Videos for the Weekend

Between watching college football all weekend, here are a couple hilarious spoof videos I came across, via si.com.

The first, a cover of Soulja Boy's Crank Dat, brought to you by the students at Bayside High:



And this one goes out especially to the Reeves Brothers, Christopher Luke, and Young Benjamin:

Also, after much encouragement from Brandon and Jig, I finally got around to buying and reading this book, which I highly recommend:

Hook 'em Tech

If you've known me for more than five minutes, you know that I'm a big (huge, ginormous, avid) fan of the UT Longhorns. Also, if you've known me for more that ten minutes, you know that, as of this week, I'm officially a Texas Tech Red Raider. This, as you can imagine, is a bit of a conundrum for me, especially since TTU already has the 'Beat Texas' T-Shirts prominently displayed in the bookstore. In an effort to clear the air about my loyalty, let me say this: I've been a UT fan since I can remember. I've gone to countless Longhorn football (and basketball) games, and will always be a Horn supporter. At the same time, if there's any other team in the Big XII that I can halfway stand, its Tech. That being said, of the 12 regular season games the Raiders play, I'll be rooting for them to win 11 of those matches.

Also, even though I'm not a huge Tech fan, I must say, it is pretty cool going to a big school at a time that the football team has great expectations, both in conference and nationally. I know that my good friend, Justin Scott feels the same way, after attending Baylor after graduating from ACU. (Wait, what's that? JScott goes to Baylor NOW? Bummer, I thought he went there in 1974? No? Oh, anyway...)

Beyond the 'lifelong loyalty VS where tuition money goes' debate, the important thing is this: college football is upon us, ladies and gentlemen. Rejoice and be glad.

Back From A Rocky Mountain High

Yesterday, I got back from vacation in Estes Park, Colorado with the wife, the in-laws, and the future bromandudeman-in-law. (A few pictures can be found here. The rest are on Kayla's Facebook page, for those who care)

While on the trip, I read this book:

And began this one:

They are/were both extremely entertaining, but so far the most exciting part of either book comes from page 67 of Hero, when Peter is describing the pre-game rituals of the 1997 Cornhuskers. For those of you who were in Gamma Sigma Phi any time between 2004 and 2006 you may remember the chant:

"Dear Lord, the Battles we go through in Life, I ask for the chance and it's fair.

A chance to equal all your stipes, the chance to do it or dare.

And if we win, we win by the code, with faith and honor held high.

And if we lose, we'll stand by the road and cheer as the winner goes by.

'Cause day by day, it gets better and better.

We're the team that won't be beat!

Can't be beat!"

Maybe it's a little corny that I still get excited just reading these words (especially since it's been two and a half years since I've actually said them out loud) but I think it's pretty cool that one of the most dominant teams in college football in the 1990's got jacked up with the same phrase as intramural teams and sing-song participants did at a Dear Christian College. So here's to you, Jason Peter, but more importanly, here's to you, Shane Spencer.

Don't You Put Me On The Backburner

Hopefully by now everyone has seen the dramatic finish to the men's 400 freestyle relay. (If you haven't, click on 'dramatic finish' in the previous sentence and be blessed) As exciting and quite frankly, satisfying as the finish to that race was, I must admit, this commercial by Nike comes a close second in the 'goosebump-enducing' category:


Any time you can incorporate a Killers song into an Olympic montage, I'm all for it.

However, any time you combine Marvin Gaye singing the Star-Spangled Banner with the US Men's Basketball team, (Sorry, they're not the Dream Team, that ship sailed in 1992) you have something incredibly incredible:



When you throw these two Nike Olympic commercials into the mix, it begs the question-Does Nike make the greatest commercials of all-time? In my opinion, they absolutely do, and not just because of these two. Besides these, there are numerous classics in the 'Jordan' series, the 'LeBron's,' the 'My Better is Better Than Your Better,' the old squeaky-shoes commercials, and many other I'm sure I'm missing. Feel free to chime in with opinions about what you think the best sports commercials are, I'd love to hear them.
Side Note: The Marvin Gaye footage was taken from his performance before the 1983 NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles. Here is an interesting article about the performance, which happened a year before his untimely death.

It Worked For The White Guy In 'Remeber The Titans'

Merciful Heavens, I couldn't be more excited about the upcoming season for the Dallas Cowboys. As everyone knows, Home Box Office is doing their annual training camp documentary Hard Knocks about the 'Boys. Since I don't have HBO, this four-minute recap, courtesy of Deadspin will have to do, at least for now.

Special mention should be made of Pac's six-ball punt return and MB3's abusive block around the 1-minute mark.

-Twig

I'm Like A Byrd, Gonna Fly Away

Being a Rangers fan is difficult. They don't win a whole lot, and when they do, they have a bad habit of getting swept by the Yankees in the first round. However, this season, the club has shown that they have a little fight in them, and last night was a game I would have killed to be at. Watch, Enjoy, Cry a Little...



Go Rangers.

I've Got More Records Than The KGB

A few weeks ago, University of Florida head football coach Urban Meyer made the bold statement that his QB, Tim Tebow is the greatest player of this era.

Nevermind the fact that he's not even the best quarterback in the country*, he definitely isn't the best player of an era. Regardless of this atrocity, my uncle (the avid Arkansas fan/SEC braggart) and I (avid UT fan) got into a heated debate about why Tebow isn't the best of an era, and why I think VY is. Obviously, I'm more than a bit biased on why I believe VY to be the best of this era, but the fact is, rather you like Young or not, he is among a group of at least four others who have played college football in the last four years who are/were better than Tebow. For those who care, here is my very unscientific ranking of the 6 best college football players since 2000:

1. Vince Young


2. Reggie Bush


3. Darren McFadden


4. Adrian Peterson


5. Tim Tebow


6. Matt Leinart

Say what you want about Tebow, I'm certainly not trying to make him sound like a bum or anything here, but anyone who claims that he's the greatest college football player of an era is clearly way off-base. That, or they're giving the 'Tebow for Heisman' campaign a bit of a head start, right Coach?

Also, even if you disagree with my rankings or my thoughts on specific players, what really matters is this: We're talking about college football again, and the season is just around the corner.

-Twig

*As much as I hate to say it, Sam Bradford, Graham Harrell and Chase Daniel may have something to say about this. I a'int sayin...I'm just sayin.