SB Nation User Blog: pleaseplaykindle

Tim Tebow: How Great Is He?

pleaseplaykindle — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:24:29 -0000

Tim Tebow: How Great Is He?

Poll:
a. Very great
b. Very very great
c. Words cannot describe, but if you had to - very, very, very great.
d. All of the above

Mike Leach and holding, and other fun facts.

pleaseplaykindle — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:43:45 -0000

I was reading through this Michael Lewis (author of Moneyball, Blind Side, among others) about Mike Leach and his transformation of the offensive side of college football. Lewis tends to dramaticize things a bit, but still, this article is a pretty insightful look at the Tech offense, and Leach in general (he wants to start a student pirate army, for example).

Then, I got to page six, where Leach talks about Tech's play during the 2006 Texas Tech-Texas A&M game. Excerpt:

On another [play], a [TTU] touchdown was nullified by a holding call on the receiver Robert Johnson far away from the action. If you are the captain of a pirate ship, you cannot complain too much about lawless behavior - and Texas Tech is one of the most heavily penalized teams in college football - but still it's painful to watch a crew member drop treasure overboard. (Later, watching a videotape of the incident, Leach actually says, "Johnson's got to do a better job holding.")

I suppose its possible he means that he's got to do a better job by not holding, but I think this can be taken as read. Lewis' article's premise is that the genius of Leach is on the cusp of being discovered (as of 2006 anyways) and that his offense exploits inefficiencies in college football defenses. While I can't argue against that, maybe it would help out opposing defenses if, you know, penalties were called the way they're supposed to be.

That said, this a great read and worth a look.

Traveling to Lubbock. (!)

pleaseplaykindle — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:04:43 -0000

I had a professor recently that used to give verbal pop quizzes in class. He would joke that the winner of the quiz would receive a free trip to Lubbock. The loser would get two free trips to Lubbock. In spite of these and other dire warnings, I'm planning on taking the trek upstate to Lubbock, TX to watch our beloved Horns play the Raiders.

Now, I've heard some terrible things about the environment there, including:

1. D-Cell batteries being thrown onto the field.

2. Fans verbally and physically abusing opponent fans.

3. Cars being keyed and otherwise vandalized that displayed opponent team logos.

In a word, Lubbock is a unique place to watch a football game. Lubbock also is shitty place to do anything else.

So, I appeal to you, fellow BONers, to give me some help in things I should do to make the trip as enjoyable as possible, and also to ensure that I make it back.

Might I start with a question: Do I wear burnt orange to the game?

And to any Red Raiders reading this, if the rumors that I hear of your behaviour at games is true, you should truly be ashamed. Elite programs exhibit class. To join the discussion among the rest of the Big XII elite, you need to grow up.

Exhibit 45235: Colt McCoy is a good guy.

pleaseplaykindle — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:18:33 -0000

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news;_ylt=AoTUs5a7ANjqdREvzIqbkPUcvrYF?slug=jn-mccoy101708&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Absolutely amazing article about McCoy's life before Texas back in Tuscola, TX.

A lot of neat facts in here, like where he goes to church, that he wasn't born in Texas (but on Texas soil, read to find out more), and that he and Jordan Shipley are roommates (amazing, I know!).

This is basically a cheesy Disney piece, but its a good cheesy Disney piece.

So, if you're keeping score at home,

Colt - Good Guy

Oklahoma - Sucks

Travelling to Dallas Tips? Please share here..

pleaseplaykindle — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:13:28 -0000

I've been to Dallas for the OU game only once before, and it was a hellacious experience, with rain, mud, $50 parking, and crowded bars and irritating OU fans.

In hopes of alleviating the stress for myself and others, I'm asking for all and sundry to post any helpful tips you might have, including, but not limited to:

1. Hotels/accomations

2. Eateries, refreshment establishment (read: "bars"), etc.

3. Parking (oh my god how I loathe the lack of parking)

4. Charms, amulets, shields, etc. to use against rabid Sooners

5. Anything else?

If we can condense this post into a nice big list of things to do / not to do, then that would fantastic.

Colt McCoy and the NFL

pleaseplaykindle — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:30:10 -0000

I was talking to a friend of mine recently about Colt McCoy's draftability. He thought he was lock to get picked by some NFL team looking for a reliable passer out of the pocket, but I don't think so.

Over the years, there have been many, many, QBs whos talents in college just do not translate to the NFL game. A long string of Texas Tech quarterbacks comes to mind, but there are Heisman Trophy contenders in there too (Troy Smith, Ken Dorsey, Eric Crouch -- who went undrafted, and Charie Ward) whose professional careers either did not start or failed to take off.

It seems like the skilset necessary to succeed in college differs greatly from that necessary for professional success. Lets take Jay Cutler for example. In 2005 he had a good but not great senior season at Vanderbilt.

His statistics for his senior season:

273/462 for 59.1% and 3073yd , with 21 TD to 9 INT

106 rushes for 215 yds, 1 TD

McCoy is going to destroy these numbers against similar opposition, with a squad that's maybe more talented than Cutler's, but McCoy has better numbers to go with that. On top of which McCoy can run.

Here's my question -- given McCoy's emergence as an elite college quarterback, does he get drafted into the NFL? I distinctly remember talk as McCoy entered UT that he was not a pro-style (or pro-ready) quarterback, but I have no idea on what this is based or who decides this. Anything you have to add to the discussion would help.

McCoy #1 in Heisman Race? You Decide..

pleaseplaykindle — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:56:56 -0000

So, this FOX Sports article has a photo gallery of Heisman candidates, and for whatever reason, has a nice big number next to each picture, in order of 1 to 10. McCoy is #1. Does this mean he's the leading Heisman candidate right now? I'll let you decide.

Full "rankings":

10. Chase Clement (Rice)

9. Charles Scott (LSU)

8. Jeremy Maclin (Mizzou)

7. David Johnson (Tulsa)

6. Graham Harrel (Texas Tech)

5. Max Hall (BYU)

4. Javon Ringer (Mich. State)

3. Chase Daniel (Mizzou)

2. Sam Bradford (OU)

1. Colt McCoy (Texas)

Devon Kennard (Rivals #2 HS player) interested in Texas?

pleaseplaykindle — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:00:20 -0000

According to rivals.com (link), Devon Kennard drove 6 hours each way from Phoenix last week to see Texas play UTEP. As the #2 player in the country, that he would choose to drive on his own to see Texas play says something about his interest here, no? It would be great to have him here, watch some of his highlight videos and you'll agree...

He's 6'4", 257 lbs, and watching his videos you get the sense that he's probably the fastest player on the field (actually runs a 4.7 forty, but has great speed for his size). I know Mack's got his 2009 class basically locked up, but come on lets sell Texas to this guy...

jcdenton40

pleaseplaykindle — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:20:32 -0000

For those of you who don't know this already, there's a really nice webpage for Longhorn football highlights. Not only does this guy have highlights from every game in the 2005 (and most of 2006) season, there are a ton of fan-created highlight videos.

Plus, I think he hosts all the videos himself. The website hasn't been updated in ages, but its still a great way to see old Longhorn highlight films which are otherwise hard to get.