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Questions? in the Big 12 South for the 2010 Season

August 31, 2010 by Turfburner · Leave a Comment 

You can find more great Big 12 content from Jay at Turf Burner

Big 12 South QuestionsThe summer of 2010 will officially be in the rear view mirror with the kick off of the football season this weekend. And what a summer it was for the Big 12. The conference was on life support, and then flat-lined, then was brought back to life, albeit minus a couple limbs. But that is for another time; there’s a football season to play.

The Big 12 is starting the 2010 campaign with three teams ranked in the top 10 of the preseason polls. And there are several others that hope to crash the party and make the final season of the Big 12 as we know it a special one.

Ah, yes, optimism reigns supreme in early September for nearly everyone. Despite the positive vibes coming from around the conference, this weekend will bring with it the reality that not everything is perfect. Here is a look at the Big 12 South and the questions each team needs to answer if they hope to turn that optimism into something real.

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Filed Under: Big 12 Football, College Football, Display, Featured, Headline2, Homer Sports
Tagged: Baylor, big 12, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, texas, Texas A&M, texas tech

The Rev Speaks: Lunacy in Lubbock

January 4, 2010 by Matthew Fuller · Leave a Comment 

Close the confessional door, allegiant acolyte.  It’s high time for The Rev to come clean.  What’s that, devoted disciple?  You say there’s a long line of parishioners standing in the transepts waiting to be heard?  Please tell them I’ll be available for spiritual counseling in a few moments.  (Perhaps they could sing a few bars of “Amazing Grace” in the interim.  That’s always been one of my favorite hymns.)  It has been far too long since The Rev last turned God’s microscope upon himself.  Please accept my ardent apologies, boys and girls, for failing to post a new column lo these many months.  In between changing diapers (or, more accurately, cheering on The Better Half as she does it), watching scores of Elmo and Wonder Pets videos, grading exams, and compiling research for a doctoral dissertation, all journalistic endeavors have lain fallow.

It seems as if The Rev picked the wrong time to enjoy a little sabbatical.  These past ten weeks have provided enough examples of athletes behaving badly to keep bloggers and talk shows busy for an eternity.  At first I thought about discussing Tiger’s seemingly endless parade of prurient paramours, or the wholesale redemption of Dirk’s character and basketball career.  It is certainly telling to compare and contrast the two superstars, especially how their choice of girlfriends played a direct role in their respective athletic prowess and reputations.  While Dirk is unmarried, and therefore technically free to fraternize with any vile assortment of lounge lizards, his game away from the court nearly sabotaged his game upon it.  Ever since he wisely jettisoned the Keitha-like Cristal Taylor—only after being thoroughly mocked and humiliated—Dirk’s stats have never been better.  He is putting up some of the best numbers of his career, now that he is finally liberated from paternal and financial worry.  Tiger, on the other hand, is buried deep.  As Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News wisely reminds us, the only way Tiger won’t win more than 18 majors is if he develops a bad back and/or a bad marriage.  In this writer’s humble opinion, the Golden Bear can now sleep peacefully at night.  Tiger will find the going very tough if and when he returns to the PGA Tour.  It’s got to be hard to concentrate on golf when a scorned Swedish model/nanny is nearby, angrily clutching a nine-iron.

The Rev is just not that eager to listen to confessions from either Tiger or Dirk (especially because they have already been punished enough by the relentlessly harsh klieg light of public opinion).  Besides, the Apostle Paul emphatically states that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3.23).  Therefore, I will spare the dead horse from yet another beating.  It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that no mere human words can trump the enduring truth of Scripture.

No, brothers and sisters, let us instead turn our attention to the vast West Texas plains.  Lubbock to be precise, where the once-impervious pirate ship is rapidly foundering.  Wednesday morning Chief Pirate Mike Leach was hastily forced to walk the plank.  Yes, dear readers, this website is indeed entitled Dallas Sports Fans, but since the Metroplex is filled with passionate Red Raiders, it behooves us all to devote a few paragraphs to Guns Up Nation.  Much has already been written, and much will continue to be written, about this developing situation.  As a result, The Rev isn’t really breaking any news here.  I readily admit to having no inside information about this fiasco (although both my father and older brother at one time walked the bucolic campus of Texas Tech University; I also attended a school whose colors are black and red), so I will try to offer a unique perspective.  Since I am a relative dilettante in all matters Red Raider, I will not concern myself with whether or not Leach actually locked Adam James in an equipment shed; or whether or not James was routinely castigated for lack of effort and a poor attitude; or whether or not Leach’s arrogant refusal to reconcile with the University hastened his departure; or how James’ teammates feel about their former coach; or even how high-powered alums react to this fascinating coup d’etat.   Mistreating a “student athlete,” especially one dealing with the lingering hazardous effects of a concussion, is always unacceptable.  But is this a fire-able offense?  (Yes, I know that Kansas fired Mark “Happy Meal” Mangino for considerably less, but still.  What is it with those Big 12 coaches?)  The Rev can’t help but wonder, however, what would have happened if the player in question had been John Smith from San Marcos, son of a humble electrician.  Would this divisive issue have been handled differently?  Is it not tenable to posit that Mother Mouse Ears (ESPN) coerced AD Gerald Myers’ usually forgiving hand?  Remember, this is the same man who extended a lengthy olive branch to the always-cantankerous and controversial Bob Knight.  More than eight years ago, The General—also, like The Pirate, a proven winner who ran a clean program and graduated his players—was the equivalent of swine flu, cast off by Indiana and regarded as a pariah.  Yet there was Myers, who displayed tremendous audacity in hiring Knight, in the process giving him a second (and third) chance.  Knight, of course, rapidly reincarnated and reinvigorated the then-moribund Tech Basketball program.  Why, then, was Myers so quick to throw Leach overboard, even before hearing all sides of the story?  Did Myers act upon purely speculative information, or is he privy to facts that the rest of are not?  Could Leach’s alleged abuse of a player be viewed in the same way as Knight’s verbal assault of the Tech chancellor in February 2004?  Knight’s testy encounter with Dr. David Smith in the produce section of a Lubbock grocery store was also an explosive event which was plastered on the front page of myriad newspapers across the country.  After days of deliberation, and after Knight was allowed to apologize before the Board of Regents, Myers labeled the incident a “misunderstanding” and fully reinstated Knight.  The General then coached for three-and-a-half more largely successful years afterwards.  Again, I am not one to judge.  If I so much as skin my knee while chasing after my daughter I moan and whine interminably like Peter Griffin.  If I were in James’ shoes I, too, would have seriously questioned Leach’s bellicose actions.

So why did the powers-that-be at Tech move so quickly (blindly?) to dismiss Leach.  Could it perhaps be the fact that the domineering specter of ESPN was looming overhead?  How soon we all forget last year, when Leach guided the Red Raiders to an astonishing 11-1 record, a Top 10 ranking, and, were it not for a hideously inept sixty minutes against Zero U, a BCS Bowl bid.  This time last year The Pirate was widely hailed as an eccentric genius.  Yet now, at 8-4 and headed to the mediocrity that is the Alamo Bowl, Leach’s impression of Captain Jack Sparrow is viewed as both dangerous and embarrassing.  (Thanks to fellow St. Mark’s grad Scott Tinkham for this insightful HSO.  Looks like he really did learn something at Jersey Shore Duke.)  Every parent who sent their son to play basketball at Texas Tech knew the risks involved with playing for the always-unpredictable Knight.  With Leach, however, the circumstances are quite different since, after all, he had no priors of misbehavior.  However, even the most oblivious parent surely understands the likelihood that egocentric college football coaches might berate and bully their sons on occasion.  Is it far-fetched to assume that Florida’s retired-for-now Urban Meyer or Nick Saban at Alabama (both known to be extremely demanding coaches, yet each wearing rings to prove the method in their madness) never once doubted their players’ manhood or stretched them way beyond their physical threshold?  Granted, if Leach indeed forced James to sit in a sweltering shed, that is a far worse offense than ordering a few extra wind sprints.  Nonetheless, I ask once again: is this truly a fire-able offense for a coach with a heretofore clean ledger?  Is it also a fatuous assumption that had James’ father been a media personality with, say, Versus or Fox Sports Panhandle, that Leach would still be the head ball coach at Texas Tech?  Besides, what does any Division I school crave more than winning games?  Visibility and money.  Playing on ESPN assures both in spades for the Red Raiders.  Unfortunately, now that Tech has fired Leach, their most marketable personality has suddenly vanished.  (No disrespect to Ruffin McNeill, but a betting man would guess that Tech will lose out on many prized recruits without Leach’s intoxicating bottle of rum.  Playing for Tech will now seem like joining The Goonies only after One-Eyed Willie’s mysterious loot has been found.)  Will the Game Day crew be as excited next season to set up shop in Lubbock when the Red Raiders are a boring 1-1 heading into their clash with the Longhorns?

For those too young to remember (myself included), here’s a refresher: Craig James was one of the main reasons (along with the other half of the Pony Express, Eric Dickerson) SMU football was even talked about in the early 80s.  Although James himself was not accused of any wrongdoing when the Mustangs were receiving large sums of money from delusional school boosters, James was a key member of a team (along with WFAA’s intrepid sports reporter Dale Hansen, who isn’t half the reporter that KARK’s Pete Thompson is) that led to the school’s historic Death Penalty (not to be confused with President Obama’s ruinous Death Panel).  And now, here’s James, nearly 30 years later, behind another major football scandal that very well may lead to a death penalty of sorts at Texas Tech.  Without its widely-revered and unabashedly-rarified pirate leader, things may deteriorate for Red Raider football before they improve.  Mutiny on the bounty, indeed.

By the way, for those still doubting the Dallas connection within this column, consider the following hypothetical.  Jerry Jones, in need of a new offensive assistant/QC coach once Wes Phillips is sent packing along with his buttermilk-loving father, reaches out to an innovative Pirate.  Keep in mind, Jerry has always had a soft spot for inveterate swashbuckling svengalis.  Even more intriguing high comedy would be watching Leach “coach up” the massively underachieving orangeblood Roy Williams.  Or perhaps diva Tim Crabtree will demand a trade out of San Francisco to be reunited with his former beloved college coach.  The Dallas Cowboys are never ones to shy away from a soap opera.  Maybe while he’s at it, Leach can even find a unique way to motivate Barbie “Morning Seagull” Carpenter.  Nah, even Jack Sparrow himself would be rendered speechless with that paradox.

Best wishes for a blessed 2010.  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea . . . He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’  Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true’ (Revelation 21.1, 5).

Here ends the lesson.  And all of God’s people say . . . “Amen!”

Filed Under: Bowl Games, College Football, Cowboys, Display, Featured, Mavericks
Tagged: big 12, Football - NFL, mike leach, NCAA, Red Raiders, texas tech

Big 12 Matchup of the Week – Houston vs Texas Tech

September 24, 2009 by Matt Lawrence · Leave a Comment 

big12matchup
The Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Houston Cougars will square off this week in what promises to be a quarterback duel. Last week the Houston Cougars shocked the nation and Texas Tech suffered a tough 24 – 34 loss to rival and Big 12 opponent the Texas Longhorns. The Houston Cougars shocked the nation by knocking off #5 Oklahoma State last week by a score of 45 – 35. This win vaulted the Houston Cougars #17 in the AP top 25. Houston will need to win this week if they want to maintain their national ranking.

    Houston Cougars QB Case Keenum vs Texas Tech Red Raiders QB Taylor Potts

      Games Yards TD Int QBrating
    Taylor Potts 3 1281 12 4 152.8
    Case Keenum 2 725 7 1 180.3

    Texas Tech Red Raiders – Houston Cougars Game Information
    Texas Tech – Houston Day / Date: Saturday – September 26th 2009
    Texas Tech – Houston Time: 8:15PM Central Time
    Texas Tech – Houston Location: Robertson Stadium – Houston Texas
    Texas Tech – Houston TV Channel: ESPN 2
    Texas Tech – Houston Odds / Line: Even – Pick
    Texas Tech – Houston Tickets:

    Texas Tech Red Raiders – Houston Cougars Breakdown

    Texas Tech Red Raiders
    Red Raiders Record: 2 – 1
    Red Raiders Ranking: N/A

      Red Raiders Game Results:

    • vs North Dakota | W 38 – 13
    • vs Rice | W 55 – 10
    • at (2) Texas | L 24 – 34

    Houston Cougars
    Cougars Record: 2 – 0
    Cougars Ranking: USA Today – 23 | AP – 17

      Cougars Game Results:

    • vs Northwestern State | W 55 – 7
    • at (5) Oklahoma State | W 45 – 35
    Filed Under: College Football, Display, Featured, Other
    Tagged: Big, big 12, College Football, Football - NFL, Houston Cougars, Red Raiders, texas tech

    Big 12 TV Schedule – Preview – Game Tickets

    September 2, 2009 by Matt Lawrence · 1 Comment 

    Texas OU Red River Shootout
    The College Football season kicks off this week, and all of the Big 12 teams will be in action. Iowa State will kick off the season on Thursday night against North Dakota State. The Opening week of the Big 12 Football season will actually have some interesting matchups. The rivalry game of the week will no doubt be between Colorado and Colorado State, which will take place in Boulder, CO. Two of this weeks games are top 25 matchups. Oklahoma State (9 – AP Poll) vs Georgia (13 – AP Poll) will face off in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and Brigham Young University (20 – AP Poll) will square up with Oklahoma (3 – AP Poll) in Arlington, TX at the new home of the Dallas Cowboys, Cowboys Stadium. Texas and Oklahoma, the two juggernauts of the Big 12, are both returning their starting quarterbacks. Colt McCoy (Texas) and Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) were both Heisman candidates last year. The schedule of Big 12 Games for this week can be found below.


    Get NCAA Football Tickets at StubHub!

    Thursday – September 3rd 2009

    Saturday – September 5th 2009

      Kansas vs Northern Colorado

    • Location: Memorial Stadium – Lawrence, Kansas
    • Time: 6:00PM Central Time
    • TV Channel: FCS – Central
    • Tickets: Kansas Tickets on StubHub.com!

    Sunday – September 6th 2009

    Filed Under: College Football, Display, Featured, TV Schedule
    Tagged: Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, preview, texas, texas tech, TV Schedule

    No. 25 Ole Miss Beats No. 7 Texas Tech in 73rd Cotton Bowl Classic

    January 2, 2009 by Travis L. Brown · Leave a Comment 

    In what was considered a shock by some, No. 25 Ole Miss beat No. 7 Texas Tech in today’s Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas, 47-34. Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree, both Heisman Trophy candidates this season, had games they would probably rather forget.

    Crabtree caught 4 passes for a season low 30 yards with one short yardage touchdown grab. While Harrell had a statistical record breaking day, going 36 of 58 for 364 yards and 4 TD’s (his 364 yards broke the Cotton Bowl record for yards in the 73 years of the Dallas Classic), he was unable to match the number he had been putting up all season, and made some costly errors that put Ole Miss in position to win the Cotton Bowl.

    Harrell threw two costly picks, one in the third quarter which was returned 65 yards for a touchdown by the Rebel’s Marshay Green. The second came from miscommunication between Harrell and Crabtree, and an untimely slip from the Red Raider star receiver.

    Despite beautiful weather, and what seemed to be excellent field conditions, players slipped and fell all over the field the entire game, creating big play opportunities for both teams.

    Texas Tech gained a quick first quarter lead with two scores off a touchdown and pick-six. Ole Miss countered every Texas Tech score and capitalized on one more Texas Tech turnover to change the momentum and eventually take the game.

    With slightly over one minute left in the game Texas Tech scored to bring the game within 12 and elected to go for two to bring the game to ten. Before the snap, the Texas Tech O-Line was called for a false start, igniting Tech lineman Brandon Carter, who ran to the referee, helmet off, and began screaming in his face. Despite this outburst, only the false start was called. On the next play, Harrell was sacked, and both Carter and Stephen Hamby were charged with personal fouls, to which they ripped off their helmets and walked to the sideline in disgust. In spite of the classless and unsportsmanlike behavior, neither player was ejected.

    The two personal foul penalties forced Texas Tech to try an onside attempt from their own seven yard line, which was recovered by Ole Miss to end the game.

    Most of the Texas Tech players retreated directly to the locker room with out shaking hands with the Rebels or staying for their own schools Alma Mater.

    On the other side, the Ole Miss band and fans played and chanted “We just beat the hell out of you” throughout the playing of the Texas Tech “Song of the Matador.”

    This was the last Cotton Bowl to be played in the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Fair Park. Next year the Cotton Bowl will be played in the new Dallas Cowboy’s Stadium in Arlington, leaving behind an iconic stadium that has housed a tradition for 73 years.

    It seems that the theme for the last Cotton Bowl was saying goodbye, as Dallas says goodbye to the Cotton Bowl, Texas Tech says goodbye to the top ten, and both sides said goodbye to sportsmanship.

    Filed Under: College Football, Featured
    Tagged: Cotton Bowl, Ole Miss, texas tech

    Sports Agent Corner: Gary Glick on Marlon Lucky, the policy of the Army, and the BCS

    December 17, 2008 by Jerod-Morris · Leave a Comment 

    Sports Agent Corner with Gary GlickThe Sports Agent Corner will be a bi-weekly feature here at Dallas Sports Fans featuring Dallas-based sports agent Gary Glick, who is the President and Founder of Synergy Sports Inc., and, at least this year, a profoundly sad Texas A&M fan. Gary Glick has worked recently with former Big 12 standouts Maurice Purify, Marcellus Rivers, and Dwayne Blakely.

    We started the Sports Agent Corner over at Midwest Sports Fans, but now that DSF is up and running, it makes a lot more sense being here.

    Dallas Sports Fans: Are you a proponent of the BCS or in favor of a playoff?

    Gary Glick: Hell yes to a playoff.

    This year more than any I recall seems to support a playoff. It’s a shame that part of the ranking system seems to be based on the timing of a team’s loss. There are some very good “1-loss” teams this year that will get no chance to play for a Championship including USC and the University of Texas (as an Aggie I cant believe I am saying that).

    It might be different if EVERY other level of college football did not have a working playoff system. It also seems to make financial sense if you look at the success of the NCAA basketball playoffs (March Madness).

    DSF: How has the new coaching staff at Nebraska, led by Bo Pellini, affected Marlon Lucky this sMarlon Lucky Nebraska Cornhuskerseason?

    Gary Glick: The first thing to say is that Coach Pelini has made huge strides in his first season taking Nebraska to a Bowl game. From an outsider’s perspective, it didn’t seem that Marlon Lucky was utilized as well as his talents would have warranted. Marlon is a quick, tough RB with great hands out of the backfield. He definitely has NFL talent. I know it is tough for a good RB to alternate or to “ride the pine” because most say they have to get into a groove and actually get better as the game goes on and the defenses weaken.

    On the other hand, at the end of the season, Marlon Lucky had an injury which may have contributed to the lack of playing time.

    DSF: Do you think Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach made a good decision to stay at Texas Tech?

    Gary Glick: From a personal standpoint, he is a coach I love to hate. He also gives some of the best interviews of any coach in the nation, so if he left he would be missed.

    He is a hero in Lubbock and with the right contract, he may be satisfied to stay and try to make Tech into a National Champion; although recruiting in Washington would seem less competitive than competing for recruits against UT, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, etc…

    DSF: What are your thoughts on the return of Pacman Jones to the Cowboys?

    Gary Glick: I was against him going to the Cowboys in the first place and I was even more against his return. I remember the Cowboys as America’s Team and although not perfect, they had kind of a clean image. In any sport, but especially with the Cowboys, I hate to see the “win at all costs” mentality. As I have said in the past, I believe everyone deserves a second chance but Pacman has had 13 brushes with the law in the short time he has been in the NFL including the latest incident which got him suspended…AGAIN. If a team owner has to hire guards (babysitters) to make sure a player doesn’t get into trouble, that would seem to indicate a problem.

    The Cowboys have a core of really good, clean players on defense. I have listened to them on various sports talk shows and they seem to be REAL people that stay out of trouble. I was hesitant about the decision the Cowboys made to sign Tank Johnson but he really seems to have turned it around. Pacman on the other hand has been given enough chances.

    Owen Tolson - ArmyDSF: What are your thoughts on the army’s policy concerning players being forced to serve and not play upon graduation?

    Gary Glick: First, I am a big proponent of the Army as my cousin in Alabama, Brent Williford, has served two tours in Iraq. Clearly, the players who are in the Army know the policies of the Army before they sign. It is a requirement to give a certain period of time as a commitment to the Army for paying for school, etc. All of that is understood and as long as the policy is consistent, there is no problem.

    With that being said, as you know, I represent Owen Tolson, the Punter for Army who was sensational and invited to the NFL Combine. During the time we were working with Owen Tolson, we were informed by the Army that for these players, their “Army commitments” could be served during the off-season by serving as Army recruiters.

    With this information, Owen trained every day, was successful in a College Senior All Star game, and was made offers by the Giants and the Lions and seemed to be headed for success. Likewise, Caleb Campbell, a Safety for Army, was signed by the Detroit Lions.

    Apparently, during all of this, the Army changed the policy or interpreted it differently and required both players to serve out their two year commitments, thereby giving up any hopes of the NFL for at least 2 years.

    Personally, I was outraged because these two young players had worked their butts off based on the Army’s representations they would be allowed to play. It seems like the fair thing to do was to “Grandfather” these players in and allow them to play and to serve the Army in the capacity they were told they’d be allowed to. The Army could then enforce the policy from 2008 forward.

    What do you think?

    [poll id="2"]

    (If you would like to view past Sports Agent Corner posts with Gary Glick, hop on over to the Sports Agent Corner page at Midwest Sports Fans. Eventually we’ll get all of those posts over here.)

    Filed Under: College Football, Featured, Sports Agent Corner
    Tagged: bcs, big 12, bo pellini, gary glick, marlon lucky, mike leach, owen tolson, pacman jones, sports agent, texas tech

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