SBNation.com User Blog: Thor84

Class of 2009

Thor84 — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:05:14 -0000

Being home for the holidays certainly is something you take for granted as you get older. This year I have been trying to spend as much time with my parents as possible, and I recommend that each of you do the same.

During the game last night, my mom remarked to my dad that we only seem to have freshman/sophomore or seniors, on the team, and I suppose, that is something that I realized, but never really thought about. So I decided to look up the recruiting class that would be juniors/redshirt sophomores... more after the jump.

So here is the class of 2009, complete with *'s.

Tariq Allen LB Irving, TX 4 stars gone
Thomas Ashcraft OL Cedar Hill, TX 4 stars redshirt- so
Eryon Barnett DB, Euless, TX 4 stars redshirt
Marcus Davis DB League City, TX 4 stars gone
Garrett Gilbert QB Austin, TX 5 stars gone
Trey Graham TE Waco, TX 3 stars part of our black hole at te, redshirt
Calvin Howell DT San Antonio, TX 4 stars redshirt
Derrick Johnson DT Hoxie, AR 4 stars gone
Dominique Jones DE Kilgore, TX 3 stars prob gone?
Paden Kelley OL Austin, TX 3 stars redshirt
Kyle Kriegel DE Elysian Fields, TX 3 stars redshirt
Barrett Matthews TE Galena Park, TX 3 stars gets some looks at te, and h-back
Tevin Mims DE Round Rock, TX 4 stars gone

Patrick Nkwopara LB Grand Prairie, TX 3 stars gone
Alex Okafor DE Pflugerville, TX 5 stars starter, only player so far who has been a real asset
Garrett Porter OL Odessa, TX 4 stars redshirt... a lot of these lineman havent even ever cracked the 2deep...
Greg Timmons WR Aldine, TX 4 stars gone
Kenny Vaccaro DB Brownwood, TX 4 stars play maker on D, 2nd asset from this class
Mason Walters OL Wolfforth, TX 5 stars was injured early in his career, but has now become the leader of our OL, 3rd asset
Chris Whaley ATH Madisonville, TX 4 stars nonfactor at RB, but has really shown promise at DT, asset for next year for sure

So as you can see, a shockingly high number of players from this class did not end up the way we all hoped. Has there been another class with soo many 4* players that never contributed anything? I know they were recruited by the staff that was mostly fired, and some of the cases were just bad luck, but it is still shocking to see so few players from a class contribute anything.
I would love to analyze this more, but I am late for lunch with my parents. Living in DC for almost 5 years has also taught me to appreciate the value of good BBQ!

Boobie Gibson's open letter to Cleveland

Thor84 — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:57:57 -0000

Boobie Gibson's open letter to Cleveland

Randomly saw a link to this article on the side of a yahoo sports story about LeBron... The link to Gibson's actual website requires you to sign up to view it, so I figured it would be easier to just link the sbnation post.

I dont think Boobie has played much since his rookie year when he came on really strong in the playoffs (I don't really keep up with the NBA, so I could be wrong), but after writing this open-letter, one would have to think that he becomes sort of a cult hero for their fans.

Are we "Wake Forest" of 2008-9?

Thor84 — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:59:03 -0000

I started writing a reply to the fanpost labeled "From #1 to 1 and done" but my response was way too long, so I decided to just create my own fanpost.

I am not sure if anyone remembers Wake Forest of 2008-9, but they were a team very much like our own. Meaning they were a streetballing team that relied on young players performing well to be great. They did look great during the beginning of the season, if they played well, they could beat any team including eventual national champ UNC. They started 16-0 but after they reached number 1, they basically fell apart, and lost 5 of their next 9 games.

Then they kind of righted the ship towards the end of the season, but lost their first game in the ACC tournament, and then lost their first round game in the tournament (the 4 v 13 game).

I am still cautiously optimistic about this team, and I think that most teams still would really like to avoid us if at all possible in the tournament. However, if we keep playing like we have been, and end up a 4 or 5 seed, I could see us losing in the first round to a cohesive, mid-major, senior laden, team like Cornell. Much like Cleveland State was able to beat Wake last year.

To all the people who now claim the season, is over, and only remark on how terrible we look: you are missing the point, and are way too reactionary. We are actually not in bad shape at all, while a 2 seed in houston is not really probable, it is quite possible. Something could finally click in the freshman's heads which leads us to win the remaining games we have in the regular season, and then win the big 12 tourney(or possibly runner-up). This team is still amazingly talented, I just hope we can learn from the lesson of Wake Forest, and not repeat their mistakes.

I started writing a reply to the fanpost labeled "From #1 to 1 and done" but my response was way too long, so I decided to just create my own fanpost.

Then they kind of righted the ship towards the end of the season, but lost their first game in the ACC tournament, and then lost their first round game in the tournament (the 4 v 13 game).

Poll

Are the Longhorns destined to be "Wake Forrest" of 2010?

Yes, they are already fated to an early exit from the tourney

42 votes

Maybe, but the deck is stacked against them to make a deep run

32 votes

Maybe, but I am still stangely optimistic about the team's chances in March

43 votes

No way, Barnes finally suceeds in getting the team to fulfil their potential, and they make a run to Indianapolis!

10 votes

127 votes | Poll has closed

It's about time! Texas Basketball is #1, in the AP and Coaches Poll(s)

Thor84 — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:35:19 -0000

It's about time! Texas Basketball is #1, in the AP and Coaches Poll(s)

Texas finally reaches number 1 in the ap poll (the first time ever)! The team received 56 out of 65 first place votes. Keep up the good work!

Coaches poll is now out as well, and the horns are number one with 30 of the 31 first place votes!

Tuberville 'very interested' in Texas Tech

Thor84 — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:48:50 -0000

Just read this article on "the world leader".

If I was thinking purely for the conference I would think Tuberville would be better than Briles. He has proven to be a great coach, and would be another big "name" for the conference. I honestly did not think he would be interested in the Tech job.

However, if I were to view this as it relates to the longhorns I think that I would have to prefer Briles to Tuberville. One I dont think he is as good of a coach, and two he does make Baylor a semi-credible foe in the big 12. I doubt whoever Baylor would bring in to replace him could maximize RG3 in the years to come as well as Baylor's future potential like Briles. [Side note, I think it is absolutely absurd that some tech fans think that Robert Griffin III would follow Briles to Lubbock.]

What do yall think?

Also if you vote other, please list who you would prefer.

Just read this article on "the world leader".

What do yall think?

Also if you vote other, please list who you would prefer.

Poll

Which coach would you prefer to lead tech?

Tuberville

55 votes

Briles

13 votes

Other

27 votes

95 votes | Poll has closed

Where is the love for Barnes?

Thor84 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:19:18 -0000

Where is the love for Barnes?

I know he has never been to the championship game, but number 20? You've got to be kidding me. That said, a lot of this poll doesn't make sense (like Billy Donovan at 21, and Jeff Capel at 16), and I am overly sensitive to Barnes criticism because I live with a rabid Duke fan and a UNC alum. Both of them constantly talk trash about Barnes whenever I bring up basketball. So I could be making a big deal about nothing, but I don't think Rick Barnes gets the national respect he deserves.

I would put him at about 9 or 10 on the list based on their criteria of "career achievement and recent results". Any ideas why is he not generally thought of as a top 10 coach by people outside of Texas?

Question about Pittman

Thor84 — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:16:55 -0000

I need some help with a basketball dilemma. I am not sure if I am being a super homer on this or not. One of my roommates and I always argue about all things sports. He is always making very bold statements that he cant always back up with facts. However, the sport he knows best is basketball. I attribute this to him growing up in Chapel Hill with a father who is a professor at Duke. He is a graduate of Wake Forest.

Anyways, this year has been very rough on me, considering the seasons both teams have had (needless to say, I didn't believe him when he said wake would be in the top 15 all year). We always get into random hypothetical conversations, one of which has to do with sexy dexy.

He said if we played wake dexter would get blocked early and often, and this led to his initial bold statement that pittman would get blocked 5 times against wake (he has since backed down to 3 or 4). He claims that Al-Farouq would give side help and end up blocking dex 2 or 3 times himself.

For the life of me I cant remember ever seeing Dexter get blocked even once this year (that is, if you dont count the rim rejecting him multiple times against kansas)...

I live in DC so I can only watch the games shown nationally, so I'm looking for some other opinions on this. Does anyone remember seeing Dex get blocked this year? Am I overrating his ability??

For the life of me I cant remember ever seeing Dexter get blocked even once this year (that is, if you dont count the rim rejecting him multiple times against kansas)...

I live in DC so I can only watch the games shown nationally, so I'm looking for some other opinions on this. Does anyone remember seeing Dex get blocked this year? Am I overrating his ability??

Poll

Would Dexter get blocked multiple times by a tall athletic team like Wake?

Yes, definitely

5 votes

The possibility exists

27 votes

No effin' way

21 votes

53 votes | Poll has closed

Ricky Williams fights off urge to use pot

Thor84 — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:11:40 -0000

Ricky Williams fights off urge to use pot

It seems as though when given the week off (for the bye), the first thing that pops into Ricky's head is to smoke a little sticky. He of course, is also willing to share this with the media.

Haha, I'm glad he has found ways to get around his urges, such as meditation, which gives him that same "feeling of being free". I don't know about y'all, but I still like Ricky a lot, and I hope he will continue to be productive (and meditate) in the league for many years to come!