SB Nation User Blog: Kahuna

USC is Always 'The Better Team'

Kahuna — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:48:22 -0000

USC is Always 'The Better Team'

Way back when, I thought Matt Leinart was just a spoiled prick when he proclaimed that "the better team lost" after 41-38 proved that incorrect. But I just noticed Joe McKnight's quote after the recent USC loss to Washington: "Washington wasn’t the better team. They just outplayed us."

This is what makes Pete Carroll's teams tick. He's got them so brainwashed that they can't even accept the reality that losing demonstrates that the other team is better in almost every situation. I guess it's a motivational technique, but at the same time I have to wonder if Pete isn't just too caught up in his own hoopla.

Oh well, at least McKnight followed up with, "But hard work beats athleticism any day." Maybe he'll be ok...

Animated Blogpoll

Kahuna — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:32:57 -0000

Animated Blogpoll

The newest Animated Blogpoll features everyone's favorite Boom-laying Mofo and my favorite ZZ Top song...

Tougher to be a Longhorn in the NFL?

Kahuna — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:47:40 -0000

I never saw anyone mention this article by Jeffri Chadiha that came out last Friday on ESPN.com, but it's an issue we deal with from time to time around here and has become highlighted by the Almighty VY's recent troubles. The question he raises (and treats fairly in my view) is whether the Longhorn football program is adequately preparing it's players to be succesful pros.

In the end, my first concern is that the team wins it's college football games (esp. against OU and A&M) so as long as that's happening, whatever. On the other hand, it is a point of pride for all of us Longhorn fans (I think) that "our boys" end up being successful after they leave The University. (And I don't think it is limited to football or basketball, I was yelling support at the TV every time a Longhorn athlete competed at the Olympics this summer.)

So, is Mack Brown's approach to coaching these kids failing them in the long run? Is he recruiting a bunch of "cry-babies" to begin with? Is it actually an institututional thing with The University, seeing as Ricky Williams is a noted "troubled soul" in the NFL and spent the majority of his time under The Concussed Wine-Sipper?

For my part, I believe in personal responsibility. VY's problems may stem from a troubled family life, or from letting all the glory go to his head. Or he might just be a sensitive guy who was sheltered during college. Had we seen this coming, would we have recommended that Mack break Vince's spirit down during college to prepare him for the big bad real world? Rather, I think we should expect and encourage Vince Young to grow up and accept that he's the only one to blame for what Vince Young does. Who knows, maybe he already does and maybe it's the people around him that weren't allowing him the time and space to deal with his issues. Some times I sort of envy the way Ricky Williams was able to deal with his problems: he basically up and took off and spent some time away exploring himself and coming to grips with his issues. You didn't see his mother telling the press that he needed time away, he just did what was right for himself.

Anyway, I can't pretend to know what it's like to be a big-time college football player or an NFL'er. I do know, however, that everyone comes to a point in their life when they realize that things suck and they're tempted to give up. I don't think that anything anyone does to/for that person beforehand will really affect how they react to that moment. People either buckle down and get it done, or decide it's not worth the effort and I think it's probably unfair for outsiders to place a value judgement on that decision. The idea of "wasting god-given talent" is a Calvinist (I think) concept that doesn't really fit in with the modern rejection of pre-determination. But that's a philosophical debate for someone else to engage in.

For me the most important question raised in the article is this: Is it better for these football players to have a happy, healthy college experience or is it more important that they are hardened and inured to the grim realities of the NFL and life after college? It reminds me of a question that we liberal art majors used to raise when taunting our business major nemeses: were we in college to get an education or to train ourselves for a job? I chose the first and am very happy about the choice, but a bunch of people who chose the second are making a lot more money than me.

Gabe Muoneke's Blog

Kahuna — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:18:17 -0000

I was perusing TrueHoop this morning on ESPN.com and came across a most fascinating link: Gabe Muoneke's Blog! Gabe tells a pretty good story and has some interesting theories on his life. And did anyone else know Gabe was a petroleum engineering major? I have fond memories of watching Gabe play at Texas back in the day and if you do too, you may enjoy reading his blog.

King of Rivalries?

Kahuna — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:58:55 -0000

So, it's "Rivalry Week" once again, one of the CFB world's nods to Hallmark and inventing nonsense events to obsess about. I was reading an article in the Washington Post ranking their top 5 rivalries. I won't link to it, as it's clearly written by a Yankee and not worth your reading time (short-hand: OSU-Michigan, Army-Navy, Duke-UNC bball, Red Sox-Yankees, Barcelona-Real Madrid). Anyway, it got me thinking, but not about what the "best" rivalry is. I don't care what you say, you'll never convince me that OSU-Michigan, Auburn-Alabama, or Notre Dame-USC is a better rivalry than the UT-Techfodder game that happens at the beginning of each October.

And in the end, isn't that what creates for the greatest rivalries? What the fans think? I freekin' hate Sooners. And Aggies. And Razorbacks to boot. And don't get me started on their sports teams! (ba dum bump) And this is no news to this crew, but, those jerks hate us too! We can debate the true basis for their motivations all day (various types of inadequacy, jealousy, circular family trees, etc.), but in the end, they think they despise us because we are Longhorns.

Back to why I wrote this, the article got me thinking that in the end, Texas may be the King of Rivalries. While everybody dislikes Notre Dame, who really considers them a rival? USC and Michigan? How about USC? They've got Notre Dame and UCLA. Michigan may come close, they have Ohio State, Michigan State and Notre Dame. I personally discount Michigan State, as they are more of a "little brother" than A&M will ever be. Florida has Florida State, but aren't the rest of their "rivalries" one big shared SEC hate-fest? From the time I spend on SEC blogs, it seems like everyone hates Auburn and Tennessee and Georgia and Alabama.

When you come to Texas however, you find a team that everyone wants to beat, and fans that opposing fans want to molest. Sooners and Aggies are a well-known quantity (zero if you want to get technical). Texas Tech and Baylor consider us rivals. Andre Ware evidently thinks Texas is a rival to Houston, considering the way he treats the Horns when calling their games. Arkansas fans hate Texas even though we haven't been in a conference with them for over ten years! Allow me to quote from Wikipedia (which I'll assume was written by a Razorback):

The premier rivalry for the Arkansas Razorbacks is against the Longhorns of the University of Texas. Although today, the Longhorns have several other rivalries that they consider more important (notably Texas A&M and Oklahoma), during the 1960s, no rivalry, especially in football, was as big as the Razorbacks and Longhorns. Texas leads the series in football, while Arkansas holds the series lead in basketball. For Arkansas, the rivalry is an emotional experience and Arkansas fans and media go into a frenzy when the two teams play in any sport. The emotional intensity from the Arkansas side in these games overwhelms and bewilders Texas fans at times, including the 2000 Cotton Bowl, where Arkansas fans outnumbered Texas fans by almost 2 to 1 in Dallas.

Note that "Arkansas holds the series lead in basketball", a sport many Longhorns barely knew we played until 15 years ago. Also that Razorbacks outnumbered Longhorns at the 2000 Cotton Bowl, during which I would guess most Longhorn fans were, like me, recovering from their Y2K hangovers. Whatever.

The bottom line is, the University of Texas could well be considered to be the premier "Rival School" in the nation. Does that mean anything? Not really. But I think it might serve us as a point of pride as we head into our rivalry game against the Aggies, knowing that our team, our Longhorns, are so great that they engender enmity and jealousy across the land.

And speaking of Aggies, and since it's that time of year, did you hear the tragic story about the chartered Aggie plane that crashed into a cemetery? They recovered 1100 bodies.

Poll

Does Aggie idiocy cause you mental anguish?

ARGH!!! How can they be so stupid?!?!

20 votes

I am more concerned about the porosity of Oklahoma's borders.

34 votes

I am an Aggie and I have a hard time with at least four of the words in that question.

11 votes

65 votes | Poll has closed

MVP

Kahuna — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:55:18 -0000

I know that the season is far from over. I know that Tech is going to be a challenge on the football field and that A&M is going to be a challenge in trying to comprehend how Neanderthals managed to create and maintain a full-fledged university.

All that said, I am ready today to nominate one of our players for Longhorn MVP. I came to this by thinking about which player I'd least like to have to give up.

Some will obviously go with Colt, who as the QB has a lot of responsibility for getting the team over the hump. But he's been really flat a couple of games this season (Kansas State, Nebraska). Some will loudly proclaim for Jamaal Charles, who has suddenly turned into the best 4th-quarter player in the nation. Unfortunately, there are 3 other quarters and he didn't show up for any in some of the games this year. I don't know how anyone would choose one of our posse of receivers, who have all shown flashes of brilliance this year but have a hard time standing out from one another. The defense, well, I'd be interested to hear any arguments for a defensive player being the MVP, because they'd have to be really creative. (And yes, I know there are coaching issues, but that argument has been hashed out elsewhere.)

That said, I will stand up and nominate Ryan Bailey for the 2007 Longhorn MVP. First I'll note that he was named as the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week for the second straight week. And then I'll note that Texas has won three games by a field goal this year. Bailey has yet to miss a PAT (knocking on wood). And then of course is the heartwarming story of the walk-on made good.

In the end, Ryan Bailey is the clutch player on this team who has consistently made plays to keep hope alive. Without him, the season would be sunk and we'd be squealing like ND fans.

Poll

Who's your Longhorn MVP at this point?

QB Colt McCoy

18 votes

DE Lamarr Houston

1 votes

RB Jamaal Charles

64 votes

DT Derek Lokey

1 votes

WR Quan Cosby

5 votes

QB John Chiles

1 votes

WR Nate Jones

2 votes

DT Frank Okam

8 votes

K Ryan Bailey

22 votes

TE Jermichael Finley

0 votes

122 votes | Poll has closed

Midweek Optimism

Kahuna — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:47:34 -0000

To lay the groundwork: I didn't see the game. I didn't see any high(low)lights of the game. All I know is what has been written here on BON, the Longhorn Scripture as far as I'm concerned.

As was the case with most of BON, I was a bit concerned when I read all of the commentary about the Arkie St. game. And I've been stewing about it.

This morning, however, I had a revelation. I woke up, jumped in the shower and as soon as the hot water hit my head I thought, "What if Mack and the boys were just sandbagging? What if what happened on Saturday was one of the greatest displays of psychological warfare that CFB has yet seen?" What better way to get the mental upper-hand on your opponents than to make them think that you're going to be a pushover?

I don't know, that's what I'm going with until Saturday proves me right or wrong. And I'll be able to enjoy the next couple of days. Hope y'all can too.

Hook Em.

BON 2000

Kahuna — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 02:56:11 -0000

I've been reading BON ever since it was born fully-formed from the head of All Things Longhorn, way back in the run up to 41-38 in 2005. I'm very proud that I was the 85th person to register here and always tend to mouse over someone's name when I read a provocative diary or comment to see their "number", mostly to get an idea for how long they've been around.

Anyway, after noting these recent "Howdy" diaries, I also noticed that the registration "numbers" are rapidly approaching 2000, if not already past that plateau (occasionally there are posters that don't have numbers for some reason...). That number, and the approaching 2 year anniversary led me to reminisce about the countless hours I've spent here enjoyably.

First off, congratulations to PB and all of the Burnt Orange Nation for creating a strong and lasting haven for Longhorn fans of all stripes. Second, shouldn't that 2000th person get an award or something? Maybe a special title? Or is 2000 registered users a negligible number? I don't spend much time on message boards or other web sites like this so I don't know.

Anyway, welcome to our new Longhorn friends and congrats to all of the crew from the bad old days.

Blazer Fans for KD

Kahuna — Wed, 23 May 2007 17:51:29 -0000

Saw this over at Deadspin and figured y'all would get as big a kick out of it as I did:

Draft Kevin Durant

I've got your 300 characters right here...

Greatest Run in Longhorn History?

Kahuna — Wed, 16 May 2007 20:09:15 -0000

A reader over on EDSBS referred to a particular play as "considered by many to be the greatest run in Colorado history".

That lead me to wonder what the BON believes is the greatest run in Texas Longhorn history. The first couple that came to my mind were Ricky's record-breaker (for sentimental and Ag-bashing reasons) and more recently, the pair of 80-yarders by The Almighty VY and Jamaal Charles. I don't think I have a preference, but it seems like a good off-season, non-Barry Bonds related thread-starter...

What say you, BON?