SB Nation User Blog: J Lou

Quentin Coryatt - The Hit

J Lou — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:37:28 -0000

Quentin Coryatt - The Hit

Aggies Win College Station Regional - 2008

J Lou — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:20:36 -0000

Aggies Win College Station Regional - 2008

Houston Super Regional

J Lou — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:04:20 -0000

NCAA Baseball Houston Super Regional Preview

Texas A&M v. Rice

via www.aggieathletics.com

Host: Rice University

Site: Reckling Park

Schedule:

Game 1: Saturday, June 7^th, 2 p.m. (ESPNU)
Game 2: Sunday, June 8^th, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 3: Monday, June 9^th, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN) or 6 p.m. (ESPN2)

Teams Overview:

Texas A&M Aggies (46-17)

The Aggies enter the super regional after advancing from the College Station Regional last weekend. After a recent 10-game slide, the Aggies have won four of their last five games.

via www.aggieathletics.com

Who’s Hot:

Kyle Colligan – The Aggies’ centerfielder led the team in the championship game of the Super Regional with two home runs. Colligan was named the MOP of the regional.
Darby Brown – With 4 RBIs in the Championship game on Monday Darby has showed why the Aggies love having him in the middle of the order. Coach Childress will need lots of production out of Brown and teammate Luke Anders for the Aggies to feel good about their chances in Houston.

Rice Owls (45-13)

The Owls earned their way to the super regional by defeating Texas in their regional. Rice will be making its fourth consecutive trip to the super regionals.

Coach Wayne Graham has the Owls playing at an extremely high level. The Owls really have no glaring weaknesses on their team. They hit for power, use speed on the base paths, and not to mention their team ERA is near the top of Division 1 baseball.

Who’s Hot:

Jimmy Comerata – The Owls second basemen helped pace the Owls to a regional championship with some big hits in the final game against Texas.

Adam Zornes – The handling of a pitching staff is vastly under-rated and the Owls catcher does a wonderful job of making sure his pitchers are zoned in and ready to beat anyone. It also doesn’t hurt that he produces at the plate. Zornes was named to last weekend’s All-Regional Team in Houston.

See it live.

Reckling Park is considered one of the premiere parks in college baseball. Rice University did a magnificent job of framing a view of downtown Houston in the outfield.

The Aggies ended their season last year in the Super Regionals at Reckling Park and are hoping to avoid the same fate this year.

I am really looking forward to seeing if the Aggies can bust past their old SWC foe for a trip to Omaha.

Gig ‘em.

-Jarrett

Great Time to be an Aggie

J Lou — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:23:20 -0000

Runner up at the Softball World Series. Baseball Regional Champions. Men's and Women's Track & Field Regional Champions. Men's and Women's Golf best finish since the 1980's.

No matter how you look at it, it is good to be an Aggie fan these days. Over the course of the next several days, 12th Manchild is going to walk through each of the spring sports. We will be looking at just how far Bill Byrne has brought our athletic department in a short 6 years.

To hold you guys over between now and then, enjoy the following stats:

Using a formula that awards 12 points for a league championship, 11 points for second place, 10 points for third and so on, overall the Aggies athletic department ranks 1st in the Big 12 Conference for 2007-2008. On the men's side the Aggies are second, the women's side the Lady Ags are in a commanding 1st place.

Overall Rankings:

1-183 - Texas A&M

2-182 - Texas

3-146 - Nebraska

4-139 - Oklahoma

5-132 - Missouri

6-123 - Oklahoma State

7-116.5 - Texas Tech

8-110.5 - Kansas

9-95 - Baylor

10-89.5 - Iowa State

11-75.5 - Kansas State

12-78 - Colorado

Men's Rankings:

1-95 - Texas

2-81.5 - Texas A&M

3-67 - Oklahoma State

4-63.5 - Missouri

5-61.5 - Oklahoma

6-59.5 - Nebraska

7-57.5 - Texas Tech

8-47.5 - Kansas

9-47.5 - Baylor

10-40.5 - Colorado

11-35.5 - Kansas State

12-33.5 - Iowa State

Women's Rankings:

1-101.5 - Texas A&M

2-87 - Texas

3-86.5 - Nebraska

4-77.5 - Oklahoma

5-68.5 - Missouri

6-63 - Kansas

7-59 - Texas Tech

8-59 - Iowa State

9-57.5 - Baylor

10-56 - Oklahoma State

11-43 - Kansas State

12-37.5 - Colorado

NFL Draft Special with Joey Thomas

J Lou — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:07:28 -0000

Just as the sports world came to a lull, we have some new headlines to keep us interested. The Aggie Baseball Team is flirting with making their first trip to Omaha in years, Spring football has wrapped up, the NBA Playoffs are in full blossom, and the NFL Draft is on Saturday. To hold you over until we get to see teams poke and prod over their newest franchise player, we sat down with one of 12th MC's favorite Aggies, Joseph Liam Thomas to talk about his outlook and thoughts going into what could be the biggest day of his life:

JT MONEY #81

1) What are your thoughts going into the NFL Draft? Do you have hopes of getting drafted? Signed as a free agent? JT:This whole experience of getting ready for the draft has been awesome. As soon as last season ended I started preparing myself for a chance to play in the NFL. Things have gotten nothing but more optimistic since. It started out as more of a dream that has now become more of a reality. I have had pro day and a few personal workouts with teams, all of which went well. This past week, I've received phone calls from 7 different teams that all nice things to say and wish me good luck this weekend. I've gotten the notion that I have a chance of being drafted in one of the late rounds and if not, I will definitely be signed as a free agent and have a much appreciated chance to make a team.

2) What did you do to get ready for the draft? Where did you work out? Who did you work out with? JT:My agent, Jordan Woy, sent me to train up in McKinney, Texas to train at the Michael Johnson Performance Center. It was an amazing experience that taught me alot. It was hard not being starstruck the first week. Not only did we have Michael Johnson working with us everyday, two of the guys I was working out with should be first round picks, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Dan Campbell, along with some other NFLers, were also there keeping his body in shape. Michael Johnson and Lance Walker, a former Cowboy's strength coach, worked out me and 7 other guys out for about a month and a half, Monday through Saturday. A typical day was 7am to 6pm of mixed workouts.

3)What teams have you met with? Talked to? JT:I've have been in contact with quite a few teams, some of which I talked to personally and some of which my agent has been talking to. The ones that I personally have been talking to the most are Cleveland, Seattle, Indianapolis, New England, and Jaxsonville. Lately, it has been Cleveland that has been giving me the most attention. The thing about them though, is they only have 4 picks in the draft starting in the 4th round. I have had personal workouts with Jaxsonville, New York Jets, and Cleveland.

4)What have they told you about your NFL chances? JT:As I mentioned earlier, I have gotten the feeling that I have a good chance at being drafted in a later round and if not, teams have confirmed that they will offer me a free agent deal. My agent seems to think I have a great chance of getting drafted but I usually take things with a grain of salt. I will be happy with any chance to make a team.

5)How are you spending Saturday? JT:Well, Saturday I will be relaxing in Austin and maybe go out on the lake for a bit. Sunday is when I will start to actually watch the draft and probably get a little more stressed.

6)Out of all of A&M's players in the draft this year, who will be the best pro? Why? JT:It's hard to say because I love all our guys coming out this year, most of whom I've been with for 5 years now. If i had to pick one though, I'd say Martellus, just because of his raw ability and athleticism. If he can get in a good system, he has the potential to really shine.

7)If you don't get drafted, how do you decide between the possible handful of teams that you could sign as a free agent with? JT:What it comes down to for me is where I have to best chance to make a team in the long run. As a free agent you have to ignore the signing bonus amount or any desire to live in a certain place and concentrate on where you would fit in best with your abilities as well as the current depth at your position for any such team.

8)If you could pick the tea to play for, who would it be? JT:I would have to pick the Texans, solely because I am in love with Texas and I have never liked the Cowboys, which you and Plunk know. If I could start an NFL team in Austin I would. The hill country is my favorite place in the US.

9)Who would make a better NFL agent, JLOU or PLUNK? JT:J Lou, no offense but Plunk is in law school so I'm going to have to go with Plunk. Plus you and I would be too distracted by having fun. I would trust Plunk more because he is a bigger dork.

10)How did you workouts help/hurt your NFL stock? JT:I performed pretty well in Pro Day which I think helped me alot. I was able to show my athleticism and really drew alot of scouts and coaches attention. Things got exponentially better since my Pro Day.

11)Can I have tickets to your first NFL game? JT: If you tell me where my taser went.

For the record, JLou has no idea as to the whereabouts of Joey's taser, and if he did would still refuse to share them with JT solely out of fear that he may get shocked yet again when JT's ADD kicks in

Acie Law IV Sighting

J Lou — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:42:37 -0000

I spent this past weekend in New York City and was lucky enough to take in a Knicks game. Now, I would never have agreed to watch the Knicks play horrible basketball, but:

1. It was my first time to NYC and was very interested in taking in Madison Square Garden

2. They were playing the Hawks, and I was hoping Acie would get some minutes

3. The tickets were free

Well, early on the game was a complete blow out, so I was very hopeful that Acie may see the court at halftime (20 point Atlanta lead). But, true to the NBA, no lead is ever safe, and the Knicks came back firing come the fourth quarter, and Acie never saw the court.

But, that doesn't mean that I didn't find some comfort in just being able to see Acie "That's What I Do" Law. At halftime, my buddy and myself moved from our average seats to some prime real estate on the end of the court where the Hawks would be warming up after appearing from the locker room.

What transpired in the next ten minutes, made my night. Acie was taking some "no jumpers", and draining everyone. As a loose ball came his way, he scooped it up. A teammate motioned for him to pass him the ball, but Acie refused to. The teammate approached him to steal the ball, but Acie just walked to the far corner and refused further. At this point, Acie took the extra ball and flicked it one handed from behind the arc...splash.

The teammate decided to D Acie up, and Acie began to put on a clinic. Every shot...splash. Running sky hooks...money.

The people in our new section probably thought we were crazy, as we were going nuts. It was the only time we stood and clapped, or yelled the entire game. Acie fed off of our love and continued even more. This time hitting jumpers off the glass, three's from well behind the line.... Every single one strongly contested by his teammate everything time.

Acie Law. The man, the myth, the legend.

Red Bryant Information

J Lou — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:43:00 -0000

I thought that you guys would find this interesting. A fellow SB Nation blog, Niners Nation, is doing some NFL Draft work. Today's piece focuses on Red Bryant.

Here is a sample of what it says:

I've been looking over various options for the 49ers second round pick in the mock draft, and of course in real life, since that's what this is all about. During my research, Matt Miller over at Mocking The Draft said he's turned into a big time Red Bryant fan. Red Bryant was the nose tackle at Texas A&M this past year and Matt's convinced he could be one hell of a nose tackle for our 3-4 for the foreseeable future. I know there has been some discussion of Frank Okam, but I wanted to get people's thoughts on Bryant.

and

While I can see why people would like Bryant and how he could slot in at nose tackle, there seem to be a lot of questions marks. I have not watched nearly as much film as the scouts so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. While I don't know how recent the ESPN scouting report is, there are some similarities between it and New Era's report to make me think twice about some of those weaknesses. I'm pretty sure of who I'll grab with the second round pick, but I wonder if the 49ers feel the same way.

Click Here to Read the Entire Article

This and That

J Lou — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:11:42 -0000

As the week tails to an end, and you struggle to stay motivated at work/school, I thought that some random ramblings may be just the thing to hold everyone over.

DeAndre declares for the NBA Draft

This comes as no surprise to anyone. DeAndre, though unpolished and raw, has the rare skills set that makes NBA teams drool. How good is he? Not that good right now. How good can he be? Well, he had a below average year and was regularly exposed in the Big 12 this year and he is still projected to be a lottery pick.

What I don't get is when people get all red in the face about how DeAndre isn't ready. Who cares. If a team wants to give him millions of dollars right now so that they can beef him up and get him ready, then I see no problem why he shouldn't go. Trust me, I want DeAndre back just as much as the next guy, but that is just smart business. The NBA is just like any other company. You make investments on employees that show lots of potential, and then you slowly mold them into exactly what you want.

However, if DeAndre wants to be a big time player and be drafted 1-5 in the draft, the obvious decision is to stay one more year. With the wealth of big men in this year's draft, it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see him change his mind as the projections solidify and he ends up as a late lottery pick.

NBADraft.net has DJ as #10 to the Nets

CollegeHoops.net has DJ as #9 to the Bulls

DraftExpress.com has DJ as #10 to the Bulls

P.S. In my opinion, Derrick Rose is the best Freshman in the country. He would have put up Beasley/Mayo/Durant like numbers if he had played on any of those teams. I fully expect him to be the best pro out of this year's freshman crop. It isn't a stretch to imagine him playing at the Chris Paul, Deron Williams level in just a few years. He is smooth, has a stroke, is quick enough to defend, and is big and long enough to handle the pro sized guards.

The new Dollar Bill?

Why not? You can't do anything more at Kansas than you just did. You just won a game that will be an ESPN Classic for year's to come. You pick up the phone and one of the richest men in the world is going to pay you more money than you can spend in a lifetime to COME HOME. Why not?

This bidding war doesn't bother me anymore. Maybe it should, but it doesn't. And out of all the coaches getting courted by big time programs, when someone has a chance to go home to their Alma Mater, where they met their wife, where their family still resides, it just makes sense, especially when Boone Pickens is willing to pay upwards of $3.5 million/year.

By the way, what do you do with that kind of money in Stillwater, OK? Everywhere he goes people will pick up the tab. Car allowance. House allowance. Where do you spend that money? You work too dang much to vacation. It just piles up. How awesome is that?

This ESPN.com article by Gene Wojciechowski doesn't do it for me. And it bothers me on so many different levels:

1. I don't see OSU as a graveyard. Is it just me, or is that arena not one of the more intimidating venues in all of college ball? In '03/'04 they beat St. Joe's in one of the better NCAA Tournament games to move onto the FINAL FOUR. The next year? They are ranked in the top ten from start to finish, win the Big 12 tourney, and lose in the Sweet 16 by 1 point. Graveyard? Not quite. Any program that can boast 2 national titles, 17 conference championships, and 6 final fours can't be referred to as a graveyard. Is OSU basketball on par with Kansas basketball? Of course not, but it isn't unthinkable that OSU could improve into a feared program again in a few years. In fact, they have much more of a claim to that happening than we do at this point, and we've come quite a long way in 3 short years.

2. Gene Wojmynameistoohardtospell says that "alma maters are overrated. So is money." Oh is that right? Easy for you to say from your free hotel room in San Antonio that ESPN picked up the tab on. And I'm sure everyone over in Knoxville, Tennessee is glad to hear you bash the importance of where you came from. One man should never be able to say what another man should or shouldn't do. Go try on Self's shoes, walk around in them and then get back to me on whether taking money and COMING HOME is a bad idea.

3. The last thing that gets me about this, is the fact that I have a feeling that Gene Wojtoomanyletters has a little bit of conflict of interests in this piece. Why? He is born and raised in Kansas.

Fantasy Baseball is Addicting

I never have played before. I normally stick to Fantasy Football, but this year, under the pressure from my newest brother-in-law (the check is in the mail by the way), I decided to join a league. At first it was a little overwhelming, too many stats. Too many pitchers. Too long of a draft. Too many guys with the last name Rodriguez. But then the season started, and now, I can't stop checking the live scoring. I need to contain myself though, this season is too long, and I am in a dead sprint right now. Let's see if I can keep it up. But it looks good so far, especially when my team is belting out 9 home runs against Plunk's over hyped and poorly managed squad.

That's all for today. Enjoy the Masters.

Fully Recovered...Finally

J Lou — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:44:19 -0000

What day is it? Where am I? What time zone? Where's all my money?

All of these things ran through my head as my red-eye flight landed at the Dulles Airport at 7am on Saturday morning. I just spent the college tuition of my first born son on a 32 hour balls-to-the-wall trip to Las Vegas. I am sure most of you have experienced the madness before, but for me, it was my first go with Sin City. 32 hours, and every minute was a "carpe diem" moment. I had to get my money's worth. Sweet Sixteen basketball. Sportsbook. Craps. Blackjack. Slots. All of it, so much to take in.

So I sat there, in seat 11D, waiting to stumble off the plane, thumbing through the remains of my wallet, trying to figure out where it all went. I hit rewind and found myself just a day and half earlier in a line for a taxi cab on my cell phone with Plunk, just minutes from the first tip of Thursday games:

"Give me Xavier plus 1 vs. West Virginia for $50."

The cab arrived, and I began my ride to the Venetian, I was already hooked. I called Plunk right back, "Give me the over in each game for $25 each, too."

As I settled into the hotel and made my way down to the sportsbook to assess the damage, I found Xavier and WVU in a close game, but WVU staying way too close for my comfort level. As the game went down to the wire, I found myself inching closer to the over/under at 136 points. Next thing I know, overtime. Overtime?! What does that do to my bets? The entire book asked the same question. Ends up, all bets stay alive until the final whistle. Great news for me. Xavier pulls out the win, and my cover gets hit. Plus $75. UNC wins big, but a slow start kills my over bet, down to plus $50.

Quick run at the craps table, big wins. Plunk rolls for 10 minutes solid and wins the table about $300/person, while somehow losing himself $50....hilarious difference in moods when we all walked away. Plus $350. Feel bad that Plunk just lost $50, and don't want to hear him complain about how he won me the money, throw him a two $25 chips. Plus $300.

Second round of games are up, I want a more action and bet smaller amounts: $20 on Louisville -1 in the first half (plus $20), $10 Tennesee +3 (lose, plus $10), $20 parlay under for Louis/Tenn and UCLA/WKU (lose, down $10), $10 WKU +8 in the first half (lose, down $20). Plus $280 to date, not a bad start.

Next craps table, a real grinder as I stand for close to an hour and find a way to win another $100. Plus $380. There is always that moment in retrospect you wished that you had just walked away. This was my moment. I never see plus numbers again.

From here on out, I am not going to disclose my losses. But lets just say the craps tables went cold, or my betting did, or both. What started as a nice hot streak, became a very painful first trip to Vegas. I knew I needed to step away when in the middle of the downfall, my phone beeped to remind me that it was payday. Too much temptation, luckily I walked away without dipping into any savings accounts, and $300 in my pocket.

Plunk and I bet enough to have fun, but not enough where we could lose anything of value to us. The rest of our crew? Not the same mindset. There were those that maxed out withdrawal limits. Those that had to visit actual Wells Fargo branches. Those that even dipped into 401K savings. When I feel bad about my losses, I just think about those guys, and I feel a little bit better.
What about Plunk? Well, his luck was a little hotter than mine, and he found some serious wealth in the Sportsbook:

took WV-1 and lost ...$30

took UNC -8.5 and won ...$25

took WKU +12.5 and covered ...$50

took Tenn +3. and lost ..$25

took Wis +4.5 and lost ...$25

took Texas -2 and covered ...$100

took Kansas -12.5 and cov......$50

took memphis -4.5 and covered ...$100

Plus $245 from Sweet Sixteen

took UNC -6.5 vs Louis and won...$100

took UNC/Louis under 154 and lost...$50

took UCLA -6 vs. Xavier and won...$100

took UCLA/X over 131 and won...$25

Plus $175 on Elite Eight

Plunk = Plus $420 total at the Sportsbook.

Plunk still hasn't disclosed his overall winnings/losses from the entire trip, but I think he did okay for himself. He almost lost everone of his Elite Eight bets though. In a Vegas stupor, he made almost $300 in bets, sat the slips down on a table, dropped a $100 bill on the ground and walked away. Luckily he had some friends with him that covered his back, or it would have been a much different weekend for ole Bobble Head.

Not a good story? Probably not, but it gives you a view into the confusion that is the Plunk. If you are still thirsty for more (I doubt that you are), this one isn't may be a little better:

Late Friday night our entire crew found itself on Freemont Street at Mermaids participating in a little slot machine tournament. Plunk didn't have a slot machine, and a drunk homeless man was passed out on a machine. What did Plunk do? He called security and had the bum dragged out of the casino....literallly. Belly up, on his arse, dragged straight out of the casino, all so he could put a $20 bill in a slot machine and get free drinks. Well done, Plunk. Well done.

Women's Basketball::Elite Eight

J Lou — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:58:06 -0000

#2 Texas A&M (26-7) vs. #1 Tennessee (33-2)

Courtesy of AggieAthletics.com

Probable Lineups:


Texas A&M	Ht.	Pos.	Yr.	Stats
A'Quoesia Franklin	5-3	G	SR	7.9 ppg/ 4.8 apg
Takia Starks	5-8	G	JR	16.4 ppg/ 4.4 rpg
Danielle Gant	5-11	G/F	JR	14.8 ppg/ 7.2 rpg
Patrice Reado	6-0	F	SR	8.4 ppg/ 4.8 rpg
LaToya Micheaux	6-3	C	JR	3.7 ppg/ 5.2 rpg


Tennessee	Ht.	Pos.	Yr.	Stats
Shannon Bobbitt	5-2	G	SR	9.8 ppg/ 3.5 apg
Alexis Hornbuckle	5-11	G	SR	10.2 ppg/ 5.7 rpg
Alberta Auguste	5-11	F	SR	5.3 ppg/ 2.7 rpg
Candace Parker	6-4	F/C/G	JR	21.5 ppg/ 8.4 rpg
Nicky Anosike	6-4	F	SR	9.0 ppg/ 7.3 rpg

ANALYSIS:

Keys for Tennessee:

The Lady Vols don’t have to do anything special. They have the best player in the country surrounded by the best team in the country and led by the best coach in the history of the game. Tennessee needs to show up, not underestimate Texas A&M and play to their ability. If those things are done the Lady Vols should roll to win over the Aggies.

Candace Parker is possibly the most impressive female basketball player of all time. She has all the skills of a guard, all the skills of a post, and is 6-4. She will be the biggest mismatch for the Aggies. Imagine Danielle Gant five inches taller and you would get close to Parker. Parker is the star but Bobbitt and Hornbuckle drive the Cadillac that is the Tennessee attack. The Vols like to pressure the ball and score in transition. Look for a great matchup between those two and the Aggie combo of Starks and Franklin.

Parker will get her points and look like a superstar no matter what the Aggies do. Therefore the Hornbuckle and Bobbitt have to play their game and control pace and tempo through their defense for Tennessee to stroll into Tampa looking for the national championship.

Keys for A&M:

A&M and Tennessee play similar styles. They both pressure the ball with tremendous defense and rely on superior athleticism in order to score in the half court. We somehow have to neutralize the one thing they have that we don’t. A bevy of 6-4 posts. Tennessee will try to dominate the offensive and defensive boards to pull away from the Aggies. Patrice Reado, LaToya Micheaux, and Dmitria Buchanon will have to play great in order to neutralize Tennessee tremendous advantage. In addition to rebounding, our guards have to outplay and dominate their guards. We have no answer for Candace Parker, but if Starks, Franklin, Atunrase, and Gant can outperform their Tennessee counterparts A&M can stay in the game and possibly win late.

Prediction:

Most of you are probably saying "Notre Dame was up at half time, we have a chance!!!" Let me dispel that rumor. We are not the Fighting Irish. They play an entirely different style than we do and it is a style that gave Tennessee fits until they made adjustments. The same thing would have happened to us if we had played Notre Dame.

If the Aggies want to make the trip to Tampa for the Final Four and play for the national championship they will have to outplay Tennessee at Tennessee’s style. Because of the strength of Franklin, Stark, and Gant this could happen. However, the fact remains no one at A&M can match up effectively with Parker. Micheaux will have to stay out of foul trouble, Franklin will have to pressure the ball like she has the past few games, and Gant/Starks will have to make almost every shot they take.

Keeping Micheaux out of foul trouble will be no easy task since she will be facing more athletic and more aggressive post players than she normally does. For Franklin to control the pace and force turnovers like she needs to, she will have to outplay guards that are better than what we have faced thus far in the NCAA tournament. If Gant/Starks are going to dominate the game offensively they will have to do it against one of the best defensive teams in the country.

If the Aggies can effectively perform each of the tasks listed above they should win. However, Tennessee still has Candace Parker and she is the best player on the court and in the nation. As much as I hate to say it, I am taking Tennessee in a game that should remain close till the final five minutes when the Lady Vols will kick it into overdrive on their way to Tampa. I hope I am wrong. Good Luck Ags!

-COACH DALE