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Friday, December 29, 2006

Texas Football: Fun From the Iowa Fans 

Separated at Birth?

Dallas Griffin and Monchichi killed me.

I may buy a random Iowa fan a margarita tomorrow just because of the genius that was that thread.

Especially if she's hot.

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Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Texas Football: The Alamo Bowl 

Bowl Game: No. 18 Texas (9-3) vs. Iowa (6-6)
Last Game: Texas A&M 12, Texas 7; Minnesota 34, Iowa 24
Last Meeting: 1985 Freedom Bowl -- Iowa 55, Texas 14
All-Time Series: Iowa leads 1-0

Um, yeah.

So... there's no reason that Texas should not dominate Iowa. But there was no reason that Texas should not have dominated Kansas State, or Texas A&M. But a pinched nerve to Colt McCoy, two turnovers in 30 seconds, a ticky-tack pass interference call negating a TD, and completely uninspired play for eight quarters turned a potential trip to Arizona into a quick jaunt to San Antonio.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Or somesuch.

Matt hasn't written his column yet, but feel free to check out LM Fanzone later this week to read it (and be sure to check out our Top Movies of 2006 thread).

Or somesuch...

This Week's Game in a Nutshell

Again, Texas should win comfortably. But will that happen? "On paper" doesn't always translate to reality in a bowl game, especially when one team has the proverbial "something to prove," and another is likely to go through the motions. Anyway, Colt McCoy has been cleared to play. If he's 100% (for real, this time), then Texas should be able to move the ball. And for a much-maligned Texas secondary, Drew Tate's inconsistent play gives hope for at least a 50% chance that Iowa won't pass all over the Horns.

From the "weird things hapen before bowls" file

Texas DB Aaron Ross fell asleep at the wheel on his way to practice last week, and got into a minor car accident.

It seems that almost every Texas bowl game is preceded by some weird incident: Ron McElvey, last-minute suspensions, and weird investigations that seem to mysteriously disappear.

The Greg Brown Memorial Pregame Premonition

Um, pass.

Good news for Texas fans that haven't had much of it lately

Limas Sweed and Frank Okam will return for their senior seasons.

Cotton Bowl officials are probablty kicking themselves in the ass

They should be, at least.

Tickets for the AT&T Cotton Bowl are so cheap that a family of four could see the New Year's Day game between Nebraska and Auburn in Dallas for less than $100.
What a great deal... you could take the family to a bowl game between two ranked teams for about as much as it'd cost for three hours at Chuckie Cheese.

TicketsNow.com had $15 tickets, and several other online brokers had plenty listed for $20. Prime seats still go for several hundred dollars, but what surprises Pate is that it would cost fans very little to get a seat.
There isn't a bad seat in the Cotton Bowl (sight-wise, I mean; every actual seat in the Cotton Bowl is bad, as the place was built for midgets), so unless you're paying to sit on the sideline and help Bill Callahan or Tommy Tuberville call plays, you're a damn fool for spending "several hundred dollars."

"When there's not a championship on the line, it makes it a lot harder to justify the travel expense," Randall said. "If [the University of Texas] were playing in the Cotton Bowl against an interesting opponent, maybe that would shake things up. As it is, this game isn't that big a deal."
Well they had the chance to invite Texas and they passed. No sympathy.

Random highlight that has nothing to do with Texas-Iowa, but what the hell...

Um, words fail me.



Prediction: Texas 28, Iowa 17

Hook'Em!


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Monday, December 11, 2006

MLB: More Andy Pettitte Fallout 

I normally don't think too highly of the Houston Chronicle's Astros coverage, so to be fair I feel compelled to praise John Lopez's assessment of exactly what went wrong between the club and former Astro Andy Pettitte, because Lopez sums it up perfectly.

I don't care that AP left Houston for the greener pastures of New York City. I do care that his camp has taken to blaming Houston management for being cheap and disloyal and insulting. That's total crap, and I hope Astros fans have the good sense to look rationally at the situation before placing all of the blame on Tim Purpura or Drayton McLane.

AP was perhaps the best pitcher in baseball for three months at the tail end of 2005. He was broken-down, and/or very, very ordinary for the majority of his other 2.5 years in Houston. Pettitte could have played a valuable role in Houston's '07 rotation, but now he won't. I'm neither losing sleep nor shedding tears about the situation, but even if I were then I wouldn't direct my ire toward the Astros' front office. Kudos to Lopez for offering a voice of reason, and illustrating why no other Astros fans should either.

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Sunday, December 10, 2006

NFL: In Case You Forgot... 

Vince Young is no mere mortal.

Poor Texans fans.

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Saturday, December 09, 2006

MLB: So long, Andy! 

Don't let the door hit you, and all of that...

And Clemens? I have to agree with the following, found on OWA...
As a matter of fact, I would like to issue a pre-emptive "Fuck You" to Clemens when he signs with New York and wish that Houston cuts Koby on the spot when he does. Let the selfish cocksuckers soak up all of the east coast limelight they can, and I hope they get flaming tendonitis, dysentery, and the pox in the process.
Call me bitter if you want, but neither AP nor the Drama Queen are going to have as much success back in New York as they did in Houston (and let's be honest; Pettitte didn't enjoy that much success in Houston).

Next?

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Friday, December 08, 2006

Christmas: My Favorite Carol 

Is 'O Holy Night.'

On the way to lunch, while listening to it for the umpteenth time in the past few days, I decided that I may regard it as the most beautiful piece of music ever written.

Monday's episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip featured a jazz version from some of New Orleans' displaced (and quite talented) jazz musicians. It was amazing to say the least. Bravo to Aaron Sorkin for incorporating this into a what was already a great show!!!



ETA: The MP3 is up. Please donate to Tipitinas, if you feel so inclined I'm not sure why they didn't place the song on iTunes and charge $3 (I would have bought it), but it wasn't my call, either..

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Wednesday, December 06, 2006

High School Football: Has It Really Been 12 Years? 

Saw this today on the web and thought I'd post it for those who may be a little too young to remember it winning the "Showstopper of the Year" at the 1995 ESPY Awards.



It really may be the most amazing thing I've ever seen in sports. Overcoming a 24-point deficit in the game's final three minutes? Without using a timeout? And recovering three consecutive onside kicks in the process? That doesn't even happen in video games. Even if it did, the momentum-shifting, 97-yard kickoff return with just seconds remaining on the clock, would not.

Unbelievable.

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NFL: Don Banks Takes Another Look at the 2006 Draft 

Um, whatever.

I can't figure out whether he's trying to be funny or serious.

Banks elevates OT Marcus McNeill to the top slot, leaves Vince Young at three, and jumps the steadily improving Matt Leinart to fourth. I have several friends that cheer for Houston; they seem generally pleased with Mario Williams' potential, and not-so-pleased with David Carr's progress. Still I'd guess that after the past few weeks they wish the Texans had taken the hometown hero.

And at number two? Marques Colston. Seriously? P'Shaw. A quick glance at the past 15 or so NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year recipients (which he hasn't actually won yet) shows that most have gone on to enjoy successful careers (Anthony Thomas excluded). But there's a reason the guy was drafted next-to-next-to-last in April. It's going to take more than one season to prove he should have been a first-rounder.

I wouldn't necessarily call it a "forward-looking" piece.

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Sunday, December 03, 2006

Texas Football: Official... Horns to the Alamo Bowl 

I'll post my full bowl preview sometime during Christmas Week, but in the meantime there should be a lot to mention regarding the thrilling (*yawn*) Texas-Iowa Alamo Bowl match-up.

First things first: a very early edition of...

Deluded/Rational Thoughts from an Opposing Message Board

"lukecarman," on Iowa's Scout.com board, thinks "Texas = Perfect fit."
They are a mountain ready to crumble. They have QB issues, no d (sic) coridinator, and went from the national champion to alamo bowl. I think this team might get up and excited for this game. We played our best games against good opponets. If you - the turnovers we are in both the Michigan and the Ohio State games. A win over Texas will make me feel a lot (sic) btter about next year (sic) to.
You know what? Looking past the grammar/spelling mistakes, he's exactly right.

Texas' lack of fire against Texas A&M, with a berth in the conference championship game at stake, gives me little confidence that they'll suddenly come out against a 6-6 Iowa team in the Aamo Bowl and play with any greater enthusiasm.

And like the poster mentioned, Texas does have QB issues. Will Colt McCoy play? If he plays, can he be effective? Perhaps most importantly is it even worth risking further injury in a glorified scrimmage? Jevan Snead is gone, third-string QB Matt McCoy is a walk-on that has never thrown a meaningful pass, and Sharrod Harris, the only other scholarship QB on the roster, would have to burn a redshirt to play. That leaves former high school QB Quan Cosby, now one of the Horns' best receivers, as perhaps the best option to run the offense. I have yet to see any credible news reports about Cosby's likelihood to man the position, but rumors have circulated on Texas message boards, for what it's worth.

The two teams won't meet on the field for almost four weeks, but if I'm an Iowa fan right now, I'm feeling optimistic about my team's chances for a big win.

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Saturday, December 02, 2006

College Football: A Plea to the Idiot Announcers Out There... 

Stop saying that the BCS doesn't work.

It works.

The sole job of the BCS is to choose the two most deserving participants in a national championship game. By definition it does exactly that each year.

Now you may not agree with which two teams it chooses, but that doesn't mean that the BCS doesn't accomplish what it's set to accomplish. Under the old system teams accepted bowl bids in October (Penn State once accepted an invitation to the Blockbuster Bowl before the season started), and the automatic conference tie-ins almost ensured that No. 1 never played No. 2, even when No. 1 and No. 2 were disputed.

No, the BCS is not a playoff. And it's not a perfect formula (why, exactly, was the "quality win" component removed?). But it's better than the system it replaced.

Now with that said, I'd still love to see the NCAA take the BCS a step further and institute the "Plus-One" model.

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