SB Nation User Blog: txtwstr7

Garrido, Motivation, and Magic...

txtwstr7 — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:20:37 -0000

At the risk of CWS overload, I wanted to make a final post prior to the game tomorrow night. As Longhorns fans, we've been entreated to several magical moments over the last few weeks. We've also seen a lot of rhetoric from Augie Garrido over the mental toughness from this team. Most of the time, I brush off any articles over "toughness", "mental makeup", a player being "gritty", or anything that could conceivably be connected to the normal puff-pieces over Darin Erstad or David Eckstein. But, despite all my skepticism with baseball intangibles, I cannot help myself from connecting them with Augie Garrido and this specific team.

After the jump, I want to speak a little more about Garrido before making a few interrelated observations over intangibles within this specific roster...

When I started following UT Baseball in high school during one of the recent championship runs (2002), I was somewhat annoyed and perplexed by the lavish praise on Augie Garrido. A lifelong Texas Rangers fan, I spent my middle and high school years (1998-2003) soaking up baseball knowledge on the now infamous and largely deserted ESPN Message Boards. On a sidenote, many of the posters from those boards are now the authors of some of the most heavily trafficked MLB Blogs for SBN. Primarily, I hated--and still hate--the bunting. Perhaps ignorantly, I bought into the "Wizard of Oz" concept over Garrido and Texas Baseball.

During my military training in the UT Army ROTC Program, one of our instructors told me something that I've never forgotten. I think it remains completely applicable to Augie Garrido. He said, "You may not agree with my methods, but you will never be able to question my results. Things I do might not always make sense at the time, but they work and they have continued to work throughout my career. Motivation is a fickle thing--perhaps the most fickle thing in life itself--and I will push your buttons to send you where you need to be sent, even if you dont want to be sent there."

This quote became perfectly connected to Augie Garrido when watching "Inning by Inning," the documentary from Richard Linklater that debuted last summer. Lifting the veil on Garrido, it became apparent that he was operating on a level that I couldnt understand as an outsider to the program. I was mesmerized by his fiery and passionate speeches, philosophical waxings over baseball, and his absolute commitment to competing for every inch in every play. All coaches talk about "mental toughness", many attempt to foster it, but I'm not sure how many coaches (or leaders) have truly been able to make tangible differences in an inherently intangible category. I dont pretend to know whether or not Garrido's teachings and methods have cultivated a mental toughness within these players that has sparked this run of magical moments and victories. The point here isn't that Garrido has concocted a magical leadership potion to turn weak-minded players into robotic winners. Instead, I want to make a point about the nature of the roster itself and how it might interconnect with the intestinal fortitude we've seen over the last few weeks. I think it's entirely possible that Garrido might have found the perfect audience to his teachings, which has conceivably played a role in elevating this team above its perceived ceiling.

I've always wondered how the best draft-eligible players in college baseball have been able to remain focused on their season with both the impending prospect of being drafted and actually being drafted during the season. The goal of every player is to be drafted, but the pressure remains extremely high on players intensely placed under the microscope of MLB Scouts. Many people wrote about the pressure facing Jordan Danks and Kyle Russell last season, but this has also affected players prior to being draft-eligible, such as Micheal Demporio, who, after refusing to sign with the Braves as a second-round pick out of HS, left the program after scuffling in his first season. It seems easy to understand how some players might be unable to completely buy into the NCAA present, when they already have one foot out the door to the MLB future. Unlike football and basketball, college baseball players are drafted DURING the season, which renders their postseason performances irrelevant towards their draft stock.

As has been well-documented, Texas didn't have any "bonus babies" in this year's draft. The key players on this roster are either upperclassmen with limited professional upside or super-talented youngsters waiting their turn to be eligible. I believe, moreso than in previous years, this group of players remains the perfect mix to buy into Garrido's message. I'll take talent over mental makeup any day of the week, but I refuse to cast aside the notion that this team remains Garrido's ultimate triumph as a coach. He has been able to mold a team of upperclassmen who are MLB misfits and studly youngsters through his teachings, with the result being a team playing fast, loose, and fearless during the most pressure packed games of their baseball careers.

We have seen some magical moments, but I refuse to call any of our recent victories "magic" or "lucky." The sticking point to me still revolves around the BC victory. As some may forget, we were the ROAD team in that matchup. While Austin Wood was the hero, I still cannot fathom the mental toughness it took to put up SEVENTEEN consecutive zeroes on the board from the 9th-25th inning to continue extending the game. I believe this victory and our recent run of success can arguably be seen as the direct result of a roster well-suited to receiving and implementing the messages preached by Augie Garrido. As seen in "Inning by Inning," he is not a typical coach and he perhaps receives atypical results from certain players in big moments.

I'm not counting on our team being "clutch" to come-from-behind against LSU, but I'm certainly not going to discount or trivialize any of their recent accomplishments...

Hook 'Em!

BON CWS DC Watch Party

txtwstr7 — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 16:41:35 -0000

BON CWS DC Watch Party

Jeff Asher (half of 40AS) and myself will be watching the CWS tomorrow night at the Rhodeside Grill in DC. While I'm only a DC summer transplant, it's known as the "Texas Bar" by the locals.

We're both going to try to arrive well before the first pitch. Jeff will be wearing a UT baseball jersey, and I plan on sporting one of my "Texas Law" shirts. Take a car, take a cab, take the metro--take whatever it takes to get there. We'll be eating steak, drinking beer, and hopefully watching magical victory from the anointed "Team of Destiny."

Hook 'Em!

[Update by 40AS]: For those that'll be joining, Rhodeside Grill is two blocks from the Courthouse metro on Wilson Blvd. They've got a small parking lot but there's usually street parking relatively close by.

Horns #3 in Katz's Revised Top 25

txtwstr7 — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:43:40 -0000

Horns #3 in Katz's Revised Top 25

Following the dust settling on the NBA Draft List, Andy Katz posted his final Top 25 before the fall. Katz says OU and A&M were considered, but he has Kansas State as the only other ranked team in the conference.

KU #1
UT #3
KSU #24

Augie Garrido, Austin Wood, and Media Outrage

txtwstr7 — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:10:14 -0000

In the multitude of BON posts over the magical weekend at the Disch, we've soaked and basked in the afterglow of the two weekend victories from nearly every angle. Like many Longhorns fans, we've celebrated the heroics of Preston Clarke and Austin Wood and fixated on the brilliance of the various moments, experiences, and performances of our players. While we've largely remained focused on the victories, the pitch count of Austin Wood over the weekend has become ensconced as a topical point within the ongoing national debate over pitcher safety.

Several respected baseball pundits have eviscerated Garrido's decision to leave in Wood, with Keith Law ($) even calling for Garrido to be fired. After the jump, we will highlight several talking points from the discussion thread following an excellent post from Lone Star Ball, the Texas Rangers SBN site. Within this discussion, the commentators help unravel the complexities which are normally left uncovered in the normal debates over the issue. Instead of simply repeating the mantras over "Pitch Counts are for Wimps" or "130+ pitches = FIRE THE MANAGER", this discussion bears direct relevance to the issues surrounding Wood's performance.

In his post, which debunks the myth of Nolan Ryan actually abolishing pitch counts in Texas, Adam J. Morris highlights quotes from Evan Grant and Keith Law over Garrido's decision to leave Austin Wood as long as he did. The money quotes are below, pulled from the Lone Star Ball article and linked to their original sources.

Evan Grant, writing on Inside Corner for D Magazine.

But Kevin Millwood, obviously tiring in the 93-degree heat won an eight-pitch battle against Jack Hannahan to end the inning with just the one run scoring. Millwood must be done with 116 pitches. Well, unless Augie Garrido has taken over the Rangers. He let a kid throw 169 pitches. As somone up here said "A coach can’t buy a kid a cheeseburger without creating some kind of violation, but he can abuse his arm all he wants." Me, if the coaches won’t act responsibily, I’d have the NCAA legislate pitch counts. I know Austin Wood probably didn’t want to come out of the game, but 169 pitches is just shameful.

Keith Law ($), writing for ESPN's MLB Draft Blog

Sending any college pitcher, especially one with a pro future, out there to throw three or four times as many pitches as his arm is accustomed to throwing, and doing so when his arm is already fatigued from an outing the day before, is a firing offense. Both coaches should be terminated immediately before they get another chance to blow out anyone else's arm.

The Lone Star Ball post is interesting, but the most relevant points to this discussion come from various commenters in the discussion thread. This discussion highlights both sides of the debate, but I want to highlight two comments outlining a more centric position.

From commenter "Darrell McKown", an avid UT fan who has previously posted under a "BurntOrange" handle.

Isn’t what Nolan is really saying is that he wants his pitchers to work harder and get in better shape so that they can throw more pitches without hurting themselves?

Nolan was well known for being in great shape. I think it’s pretty well accepted that the way you get hurt is throwing while tired, particularly if your mechanics get all out of whack because you are tired. So, if you work harder and get in better shape, it logically follows that you can throw more pitches before you get tired and greatly increased your chances of hurting yourself.

I think what’s he’s saying is don’t be happy just throwing 6 innings or 100 pitches, but work harder to increase how much you can safely pitch, which will vary by pitcher. He isn’t saying just blindly throw until your arm falls off.

McKown's point is significantly topical for this debate, as, immediately preceding Wood's epic performance, TexasSports.com published an feature article over Wood's off-season conditioning program, which he claims has allowed his arm to remain stronger over the course of the season. However, any defense of Wood's extremely high pitch count based on his improved off-season workouts run into two immediate problems. The first is that the TexasSports article additionally adds that his workouts were later tailored to his role of a closer. The second--and larger problem--is presented by our own Big Roy, who, in his last post, noted that Wood was throwing up and cramping in the dugout during the 15th inning and continually fought through dehydration and exhaustion during his performance.

The fact that Wood was throwing while obviously being exhausted isn't a definitive precursor to an injury, but it definitely adds ammunition to Garrido's detractors. On the flip side, the vomiting and cramping by Wood eliminates the ability of Garrido's defenders to point to Wood's conditioning as a defense for Wood's high pitch count. However, neither of these arguments remain dispositive, as the second commenter that I want to feature explains how this might not effect Wood's short-term career prospects.

While I hate to ever credit someone from College Station, "WestTxAg06" brought a great perspective to the discussion.

Smart guys like Kevin Goldstein have made the point that the Rangers are just trying to manage the major league guys the right way: for too long, pitchers were overworked, and then the pendulum swung too far the other way and we started babying pitchers too much. Now, the Rangers are just trying to inject some common sense and find the middle ground: your starters are your best pitchers, generally, so use them as long as possible in a manner that is safe for the pitcher and good for the team’s chances of winning.

I generally like Keith Law, but his occasional hyperbolic rants against perceived evils and injustices annoy me. The Longhorns should fire Augie for keeping Wood out that long? Yeah, okay. I’m no fan of Augie as a person, but he’s one heck of a baseball coach. There are about 200 other Division I teams that would LOVE to see him fired for that offense.

The pendulum swing is an excellent observation and dovetails with my own personal experiences with the debate. I'm not sure the proper middle ground has been found between non-existing and rigid pitch counts, as the proper barometer probably remains too speculative for any fan's liking or comfort. Later in his entry, WestTxAg06 points out Jim Callis' measured response over WoodGate, which came in a chat session with the DMN.

1:15
[Comment From kyle]
How will the high pitch counts for Austin Wood and the BC reliever in the marathon 25 inning game on Saturday impact their draft status, if at all?

1:16
Jim Callis: They won't impact them draft-wise. If there was a repeated pattern of overwork, it would be a concern. Belfiore is a second- to fourth-rounder, Wood a seventh- to 12th-rounder. Those pitch counts, especially for relievers who worked the day before, aren't what scouts want to see. But they were one-time only deals under exceptional circumstances, and both pitchers were strong throughout the outing and didn't look hurt.

In addition to making one point, Callis' response perhaps raises another. Austin Wood's ceiling of a 7th-12th round draft pick can be viewed as an indicator of his potential to reach the major leagues. In what will almost certainly amount to the highlight of his baseball career, Augie Garrido allowed Austin Wood to achieve greatness, instead of pulling him at a more reasonable time. In my opinion, the fact that Wood adamantly opposed coming out of the game should amount for something, as a College Senior is old enough to not require constant "protection from himself." I'm not absolving Garrido of any blame for the decision, as I'm still a little queasy over Wood throwing 200 pitches in 2 days after spending the season as a reliever.

The ordeal reminds me of something from high school. I've never forgotten one of my high school baseball playoff games, in which the opposing pitcher for Duncanville threw over 155+ pitches. I was incredulous at the effort and quizzed one of the assistant coaches what he thought about the potential slagging of the pitcher's arm. The coach said the kid had no prospects of playing Division I baseball due to his mediocre stuff and this effort would be the highlight of his baseball career. My coach ultimately said that this was going to be the story the pitcher would be able to tell his kids, and he didn't see any harm in letting him go as long as he was physically and mentally effective on the mound. Once again, this discussion made me a little queasy, but I definitely understood the point.

The fact that the gigantic workload shouldn't effect Wood's draft status is somewhat comforting to me, as it means that Wood shouldnt lose any bonus money from his signing. An injury caused by the effort would obviously temporarily or permanently derail his career, but, based on his draft position, the opportunity cost remains smaller than it would for a first-rounder.

Conclusion

While we've largely ignored debating over Garrido's decision to leave in Austin Wood for 13 innings, he is being pummeled by some national writers concerned over Wood's future health. I dont presume to have any moral certainty over whether this was the right decision, but, through this post, I wanted to highlight some intricacies within the debate beyond the drumbeating from the "Old School" and "New School" crowds over pitch counts. We've found our star pitcher and legendary manager in the midst of a raging debate, and I wanted to provide BON with the opportunity for the topic to be adequately discussed.

To me, the key revolves around the bilateral nature of Wood's continued performance. At any point, either Wood or Garrido could have terminated his outing, yet neither chose to take this step. We will forever remember the heroics of Austin Wood, which is the result of a joint decision between Wood and Garrido to let the pitcher achieve a level of greatness perhaps never matched in College Baseball history. In my opinion, I absolutely would have pulled Wood sooner, but I'm not entirely comfortable with getting on a high horse and declaring that Garrido inexorably should have protected Wood from himself.

What do you guys think?

Hook 'em!

"You're gonna regret it"...

txtwstr7 — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:34:04 -0000

...these four words, sent in a text message from a close friend on Friday night, have quintessentially defined my fan experience of the suddenly storybook college baseball season for UT. After deciding to spend the weekend at home in Keller with my family--who I grossly neglected during the Spring Semester--my friend sent this phrase in response to an explanation over my absence from Austin for the Regionals. Already unable to attend either the Super Regionals or the potential visit to Omaha, this text message proved prophetic, as I missed perhaps the most memorable weekend of NCAA baseball to ever grace the Forty Acres.

After the jump, I'll outline my own personal experiences with "regret games" and extend an invitation to the BON community to share their own regrets over missing the iconic games or moments that fans wait their entire lives to experience.

For the purposes of this entry, "regret games" mean a game in which you had the direct opportunity to attend the event, but, for some reason or another,did not actually make it to the game. This doesn't mean you weren't able to watch the game on TV or follow it over the internet, but that you were specifically absent from the stadium or arena for a transcendant game. In polling friends and family, it seems like most fans have such a story, one of which formed a major plot piece in "Good Will Hunting." These obviously differ in size and scale, as missing an epic regular season game (such as Durant's Erwin Center swan song against A&M) will always pale in comparison to a postseason or play-off battle (such as the Greatest College Football Game Ever Played).

As a UT and DFW sports fan, I've been pretty lucky over "regret" games. I went to both Rose Bowls. I went to Ohio State. I've been to every meaningful home football and basketball game over the last 6 years. I've been to multiple Big 12 Basketball tournaments and March Madness games, including the trip which led to my Greensboro Recap earlier this year. I've watched my beloved Texas Rangers lose to the Yankees in the 1996, 1998, and 1999 play-offs. I watched the Mavs beat the Spurs in San Antonio in Game 7 of the 2006 series that essentially determined which team earned the right to be screwed by Dick Bavetta in the NBA Finals. All in all, I've had a pretty good run, especially for someone still in college. My only "regret game" comes from giving up a ticket in high school for the 24-20 victory over Nebraska at DKR back in 1999, when Nebraska was heavily favored and ranked third in the country. But, even then, I had a pretty good excuse, as I was one of the starting pitchers in a doubleheader of freshmen fall baseball games for Keller High School and wanted to make a good initial impression within the program.

Until this weekend, I've never had a significant "regret game," and especially not a "regret game" with the UT Baseball team. I've attended a string of postseason games at Disch-Falk, but nothing to write home about. Military training opportunities eliminated any chances of attending certain Regionals, Super Regionals, or Omaha, which forced me to watch several games at Sports Bars and follow other games either online or through belated conversations with friends and family. In the incredible run of 5 CWS trips in 6 years from 2000-2005, I was literally never able to make it down to Austin or up to Omaha to personally experience any games that would fall into the "regret" category. This specifically includes being unable to make it to either of the dogpile games in 2002 and 2005.

By the time the 14th inning rolled around on Saturday night with Austin Wood still going strong, I was starting to feel extremely dejected over the decision not to drive down for the Regionals. Like many of you probably did, or perhaps even actually did, I briefly considered the option of making the 211-mile trip down to Austin in hopes of catching the tail end of the game. Instead, I kept watching the Gametracker like a hawk and constantly updated my family over the score throughout the evening. As the innings and night progressed with the neverending string of scoreless innings, we remained entranced by the steady stream of zeroes on the board and Wii-like characters on our computer screens. When the final out was tallied, I was able to share the moment with my family, yet longed for the missed opportunity of sharing the moment with all the fans who stuck it out at the Disch. My own "moment" was personal, which remained strangely hollow compared to the multitude of collective memories of celebrating with a few close friends and thousands of complete strangers.

A similar scene unfolded tonight, as we high-fived and danced across the living room when the scoreboard sequentially flipped from 10-10 to 14-10 and the Gametracker characters did their shuffle across the bases. Once again, I found myself hugging my family while ultimately resenting the missed opportunity of witnessing and experiencing the event firsthand.

In the hundreds of times I've been able to joyfully express "I was there" in regards to the 2006 Rose Bowl, I've reciprocally seen hundreds of wistful expressions on the faces of people who watched it from somewhere outside the stadium. Even from the students who rioted on Guadelupe, dove in the fountain, or saw the game with the closest friends, I still always seem to perceive traces of regret for not being able to say those three words--"I was there."

Until last night, and again tonight, I wasn't exactly sure how to process their feelings. One would think that a private memory of celebrating a memorable victory with multiple friends and/or family from an exterior location would serve as some type of consolation for the missed opportunity to celebrate with mostly strangers. But it didn't last night, it didnt tonight, and I'm not sure any watching party under any circumstances can ultimately make up for the missed opportunity of seeing a "regret game" in person. I could have been at the games this weekend, and, whenever they get brought up in a discussion over UT Sports or UT Baseball, the entire memory of the experience will be forever tainted by the thought that I should have been there. And I'm not exactly sure how that ever goes away.

Perhaps this is a selfish way of viewing one of the most incredible weekends of UT Baseball in its storied history. Perhaps it's just a feeling of regret for missing one of the best pitching performances in the history of baseball. Perhaps it remains merely a fleeting feeling over wanting to experience what could become the keystone weekend over a storybook and championship season. But maybe it isn't. Maybe it's just the reminder that we spend countless of hours watching and attending sporting events in the hopes of experiencing games and moments like the ones the UT fans and players experienced this weekend. For those of you who did, may the memories last the rest of your life. For those of you who didnt, I hope your excuse was better than mine.

Please feel free to share stories of your own "regret games" below...

Hook 'Em!

Ruminations on Graduation and Memorial Day...

txtwstr7 — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:02:05 -0000

...a little over two years ago, on a beautiful and sunny Friday afternoon, I both graduated from the University of Texas and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. Delaying my military service to get my law degree, I've been lucky enough to celebrate with the UT graduates and military commissionees each of the last two years.

Every year, thousands of students graduate from UT, and I never really thought this year's class contained any special emotional significance to the average UT fan. However, I was dumbstruck when I heard someone at a graduation party mention that their favorite memory at Texas was when we won the national title during their freshman year. It blew my mind that this year's Senior Class was the last group of UT students to have a direct connection with Vincent Paul Young, Jr. The seniors of next year encompasses the first group of students to enter UT after our national title.

After the jump, I'm going to make some additional observations based on this revelation and offer a few comments over Memorial Day...

The official break from any direct ties to Vince Young also extends into the football program. Despite Jordan Shipley and Colt McCoy seemingly being around forever, neither of them stepped on the field with Vince Young during the fairytale 2005 season. However, both of these superstars--in addition to the other redshirt seniors--were able to practice with Vince and witnessed his leadership and how he willed the team to victory against Ohio State and USC. While the shadow of VY has officially been removed from the program for several years, and Colt has progressed into a damn fine leader and QB of his own accord, it remains striking that none of the current players set foot on the field against the Trojans. Despite none of our players participating in the Rose Bowl, the current batch of redshirt seniors should each remember the feeling of what it meant to be a champion. This indirect connection from the redshirt seniors to the 2005 Rose Bowl is where the effect of the memories of the football players from that magical night will officially end.

It seems like yesterday that I was taking the picture accompanying my BON screenname, but it truly has been a longer time than I'd realized. The undergraduate seniors of 2010 will speak of Colt and KD, without any connection as a student to Vince Young, Michael Huff, Lamarcus Aldridge, PJ Tucker, or Daniel Gibson. While students and fans can have connections to players and teams both before and after their time at Texas, there's just something special about the time spent on the Forty Acres. The graduating seniors held that special connection to some of my favorite players and moments, and I'm hoping the next group of seniors will get something as memorable as the 2005 Rose Bowl or the Sweet Sixteen buzzer-beater by Kenton Paulino.

I would like to make mention of one additional senior at UT. Last weekend, I was given the honor of administering the Oath of Office to one of the commissioning seniors in the Navy ROTC Program. One of his fellow commissionees was Drew Marcantonio, a walk-on to the UT Football team and a freshly minted Marine officer. While we've all heard infamous rants and speeches comparing football to warfare, Drew Marcantonio is one football player who will actually put himself in harm's way through the Marine Corps. The sacrifice and dedication required to be an ROTC Cadet is substantial and each commissionee deserves widespread admiration and respect. The fact that an individual could combine learning the military sciences with the grueling football practice schedule is a true testament to individual character. I'd like to wish the best of luck to Second Lieutenant Marcantonio during his military career. I graduated with thirteen other seniors in the Army ROTC Program, and at least seven of them are already serving overseas. It remains one of the highest honors of my life to train alongside these former cadets, and I hope each of you will think of the sacrifices of the young men and women in our Armed Forces during this Memorial Day.

Anyways, I'd like to wish a BON congratulations to all of the graduating seniors. Within a few months, we'll be officially welcoming the encoming freshmen, who will hopefully get their own batch of memories and championships. And, hopefully, we'll add another Omaha championship to the ledger within the next month, which will also help bridge the gap between the outgoing seniors and incoming freshmen.

Hook 'em!

Greensboro Trip Recap...

txtwstr7 — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:20:35 -0000

...as far back as I can remember, my birthdays have always been intertwined with March Madness. Through fortuitous circumstances, including lengthy Spring Breaks and timely baseball rainouts in Keller, I was always able to spend my birthday watching or waiting for the insanity of 48 tournament games in four days. In 2006, my 21st birthday wasn't celebrated on 6th Street, as I instead drove home from watching Texas beat Penn in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Two days later, I watched them beat NC State before driving back to Austin amidst horrendous flooding.

Starting in 2003, I additionally started asking my parents to send me to the Big XII Tournament as a birthday present. I wound up watching as we failed gloriously in high-profile games in 2003 (Dallas, Lost to Tech in Quarters), 2004 (Dallas, Lost to OSU in Finals), 2006 (Dallas, Lost to KU in Finals), and 2007 (OKC, Lost to KU in Finals). Due to a different academic calendar and the games being moved up this year, I've been unable to attend the last two Big XII tournaments.

This year, I had once again resigned myself to watching Texas in the NCAA tournament from back home in Keller. I was actually helping live-blog the Selection Show when I got a text from the Longhorn Roadtripper himself, who had purchased tickets. From the second I saw his text, it was ON.

Following the jump, I'll walk the BON through an unforgettable weekend of basketball and a ton of other random scattershots, anecdotes, and pictures. Starting with my 24th birthday, the trip eventually included West F-ing Virginia fans, the phenomenon of Alabama radio, comparing Duke/UNC, and, ultimately, heartbreak.

I'm warning you guys in advance that I'm no 54b and that this diary will contain less basketball analysis than it probably should. However, I'll counter this warning by baiting each of you with the promise of posting pictures of the salacious LSU Pom Squad.

Wednesday Night to Thursday Afternoon: On the Road

As soon as Mapquest informed me that we were headed on an overnight 18 hour trip, I was very thankful of the fact that my companions had made even more daunting trips in previous seasons. Not leaving Dallas until after 10:00 PM, we immediately started talking about the team, tournament, and anecdotes about UT basketball that are unfortunately off-the-record. Ryan's car was getting nearly 35 mpg and could go over 400 miles without needing to refill the gas tank. With the exception of a speeding ticket in Marshall, Texas, we made great time.

As we took turns napping in the car, the first real highlight of the trip came when we were driving through Alabama near Talledega Superspeedway listening to a Radio Show led by "Rufus" and "Pace Man." While we might have changed channels--I'm not positive--we listened to the following exchange.

Host: "Hello. How are you today?"

Caller: "I'm ok, I guess. I got divorced."

Host: "I gotta ask...was it your fault or hers?"

Caller: "It was hers. I caught her cheetin'"

Host: "You caught her at your place cheating with another guy?"

Caller: "No, I caught them at his place."

Host: "How did you catch them at his place?"

Caller: "His wife's mom told me that they were over there."

Host: "His wife's mom? How do you know her?"

Caller: "I used to date her when we were teenagers, and her mom really liked me, so she told me about them cheating."

Host: "Well, did you let her keep the house?"

Caller: "No, she moved out. She moved in with him."

On the same day the Alabama newspaper headlines were replete with coverage over their National Guard being duped by Bruno, it seemed pretty apropos. But Alabama did produce Varez Ward, so they're cool with me.

In all honesty, the last 4-5 hours of the trip simply flew by, as we were already listening to the madness unfold over the radio. On a sidenote, did everyone already know that North Carolina only refers to themselves as "Carolina" on their radio broadcasts, commercials, etc. I wondered what happens when they play South Carolina or East Carolina. Does the announcer still refer to the Tar Heels as "Carolina", or does he insert the appropriate directional notation? Someone please clear this up for me...

After a quick stop at our hotel to drop off our gear, we were headed to watch Texas play the Golden Gophers...

Thursday Evening: Texas/Minnesota

When we arrived at the arena, albeit a bit early, we expected a chipper tournament vibe to surround the building. This is what we walked into...

While the decor and banners were nice, the arena was surprisingly empty. Even though we expected the flood of Duke fans to arrive around half-time of our game, I still thought there would be a decent crowd milling around. That could not have been further from the truth. While it wasnt a total ghost town, we were unable to even give away Ryan's extra lower-level tickets for a meager $5 or $10.

Anyways, despite the surprising lack of people, we went inside to find a moderately filled Texas section, a moderate-plus filled Minnesota section, and thousands of empty seats. It was at this point that I started worrying about an invasion of Duke fans storming Greensboro, but it turned out that many of the empty seats belonged to the incoming support squad for the Binghamton University Bearcats.

After some introductions, it was game time...

You guys all watched the game, so I'll avoid analyzing the game in favor of some additional comments on the crowd.

--Make no mistake about it, the Minnesota section wasn't much more well-represented than the UT Section, except for one small difference--they had a student presence. I'm not kidding when I say, in all sincerity, that I think we might have been the only UT students in the entire arena not directly associated with UT Athletics, Texas Cheer, Texas Pom, or the basketball team. Someone, please tell me that I'm wrong, because I only saw one group the entire weekend who I thought might be UT students.

As Ryan mentioned in his interview , the Minnesota students were apparently given the option to buy a travel package to get here. I might address this in a later post, and maybe later in this post, but I'd love to know why none of the $35,000+ dollars of Stampede revenue was used to at least help subsidize a similar opportunity for UT students. It's this type of "We're Texas" attitude towards student basketball fans that prevented the UT Rewards system from reaching its full potential. Minnesota didnt have a ton of fans, but the students they brought made some effort to make noise.

--Everything I said about the Minnesota students doesn't apply to the idiot wearing the pajama pants. I'll never, ever forget watching you demand the refs call a travel for one of our players jumping into the air before passing the ball.

--Here's one last picture from this game, as the Turkish flag (in honor of Dogus)...remember that Dogus hit his only 3-pointer of the entire season against Minnesota.

Thursday Evening: Binghamton/Duke, and "Mo Music"

While I expected the Duke invasion to begin at halftime, it really didnt work out that way. By the time the Duke/BU was ready to kick-off, the Binghamton fans had really whipped themselves into a frenzy. Honestly, that last sentence was just my excuse to introduce BON to the impending cultural icon of "Mo Music."

"Mo Music": Most band directors dress conservatively with a polo and khakis and help orchestrate the band through their song list. "Mo Music" is not like most band directors. Shaped like Dexter Pittman before he met Todd Wright, "Mo Music" is well over 300 pounds. Rockin' a shirt that looked like it belonged on an IM fields (that said "Mo Music" on the back), a backwards hat, and a pair of jeans, "Mo Music" absolutely KILLED the arena during every one of the BU songs. And, when I say he KILLED it, I mean it with every single one of those capital letters. Refusing to do any type of actual conducting, "Mo Music" just danced his ass off during every song and started working the crowd. After one particularly spirited effort, he crossed his arms and nodded for the camera as they went to commercial. If that shot of him doesnt make "One Shining Moment", then it is forever cheapened in my eyes. "Mo Music" is what March Madness is all about.

*****If you do nothing else the rest of the night, click here and here to see "Mo Music" in action.*****

The "Cameron Crazies": While we were at the hotel dropping off our gear, we turned on the TV to see that the HBO Documentary over the UNC/Duke rivalry was showing. When describing the Cameron Crazies, one student explained how they would know "everything about your life" and "blahblahblah." I'll save my final thoughts about the Duke fans for later, but I'll give them some props for some chants against Binghamton.

One young lady in the BU sign had a section that said "2nd Round = BU vs. Texas." Unfortunately for this young lass, she was holding the sign upside down. Sitting across from her, we noticed her mistake right when the game started, and it wasn't long before it came to the attention of the Duke students. Regaling her with a chant of "Turn it Over...FLIP YOUR SIGN", they all pointed at her and gestured over the correct position of the sign. In another misfortunate event, the feisty Binghamton students decided to respond with a thunderous "WE CANT HEAR YOU!" Naturally, this led for a much, much, much larger contingent of fans to inform the young lady that she needed to turn her sign over.The Duke students had another great line later when they told all the Binghamton fans to "DRIVE HOME SAFELY!"

However, other than those two good lines, I thought they were pretty lame. The free throw chants were a mixed bag, and I could only really shrug my shoulders when they did some of their "traditions." I borrowed this from a random site, but it explains it better than I can. In particular, I thought both of these were really dumb, but you can judge for yourself.

* Another cheer is the "Boink , Boink". When an opponent is dribbling, we yell out "Boink" every time the ball hits the floor. When he picks up the ball to pass, we'll chant "Ahhhhhh", then "PASS!" right as he passes. As you might guess, we'll also yell out "Shoot!" or "Miss!" or "Turnover", whatever happens.

* When an opponent turns over the ball either for traveling or making an errant pass, we'll do the "Frankenstein." This is kinda hard to describe, but basically we extend our arms out in front of us and bob them up and down alternately.

Of course, less I be criticized for casting stones, I absolutely think it's better to have 300+ students looking stupid doing the "Frankenstein" than only having 2 (or maybe 5) students in the entire arena. But I was expecting more out of them, especially fans who know "everything about your life."

Friday: March Madness and West F-ing Virginia

We slept well into the afternoon on Friday, then immediately headed up to a local Sports Bar to watch the games. As you know, there were some really good games on Friday, but nothing on Friday was better than watching one particular West Virginia fan cheer for his team.

I really dont know how to provide any real context for this story, so I'll just lay it out there. While we were at the bar, we saw a West Virginia fan cheer during a replay and shout "WOW! HE DID IT AGAIN!" I want to make sure this anecdote gets properly emphasized, so I'll say it again and put it in bold. While we were at the bar, we saw a West Virginia fan cheer during a replay and shout "WOW! HE DID IT AGAIN!"

After the games, we went back to the hotel and watched more basketball. There are some other stories to tell about this night--and the team hotel--but they are also off-the-record. Sorry, everyone...

Saturday: UNC/LSU and Texas/Duke

I dont care what anyone says about Texas Basketball, we sure as hell know how to throw a tailgate for a big event. As we were walking around the arena, the most noteworthy things we saw were a "Make it Wayne" shirt, a "Flavor Flav" lookalike, and a stupid ACC billboard. Each of these are posted below for your enjoyment.

Notice the FSU "mascot"

The pre-game scene was extremely underwhelming. Fortunately, we stumbled into some Texas fans--and U.S. Army Warrant Officers--who were enjoying a legitimate tailgate. They were kind enough to let us stick around and enjoy their food and company.

It is at this point that I have to mention the neverending promises of UNC fans to help make it a "home game" for Texas. We had at least TWENTY FIVE encounters with UNC fans who said one of the following things.

"Every other day, I hate Texas and Mack Brown, but I'm going to be cheering loud for you guys tonight."

"We're gonna help you guys beat Duke. Gonna be a home crowd for y'all tonight, when we add our 12,000+ fans to your side."

"Duke doesnt want to come here anymore because we take away their home court advantage. They all live in New Jersey and wont even make it down here."

"Hook 'em! We're with you tonight, Texas!"

"We're gonna be your secret weapon tonight. Home game, Horns!"

I want to emphasize this point now, because it never happened. Not even after Duke fans spent the entire game harassing the UNC roster and excessively cheering for LSU. I'm not kidding when I say that the primary Duke section made more noise for LSU than the entire UNC fanbase made for Texas, despite perhaps 65-70 percent of the arena being UNC fans. The Duke fans chanted "SHE SAID NO! TWICE" to Wayne Ellington--heard conflicting stories about what it means--and were waving LSU poms during the second half.

I didn't come to Greensboro fully expecting the UNC fans to cheer for us, but the silence of their fans was perplexing after their constant bragging to us over how they were going to be our secret weapon. If the numbers of the fanbase and the opponents had been switched, you would have heard deafening noise for Texas the entire night. Whatever you want to say about Duke, they definitely rooted AGAINST North Carolina, in addition to rooting FOR LSU.

Now whether or not you respect that is an entirely different story, but the fact of the matter is that the UNC fans did *nothing* to help the 'Horns except maybe for the final minute. I just wanted to make that clear, in case any of you still appreciated them...

LSU Pom Squad and Mack Brown

At this point, many of you are already panting for the LSU Pom Squad money shot...here you go.

The two blonde girls on the left of the picture were absolutely scorching hot. And, like all the great ones, they knew it.

Here's my unofficial ranking of the Cheer and Pom Squads from the schools that I saw.

1) LSU--if Oregon is first, then these girls are at least in the discussion for second. These ladies can DANCE, and, by that, I mean their hips must be made of rubber.

2) Texas--nothing you dont already know. They did us proud...

3) Duke--this might have been higher if they wouldn't have covered up on Saturday. The one blonde girl with the shredded six-pack could have potentially bumped them up all by herself.

4) UNC--pretty forgettable bunch. That might be b/c they were matched up against the LSU ladies.

5) Minnesota--not as bad as you might think, but a few bad apples can spoil the bunch. And that's what happened here...

6) Binghamton--at least they still have "Mo Music."

At some point during the second half, we saw Mack Brown make his way across the court towards our section. Then he made his way into our section. Then I made my way into his path--albeit very briefly--to have one of the million five-second conversations he must have every day with his rabid fanbase. One of my travel partners snagged a picture of Mack after I talked to him.

Here's another picture of Mack going down to his eventual seat...

Saturday Night: Duke-Texas and Heartbreak City

I still haven't been able to stomach watching a replay of the final minute, so I still really dont know if we got screwed by the refs or not. All I can say is that good teams win games like this one, and we lost them all season long. Whatever you want to say about this team--and y'all have said quite a bit these past few days--they never quit on themselves, despite a fanbase that was so eager to dogpile against them.

I want to reiterate this point, since it really pisses me off. Whatever you want to say about Texas this year, they were only blown out of two games the entire season (A&M and OU). Despite being on the ropes in several games, the 'Horns always clawed back and never gave up. The only people who gave up on this Texas team were a sizable contingency of the fanbase, who were "surprised" that Texas "showed up" against Duke. Or acted "shocked" that we "kept it close." Rick Barnes did a phenomenal job rebuilding the psyche of this team from the devastating string of losses in the middle of conference. As a fanbase, we dont deserve him and we didnt deserve the effort the team put forth on Saturday night. They never quit on us, but many, many, many fans quit on them.

When Texas loses, I'm generally mad, upset, and inconsolable. On Saturday night, I was neither. ..

Onto some final observations and notes...

--Once again, I wasnt a big fan of the Cameron Crazies, who "know everything about your life." When they taunted Dexter with "Lose Some Weight!" and "Please Don't Eat Me", I could only roll my eyes. As Ryan Clarke told anyone who would listen, Dexter probably has a lower body fat percentage than anyone in their entire section. And, I as would tell anyone who would listen, Dexter couldnt eat any of them without Todd Wright's permission anyways, since Wright has to approve each and every one of his meals. It was weak. What was even weaker was the "HAMMER PANTS!" chant to AJ Abrams.

--I'm not sure I fully get the Duke hatred, but I can assure you that none of them even considered the possibility that we could win that game until the very last minute. Prior to the game being tied, the Duke fans primarily acted like it was our privilege to lose to them in the 2nd round. Furthermore, they often made chide comments such as, "Wow, I didnt know Texans could spell the name of their state" during Grandioso. I think the overall friction surrounding the Duke fanbase is that they are prouder of Duke's academics than anyone else is impressed with Duke's academics. I fully understand they are a legitimate Top-10 University, but I dont think the general public sees them on the same level as Harvard-Yale-Princeton-Stanford, which is where I think they see themselves...

--The Kenton Paulino highlight was not shown in the arena during the entire weekend. We saw plenty of Duke, plenty of UNC, plenty of MJ and Laettner, and plenty of other buzzer beaters, but they couldnt even show one replay of KP's dagger against West Virginia? Not even once?

The Big Conclusion

Like many of you did, we rehashed the game over and over and over and over again during the drive home. Unlike many--or any--of you, we had over 20 hours to kill on our drive home. After the game had been thoroughly dissected, Ryan and I talked about ways to improve UT Basketball Marketing for nearly 3 hours. Some of these ideas might be addressed in a future post.

However, the most poignant moment of the entire trip came when I asked Ryan about the best feeling he's ever had during a drive home. In case you still dont know, he's been to 115 consecutive UT games. In many of his longest trips, we've been beaten, including every single one of his trips to the NCAA tournament, Big XII Tournament, College Station, Lawrence, and Columbia. And we wont even bring up the massacre in MSG or the collapse in Knoxville from a few years ago. He's suffered a lot of high-profile losses, but I wanted to ask about his highest point heading home from a roadtrip

I immediately asked if it was after the Paulino shot, but he reminded me that we wound up losing to LSU before he drove home. After thinking, probably about all the crushing tournament losses, he said it had to be when we knocked off UCLA at Pauley Pavillion. I thought this was a satisfying answer, but then he added more.

He said, "You know, the more I think about it, the best feeling I've ever had might have been driving home from the Triple-OT loss in Stillwater. The night when Durant took on Boggan. We lost, but the entire drive home I kept thinking, 'that was some fucking amazing basketball."'

And that's where it both starts and stops for any recent fan of Texas basketball. We still haven't won a Big XII Tournament, much less an NCAA Title. Our 2003 trip to the Final Four has been immortalized by a commercial reminding the world that we had "no answer for Carmelo Anthony." With a team that has had so much success, in the big picture, all of the success feels a little hollow with all the high-profile disappointments.

But you can throw all of these disappointments out the window (including Saturday night) when you put them in conjunction with Ryan's epiphany...we lost, but that was some fucking amazing basketball."

See you next year? Bet on it.

Especially you, Duke...

Hook 'em!

Interview with Ryan Clark of "Longhorn Road Trip"

txtwstr7 — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 06:00:27 -0000

While some of us may fancy ourselves as being dedicated fans of UT Basketball, there's being "dedicated" and then there's Ryan Clark. After tonight's victory, Ryan has attended 114 straight UT Basketball games--both home and road--in a streak that has spanned over three complete seasons. Blogging about his travels on his website Longhorn Roadtrip, Ryan is the most dedicated UT basketball fan on the planet.

As a primer for Ryan's accomplishments, including how he does it, make sure you check out his FAQ Section, a summary of his story, and an map tracking all of his trips during one season. After the jump, we have a Q&A with Ryan, as we are both in Greensboro awaiting the showdown with Duke.

Q. What was the closest you've ever come to missing a game during your streak?

A. I had to watch the last 18 minutes of the Villanova game this year in a bar, since we got thrown out of MSG after my friend poured his dip can on another fan. I'm still not happy about that one.

Another close call was when I had to drive from my UT graduation on Saturday morning to the Toyota Center to watch the game against Rice, which was that evening. I ran inside and watched the first four minutes of the game from a random section because I didn't want to miss any of the hard-hitting, high-flying action that typifies Rice Owl basketball.

Q. Regarding your travel, what was the toughest stretch of back-to-back games you've ever attended?

A. The very first season was pretty rough. I drove to Oklahoma State during an ice storm for the Tuesday night triple-overtime showdown with Boggan and Durant. Then I flew to Villanova for a Saturday game, came home, then had to make an overnight flight to Nebraska. I was completely dead at the end of that stretch.

This year, I drove up-and-back for the Nebraska game, stayed home for the Missouri game, then drove up-and-back for the Colorado game, then had to head straight to A&M. That was a nasty stretch, but the first year of games was harder on me.

Q. What was the most rabid fanbase you've ever encountered? The most docile?

A. The most docile fanbase is Nebraska. UCLA was also pretty docile, but I think that has to do with how their arena is constructed. The most rabid fanbase might be Kansas State, and I don't mean that as a compliment. I was really surprised by the hostility from the fans in Manhattan. Oklahoma State and Kansas fans are really passionate about their teams, but they aren't mean-spirited like the KSU fans.

I don't want to talk bad about the Villanova fans, since my friend was also an idiot, but I saw Villanova fans involved in several fights. While we were at MSG, I saw a Villanova-Davidson fight, a Villanova-Villanova fight, and multiple Villanova-Texas fights. Then, after the game, we saw even more fights at a bar. I like that their fans are passionate, but people should be able to drink alcohol without being complete idiots.

Q. What is your personal highlight and lowlight during the streak?

A. The lowlight was getting escorted out of MSG this year during the Villanova game. The other lowlight was having to drive 30 hours back to Austin after we got manhandled by USC two years ago. That was rough.

As for highlights, I went cliff-diving with AJ, Chapman, and Harrison Smith while we were in Maui. The team came over to our beach from a different hotel and we climbed up the cliff together. Dexter didn't go, but the cliff wouldn't have been wide enough for him anyways. The famous Kenton Paulino shot against West Virginia came during the third game of my streak. That game was what March Madness is all about. I got interviewed after the game and said how happy I was that Texas now has its own highlight that can be replayed every single March.

Q. I've written several times about how it takes a marquee game to raise the Erwin Center to another level. This season, that really only occurred during the OU game and the last 8 minutes of the UCLA game. During other games, "The Library" monicker is well-deserved. At its best and worst, where does the Erwin Center crowd noise stack up against other crowds across the country? How about the facilities?

A. Denton Cooley Pavilion is up there with any facility in the country. UCLA and Oregon also have great facilities. The Erwin Center is a different story, and I don't like it very much. It's not a very good basketball arena. You are correct in that our fans can get loud, but, on the whole, they aren't very intelligent basketball fans. First and foremost, our fans won't cheer unless the team gives them a specific reason. They are very reactive fans. An opposing coach who calls a timeout during a UT run will effectively kill our crowd noise. Even at Iowa State, the crowd will cheer the team even when they are struggling or will go berserk when the team backs out the ball when trying to kill clock with a big lead. Further compounding the problem is that the upper level of the Erwin Center is too far away from the floor.

Q. This season, the OU game was clearly the top home game experience, but there have been several marquee games over the last few years. What was your favorite home game during your time on campus?

A. Probably the Villanova game from a few years ago. We were both ranked in the top five and Texas pulled out a big win. My favorite home game of all-time is when we nearly choked away a big lead against North Carolina when I was a little kid. We had no business winning that game, and it was a huge upset.

Q. While we were at the OU game in Norman, we talked about the in-game player commercials and the nifty pre-game video package. These would both be welcome additions to the Erwin Center. Based on all your trips, what tactics used by other schools would you implement to improve the in-game experience for Longhorns fans?

A. I think the player commercials would be a big thing. With our reactive crowd, commercials involving the players trying to pump up the fans would be a huge help. If Damion James was telling everyone to get up and be loud, it would probably work.

I won't even get into all the things that UT could do to reach out to students. However, it's painfully clear to me that it will be a long time before anything ever improves regarding marketing towards students. The Stampede and Varsity Rewards programs were both great ideas that have gotten off-track and lack focus. Just for one example, we found out that Minnesota students had the option to buy a $600 travel package to come to the games tonight. Davidson did something similar last year for their Regional. It's very frustrating that I personally have to put together my own groups of students to attend road games. By myself, I got 30 students to go to Baylor a few years ago, and I also got 20 students to go to A&M two years ago. I know that if UT Athletics would lend their support, then we could get more students to go to road games at a lower cost. It's really not that difficult.

Q. What's your top piece of advice for UT fans who want to travel to a road game?

A. Number one, be prepared for the fact that everyone hates Texas. It comes with the territory. Second, if you are on a budget, try to cram as many people as possible in one car or hotel room. Finally, if you happen to go through Norman, make sure you stop by Big Red Imports and say hello. Or do the Gator Chomp and tell them that Rhett sent you.

Q. From my own personal experience, I know that I've learned a lot about the individual players by watching them during warm-ups and timeouts. You see these players more than any other UT fan. What have you learned about this team-and its individual players-from seeing every single one of their games in-person. Essentially, what is the story-within-a-story over this season?

A. I think that this season is a testament to the fact that Rick Barnes isn't a system coach. I mean that in a positive way. He recruits the best players that he can, and he tries to play a system that best fits their talents. Unfortunately, this year's team has less talent than some other UT teams in recent memory. As a result, we've seen him tinker with the line-ups and roles for specific players. We've gotten to watch Dexter Pittman and Varez Ward grow as individual players right before our very eyes. Balbay has improved, too, but he still needs work before next season.

The body language of some of the players is also easy to pick up on. I'm not a collegiate coach, but I think Rick Barnes might have a quick hook with Damion James. When Rick yells at him and puts him on the bench, I don't think Damion responds to it very well.

Q. Your post-game recaps effectively combine personal observations with statistical analysis. Do you have to rewatch the games on DVR before analyzing them in the recap? If so, do you find yourself remembering things from watching the game live that don't show up on the TV broadcast?

A. Honestly, I don't have time to rewatch games. The traveling and writing for my website are very time-consuming. I have my real job, and I also try diligently to keep up with the rest of the college basketball landscape. Sometimes, I think my best postgame recaps come after a long trip home, where I can talk things over with my friends. We'll all break down the game from several different perspectives and that can be really helpful.

Q. Have you gotten any donations for your trips from readers of your website?

A. I've earned a grand total of $40 from ads on my website in three seasons. I haven't really tried to market my website or my travels. This is something that I enjoy doing, so I don't really look for any additional compensation or exposure. A sponsor would be nice, though.

Q. In general, what is your opinion of Rick Barnes? Any good anecdotes over watching him on the road?

A. I love Rick Barnes. I'm really glad that we brought him to Texas. Great recruiter, really nice guy. My favorite Barnes stories are actually from two home games. In the first one, we were killing some tiny directional school, there was two minutes left, and Connor accidentally fouled someone. Rick walks onto the court and screams "Connor! Don't f*cking foul!" That was pretty hilarious, and I think a Facebook group actually got created because of it. Less we forget anything else on Saturday against Duke, we need to remember "don't f*cking foul." The other good Barnes story is when he told all the students in the South O-Zone to STFU when we started the NIT chants for OU back when his buddy Sampson was still there.

Q. What are you going to take from this experience?

A. I'd like to hopefully get some contacts out of this experience. Honestly, I'd also really like to help draw more attention to Texas Basketball. If I could get anything out of this, I'd like for Gus Johnson to commentate a day of my life. A Final Four trip would also be nice.

Q. Are you going to try for a fourth straight season? Any specific milestone you want to reach?

A. I know fans always say "Wait ‘til next year", but I really like how the pieces are all coming together for next season. Even if I cant keep the streak up--we'll see about that--I'll definitely be at all the big games. I'm really looking forward to our tilt against North Carolina next season.

Q. It's that time of the year, so I gotta ask. What's your official prediction for UT in this tournament?

A. I'm glad that we got the draw that we did. Michigan State or Duke were the best match-ups for us on the #1 or #2 line. Duke doesn't have an interior presence, but they could burn us from the outside. This is our best chance to get to the second weekend, but we have a puncher's chance.

I'm going to Greensboro...

txtwstr7 — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:34:02 -0000

I'm going to Greensboro...

I will be making the 1200+ mile trip to see the Horns do battle with the Gophers and--knock on wood--the Blue Devils.

Post any story requests, comments, suggestions, or advice over the trip below...Hook 'em!

Ranking the '08-'09 Home Games...

txtwstr7 — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:26:21 -0000

...with Texas safely off any bubble watch, it appears Monday's victory over Baylor remains the Longhorns' final home game of the season. With their beatdown of the Bears, the Longhorns quietly polished off another stellar home season. While many fans remain fixated on the the late-season slide to mediocrity, the home season provided a handful good games culminating with a potentially season-saving victory over #1-in-waiting Oklahoma.

While the complete narrative for this season still remains to be seen, I wanted to take a look back at this year's home schedule. Despite compiling a 13-2 home record, the Longhorns were plagued by some listless crowds and lackluster first-half performances. However, these were partially offset by some incredible second half scoring bursts and some transcendent events for the program.

After the jump, we rank the 15 home games and provide scattershot memories/anecdotes/etc from each game...

As an initial disclaimer, I only made 12 of the 15 home games. As explained below, I missed two games due to law school finals and one game due to a stomach virus.

#15: January 2nd vs. Appalachian State (78-43 W)

Here is an actual conversation from this game, which was one of two UT basketball games that my girlfriend (current UVA law student) attended.

Her: Why do they have all these empty seats upstairs? Do they ever fill up?

Me: Well, they usually do after football season. Besides, the Fiesta Bowl is in a few days and everyone is still talking about the BCS. The crowd is usually better than this.

Her: You told me the exact same thing when I came to the Baylor football game.

Yes, she was referencing this Baylor game...

#14: December 16th vs. Texas Southern (88-72 W)

All you need to know about this game is that studying for my law school exams was honestly more interesting than watching on TV while Texas sleepwalked against this truly horrific basketball team.

In all seriousness, the best win for TSU in their 6-24 season came in a one-point victory against the mighty 8-21 Southern University Jaguars. In a related note, Baylor beat Southern University by 42 points back in November.

#13: November 30th vs. Rice (77-56 W)

This was one of the other games I missed this season. The most prescient fact about this game is that it took ten minutes and two phone calls to remember if I went to the game or not.

#12: January 10th vs. Iowa State (75-67 W)

Can anyone believe we were still ranked #7 in the country heading into this tilt with the Cyclones? As it followed the loss to Arkansas and predated the woodshed beating in Norman, this was the last game Texas was ranked in the Top-10.

In this game, Dexter/Gary/Damion scored 48 of our 75 points. Pretty much the least memorable conference game of the season...

#11: November 14th vs. Stetson (68-38 W)

I debated putting this higher on the list, as it highlighted several initial storylines for the season. In a post raising additional issues from the game outside of Wiggo's review, I brought up the offensive dichotomy with/without Pittman, elaborated on AJ's failures as a PG, and expressed the desire to see Balbay run the offense.

The biggest shock from this game is remembering that Alexis Wangmene actually played in a home game this season...

#10: November 18th vs. Tulane (76-51 W)

The initial game against Stetson further whet my appetite to see Balbay in action. Wiggo's review paints an extremely accurate first impression of Balbay, but the game itself showed the main reason for my early season optimism. With Mason dishing out 7 assists, Texas got double-digit contributions from five different players (James/Pittman/Abrams/Johnson/Atchley (!!!!!!)) in scoring 76 points.

#9: February 4th vs. Missouri (65-69 L)

This game really sucked. Some of you might think this should rank higher, but, at the time, this game didnt have its current significance. It was essentially the inverse of our victory in Waco, which has proved to be far less impressive than it first appeared. When Missouri came to Austin, they were still unranked, unproven, and sported a 2-3 record in "true" road games.

This game was merely memorable for Dexter Pittman's heroics and the team's last-minute collapse. Sexy Dex scored 25 points in 23 minutes, which remains his career high. The end of the game was sickening, as Texas allowed a lay-up in a tie game with 5.5 seconds left, then bungled the ensuing in-bounds pass.

#8: December 13th vs. Texas State (81-73 W)

The feisty Bobcats and a pesky group of fans invaded the Erwin Center in a game that became too-close-for-comfort. AJ Abrams poured in 30 points, 4 steals, and 3 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes to help stem off the upset bid.

I'll never, ever, ever forgive the South O-Zone for allowing themselves to be penetrated by the contingent of Texas State fans.

#7: January 24th vs. Texas A&M (67-58 W)

Continuing the theme of remarkable individual performances, this was the night that Damion James played like an All-American. Taking over the game in the second half, Damion scored 28 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. In one stretch, James scored 11 consecutive points after the Longhorns went to full-court pressure, which generated its own Big Roy post.

James' alley-oop dunk from Varez Ward to punctuate his scoring rampage should be on all highlight reels from this season...

#6: February 28th vs. Oklahoma State (99-74 W)

This was the most bizarre box score of the season. Texas simply oblitterated the Cowboys, racking up 99 points without any individual player scoring over 20. The dominance of this win is much more impressive today, as the Cowboys have rattled off a six-game conference winning streak following this loss.

My favorite memory of this game was the chippiness of the crowd when the team hit 99 points. Harrison Smith was in full gunner mode and missed another 3-pointer with 26 seconds to go. Texas got the ball back with 19 seconds left, and Rick Barnes literally ran out onto the court violently shaking his head sideways to prevent Harrison from trying again.

#5: March 2nd vs. Baylor (73-57 W)

Occurring this past Monday, this game was meaningful and memorable for being the Senior Night for two key contributors to the program. With Aldridge, Gibson, Tucker, KD, and DJ all leaving early, it had been several years since Texas had a meaningful Senior Night.

No, it wasn't like the magical night in Pullman, but I was simply happy for the chance to give an appropriate Erwin Center send-off to two players who have been the program for my entire time on the 40 Acres. I was also happy for the win.

This was the other game that my girlfriend attended this season. Her reaction was a thorough "meh" to the crowd and atmosphere, which was unfortunately a fair assessment.

#4: January 31st vs. Kansas State (81-85 L)

This was the game I missed with a stomach virus. Someone else will have to comment on ceremony retiring Slater Martin's number. I wrote the BON review for this game, which was the beginning of the three-game losing streak.

Instead of an individual Longhorn performance, the game itself will be remembered for the incredible shooting display of Denis Clemente and the collective effort of the Longhorns in pushing the game to overtime with a furious rally. In the game of a lifetime, Clemente scored 44 points and was perfect from both behind the arc (6-6) and the free throw line (12-12). Clemente's assault put the Longhorns into a 17-point deficit with 7 minutes to go. After tying the game with a remarkable run fueled by a static lineup and full-court pressure, the Longhorns ran out of gas in overtime.

I cant speak to the crowd or atmosphere, as I was stuck in my apartment, but this was the official kick-in-the-balls loss of the season.

#3: Devember 4th vs. UCLA (68-64 W)

This game had the potential to be one of the unforgettable games that I've written about in the past. Instead of rising up to that level, it remained stuck in that "Very Good, but not Great" level. The crowd was monstrous during the final stretch run, but it fell short of the efforts during marquee games in previous seasons.

Definitely a solid win for the 'Horns, but it still left something to be desired regarding the overall experience...

#2: February 25th vs. Texas Tech (87-81 W)

February 25th was deemed "Kevin Durant Tribute Day" at BON, and we all chipped in with our favorite performances, highlights, and memories of KD. Despite the bottom-dwellar opponent, it was an extremely memorable night for the fans in attendance. Unlike the lackluster pre-game ceremony for VY--seriously, WTF--the basketball program gave a fitting tribute to its former freshman superstar.

The entire team came out during warm-ups wearing a Nike KD shirt, which I've included below...this was a really cool shirt, and I'm kinda pissed off that the Athletics Department didnt order enough shirts for all the students in attendance.

The halftime ceremony included an awesome video package followed by an emotional speech from Kevin Durant. Decked out in a dapper burnt orange tie, Durant was moved to tears by the deafening cheers from the Longhorns fans. He professed himself to be a "Longhorn for Life" and ended any doubts over his sincerity and dedication to the program. On a down note, KD spent the entire second half texting from his front row seat...

#1: February 21st vs. Oklahoma (73-68 W)

In a must-win game against the team slated to become #1 in the country, Texas--and their fans--rose to the occassion in earning an exhilirating home victory. While some fans may quibble over the merit of this victory following the game-changing injury to Blake Griffin, this should take nothing from the experience itself. This was the easiest decision on the entire list and continued the trend of at least one monumental home victory and crowd per season.

On a more personal note, this game also brought me the opportunity to fire up the crowd from center court and scream until the point of nearly blacking out from adrenaline.

Hook 'Em!