Hook 'Em

Are We Finished Yet

If you haven't heard already, UT played the longest game in NCAA baseball history last night/this morning, winning 3-2 in 25 innings.

Among many contenders, the MVP for the Horns is pitcher Austin Wood. As a reliever, he pitched 14 scoreless innings, including 12.1 innings of no-hit baseball, logging almost 170 pitches total. While it would have been a historic game to be at, it may not have been too exciting until the end. BC went 8-80 at the plate, and the Horns were just 20-91. Be sure to check Burnt Orange Nation for further analysis.

Also, I came across this at a Kansas Jayhawk blog. It takes a look at how to fix the college football playoff mess by implementing a Premier League-type system. There are a few flaws to the hypothetical situation, but I'm mostly in favor of something like this. It seems relatively simple and clear. However, I'm sure that any Tennessee fan would not take to being put in the Bottom Tier League behind East Carolina and Troy. Take a look, it's a good way to kill 30 minutes or so.

Draft Follow-Up

Well, now that the draft is over, and you know my thoughts about JJones, why don't we talk about something new...Hmmm, I know, how about the Texas Longhorns and the NFL Draft? Pull my leg, you got me.

This is actually from the fine folks at Burnt Orange Nation, but I came across this fanpost while scrolling around the other day. This weekend marked the fourth draft class to come from the Greatest Game Ever, and as the writer notes, an astonishing 54 players who were active in the game are currently on NFL rosters, either via the draft or free agency. That stat amazed me. That's an entire NFL roster, just from two college teams meeting in one game. It's no wonder why the game was so entertaining.

While Young, Bush and Leinart got the most press, both teams were obviously stacked with talent on both sides of the ball. All of UT's secondary from that game is in the NFL, as is all of USC's linebacking corp. 10 of the 11 offensive starters for UT are also in the NFL, and if it weren't for some off the field issues (coughcoughramoncetaylorcough) a key sub in that game would be as well. I can't take credit for the post, but it's worth looking at, and reading the comments at the bottom. One of the comments that struck me is that, even though there were so many NFL-caliber players in the game, only two (VY and Michael Griffin) have made to Pro Bowl in the three seasons since. Just goes to show how truly great you have to be to be an NFL standout.

In more draft news, Quan Cosby signed with the Bengals, making them the second team, along with the Bears, to sign a former ACU and UT player in the same draft.

Attoning For Past Mistakes

This picture has nothing to do with the column, but any time you can put up the original TCB team, you've got to do it.

One of my new found ways to kill time/delay doing school work is reading old posts on this and other blogs. (For a comprehensive list of said blogs, scroll to the post a few days ago. Yep, still no password)

It is fun to read thoughts, observations, and comments from the past and see how they turned out in real life. For the heck of it, here are some interesting points I came across, as well as some corrections for totally wrong predictions.

From a post about the Cowboys signing Pacman: I endorsed Adam coming to Dallas. I thought that was a good idea at the time, and would work well for the Boys. I was wrong.

From a post talking about the upcoming 2008 NCAA football season. I did not include Colt McCoy as one of the top QB's in the nation. Granted, he was coming off a very mediocre 2007, and there were even some UT fans calling for John Chiles to start, but looking back, that was one of my (thankfully) worst misses ever. And that includes the baby-blue thrift store suit I wore to freshman formal at ACU.

Not interviewing someone from the Real World when that mysterious commenter said I could if i wanted to last spring. Weird sequence of events, but I should have been more proactive.

In a post about UT's basketball uniforms, I mentioned how many teams had gone to Nike's System of Dress. One year later, and even more teams have gone the Dress route. Even Davidson started wearing it in the NIT this year, along with Gonzaga in the NCAA's. Just terrible, someone has to stop Nike.

Saying that Texas would 'probably' miss Jamaal Charles in 2008. Um, yuh think so, Doctor? Yes, they had a great '08, better than anyone, myself included, expected, but how good would they have been if JC was in the lineup? Their biggest offensive woe was not having a reliable running game and, as Shirley Q Liquor would say, "I shudders to think" how potent the offense would have been had Jamaal come back.

At various points, I talked about being a Tech fan. I don't know what it is, but since we've been here, I like them less and less. Before coming to Lubbock, I could stand the Raiders to a degree, as long as they weren't playing Texas, but now, I really can't bring myself to root for them. Of course, this may have something to do with it.*

It was sad to read in post how excited I was about the Cowboys upcoming season. At some point, I claimed that, unless they AT LEAST reached the Super Bowl, it would be a disappointing season. Umm. The way things turned out, it wasn't that bad when they missed the playoffs, because you could see it coming since November, but still. To have such high expectations and fall so short of them is...well, it's being a Dallas Cowboy fan.

Back when Jig posted, he predicted a six loss season for the New England Patriots. They lost five times, but it was still a great prediction.

At one point, I talked about enjoying golf. I have since not done much enjoying, but the Masters is right around the corner, so maybe I'll get back into it. At least for one weekend.

In one of my first posts about Lost, I called Juliette a harlot, and talked about how I didn't like her. Juliette, I'm sorry. You're not a harlot. In fact, I like you a lot. She has her heart in the right place (I think) and the Juliette/Sawyer pair is significantly better than Team Kate/Jack.

I can't think of anything else right now. As the days and months go along, I'll definitely made observations and predictions that will turn out to be completely off-base, and when that day comes, please dear reader, call me out. Until then, so long.

*Watching that video made my stomach hurt. Granted, that could have been the two cups of coffee I drank, but I digress. The clip didn't show UT scoring with 20 seconds left on the play clock (mistake #1)**, but it did show their terrible kick coverage after the kickoff went into the end zone (mistake #2), then the rest of the drive, in which UT allowed Tech to do pretty much anything they wanted, including running the game-winning play a first time, around midfield, with the defensive back not looking at Harrell the entire play. Sound familiar? Then, of course, was the non-interception, that I still think will be caught every time I watch a replay. What makes it even worse that it already is, on this video, is the Tech radio guys talking about how the pass was picked and the game is over, only to realize their team still has life after watching the replay.

**Actually, mistake #1 was the running play that resulted in the safety in the first quarter. Mistake #2 was Shipley dropping a wide-open bomb that would probably have resulted in a momentum-changing TD for the Horns. Those two plays set the tone, and all in all, there were about 20 different things that, if just one or maybe two go UT's way, they win. Someday, I'm going to get over this, I promise.

Final Thoughts for College Football

Alright, so it's a little late, but some final thoughts on the Bowl Season, up to this point:

• I'm very, very glad Texas woke up and decided to play the second half Monday night. I was not looking forward to the 'I told you so, you buch of no good cry-babies' articles if the Horns lost to Ohio State.



• As for the Big XII, not a great showing overall from the upper-echilon. Lackluster performances from Texas and Mizzou, and losses by Okie State and Tech.



• How great was it to see Tech get it handed to them though? Seriously, they're nowhere near the same team when playing away from Lubbock.



• So remind me again why Oklahoma should be rewarded so much for beating Cincinatti? That was an impressive OOC victory for the Sooners? Really? Call me crazy, but at this point, UT's victory over Arkansas is considerably more impressive than OU's win over Cincy (Arkie beat LSU, who killed Ga Tech, who embarrassed UGA, etc) They suck.



• I was listening to Dan Wetzel, a Yahoo! Sports writer on Houston sports radio yesterday, and he had a great idea: instead of having BCS bowl games in cavernous, tired NFL stadiums that have no atmosphere, (see: Phoenix Stadium and Superdome, The) why not play them in college stadiums? Wetzel argued that the games should be played in one of the participants home stadiums, but that could give the home team an unfair advantage in what should be a neutral site game. Expanding on Wetzel's idea, I'd love to see BCS games be played at college stadiums of teams that aren't playing in a BCS game. Imagine how sweet the Fiesta Bowl would have been if the game took place at Neyland Stadium, or between the hedges in Athens, GA. Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but I think that would really give the BCS a much-needed boost in atmosphere and add some of the pagentry that makes college football so special in the first place.

That'll do it for now, just remeber kids: When Oklahoma wins, everyone loses.

Who Put Sour Grapes in The Bottle?

I realize that things have been pretty slow around here lately, but I promise a bowl recap soon, as well as a very belated best/worst of 2008 column in the near future.

In the meantime, here's a funny half-minute video of a kid's reaction to the ending of last night's Fiesta Bowl. Just a lovely child.








Also, what I'm reading now:

The Year of Living Biblically, by AJ Jacobs. I worried that this book, written by an agnostic Jew from New York, would be sarcastic and sacreligious, but it's an extremely honest, thoughtful look at religion from an outsiders view. I'm 100 pages in, and highly recommend it.

We're Number One?

Obviously, I'm thrilled with the results of Saturday's Red River Rivalry, even though the Cowboys did their part to dampen my spirits yesterday. The game was exciting, and each team played well, which is different from most of the RRR's from this decade.

There is one thing that I just can't seem to wrap my mind around, and it's really thrown me for a loop. Texas is ranked number one? In the country? In football? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with how they've played, and beating your rival, who just happend to be number one at the time, is always cause for celebration. However, coming into this season, I had no expectations for this team. The young defense, the new coaches, inexperienced skill players, and zero running game had me, and many other Longhorn fans looking forward to 2009 as the year that things came together and they made a run at the title. I'm still not sure that they will win any title, but the fact that they're where they are right now quite honestly blows my mind.

This is the first time UT has been ranked number one in the regular season since I was mere months old, so needless to say, I don't really know how to react. Granted, when three of the four teams in front of Texas lost on Saturday, they sorta had to jump to the top, especially since the other team-Alabama-was idle. So call it what you want: A fluke, a top ranking by default, or whatever, the fact remains-I have NO idea what will happen the rest of the season, but I'm tickled to death that the rest of the season matters for the 2008 Texas Longhorns.

Now the challenge poses itself for the Horns-how do you perform when you're supposed to win? Remember, coming into this season, no one was really talking about them as a serious conference or national championship contender. I think they used some of that 'disrespect' as fuel to go out and show the nation that they are a legit team that must be taken seriously. Now that they have a big victory and people are starting to pay attention, how will they respond? If they are like any of the 2000-2003 Texas Lonhorns, they will lose at least one big game this year that may cost them a championship, bowl positioning, etc, and be labled as soft and overrated. However, if they keep the "everybody doubts us" mentality, they may go on to great things and make this an extremely memorable year. You know what my hopes are for them, I just know that I won't ever make another prediction about this team again. Hook 'Em.

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.

Gettin Older By The Day

As some of you may have heard by now, today is my birthday. That’s right, I’m celebrating the completion of my 24th year here on planet Earth. (And subsequently, the start of my 25th year, which makes me feel old)* To commemorate this fantastic day, I’m gonna run down my life and give a highlight or two from each year. I apologize if this seems self-centered and arrogant, I needed an idea for a post and well, this day only comes around once a year. Here goes…

Year One: May 23, 1984-May 22, 1985- Didn’t do too much. My days consisted mostly of sleeping, eating and pooping. Not unlike my freshman year at ACU.

Year Two: May 23, 1985-May 22, 1986- Started this year out by overindulging myself with chocolate cake in front of family and friends in the backyard. I think I learned to crawl that year, too. This was probably awesome because I could get around the house, and run amok.

Year Three: May 23, 1986-May 22, 1987- My first birthday as a big brother. This was probably cool because there were more people at my party.

Year Four: May 23, 1987-May 22, 1988- Tuesday/Thursday school began, which was again, probably neat, as was graduating into being a very good walker and more than adequate runner. (I may have been a good runner/walker earlier than this, but really, I don’t remember)

Year Five: May 23, 1988-May 22, 1989- Don’t remember too much from this year. The late ‘80s were hard, I guess. I do remember, however, losing my first tooth the day before my fifth birthday. I did this by, wait for it, wait for it…biting a tennis ball. What was wrong with me?

Year Six: May 23, 1989-May 22, 1990- Began and completed my first year of real school, at Bethune Elementary in Temple, Texas. That school year was especially sweet since it began with me wearing my killer Snoopy shorts to school the first day.

Year Seven: May 23, 1990-May 22, 1991- First grade. Tee-Ball. Not much else.

Year Eight: May 23, 1991-May 22, 1992- Second grade. Tee-Ball and Soccer. Moved to Belton. Not much else.

Year Nine: May 23, 1992-May 22, 1993- Third grade. Our family moved into our new home in Belton, where many of my boyhood memories reside. Also, the Dallas Cowboys won their first Super Bowl of my lifetime, a 52-17 whippin of the Buffalo Bills.

Year Ten: May 23, 1993-May 22, 1994- All Cowboys, all the time. They beat the Bills for the second straight year, sending me into great expectations for the ‘Boys for the rest of my life.

Year Eleven: May 23, 1994-May 22, 1995- My basketball Jones is struck, as I see the Houston Rockets win the first of two consecutive NBA Championships. Between January 1993, and January 1996, teams I rooted for won a combined FIVE Championships. Great times for a young sports fan.

Year Twelve: May 23, 1995-May 22, 1996- The Boys win their third Super Bowl in four years, placing my expectations for them somewhere in the “unrealistic” stratosphere for the rest of my childhood. My final year of Little League baseball also came to a crushing end, as my (awesome) team, the Indians, lost for the first time all season in the district tournament. This was especially disappointing since the state tournament was held in Belton that year, and we expected to be there. Our season ended with a 35-2 record. Not bad, but very disappointing since the two losses came back-to-back to end the year. And no, I’m not still bitter. For real.

Year Thirteen: May 23, 1996-May 22, 1997- My first year at Belton Junior High is in the books, as is my first year of organized football. This turned out to be highly disappointing since I saw myself as a potent wide receiver threat, but the BJH coaches saw us as a highly effective running team. Conflict of interest ensues.

Year Fourteen: May 23, 1997-May 22, 1998- I see my first live NBA game in San Antonio. The Spurs are playing the Rockets, and Chuck Barkley gets kicked out of the game for punting the ball into the stands. It is at this point that I officially convert to being a Spurs fan for life. This is a decision that will pay off greatly in the future. Also, organized football is officially out of my life. I choose to focus my high school career on basketball, track, and mid-level AP classes.

Year Fifteen: May 23, 1998-May 22, 1999- Get through my first year of high school alive. Good enough for me.

Year Sixteen: May 23, 1999-May 22, 2000- Lowlight of this year would undoubtedly be watching my mom fall on a bunny slope in Steamboat Springs, CO and break a few ribs and puncture a lung. It would have been a much better trip if that hadn’t happened.

Year Seventeen: May 23, 2000-May 22, 2001- Make the varsity basketball team at BHS, end up starting the second half of the year, and help the team get to the playoffs for the first time in ten years, as well as get named Second Team All-District. A heartbreaking OT loss in the first round of the playoffs really sucked, though.

Year Eighteen: May 23, 2001-May 22, 2002- The basketball team had a great season, winning our first 11 games and finishing 29-6. Another Second team All-District selection was nice, but winning the school’s first outright district championship was very cool. As far as track went, decent year overall, a third place finish in the district meet was acceptable.

Year Nineteen: May 23, 2002-May 22, 2003- Arguably the greatest year ever for me. ACU, freshman year, dorms, curfew, lighting the bathroom on fire, staying up, sneaking out, meeting some of my best friends to this day. All in all, a pretty stinkin good year.

Year Twenty: May 23, 2003-May 22, 2004- This year started on a very bad note, as I got a ticket for speeding on my birthday on my way home from a super-cruddy summer job at a factory. It got progressively better, though, as I made the wise decision to pledge GSP in the fall, and yes, met Kayla in the Spring of 2004.

Year Twenty-One: May 23, 2004-May 22, 2005- Another great year at ACU, highlighted by my first year living in the Burgh with my roomies, being GSP intramural director, and participating in Insanity For Humanity, the 60-hour softball game that GSP played in order to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.

Year Twenty-Two: May 23, 2005-May 22, 2006- What do you know, another great year in college! Began this one in Oxford, England during a Maymester Summer Course. The great year continued with the UT baseball team winning the NCAA championship, the Spurs winning their third NBA Championship, and of course, the Horns winning the BCS championship in the greatest bowl game ever. Oh yeah, I also proposed and graduated that year.

Year Twenty-Three: May 23, 2006-May 22, 2007- Lived by myself in Graham, Texas. While it was different, it was still quite the learning experience, and I enjoyed living out there. Special memories of Graham include coaching the 7th grade B team to an 18-16 victory over Vernon with my dad in the stands, and getting to drive his truck around for a week after my car broke down on New Year’s Day.

Year Twenty-Four: May 23, 2007-May 22, 2008- Two weeks into this year, I got married. That was neat, and so was the Honeymoon to El Dorado Royale. I Began working at Sartartia Middle School in August, and got my special education certification shortly thereafter. In December, I started the sports blog you’re reading with a buddy. I still think that was a good idea. And now, as one year of life ends, and another begins, I’m preparing to move waaaayyyy out West to pursue a Master’s Degree. Whoda thunk, going from sleeping and pooping all day to chasing advanced education? And to think, it only took six years.

*Alright, I need help with this, because it’s really freaking me out. While today I celebrate my 24th birthday, it’s really the beginning of my 25th year, right? So why don’t we celebrate our birthday the day before we were actually born? For instance, I was born on May 23, 1984, so shouldn’t my first birthday have been celebrated on May 22, 1985, since that marked the completion of my first year? Because the way we go about celebrating birthdays is actually to celebrate on the first day of the person’s next year, correct? And if so, that just cheapens the whole experience of a birthday party, like hello, we need one more candle here!?!? If this makes sense to anyone, help me out; if it was too confusing and poorly worded, I apologize, I’m just a bit frazzled here.

-Old Twig

I Think...

In honor of JAT's first post of the month, I'm going to do my impression of Sports Illustrated's Peter King, and post my version of "Ten Things I Think I Think..."

I Think:
1) That Monday night's overtime Championship game saved what was, until that point, a very mediocre Tournament.

2) John Calipari would be a great used-car salesman. ("No, no, don't worry about the squeaky breaks, I promise, they'll work when you really need them. For real, this thing's a beauty.")

3) It would be awesome if the Rangers continued this lose-win-lose-win-lose streak. Everyone knows they aren't making the playoffs, so it would be fantastic if they finish the year at 81-81 by alternating wins and losses all season. Of course, now that I've jinxed them, they'll go on a ten game losing streak and be mathematically eliminated by my birthday. (Bonus points for anyone who knows when that is.)

4) This years NFL Draft should be fantastic. There really isn't anyone who's guaranteed to go anywhere, so it oughta be pretty entertaining to see how it all shakes out.

5) The Cowboys should trade for both Pacman and Ocho Cinco. Why not?

6) Slip-and-slide Bingo, or whatever you want to call it, is the wave of the future. I demand that it be included in the Summer Olympics by 2024. Or at least shown on ESPN 7 Tuesday nights at 10:30.

7) That if Kayla and I end up going to Tech for grad school next year, it's gonna very weird rooting for the Raiders. I like them just fine, and with the exception of when they play UT, I'll do my darndest to cheer for them, but still, gosh.

8) That DJ Augustin may actually stay in school. If I were him, I'd be declaring for sure. However, he isn't in the situation where he has to provide for his family, and he seems to be a pretty good student, and if he does come back, the Horns would be on the short list of Tourney favorites. If I were to bet, I'd say he's gone, but you never know...

9) The NBA Champion will come from the East. I want the Spurs to win, and I'm aware that approximately 9 of the 12 best teams in the League reside in the West, but after the way they're going to beat up on each other in the playoffs, I don't know if they'll have enough to beat the winner of the Detroit/Boston winner. (Let's face it, if the Pistons and Celtics don't face each other in the East Finals, everyone will be shocked.)

10) If the Seattle/OKC Sonics get the number one pick in the draft, they should select DRose from Memphis. Think about that young nucleus-KD, Jeff Green, and Rose--yikes. In a few years, they could be yet another team in the very very deep West.

That's all I've got, stay tuned for more mindless predictions and thoughts that don't really mean anything. This is Twig, signing off.

Mammoth Fan Watching

Tonight was quite an historic night, as I completed the Mammoth Reliant Stadium quad-fecta. You might be wondering what the Mammoth Reliant Stadium quad-fecta is, and well, dear reader, I'll tell you. The MRSQF, as it will from here on be known as, is the feat I comleted this very evening. This feat is something that I seriously doubt anyone in the history of Creation has ever atempted, much less accomplished. The MRSQF is the fact that I've been to Mammoth Reliant 4 times, each time for different sporting events. This past December, former roomate Garrett Oakley and I went to the Texans/Broncos game, giving me my first taste of Mammoth Reliant. In February, the Jig and I went to the USA/Mexico soccer 'friendly' at the Mammoth, which was quite possibly the most intense three hours of my life. Just two weeks ago, the in-laws-and I went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which was quite enjoyable, especially with our frontish row seats. I mean really, we almost got bull slobber on us during the bullriding contest. And finally, tonight, the wife and I made the three-minute train ride to Mammoth Reliant in hopes of scalping tickets for the South Regional Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament which, as you know, pitted the Texas Longhorns and the Stanford Cardinal in the first game, and the Memphis Tigers and Michigan State Spartans in the nightcap. I had almost our entire grocery money for the month in my pocket, and to our luck, the first people we ran into had two extra tickets for the evening. Also to my good fortune, the tickets were in a decent location, and the couple was offering them for face value, which is always nice when scalping tickets (side note: at work today, I looked at buying tickets online, and tickets in the exact spot we ended up getting were $30 more than we got ours) So, feeling good about saving a little green, we went to our seats. They were in the corner of the court, on the front row of the second deck.
As you all know by now, the game went almost as well as any UT fan could have hoped for, with the Horns leading basically the whole game, and playing well on both ends of the court. After the first game, we stuck around to watch Memphis and Michigan State, to see what UT's Sunday opponent looks like. Well, as you also probably know by now, Memphis looks goooood. We ended up leaving at halfime with the Tigers leading by 30. The end of the first half looked a lot like a slam-dunk contest for the Tigers, and if Texas isn't able to keep them off the boards and running without abandon, Sunday could be ugly. However, if Texas can get physical with Memphis and control the tempo, I feel alright about their odds.
Also, as we were leaving the apartment earlier this evening, I was so excited to complete the MRSQF that I forgot to bring the camera to provide visual proof that we were there. Near the end of the Texas game, I built up enough courage to ask the lady next to us (A Memphis fan, the wife of the dude that sold us our tickets. His parents were going to go but couldn't make it, much to our benifit) if she would take a pic of Kayla and I and email it to us when they get home. It was a bit of an odd request, but she was happy-I think-to do it, and so hopefully in a few days I'll be able to post the picture here to show that this is in fact a true story, and not a bunch of gibberish. Well faithful readers, that'll be it for me tonight, I'm pooped from completing the five month, mentally and physically grueling MRSQF, and need some sleep. Over and out.

-Twig

@#%*$!*%#

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

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

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

Is Chris Jessie the luckiest man in the world?

Alrighty boys and girls, let's run through a quick recap of last night's Holiday Bowl between the Texas Longhorns and Arizona State Sun Devils.

Offensive MVP: Jamaal Charles-One could make an argument for Colt, but Jamaal showed why he was the best running back in the Big XII this year, continuously making big runs and keeping the Devils on their heels. I especially liked his Ladanian Tomlinson ball-flip celebration after his two TD's. Very cool.

Defensive MVP: All of 'em-Really, how can you pick just one? The front four was as dominant as they could be, and the secondary played their best game of the season by a mile. The hitting was exceptional too. I don't think I've seen the Horns that mean and aggressive on defense since their championsip run a couple years ago. Needless to say, it was a welcome development after ther no-show against atm last month. Apparently the ASU quarterback, Rudy Carpenter, was running his mouth all week about how he was gonna light UT up, and this may have sparked a little fire under the butts of the Longhorn defense. I don't know what it was, but it great to see the defense get after someone for once this year.

Biggest Dissapointment: Not really anything to be real critical of about the game, except the fact that this is how we (Horns fans) expected them to play all year. I'm not sure why it took 12 sub-par games, a second consecutive loss to the aggs, and a lackluster offensive season for them to decide, "hey, we're better than this," and play the kind of game they did last night. If they played like that all year, they're BCS bound for sure, and probably playing Ohio State for the championship. Arizona State was easily the second-best team UT played all year (after Oklahoma) and the Horns handled them. There's no way UT loses to atm or K-state, and maybe oklahoma, if they played the way they did against ASU all season. I'll try to look at the bright side and see this game for what will hopefully be a sign of how they'll play next year, and not a sign of what could have been this season.

Now, my thoughts on the play that is on everyone's mind after watching the game last night: The Chris Jessie play. (PS-could we start calling this the red-headed stepchild play? No? Alright, fine) First off, HE DIDN'T TOUCH THE BALL!! I thought I was going to have a heart attack after the refs gave it to ASU on the seven. I know the replay wasn't clear either way, but the trajectory of the ball didn't change, and there is no clear-cut evidence that he did touch it, meaning they shouldn't have overturned the call, which was that Texas recoverd it and returned it out past the 50. My theory is that the refs were making a bit of an examle out of him, since they had already given the UT sideline a warning. They may have thought, "Ehh, he may or may not have touched it, but we've already issued a warning, and there's still like 15 UT players and coaches on the field that don't need to be...screw it, he touched it. ASU ball on the seven yeard line!" Secondly, how relieved is this dude that Texas ended up winning? I know it's not a major bowl or whatever, but if ASU held on to that momentum and won by 7 or less, this Jessie fellow would have to leave the country-or at least Texas-to escape everyone hating him. As it turns out, he's now famous, everyone can laugh at it after the fact, and he'll be a cult hero in Texas football history. For some reason, I feel like he won't have to buy dinner or drinks in Austin for a long time. I have this image of him walking into a restaurant in Austin and acting like Rick James in those Chappelle skits. "I'm Chris Jessie!! You don't know who I am? I'm Chris Jessie!!" And everyone is like "Chris, come sit with us, we already ordered your diner! Chris over here, we saved you a seat!" And yes, maybe I'm rambling.

Well, I reckon that'll be all i have to say about the Horns for another 8 months or so...hahaha you don't know me very well then do you? I'll see ya when I see ya. Hook 'em.
-Twig

Destiny is calling me, Open up my eager eyes...

Greetings one and all, Twig here. Let me start this portion of greatness with two quick notes: First of all, I'm happy as a lark to be here. I was a semi-frequent contributor at another blog, but it seemed like most of my sports-related talk was over the head of much of the intended audience, so hopefully all three, maybe four people who read this will follow what I'm sayin a little better than my mother-in-law. Secondly, no idea where I got the name 'Twig,' but what Jiggerscout wants, Jiggerscout gets, so ask him. Speaking of Jig, I thought starting this thing off with a recap of the year's sporting events-both good and bad-was a great idea. I'll do a quick overview of my favs, but i'll keep it short since the two of us have a pretty like mind about sports, and I don't want it to seem to redundant. Here they are, in no particular order:

Sweet things about sports in 2007:
-Double Ball, Super Bowl Sunday, Spencer abode, McKinney Texas. If you don't know by now, you'll never know.

-Being lucky enough to be visiting my brother at Oklahoma Christian at the exact time the Big XII tourney was being played in OKC. We were heading back to the TX on Sunday, when we realized that UT was playing Kansas in the championship game that afternoon. I was able to convince my dad to scalp us some tickets after we said our goodbyes to my bro. Anywho, we scored some upper-deckers just before tip-off and proceeded to watch a great battle that went into OT. Unfortunately, the 'Horns fell by a couple of points, but it was a great game, with Kevin Durant going off for 37 in one of his last games as a Longhorn.

-Three of my discus kiddos placing in the 17-3A junior high district track meet. Had no idea what I was doing out there. Good times.

-Scoring a goal in the requisite soccer game out at Brandon's lake house during his bachelor party. That brings my career goals in soccer up to three. Once in youth league, once at ACU intramurals, and that one by the lake.

-Going to the UT-Tech football game in Austin last month with my parents and Kayla. She didn't exactly 'love it,' but it was a great atmosphere and the teams combined for 101 points.

-Spurs winning the NBA championship. Has anyone else realized that, if it weren't for Derek Fisher's miraculous shot with .4 seconds left in the 2004 playoffs, and Manu's idiotic foul of Dirk in the 2006 playoffs that this team could have potentially won five straight titles?

-Being at the game when Craig Biggio got his 3,000th hit. Special thanks to Garrett for inviting me and Kayla, and extra special thanks to Derek, Garrett's brother, and his girlfriend, for not going, so we could have the tickets.

Not Sweet Memories:
-Texas Rangers.

-The fumble game against the Seahawks. I was by myself in my apartment in Graham when it went down, and let me tell ya, that's about the lonliest feeling I've experienced as a sports fan. Not good times. Let's never talk about it again, alright?

-UT football. Yikes. I know, I know, "tons of teams would love to be 9-3 at the end of the year." Who cares? I'm tired of the choking in big games, losing crap-fest games to the aggs, and especially for all of the excuses after the games. With a few exceptions, the team underachieved this year, and something needs to change, even though I'm not sure it will. Note to Mack: Get rid of Greg Davis (the offensive coordinator. and I do mean "offensive") and most of the rest of the staff, start over with a new philosophy, and use your players to the best of their abilities.

-Leaving the Biggio game in the top of the 10th, well after number 3,000 was in the books, so we could beat the traffic. We did beat the traffic, but missed Carlos Lee's walk-off GRAND SLAM. Nice idea, G.

-I know this will ruffle a few feathers, but to an extent, the Boston Red Sox. They're still my second-favorite team, but really, how are they any different than the Yankees at this point? We used to hate the Yanks for buying championships, not developing talent, and just outbidding everyone else. Well, folks, the Sawks paid $50 million just to TALK to Dice-K, then proceeded to give him something like an 80 mill contract. Same can be said for a lot of their free agent signings-just pay them more than everyone else, and hope to beat the Yankees to the punch. For those who disagree, please respond and tell me how the Sox are any different than the Yanks nowdays. For the record, I'm still rooting for Boston when the two play.

-Mike Vick, Tom Donaghy, Mitchell Report, etc. Some things you can't escape.

All in all, a pretty entertaining year in sports, looking forward to 2008 already.

That'll be it for now, if anyone is reading I've got a little game for y'all before my next post . In college, Justin Scott and I played a little game where we would spout off Heisman trophy winners as far back as we could remember. I can get to about 1993 or so, but Scotty J can go all the way back to, like, 1974-dudes got the memory of an owl. Or is it elephant? I dunno. Anyway, without doing any research, post the winners as far back as you can remember. You'll have to be honest, it's no fun if you use the internet to cheat. I'll have a follow-up post tomorrow or friday, depending on the responses, and we'll see where we can go with that. Alright folks, you've been great, can't wait to see where this goes.

twig