The Longhorns pounded Arkansas-Pine Bluff 10-4 on Saturday afternoon, which was expected. What I can't figure out, though, is how Randy Boone was credited with the win. The 'Horns led 10-0 after six innings, and though APB would pick up four runs in the seventh off of Josh Prince, they certainly never tied up the game, and Boone's only action came in the 9th inning, pitching with a 10-4 lead. Still, TexasSports credits Boone with the win. I can't figure this out...
You have to love how virtually everything winds up on YouTube these days, such that all those moments we label "timeless" really are nowadays. Anyway, your Monday YouTube fun, courtesy of 40AS: Vince Young's high school All Star game. Watching Vince never gets old, of course, but what's really fun is watching folks who aren't intimately aware of his greatness try to talk about him. His NFL rookie season was full of classic moments when the announcers would try to describe Vince Young the way they talk about virtually every other player.
Turning briefly to the NBA: remember when I heaped praise upon Bill Simmons for being one of the best NBA writers of all-time and said that I was excited he was showing an interest in covering Texas hoops? He made me look bad by abandoning the nuanced rationalism that defnes his NBA writing by slamming Rick Barnes unfairly - a tremendous disappointment. But March Madness is gone, the NBA Playoffs are upon us and, if you hadn't noticed, Simmons is predicting the outcomes of each game and series with such uncanny accuracy that if you didn't know better, you'd swear he was reading the morning papers before the games were actually played. From the Jazz' win at The Oracle to the Spurs Game 3 adjustments to the Pistons handling the Bulls with ease - Simmons is simply nailing it all. (If only Rick Barnes had been treated so thoughtfully...)
Speaking of which, ESPN.com ranks the top ten programs in college basketball, slotting Rick Barnes' program at #7 on the list. Longhorn basketball fans have settled into expecting good things from this team each year, making it easy to forget how unlikely Texas appearance on this list was before Barnes' arrival. It wasn't long ago that Tom Penders was torturing Texas fans with his no-defense, run-n-gun ways - all while sketchily bringing in the best under-the-radar talent that money could buy. (God, it's still painful to talk about the Penders era, like getting engaged to a near-perfect girl and then trying to talk about the eighteen months you wasted dating your poisonous ex-girlfriend without your blood reaching a boil. It's easier just to shake your head and pretend it didn't happen.)
And last, while we're talking Penders, NBADraft.net projects Dion Dowell as a second round pick in the 2008 draft. The former Longhorn transferred to Houston after Rick Barnes tired of his prima donna act. Occasionally, you'll hear Longhorn fans wonder if Barnes made a huge mistake in letting Dowell get away, but the very fact that he ran into the waiting arms of Penders ought to answer any lingering questions about whether he's the kind of kid Barnes needed to bend over backwards for.
--PB--