Some of us get our life philosophy from Aristotle, others from DKR.
Mack Brown's inspiration.
The power of positive thinking was never lost on Darrel Royal.
"You've got to think lucky," Royal, the legendary former Texas coach, once said. "If you fall into a mud hole, check your back pocket -- you might have caught a fish."
Well, current Texas coach Mack Brown, who invokes Royal's name at most every opportunity, should be reaching back on a daily basis because the Longhorns have fallen into a giant mud hole.
The upheaval in Austin hasn't impacted recruiting. So far.
It's not often that even the slightest bit of uncertainty creeps its way under the hood of the well-oiled machine that is Texas Longhorns recruiting.
But that's exactly what's happened with so much overhaul on their coaching staff after the school's first losing season since 1997.
So far, Texas has managed to keep its No. 1-ranked recruiting class for 2011 intact, meaning none of its 23 non-binding commitments have reneged in the midst of a staff renovation that will -- eventually -- bring a new offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, offensive line coach and defensive line coach to Austin.
But there's no certainty that will remain the case by the time National Signing Day rolls around on Feb. 2.
Dr. Saturday has a list of the most underrated players of 2010.
4. Sam Acho, DE, Texas.
Under normal circumstances, a senior Longhorn pass rusher who turns in eight sacks, 15.5 tackles for loss, 12 quarterback hurries and five forced fumbles for the Big 12's No. 1 defense is almost bequeathed an automatic slot on the year-end All-America teams. Acho's numbers, in fact, were right on par with predecessors Brian Orakpo and Sergio Kindle, who were not only first-team All-Americans in their senior seasons, but finalists for a slew of postseason awards.The difference: Orakpo and Kindle played for teams with high-powered offenses that lifted the 'Horns to a 26-2 record and a pair of BCS games in 2008-09. Acho's turn in the spotlight was obscured almost entirely by a woebegone offense that killed a solid-as-usual D with a nonstop barrage of turnovers that left UT languishing in last place in the Big 12 South. He was still good enough for the rest of the conference to take notice, but was shut out completely on the national level.
We concur. According to Gary Parrish, the Horns had the best game this weekend.
Best game of the weekend: There is nothing I hate more in this world -- besides rental car shuttles -- than Christmas shopping. I hate looking for and looking at stuff I don't care about, and I hate going from one store to the next and just bouncing around in general. But when you have a rare weekend at home, you do what the wife asks. So I was miserable Saturday from the moment I woke up until the moment I got back home and plopped down in front of the television in time to watch Cory Joseph hit a jumper over Dexter Strickland with 1.4 seconds remaining to give Texas a 78-76 win over North Carolina. I'll be honest, I didn't see the whole game (because I was buying stupid presents for people I barely know). But what I saw was terrific, and that's good enough to fill this space.
Disinformation
Teryl Austin? No, wait...Justin Wilcox.
Remember last week when internet reports said Florida defensive coordinator Teryl Austin was signed, sealed and delivered to Texas? Well, scratch that. Austin wasn’t hired and Mack Brown now — reportedly — has his eyes set on another first-year SEC defensive coordinator.
According to VolQuest.com — a Rivals site covering Tennessee — at least three sources have said, "Wilcox is in line to succeed Will Mushcamp on Mark Browns’ Texas staff as the Longhorns’ defensive coordinator should Wilcox choose to pursue the opportunity."
Wilcox currently has a three-year deal from the Vols worth $1.875 million. His buyout is just $300,000 (which we believe Texas could scrape together). Derek Dooley scored a bit of a coup in luring Wilcox from Boise State last offseason.
Wilcox is probably maybe who the hell knows definitely in the mix, but his boss, Vol coach Derek Dooley, says his DC has not been offered a job.
Another day and no one really has a clue.
Here's what we know from the Texas standpoint: Mack Brown is still keeping his own counsel and nothing appears imminent. Everything indicates that Brown will not be raiding staffs of teams before bowl games and Tennessee is playing in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30. Plus, the Texas coordinator jobs will attract a lot of highly qualified candidates, many of whom may be with teams in bowls. For agents, it's a dream situation to create leverage for clients.
Anybody not named Mack Brown who claims to know exactly what's happening is probably wrong.
Whatever happens...Just get it right, Mack.
Mack Brown could very well wait until January to make the coaching hires to fill his four vacancies, although wide receivers coach Bobby Kennedy is pursuing other jobs and strength coach Jeff Madden could be on the way out, as well. UCLA's Norm Chow didn't get a sniff for the offensive coordinator's job, but would have been a splashy hire and provided a veteran pair of eyes in the press box, a terrific mentor to Major Applewhite, and zero threat to replace Brown as head coach.
I will say this: I have no problem with Mack taking his sweet time to get these hires right. Better to bring in the right coaches and risk losing a commitment or two. Mack has too much riding on these new assistants to rush his choices.
And now there's talk Bevo is leaving?
There’s speculation Major Applewhite may be the fifth Texas coach to leave. It just keeps getting worse. Now it’s reported that Bevo is talking to the Cowboys.
Dana Holgorsen will be missed.
Wonder if Greg Davis is on their list? The Pokes are hiring.
The UConn Huskies are very excited to be playing the Sooners.
NewsOK's Berry Tramel has a humorous look at OU vs. UConn.
The Sooners now have a Co-OC.
it is all about the goodies and Land Thieves definitely know about goodies. Bowl games aren't just about winning.
Jonathan Nelson got an iPod Touch, Eric Mensik a PlayStation 3. Pryce Macon picked out some slammin' speakers, Quinton Carter a restful recliner.
And while Cameron Kenney doesn't have the flat screen to put on the flat screen stand he got at last year's Sun Bowl... And he doesn't really know what happened to the George Foreman Grill he brought home from El Paso and cooked on once...
Well, it's the thought that counts.
"You're wined and dined," said Mensik, OU's senior right tackle, "without the wine."
FanHouse looks at BCS football program drug testing.
Those are just some of the major differences revealed in a FanHouse study into the nation's biggest football programs and how they deal with disciplining their players for illegal use of street drugs, such as marijuana, heroin, cocaine and ecstasy.
Of the 68 automatic-qualifying BCS programs, including soon-to-be BCS programs TCU and Utah, FanHouse obtained the substance abuse policies of 60 universities through public records requests or from the school's official websites. Each school's policy is as unique as its school colors and mascot, with each program possessing a different philosophy on how to punish a multiple-time illegal drug user.
FanHouse's study only concerns street or recreational drugs. The NCAA conducts tests for performance-enhancing drugs, such as steroids, and those penalties are the same for every NCAA member institution: a first positive test for steroids is a one-year suspension; a second positive test ends a student-athlete's NCAA eligibility for the remainder of his career.
The Big 10-2's Top Ten. People have fun with Twitter and Jim Delany's brainchild.
@NovaYankee: "Sisters of the Poor" and "Sisters of Mercy"
We’d pay to see Bo Pelini visiting a convent and Jim Tressel rocking a gothic rock sweater vest (designed by Nike, of course).
Former SMU QB Dan Freiburger shares what it is like to come back after the death penalty.
Each sport has some sort of code of conduct. Sort of.
FOOTBALL
Anything Goes in a Pile -- Except an Intent to Injure
Biting, finger-twisting, crotch-grabbing -- those actions would likely earn an unsportsmanlike conduct call if seen out in the open. But inside the player pile, cheap shots are accepted as commonplace. Jets linebacker Bart Scott says players have tried to break his fingers in pursuit of a fumbled football, but he's not complaining. "You do what you gotta do to get the ball out," Scott said in October. But a perceived intent to injure is a different matter entirely. In 2001, then-Florida Gator Earnest Graham threatened a lawsuit if FSU defensive tackle Darnell Dockett wasn't suspended for allegedly twisting Graham's knee after a tackle. Graham dropped the threat but missed the Gators' next game with a sprained knee.
ESPN The Magazine has their new rules for the new year.
The New York Times has a great interactive feature about DE Jason Taylor and what has made him the sack leader.
Is TCU's defense everything everyone doesn't think that it is? (I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention.)
We’ve seen about every type of defensive system employed across the Big 12 to stop spread offenses over the last decade and I am continually amazed at the lack of popularity in Patterson’s schemes. Maybe he’s the only guy running it because he’s the only one who knows how to coach it, or maybe his lack of NFL pedigree, tends to warrant a lack of respect.
One thing that can’t be argued is that over the years he has proven to be the antidote to spread offenses. I’m continually impressed with how he stays ahead of the curve despite losing elite players to the NFL. Most likely, no one on his defense this season will get drafted as high as Jerry Hughes or Daryl Washington, yet here he sits with the most versatile and elite defense in the country.
Just one more reason to dislike the Vikings, led by Favre and a new backup QB...
Even Congress is weighing in on Cam Newton.
On Wednesday, the House approved a measure recognizing Cam Newton, the Auburn University quarterback who just captured college football’s prestigious Heisman Trophy. But while more ceremonial resolutions are often unanimously approved, this particular one was opposed by a bipartisan group of 15 lawmakers, with another 18 voting present.
For the record, the House approved a 2009 resolution honoring Sam Bradford, then of the University of Oklahoma, for his Heisman Trophy. The vote was 394 to 0, with no lawmakers voting present. (Even those from Texas.)
Charles Barkley on the BCS:
"Well we need to do something. You know I hate the BCS system. Everybody’s patting themselves on the back because Auburn and Oregon – it worked out good this time. It didn’t work out good for TCU, Stanford and all those other teams. I hate the BCS. The simple fact that you have to go undefeated is ridiculous to me. There are a bunch of good teams, I think Oregon and Auburn are the two best teams. But you look at Stanford, you look at TCU, there are a bunch of good teams out there. I just hate the BCS. It’s got the two good initials – the B.S. But I hate the BCS in general. And Mark, Mark’s a good dude. We need to do something to fix college football because like I said, it worked out great this year. But Auburn’s gotten screwed by the system before, it worked for them this year so they’re not complaining but I just hate the BCS in general."
For the girls...Because women can't understand real sports.
How nice...And I love her new hairstyle! Reese Witherspoon looooves softball!
The UConn women's basketball team have 88 straight wins. Very impressive...But one school in Texas has them beat hands down.
Let's go bowling.
Nothing much at stake here. It is, after all, only a game.
Ten days, 250 miles and millions of dollars away from the Rose Bowl in California, Boise State will play Wednesday in Las Vegas.
"When everybody says, hey, it’s just a game," the Western Athletic Conference commissioner, Karl Benson , said in a phone interview, "I think we all know that it’s more than a game."
"Eight million dollars would have come to the WAC if he makes the kick," Benson said. "That’s the reality of it."
There is no home field advantage in a bowl game.
In the coming college bowl season, San Diego State plays in San Diego, Hawaii makes the long hike to Honolulu from its main campus in Manoa, and Maryland might as well take the Metro to its game at Washington's RFK Stadium.
But all that shouldn't discourage teams like Tulsa, Boston College and Stanford, all of which will trek more than 2,500 miles for their final games. In 163 bowl games over the past five years, the team that was forced to travel farther is 83-80.
More ticket woes. Nebraska still needs to sell about 4,000 tickets to the Holiday Bowl. West Virginia has only sold about one-third of their ticket allotment to the Champs Sport Bowl. Stanford has only sold about half of their tickets to the Orange Bowl.
Louisville plays Southern Miss in the St.Petersburg Beef O'Brady Bowl on Tuesday night. Don't miss it! In recognition of all the stupid sponsorship of the bowl season...What the heck is a Beef O'Brady?
Here's your weekly viewing schedule.
| St. Petersburg Bowl: Louisville vs. Southern Miss | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN (HD) |
| Las Vegas Bowl: Boise State vs. Utah | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN (HD) |
| Poinsettia Bowl: Navy vs. San Diego State | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN (HD) |
| Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii vs. Tulsa | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN (HD) |
Christmas 2.0