Most likely, if you're reading this website, you're a fan of the University of Texas. And, like most fans of the University of Texas, you've probably attended plenty of football games, a decent amount of basketball or baseball games, and perhaps even yelled "Point, Texas" at a volleyball match. For better or worse, that's just how things tend to work around the Forty Acres. Thankfully, in my time on campus, I was lucky enough to meet a bunch of fans who broke the mold of the typical "Texas Fan." I was also lucky enough to meet the fan who shattered it.

I don't remember exactly when I met Ryan Clark, but I absolutely remember the context. Even though he was just getting started, he was already "the Road Trip guy." The guy who attended an entire season of Texas basketball games. And then he was the guy who did it again. And again. And again. And...again. And, unless something goes terribly wrong in the next six weeks, he's going to do it yet again.

In case all the "agains" got confusing, Ryan is currently in the midst of completing his *sixth* straight season of attending every single UT Basketball game. The home game against Iowa State marked his 200th consecutive game and tomorrow night at the Lloyd Noble Center will mark game #212. The mind boggles.

After the jump, I want to provide some further context for Ryan's accomplishment, plug his outstanding website, and try to explain how his story is truly about more than just the streak.

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When crossing off an item from a personal "Sports Bucket List," it should be a meaningful experience. It should be a unique experience. It should be an experience that generates chills lasting well beyond the final whistle. In sum, it should be an experience that justifies its status as something that simply had to be attended during one's lifetime. Yesterday, in attending the 112th annual Army/Navy game, I got all of that and more.

It's possible my feelings over the game were affected by outside factors. The decade of dominance from the Texas Longhorns is officially over. The Realignment Chronicles have eradicated countless rivalry games. The BCS just unveiled an indefensible MNC game. Ohio State was "punished" for Jim Tressel's (in)actions by hiring Urban Meyer. A seemingly never-ending series of scandals continues to plague program after program. Any last vestiges of amateurism in big-money programs perpetually seem to be hanging by a thread. I could list a dozen more examples off the top of my head. As I've written before, there is no shortage of negative stories surrounding CFB.

It's also possible that my feelings were affected by internal factors. Back in 2007, I wrote my Undergraduate Thesis over the modern-day challenges facing Junior Officers. That same year, I pinned on the gold bar of a Second Lieutenant. The Army Combat Uniform the Army cadets will wear upon their graduation is the same uniform that I wear to work every single day. This connection made me feel closer to each of the Army cadets than any connection I've ever felt with a UT Athlete.

For whatever reason, the Army/Navy game affected me. It moved me. It made me feel sorry for all the fans who denigrate the rivalry as "meaningless" due to the mediocrity of the teams. As I'll explain below, it is my own personal opinion that this statement could not be further from the truth.

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Sometimes, words simply feel inadequate.  For me, this is one of those times.  

Trying to set the stage for an extended analysis of the media's initial coverage of the Penn State tragedy feels like an exercise in futility.  I know what allegedly happened.  You know what allegedly happened.  And simply knowing about these allegations casts a gigantic pall over everything associated with this entire issue. 

Nevertheless, after the jump, and with a heavy heart, Pundit Roundup covers the coverage of this tragedy.   

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And, with that potentially confusing headline, Pundit Roundup is back! Y'all musta forgot!  Not that I would blame any readers who forgot about Pundit Roundup.  While the PR Crew had the intention of posting more columns this year, it just hasn't worked out that way.  But, when we started discussing the ideas for the first PR column of the season, the choice became crystal clear.  The budding narrative of Texas as the "evil empire" within college sports has been fascinating, and it deserves more discussion than the typical "haters gonna hate" or "don't hate me cuz you aint me" response.  In other words, it deserves a Pundit Roundup.

This "evil empire" narrative has been building since the start of the Realignment Chronicles, exploded with the launch of the LHN, and continued simmering during the defection of Texas A&M to the SEC and the near-disintegration of the Big 12.  Additionally, this narrative became a bit more pointed as pundits fleshed out the full ramifications of Larry Scott's recent proclamation over the importance of the "culture of equality" within the PAC-12.  It didn't take a rocket scientist (or even David Boren) to realize these comments were intertwined with the issue of the LHN and third-tier media rights. 

In reading most of the columns written about this topic, it is truly striking to see how pundits have latched onto simplistic views of equal versus unequal splits of TV rights.  Equal is good.  Unequal is bad.  Equal creates stability. Unequal creates instability.  Equal is fair and just and right.  Unequal is...Texas.      

After the jump, the PR Crew invites you to join us for a discussion of Texas, the LHN, third-tier media rights, and the false equilibrium within the celebrated "culture of equality" of other conferences. 

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As a young attorney, I'm still pretty new to the professional workforce. In fact, I've only been at my office for a couple of months. Until this past week, I've never experienced the scenario in which one of my coworkers went to a school that was playing Texas in football. Like everyone else, I've dealt with football games against the schools of my friends, law school classmates, and even some of my relatives. But this was different. This felt more formal. Something had to be done. And, after a brief conversation, something *was* done. We made a bet. The loser would have to place a helmet of the winning team on their desk for a week. Everything seemed simple enough. But, as Lord Tennyson once said, "this [bet] ought to have been simple, but the lawyers have made it complicated."

As word of the bet got around, others wanted to get a piece of the action. Considering my position carefully, I decided to ask myself what 54b would do and then follow his lead. So, as the week went on, I bet bigger and bigger. Money was never involved, but something far more important was at stake...pride. With absolutely no real confidence that Texas was going to win the game--to me, it seemed like a real coin-flip--I wound up agreeing to bets that would be pretty obnoxious if we lost. But we didn't lose. We won. We won by a single, glorious point. Which is why one of my coworkers will be walking around the office tomorrow with a gigantic UT flag draped over his shoulders. Hey, as 54b says (or should say), it isn't a *real* bet until somebody is getting naked, getting drunk, or wearing a cape.

Anyways, after the jump, and in the spirit of textsfromlastnight.com, I wanted to share some of my text conversations during the game with the BON Community...as always, a few of these entries were contributed by other BON authors.

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This past weekend, I convinced a group of military officers to meet up in Austin for the Texas-Rice game.  One of them was a UT Alum, but the rest of the group all went elsewhere for undergrad and law school.  It's one thing to share the city of Austin, UT, and DKR with other UT students or alumni.  It's something else entirely to witness a group of outsiders experiencing the city, school, and stadium for the first time.  I thoroughly cherished watching my friends soak in our traditions and history (and cheerleaders) before walking away from the game suitably impressed.    

But my friends weren't the only ones who took in a new experience on Saturday night.  All of us who saw the game--whether in person or on television--witnessed a bit of program history.  As everyone knows, the Rice game marked the first real opportunity for the revamped coaching staff and heralded recruiting class to strut their stuff.  The Rice game was also the first-ever football game televised on the Longhorn Network.  And, over the course of the night, my friends had plenty to say about both the game and its network.  

After the jump, and in the spirit of textsfromlastnight.com, I wanted to share some of my text conversations with the BON Community...as always, a few of these entries were contributed by other BON authors.

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The latest Realignment craze wasn't the only major story for college athletics this week.  After a season and off-season full of embarrassing events and scandals, the Lords of the NCAA recently convened at the Crossroads of America for a retreat.  Many articles were written in anticipation of what is usually an anti-climatic occasion, but one in particular caught our attention.  This one, from ESPN, outlines the winds of change that preceded the event.  That article--written before the event itself--sparked a free-flowing discussion between myself and Reggieball over the "pay for play" issue.

As everyone knows, "pay for play" remains a major issue of focus for college athletics.  In fact, the folks at ESPN have also been running a massive "pay for play" series this summer.  Using the articles from that series as a starting point, we scrutinized various issues and viewpoints related to the "pay for play" debate over email.  The result was a partly a Socratic dialog (where the characters ask each other questions and gradually refine their positions), and partly the third act of Too Good to be True, which is the George Bernard Shaw play that ends with the characters making speeches directed at no one in particular.  

The full exchange is after the jump...

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In learning about leadership, there's a certain theory that has stuck with me.  This theory remains rooted in the concept that leaders must fully understand themselves, their character, and their ethical values.  To that extent, leaders should be able to avoid hearing about a scenario and saying "Wow, I dont know what I would have done in that situation."  Even though that seems like an innocuous statement, it has some powerful undertones.  Because, when you give that response to a scenario, it can be argued that you dont really know--or even understand--yourself as a person.  It can be argued that you don't know your personal character.  That you don't know your ethical values.  And that you certainly don't know yourself as a leader.  Because, if you did, you know *exactly* what you would have done in that situation. 
 
Whether or not you actually agree with that position (and many dont), I think it's a pretty powerful concept.  And it's a concept that I thought about during the recent actions of Jim Tressel, Gene Smith, and Gordon Gee.  While I'm not in their shoes, I feel very strongly about the fact that I wouldnt have done what they did.  To this day, I'm still galled by the initial a circus of a press conference.  If I was an Ohio State fan, this whole episode would cause me to feel sick to my stomach during the entire season.  I dont know if I could even watch.  In fleshing this out, this leadership concept also makes me think about Notre Dame, Oregon, Auburn, Iowa, John Junker, and the entire cast of characters involved in the negative stories from the past year.  
 
Now, the point of this post isn't  to take a moral highground.  It isn't even to analyze these individual stories.  Instead, my goal is to re-examine the narrative for CFB over the last year and how it has affected my feelings for the sport.  This discussion started with a post in January and has further evolved over the last few months as new stories have emerged.

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This year, I finally talked myself into it... 

Now, this was something I've considered for a long time, but I've never been able to pull it off.  Each year, the temptations were simply too strong.  I mean, it always seems so harmless, but, inevitably, it turns into a self-destructive measure.   In recent years, it's even ruined the most perfect thing in my life.  So, this year, I finally decided  to stick with my convictions.  I preemptively wrote friends, family, and even some military colleagues to inform them of my decision.  It was a tough call, and I got a handful of angry or confused responses.  But I did it, and I'm happier for it.  In case you haven't guessed by now, I didnt fill out a single bracket this year.

More, after the jump...

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You know, being a young lawyer is an interesting thing. Even though I haven't started my own legal career (six days and counting), I've spent the last several months talking to some of my UT Law classmates. From what I can gather, there are times when they feel truly inspired. This inspiration can come from several things: a burgeoning sense of knowledge, a series of completed tasks, or sometimes even just looking up at their legal diploma. Naturally, several of my classmates have also experienced periods of crippling self-doubt. This doubt is normally caused by their own inexperience, but, sometimes, their doubt is instead caused by reading another lawyer's brilliant work. Which is an entirely natural reaction. One can feel completely satisfied with their work product until they realize how insignificant it appears in the larger realm.

And that's pretty much how I felt earlier tonight. I sat down to write this "Texts From Last Night" post, then realized that PB had already written two incredible posts over the Missouri game. As I read over his posts, I simply could not imagine a scenario in which any reader would have any residual interest in a post about text messages. But, then again, I'm not sure how any UT Hoops fan could avoid stories about this team and this season. As y'all know, this is shaping up to be a pretty special ride, and I still wanted to share some of the thoughts and reactions from last night's victory.

After the jump, and in the spirit of textsfromlastnight.com, I wanted to share some of my text conversations with the BON Community...as always, a few of these entries were contributed by other BON authors.

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Well, hello there. I'm glad so many Longhorns fans were able to "get over last year" and join the party for today's game. And what a party it turned out to be. Texas went on the road against one of the best teams in the country, dug themselves into a gigantic hole, and then went on a blistering run to score 48 POINTS OVER THE LAST 16 MINUTES OF THE GAME! Throughout the game, my phone was buzzing with a series of texts, and it's almost comical to look back at the gamut of emotions the game produced. This one had it all.

After the jump, and in the spirit of textsfromlastnight.com, I wanted to share some of my text conversations with the BON Community...as always, a few of these entries were contributed by other BON authors.

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Now that the dust has settled--and the pundits have spoken--the narrative for the ESPN/Texas TV deal is largely written.  And that narrative is "Mo' Money."  Which, to be honest, is pretty awesome. However, while we all celebrated what this TV deal means for Texas in another post, I think it deserves a second post with a bit more discussion and analysis.  Luckily, we've got a couple of writers who have been following this issue and wanted to provide some thoughts.

Naturally, I think this deal is a pretty big home run for Texas--at least in the short and medium term--but I wanted to highlight a few issues related to this story.  For the most part, these issues go beyond rehashing the sticker shock reaction of "OMG! 300 million!  THREE HUNDRED MILLION!" that occurred across the country.  For one thing, Texas is "only" guaranteed $247.5 million.  For another thing, I think the ripple effect of the money is perhaps the more important story.  I don't think any of these issues are necessarily groundbreaking, but they are the ones that stick out to me as being somewhat overlooked in the overall analysis of this TV deal.

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As Texas fans, we've become pretty accustomed to going to bowl games.  Good ones, too.  In fact, in recent years, anything less than a trip to a BCS bowl was considered a disappointment.  Only a few short months ago, this season appeared to be no different.  We went to BCS bowls with Vince, we went to BCS bowls with Colt, and we damn near won a National Championship game with Garrett Gilbert getting his first meaningful action of his career.  And then UCLA happened.  Iowa State happened.  Baylor happened.  And, yeah, Kansas State happened, too.  This season contained no shortage of beatings and embarrassments.  We would not be going to a BCS Bowl, and, after the final whistle against A&M, we lost our chance to go to *any* bowl.  For many "new generation" Texas fans, these were unchartered waters.

In discussing the bowl season with many of my UT Friends, I've been mildly suprised by their overall lack of interest in the bowl season.  With Texas licking their wounds from a 5-7 season, I expected most UT Fans to have a diminished interest in the bowls.  What I didnt expect was a sense of total apathy towards the entire bowl season.  One of my best friends--and a legitimate CFB fan--was so turned off that he couldnt even name all the BCS matchups.  Another went on a lengthy rant over how none of the bowls except the BCS Championship even matter.  These individual positions werent surprising.  However, I found it interesting that the overall lack of interest seemed to reflect something larger altogether.

To wit, while much of the bowl disinterest likely correlates with UT's terrible season, I've been probing a larger sense of discontent with the entire NCAA system.  In fleshing this out, I was astonished to think of all the major "negative" NCAA stories from this season that I could conjure off the top of my head.  When it comes to college football, the narrative for this season is largely written, and it isnt pretty.  Even more importantly, the nature of the overall narrative seems to cut against the entire selling point of NCAA athletics. 

After the jump, I'll try to pull this whole thing together, largely by taking a trip down memory lane... 

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Exactly one year ago--to the day--Texas beat Michigan State at the Erwin Center to move to 11-0.  It was a well-played and entertaining game, and it seemingly validated all the hype over the talented Texas squad.  Furthermore, that win against MSU was preceded by a similarly impressive win against North Carolina only a few days earlier.  Incredibly, last year's game against the Spartans turned out to be the last time Texas defeated a ranked opponent; despite the Horns' early-season success, they went 0-6 against ranked teams to close out the season. 

Tonight, with a 67-55 victory over the Spartans, Texas once again pulled off the impressive feat of beating North Carolina and Michigan State in the span of a few days.  Even more impressively, they won both games on the road.  In fact, tonight's victory ended Michigan State's much-publicized streak of 52 consecutive home victories against non-conference opponents.  Essentially, Texas was the first non-con team to win a game in East Lansing in the last 7 years.  This was exactly the type of game--against a good team and hostile crowd--that young teams can be expected to lose.  But we didnt.  Tonight was a virtuoso win, even if wasn't exactly a virtuoso performance.  Texas did enough to win, but, unlike last year, I doubt this will be their best performance of the season.  To put it more simply, the win tonight feels bigger and more important than our actual performance, which was really-good-but-not-great.

If you didnt see the game, the last few sentences might be confusing.  After the jump, I'll try to provide some clarity... 

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After blowing a 10-point lead, having seemingly half the team in foul trouble, and being behind for almost the entire second half, Texas went on a late scoring run to defeat UNC for the 4th consecutive time.

CoJo made up for the Pittsburgh game, no?

Wiggo will be around later with a full review.  So, so much to unpackage from this game.  For now, revel in the fact that this team is 9-2 and more than meeting the preseason expectations.

Hook 'Em.

BON was supposed to have more Pundit Roundup columns this year.  There were even several e-mail discussions about it.  So, yeah, it hasn't exactly worked out that way.  People got busy.  And then more people got busy.  And then everyone got even busier.  Plus, the entire time, Texas kept losing.  To Iowa State.  To Baylor.  It was bad enough that people--and especially one certain coordinator--might even get fired.    

Naturally, despite our relative silence, other people kept writing about college football.  Primarily, they have written about Cam Newton and Auburn, which has become the story of the year.  Pundits from every possible forum have covered the Cam Newton story from every possible angle.  And, as you have probably noticed by now, there are many, many angles to this story, especially as it has further evolved over the last few days. Which, for this column, is pretty much exactly the point.  By now, I'm sure everyone is sick of reading about the nitty-gritty details of the case, so I want to instead cover the coverage of the Newton saga and highlight the real need for long-form journalism to analyze this case. 

After the jump, Pundit Roundup is back, but don't call it a comeback. 

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A few years ago, I wrote a post ranking all the home games for the entire season.  While I wont be writing a similar post this season--due to my upcoming military training--I would imagine this game would rank really low on such a list.  Coming off two brutally taxing games against top-shelf opponents, Rick Barnes was comfortable in giving double-digit minutes to all nine of our scholarship players.  As a result, no one played over 28 minutes tonight.  This led to a lot of wonky lineups in the first half that produced sloppy basketball. 

However, while this game wont remain firmly entrenched in anyone's memories, there are several individual storylines that took a step forward tonight.  After the jump, I'll comment on the crowd, provide a narrative of the game, and then go into individual player breakdowns. 

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Above everything else, going to football games at DKR is supposed to be fun. And, for the last decade, Texas Longhorns fans who spent money on football tickets shouldnt have too many complaints.  Sure, there's been a few disappointing losses, but they are vastly overshadowed by all the thunderous beatdowns against conference opponents.  

This year...not so much.  This year has not been fun.  Especially at DKR.  And that lack of fun could not have been more apparent from the reactions of the crowd at the Oklahoma State game.  It was a crowd that was angry, but also somewhat accepting over our fate.  We were expected to lose, it quickly became apparent that we were going to lose, and then we lost.  And it was not fun.  At all.

After the jump, and in the spirit of textsfromlastnight.com, I wanted to share some of my text conversations with the BON Community...like the last couple of weeks, a few of these entries were contributed by other BON authors.

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All in all, I had a pretty good weekend.  I passed the Texas Bar Exam, got engaged, and celebrated both events with friends.  Life was good.  Life was real good.  Life was good enough that I actually thought Texas could walk out of Manhattan with a victory.  I didnt know if Texas would win, but I thought they would keep it close.  As it turns out, I thought wrong.  Unlike my own silly thoughts, most of my friends and family were fully expecting a lopsided beating.  And, well, that's pretty much exactly what happened.

After the jump, and in the spirit of textsfromlastnight.com, I wanted to share some of my text conversations with the BON Community...like the last couple of weeks, a few of these entries were contributed by other BON authors.

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This past week, I kept telling myself that the loss to Iowa State would be rock-bottom for this season.  I didnt know if we'd actually beat Baylor (or KSU or OSU or A&M), but I didnt know how the team could possibly look any worse than last week.  The pitiful performance against ISU was reflected in the text messages I received during the game.  The team was so bad last week that it was almost comical.  Some of the texts last week were pretty funny.  Tonight, they were mostly sad.  And angry.  The type of anger that transcends humor. 

After the jump, and in the spirit of textsfromlastnight.com, I wanted to share some text conversations with the BON Community...like last week, a few of these entries were contributed by other BON authors.

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Like the Texas football team, the PR Crew decided to take a few weeks off this season.  Unlike the Texas Football team, I think the excuses (i.e. work) for the break in PR columns are actually legitimate.  We even aggressively sought out a fellow BON writer to help fill the writing void for this week.

After the jump, this week's edition discusses the "war" reference made by Derek Dooley, highlights the importance of a single sentence in an older column from Kirk Bohls, and adds a new--and unique--member to the Philosopher's Club.

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"Did that really just happen?"

In the span of less than 24 hours, I asked this exact same question while experiencing the highest and lowest moments for my two favorite teams in the last decade.  Still high on life from the Texas Rangers winning the pennant, I drove to Austin on about an hour's sleep to watch the Texas Longhorns continue salvaging their season by curb-stomping Iowa State.  Except they didnt.  At all. As y'all know, we lost at DKR to a team that got absolutely demolished by Utah and Oklahoma. 

As usually happens during a UT loss--and even during some wins--I received a flurry of angry text messages from my friends and relatives.  After the jump, and in the spirit of textsfromlastnight.com, I wanted to share some of these conversations with the BON Community...for the sake of full disclosure, a few of these entries were contributed by other BON authors.

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As part of their summer previews for college basketball, ESPN recently published two articles over the Big 12.  Texas seems to be the consensus Wild Card of the conference.  Here's the key sections from each article.

From the Texas section of the Best Case/Worst Case article, which doesnt seem to acknowledge the departure of Varez Ward:

Best case: Let's all be honest and say we have no clue where to go with this one. Predicting a team based on talent is easy. Predicting how that talent will mesh together -- and how all the little things basketball players do to make each other better or worse will balance out -- is much more difficult. Based on the former, Texas should be a Big 12 title contender. Based on the latter, who knows? The Longhorns will need to incorporate talented shooting guard Cory Joseph into an already overloaded backcourt, while Tristan Thompson will have to play well with small forward Jordan Hamilton, who could be primed for a breakout season. If Barnes can put the puzzle pieces together -- he couldn't in 2009-10 -- there's no reason for this Texas team to languish in the middle of the conference for another season.

Worst case: Worst case is pretty much what happened last season. The team has talent, but for whatever reason that talent doesn't jell, and what looks on paper to be one of the better teams in the country -- both on the roster and in tempo-free reports -- ends up with a mediocre finish and a handful of NBA draft defections. Weak.

The Summer Shootaround section is a great early look at the conference this year.  I wont blockquote all the Texas stuff (since y'all should go read the whole thing), but here is something I found interesting.  I dont remember seeing this quote anywhere, but it's a potential explanation for last year.

3. Can Rick Barnes put it together? Last season was not Barnes' finest. The Texas Longhorns were one of the nation's most talented teams, and for the first half of the season they looked it. Then, inexplicably, the wheels came off, and the Horns went from being the undefeated No. 1 team in the country to a 9-7 Big 12 finish. Somewhere in there, Barnes admitted to an ESPN The Magazine reporter that he was less concerned with winning a national championship than with getting players to the NBA. Whoops. This season's Longhorns are nearly as talented as last season's team. Barnes put together another impressive recruiting class that features two of the best recruits you'll see anywhere in forward Tristan Thompson and guard Cory Joseph. So talent is not the problem. Whether Barnes can find a way to get that talent to co-exist -- to function as more than the sum of its impressive parts, especially in the backcourt -- will say a lot about whether UT's headman is a college basketball coach or a talent scout with nicer suits.

Hook 'Em!

"Your last game as a student isn't necessarily saying goodbye, but it really does represent a significant step in life...after you move into the "real world," nothing is really ever the same." --My Cousin

I previously used this quote in my post about Senior Night for the basketball team.  Since then, a few things have changed.  On a personal level, I graduated from UT Law, receiving my second degree from UT.  But the changes discussed within this post reside outside a personal level.  They are changes that have dramatically adjusted my core beliefs over my fandom for collegiate sports.  And they have led me to believe that it's possible that, after moving into the "real world," nothing really does ever feel the same.

The changes that I'm referring to are the near decimation of March Madness and the Realignment Madness that resulted in the Big 12-2.  Each of these events laid bare the hyper-monetization and professionalization of college athletics and the vast discrepancies between the "haves" and "have-nots."  While neither of these events revealed anything that most fans didn't already know, they have left me with a strangely sour taste in my mouth.  A taste that I never felt in my seven years as a student on the Forty Acres.   A taste that has sustained itself, especially when reading articles like this one.

Put more simply, the past few months have led me to reanalyze my fandom for college sports.  With the Big 12-2 becoming the final (?) solution for Texas, I was upset by the result before Scipio Tex's famous "Texas Trinity" article put me in a further state of semi-depression and confusion.  In continuing to analyze my feelings, I've become constantly stuck when fleshing out the academic/athletic connection and how much it *really* matters for past, present, and future students of a university.

After the jump, I'm going to lay out my current thoughts on this connection (or lack thereof) between academics and athletics, which involves becoming severely conflicted from a big-picture perspective.

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I know I sound like a broken record, but spending seven years at Texas taught me a lot of life lessons.  In fact, most of the important lessons in my life--in a variety of fields--occurred during my time on the Forty Acres.  But, thankfully, I started following the Longhorns well before arriving on campus.  I was only in middle school when Mack Brown became our head coach, but I fully remember the circumstances of his arrival.  More specifically, I remember the losing seasons that both predated and ended John Mackovic's tenure on campus.  Most specifically, I remember crying during 66-3. 

To this extent, in reading this year's version of The Eyes of Texas, I especially enjoyed the articles that dissected the early portions of Mack Brown's tenure on campus.  In looking back at older versions of our running game, QB developments, and the state of the overall program, it really helps place his 12-year tenure in context.  Essentially, to understand where we are ("Romancing Each Other Since 2004"), it's important to remember where we've come from. It hasn't always been our birthright to win 10-13 games every season.  In fact, winning 10 games was something that David McWilliams and John Mackovic were able to accomplish exactly twice during their combined 11 years as head coach.  And, as I'm learning, that essential sense of perspective is something lost on the current generation of UT students. 

I know that nothing from the last paragraph is a surprise to the readers of this site.  We're Texas, but now, thanks to Vince/Mack/whoever, We ARE Texas.  It's simple enough, and I don't mean for this post to merely rehash well-covered ground.  The purpose of this post runs a bit deeper.  After the jump, I'm going to anecdotally examine the effect of Mack's dominance on the perceptions of the most recent groups of UT Graduates.  You know, the ones who first started following the team when Vince Young was our quarterback.    

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While this week will ultimately be remembered for the successful recruitment of Malcolm Brown, not everything this week has gone exactly to plan.  In addition to having Austin Seferian-Jenkins commit to Washington and DeAndre Daniels de-commit from the program, Texas lost another key player tonight.  

As seen by this fanshot and as first reported by the fast-acting Hookem247, Varez Ward has decided to transfer out of the program.  The AAS reports that his mother has a heart condition, and he wants to be closer to her.  I imagine there will be some handwringing over this transfer--and perhaps even some recitations of the gospel of Bill Simmons--but, until shown otherwise, this explanation is legitimate.  Some things are simply bigger than basketball, and this is one of them.  Obviously, everyone should hope for nothing but the best for Varez and his family.  

Not that this news doesnt hurt.  While the loss of Daniels and ASJ is mitigated by the fact they were recruits still a year away from campus, the loss of Varez Ward is an entirely different story. Varez was expected to be a key contributor (and likely starter) for this year's basketball team, as they looked to rebound from last year's historic collapse.  Coincidentally, Varez himself was looking to rebound this season, coming off of the bizarre injury to his quad that ended his season during a lay-up drill.  These two rebounds (of both the team and Varez) may have been more interconnected than most UT fans realize.

 A few months ago, Andy Katz wrote an excellent article about Varez, which included some fascinating quotes from Damion James about Varez's role with the 2010-2011 Longhorns.  

"People don't know how much of an impact player he was for our team, how much of a leader,'' said James, who was going through a pre-draft workout with Notre Dame's Luke Harangody on Tuesday at the 360 Athletic Club in advance of heading to Chicago for the NBA's pre-draft combine this week.

"Maybe it didn't show, but with the freshmen struggling early it was overshadowed,'' James said. "We needed him. He was our extra lift.''

James said the 2010-11 Longhorns will be defined by Ward.

They'll have a good season with Jordan and Gary, but Varez was our best on-ball defender. He can pass the ball. He's a true point guard. He can get dudes the ball when they need it. He makes smart decisions. We had too many crucial turnovers.

"He's going to be the face of that team next year,'' James said of Ward. "No doubt. I know -- I hang around those guys. He works hard all the time and this is his time to shine and make a name for himself.''

Sounds like Damion wasn't exactly expecting this transfer, either.  

After the jump, a few more thoughts over Ward's transfer and its effect on the 2010-2011 Longhorns...

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I'm a writer for Burnt Orange Nation, and generally only lurk over here, but I had to get all this off my chest.  And, as a Rangers fan, this is really the only proper forum for such a message.  This has been an incredible year, which has been magnified by being able to read the reactions, responses, and analyses posted and linked from this site.

As I explained in a BON post, I'll have to someday explain to my children what it was like to grow up without the internet, e-mail, or cellular phones.  I imagine they will find the conversation very amusing, especially as the world continues evolving, adapting, and relying on products and technology not even invented yet.  I'm already amazed at the things that have become commonplace around these parts.  One LSB game thread involves previously inconceivable uses of GIFs, especially with their relation to other forms of media.  Haters are gonna hate, Gina is going to smile and lick her lips, and various forms of animals will help us turn double plays.  And then--if something happens--everyone can Tweet about it.

But, as we've all watched as the internet has become the primary method of communication and social interaction for this generation, I think there is a nuance about the internet and e-mail that is easily forgotten--its ability to serve as a time capsule.  And it is this aspect that I want to focus on.  When I look back at this season, I want to be able to remember how I felt on the night that I became completely convinced that we were going to do something special in the month of October. However, to fully encapsulate the gravity and magnitude of this moment, it has to be understood in the context of the decade that preceded it.

2010 is going a long way to make the past decade—the horrible, awful, miserable past decade—become firmly entrenched as the past.  But it's still our past, and the pain it caused is still our pain.  The pain of Rangers signing Alex Rodriguez, perhaps the best player in baseball, only to trade him to the Yankees for reasons I will never understand.  The pain of Hank Blalock flaming out.  The pain of watching our front office take sides in a bitter turf war of egotistical pricks and watching Grady Fuson get pushed out.  The pain of the seemingly endless string of pitching coaches, including the ill-fated reign of Oscar Acosta.  The pain of our national relevance consisting of pitchers throwing chairs or pushing cameramen.  The pain of living in Austin, Texas during the "Great Astros Lovefest of 2005."  There are ample examples for everyone, so feel free to take your pick. 

But, more than anything, the painful memories of the past decade are perfectly exemplified by the steady stream of losing.  Or, more accurately, the steady stream of not winning.  We've had great moments and some great walkoffs in previous years--Dellucci, Crush, Marlon, and Hamilton, to name a few--but they all feel somewhat hollow in their greater context.  And, in hoping that the memories of a particular season will hopefully stand up to their greater context, many Rangers fans have been seemingly waiting on JD to build a perfect team.  A perfect team that wont roll over and die in three games against the Yankees.  That's not gonna happen, but it doesnt need to happen.  No team has to be perfect.

And, as I look at this team, that's what I have to keep reminding myself--we dont have to be perfect.  We dont have a 5th starter, our C/1B/CF production is laughable, and we might have already seen the best of Vladimir Guerrero.  That's not good, but it looks like it will be good enough.  Because, as we saw tonight--and unlike most previous seasons--this team is talented enough to win despite its own inherent flaws.  It's good enough to line up O'Day-Oliver-Ogando-Francisco-Feliz and hold on long enough for the bats to produce 4 baserunners in 5 batters against Mariano Rivera.  This team is good enough, and it's scary to think about its potential for greatness.  On a night like tonight, it becomes very easy to remember that this team can win the World Series.  And that's the first time I've been able to type those words in over a decade.  It feels really, really, really good.

I'm thankful for this team, this site, and the ability to experience such a magical season.  And, when I look back at this post in the future, I'm thankful that it will bring me back to my thoughts on a night that I want to remember.  Or, perhaps more specifically, I'll be brought back to my thoughts on a night that I dont want to forget.

Merry Cliffmas!

Imitation is indeed the most sincere form of flattery.  With that in mind, one of my favorite articles--from any blog--this year remains Jeff Sullivan's First Half Review of the Mariners at Lookout Landing, in which he compared each of the current Mariners to certain items in or around his apartment.  As a Rangers fan, the Mariners are one of my sworn enemies, but I thought the idea (and subsequent execution) was absolutely perfect.  Immediately after reading the article, I started thinking about how a similar column would look for the Texas Longhorns.  Now that I'm back home for the summer, I wanted to give it my best shot. 

After the jump, I've taken pictures and provided commentary in comparing past and present players and coaches from the various Longhorns teams to items in and around my house...

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Like many of you, I'll have to someday explain to my children what it was like to grow up in a world without the internet, e-mail, or cellular phones.  I imagine they will find the conversation very amusing, especially as the world continues evolving, adapting, and relying on products and technology not even invented yet.  But, as we've all watched as the internet has become the primary method of communication and social interaction for this generation, I think there is a nuance about the internet and e-mail that is easily forgotten--its ability to serve as a time capsule.  And it is this aspect that I want to focus on for this post.  

Just under two years ago, PB invited me to start contributing to BON.  While I immediately embraced the opportunity, one of the biggest benefits of writing for BON was something that initially never crossed my mind.  Even though I haven't written a lot for this site, I've put a lot of thought into each of the stories I've posted.   And this is where the initially unforeseen benefit of writing for BON kicks in.  Through a handful of simple mouse clicks, I can go back in time and re-read any story I've ever written.  More importantly, by looking through old stories, I can understand and remember exactly how I felt at the time I clicked "post."  Just as importantly, I can re-read the reactions, responses, and consensus of the BON community.  As you probably know, by clicking on your own name, each of you can do something similar with all of your Fanposts, Fanshots, and recent comments.  The results are often fascinating and insightful.  More than anything, they remind me just how much we can forget, even about the most important things in our lives.  As new memories overtake and sometimes supplant their predecessors, a lot of valuable thoughts and information can get lost in the process.  But it doesnt have to be that way, especially with the ability of the internet to permanently store memories.

And, with that in mind, I want to invite each of you to join me in creating a post that outlines your favorite memories over the 2009-2010 seasons of the various UT teams.  While most of us will always remember the major storylines and eventual heartbreaking losses of our Football, Basketball, and Baseball teams from this season, I want to try to preserve some of the stories and events that will likely be forgotten over the course of time. 

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