Getting the Best of Luck

We know who always wins the Heisman.  It’s usually the best player on the best team and 9 times out of 10 he’s a quarterback or running back.  This year, though, things are different.  This year we may just see something we haven’t seen in a while: a Heisman trophy going to a team that didn’t win it’s conference and isn’t headed to the BCS.  In fact for the first time ever, I believe the Heisman trophy will be finding a home in Waco, Texas.  Stop laughing.  Hear me out.

Five finalists have been invited to New York.  The best player on the best team is one of them, but the LSU “Honey Badger” Tyrann Mathieu isn’t going to win.  He’s a great defensive back and an electric return man, but if you look back at guys like this in the Heisman trophy race it’s a short list of winners and those on it had remarkable, eye-popping seasons.  Mathieu is special… but he’s not that special. 

When I hear the running back argument, it seems I hear more about Albama’s Trent Richardson than I do about Wisconsin’s Montee Ball.  That’s a shame.  Richardson has some pretty good numbers, but nothing that puts him in this type of class and Montee Ball has been in the end zone more than the guy who paints it.  Ball led the nation in touchdowns and rushing yards, but Richardson wins the Doak Walker award?  Silly.  But it just goes to the point - running back votes are split.  Neither of these guys is winning the Heisman.

So that leaves two quarterbacks.  One of them is the talk of the NFL.  Andrew Luck is the assumptive #1 pick in next year’s NFL draft and it has been alleged on numerous occasions that the Indianapolis Colts are losing games on PURPOSE to have a shot at this kid.  He’s that gifted.  I have no doubt that his skill set will serve him well on Sundays.  He has everything the scouts are looking for and my guess is that he’ll be a fixture in the league for quite some time.  Here’s the thing, though: he wasn’t the best quarterback in college football this year.

Robert Griffin III has been everything for the Baylor Bears.  People hear his name and see a couple of highlights and they write him off as a running quarterback.  Well, he does run… 500+ yards more than Luck did this year.  But the story doesn’t end there.  Not even close.  Would you be surprised to know that RG3 threw for more yards this year than Luck?  I thought you might.  Of course, yards isn’t everything.  There’s touchdowns and interceptions.  Griffin threw more touchdown passes than Luck.  Oh – and he threw fewer interceptions.  But accuracy must be taken into account, as well.  Robert Griffin III completed a higher percentage of his passes than Andrew Luck. 

The only category where Luck comes out on top is team wins and quite often that is a deal-breaker.  Stanford certainly is better-respected nationally than Baylor and the Cardinal are headed to a BCS bowl game.  Factor that into the equation with a quarterback who’s the envy of every NFL war room and usually this is a slam dunk. 

Again - this year, though, things are different.  The NFL stallion in question plays on the West coast.  The vast majority of the voters don’t live on the West coast.  Those late starts add up a much smaller audience watching Luck do his thing.  Don’t get me wrong, they see a few highlights here and there – enough to know he’s good and enough to get excited about seeing him at the next level – but they only see a couple of key games that hit primetime… and in those games, Luck was good, not great.  In some years there isn’t a truly viable alternative and the West Coast guy wins anyway.  Not this year.

Everyone watched what RG3 did to Oklahoma a couple of weeks ago on national TV, and it got him some much-needed attention.  Add to that some flashy numbers on conference championship Saturday over Texas while Luck sat on the couch and Griffin suddenly was very much on the radar.  So what’s left?  Well, if I’m a voter, I guess I need to take my first real look at the season’s stats.

One more time (you know, for the drama): Robert Griffin III threw for more yards, ran for more yards, threw more touchdown passes, fewer interceptions and did it all while completing a higher percentage of passes than Andrew Luck.

He was better.  And it’s going to shock a lot of people when his name is called to accept the Heisman trophy.

Don’t be surprised.  He’s really good.  And this time around, it’s better to be good than Luck.

The BS National Championship Game

Later today the powers that be will let us know which two teams will play for this year's BCS National Championship game.  The LSU Tigers are easily the #1 team in this discussion and their ticket to the big game is already punched. 

Pollsters then had to make a big decision: who's number 2?

Conventional wisdom tells us that the Alabama Crimson Tide will be playing LSU on January 9th.  But there is no wisdom in that outcome. 

It was just a month ago that college football brought us this year's "Game of the Century" as LSU marched into Alabama for a showcase of the top two teams in the polls.  It provided a close, but extremely ugly game where neither team reached the end zone... neither team went over 300 yards of offense... each team turned the ball over twice... and there were four missed field goals.  Yes - 4.  Five field goals WERE made, however, and LSU got out of town with a 9-6 overtime win.  If you aren't a hard-core fan of one of those schools you did NOT enjoy that game.  There are actually people who claim that they want to see that rematch.  Wow. 

The purpose of the National Championship Game is to determine the best team in the country.  I already know who's better between LSU and Alabama.  You know how I know?  They already played.  LSU went into hostile territory and won in Tuscaloosa.  They also won their division, their conference and their conference championship game.  Alabama did none of those things.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys only lost one game this year.  It was also in overtime.  It was to a lesser team to be sure, but it was on the road and less than 24 hours after a tragic plane crash took the lives of two members of the OSU athletic family.

The SEC crowd is shouting loud that theirs is the best conference and a one-loss season in the SEC far outweighs a one-loss season in the Big 12.  The funny thing about that is... they're wrong in this case.

Based on where teams were ranked on the day they played them, Alabama has wins over the #12, 14, 23 and 24 teams.  Oklahoma State beat the #8, 10, 14, and 22nd rated teams.  Advantage Cowboys.

You can just hear them in Tuscaloosa... "But it's not where they are when you play them - it's where they are at the end!"

I couldn't agree more.

Based on the most recent BCS standings from last week, Oklahoma State has now beaten five of the top 25 teams.  Alabama?  Only 2.  The plain truth (cover your ears SEC apologists) is that it was harder to be Oklahoma State this year than it was to be Alabama. 

It's one thing to be a part of a great conference, but when you don't have to PLAY everyone in that conference, there's a chance that this happens.  There are 5 truly relevant teams in the SEC right now (top 25 in the BCS standings):  LSU, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and South Carolina.  Alabama beat Arkansas - their best win.  They lost to LSU and they didn't even have to play Georgia or South Carolina.  Even a diehard Dixieland supporter can't argue that beating Kansas State, Texas, Baylor and Missouri is more impressive than beating Auburn, Florida, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.  All they need to do is look at the polls.

The truth is, we should skip the National Championship Game this year and give the trophy to LSU today.  The Tigers have already earned it.

But if we're supposed to believe that the title is still up for grabs how can we send a team that already had their chance - at HOME - and lost?  Especially when there's another team waiting in the wings whose resume' is surprisingly better.  If the SEC truly wants to call themselves the best conference they should welcome this test, not cry for a re-tread of a game that has already been decided... and in disappointing fashion.

Goodbye to Texas University...

On October 19, 1894 the Texas A&M Aggies came to Austin for the very first football game with the University of Texas.  The two schools have played 116 times since then, but now we sit on the brink of what may be their last meeting for quite some time.

As the Aggies prepare to embark on this new voyage to the SEC, most of what I hear from College Station is excitement about joining this "superior" conference mixed with a little Longhorn Network sour grapes... and that's fine, I suppose.  The thing is - my Aggie friends have told me for years that what I "don't understand" about A&M is that it's a culture based on tradition and it's that tradition that makes the Aggie experience so rich.

Why, then, is so much of that tradition being cast aside so casually by my friends from College Station?

It's no secret that the Longhorn fan base dismisses much of the "Aggie Spirit" as some sort of cult-like fanaticism.  Especially when you consider paragraphs like this one from an online explanation of Aggie traditions:

Vocabulary is also restricted by class. Freshmen may not say the word "Pisshead", a nickname for sophomores.  Juniors are known as "Serge Butts", so neither freshmen nor sophomores can say any form of either word. Juniors are also the first class to be allowed to say "Whoop!" Seniors, known as "Zips" for the black and gold braid on their garrison caps, which resembles a zipper, have reserved the word "elephant" and all forms of the words "death," "dying," "shoot," or "reload" in reference to the traditions surrounding Elephant Walk.  However, saying the phrases "pass away," "decease," "fire," "load again," etc., are all acceptable substitutes.

Man, and I was REALLY hoping to say "elephant, whoop" a lot this semester. I know.  It staggers the imagination.

But there's so much more than just words, and a striking amount revolves around the game over Thanksgiving with the school's biggest rival.

We hear a fight song that's all about Texas.  We hear tales of their biggest community event of the year - a bonfire built every year for a century - representing their "burning desire to beat the hell outta'" our team.  Seniors perform the "elephant walk" every year as a farewell to their college days... always taking place the week of the game with the University of Texas.  Hell, they won't even SAY "the University of Texas."  They refer to the school in Austin as "t.u." as some sort of insult, claiming that it's not THE Univesity of Texas... it's just some texas university.  In so many ways it's a part of their very identity.  Football season in College Station exists primarily for the pursuit of beating Texas.

But now, all that goes away.  UT has their Longhorn Network and the Aggies are picking up their toys and going to a new home.  Forget for a moment that Texas offered A&M a partnership in the Longhorn Network.  Forget that there's more than a century of history and cooperation between the two schools in the classrooms and state legislature.  No, the Aggies would rather leave Austin, Lubbock and Waco behind in favor of places like Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Oxford, Mississippi just so they can put an end to playing second fiddle in their own back yard.

But in the end this is really just a "biting your nose to spite your face" move.  I wish this rivalry would continue, but it's hardly devastating to the Texas football program.  Ask any Longhorn fan and they'll tell you that it's been at least a decade since this was the biggest game on the Texas schedule.  Look at the all-time record and it's clear that Texas/Oklahoma is a much better rivalry than Texas/Texas A&M.  But not in College Station.  In College Station there's only one game a year that really matters.  I've heard Aggie friends say "I don't care if we go 1-11 this year as long as we beat t.u."  That's really saying something.  And what it says the most is this:  the Aggies need this game a LOT more than Texas does.

What happens when the Longhorns are nowhere on the A&M schedule?  When the Aggies are playing a game against Vanderbilt next year will they still fire up their fight song with "Goodbye to texas university... so long to the orange and the white?"  Will they call Tennessee "t.u." or is it ok that the folks in Knoxville name their own institution?  Will they still sing the part where they quote OUR fight song when they make a big play against Kentucky?  "The eyes of Texas are upon you."  They ACTUALLY sing that.  And perhaps the most important question: where will all that hatred go?    There are an awful lot of Pissheads and Serge Butts who need to direct their insecurities at someone.  Get ready Arkansas - I bet they're looking at you.

No matter how Thursday's game turns out, the Longhorns will walk away having won twice as often over the history of the series... and next year will roll around with the OU game still circled on everyone's calendars.  And don't cry for us on Thanksgiving.  Texas Tech is frothing at the mouth to jump into that spot on our schedule.  We've played them for more than 80 years, too.  Don't get me wrong - I am actually sad to see the Texas/Texas A&M tradition go.  There's a lot of history there, and it seems like it was thrown away far too easily by the folks in College Station... especially considering that I'm constantly told that history and tradition mean so much more to Aggies than they do to the rest of us.

So cherish this last installment... because one of the great rivalries in college football is being cast aside simply because the largest inferiority complex in the history of sports has finally bubbled over.

Say It Ain't So, Joe

I know how I'm supposed to feel.

You tell me that there was a child molestation sex scandal involving a college football program and I immediately want everyone who in any way had any involvement or information about it to be gone.

Black and white.  Plain and simple.

But what if one of those people is Joe Paterno?  What if one of those people is that lovable grandpa of college football - a guy who for over 60 years embodied all that was right about a game that occasionally went so wrong?

Penn State University is one of only four schools in the major conferences that has never had a major NCAA violation.  Never.  In a world where linebackers drive Escalades, safeties are dealing drugs and quarterbacks are "making it rain," Joe Paterno's program shined as an exception to the rule.  When they are finished playing football, Penn State kids are ready for the world, posting graduation rates around 90% when some programs hover in the 20's - and they didn't sacrifice relevance to do so.  Penn State is one of the elite programs in the sport.  800 wins, two national championships (both under Paterno) proving that "win" and "clean" are two words that actually CAN go together. 

But now, all that has changed.  If it's true that one bad apple can spoil the bunch, then Jerry Sandusky just took down the entire North American crop.

I have no confusion about what should happen to Sandusky if these allegations prove to be true.  The man is a monster.  The rest of his life should be spent in a cell.

But what about Paterno?  At best, Joe Paterno is guilty of not doing enough to put an end to Sandusky's behavior.  At worst he is complicit in a coverup that directly led to the rape of dozens of children.  We don't know what he knew and when he knew it.  We DO know that he knew enough to have done more.

One mistake doesn't erase 60 years of good works... but 60 years of good works don't allow you to look past a mistake like this.  Joe Paterno dedicated his life to doing things the right way - a longtime motto of his teams is "success with honor."  He helped mold thousands of young men, teaching them to win with integrity... but when that moment came for Joe - that "practice what you preach" decision that would mean so much to so many - Joe did the minimum.  Joe dropped the ball.  Maybe it was to help a friend who he thought would change his ways - maybe it was to protect a program and a legacy that suddenly seemed so fragile.  It doesn't matter.  It was just plain wrong.

So this is how Joe Paterno goes out?  Fired in an horrific scandal - one small piece of controllable justice while we wait for the real hammer to fall.  So why does my heart break a little to see him go?

I know how I'm supposed to feel.  I'm supposed to be glad he's gone.  But I've spent my entire life being SO glad that he was there.

Game 6

One strike away.

4 days ago the Texas Rangers stood one strike away from a World Series title.  Twice.  It was a meltdown of epic proportions.

The emotional roller coaster the fans were riding was previously unthinkable.  You know why?  Because what we just witnessed is the single worst moment in Dallas sports history.

The previous generation will talk to you about Jackie Smith - the Cowboys tight end who dropped a pass in the end zone.  He was all alone - nobody there to make a defensive play - and the ball hit him right between the numbers...  in the Super Bowl.  They had to settle for a field goal and Dallas would end up losing Super Bowl XIII by those 4 points.  But that play wasn't as the clock ran out.  There were 28 points scored AFTER that happened.  No contest.

Cowboy fans also would be remiss if they didn't mention "The Catch."  In January of 1982, Joe Montana found Dwight Clark in the back of the end zone on a heart-wrenching TD play in the final minute of the NFC Championship game.  I'll say that again - the NFC Championship game.  This wasn't the Super Bowl and this was simply a good play by the other team, not a disaster.  Next?

The Mavericks had a meltdown of their own in 2006.  Their first trip to the NBA Finals and they were rolling over the Heat.  Dallas had won both games at home and was dominating in Game 3 in Miami when suddenly it all collapsed.  The Mavs blew a 13-point lead in the final six minutes.  They didn't win another game.  If that had been game 4, we'd be in the same stratosphere here, but the Mavericks had plenty of time to right this wrong.

No, the Metroplex has never seen this type of heartbreak and they never will again.

Because it's impossible.

Sports gives us incredible drama and wonderful moments.  But only baseball gives us this.  The game was over.  A fly ball off the bat of Ryan Freese was in the air and going to land in the field of play.  If Nelson Cruz gets over there and catches it, the Rangers are World Series champions.  He didn't... and they aren't.

This is a Hail Mary jump ball TD as time expires in the Super Bowl.  This is a full-court heave at the buzzer of NBA Finals game 7.  But this is worse, because there's no clock to force this action... only white-knuckle, nail-biting eternal moments that only the national pasttime can provide.

This is the reason true fans love baseball so much... and also the reason they hate it.

It is impossible to come any closer to winning than the Rangers did.

So take some solace here, Dallas sports fans - it will never be worse than this.  It literally can't be.

Home Field Disadvantage

The Texas Rangers will play game one of the World Series tonight, but they’ll play it in St. Louis.  Texas had a better record than the Cardinals…  six games better.  The Rangers are a divisional champion…  St. Louis is a wild card team.  So why do the Cardinals get home field advantage for the final series of the sports’ season?  Because the commissioner overreacted.

In 2002 the MLB All-Star Game was a wonderful mid-summer spectacle.  Barry Bonds, fresh off a record-setting season, had a home run stolen over the wall on a gem of a play by Torii Hunter.  Then he belted a 2-run bomb later in the game to get his revenge.  The National League went up 4-0.  Then the AL stormed back and led 6-5.  In the 7^th inning the lead changed hands twice and finally in the 8^th inning Omar Vizquel tripled in the tying run to make it 7 to 7.  This one was headed to extra innings. 

All-Star games are designed to get everybody in the game.  Folks in San Diego don’t have a lot to cheer for – they’d like to see Trevor Hoffman get in there and strike somebody out.  The American League used all 9 of their pitchers.  The National League had 10… all made it into the game.  But the score was still tied.  This IS an exhibition and nobody wants to see guys overused or get hurt, so Bud Selig made an executive decision:  after 11 innings, he called it off.  7-7… a tie… in a baseball game.  The fans in Milwaukee let him have it and Milwaukee is ground zero for Bud Selig.  This was HIS town.  Popular opinion started raining down – the All-Star game wasn’t what it used to be... it didn’t matter anymore...  it was SO inconsequential that the commissioner didn’t even care if it ended in a tie.

So the following year, Selig started a bold experiment.  Whichever league won the All-Star game would get home field advantage for the World Series.  It made no sense.  It was a desperate attempt by the commissioner to win the fans over – to loudly shout “I DO care about the All-Star game!”  So much so that he tied a VERY important piece of the World Series to an exhibition game often decided by a guy off the bench.  The fact that it happened once was laughable.  The fact that it was renewed twice and made a permanent part of the game is a disgrace.

 
Of COURSE the higher seeded team with the better record should have home field.  And this is no small thing.  This means an extra game where the pitchers have to hit (an area in which the Rangers are not well-versed)  Plus there was no American League team better at home this year than the Texas Rangers.  So far this postseason the Rangers are an .800 team in Arlington.  4-1.  That all-important extra home game has been taken away from Texas.  Why?  Because the commissioner put his own popularity ahead of the sport.  Ironic considering his popularity was never much to start with.  The steroid era took shape, blossomed and even flourished under his watch.  A few years ago Selig announced that he would retire after the 2009 season.  Then he didn’t.  Now he says he’ll retire after the 2012 season.  Let’s hope this time it sticks… and the new regime retires this home field travesty along with him.

Below Average

Last night was arguably the greatest regular season night in the storied history of Major League Baseball.  But not at Citi Field in New York.  And really, it could have been.  While playoff spots were being won and lost all over the country, a different race found its epicenter out in Queens: the National League batting crown was on the line. 

Entering the night Jose Reyes of the Mets was hitting .336.  The Brewers’ Ryan Braun was at .335.  These are the statistical battles that make baseball unique – a game that normally wouldn’t mean that much suddenly takes on new life as the drama unfolds and people watch the scoreboard and do frantic math. 

Reyes led off the game for New York with a bunt single.  His average went up to .337.  Reyes did some math of his own and knew that Braun would have to go 3-for-4 against the Pirates to top that, so Reyes took himself out of the game.  In Milwaukee, Braun played out his final game, but went 0 for 4.  Jose Reyes wins the league batting title. 

September 28^th was also the 70^th anniversary of an amazing baseball moment.  On this very same night in 1941, Ted Williams was on the brink of history.  It was the final day of the regular season and his Boston Red Sox had a doubleheader scheduled against the Philadelphia Athletics.  Williams had a batting average of .39955 heading into that day.  It would round up and go down as a rare .400 season.  Very few people in the modern era can claim that feat.  So manager Joe Cronin visited with his star player and told Ted that he didn’t have to play.  The Sox weren’t going to the playoffs.  This day wouldn’t change that.

Ted Williams refused to sit.  He said that if he didn’t hit .400 the ENTIRE season, then he didn’t deserve it.  Then he went out and tore it up.  8 at-bats.  6 hits.  By the end of the night Williams had NOT hit .400 after all.  He had hit .406.  You know how many people have hit .400 since then?  Try zero.  Not one.  That’s how big a deal this was.  But Ted Williams’ respect for the game wouldn’t let him sandbag it.  If I can’t do this all the way, then I don’t want to do it at all.

Mets fans booed their own player when he came out of the game last night.  Reyes’ answer?  “They have to understand, too, what's going on. They have to feel happy about it if I win the batting title.”  They don’t HAVE to, Jose.  Not when you do it that way.  Jose Reyes was a coward.  He saw an easy path and he took it... and in the process he disrespected the game and showed a complete lack of confidence in himself.  He already had a hit!  I want the guy on my team who says, "I'm gonna' win this batting title by a boatload!  I'm gonna' get three more hits today and run away with this thing!"  Instead the Mets have a guy looking for the path of least resistance.

Ryan Braun’s reaction was full of class.  “I'm not going to judge him. I respect whatever decision he decided to make.” 

Respect.

Ted Williams had it.  Even Ryan Braun had it.  Hard not to lose a little of it for Reyes today.

Tony Award

Tony Romo is a warrior. 

Let those five words soak in. 

It wasn’t too long ago that the Cowboys fan base didn’t agree.  In fact, it was two weeks ago.

In a world that measures your success against Aikman and Staubach, Tony Romo has had a rough go with the fans.  It started in January of 2007 when he bobbled a snap on a field goal that would have won the Cowboys a playoff game in Seattle.  Never mind that this guy had taken over mid-season for an anemic Drew Bledsoe.  Never mind that he had come out of nowhere to lead that team to the postseason.  He bobbled the snap.  He was the goat. 

The next year he threw for over 4200 yards, took the Cowboys to a 13-3 record, but they lost in their first playoff game to the Giants.  The story?  Tony Romo went to Cabo during the team’s bye week .   He took a two-hour flight somewhere to relax?  How COULD he?  Never mind that he didn’t miss a single day of practice.  Never mind that many of his teammates also left town.  He dared to go someplace tropical… and with Jessica Simpson!  Off with his head!

After that playoff loss, Tony didn’t do himself any favors with his postgame remarks.  “If something in sports is the worst thing that ever happens to you, you’ve lived a pretty good life.”  Gentlemen, start your engines.  Romo was now saddled with the reputation that he didn’t care enough - that he didn’t want to win badly enough.   Tony hadn’t yet learned a very important Dallas lesson: for many of his fans a Cowboys loss IS the worst thing that’s ever happened.

From there it snowballed.  Every single move Tony made was under the microscope.  The guy is a scratch golfer who kept those competitive juices flowing in the offseason by trying to qualify for the U.S. Open.  Nope.  That just means he’s not concentrating on football.  Strike 3.  He’s out.  When he got hurt last year and the season was in the toilet, they made a coaching change.  It just so happened that Jon Kitna was quarterbacking when this new breath of life came into the team.  People actually suggested that Kitna should replace Romo this season.

Then when Tony made a couple of bad mistakes in a tough opening loss to the Jets this year, the whispers started again.  Romo isn’t a winner… and more ridiculous – Romo’s not even a good quarterback – not in the top half of the league.  Tony took week one’s loss hard.  There were reports that he sat in the locker room with his head down for too long.  Apparently now he cares TOO much. 

Then last week with two broken ribs and a punctured lung, Tony Romo came back into the game and led his team to victory.  The national media made a darling of Tony and for good reason.  But I think last night may have been even more impressive.  Quarterbacks don’t win or lose games by themselves… but they certainly have the most impact.  Last night, Romo came as close as you can to winning by himself. 

Still hurting with his ribs, he took a team decimated by injury and inexperience and simply WILLED them down the field.  The Redskins blitzed mercilessly.  They threw everyone in Washington at him.  I swear I saw a tobacco lobbyist in the backfield at one point.  Tony was hit… he was harassed… and he had very little help.  He was breaking the huddle and explaining to his receivers where to line up.  Why?  Because they were clearly clueless.  It was as if Romo was the only one who had been issued a playbook.  He had a center who three different times snapped the ball to an unsuspecting Romo after being fooled by the defense.  Facing 3^rd and 21, Tony literally pointed and yelled DURING the play, telling Dez Bryant where to go and throwing it there to set up the winning field goal.  Tony Romo won that game because Tony Romo flat out refused to lose.

Romo says all the right things.  “Criticism comes with playing this position.”  Unfortunately for Tony, he plays in Dallas. 

Everyone loves him today after that performance.  So much so that it’s easy to forget the way they’ve treated him the past 5 years.  But one bad interception at the wrong time and the rumbling will start anew. 

He’s a great golfer, so he golfs in his free time.  You would, too.  He dates fabulously famous and beautiful women.  You would, too.  And at the end of the day, he’s easily one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL and there is an argument that he’s top 5.  He wants to win as much or more than anyone on that field and to insinuate otherwise is pure folly.  Cowboys fans are lucky to have him.  Too bad that it will take a championship for this spoiled franchise to realize it.

Maybe later... but definitely NOT Sooner

The Big 12 appears to have life after all. 

The news this week is that the PAC-12 will not be expanding and so at least for now the “Big 4” of the Big 12 are staying put.  Oklahoma started this latest storyline, expected to take Oklahoma State and leave for the PAC-12 and essentially force Texas to split off or bow down, bringing Tech along for the ride.  OU - finally after all this time - flexing their muscle and saying, “We don’t follow Texas anymore.  Texas can follow us.”

But a funny thing happened.  Texas refused to tear up their $300 million Longhorn Network deal.  No, Texas decided that if that’s how it would have to be, then they would pass.  “Good luck, Oklahoma.  We’ll miss playing you, but we understand you have to go if you have to go.”

Then a downright HYSTERICAL thing happened.  The PAC-12 rejected OU.  As it turns out, the PAC-12 didn’t want the Oklahoma schools without Texas.  That’s gotta’ sting a little.

The reason I’m taking delight here isn’t that I want to prove Texas dominance over OU.  A 59-41-5 record against them does that.  It’s because they crowed about it.  If Oklahoma had quietly gone to the PAC-12 and inquired and it hadn’t worked out, I’d feel legitimately bad for them.  But that’s not how it went down.

Three weeks ago when OU President David Boren said “There is no school in the Big 12 more active than we are right now” and “I don’t think OU is going to be a wallflower when all is said and done” he was declaring independence from Texas.  He threw out veiled threats like “"I think we remain a very influential member of the conference. I'll just put it that way.”  When Bob Stoops then said that the Texas-OU game wasn’t necessary the gauntlet had been thrown.  He apparenlty wasn't going to be a wallflower, either.  The Sooners forgot one thing, though… they weren’t invited.

Texas hasn’t done this.  Texas has a concrete offer from the ACC to come be the flagship football program of their conference and keep the Longhorn Network as it is.  You don’t hear the Longhorns shouting it from the rooftops.  Texas has never publicly talked about leaving the Big 12 and for the most part have kept quiet while everyone else blames them and says they should share the LHN wealth.  Well, thanks to a failed Sooner power play, DeLoss Dodds can be clear.  "I don't think our network is in play," Texas' athletic director said Wednesday. "Our network is our network. Anybody can do one.”  You know WHY anyone can do one?  Because the Big 12 schools VOTED to let anyone do one.  Get over it and find a way to make it work for you.  There’s a lot of TV money out there, people.  Quit whining and start working.

So now it appears that Oklahoma’s chest-puffing days are behind them.  Maybe it’s temporary.  Maybe a time comes when the rivalries get torn apart and the teams go their separate ways.  OU overestimated their pull.  That’s forgivable.  Doing it in public isn’t.  Say what you will about the Horns, but Texas isn’t running up the score.

The Sooners were the so-so girl that the PAC-12 was talking to in order to get to the hot chick.  That invitation “back to their place” just didn’t hold up for OU when the prom queen wasn’t interested.

You know who that makes you at this dance, David Boren?  A wallflower.

9.11.11

I spent the bulk of the day yesterday in the car.

I traveled from Austin to Houston to visit my Mom and then from Houston back to Dallas later that night.  It had just gotten dark as I passed through Fairfield, Texas.  Right on the other side of that town, lights were flashing on the overpass.  It was one of those county roads you see constantly as you drive through Texas.  FM 833.  A throwback to the America that required special roads to get folks from Farm to Market.  There was a firetruck on the bridge above the highway - it's lights blazing.  Beside it, two police cars - also running their lights.  I started to make that tense "I hope everyone's ok" face when it became clear that something different was happening here.

There were a dozen or so people, some of them in uniform (be it firefighters or police officers or sheriff's deputies) emergency personnell standing alongside plain-clothesed citizens and children - there, above the highway, in the dark of night... there on a small Texas road in the middle of Interstate 45 - they were hooting and hollering and waving American flags.

It would have been a remarkable display on any day, but on September 11th it was jaw-dropping - not just that these people were waving flags and celebrating their country, but that they found a way to share it with strangers driving by.

It took a second to realize what was going on... and then, of course, the moment was gone.  I felt as if I should have honked my horn or waved out the window.  I was still thinking about it 6 or 7 miles down the road when I approached Ranch Road 246 in Streetman, Texas, and there they were again.  Another group with a fire truck, an ambulance, a police cruiser - officers and responders... husbands, wives and children.  This time I laid on the horn and saw arms shoot up in the air as I zoomed by.

In all, this scene played out in front of me 6 or 7 times in a half-hour span.  It never got old.

I'm sure the terrorists had quite a celebration on that day in 2001.  The breadth of the destruction they caused had to have wildly exceeded even their loftiest hopes.  But boy I'll bet our resilience was also vastly underrated.

I saw and heard all sorts of inspiring tributes yesterday.  September 11th will clearly never be forgotten.  But sometimes it's the simplest things that resonate the most.  Thanks to all the good folks along I-45 between Fairfield and Corsicana.  I was so busy yesterday that I really didn't get to soak it in and pay fair tribute... at least not until Exit 206.

Green With Envy

The plot thickens.

The Aggies want out.  Hell, the Aggies ARE out… mostly.  But now the A&M move to the SEC is being blocked by potential legal action.  The theory being that the Aggies departure is the first domino that leads to a mass exodus – and some of the lower-profile schools will be left out in the cold.  It’s not a bad theory at all.  Schools like Iowa State and Kansas State were counting on the Aggies to keep to their word and honor the agreement they made with the rest of the Big 12.  Millions of dollars and national relevance hang in the balance.

But the leader of this lawsuit crew… the school that is actually the fly in the ointment here… is Baylor.  And while I DO think that the argument is valid… and I DO think that the Aggies are setting off a series of events that will cripple some of these schools, I am forced to address the Baylor Bears for some of the most incredible hypocrisy I’ve ever witnessed.

If you go to Baylor’s website today, there is a propaganda festival happening – one worthy of a political campaign.  Baylor talks about how important football is to the fabric of the state of Texas.  They invoke the Dallas Cowboys into this argument and tug at our heartstrings with talk of the Friday Night Lights of the high school game.  Now, apparently, that Texas football tradition is being threatened.  Directly from their site:

• Will Texans stand by and watch hundred-year-old rivalries be cast aside as the state's largest universities align themselves with other states across the country?
• Will Texans sit and watch as Texas' flagship universities pledge their loyalties to other states?
• Will Texans stand by as our most promising student athletes are lured out of Texas by new rivals?
• Will Texans watch as our most precious resources—the great minds of the next generation—are exported to new conference institutions?

This is coming from Baylor?  Let me tell you a little story.

In 1994 the Southwest Conference was in trouble.  Arkansas had already left and there were only 8 teams remaining.  The Big 8 was interested in merging with some of the bigger-name schools and, just like now, there were several schools that looked like they’d be left holding the bag.  Baylor lobbied.   They fought, clawed, and schemed.  When the dust settled, the Bears had won.  They were going with Texas, Texas Tech and Texas A&M to a new conference.  So who got stuck with the short end of the stick?  TCU.  Houston.  SMU.  Rice.  4 TEXAS SCHOOLS! 

Look again at their 4 big points from the website:

1)      Baylor stood by and watched rivalries be cast aside.  Texas and TCU started playing in 1897 and have faced off 82 times.  Baylor didn’t care. 

2)      Baylor sat and watched as Texas’ flagship universities pledged their loyalties to other states.  The Longhorns and Aggies went from playing 7 conference games a year versus in-state teams to 3.  Waco wasn’t indignant.

3)      Baylor stood by as our most promising student athletes were lured out of Texas.  You think Blaine Gabbert goes to Missouri if they’re not affiliated with the Texas schools?  Baylor was just happy that they were going.

4)      You get the idea.  Baylor watched.  Baylor PARTICIPATED.

If Baylor cared about the fabric of our state, they wouldn’t have stabbed four Texas universities in the back 17 years ago.  Hey, Texas did it, too.  I’m not saying we were better.  I’m saying we aren’t using revisionist history here.

I understand.  I do.  Baylor is desperate.  The way this thing appears to be headed, a private school without a big media market is in a lot of trouble.  They signed a deal with the rest of the Big 12 just last year and the bait and switch the Aggies are pulling is really going to stick it to some of these lower-profile teams.  But my friends in green and gold have GOT to change their argument. 

Because the Aggies aren’t doing anything to Baylor that Baylor didn’t do to SMU… and Houston… and TCU… and Rice.

365 Dog Days

It was a year ago today that my wife and I walked into a canine rescue shelter called “A Different Breed.”  And boy is that ever what we brought home.

For the past twelve months Augie has been 10 pounds of frustration, disasters, anger, destruction… and hair.  Oh so much hair.

Some Augie facts by the numbers:

2 – times he’s had “kennel cough”
11 – internet articles I’ve read on the topic of “separation anxiety”
4 - times he managed to escape from a locked crate
3 – rooms in the house in which he has defecated
21 – average number of jumps per hour
4 – sets of full-length wooden blinds pulled off the wall and destroyed
1– hole in the door I’ve punched in with my fist
2 – tables we’ve found him standing on and licking
7 – boards on my fence that have been replaced
3 - times early on that there were SERIOUS discussions of taking him back
6 – chew toys shredded beyond recognition
2 – times that chew toy shreds have been knowingly ingested
8 – pounds of lotion he’s licked off of my wife’s arms and legs
237 – conniption fits thrown when encountering other dogs on a walk
0 – times he has avoided being directly under foot
9 – average number of minutes it takes for him to pee if I’d REALLY rather be inside

He has destroyed a shoe, peed ON a fireman, escaped down the block (TWICE), protest peed out the side of a cage, clawed through a door, and spread feces all over his crate and himself... he's had a busy year.

Every piece of clothing I own has at least one of his hairs on it.

But here’s the thing: Augie has become the sweetest little guy ever.  There were some growing pains in the early going for sure, but now - he makes us laugh all day every day.  We have little private songs about him (which he dances to) and we could write a dictionary of new terms and phrases we have coined.  His "running & wrestling" matches have become a thing of legend and when he lies down and rests his chin on you, good luck not melting.  He’s a best friend when one of us is alone in the house and the happiest little greeter when we come home from work.

So as it turns out he’s also 10 pounds of love, friendship, dedication, comedy… and hair.  Still a lot of hair.  Happy “birthday” Augie.

Conference Call

The Longhorn Network is on the air and the Aggies are on their way out.  The times, they are a-changin’.

It seems lately, though, that it has become popular opinion that Texas is running everyone out of the Big 12 – that the Longhorn arrogance has reached critical mass and the A&M departure is just the latest (and not the last) of the reaction.  Texas has been demonized as the bully and the Aggies heralded as the little guy who finally stood up to tyranny. 

As Longhorn fans, we have collectively kept quiet.  We’ve sheepishly hung our heads and shrugged our shoulders – nearly apologetic when the topic of the Longhorn Network pops up… and so the shouting continues:  “Texas has ruined the conference.”  And again, we say nothing.

Well, no more.

First of all, let’s all remember that there would BE no conference without Texas.   Our bags were packed.  We were headed for the PAC-10 and we were taking Oklahoma, OSU and Tech with us.  A&M was splitting off and going to the SEC.  It was practically a done deal.  Texas would get a nice chunk of big conference TV money AND they would still have been able to have their own network.  So what happened?  The Big 12 and its other members begged us not to go.  They offered us a bigger piece of the pie if we stayed.  Texas put a roof over the heads of Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Iowa State and Baylor.  Did they get a sweet deal in the process?  Sure.  This is America.  The biggest contributions get the biggest compensation.  But guess what – each one of those schools is also getting more money this year than they did last.  EVERYONE got more money.  Texas just got… more more. 

And now I’m hearing grumbling from Oklahoma – from a column in yesterday’s Tulsa World:

“OU, like those who still want to make the Big 12 work, is reportedly fed up with Texas seeing how far it can push the others around with tactics like the Longhorn Network.”  The columnist suggests that Oklahoma and Oklahoma State may be next to look for greener pastures.

Where to begin?

TACTICS like the Longhorn Network?  It’s not like this came as some big surprise.  This was a major part of the discussions on keeping the conference together – it wasn’t snuck in the back door.  The conference bylaws were re-written to allow ANY school to do this.  You want to start the Sooner Network?  Do it.  (In fact, they’re talking about it.)  Just because the Cyclone Network broadcast live from Ames would have zero interest doesn’t mean Texas did something wrong.

I’m standing up.  I’m rejecting this “Texas as evil empire” idea. 

If other schools (who agreed to and even PUSHED the current revenue split) are unhappy now and want to run for the hills, it is THEY being selfish.  And calling for other schools to be “fed up” with the Longhorns so-called superiority and look for other options is irresponsible and FAR worse than anything Texas has done here.  Make no mistake - in College Station it’s all about A&M.  They’re not lifting a finger to help Baylor.  Nobody’s mentioning that the Aggies get more money in the current arrangement than Missouri (which they absolutely do) because right now there’s only one villain.  If the Oklahoma schools start looking for another home it’s not for the greater good, it’s because they’re jealous of the deal that they themselves brokered with the Longhorns just 14 months ago.  I’m not saying the folks in Austin are being philanthropic here, but the simple truth is that without Texas none of the lower-profile schools would even have a home right now.  I don’t hear Kansas State complaining about Texas.  They’re happy to have more money than they’ve ever had and a place in a BCS conference.

You want to see messy?  Keep bad-mouthing the school that pays all the bills.  Maybe then it will be Texas that gets “fed up”… and then where will all those smaller schools be?  Oh, that’s right… nobody but Texas seems to care.

A New Hope

I’ve heard Mack Brown speak literally hundreds of times. I covered the press conference when he was hired by the Longhorns in December of 1997 and for the past 13 seasons I’ve been listening to him. Mostly it’s before or after games - heat of the moment stuff… press conferences and hit-and-run interviews on the field at halftime. I like our coach. He’s decent in front of a microphone – doesn’t get me too fired up, but never says the wrong thing. Granted 90% of the things I hear him say fall into the same categories: complementing the kids on his team, expressing frustration (and usually accepting blame) when things aren’t going well, and game-specific “x’s and o’s” type stuff.

Tonight I got the other 10%.

I was invited to a “meet the coaches” event here in Dallas and packed into a hotel ballroom with 500 or so of my closest burnt orange-clad friends to hear Mack Brown tell us about how things are going in Longhorn Nation.

In many ways it was a pep rally. In some ways it was an infomercial for the Longhorn Sports Network. It was even, at times, a recruiting tool for the Dallas Longhorn Club. Mack said a lot of the things that I’m sure any coach would have said, but here’s the catch: he said it so well that I was mesmerized.

This was the Mack Brown that high school stars must see in their living rooms – the one that has had a top-5 national recruiting class in 6 of the last 7 seasons. This Mack Brown was engaging. This Mack Brown was funny and anecdotal when called for and he was serious and steadfast when required. This Mack Brown was humble and apologetic for the failures of the past while being spirited and excited about the prospects of the future. If this Mack Brown wasn’t our football coach he’d be our Governor.

For about an hour our football coach held court like I’ve never seen before. The crowd was riveted and not in the way you’d get in a concert hall. This wasn’t entertainment – this was a conversation. Mack took questions, provided even and fair answers and was even a little cheeky when the questions were a bit silly. He told stories of times with Darrell Royal, joked that another Christmas at home without a bowl game might cost him his marriage, and managed to express such confidence in his team and his staff that a Sooner living in College Station would believe him.

Mack Brown says that they’re starting over. As far as he’s concerned this is everyone’s first year in Austin – that it’s the first year for new offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin – the first year for senior leaders like Emmanuel Acho and Blake Gideon – and the first year for coach Mack Brown – and I feel like I’m hearing him for the first time, too.

I’m realistic. Words don’t make your team better. You don’t fix a wealth of problems simply by changing the message. But there’s a new spring in the step of the messenger… and that’s a great place to start.

Grin and Bear It

It’s official. We have hit a journalistic apocalypse.

The Green Bay Packers just beat the Chicago Bears for a spot in the Super Bowl and the only thing anyone wants to talk about is the outcry about Jay Cutler’s knee.

In case you missed it, the Bears' quarterback got hurt during the NFC Championship Game. He came out to start the second half, played one series and realized he couldn’t plant his foot and throw. It hurt too much and he needed to sit the rest of the game out.

Apparently, instant feedback is now the only kind of feedback that’s relevant, and boy was there plenty of it.

Players around the league went crazy. Facebook, twitter, myspace, youtube – you name it. FELLOW NFL PLAYERS ripping Cutler for not going back into the game because on TV he didn’t LOOK hurt enough. They called him a quitter and questioned his heart, eluding to the idea that he simply wasn’t playing well, so he wanted to stop.

That’s on a very short list of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard.

He wasn’t playing very well. I’ll give you that. He had thrown an interception and no touchdowns. But this is Jay Cutler we’re talking about. If he was going to quit playing every time he threw a couple of picks we would never have heard of the guy. Hell, in Washington this year he stayed in until the bitter end after four interceptions! If there’s anything we know about this guy it’s that he’ll keep slinging the thing even if it looks completely hopeless.

Never mind the fact that, as it turns out, an MRI revealed a partial tear of the MCL in his knee. Mention that to the instant sports world of experts and analysts and do you get an apology? Far from it. You get things like, “Man shoot that shit up with a needle. He ain’t got to do much jus drop back and throw the ball.” That’s a direct quote from a grammatically-challenged tweet flowing from the advanced mind of a defensive back named Asante Samuel.

Even guys paid for their opinion piled on.

“As a guy who had 20 knee surgeries you’d have to drag me out on a stretcher to Leave a championship game!”

That’s Mark Schlereth from ESPN. Apparently you now aren’t a true team player unless you destroy your career to stay out there. Maybe that’s WHY Schlereth needed 20 surgeries.

Here’s a thought. Maybe the REAL “team” thing to do is say, “I really want to be out there, but I can’t be any help right now. I can’t throw and we’ll have a better chance if I stay on the bench.” That takes guts, too.

The real problem here is that Cutler had the gaul to be unpopular. People don’t like the guy much. I’m sure he’s contributed plenty to that dynamic. I really don’t care. Personally, I’d have liked to see him wearing a headset and holding a clipboard – doing anything he can to help the backups. To me, that’s the bigger crime.

But to call him soft… to say “If I’m on chicago team jay cutler has to wait till me and the team shower get dressed and leave before he comes in the locker room” (thanks to the philosopher Darnell Dockett for that little gem) – to say that he’s supposed to be out there on a bad leg or he’s worthless… it’s irresponsible and it’s dangerous.

Because fans read tweets. Kids have facebook. We live in a world now where idiots with blogs are taken seriously. You’re reading this, aren’t you? Jay Cutler didn’t deserve this. But people around the league don’t like him and now they have an extremely deadly weapon to use against him.

There’s no longer any responsibility for what becomes mainstream media. Instant feedback has become an instant problem.