So why was DKR's field wet and torn up?  I have talked about this with several other BON'ers (Newby, Wells, and other Andrew) 20th century style (in person) and no one new the answer. 

I can't say for certain but here are the facts as I know them: the field has an excellent irrigation and drainage system, it hadn't rained recently, yet the field was muddy.

My hypothesis: damn Aggies got into DKR again and flooded it.  This may seem like a stretch but they are surprisingly crafty when it comes to cheating ala the last time the Horns stayed in College Station and the hotel didn't serve us breakfast and routed calls into the players rooms all night long.  Or prior to that when they got into DKR and sawed Varsity's horns off - literally.  Not to mention the occasions they kidnapped BEVO.

A muddy field is a friend of the underdog, slower, pathetic team.

Somebody please respond to this with a simple answer, b/c I hate to think those we let those Aggies get into DKR again.

Lastly, why is that once we notice the field is bad and one player slips do we not see the whole team start changing to longer cleats?  I mean all at once and immediately.

Sorry this is dated about the Stanford game and Dexter Pittman, but I was out of town for the weekend but I still wanted to get my "I told you so" in before we move on from basketball :-)
The following refers to a previous diary which questioned AW's denial that Dexter Pittman would be an asset against Stanford.  

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AW can't see the forest for the Cardinal killer, Dexter Pittman.  Granted, the Miami game was a poor showing (1-3 FG but also 6 rebs in 8 minutes), but he had a tough matchup against that bald guy who made his moves from the top of the key, and with Miami showing us athletic defense, the guards revert to zero passes down to the post.  PB pretty much made these points already, but they are worth repeating.  

Continue reading this post »

Don't know if this has already been posted, but you can know sign up for the CBS March Madness online stream.

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I know I am not the first to ask this, but the sports bars are closed out here until for another hour and a half and I am getting the UCLA v Arizona game.  Any advice.  I tried sopcast.com but there is no ABC sports on there.

You must enter an Intro for your Diary Entry between 300 and 1150 characters long.
You must enter an Intro for your Diary Entry between 300 and 1150 characters long.
You must enter an Intro for your Diary Entry between 300 and 1150 characters long.

I saw some comment (that this should probably be a reply to instead of its own diary) which said something about how UT picked Burnt Orange b/c it was the last color available and that sounded very wrong and indeed it was.  So for what it is worth I thought this article on the history of Burnt Orange was interesting:

History of UT Colors

I also found this:
"Legend has it that the burnt orange color was chosen by football coach Darrell Royal, who thought that it would help his players conceal the football when they ran the triple option."

Any dark colored jersey (or arms) is going to make the ball easier to hide, but i would venture to say burnt orange is pretty suited for just that.

damn another week without internet, but i wanted to get my thoughts out on  the blog.  sorry if this isn't elegant, but i feel obligated to let it be known which side of the fence i am on regarding the tOSU debacle.

-first it would have taken an incredible game for the Horns to win against tOSU.  Troy Smith is deadly, and I kind of realized it watching him torch NIU in the first quarter. I just didn't want to believe it until now.

-however, that doesn't excuse the offensive ineptness.  there are indisputable facts regarding Mack Brown era football, and just looking at a couple paint a picture of offensive woe in big games.  i am not going to give a history lesson, but in short w/o 2005 VY are offense has had a tendency to disappear in big games against good coaches (hand in hand).

-i thank jeebus that we have Mack, but we should never again put ourselves in a situation where we have to start any freshman level QB.  it is a part of program building to have a QB in the wings. i know Mack has learned his lesson to take nothing for granted.

- i realize my credintials to speak about coordinating on the college level are essentially non-existent but i do know that a bubble screen or a swing pass to a wideout is really a run.  i am not as against it as some, but it does get called way too much.  it's #1 weekness is that the receiver generally wants to make a cut back to the middle of the field in a v-line w/ the entire defense, which results in great opportunities for 230lb linebackers to deliver ball busting blows to a 180lb WR on the 1yrd line.
you would think that w/ an inexperience QB if running is working, you mix up the type of run plays (iso, toss sweep etc), and you trust your backs to move the ball up the field, not the WRs.  WRs are then used for play action downfield.  

but again, i am not proposing i know what the Texas offense needs, but I do know when it is clearly not working.  a lowely 7 points scored by the University of Texas at home, is totally unacceptable and there should be questions asked and more thought put in the subject.  i encourage more of this and look forward to reading, and discusing this subject with other open minded BON'ers.

Hook'em

There was an article in the AAS that has kind of been bothering me lately:

http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/other/07/27bohls.html

It is a short article, but in summary OU's new offensive coordinator is coming from Northwestern, which like all small schools in big conferences, has to be creative to put points on the board. Almost everything said about him gives me the chills (a la 65-13) -
aggressive, take chances, antithesis of his predecessor, more formations and be more creative in strategy.

He's likely to move Bomar under center more often or roll him out on bootlegs or use him on called runs.

He's likely to split out 6-foot-7-inch tight end Jermaine Gresham to get a mismatch.  

Expect Peterson to be emphasized more.

I don't know if this has already been discussed but sportsbook.com has their Games of the Year lines posted.   For those who don't indulge in online gambling and don't have accounts, here are some highlights:

09/09/06  110 Ohio St OFF   -1 (-110)   OFF  
12:00 ET   Texas OFF   +1 (-110)   OFF

09/09/06  115 Penn St OFF   +15 (-110)   OFF  
12:00 ET   Notre Dame OFF   -15 (-110)   OFF

09/16/06  135 LSU OFF   +5.5 (-110)   OFF  
12:00 ET   Auburn OFF   -5.5 (-110)   OFF  

11/25/06  555 Notre Dame OFF   +2 (-110)   OFF  
12:00 ET   USC OFF   -2 (-110)   OFF

11/11/06  415 Nebraska OFF   +3 (-110)   OFF  
12:00 ET   Texas A&M OFF   -3 (-110)   OFF  

11/04/06  380 UCLA OFF   +15.5 (-110)   OFF  
12:00 ET   California OFF   -15.5 (-110)   OFF

11/04/06  370 Oklahoma OFF   -7 (-110)   OFF  
12:00 ET   Texas A&M OFF   +7 (-110)   OFF

11/04/06  365 LSU OFF   +1.5 (-110)   OFF  
12:00 ET   Tennessee OFF   -1.5 (-110)   OFF

11/02/06  355 West Virginia OFF   +6.5 (-110)    
12:00 ET   Louisville OFF   -6.5 (-110)   OFF

10/28/06  320 Texas OFF   -3 (-110)   OFF  
12:00 ET   Texas Tech OFF   +3 (-110)   OFF

10/21/06  300 UCLA OFF   +22 (-110)   OFF  
12:00 ET   Notre Dame OFF   -22 (-110)   OFF

10/21/06  290 Texas OFF   -6 (-110)   OFF  
12:00 ET   Nebraska OFF   +6 (-110)   OFF

10/14/06  280 Texas Tech OFF   0 (-110)   OFF  
12:00 ET   Colorado OFF   0 (-110)   OFF

10/14/06  275 Ohio St OFF   -6 (-110)   OFF  
12:00 ET   Michigan St OFF   +6 (-110)   OFF  

10/07/06  240 Oklahoma OFF   -3 (-110)   OFF  
12:00 ET   Texas OFF   +3 (-110)   OFF

09/30/06  215 Texas Tech OFF   +1.5 (-110)      
12:00 ET   Texas A&M OFF   -1.5 (-110)   OFF

09/16/06  170 Oklahoma OFF   -4 (-110)   OFF  
12:00 ET   Oregon OFF   +4 (-110)   OFF  

09/16/06  150 Nebraska OFF   +12.5 (-110)   OFF
12:00 ET   USC OFF   -12.5 (-110)   OFF

Ok - so I got a little carried away there, but they have posted at least 3 times as many games as I put on here.  Wow - time to reload the old bunco account.  There are some tasty nuggets in there.  What's a ten team parlay pay anyways?

Statesman had a couple of interesting Football tidbits this morning.

1. Colt McCoy is officially the #1 going into spring drills, but Snead will also practice with the first team. No surprise here and it doesn't mean too much, but if all else proves even throughout - our starter will be McCoy.
2. Hank the Tank will also practice with defensive ends this spring.  He will continue to work with the offense on short yardage and goal line sets.  Does this mean Melton has no shot at being a regular go to back?  Sounds like it.

Hey Scott, I am calling on you to explain yourself.  I saw your comments on the Christmas Eve post, and I am glad that however painful it was, that you finally came out of the Sooner Ass Boomer closet.
So what do you have to say for yourself?

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This isn't in depth or anything, but I wanted to get my two cents out there about why Texas will win.  A pleasant change of pace from all this 2005 USC pole smoking.

1.  Chizik:  Are you kidding me?  At the end of last year the Longhorns were talking about returning to the Rose Bowl and we knew with VY we could.  The media had already hyped USC as the team to beat in 2005, so what does Mack Brown do?  He goes and hires not just a damn good D coordinator, but the one defensive coordinator who has had any success against this vaunted offense:

A.  In a 24-17 loss in 2002, his first game at Auburn, his defense limited USC to what would be its third-lowest point total of the season. That USC team featured a senior quarterback, Carson Palmer, who would win the Heisman.

B. In a 23-0 loss in 2003, Chizik's defense held the Trojans to what would be their lowest point total of the year. That USC team included a first-year starter at quarterback in Matt Leinart and a freshman phenom in Reggie Bush (who didn't play much but...)

C. This is more wishful thinking, but I have a feeling we are going to hit Leinart a lot.  I have seen us get several late hits on oppposing QBs this season, and they have all been worth it.  I have a sneaking suspicion that Texas defensive players have had and will have a green light on late hits that are "worth it."  Seriously what is 15 yards to USC?  How about not having Leinart play b/c he is concussed?  I would have us hit him everytime we could, and if that meant giving them 60 yards of free offense, oh well.  

2.  Vince Young.  I don't need to get into too much detail here, but how do you stop this guy?  I have a feeling they will mimick what Ohio State did: keeping 8 in the box, and with their fastest linebacker as a spy who blitzes often.  Well as we all know Vince has become a hell of a passer, so if he is on...  Oh yeah, USC defense can't hold a candle to Ohio State's.  I am already on the record that Notre Dame is in a lot of trouble.
3.  Jamaal Charles is rested.  He showed me a couple flashes of JC of old in the Great Houston Buffalo Massacre.  He will have had a month by gametime to get back to full speed.  Watch out.
4.  Special Teams - after initially bemoaning UT's special teams play, especially kick offs, we have actually developed pretty damn good special teams play.  Has anyone noticed that we are now kicking the ball in the end-zone?  If we ever find USC in a fourth and 6 or longer, look for us to come full speed at their punter.
5.  OU sucked last year.  I still swear by this, that the number one reason everyone is Tea Bagging the Trojans is that damn Orange Bowl game last year.  We should have beat OU last year if Greg Davis wasn't so damn terrible.  0 points.  That is unexcusable for a Texas team.  As we all know they turned it over 5 times, and USC had a much better defense last year than this year.  OU SUCKS.
6. I will be at the game.  I have to point out that I attented 3 of our best 4 games: OU, Colorado (before they imploded), and TTech.  Thanks to the quite possibly the coolest guy on earth, the Other Andrew, I now have a ticket.  Can't wait.

I have 4 extra tickets to the game this Saturday.  Section 33 Row 30 seats 5 - 8.  I may end up using one of them.  email me at holtmichael@hotmail.com or if you know me then call.
Come support the horns.  I unfortunately have a funeral I may attend.

Hook'em

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Sorry for the deceptive title.
In case you were outside the USA or in a coma, or you just want to see Texas' most exciting game of the season again, the Texas Ohio State game is on ESPN Classic this Saturday at 6pm Eastern.
If I am at home at this time, I know it will be on my television.

One-line diaries are prohibited on McCovey Chronicles. Give your diary a bit more thought, then give it another shot. If you have nothing to add to your proposed diary, then it probably belongs as a comment under another appropriate thread.

A college running back like Reggie comes along once a decade at best.  After that acceptance speech I am a Reggie Bush fan (starting January 5th).  Was it just me or did that last five minutes make up for the other 55 minutes of bullshit?
The Heisman would have been nice to add to the Longhorn trophy case, but it honestly means nothing compared to the Crystal Ball.

OK, if you were watching the college football awards I hope you didn't miss this Tommy McDonald character.  The first time they put him on camera it was him and Corso barking senile gibberish back and forth to each other.  It was like watching Corso interview his older crazier brother.  It was painful and beautiful to watch at the same time, as McDonald was an OU qb.  Leinart and Bush were on stage and he yells something along the lines of "beat Texas" to them.   F-ing Sooners.

I just bought my ticket to the Rose Bowl Longhorn Foundation party.   After all the fees it comes out to $30 bucks, which shouldn't be a bad deal for anything in LA (that is just your cover as food and drink are extra - flask anyone?)
  I think it would be fun if our group made it, as well as other fellow BON bloggers.  As of now it will be Bean and I.    I know they already had a post about this, but I didn't want the idea to fade away.
click here for tickets:
http://www.rosebowlparty.com/

If you are going please post on here the hours you would prefer to be there as it runs from 6 - 2AM.  
ROSE BOWL BABY!!!!