Snake Dogg Blogg

Sports

UT Basketball

I finally got a chance to watch the Texas Mens Basketball team again.  Unfortunately it was the Villanova game and we got schooled and played like shit.  Thoughts:

• Even though Durant had what was probably his worst game of the season, he's still a complete badass and more than ready for the NBA.  He's a cross between a poor man's Tracy McGrady and a poor man's Kevin Garnett.  He'll be an NBA All-Star within the next 5 years.
• Abrams' position as the only experienced player on the team has caused him to shoot too much.  He's an adequate 3 point shooter but only if he's open.  In the "nova game he jacked some seriously contested 3's from WAY behind the line.  Not smart when you've got at least 3 other capable scorers on the court.
• Augustin is a good player.  I can't put my finger on who he reminds me of, but he can score, handle, and pass.  He's a very well rounded PG.
• Our frontcourt completely sucks.  Atchley is worthless.  He's like a Lesley's Brian Boddicker.  Matt Hill looks like he could be somebody but he's a ways away.  Why we aren't playing big Dex Pittman more is beyond me.  Especially in these non-conference games.  If you're gonna burn a year of eligibility, at least make it worth it.
• I like the way Justin Mason plays.  He reminds me of Royal Ivey and Ivan Wagner.
• Next year's team will be strong, especially if our bigs develop.  Of course we'll miss Durant but between Augustin and Abrams we'll have one of the best backcourts in the country.
• I'm sticking to a round of 32 exit prediction.  Hell, at this point we're not even guaranteed a spot in the tourney.

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Raptors

I got to watch another game the other night, and they have a ton of talent but haven't made much progress in my eyes since the beginning of the season.  I am a firm believer that they will need a different coach to reach their potential.

• Bosh is one of the top 5 bigs in the game.
• As of this posting, the Raps are only 1.5 games behind New Jersey for the division lead.  They currently sit 8th in the playoff pecking order, which means they'd be in.  With their talent, no one will want to play them.  With their coach and experience, they'll be an easy out.
• Between TJ (PG), Bargnani (SF), Bosh (PF), and Garbajosa (6th man), they've got a good core of players to build on.  They need to decide what they want to do with MoPete, and they need to go ahead and replace Sam Mitchell with a good coach.  Their bench is stacked with talented young players in Graham, Tucker, Calderon, and Kris Humphries.
• Mark my words, the Raps will make the conference finals in the next 3 seasons.

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UT Football

The season is over and signing day is a couple weeks away.  The last month has brought only bad news with regards to recruiting.  Thoughts:

• This past year was pretty bland, unexciting, and mediocre, but we deserved that after the dream season.

My predicted 2007 4-deep roster:

Pos	Starter	Backup	3rd String	Redshirt/Squad
QB	C. McCoy So.	Harris Fr.	Chiles Fr.	Kinne Fr.
RB	Charles Jr.	McGee Fr.	Whittaker  Fr.	C. Johnson Fr.
FB	Tiemann Sr.*	Ogbannaya Jr.	Cobb Fr.	Spears Jr.*
WR	Sweed Sr.	Hardy Jr.	Walker Jr.	J. Marshall Fr.
WR	Cosby Jr.	N. Jones Sr.	Payne Fr.	Orr Jr.*
WR	Pittman Sr.	Shipley Jr.	Webber Fr.	M. Williams Fr.
TE	Finley So.	Ullman Jr.	Smith Fr.	Irby Fr.
OT	Hills Sr.	Webb So.	McWhorter So.*	Hix Fr.
OG	Burnette Fr.	S. Moore Fr.	Huey Fr.	Wilcoxon Fr.
C	D. Griffin Sr.	Tanner So.	M. Taylor Jr.*	Harvey Jr.*
OG	Dockery Jr.	C. Hall So.	Oldis So.*	McGaskey Fr.
OT	Ulatoski So.	Mitchell Fr.	Watts Fr.	Allen Fr.
DE	Orakpo Jr.	H. Melton Jr.	Ellis Fr.	Howard Fr.
DT	Okam Sr.	T. Marshall Sr.	A. Jones Fr.	Carter Fr.
DT	Lokey Sr.	Miller Jr.	Alexander So.	Higgins Fr.
DE	Lewis Jr.	Houston So.	E. Jones Fr.	Acho Fr.
LB	Killebrew Sr.	Kindle So.	Redwine Jr.	Robinson Fr.
LB	Bobino Jr.	Norton So.	Earnest Fr.	Bondy Sr.*
LB	Muckelroy So.	Derry Sr.	Campbell Jr.	Kugler Jr.*
CB	Foster Sr.	Beasley So.	Palmer Jr.	E. Thomas Fr.
CB	Chy. Brown Fr.	Jackson Sr.	C. Brown Fr.	Moench Jr.*
FS	Ma. Griffin Sr.	Wells Fr.	Oduegwu So.	Collins Fr.
SS	Kelson Sr.	Joseph So.	Henry Fr.	Gatewood Sr.
K/P	Bailey Jr.*	Gerland So.	Lawrence Fr.	J. Moore Jr.*
	* denotes walk-on

Things I would like to see happen before the next season starts:

• John Chiles get the backup QB spot and have his own package of plays a la Tim Tebow.
• Cody Johnson seize the backup RB spot.  We need a RB with some size.  Johnson's HS highlights make him look like Ricky.
• All of our WR's stay healthy.  Sweed will be important next year.
• Find a good blocking TE.  Pete Ullman ain't it.  Finley has all the potential in the world but he isn't going to push anybody back on 4th and 1.
• Buck Burnette, Michael Huey, and Tray Allen all on the 2-deep of the OL.  OG/C is our biggest question mark IMO, and seeing these FR overtake some upperclassmen would be a good sign.
• Henry Melton kick ass at DE.  It would be a damn shame for him to waste all that talent.
• Lamarr Houston or Eddie Jones beat out Aaron Lewis to replace Brian Robison.  Lewis is a decent player but his potential is limited.  Jones and HOuston could be beasts.
• Sergio Kindle, Jared Norton, and Rod Muckelroy be our starting LB's.  Robert Killebrew is the weak link on our D.  I won't be pissed if Bobino is still the starter, but having a new DC/LB coach is the chance to put Kill's ass on the bench.  Kindle and Muck need to be out there.
• Chykie step up and seize a starting job at corner.  Foster and Palmer need to be special teamers at best.  Behind OG/C, CB is our weak spot.  Hopefully between Beasley, Chykie, Curtis Brown, Ben Wells and Erick Jackson, we can find 2 badasses.  I'm a big Erick Jackson guy.  He was our best special teams tackler and deserves to be on the field as either starting CB, starting FS, or nickel back.
• Drew Kelson at SS.  He has OU's Roy Williams body.  We need an obliterator back there.  I wouldn't mind seeing Marcus Griffin on the bench, with Robert Joseph, Ishie, or Erick Jackson taking his place.  I predict Drew Kelson will be an All-American this year and a 1st day pick in the NFL draft.  Marcus Griffin was out of position too much this past year and he doesn't have good instincts or killer speed.
• As I've said all along, we have a VERY good chance of running the table next year.  TCU, NEbraska, and Tech (all home games) won't be gimmes, and A&M and OSU will keep it close on the road, but we should be favored by at least 7 in every game.  We've got as good a chance as anybody.

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Dallas Cowboys

Poor Tony Romo.  Talk about a fall from grace.  Oh well.  As long as Parcells comes back they'll be right there in it.  Thoughts:

• Get rid of T.O.  He's horrible in so many ways.
• We need OL help.  2 of our top 3 picks inthe draft should be linemen, unless we draft a receiver to replace TO.
• Our defense should be the best in the league.  Talentwise, it's there.  The DC hire is a biggie.
• Next season should be Parcells' last year.

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Houston Astros

Looking forward to seeing a few 'stros games this summer (CK, Ojo?).  I'm satisfied with a rotation of Oswalt, Jennings and Woody.  Between Sampson, Albers, Wandy, and Nieve, we should be able to find a 4th and 5th starter.  Damn shame about Backe.  If Luke Scott picks up where he left off last year and Ensberg returns to 2005 form, our offense will be badass.  Weak links: Defensive outfield, offensive 7th and 8th hitters (Everett, Ausmus, why god why).  IMO nothing matters if Lidge can't get it back.

The Raptor Report and UT basketball preview

• I had my first chance to watch the Toronto Raptors since I pledged my loyalty.  Here are my thoughts:
• They wasted the #1 pick.  Bargnani is horrible.  Takes way too many shots, can't play D, and plays like he's 6'7" when he's 6'11".  Any of the top 5 American players in the draft would have been better (Rudy Gay, Aldridge, Roye, Foye, Williams), and Gay would have been a perfect fit for this team.
• T.J. Ford is still one of the quickest players in the league and also one of the game's best dribblers and passers, but if the Raps are ever going anywhere, he's going to have to improve his mid-range jumper and decision making.  He limits the O because he can't shoot and he hurts the team with turnovers.  That said, I still think he's one of the top 15 PGs in the league, and you can tell he and Chris Bosh have great chemistry (they go way back--to the Texas AAU circuit).
• Bosh is a stud and he's only 20 years old.  You can tell he's still fairly raw but that's commonplace in today's NBA.  He is one of the top 10 players in the game and I dare say one of the top 3 PF's out there.
• They need to give PJ Tucker all of Kris Humphries minutes.  PJ working 10-15 minutes a game would let them see if he can be the defensive stopper they need.  He's certainly more athletic than any of their other 3's.
• Morris Peterson is underrated.  He's lights out from outside and brings a good veteran presence and solid d.
• All of their European players (Bargnani, Calderon, Garbajosa, Nesterovic, Parker) shoot WAY too much and don't play any fucking defense.
• The Raptors are 2 moves away from contending: bring in a defensive minded athletic swingman with some outside touch (in the mold of Bruce Bowen, although Caron Butler would be PERFECT), and fire Sam Mitchell and bring in a coach who can get the team to play together, hustle, and play solid defense.  Their defense was horrendous and it looked like they were fielding two seperate teams (one American, one international).
• At this point I'm predicting 40 wins at best, probably closer to 30.  With Mitchell as their coach they're F'ed.  But Colangelo will get rid of him and bring in someone good.  They have their 3 key players (Bosh, Ford, Peterson) locked up, so they can focus solely on adding the missing links.  Add a good swingman and a workable center, and they are pretty much there.

I haven't had a chance to watch UT's team, but I've read all the write-ups.  Here're my mostly conjected thoughts:

• Durant is one and done.  He is a good player and the real deal.
• Our lack of a true quality big will keep us from going further than the Sweet 16, if that. I predict we're out in the 2nd round.
• Damion James is a cross between Gabe Muoneke and PJ Tucker.  That's a good thing.  He'll be a 2 year player.
• Barnes will make an Augustin/Abrams backcourt work.  Big guards may kill us because of this, but those 2 players are too good not to have out there simultaneously.
• Abrams will be remembered as one of the top 20 players ever to come to Texas.  He could be a poor man's Chauncey Billups.  If he were 6'3" instead of 5'10", he'd be a surefire NBA player.
• Augustin reminds me of Augie Pedraza.  Short and squatty, relies on his quickness much more than speed.  He'll play 3 years I think.
• We're asking WAY too much of Hill, Atchley, and Pittman down low. They each need 2 more years to be badass.
• A core group of Abrams, Augustin, Hill, Pittman, and a stud freshman have a damn good chance at winning UT's first title in a couple years.
• Justin Mason is a good player and will be our defensive stopper a la Freddie Williams a couple years back.
• I'd vote for reshirting Pittman and Harrison Smith, but it won't happen.
• UT's a top 10 team on talent, and has one of the 10 best coaches in the game, but I still think we bow out in the 2nd round of the tourney.
• It's a damn shame our basketball program doesn't get the support it deserves, but I honestly think Rick Barnes likes it this way.  He gets top notch $, recruits, and facilities without any of the expectations.  He would have to miss the tourney two years in a row to get canned.  It's a dream job for a laid back guy like him.  (Me making my judgement that he is "laid back" based on the two times I've seen him.  Once, Maddie and I went to eat at Hyde Park Bar & Grill, and he was in there waiting to get a table.  I said, "Hey, Coach.", and he goes "Hey brother, what's up."  like all laid back and stuff.  It was cool.  The other time I saw him was at the food court in Dobie Mall.  He was eating a Niki's Pizza, and he looked all laid back and stuff.  He rules.)

Well that sucked balls

Well, we knew coming into this season that this wasn't the year, so, F it.  It's cool.  As long as we win out, it'll be a successful season.  Beat the crap out of A&M, beat the crap out of Nebraska, and win our BCS bowl game handily (against Boise St.).  That'll set us up for a title run next year.  Our schedule sets up right for it and we've got the talent.  That said, that Joe Walker shit is incredible; just incredible.

Things I want to see in the next 3 games:

• Get the secondary ready for next year.  We need to see lots of Erick Jackson and Deon Beasley at corner, and a mixture of Ishie/Gatewood/Marcus Griffin/Robert Joseph at safety.
• Play the backup O-linemen.  Get quality reps for Dallas Griffin, Chris Hall, Charlie Tanner, and J'Marcus Webb.
• Get rid of Joe Walker and Duane Akina.  Akina has always been overrated adn this year proves it.

Other CFB notes:

• National Championship: Ohio State over Florida
• Rose Bowl: Michigan over USC
• Sugar Bowl: Georgia Tech over Arkansas
• Orange Bowl: Rutgers over Notre Dame
• Fiesta Bowl: Texas over Boise St.
• Left out: Louisville, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wake Forest
• Heisman: 1.)Troy Smith 2.)Brady Quinn  3.)Ray Rice 4.)Chris Leak 5.)Steve Slaton/Brian Brohm
• So now I just hope that Ohio State loses to Michigan and there are 11 one loss teams so that everyone demands a playoff.
• Can't believe my last post didn't get more play.  I guess I should be relieved.

It all comes down to this...

Quick thoughts about the football weekend before I get to what I am thinking about:

• Texas should have lost that game.  The game was poorly coached on both sides.  NU douched it by not running up the middle on that 3rd down where they ended up fumbling.  UT douched it be calling an EXTREMELY ill-advised jump ball pass on that 3rd down at the very end of the game.  Can you imagine the Greg Davis bashing had that one been picked off?
• Poor Terrance Nunn.  BBBAAAAAAAAHHHH.  Change your name to Lambert, goat.
• Texas' secondary is horrendous.  The only player back there that has been worth more than my nipples the last 2 games has been Aaron Ross, who has made himself millions in the last 3 weeks.  Michael Griffin, Marcus Griffin, Deon Beasley, Tarell Brown, and the rest of the DBs have sucked BALLS.  Out of position, milk toast, poor tackling ballsuckers.
• Brian Orakpo: WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING HITTING THAT QUARTERBACK LATE?!?!?!! YOU STUPID MOTHERFUCKER!
• Hat's off to A. Lewis and S. Derry for overcoming their whiteness.  They've finally sold me.
• Texas has no business near a national title game.  We're better than the Cotton Bowl, but nowhere near Championship caliber.
• Selving Young looked good.  So did Limas Sweed and the Quan.
• We REALLY needed Michigan to lose to Iowa if we were gonna go all the way.  Didn't happen.
• Heisman: 

  	Best Player	Best Player on Best Team	Most Hyped Player	Current Favorites
  	C. Johnson	T. Smith	Quinn	T. Smith
  	Peterson	Slaton	Peterson	Slaton
  	Wolfe	Henne	Leak	Quinn
  	Slaton	Leak	T. Smith	Wolfe
  	T. Smith	Booty	Brohm	White

• Look out for Rutgers.  They are legit.  If Mack Brown retired, I'd want Greg Schiano to be his replacement.
• Bowl Predictions:

  Championship

  Ohio St. vs. USC

  Sugar

  Florida vs. Clemson

  Orange

  Notre Dame vs. Boise St.

  Fiesta

  Texas vs. W. Virginia

  Rose

  Michigan vs. Louisville

• Teams I want to see UT play sometime soon: Notre Dame, Tennessee, Florida, Miami, Florida State, Alabama, Auburn, Cal, UCLA, USC (again), Michigan (again), Ohio State (again).  Also would like to see a home and home against Wisconsin.
• Colt McCoy = James Street
• Best Conferences in order: SEC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, PAC 10, ACC
• This next weekend shapes up pretty boring.  Hope Va. Tech loses to Clemson, but other than that, no real possibility of upsets that help Texas.  We'll prolly throttle Texas Tech on Saturday.

Ok, on to what I really want to talk about.  Ryan f'n Bailey.  Ryan mf'n Bailey. 

I've always wondered if I would look back on my life and be able to pinpoint the moments in which my overall success as a human being were determined.  I mean, in a normal dude's life, I don't think you come up to a moment knowing "Ok, this is it.  I either come through here, or I'm totally fucked forever".  I look back on my life so far and there are only a couple moments that even come close to qualifying as that huge.  One is taking the SAT in high school.  I remember I hadn't really given it all that much thought up until they were actually passing them out to us. But as the tests were being handed out, I realized something.  "This test has a HUMONGOUS impact on my future".  Score well, and doors (remain) open.  Douche it, and doors close.  It's as simple as that.  That's really the only moment I remember placing that much importance on.  I guess deciding to come to Iraq had that much importance, but there was not really any performance required, only a decision to take a risk.

That's why I'm so fascinated every time a college football game comes down to a field goal.  Case in point, Ryan Bailey.  This dude was nobody, fucking NOBODY, until 30 seconds remaining in that game yesterday.  Yet, he had to have been preparing for precisely that moment for at least 5 years, probably longer.  I wonder how it feels to know that the thing you are about to do will have a dominant impact on your quality of life forever.  The thought HAD to have crossed Bailey's mind, just as it did Dusty Mangum's 2 years ago: "If I miss this kick, I'm fucked.  My life will be ruined and this moment will remain an unhealable scar as long as I live.  If I make this kick, I can probably fuck that chick from my economics class, which is the only thing I have ever really wanted."  Do they not think about this kind of stuff?  Surely.

That moment is a defining one for Ryan Bailey.  It will most likely set off a chain of positive events for him.  No matter what happens to him from here on out, he can point to that kick as proof positive that he's capable, clutch, and thought of in a positive light by thousands around the country.  I know I for one love the guy.

I guess maybe you don't really look at it like that while it's happening.  For most people, it's only in hindsight that you look back and say "You know, that moment really is what made it all happen for me.  If I had fucked that up, it would have totally screwed me."  Most moments that change your life don't have the hype of a game winning kick.  So I guess life should be treated as if every moment is clutch, because you never know when that's the one that makes it all happen.  Congrats, Ryan, and give the economics bitch a thrust for me.

More football talk

These fucking thugs deserve to be forgotten.  Miami and FIU should have to forfiet their next game.  This type of shit is the one thing that UT's team could do to lose me forever.  Mack would never allow that.  He would cut every person involved, even if it meant playing a game/season with all walk-ons.  Those players were animals.  Observations:

-Linebackers, Running Backs, and Safeties are the best fighters.  That DB on OL matchup would've been fun to watch had it played out in full.

-Fuck the state of Florida.  This type of shit is why.

-It was funny as hell, honestly.  Dudes had their fuckin heads on a swivel and shit.  Absolute melee. Funny to watch.

-Never ever ever ever EVER take your helmet off in a football brawl.  What a dumbuck.  I wish somebody would've speared his skull and splattered it, then maybe a lesson would've been learned.

-That fucking announcer.  Is this shit for real?  That motherfucker was making money to watch and comment on football?  Damn, the world must be worse off than I thought.

-I mean, stomping heads and swinging helmets and shit is like, like...otherworldly.  Those men truly were acting like animals.  That's pretty much the only way to describe it.  NO excuse. 

Other football shit:

-My gambling career is back off.  11-17 overall, 2-3 top 5, 2 and motherfucking 8 top 10.  Horrible.

-As it stands, Texas is a long way from the National Title game.  We need USC, Michigan, Auburn, West Virginia, Florida, Louisville, and Notre Dame all to lose.  That said, I think that if we win out, we're at least top 4.

-Grid I made to track Texas' road to the championship:

Team	21-Oct	28-Oct	4-Nov	11-Nov	18-Nov	25-Nov	2-Dec	9-Dec
Ohio St.	Indiana	Minnesota	at Illinois	at Northwestern	Michigan
USC		at Oregon St.	at Stanford	Oregon	Cal	ND	at UCLA
Michigan	Iowa	Northwestern	Ball St.	at Indiana	at Ohio St.
W. Virginia	at UCONN		at Louisville	Cincy	at Pitt	USF	Rutgers
Louisville	at Syracuse		W. Virginia	at Rutgers	USF	at Pitt	Conn
Rutgers	at Pitt	UCONN		Louisville	at Cincy	Syracuse	at WVU
Boise St.	at Idaho	Fresno		at SJSU	Utah St.	at Nevada
Texas	at Nebraska	at TTU	OK St.	at K St.		A&M		Big 12
Auburn	Tulane	at Ole Miss	AK St.	UGA	at Bama			SEC
Tennessee	Bama	at SC	LSU	at AK	at Vandy	Kentucky		SEC
Notre Dame	UCLA	at Navy	UNC	at AF	Army	at USC
Florida		UGA	at Vandy	SC	W. Carolina	at FSU		SEC
Cal	UW		UCLA	at AZ	at USC	Stanford
Clemson	Ga. Tech	at V-Tech	Maryland	NC St.		SC		ACC
Georgia Tech	at Clemson	Miami	at NC St.	at UNC	Duke	at Georgia		ACC
Oregon	at WSU	Portland St.	UW	at USC	AZ	at Oregon St.
Nebraska	Texas	at OK St.	Missouri	at A&M		CU		Big 12
Arkansas	Ole Miss	ULM	at SC	Tennessee	at Miss St.	LSU		SEC
BC	at FSU	Buffalo	at Wake	Duke	Maryland	at Miami		ACC
Wisconsin	at Purdue	Illinois	Penn St.	at Iowa	Buffalo
Texas A&M	at OK St.	at Baylor	OU	Nebraska		at Texas		Big 12
Missouri	Kansas St.	OU	at Nebraska	at ISU		Kansas		Big 12
Wake Forest		at NC	BC	at FSU	V-Tech	Maryland		ACC
Pitt	Rutgers		at USF	at UCONN	WVU	Louisville
Tulsa	at Memphis	UTEP	at Houston	Rice	at SMU	Tulane
San Jose State	at Nevada	La Tech	at NMSU	Boise St.	at Hawaii	at Idaho	Fresno St.

-Didn't see Texas' victory over Baylor, but it looks like the Bears came correct and McCoy wrecked shop.  I'd like to see more of our young DBs and OL to get ready for next year when we have a cupcake schedule.

-Grid I made predicting UT's 4 deep next year:

	Starter	Backup	3rd String	Redshirt**/Walk-on*
QB	C. McCoy So.	Snead So.	Harris Fr.	Brantley Fr.**
RB	Charles Jr.	H. Melton Jr.! -OR-	McGee Fr.	Whittaker Fr.**
FB	Ogbannaya Jr.	Tiemann Sr.*	Irby Fr.**	C. Johnson Fr.**
WR	Sweed Sr.	Hardy Jr.	Webber Fr.	M. Williams Fr.**
WR	Cosby Jr.	N. Jones Sr.!	Payne Fr.	Chiles Fr.**
WR	Pittman Sr.	Shipley Jr.	J. Marshall Fr.	Aune Sr.*
TE	Finley So.	Ullman Jr.	Smith Fr.	Pianalto Fr.**
OT	Hills Sr.	Webb So.	Mitchell Fr.	Roberts Jr.*
OG	C. Hall So.	Tanner So.	S. Moore Fr.	Gooch Fr.**
C	D. Griffin Sr.	Burnette Fr.	Harvey Jr.*	Taylor Jr.*
OG	Dockery Jr.	T. Allen Fr.**	Huey Fr.**	McGaskey Fr.**
OT	Ulatoski So.	Dolan Jr.	Watts Fr.	Hix Fr.**
DE	Orakpo Jr.	Chr. Brown So. -OR-	E. Jones Fr.	Carter Fr.**
DT	Okam Sr.	T. Marshall Sr.	Ellis Fr.	A. Jones Fr.**
DT	Lokey Sr.	Miller Jr.!	Alexander So.	Wilcoxon Fr.**
DE	Lewis Jr.	Houston So.	Acho Fr.**	Howard Fr.**
LB	Killebrew Sr.	Kindle So.	Cobb Fr.	Robinson Fr.**
LB	Bobino Jr.	Norton So.	Earnest Fr.	Kugler Jr.*
LB	Derry Sr.! -OR-	Kelson Sr.! -OR-	Muckelroy So.!!	Peterman Jr.*
CB	Beasley So.	Foster Sr. -OR-	Palmer Jr.!	E. Thomas Fr.**
CB	Chy. Brown Fr.	Jackson Sr.	Cu. Brown Fr.**	Collins Fr.**
FS	Ma. Griffin Sr.	Gatewood Sr.!	Wells Fr.**	Flath Sr.*
SS	Joseph So.	Oduegwu So.	Henry Fr.	Moench Jr.*
K/P	Lawrence Fr.	Gerland So.	Bailey Jr.*	J. Moore Jr.*

Red = inexperienced; Green = NFL ready

I know, I know, but fuck, man, I'm in Iraq behind a computer 90 hours a week.  Without access to porn.

This Wednesday marks one year since I left Houston for Iraq.  I'll be posting about that next.

We Gave 'Em Hell, and Made Them Eat Shit

First off, my pro gambling career may be back in the picture.  I went fucking 20-8 overall this saturday, including FIVE for FIVE on my top 5, and 7-3 on my top 10.  I'm back, baby!

My thoughts on Texas beating OU:

-This is the most proud I've ever been of our team.  We didn't have a stud player to hand the game over to, it had to be a total team effort.  We had to come from behind and regain momentum.  You could tell our boys were playing with fire.  Our DBs were hitting harder than I can ever remember, at least back to the Bryant Westbrook days.  Our O-Line was dominant, our backs ran hard, our D-Line got pressure.  But the most impressive thing was how heady all of our players performed.  Obviously it starts with Colt McCoy, but really the entire team played virtually mistake-free.

-I'm sure Hornfans around the world were cursing the shit out of Greg Davis in the first half, but I wasn't.  I think he did a good job.  Not spectacular, but good.  In the first half he was playing conservative, but I think he was feeling out OU's defense and allowing Colt to get a feel for the game.  He adjusted in the 2nd half and we won the game.  Kudos, Greg.  My only problem with his playcalling was on his 1st half 3rd down calls.  There must be something I'm missing, because I never can understand why you pass short of the marker on 3rd down.  WTF?!

-Erick Jackson should be our 5th DB and it's not even close.  He's got size, and speed, and he can bring the wood.  Why is he not seeing the field ahead of worthless-ass Ryan Palmer and Brandon Foster?

-I'm really fucking sick and tired of UT's obligatory white linebacker.  Scott Derry comes from a long line of descendants whose purpose in life is to frustrate the shit out of me.  No one could EVER convince me that this tool should be on the field ahead of Drew Kelson, Rod Muckelroy, Sergio Kindle, or even Jared Norton.  Racking up assisted tackles by flying to the ball after the play is virtually over does NOT make up for constantly being out of position and getting burned by TE's and RB's.

-Colt Mcf'nCoy.  That guy is WELL on his way to complete brutality.  And his interview after the game just made it all the better.  His first instinct is to give props to his team, and then god.  He's got legendary potential. The next James Street.

-Brian f'n Robison.  He's Brian Bosworth without the WT shit.  He's showed up well every year against OU.  We're gonna miss him when he is in the NFL next year.

-Robison, Selvin Young, Tarell Brown, and Aaron Ross made themselves a shit ton of money yesterday.

-Pass is to THE SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDD!!!!!!   He's a different player this year.  He's gonna be one of the top 5 WR's in the country next year.

-Good to see Jordan Shipley getting in the mix.  He's our Steve Largent.

-Props to all our coaches.  The way our guys played and the halftime adjustments are all a reflection of our coaching.  Mad props.  Mack Brown is on a very short list of dudes I would contemplate blowing.  Just kidding, but he is a complete badass and there is NO ONE I would rather have in his place.

-Sure was great seeing Adrian Peterson F his team by giving up on that "lateral".  What a dumbshit.  Have a nice 5 year NFL career, you fucking traitor!

-I will miss the 2007 TX/OU game and that's it.  After that, I'm going to EVERY one as long as it's at the state fair, damn the cost.

So now all UT needs to happen (besides not losing), is essentially only 2 upsets.  USC loses at UCLA and West Virginia loses at Pittsburgh, every other game goes according to the odds, and we're rematching Ohio State for all the marbles.  We've clearly improved since then, so I think it'd be a different ballgame this time around.  We looked really good today.  It's a great day to be a Longhorn.

College Football 1/3 Season Review

So the college football season is 1/3 over.  It's gone pretty predictably so far.  Texas lost to Ohio State, which for me is fun because now I get to obsess over the schedules of other teams and the scores of other games, hoping the teams above Texas fall.

There are 20 undefeated teams left.  There are 4 one-loss teams that still have a shot.  Only 8 of these 24 teams do not have a game left in which they will be the underdog.  They are:

Ohio State- toughest games are @ Iowa and at home against Michigan

Auburn- get Florida and Georgia at home, Bama on the road, then the SEC Championship

USC- consecutive home games against Oregon, Cal, and Notre Dame followed by @ UCLA

West Virginia- play @ Louisville, then at home against Rutgers

Virginia Tech- @ Boston College, @ Miami, @ Wake Forest, rivalry at home against Virginia

TCU- no true tests left, maybe @ Utah

Boise St.- same deal, @ Utah but no other real tests

Texas- @ Nebraska, @ TX Tech, home against A&M, Big 12 Championship

So, based on the odds, we'll end up with 7 undefeated's.  We all know that won't happen, but we very well could have 3 or 4 teams end up with no losses.

There are 6 ranked undefeated teams that have games they are expected to lose:

Florida- play @ Auburn, @ FSU, SEC Championship, Georgia at home

Michigan- Iowa at home, @ Ohio State

Georgia- @ Florida, @ Auburn

Louisville- home against West Virginia, @ Rutgers

Oregon- @ Cal, @ USC

Iowa- Ohio St., @ Michigan

Then there are 6 unranked undefeated teams:

Purdue- @ Notre Dame, @ Iowa, @ Michigan St.

Missouri- @ TX Tech, @ A&M, OU at home, @ Nebraska, Big 12 Title Game

A&M- Tech at home, Missouri at home, OU at home, Nebraska at home, @ Texas

Wake Forest- BC at home, @ FSU, V-Tech at home

Houston- @ Miami

Finally, there are 3 1-loss teams besides Texas that are stil in the mix:

Tennessee- @ Georgia, LSU at home, SEC title game

Notre Dame- Purdue at home, @ USC

LSU- @ Florida, @ Tennessee, SEC title game

(there are 22 other BCS teams that only have 1 loss, but don't have the ranking or strenght of schedule to climb back into the title chase.)



So what does all this mean?

• First, I think it means that we'll probably have a mess at the end of the year.  There will be more than 2 undefeated teams and somebody'll get jobbed a la Auburn a couple years ago.
• Look out for Houston.  If they upset Miami on Saturday, they very well could run the table and have BCS claims.
• The SEC douches themselves for being so good and deep.  All the teams in that conference will knock each other out, although I'm still sticking with Auburn to finish unbeaten.  If LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, or Florida were in any other conference they'd probably win all their games.
• One of TCU and Boise St. will get through without losing and get obliterated in whatever BCS game they play in.
• My National Championship game pick is still Auburn over West Virginia.
• The other 8 BCS bowl teams will be: Texas, USC, Ohio St., Virginia Tech, TCU, Notre Dame, and Boise St.  All but the title game will be blowouts.
• Props to Rutgers, man.  They pull one out at home against Louisville and they'll probably go into the season finale at West Virginia unbeaten.
• I'll get clowned for this, but if A&M beats Tech, they'll come into Austin undefeated.
• So much for my professional gambling career.  After four weeks, I'm 60-59 overall, 21-19 on my top 10 "locks", and 8-12 on top 5's.  Oh well, you know what we say.
• Personally, I hope that 9 teams finish unbeaten and there's nationwide rioting.  Why the fuck isn't there a variable playoff system, with the # of teams involved is determined at the end of the season?  Besides TV $, I mean.

I am a Toronto Raptors fan

One of the things I've realized since I got here is that sports are an extremely good way to keep my mind off of all the negative things that I have a tendency to dwell on.  I've been a fan of UT, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Houston Astros virtually my entire life.  That means that from May to January, I've got a team to follow because of football season and baseball season.  But from the time football season ends in January to when baseball kicks up in the summertime, I'm boofed.

I used to LOVE the NBA.  In junior high and into high school, I practically lived and breathed it.  My parents had one of those old school humongous satellite dishes, which meant that we could pretty much watch any sporting event we wanted.  My team was the Charlotte Hornets, mainly because they had the greatest sports hero in history on their team.  Muggsy was my f'n idol, and during the 93-94 season, my dad and I watched over 70 of their games.

But then they traded Muggsy, the team moved to New Orleans (a city I abhor) and changed their colors, and the NBA in general became a showcase of selfishness and thuggery.  Since high school I've pretty much not given two shits about the NBA.  But now I'm ready to get back into it, at least moderately, but I need a team to root for.  Since I have no loyalty to any team, the search was on.  I used your basic fan criteria: city, mascot, colors, players, and general aura.  The breakdown of the winner and finalists:

5th Runner-up: The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets

Good: Used to be the Charlotte Hornets, which was my favorite team back in the day.  Obligatory "sympathy for New Orleans the brutalized city".  Chris Paul is one of my favorite NBA players. They are not that good or popular, so I wouldn't be a bandwagon fan.

Bad: Being from New Orleans was a deal breaker.  That city is garbage. AND they represent Oklahoma as well?!  F that.  Not to mention that the team splits time between 2 cities, what kind of shit is that?  They are barely even a shadow of my Charlotte Hornets, not even the same colors.

4th Runner-up: The Charlotte Bobcats

Good: From Charlotte, the same city my Hornets were from.  Young up and coming team, but again, not too popular, so I wouldn't be bandwagon.  Muggsy is the coach of their sister franchise, the Charlotte Sting of the WNBA.  Their best player, Emeka Okafor, is from Dallas.

Bad: Shitty color scheme.  Weak mascot. (what is this, high school?)  "Loser" aura.  They just didn't feel right.

3rd Runner-up: The Houston Rockets

Good: From Texas (big plus).  I like Tracy McGrady.  I rooted for the championship Rockets in the Hakeem Olajuwon days.  Solid logo and color scheme.  From Texas.

Bad: Shane Battier and Yao killed it.  First, Yao has turned them into like... the "Asian" team.  All people of asian descent like the rockets.  I'd just feel like that one white dude at the black party.  Not to mention I could never root for a team with someone so ugly as Battier.


2nd Runner-up: The Chicago Bulls

Good: Chicago is a cool city.  Up and coming team.  Loved them when MJ was around.  Good colors and logo.  Hinrich rules kind of.  Legit shot of contending.


Bad: Somewhat of a bandwagon pick.  Don't have any star players that I like.  Past their prime.  Not sure I could root for Ben Wallace (whom my father refers to as "the world's smartest man").


1st Runner-up: The Orlando Magic

Good: Awesome colors (Black and Blue).  I'm a fan of basically their entire starting 5 (Darko, Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Grant Hill, and Redick).  A team with a legit shot of winning.  A team with solid characters, limited thug factor.

Bad:  Not a big fan of Florida.  Definite bandwagon pick.  Rooted against them pretty heavily in the Shaq days.

And the winner is....

THE TORONTO RAPTORS

Good:  They have T.J. Ford, my current favorite NBA player (mostly because he's from UT, I've met him, and he's a solid character guy).  They also have PJ Tucker, another UT alum.  2 other players on their roster (Graham from Ok St. and Chris Bosh) were born and bred in Texas.  They are young and talented, but not popular, so there's hardly any bandwagon.  They have a good GM (Colangelo), so they can be counted on not to go to the crapper in the coming years.  I like their logo and colors.  Muggsy played for them in the twilight of his career.  I've heard that Toronto is a pretty cool city, and since it's in Canada, it represents how basketball has become such an international sport.  But I don't like Toronto THAT much, which means if they relocate I could still be a fan.

Bad: The main risk here is one that's gonna be there no matter what team I pick: what if next year they trade away or cut or whatever all the players I like?  That would suck, but it's a possibility no matter what team I root for.

I ordered my Raptors hat yesterday.

Just Do It. Is It In You? C'mon down to Red McCombs San Antonio Dodge Chrystler Plymouth!!!:Part 2 of 2 on what the NCAA must do to avoid disaster

So we pretty much all agree that D1 Universities should offer some type of major that allows players to focus on their true area of expertise (athletics) and prepares them for the life they are truly working toward.  That solves a couple problems, one being the problem of D1 athletes not giving a fuck about academics, and another being that many athletes enter the professional ranks completely unprepared.  But there remains the problem at the crux of all problems involving this issue:$.  Underneath it all, there's the money.  Sure, you can unghetto these kids, educate them, prepare them, etc., but the fact would still remain that the NCAA and the universities it is comprised of are making millions off of the athletes who are in essence grossly undercompensated.

I remember when Matt Leinert was a senior at USC him explaining the reasons he came back to school instead of going on to the NFL.  One of the things he kept saying was "I do get paid to play college football.  I make $23,700 per year." or something like that, referring to the amount his football scholarship was worth.  Now, we know the real reason he came back was to finish banging every skank in the 818, but that's neither here nor there.  Basically, college football players do get paid, somewhere in the range of $20-$30k.  For most players, such as Greg Dolan, that's a great deal; free college tuition, free stipend for room, board, and fun, and a pretty sweet lifestyle for 4 years.  But for a few (Baby Jesus included), it's a complete ripoff.  How many media interviews did VY and Leinert do during their college careers?  How many of their highlights were shown on ESPN? Fuck, how many lead-ins did they shoot for their games on whatever network?

The amount of money VY made Texas is incalculable.  The University Co-Op sells #10 jerseys.  After the National Championship game that he was solely responsible for winning, the store was so busy it violated a fucking fire code.  And he was paid $23,500?!?  It's bullshit, and the underlying cause of virtually everything tainted about college sports.

So, what's the solution?  IMO, there is no 100% solution.  But, the best thing to do is:

2. Allow NCAA athletes to do paid endorsements.

This is the solution because:

-it doesn't cost the universities anything.

-it will allow student athletes to be properly compensated for all that they do and all the $ they generate.

-it allows student athletes to make enough money to stick around if they want to finish their degree.

Concerns and rebuttals:

Allowing players to do paid endorsements would detract from their studies.

My brother worked at Home Depot with a scholarship football player.  No current rules prevent players from working and making money, only from benefitting financially from their football status, so this is a bunk concern.

If players could do endorsements, the schools with rich alumns would merely pay all the best players with big endorsements to come to a school, resulting in New York Yankee type shit.

Scholarship limits would prevent this from ever happening.  Schools like Texas, FSU, USC, and Notre Dame already get whatever players they want, so Red McCombs handing out $100,000 car commercial checks to every recruit that signs with Texas wouldn't help UT get any players that they wouldn't have gotten already.

Jake, you're a dumbfuck.  This would completely ruin college football and it's integrity.

Look, I honestly don't understand what the big deal is.  This is an issue that would effect VERY few players.  How many players on Texas' roster do you think a company would pay to do an endorsement, and how much $ would they be willing to pay?  This rule affects only the elite players who are the core stars and representatives of college football.  This year, the only players that would see dime on a national level would be guys like Brady Quinn and Adrian Peterson.  There are probably less than 100 players in the country who's "brand" is worth any significant advertising dollars.  It's a shame that guys like Reggie Bush have to do underhanded shit just to get their just desserts.  USC made millions off of him, the NCAA made millions off of him, ESPN/ABC cashed in, and we want to crucify him for taking $100k?  The NCAA is to blame here, not the player. 

*It is of note that allowing this type of thing would affect basketball MUCH more than football, albeit in a good way.  If dudes like Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh could've gotten their NIke commercials in school, they might've stuck around and actually developed their game enough to be able to maximize their potential.  It would also keep the NBA from getting watered down with not-ready-for-primetime players and could've-beens, while giving college b-ball some continuity and familiar stars.  The NBA is like baseball now.  You have to wait 4 or 5 years before a prospect is worth a shit.  It's ridiculous.

Applied Learning & Development: Youth & Community Stds; Part 1 of 2 on what the NCAA must do to prevent disaster

Recently Reggie Bush was the latest in a flurry of players to be busted getting paid while playing college football.  This type of shit (like the Bomar scandal) combined with other shit (the Tarell Brown incident), have me pissed off and worried.  With regards to Mr. Bush, I don't think what he did was wrong, but more on that later.

I've become increasingly worried that these issues will ruin college football, something I care about deeply.

2 Things that could happen if shit like this keeps coming up:

-NCAA cracks down on this type of stuff, causing a domino effect that results in a minor league for the NFL, taking all of the good players out of the college game forever.  The NFLDL is now what's shown on ABC on Saturdays, and, slowly, because of the loss of TV revenues, schools in the NCAA drop football altogether, eventually resulting in NO MORE COLLEGE FOOTBALL.

-NCAA gives up the fight, resulting in $ ruling all without check.  Teams like Texas become the George Steinbrenner's of college sports and basically buy championships by paying their players outrageous sums of cash.  The line between pro and college athletes is erased, and players do shit like refuse to wear their team's jersey because it sports a different logo from the one for the company they represent.  Players no longer truly represent their school, and can transfer to another school for more $.  Every rule is gone or muddied and COLLEGE FOOTBALL BECOMES A SHADOW OF ITS FORMER SELF.

There are 2 moves that I think would go a long way to solving these types of problems. I'll stretch this over 2 posts 'cause I've got a lot of shit to say on this subject.

1. Create a "Professional Athlete" discipline of study. 

-Why the fuck isn't there a "Pro Athlete" major?  Universities offer classes on everything under the sun, but nothing that would prepare a world class athlete for his hopeful chosen career?

Arguments and their rebuttals:

Implementing a Professional Athlete major would wrongly encourage student athletes to pursue a career in which he has a VERY small chance of success.

Yes, I know that the chances of a college football player actually making it into the pros are like 1 in a million, but I could've studied Acting at Texas.  ACTING.  You're telling me my odds of being the next Leo DiCaprio are BETTER than the odds of Ryan Palmer making it to the NFL?  Bullshit.

Universities are for intellectual enrichment, not job training.

They can be for intellectual enrichment, but they undeniably serve as job training for students majoring in Engineering, Business, Chemistry, or pretty much anything other than liberal arts.  Why tell Johnny the Electrical Engineer that you'll teach him his trade and steer his career path, but tell George Walker he needs to pick something like "Applied Learning & Development: Youth & Community Studies"?  Weak.

Student Athletes need to get a degree that will find them a job, to serve as back up in case they don't make it in the pros.  No one is going to hire someone with a "Professional Athlete" degree.

I have a shitload of time on my hands, so I did some research.  The University of Texas, a typical big time college football program, has 14 scholarship football players who are classified as Seniors.  Here is the breakdown of their majors:

8 of them are majoring in Applied Learning & Development: Youth & Community Studies. hmmm....that's 57% in ONE major.  Weird.

4 of them are General Kinesiology majors.  3 Undergrad, while one is in graduate school, because he finished his undergrad and wasn't done playing football yet.

Marcus Myers is a graduate economics student.  Good for him.

Aaron Ross is studying the lucrative field of Ethnic Studies: African and African American Culture.  Make money money, make money money money!

So let's not be coy about this, there is a "football" major, it just doesn't teach the players anything about being a professional athlete.  Out of 14 student athletes, 1 or maybe 2 are studying something that will actually help them get gainful employment.  I'd bet my left pinky toe that a Professional Athlete major would teach these young men just as much as Applied Learning & Development: Youth & Community Stds does.  A professional athlete major would teach valuable skills such as public speaking, managing reputations, understanding contracts, negotiating salary, and on and on.

All a Professional Athlete degree would be is a worthless cupcake study that wouldn't benefit the student athlete or society at all.

The best thing about having this area of study available would be that it would improve the quality of all of professional sports.  These young men would enter these extremely high pressure careers much better prepared to deal with all that comes with money, fame, expectations, etc.

Classes it could offer:

-Handling Fame and Personal Brand Management: How to maintain your image by not getting busted with weed or raping your girlfriend or driving drunk or having guns or any other stupid shit like that.

-Contracts 101: How to read and understand Contractss so your team and your agent can't fuck you over.

-Advertising, Marketing, and Broadcasting: How to handle endorsements to maximize your earning potential.

-Life After Sports: Making your money last and Choosing a 2nd Career so you don't end up like Evander Holyfield.

You're telling me these classes wouldn't be of use to these players and give them actual motivation to attend class and make the most of thier college experience?