SB Nation User Blog: bendj

Pitcher Traded for Bats Dies, no one finds out for 4 months

bendj — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:53:59 -0000

Pitcher Traded for Bats Dies, no one finds out for 4 months

I know its not related to Texas or football, but

1. It's a fanshot
2. It's a story worth sharing

Anyways, this is a truly sad story about John Odom, the laughingstock of the whole "minor leaguer traded for bats" story that occurred this summer. Apparently, even though he laughed off the trade and told people that it was just a funny stunt, this whole thing wasn't as funny as originally thought.

Man up, let's go to Arizona

bendj — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 04:41:01 -0000

It sucks. It's disappointing. South Beach in January would have been the perfect place to watch the Horns play. But, on the other hand, have any of you been to Arizona in the wintertime? Pretty damn nice. I was there during the Holidays of 2006, staying in Sedona, where bunch of Sooner faithful had come to partake in the Boise State game. Needless to say, the airport the next morning looked as depressing as an AA meeting in a non-smoking facility with a broken coffee machine. Anyways...

Ohio State travels incredibly well, and there is no doubt that the Buckeye faithful will arrive en masse to watch their sweatervested team. I know it sucks that Texas isn't going to be in the National Championship, but I think a worse fate than missing out on the National Championship is making a BCS Bowl and having fans so disappointed about it that they don't show up.

If this were to happen, if Ohio State fans essentially made this a home game (because, in reality, Glendale is to Columbus what Pasadena is to Austin), then Texas may mess around and fall to this team, rendering every last ounce of frustration from the last few weeks meaningless. The way I see it, this game goes one of two ways:

A. Texas Tech - Cal 2004-2005 Holiday Bowl

B. USC - Michigan 2003-2004 Rose Bowl

If you remember these games, then you know what I am implying.

So how many of you are willing to put aside the frustration of Texas not being in the big show and seeing them ride out the season in glory in the Fiesta Bowl? For me, spending over 1500 dollars to have a 2 day stay in Austin for the 24-7 game in 2006 still hurts, and I'm willing to put down some coin to watch a more complete Texas team take it to that same team and banish them to the "Just can't win a BCS Bowl anymore" basement, where they can join up with Bobby Stoops and talk about the glory days and BCS Bowls past. But any idiot knows that Texas winning this game is far from a foregone conclusion, and having a significant crowd presence there will definitely be a boost for these guys. I want to congratulate them on a season that exceeded almost all expectations, and the best way I know how to do it is sport the burnt orange and roll with them to the Fiesta Bowl.

All I'm really asking is, are you going to Glendale or not?

Poll

Who's going to Texas' BCS game?

Count me in

20 votes

I wasn't going before, and I'm definitely not going now

5 votes

I would go, but it's not the National Championship

7 votes

32 votes | Poll has closed

Why the BCS sucks

bendj — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 07:44:16 -0000

I'll put it in here, and I hope that by 6 pm tomorrow night, I am completely off-base, and that the unthinkable has not happened.

Before I say anything more, I would like to mention how crappy it is that even in Texas Tech's best season ever, the only thing they really accomplished was pissing on Texas' parade.

Think about this for a second. Texas has had a fantastic season, marred only by a last second loss on the road in a hostile environment, all of this after having the most brutal 4 game stretch of any team this decade, let alone this century (when was the last time a team had to face four top 15s in a row?). And now, on the eve of what could become the most controversial event in BCS and Big XII history, we all may have to come to one shining realization that cements the stupidity of the BCS and the hybrid of computer/human polls that determine it:

Losing to (#1) Oklahoma in Dallas and going undefeated apparently would have been better for our national title hopes than beating (#1) Oklahoma and losing to Tech 3 games later. If the roles were reversed, and Tech had beat OU, and the three way tie was upon us again, we would be the front-runner of this whole thing, eagerly anticipating the results from the BCS polls so we could purchase our ticket to Kansas City. And Sooner fans would be crying foul, because in the neutral field matchup, they won.

Seriously? The loser from the Red River Shootout has a leg up in this debate? Ridiculous. In a vacuum, if you were just looking at game scores, one would say that Oklahoma clearly has the edge over Tech and Texas. Oklahoma has dominated their opponents after they lost to Texas, even dominating a team that Texas lost to. But if you are a discerning viewer of college football, it would be plain to see why Texas should be the frontrunner for the Big XII South when the BcS rankings come out tomorrow; Oklahoma had two weeks to rest up for Tech, and the game was played on their home turf. And some may disagree; its easy for fans of Tech or OU to think that all of this is dumb, and clearly Texas should not be the frontrunner because of the night in Lubbock. But come on, is Oklahoma really going to represent the Big XII South in a conference championship game where Texas players can watch the game and say, "Hey, I beat both of these teams?" I was cool with the idea of playing a stellar opponent in the Fiesta Bowl before the Thursday night game, but now, I am sick of the thought that tomorrow Texas will have been dropped to number 3 because their final opponent wasn't as strong as the team Oklahoma faced, and be on the outside of the National Championship looking in.

Apparently the participant in the Big XII Championship game is no longer determined by what happens in the Red River Shootout.

ESPN - Fisher reached out to police because therapist said Young was suicidal - NFL

bendj — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:36:03 -0000

ESPN - Fisher reached out to police because therapist said Young was suicidal - NFL

This saga is ridiculous. I hope he can come back in 5 weeks and put every little bit of this behind him.

Les Miles kicks Perriloux off of team.

bendj — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:06:32 -0000

Les Miles kicks Perriloux off of team.

Huh, funny how that works out. This guy goes from the arrogant HS senior who thinks he is the heir apparent to VY to being kicked off of a team that just won the national championship, a team he was going to inherit as the starting QB. Waste. Of. Talent.

Ricky Williams Passes Tony Dorsett for the all-time career rushing record. There have been many...

bendj — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:54:14 -0000

Ricky Williams Passes Tony Dorsett for the all-time career rushing record. There have been many more Texas football moments that are more exciting and more momentous than this since then, but I am proud to say that this was the first one I saw in person. (via trivinity)

Jermichael Finley in AAS

bendj — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:51:10 -0000

You can read the article here:

Finley's Life has been a Whirlwind

This is a well written article about a guy who got little press in his time at Texas. Football aside, I bet I could count on my hands the number of people on this blog that knew he had one child, let alone two. Knowing that also makes a bit more sense out of his decision to go pro. I know TEs don't have as big of an impact on the game as do quarterbacks or running backs, but I feel like Finley's decision to go pro this year is akin to if VY had decided to bolt for the NFL after his first Rose Bowl performance. He had a breakout season, but his talent at the college level has yet to be fully showcased.

Maybe its because I thought that Finley would be the GO TO pass catcher this coming year if he had stayed, and that his size and speed would make him a perfect decoy for the WRs if need be, but I sure am upset that he left. NFL bucks will go a long way towards keeping him and his family financially secure, and I wish him the best of luck. I'm just unsure of whether or not it would have been worth it for him to stay one more year and really blow it up on the college level before he started playing with the big boys.

Poll

Being a projected third round pick in this year's draft, would it have been worth it for Finley to stay one more year?

No

38 votes

Yes

100 votes

138 votes | Poll has closed

who's going to The Rock?

bendj — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:20:51 -0000

being a temporary resident of Memphis for the last seven years, I am afforded the pleasure of attending the regionals pretty much in my backyard. I haven't been able to see the Horns in person this year, so I'm getting excited. My question is this: who else is going?

I've got a good friend in little rock who got his godmother to hook me up with some tix, and I noticed that they're sold out save for ebay and stubhub. Are you guys waiting for Houston or making the trip up?

By the way, if you are going, let's give the Texas haters a run for their money and make some noise, I don't care what Barnes said.

Charlie Weis

bendj — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:32:22 -0000

Just a quick question about Charlie Weis. Did anybody see his postgame response after losing to Air Force?

When asked about the problems at Notre Dame, Weis said that he didnt know whether or not the blame was with "the teacher" or "the student." Now, I have been barely able to watch any Notre Dame game, but how ridiculous is it that a coach whose team is dying is even alluding to the idea that this current skid is more or less, not his fault?
I've never coached college football before, but I would imagine that it is inappropriate for a coach to use a public forum to suggest that his players are the reason for the lopsided record. Anybody think what he did is ok?

"Wake Me Up When June Ends" - Shaun Rogers in Trouble

bendj — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 01:09:28 -0000

As if it wasn't enough for current Texas athletes to be getting into trouble, Longhorn alums are taking it upon themselves to "stand up and be counted," as Shaun Rogers gets accused of groping and assaulting a Detroit stripper. Lets get June over with.

Here's the link for the story.

From CBS Sportsline.