Pats fans of today are like Cowboy fans of ten years ago and like Yankee fans of always: The only thing that matters is your record: local teams, loyalty, and class be darned. What aggrivates me the most is when the Cowboys lose, I get to hear about it at school, while these spineless 'fans' of the Patriots gloat about how awesome they are, and how they're gonna go undefeated, and blah blah blah. It got to the point that one day, during class, I had a 'Come to Jesus' talk with a couple of boys who were bragging about how good the Patriots are and how bad the Cowboys sucked (Even though they were like 10-1 at the time) What I told them was that they weren't real Patriot fans. When they insisted that they were, I proceeded to explain to them why they weren't real Pat fans. When, during your entire sports-watching life, there's only been one dominant team, latching on to them and claiming to be a fan is easy. There's nothing deep about your loyalty and devotion to that team. For the kids I teach, they were about 7-some younger-in Febuary 2002 when the Pats won their first of three Super Bowls. Tell me, student, do you remember the Patriots and their legacy before they beat the Rams in SB XXXVI? No, Mr Agan, give me a break, I was like five. Well student, here's the deal about your 'favorite' team. They were awful. They went to two Super Bowls EVER before then, getting beat in both of them. They were one of the perenial losers of the NFL, and had a smaller fan base than the Houston Dynamo. No one outside of Boston wanted any part of them, and if Drew Bledsoe didn't get hurt early in the 2001 season, Tom Brady doesn't play, and the whole dynasty never gets off the ground.
Needless to say, my teenage audience was pretty shell-shocked. I mean, I really thought I had gotten through to them, but their only response was, "So? The Cowboys still suck." Faaaantastic.
I guess I shouldn't be too surprised in the bandwagon-ability of middle school students. When I was a student teacher in Abilene, it was the spring of 2006-just weeks after the greatest day in college football history. As great of a time as it was to be a Texas Longhorn fan, I did have to question the loyalty of all the 12 and 13 year olds rocking burnt orange shirts, sweatshirts and jerseys (It was almost comical, every day in class it seemed like half the room was wearing some sort of UT garment.) I'm sure a good portion of them were true fans, but really, how many of them suffered through all the letdowns of previous years? How many of them remembered the Big XII championship against Colorado in 2001? How bout 'Route 66' against UCLA in 1997? (I do-I was there) What about all the losses to Oklahoma and many other late season choke-fests, where one or two more wins would place the Horns among college football's elite?
When it comes down to it, true fans are there in the good times and the bad. If these kids who claim to looooove the Patriots are still rooting for them in a few years when Brady retires, Belicheck loses his edge, Randy Moss gets tired of playing hard, and the Pats are another mediocre team in the NFL, then I apologize, I underestimated their loyalty. However, something tells me that when that day comes, they will have moved on to a second or third 'favorite team' because it's easy and fun to root for a consistent winner. So here's to you, Sports Guy, thirteen years after you were in New England, faithfully suffering through the atrocity that was the Patriots and despising the Cowboys and their bandwagon fans, the tides have turned. For today, here in Texas, a young man who knew of nothing other than Dallas Cowboy Super Bowls as a youngster, seeths at the sight of the Patriots and their young, uninformed, and probably unfaithful, 'fans.'
-Twig
*Editors note: Twig is actually a big fan of Simmons. He reads all of the Sports Guy columns, owns his book, and as soon as the second one hits the shelves, Twig will be first in line to snag a copy. He's just a bit preturbd at the way Simmons defends the Pats and wanted to throw a little jab at the BSG. Also, Twig feels like a complete tool refering to himself in the third person, and promises never to do it again.
Monday, January 14, 2008
I had to go to work this morning....
I woke up this morning at 5:51, stood up, realized I had a huge crick in my back, decided that my hair wasn't too greasy, so I skipped a shower, and started to get ready for work. The Dallas Cowboys lost yesterday 21-17, and it was an overall horrible experience, but at least they didn't have to go to work today. Yes, last year was bad, but we weren't the #1 seed and we didn't lose to the Giants. This will sting all the way through the draft, mini-camp, and pre-season I fear. Immediately after the game, I was quick to try and point a finger to blame someone for the pain I was feeling, however, after 18 hours or so, I have come up with a hole-heck of all of things that went wrong this weekend and perphaps in the weeks leading up to yesterday's debacule. Funny thing is, if just one or two of these things go according to plan, the Cowboys probably win that game, here is a few things I saw that really bothered me about yesterday:
Tony Romo: Maybe its not fair to start with Tony, but as the quaterback, I feel the need.Tony did not seem like himself yesterday. He made mistakes that I'm not sure that I've seen him make before. There were two times that Tony escaped the Giants rush by getting out of the pocket, but did not throw the ball and took the sack. Both times there were oppertunities to throw the ball away. Then, whilst in the pocket, Tony threw the ball away when the rush came from the outside, which led to an intentional grounding penalty. Tony was obviously flustered in the 4th quarter, which is something that I hadn't seen before. There were a number of passes that sailed high and wide, and I can think of two that should have been intercepted.
O-Line: False start again. Seriously. I know we've done it all year, but come on. It was ridiculous how many poor focus penalties we got. I believe it kinda shows the level of focus the team had coming in. Let it be said. The Giants front four, dominated our line that had been so good all season long.
Recievers: Maybe I should just Pat Crayton. There were two occasions I can think of that would have changed the game if Crayton would shut up and catch a ball. First, in the third quarter on third down, Romo scrabbles outside the pocket, keeps the play alive for longer than it should have been, just to have Crayton drop a ball that hit him square in the hands. Second, and the one I think we have to focus on is third down with under 30 seconds to go when Crayton eases up on a route into the endzone cause he dont think hes gettin the ball. Idiot. If you don't run your routes hard all game long in the playoffs against a bitter rival, when will you? It makes me mad enough to cut him. I was never a star athelete, but I promise you I always tried my best. That's right, I was Mr. Hussle 2002, Winter Sports Banquet, look it up. Idiot.
Defense: I say we cut all secondary and start from scratch. Tell me how Roy Williams impacted the Dallas Cowboys in a positive manner this year? It's tough, and to tell you truth, I'd be fine to see him go. Remember at the begining of the season when the media hailed T-New as a shutdown corner? Yeah, I thought that was stupid too. Ken Hamlin is arguably the best secondary member, and my personal opinion of Ken is nothing special. Heck, I'm sure Darren McFadden can play corner, lets trade up, draft him, and convert him. Sorry, that might be the dumbest thing I've said yet. (except that the Jags would beat the Pats). Please, Please Please, don't let em score a touchdown with 53 seconds left on the clock before halftime, at least, hold em to a field goal, or better yet, do your job and dont let them go 70 yards in under a minute after your offense just held the ball for 10 minutes, thats the game right there folks. Oh yeah, I gotta say, DeMarcus Ware, is the truth, he should play both ways.
Wade: I didn't think he would be fired before yesterday's game, unless the Cowboys played just like that. I am not convinced that he did anything to put these players in the best situation to win. I kinda felt like that all season, but when you win, no big deal. Tell me, why hasn't Barber started all season? America could see it, but Wade couldn't. I don't know what is going to happen to Wade, but I am in no way attached to this jolly, unenthusiastic fella.
Assistant coaches: I don't think it helped focus at all that half the staff as been interviewing for other positions for the last month. The media circus hasn't just been on the players but also where these coaches are going to end up. Maybe it didnt hurt, but it sure didn't help anything. Oh yeah, Jason Garrett, why did we become a running team all of a sudden? I love MB3, but our game all season was spread em out and chunk it. Why change our identity in the playoffs?
All that to say, 13-3 is now just a waste. A failure. Suppose we sqeak out a win yesterday, we would have gotten destroyed by Green Bay next week. This is going to be a longer offseason than last year. I don't even know that the pain will leave with the start of the season, cause we had a pretty terrific regular season, but we still haven't won a playoff game since I was 13. I won't feel better till this playoff monkey is off my back. That's right, it feels personal. Suppose my opinion may change in the next few days or weeks, but right now the wound is so fresh, I'm still pouring Wild Turkey Whiskey in to sanitize, perphaps soon I will move on to actually bandaging this. I loved T.O.'s postgame, hated Romo's, hated Phillips'. I am going camping next weekend, hopefully I will forget about the NFL until July, cause everyone knows sports suck in July.
Rambling and Crying
-Jig
Tony Romo: Maybe its not fair to start with Tony, but as the quaterback, I feel the need.Tony did not seem like himself yesterday. He made mistakes that I'm not sure that I've seen him make before. There were two times that Tony escaped the Giants rush by getting out of the pocket, but did not throw the ball and took the sack. Both times there were oppertunities to throw the ball away. Then, whilst in the pocket, Tony threw the ball away when the rush came from the outside, which led to an intentional grounding penalty. Tony was obviously flustered in the 4th quarter, which is something that I hadn't seen before. There were a number of passes that sailed high and wide, and I can think of two that should have been intercepted.
O-Line: False start again. Seriously. I know we've done it all year, but come on. It was ridiculous how many poor focus penalties we got. I believe it kinda shows the level of focus the team had coming in. Let it be said. The Giants front four, dominated our line that had been so good all season long.
Recievers: Maybe I should just Pat Crayton. There were two occasions I can think of that would have changed the game if Crayton would shut up and catch a ball. First, in the third quarter on third down, Romo scrabbles outside the pocket, keeps the play alive for longer than it should have been, just to have Crayton drop a ball that hit him square in the hands. Second, and the one I think we have to focus on is third down with under 30 seconds to go when Crayton eases up on a route into the endzone cause he dont think hes gettin the ball. Idiot. If you don't run your routes hard all game long in the playoffs against a bitter rival, when will you? It makes me mad enough to cut him. I was never a star athelete, but I promise you I always tried my best. That's right, I was Mr. Hussle 2002, Winter Sports Banquet, look it up. Idiot.
Defense: I say we cut all secondary and start from scratch. Tell me how Roy Williams impacted the Dallas Cowboys in a positive manner this year? It's tough, and to tell you truth, I'd be fine to see him go. Remember at the begining of the season when the media hailed T-New as a shutdown corner? Yeah, I thought that was stupid too. Ken Hamlin is arguably the best secondary member, and my personal opinion of Ken is nothing special. Heck, I'm sure Darren McFadden can play corner, lets trade up, draft him, and convert him. Sorry, that might be the dumbest thing I've said yet. (except that the Jags would beat the Pats). Please, Please Please, don't let em score a touchdown with 53 seconds left on the clock before halftime, at least, hold em to a field goal, or better yet, do your job and dont let them go 70 yards in under a minute after your offense just held the ball for 10 minutes, thats the game right there folks. Oh yeah, I gotta say, DeMarcus Ware, is the truth, he should play both ways.
Wade: I didn't think he would be fired before yesterday's game, unless the Cowboys played just like that. I am not convinced that he did anything to put these players in the best situation to win. I kinda felt like that all season, but when you win, no big deal. Tell me, why hasn't Barber started all season? America could see it, but Wade couldn't. I don't know what is going to happen to Wade, but I am in no way attached to this jolly, unenthusiastic fella.
Assistant coaches: I don't think it helped focus at all that half the staff as been interviewing for other positions for the last month. The media circus hasn't just been on the players but also where these coaches are going to end up. Maybe it didnt hurt, but it sure didn't help anything. Oh yeah, Jason Garrett, why did we become a running team all of a sudden? I love MB3, but our game all season was spread em out and chunk it. Why change our identity in the playoffs?
All that to say, 13-3 is now just a waste. A failure. Suppose we sqeak out a win yesterday, we would have gotten destroyed by Green Bay next week. This is going to be a longer offseason than last year. I don't even know that the pain will leave with the start of the season, cause we had a pretty terrific regular season, but we still haven't won a playoff game since I was 13. I won't feel better till this playoff monkey is off my back. That's right, it feels personal. Suppose my opinion may change in the next few days or weeks, but right now the wound is so fresh, I'm still pouring Wild Turkey Whiskey in to sanitize, perphaps soon I will move on to actually bandaging this. I loved T.O.'s postgame, hated Romo's, hated Phillips'. I am going camping next weekend, hopefully I will forget about the NFL until July, cause everyone knows sports suck in July.
Rambling and Crying
-Jig
Sunday, January 13, 2008
21-17
That game sucked. It sucked awful bad. That's all I have to say right now. Jig will rehash his thoughts from his first-person bird's eye view of the game later. As for me, I may or may not recover from this one. Uugggggghhhh.
-Twig.
-Twig.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Playoff Fever, Catch It!
Here at JigAndTwig, on the Thursday before Divisional Round weekend in the NFL, I like to make my picks for the weekend's games. You may be thinking to yourself, "Twig, I've never seen your NFL Divisional Round picks before, whatsoever do you mean?" Well fool, this blog has been up for like a month, so obviously this is the first- of hopefully many-Divisional Playoff Picks, the DPP if you will. Also, I'd love to include the point spread and if I'd take the points or whatnot, but for those of you who know me know that I'm a terrible gambler, so I'm not gonna touch that; just giving my thougths and who I think will win. On we go...
Saturday:
Seattle at Green Bay: Apparently, both games on Saturday will be in decent weather which is somewhat of a surprise considering that they're in Wisconsin and Massachusetts in January. I don't know if that'll play to anyones advantage in this game. Both teams throw the ball well, so I'd assume they're each thrilled about clear skies. I give the nod to GB, however, because of the emergence of Ryan Grant, who, in the last ten weeks is the NFL's second leading rusher (thank you Mike and Mike in the Morning) and the fact that Shaun Alexander may or may not have retired after his 2005 MVP season. If anyone's seen him, tell him to call Mike Holmgren, I'm sure he'd appreciate it.
Jacksonville at New England: Ever since the Jags beat Pittsburg at Heinz field in December, all the "experts" have been touting them as the last gasp team that could maybe, possibly beat the Patriots. I admit, I was one of those that thought they could do it, and honestly, the could. Key word here being could. However, the Pats are home, they've had a week off, the Jags are playing with key defensive injuries, and well, would you take Jack Del Rio and Dave Garrard on the road against Billichek (sp?) and Brady? Me neither, although I'll be cheering hard for the Jaguars to pull it off.
Sunday:
San Diego at Indianapolis: I've gotta say, after watching the Chargers defense last week, I was impressed. Granted, they were at home playing a very young team that had precious little playoff experience, but they were flying around out there. All that to say, Indy at home, a week off, Gates is hurt, you know the drill. Colts, but it's close.
New York at Dallas: I was pretty frustrated when I heard about Romo's Mexico vacation in the midst of a playoff push until I found out that Witten went along with him. I don't know if that means anything, for all I know Jason hosted cabana parties until 4am and forced Romo to take tequila shots from an empty coconut shell, but just knowing that Witten was there seemed to make things better, sorta like there was a chaperone making sure Tony didn't get his mind off football too much. As a personal bonus, I like this trip becuase Romo and Witten undoubtedly bonded South of the border, and since Witten is in my Gridiron Football Challenge-which is fantasy football for the playoffs-I expect Romo to look his way often on Sunday. And really I'm not too worried about the vacation affecting either of their performances this weekend. If anything, the fact that two Cowboy assisants interviewed for other jobs over the break worries me more than a beach trip with some pals. Anyway, I expect a good game, it's gonna be hard for Dallas to beat the Giants three times in the same season, but in the end I see the Cowboys pulling it out.
I know you're probably not impressed with me choosing the top two seeds from each conference to advance, but hey, it's what I expect to happen. We've known pretty much all year that the four best teams in the NFL are the Pats, Colts, Cowboys, and Packers. I'm already looking forward to next weekend.
-Twigaman
Saturday:
Seattle at Green Bay: Apparently, both games on Saturday will be in decent weather which is somewhat of a surprise considering that they're in Wisconsin and Massachusetts in January. I don't know if that'll play to anyones advantage in this game. Both teams throw the ball well, so I'd assume they're each thrilled about clear skies. I give the nod to GB, however, because of the emergence of Ryan Grant, who, in the last ten weeks is the NFL's second leading rusher (thank you Mike and Mike in the Morning) and the fact that Shaun Alexander may or may not have retired after his 2005 MVP season. If anyone's seen him, tell him to call Mike Holmgren, I'm sure he'd appreciate it.
Jacksonville at New England: Ever since the Jags beat Pittsburg at Heinz field in December, all the "experts" have been touting them as the last gasp team that could maybe, possibly beat the Patriots. I admit, I was one of those that thought they could do it, and honestly, the could. Key word here being could. However, the Pats are home, they've had a week off, the Jags are playing with key defensive injuries, and well, would you take Jack Del Rio and Dave Garrard on the road against Billichek (sp?) and Brady? Me neither, although I'll be cheering hard for the Jaguars to pull it off.
Sunday:
San Diego at Indianapolis: I've gotta say, after watching the Chargers defense last week, I was impressed. Granted, they were at home playing a very young team that had precious little playoff experience, but they were flying around out there. All that to say, Indy at home, a week off, Gates is hurt, you know the drill. Colts, but it's close.
New York at Dallas: I was pretty frustrated when I heard about Romo's Mexico vacation in the midst of a playoff push until I found out that Witten went along with him. I don't know if that means anything, for all I know Jason hosted cabana parties until 4am and forced Romo to take tequila shots from an empty coconut shell, but just knowing that Witten was there seemed to make things better, sorta like there was a chaperone making sure Tony didn't get his mind off football too much. As a personal bonus, I like this trip becuase Romo and Witten undoubtedly bonded South of the border, and since Witten is in my Gridiron Football Challenge-which is fantasy football for the playoffs-I expect Romo to look his way often on Sunday. And really I'm not too worried about the vacation affecting either of their performances this weekend. If anything, the fact that two Cowboy assisants interviewed for other jobs over the break worries me more than a beach trip with some pals. Anyway, I expect a good game, it's gonna be hard for Dallas to beat the Giants three times in the same season, but in the end I see the Cowboys pulling it out.
I know you're probably not impressed with me choosing the top two seeds from each conference to advance, but hey, it's what I expect to happen. We've known pretty much all year that the four best teams in the NFL are the Pats, Colts, Cowboys, and Packers. I'm already looking forward to next weekend.
-Twigaman
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Where have all the Cowboys gone.... (Cancun)
The next thirty days or so has the potential to be some of the best for me, as far as watching sports goes. This weekend, I'm going to the Cowboys divisional playoff game against the Giants, on the way to the Superbowl and in one month, I will be attending the USA's National Soccer Team play Mexico, and how I hate both of these opponents. I get to see two of my favorite teams play some of their fierciest rivals. I work at home many days during the week, so when I catch a free second, I am analyzing anything coming out of the Cowboy's camp and looking through different Giants highlights, so I will be as prepared as possible come Sunday (as if I have an impact on the game: and I do). I take comfort in knowing my boys are doing the same thing, except their not. I love a good Pina Colada as much as the next guy, but rarely would you catch me having one right before I signed an Oil and Gas Lease on 348.55 acres in the Barnett Shelf (that would be the equivalent in my field). So this weekend my boy, Tony, went with his babe, Jess, and his boy, Witten to Cancun. I've tried to put up a front that this was not a big deal. I would like to think that this is just his way of getting ready for a game of this magnitude. Thing is, I didn't catch Peyton Manning at Six Flags this weekend, or Tom Brady at Gattiland (these also being equivalent since I've never been to Cancun). I'm sure they were busy watching their perspective opponents on T.V. and then rewatching the winners a couple of times by now.
I've taken a moment to catch my breath, and I'm feeling better, but this is the key phrase that I can't emphasive enough: We better win. Seriously, and it can't be by one or two points. We better win. If we take care of business, whoop them G-men, like we should for the third time this season, I wont even let something like this phase me again. Heck, I'll give my boy Tony props for the starlight his courting, but We Better Win.
Different than any game this season, we will have our full offense available to us. No team has had the chance to prepare for a Cowboys team that has T.O. and Terry Glenn on the field at the same time, and trust me T.O. is going to play. He isn't hurt, and I love that Wade Phillips is being so secretive. So, like I said, if we take care of business, I got the Boys winning 38-20. AND, in case you missed it earlier, I already called a Jacksonville victory over dem Patriots this weekend, lets say, 23-17. You heard it here first. Call ESPN, tell em TheJigandTwig are on their block and in their kitchen.
In Conclusion, this is to my boy Twig. Sorry I've slacked off a bit, but I'm back and ready for more. Thanks for carrying the load...
Jig
I've taken a moment to catch my breath, and I'm feeling better, but this is the key phrase that I can't emphasive enough: We better win. Seriously, and it can't be by one or two points. We better win. If we take care of business, whoop them G-men, like we should for the third time this season, I wont even let something like this phase me again. Heck, I'll give my boy Tony props for the starlight his courting, but We Better Win.
Different than any game this season, we will have our full offense available to us. No team has had the chance to prepare for a Cowboys team that has T.O. and Terry Glenn on the field at the same time, and trust me T.O. is going to play. He isn't hurt, and I love that Wade Phillips is being so secretive. So, like I said, if we take care of business, I got the Boys winning 38-20. AND, in case you missed it earlier, I already called a Jacksonville victory over dem Patriots this weekend, lets say, 23-17. You heard it here first. Call ESPN, tell em TheJigandTwig are on their block and in their kitchen.
In Conclusion, this is to my boy Twig. Sorry I've slacked off a bit, but I'm back and ready for more. Thanks for carrying the load...
Jig
A Family Affair
My Uncle Jim and I email a lot during the college football season. He's an Arkanas/SEC fan, and of course I'm a Texas fan, so we have plenty to jabber about and we do our best to give each other grief when the others team struggles. Needless to say, there was plenty of grief going around this season. Anyway, in light of last night's yawner of a 'championship' game, I'm just gonna post a couple of the emails we sent to each other yesterday. Besides thoughts about the BCS game, our reactions to other bowls, as well as coaching situations for the Hogs and Horns are included. There will be little to no editing, so you can see just how off we are in our pre-game thoughts. I'll put Jim's messages in italics, to try and keep things straight. Here we go:
Jim: I’ve been out of pocket until today and wanted to send you some emails about some of the games. Relative to the Hogs…I told Payton the only thing more depressing watching that game would have been watching knowing Houston Nutt was still our coach! I have come to the realization the staff Nutt (including him) had are just a bunch of no good liars. They talked for four weeks about how they were going to run a different offense and they would really “open” it up. It was the same crap as Nutt would have called. If Reggie Herring had any opportunities to be a head coach they went out the window because of that game. Anyway, we have a new coach, staff and it will be three years before we get past what Nutt created here. Boy I get riled up just reviewing even after this amount of time. It is simply a disservice to the kids, they are the ones that suffer and have to take it. Anyway…You have to love what West Virginia did to OU. How about Michigan beating Florida? That was a surprise, I think Michigan was like Georgia this year, slow out of the gate, but vastly improved. Of course everyone seems to think this Florida team was strong, if you look at what they lost last year they are definitely not and if they didn’t have Tebow they would have been a below par team.
I like LSU tonight, but OSU has lots of motivation and with that kind of emotion any given… so we’ll see. Let me know if Mack made any changes. I have to go look and see who Petrino has hired. He has hired a couple of guys that can give us a national presence recruiting wise so he’s already so far ahead of Nut there it’s not funny.
Me: Glad to hear from you, I was worried you were taking the hogs performace a bit too hard and may have in fact, gone off the deep end.
As far as 0u- umm, yeah I was happy, probably a bit too happy, but any time they lose, I'm smiling. I know I've made it clear that I don't really care about the Big XII as a whole, but my buddy Garrett, a big Oklahoma fan, brought up the point that if they had won, the b12 would be looking pretty decent at this point. UT and Mizzou won semi-big bowls, and KU won a major bcs bowl, and had the sooners won, that gives the b12 four pretty nice looking wins against good competition.
I was shocked to hear about the michigan-UF game. I don't know if UF forgot to bring their SEC speed or what, but i didn't think michigan would be able to even keep it close. (I do agree though that the gators aren't as good as last year's team, and w/o TT, they'd be pretty mediocre.)
I'm pretty interested to see tonight's game. I'm going for lsu, but I wouldn't be surprised if the buckeyes give them all they can handle. LSU's defense isn't playing as well as they did early in the year, their offense is overall pretty vanilla, and OSU has been sitting around for two months (literally) hearing how they're slow, and undeserving of playing for the championship.
Also, how awful were the bcs matchups this year? I mean really, way to go Rose Bowl, for taking Illinois over UGA or Mizzou. Way to put tradition over competition. I know the Sugar didn't really have a choice in taking Hawaii, since they were the only undefeated team left, but wow, that was an overmatched team if i've ever seen one. The Fiesta wasn't really anyone's fault in particular, they had two legit conference champs, and before the game, it looked to be one of the most evenly matched games. I thought it'd be pretty exciting, and well played, and even though I liked the outcome, it was the third straight not-close bcs game in two days. Turns out the Orange Bowl, which I figured wouldn't be close, was the most competitive and exciting out of the four so far. Go figure.
The Horns got a new DC last week, which will be a welcome addition after this years debacle. He's a young dude from Auburn, Will Muschamp i believe, and from what I've read, he's for real, so hopefully it'll be a welcome addition to the defense. No word yet on anything on the offensive side.
Jim: A couple of things to think about. Who did LSU lose to in their last game and you know how pitiful was that team? Could it be the SEC is not as strong this year as I have always boasted? Possibly. Watch out, here comes OSU with the motivation…
Secondly, can you think of a better case for a playoff system? Do fans every year beg for that after seeing the atrocity of the BCS bowl system? Yet another year of mismatched bowl games.
Muschamp is the real deal, he is an excellent pick for Mack for DC. After the ACC kept turning down the Hogs it was rumored we were looking at him for head coach. Also did you notice how many points Tulsa put up last night? He would be great for TU as OC.
Me: Ha, yeah i guess you could use the logic that if Ar-Kansas (as les miles likes to say) beats lsu in baton rouge, and mizzou puts a hurtin on the hogs in the bowl game, then UM could make the case that they should get NC consideration. Of course that theory gets shot out the window when you consider that they lost twice to a team that got beat soundly in their bowl game to a team who lost to Pittsburg at home with a trip to the National Tile game on the line. So yeah-playoff people-playoff. As far as the SEC maaaayyyybe not being quite as tough as previously thought-yeah i'd say so. Top to bottom it's still the deepest and most competitive conference without a doubt, but I'm not sure it's as top-heavy as a lot of people give it credit for (Of course after i say that, watch them go out and win by 30 tonight)
Something else to think about that i heard on the radio a few weeks ago. College football, besides being the only sport without a playoff, is the only college sport whos champion ISN'T AWARDED BY THE NCAA!! Think about it-all these champions since the advent of the bcs have been the bcs champions. You've heard "The 2007 NCAA men's basketball champion, Florida Gators," but you've NEVER heard anyone say, "The 2007 NCAA football champion, Florida Gators." There's something inherently wrong with a sport whose champion is not only partly determined by a computer, but the winner isn't even awarded as such by the very organization it plays for. That'd be like the Super Bowl winner being crowned as the "Football Committee of Competitive Competition Champion." Doesn't have the same ring as NFL Champ, does it? That's my rant for the day, I guess.
As far as Muschamp, it's good to hear from an sec guy that he's for real, and yes, i saw the tulsa score, and would be thrilled if the horns get him. I haven't heard anything since that first email i sent you, so i'm afraid it may be just a pipe dream, but one can dream, can't he?
Well that'll do it for now, I guess the Buckeyes didn't use the long layoff to motivate themselves properly quite like i thought they would. As far as the SEC maybe not being as great as everyone gives them credit for, well, I don't think they're untouchable, but they are the only conference to have a team in at least two BCS championship games, and be undefeated (4-0, with the Big XII at 2-3, the Big East at 1-2 when Miami and VaTech were still there, the ACC at 1-2, Big 10 at 1-2, Pac 10 at 1-1). So I guess you could say, when push comes to shove, the SEC is without a doubt the deepest, and most clutch conference in the nation by a mile.
And with that, another college football season comes to a close, can't wait for 0h-eight.
-Twig
Jim: I’ve been out of pocket until today and wanted to send you some emails about some of the games. Relative to the Hogs…I told Payton the only thing more depressing watching that game would have been watching knowing Houston Nutt was still our coach! I have come to the realization the staff Nutt (including him) had are just a bunch of no good liars. They talked for four weeks about how they were going to run a different offense and they would really “open” it up. It was the same crap as Nutt would have called. If Reggie Herring had any opportunities to be a head coach they went out the window because of that game. Anyway, we have a new coach, staff and it will be three years before we get past what Nutt created here. Boy I get riled up just reviewing even after this amount of time. It is simply a disservice to the kids, they are the ones that suffer and have to take it. Anyway…You have to love what West Virginia did to OU. How about Michigan beating Florida? That was a surprise, I think Michigan was like Georgia this year, slow out of the gate, but vastly improved. Of course everyone seems to think this Florida team was strong, if you look at what they lost last year they are definitely not and if they didn’t have Tebow they would have been a below par team.
I like LSU tonight, but OSU has lots of motivation and with that kind of emotion any given… so we’ll see. Let me know if Mack made any changes. I have to go look and see who Petrino has hired. He has hired a couple of guys that can give us a national presence recruiting wise so he’s already so far ahead of Nut there it’s not funny.
Me: Glad to hear from you, I was worried you were taking the hogs performace a bit too hard and may have in fact, gone off the deep end.
As far as 0u- umm, yeah I was happy, probably a bit too happy, but any time they lose, I'm smiling. I know I've made it clear that I don't really care about the Big XII as a whole, but my buddy Garrett, a big Oklahoma fan, brought up the point that if they had won, the b12 would be looking pretty decent at this point. UT and Mizzou won semi-big bowls, and KU won a major bcs bowl, and had the sooners won, that gives the b12 four pretty nice looking wins against good competition.
I was shocked to hear about the michigan-UF game. I don't know if UF forgot to bring their SEC speed or what, but i didn't think michigan would be able to even keep it close. (I do agree though that the gators aren't as good as last year's team, and w/o TT, they'd be pretty mediocre.)
I'm pretty interested to see tonight's game. I'm going for lsu, but I wouldn't be surprised if the buckeyes give them all they can handle. LSU's defense isn't playing as well as they did early in the year, their offense is overall pretty vanilla, and OSU has been sitting around for two months (literally) hearing how they're slow, and undeserving of playing for the championship.
Also, how awful were the bcs matchups this year? I mean really, way to go Rose Bowl, for taking Illinois over UGA or Mizzou. Way to put tradition over competition. I know the Sugar didn't really have a choice in taking Hawaii, since they were the only undefeated team left, but wow, that was an overmatched team if i've ever seen one. The Fiesta wasn't really anyone's fault in particular, they had two legit conference champs, and before the game, it looked to be one of the most evenly matched games. I thought it'd be pretty exciting, and well played, and even though I liked the outcome, it was the third straight not-close bcs game in two days. Turns out the Orange Bowl, which I figured wouldn't be close, was the most competitive and exciting out of the four so far. Go figure.
The Horns got a new DC last week, which will be a welcome addition after this years debacle. He's a young dude from Auburn, Will Muschamp i believe, and from what I've read, he's for real, so hopefully it'll be a welcome addition to the defense. No word yet on anything on the offensive side.
Jim: A couple of things to think about. Who did LSU lose to in their last game and you know how pitiful was that team? Could it be the SEC is not as strong this year as I have always boasted? Possibly. Watch out, here comes OSU with the motivation…
Secondly, can you think of a better case for a playoff system? Do fans every year beg for that after seeing the atrocity of the BCS bowl system? Yet another year of mismatched bowl games.
Muschamp is the real deal, he is an excellent pick for Mack for DC. After the ACC kept turning down the Hogs it was rumored we were looking at him for head coach. Also did you notice how many points Tulsa put up last night? He would be great for TU as OC.
Me: Ha, yeah i guess you could use the logic that if Ar-Kansas (as les miles likes to say) beats lsu in baton rouge, and mizzou puts a hurtin on the hogs in the bowl game, then UM could make the case that they should get NC consideration. Of course that theory gets shot out the window when you consider that they lost twice to a team that got beat soundly in their bowl game to a team who lost to Pittsburg at home with a trip to the National Tile game on the line. So yeah-playoff people-playoff. As far as the SEC maaaayyyybe not being quite as tough as previously thought-yeah i'd say so. Top to bottom it's still the deepest and most competitive conference without a doubt, but I'm not sure it's as top-heavy as a lot of people give it credit for (Of course after i say that, watch them go out and win by 30 tonight)
Something else to think about that i heard on the radio a few weeks ago. College football, besides being the only sport without a playoff, is the only college sport whos champion ISN'T AWARDED BY THE NCAA!! Think about it-all these champions since the advent of the bcs have been the bcs champions. You've heard "The 2007 NCAA men's basketball champion, Florida Gators," but you've NEVER heard anyone say, "The 2007 NCAA football champion, Florida Gators." There's something inherently wrong with a sport whose champion is not only partly determined by a computer, but the winner isn't even awarded as such by the very organization it plays for. That'd be like the Super Bowl winner being crowned as the "Football Committee of Competitive Competition Champion." Doesn't have the same ring as NFL Champ, does it? That's my rant for the day, I guess.
As far as Muschamp, it's good to hear from an sec guy that he's for real, and yes, i saw the tulsa score, and would be thrilled if the horns get him. I haven't heard anything since that first email i sent you, so i'm afraid it may be just a pipe dream, but one can dream, can't he?
Well that'll do it for now, I guess the Buckeyes didn't use the long layoff to motivate themselves properly quite like i thought they would. As far as the SEC maybe not being as great as everyone gives them credit for, well, I don't think they're untouchable, but they are the only conference to have a team in at least two BCS championship games, and be undefeated (4-0, with the Big XII at 2-3, the Big East at 1-2 when Miami and VaTech were still there, the ACC at 1-2, Big 10 at 1-2, Pac 10 at 1-1). So I guess you could say, when push comes to shove, the SEC is without a doubt the deepest, and most clutch conference in the nation by a mile.
And with that, another college football season comes to a close, can't wait for 0h-eight.
-Twig
Monday, January 7, 2008
What's In A Name?
After reading up a little more about Jamaal Charles leaving UT to go to the NFL, I came across a mention of a redshirt freshman who could see some significant playing time at running back next year alongside Vondrell McGee in Charles' absence. Foswhitt Whitaker, from down round here in Pearland, looks to be an exciting runner who could be the real deal. Well that's all good an all, but I'm not here to boast on a young man's running ability, or talk about how exciting he may be for the next two to four years in Austin. No, I'm here to talk about how fantastic it is that the top running backs for the 2008 Longhorns are named Vondrell and Foswhitt. Well, it's just that-fantastic. I'm not sure about you, but I've noticed a superb trend of extraordinary names that have suited up for the Horns in recent years. Think about it: In the last three years alone, the Longhorns have had a guy named Ramonce, Colt, Limas, JerMichael, Quan, Selvin, Sherrod, Vondrell, and now Foswhitt. Frankly, I couldn't be more happy or more thrilled. This may or may not make you as happy as it did me, but hey, we'll just agree to disagree because I'm tickled about the prospects of a Vondrell, Foswhitt, Colt backfield, with Colt throwing to JerMichael and Quan.
-Just Twig
-Just Twig
Thursday, January 3, 2008
So Long J.C. We Hardly Knew Ye...
Well, I did my best. At the end of my last post, I said I wouldn't talk about the Longhorns for another 8 months. I didn't even make it a week. Oh well. Today, my Horns-related thoughts center around the news that Jamaal Charles has decided to leave the 40 acres to pursue a career in the NFL. I've never had a problem with players in any sport leave college early IF they're draft stock has reached it's peak. That said, I'm not sure I'm entirely crazy about Charles' decision to bolt for the pros.
On the one hand, he had a great second half of the season, highlighted by a 290 yard game against Nebraska, and ending with a 161 yard, two touchdown game on national television in the Holiday Bowl last week. He is easily one of the fastest guys on the field, and will continue to be a killer with his speed in the pros. He won the Big XII 100 meter dash as a freshman a few years ago, running a 10.2. I don't care what conference you play in, or at what level you compete at, if you can cover 100 meters in 10.2 seconds, you're a burner.
On the other hand, Jamaal has had problems with fumblitis, highlighted in losses to Kansas State in 2006 and Oklahoma this year. Granted, it improved as this season progressed, but that is a problem that could scare NFL teams from taking him. Also, he's not a 20-25 carry a game back, and will probably be best utilized in the pros by a team that already has a feature back, and use J.C. as a change-of-pace back.
All this to say, it seems like returning next year would greatly serve him in the 2009 draft. He could prove that the fumbling is behind him, that he can be an effective runner between the tackles, and can show that he can carry more of a load in the offense. It also is just a bit disappointing to see him leave so soon. Not to get too mushy or nostalgic, but it seems like just yesterday that he was a true freshman next to Vince Young, jitterbugging around the defense and putting images of multiple championships and Heisman Trophies in the minds of Longhorn fans everywhere. In only the second college game of his career, he ran all over the Ohio State defense, and put his name on the map for good. That same year, he set a Red River Rivalry record with an 80-yard touchdown run. I can't speak for everyone, but I just have this 'glass-half-empty' feel about the time Charles spent in Austin. I really feel like he would have a shot at the Heisman next year, and would make the UT offense quite scary if he returned. It's his decision, however, and all things considered, it's probably not the worst one he could have made. I mean honestly, who of us at the age of 21 (or any age, for that matter) would turn down multiple millions of dollars to play a game you love? I'm sure I wouldn't. So, even though I wish he'd stay, it's not a terrible choice. Best of luck in the League, Jamaal, we'll probably miss you.
-Twig
On the one hand, he had a great second half of the season, highlighted by a 290 yard game against Nebraska, and ending with a 161 yard, two touchdown game on national television in the Holiday Bowl last week. He is easily one of the fastest guys on the field, and will continue to be a killer with his speed in the pros. He won the Big XII 100 meter dash as a freshman a few years ago, running a 10.2. I don't care what conference you play in, or at what level you compete at, if you can cover 100 meters in 10.2 seconds, you're a burner.
On the other hand, Jamaal has had problems with fumblitis, highlighted in losses to Kansas State in 2006 and Oklahoma this year. Granted, it improved as this season progressed, but that is a problem that could scare NFL teams from taking him. Also, he's not a 20-25 carry a game back, and will probably be best utilized in the pros by a team that already has a feature back, and use J.C. as a change-of-pace back.
All this to say, it seems like returning next year would greatly serve him in the 2009 draft. He could prove that the fumbling is behind him, that he can be an effective runner between the tackles, and can show that he can carry more of a load in the offense. It also is just a bit disappointing to see him leave so soon. Not to get too mushy or nostalgic, but it seems like just yesterday that he was a true freshman next to Vince Young, jitterbugging around the defense and putting images of multiple championships and Heisman Trophies in the minds of Longhorn fans everywhere. In only the second college game of his career, he ran all over the Ohio State defense, and put his name on the map for good. That same year, he set a Red River Rivalry record with an 80-yard touchdown run. I can't speak for everyone, but I just have this 'glass-half-empty' feel about the time Charles spent in Austin. I really feel like he would have a shot at the Heisman next year, and would make the UT offense quite scary if he returned. It's his decision, however, and all things considered, it's probably not the worst one he could have made. I mean honestly, who of us at the age of 21 (or any age, for that matter) would turn down multiple millions of dollars to play a game you love? I'm sure I wouldn't. So, even though I wish he'd stay, it's not a terrible choice. Best of luck in the League, Jamaal, we'll probably miss you.
-Twig
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