OUch: A History Lesson

As the horror unfolded at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday, my brother-in-law stood next to me jumping out of his skin.  He couldn't believe what he was seeing in his second trip to the Red River Rivalry, and I think he was equally perplexed at how stoic I was - the biggest Longhorn fan he knew wasn't going crazy and yelling at the field.  I just stood there with a dazed look on my face because as awful as it was... I had seen it before.

Now that the dust has settled I hear my friends and fellow fans calling for Mack Brown's head and saying things like "I thought there was no way we were capable of being THAT bad."  Those people simply haven't been paying attention.

Since the 2000 season Texas has lost to Oklahoma by 38 or more points FOUR TIMES.  Yes.  In those 13 games the Longhorns are only 3-10 and four of them were as bad or worse as what you saw on Saturday.

Let's put that into a little bit of perspective.  Since the Longhorns first ran out onto a football field in 1893 they have lost games by 38 points or more just 18 times.  Ever.  They've played 1,275 games.  And four of those 18 have happened recently... and to the same team.

I know what you're thinking: it goes both ways.  Actually, in this case it doesn't.

The 2005 Texas team bound for a National Championship beat the Sooners by 33.  That matched the biggest blowout for our side in the series' history.  The Horns also beat OU by 32 in 1970 - another national championship season.  Not bad, but those are the best teams in our history laying down a thumping.

So Texas has never beaten Oklahoma by more than 33 points and they needed to have the best team in the country to do it.  Oklahoma has beaten Texas by more than 33 points nine times.

Texas is still well ahead of OU all-time, being on the better end of a 59-43-5 overall record, and while style points don't count in the win column, they certainly help to shape public opinion.  It can be easy sometimes to brush off a bad day and stare straight ahead like I was doing on Saturday, but a little indignation may be ok this time.  It's important to look at the history... so that you don't unwittingly repeat it.

By the way, the worst loss the Longhorns ever suffered came in 1997 when UCLA came into Austin and laid down a 66-3 thumping on Texas, a game forever known on the 40 acres as "Rout 66."  John Mackovic was fired at the end of that season.

The Replacements

This is NOT going to be a blog about one play.  Yes, the Packers took it in the shorts last night - and yes, that SHOULD be the straw that breaks the llama's back (the camel is on a work stoppage.)  But the truth is that bad calls happen even when there are good referees on the field.  This was not the first game ever to be decided by a ridiculous human error nor will it be the last.  In fact, the chances are that a month from now we'll barely be hearing anything about Monday night's game.  Unless, of course, the Seahawks and Packers both end up 9-7 and tied for the final playoff spot.  When Seattle goes to the postseason based on a head-to-head win we'll be seeing that play more than the Zapruder film.

This blog, however, will be cruising at an altitude of 35,000 feet - looking at the bigger picture... and let me tell you, this ain't the Mona Lisa.  The first few weeks of the season the players have put up with the replacement referees.  Some have even enjoyed the new freedom they've felt knowing that they can launch themselves at opposing players with very little chance of drawing a flag.  Talk about a Patriot missile.  However, with as much as the NFL blows hot air about their newfound dedication to player safety, it's not hard to imagine a time when the player's association just won't put up with it anymore.

You see, the typical NFL player knows the risks.  He knows that injury may be right around the corner, but he got where he is by putting it all on the line for that one elusive thing that can't be taken away from him: wins.  He's willing to take a chance with his body to secure the W.  But if even THAT can be taken away... well, Houston Texans, we have a problem.

So far the players union has played this pretty close to its vest.  But you just KNOW that at the next collective bargaining session the NFL is going to hear about this.  "Oh, you're working hard for player safety are you?  What about in 2012 when you pulled a bunch of guys out of the Lingerie Bowl to referee the best athletes in the world?"  And that's not even the worst-case scenario.  One real injury and out comes the lawsuit for negligence.  It may not be possible to kill the mighty NFL, but you sure could wound it a bit.

Roger Goodell is taking the sports world's highest-equity product and putting it at risk.  I know he's trying to take a hard line and show that he's in charge, but he's betting the credibility of the sport on the idea that nobody will really care about the officials.  When Drew Brees (the nicest guy on the planet) starts to issue pissy tweets, you are losing that wager.

Honestly, I'm surprised.  I didn't think it would be this obvious.  I thought this would be like asking high school teachers to lecture at a university.  Sure, they may not be fully qualified, but they'll study up and it won't be that bad.  Apparently this was more like asking my dentist to perform a heart transplant.

Goodell needs to bring the true healers back in before he finds himself facing a malpractice suit.

It may cost him some of that higher ground he thinks he's claiming, but a real leader is one who knows when it's time to compromise.

It's time.

What's Next? The 13th Man?

A funny thing happened in Aggieland this summer:  Texas A&M got better.

Not the current team.  No.  I have a feeling they'll be waiting a long time in College Station for "better" on that front, but the Aggies' list of PAST accomplishments has blossomed in their time away from the Big 12.

Those of us who have been close to the Ags for a while now are quite familiar with their lone national championship.  It came in 1939 and TAMU is quite proud of it... as they should be.  The Aggies were ranked #1 by more polls and outlets than any other team that year.  A reminder of that glory adorns the wall outside the stadium in big, bold letters along with their conference titles.  Here's a look:

But this is where things get interesting.

Tomorrow the Aggies will play their first game in the SEC and they'll do so as 3-time national champions.  This year's "wall of fame" looks a little different, doesn't it?

Looks like history has suddenly been quite kind to our friends in maroon.

How can this be?  Well, in the early years there wasn't a central publication to declare a national championship.  In 1919 Harvard, Illinois, Notre Dame and A&M were all ranked #1 at the end of the year depending on where you looked, but Harvard and Illinois had the most love and conventional wisdom shares the title between those two schools.  Notre Dame, for all of their history and love for winning, does NOT claim a title for 1919.  The Aggies do.  Now.

In 1927 the Aggies didn't receive a national title nod from ANY publication, but they're claiming it anyway.  You see, the Sagarin ratings have them on top.  Never mind that Jeff Sagarin wasn't even BORN yet.  He went back and did his statistical research on that year and determined that Texas A&M was the best team.  This is like Tom Cruise declaring himself an Oscar winner because Roger Ebert went back and watched and thought Cruise was really good in Jerry Maguire.

But the Aggies are having a little bit of a problem with street cred right now in their new conference, so what the hell?  Put it on the wall.

It doesn't end there.  The Aggies fired up the old flux capacitor and won two more Big 12 titles over the summer, as well!  Whoop!

Take 1997 for example.  The Ags won the Big 12's south division and went to the Big 12 Championship Game against Nebraska and it was a blowout!  Oh wait.  The Aggies were the ones blown out.  They lost 54-15 in the conference title game, but they're etching 1997 into the wall anyway.  I guess for the division part?  Hard to say.

In 2010 it's even worse.  A&M ended the season in a 3-way tie for the south division.  They finished 3rd in that 3-way tiebreaker and didn't even GO to the conference title game.  Who cares?  Throw it up there!

I hoped that if anything would come out of this move to the SEC it would be that finally the Aggies would be able to shake the giant inferiority complex that they had within their state.  Apparently, it's gotten even worse. 

Texas A&M is literally re-writing history just so they'll look (at least a LITTLE bit more) like they belong in college football's premiere conference. 

This would be funny if it weren't so sad... and it would be nice fodder for ribbing our neighbors here in our great state if it weren't so embarrassing for our great state.

Come on, Aggies.  You talk so much about tradition and honor.  Manufacturing tradition is hardly honorable.  Quit worrying so much about history and concentrate on MAKING history.

That's what TRUE champions do.

Parade of Nations

At one of the world’s newest stadiums in one of the world’s oldest cities, more than a thousand athletes began the final steps of what is for many a lifelong journey.  Representing your country at the Olympics is more than a dream – it’s life-changing.  The overwhelming majority of these patriots have no chance of coming home with a medal… and they don’t care.  They were winners the second they stepped in front of the world last night.

For the next two weeks you’ll see extraordinary people do extraordinary things.  This would be a wonderful time to take a break from America’s Got Talent or the swamp show du jour.  You want reality TV?  How about the flag-bearer from Iraq with tears in her eyes as she marches her teammates through the stadium while at home her country re-builds it’s war-torn cities?  She’s not alone.  Contingents from Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan are also enjoying this respite from a reality that is nothing like Jersey Shore.

Women in Saudi Arabia can’t vote.  Women in Saudi Arabia can’t even drive.  But for the first time in history, women in Saudi Arabia CAN compete in the Olympics.  Two of them are in England right now creating a new reality for future generations.

Oscar Pistorius is a sprinter from South Africa – a sprinter without feet.  He had his legs amputated below the knee as a baby.  He runs with prosthetics, and for the first time a man like this is just too good for the Paralympics.  Inspirational for sure, but there are some who say that he actually has an ADVANTAGE with his carbon blades instead of feet.  He’ll fight the reality of prejudice and ignorance over the fortnight.

France's Laura Flessel-Colovic is at the Olympics for the fifth time.  She had her 40th birthday last year, but the joy on her face as she carried her country's colors made her look 18.  Denisse van Lamoen is taking a break between law school and her exams to chase the first archery medal in the history of Chile.  Bolivia's Karen Torrez nearly drowned as a child and committed herself to conquering the water.  She'll compete in swimming's 100-meter freestyle.  For so many of these athletes standing on the podium is far from realistic.  They'll travel across the world for a two-minute performance.  And then?  You guessed it - back to reality.  The thing is, it's the people they'll meet... the experiences they'll share... the honor they feel that make the hours, days, weeks, months and years of hard work worth the sacrifice.

204 countries are represented in London this year.  81 of them have never had an athlete bring back a medal.  Yes, some of the best of the best will come home decorated in gold, silver and bronze, but the beauty of the Olympics is that it doesn’t matter what color you leave with… it’s the colors you’re wearing when you get there that are the source of all that pride.  And THAT is the best reality of all.

Back to School

It was March of 1996.  Jon Kitna was graduating from college and leaving his football days behind.  He had won an NAIA championship as the quarterback for Central Washington, but guys like that just don’t have a professional career ahead of them – so Kitna did what he always knew he’d do: he applied for a job at his old high school.

Lincoln High in Tacoma had just lost their longtime coach.  The man who had mentored Kitna through high school was retiring and Jon could think of nothing better than to work hard to fill those shoes in a place he loved.  But then a funny thing happened… the Seattle Seahawks asked Kitna to come to training camp.  It was probably just a stop gap.  The Seahawks most likely just needed an extra guy to run some opposition plays and figured a hometown kid would do nicely.  The thing is, though, this kid was pretty good.  Seattle gave Kitna a spot on the scout team for the 1996 season.  Lincoln High would have to wait a year.

Kitna then got signed to play in Europe where he became World Bowl MVP.  Then it was back to the NFL as a backup, then as a starter… and 16 years later Jon had started 124 games, thrown for nearly 30,000 yards and made more than $30 million in the sport’s premiere league.  The wild ride came to an end as a backup in Dallas last year when a back injury forced Kitna to call it quits.

Jon will turn 40 later this year and he lived the dream: a solid NFL career and able to retire young as a multi-millionaire.  But here’s the thing – he still hasn’t lived THE dream.  Kitna has been quoted as saying “the NFL wasn’t supposed to happen.”  So Jon is going back to the beginning.  Just days after his official retirement Kitna applied at Lincoln high school for a second time.  This time he took the job.

Jon Kitna is now a football coach and math teacher back where it all started.  He shows up at 7am every morning, leaving his playbooks behind for lesson plans.  Sure, some of the circumstances have changed.  He always brings breakfast for his students and when he saw that the weight room for the football team hadn’t been updated since he was on the team, Jon paid $50,000 out of his own pocket to buy new equipment.  But in the ways that matter most, Jon Kitna hasn’t changed a bit.  "We don't believe that we've been given all we've been given to just enjoy a comfortable life," he says.  You could say that Jon got lucky 16 years ago, but right now it’s hard to imagine anyone luckier than the kids in Mr. Kitna’s first period algebra class.

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.