"I set out to hire the best damn football coach I could hire. It just so happened that Charlie is African American. There were others that we talked to as well. Having said that (Patterson pauses for several seconds and becomes visibly emotional) … I didn't set out make a political statement. But having had the number of very large grown men show up in my office in tears, it did not go unnoticed."
Texas athletic director Steve Patterson in a one-on-one interview with Orangebloods.com last November.
Although Texas athletic director Steve Patterson has his fair share of detractors, even the most vigorous of haters will have to admit the man they love to stab with a verbal stick got his man this weekend.
Whatever his professional sins might have been in NBA stops in Portland and Houston, Patterson nailed the landing at his new job in luring one of the nation's elite coaches to Austin from a sport where pulling an elite coach away from his current job is harder than trying to rob a Las Vegas casino. In the process of establishing himself as the man truly in charge of the Longhorn athletic department in the last two weeks, he's also created a legacy for himself that no detractor can ever take away from him.
Patterson didn't break down the final remaining color barriers in the Longhorns athletic universe, he obliterated them in a mere 15 months. Suddenly, a university that had never employed a minority to serve as head coach for any of its revenue-producing programs has become the face of diversity in major college athletics.
All one needs to do to get an understanding of what kind of history Patterson has created in a mere 15 months is look across the landscape of both college football and men's basketball to put in perspective. Outside of David Shaw, Kevin Sumlin, James Franklin and Charlie Strong, you're not going to find another major program in the country that has a black man serving as the face of the program.
As staggering as that three-name reality is to behold, the numbers are even worse in college basketball, where Kevin Ollie at UConn, Tubby Smith at Texas Tech and John Thompson at Georgetown make up what little there is in the way of black head coaches among the major programs in America.
The naive can close their eyes, but decent jobs (let alone great jobs) for black coaches simply don't arrive in abundance. It's such a concern among black coaches currently coaching in college basketball that Smart joined Smith in announcing they were going to be forming an organization to address the matter.
You can make the case that the two most important black men in all of college athletics at the moment are Strong and Smart, and don't think for a second that both don't understand the weight that they both carry.
"I take that very seriously," Smart replied when asked about becoming the first black coach in the history of the Texas basketball program. "For me, I grew up and was able to learn from and benefit from some terrific role models, some great mentors, from some people that I can look at and say, 'Hey maybe I can do what he's doing someday.' I hope that in this role as the men's basketball coach at The University of Texas, I can play that role for someone else in this terrific state. That's something I didn't realize but I take very seriously."
You know who else takes it very seriously?
His boss.
When Patterson agreed to sit down with Orangebloods' Anwar Richardson last November, I felt like the single most revealing comments were the ones he made about the history that was made with his hire of the first black head coach in the football program's history. The raw emotion that he allowed for us to see when discussing the overwhelming significance of the moment wasn't something any of us expected to witness from a guy that rarely puts his emotions or cards on the table for others to see.
"My father founded the Bucks in Milwaukee and Wayne Embry became the first African American general manager," Patterson explained. "When we were in Houston with the Rockets, we hired the first black coach of any sports team in the south - football, basketball, baseball (or) hockey. I hired Nate McMillan to be a coach in Portland."
Does that sound like a man thinks these things aren't important?
That's not to suggest that Patterson hired Smart because he's black (there's very little of that happening in college athletics), but it does suggest that when Smart emerged as the clear top candidate on the potential coach ledger, Patterson didn't so much as flinch over the idea that Smart happened to have a different skin pigmentation than his own.
Patterson's unflinching attitude towards the subject matter assures that regardless of the wins and losses accumulated by both coaches, his own partial legacy as athletic director has been established over the last 15 months and nothing will ever change that.
Socrates once said, "The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear."
In all likelihood, Patterson's reputation in 100 years will be exactly what he desires it to become, in large part because of the endeavors he's taken in the last 15 months that so many
others have declined over a period of time much, much longer.
It remains to be seen what kind of legacies Strong and Smart will build for themselves in Austin, but Patterson's is absolutely established.
No. 2 - Shaka killed it …
As far as first impressions go, I'm not sure how Shaka Smart could have done better than he did in his introduction to the Longhorn universe on Friday at his introductory press conference.
After fighting through some nerves at the outset, Smart settled into a comfort zone once he got through his initial statements and produced nothing but gold. In fact, I found myself wishing I could be a Texas basketball player under his tutelage before it was over.
Press conferences might not win games, but this one opened up the window to Smart's basketball soul and I just don't know how you could possibly come away lacking enthusiasm for the future of the program.
From speaking passionately about his former players to speaking to his new players to reaching out to former players, there wasn't one note that I didn't think Smart landed perfectly.
This will make some of you cringe, but he won that press conference the way Mack Brown used to win press conferences in his early days on the job. The only thing missing was a catchphrase like, "Come early, be loud and stay late."
Among the highlights of the press conference for me …
On what stood out about the job: "I don't want to take away from any other program but there's only one University of Texas. This is an extremely special place. You all know this better than me. From a long way away, I can see that loud and clear."
On what he's looking for in recruiting: "What do I value? I value guys that are energy givers. I believe you can either bring energy or take energy. I think if we have a group of guys that gives each other energy on the floor, that's going to help us go out there and be the more aggressive team and fly around and do some great things. I value guys that are team oriented."
On what would happen after taking the job: "When I interviewed yesterday I talked to [Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director] Arthur [Johnson] and he said 'We'll fly you down for the press conference, and then sometime over the weekend we'll fly you back to Richmond' and I said: 'No, I'm not going back to Richmond. Once I get down to Austin, it's time to go to work.' I'm here to stay."
No. 3 - Eight things to know about what's happening in spring football …
With the first scrimmage of the spring for the Texas football out of the way, I thought I'd go over the notes of importance from the first half of workouts.
1. Nothing of real significance yet has really occurred at the quarterback position. Junior Tyrone Swoopes is clearly ahead of back-up quarterback Jerrod Heard and both of them have taken forward strides from a season ago, but the developmental process for each is a work in progress.
2. Injuries haven't ravaged spring workouts, but they have feasted on a few bodies in the first week and a half. From senior cornerback Sheroid Evans (knee) to redshirt freshman Jermaine Roberts (knee) to senior linebacker Dalton Santos (ankle), the defensive depth continues to be tested and the likelihood that this defense will have a parade of true freshmen on the field becomes stronger. Santos was one of four players (and one of only two on defense) who Strong singled out on Wednesday for taking over some of the internal leadership.
3. The story of camp might be the emergence of true freshmen offensive linemen Connor Williams and Garrett Thomas, both of whom are getting work at first-team tackle spots, while JUCO transfer Brandon Hodge hasn't yet really started to carve out a niche. Given the state of the position a year ago, it's tough to know just how good Williams and Thomas really are at this very early stage, but both players were supposed to be multi-year projects and the fact that they've come in and given the team a lift a critical area of need is nothing short of a blessing from the football gods.
4. Speaking of true freshmen, Malik Jefferson has been everything the coaches had hoped for and his versatility is already earning him reps at linebacker and as a rusher off the edge.
5. Tempo, tempo and more tempo has been the biggest story on the offensive side of the ball, as the coaches continue to grow the foundation of an offense that the coaching staff would eventually like to look a lot like what Ohio State does.
6. For all of the talk about getting Daje Johnson more touches this season, the three receivers who have stood out the most in camp thus far are Marcus Johnson, Jacorey Warrick and Dorian Leonard.
7. Very little has been said about the running backs and running game through the first half of camp outside of some praise for sophomore D'Onta Foreman.
8. Not much has been settled over on the defensive side at all, especially with injuries (both new and old) that have created a revolving door at all three levels of the defense. Redshirt freshman defensive back John Bonney is the name to know right now from the newcomer's list.
No. 4 - After weeks of holding the rope with the UT baseball team, I have a new stance ...
Remember that thing that used to happen with Rick Barnes' teams?
That thing where they would start out like gangbusters and then right about the middle of January of every single season, the parts would start to fall off the car?
I'm not saying the same thing is happening to the Texas baseball team right now, but man, the last two weeks of the season appear to be adopted cousins at the very least. Following the pile-driving in Lincoln a week ago and the loss to Texas A&M CC, you tried to remind yourself that the Longhorns were still in first place in the Big 12 going into the weekend.
Then this weekend happened in Stillwater.
In getting swept by the Cowboys in the three-game set, the Longhorns scored a total of seven runs in 36 innings of play, which translates to less than two runs per every nine innings. Suddenly this team that Augie Garrido was comparing to his very best teams is caught in a seven-game spiral towards the ground at a very high rate. Through 32 games, it is a very average 17-15 overall and an even worse 5-11 in games played on the road or in a neutral setting.
Of course, there's plenty of time for this group to turn momentum around, especially with so many important Big 12 matchups still on the horizon, but only the most loyal of Texas baseball fans has seen this team and believes that special qualities exist.
It's a pretty good team at home, a pretty average team overall and a pretty lost team at the moment.
Time for Augie to do some of that magic Augie stuff that makes him Augie.
No. 5 - Hate on Kentucky all you want, but ...
I'm going to miss the Wildcats on Monday night when the national championship game is played and it has nothing to do with a Wisconsin Badgers team that is very easy to love.
It's just that a Kentucky/Duke match-up for a national title with all-time history on the line would have represented one of the most epic showdowns in the history of the sport between the two college programs that fans love to hate the most.
Watching all of America try to choose between its hate would have represented one of the more
amusing scenarios we'll ever see in college athletics, like two blue Darth Vaders vying for control of the universe that no one wants them to have.
The fact that their loss against Wisconsin drew the biggest Final Four TV ratings in 22 years suggests that the interest was there, as was the mixture of venom and ill-will.
And we were robbed of it on a night when the Wildcats shot 48-percent from the floor, 60-percent from three-point range and 90-percent at the free throw line, while only turning it over six times. It's a credit to the Badgers that they could beat Kentucky on a night when Kentucky played pretty damn well for 38 minutes, but those final two minutes? For the first time all season, the team that owned those final two minutes in a match-up with the nation's No. 1 team was someone other than them. The very thing that had carried this team all season (clutch play), was its undoing in the most important game of the season.
Don't get me wrong, Duke/Wisconsin is an amazing match-up that has a slew of intriguing storylines, but color me disappointed because I wanted two Darth Vaders in this game instead of one.
Now excuse me while I get my Wisconsin pom-poms out.
No. 6 - Scattershooting on the Big Dance...
… I'm not sure I've seen a bigger attempted glory-grab in a Final Four game than the one I witnessed the Harrison twins try to take in the final 10 minutes of the game against Wisconsin. With Karl Towns cooking in the post, both Harrison brothers went against the game-plan and decided they were going to be the heroes for the Wildcats, come hell or high water. That's a hell of a way for a pair of college careers to end.
… In my opinion, we should move on from the Andrew Harrison post-game remark disaster that was directed at Frank Kaminsky. Does he deserve to be called out? Yes. Should he be embarrassed? Damn straight. The night as a whole wasn't exactly a good look for a guy that skipped the post-game handshake, despite having coaches implore him to return to the court, but do we really need to have this conversation about the double-standard that exists, especially whwn you consider that the "n-word" part of his statement regarding Kaminsky wasn't really the offensive part (it was the beginning of the setence that was disrespectful)?
… I said it a week ago and I'll say it again, Towns is a young Andrew Bynum with more developed skill at the same exact age. Does that make him a rich man's Bynum as a prospect? I can't say, but that guy has the ability to emerge as a top-five NBA center. He'll never be Anthony Davis because that guy is a freak unlike anything we've ever seen, but a version of Bynum with some of the growing pains and all of the character episodes could make for one hell of a player.
… The botched call by the officials that allowed Wisconsin to tie the game on a follow-up shot
that occurred after the shot clock expired was a huge moment in the game. Instead of Kentucky being up 60-58 with less than two minutes to go, the game was tied. Instead of being down 61-60 following the following Sam Dekker step-back three-pointer, the Wildcats were down three points and facing a team that had been in the bonus for the final 10 minutes of the game. I can't believe the officiating crew couldn't use TV replay in an effort to get that right.
… I want to be Sam Dekker when I grow up.
… I'm starting to come around to the idea that I want Justise Winslow for my 76ers in this year's draft, regardless of where they pick. He's exactly what that team needs.
… With a 2-9 career record against Coach K, you'll excuse Tim Izzo if he doesn't want any part of the Blue Devils in a Final Four matchup ever again.
No. 7 - Jordan Spieth is going to win a major very soon …
With the Masters days away, I don't really have any doubts that Spieth will be in contention next weekend at Augusta.
He'll be in contention because he's playing as well as any golfer in the world going into the tournament.
Whether he's ready to take the next step and fulfill his destiny remains to be seen, but after watching him on Sunday at the final of the Shell Open, I'm not quite ready to put my money on him for a win in Georgia in April.
As much mental strength and fortitude that he plays with, there were times on Sunday when those traits broke down just a little bit, especially in the final two holes he played on 18, both to end his final round and in the first hole of the playoff.
At times, he reminds me a little of Phil Mickelson, as someone that will win multiple majors in his career, but might have to suffer a little heartbreak on the way to learning how to full control his golf jedi skills.
No. 8 - Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
… What James Harden did against the Thunder on Sunday should be against the law, landing dagger after dagger after dagger on the team that gave him his start and traded him away for a package that the die-hard Thunder fans still try to defend, despite knowing deep down it was the fatal mistake by Sam Presti that could keep the Thunder from ever winning a championship.
… Harden is a very deserving MVP candidate, but my vote still goes to Steph Curry, who is shooting better than 50-percent from three-point range since the all-star break. With six games
to go, the Warriors still have a chance to win SIXTY-NINE games.
… Liverpool wet the bed in each of the last two weeks and the Champion League dreams after such a rough start to the season might not be dead, but they have to be considered on life support.
… Arsonal is g-o-o-d. Much respect.
… Nice job, Alabama. I have no idea if Avery Johnson is suited for the college game, but the Tide didn't sit around and simply choose from an uninspiring collection of next-tier coaches.
... The start of the MLB season begins on Monday for my Phillies and nothing less than 90 wins and a playoff spot is expected. Wait, sorry about that little typo. The start of the MLB season begins on Monday for my Phillies and nothing more than 70 wins and a top-10 draft pick is expected
… Go Cubs. What the hell.
No. 9 - Throwback Photo of the Weekend...
I miss this rivalry.
No. 10 - The List: Stevie Wonder ( Listen Via Spotify
Parenthood defeated ambition on Saturday night at the Stevie Wonder show at the FEC in Austin.
Armed with the best seats I could get my hands on (center on the floor, 12 rows back), the wife and I left the land of suburbia with the intent of knocking off a bucket list item and the good news is that we did achieve that goal. The bad news is that a $500 night didn't quite deliver like it should have.
We should have known the way things were going to go when our sitter for the night called in sick, which left us scrambling to find anyone off of my Facebook page that was willing to do the job reasonably well. Luckily, an old friend from my Dallas Night Club days stepped forward and agreed to sit, along with her nine-year old son.
Once we arrived at the show and sat in our seats, I'd love to tell you that Stevie lived up to the enormous expectations I had coming in, but a unique set of circumstances cramped our style.
First, there was the guilt of leaving or kids with a sitter that had just met them and was doing it out of the graciousness of her heart, despite the fact that her family needed to be at church early the next morning. From the moment we arrived, it felt like we were negotiating a departure time that would arrive before the encore.
Second, and this pains me to say, but Stevie's show started out really slowly.
Three songs into the set, I did a phone search for the playlist of his last show and it turns out that he had a 13-song opening set planned, followed by a 20-minute halftime and then concluding with a 16-song set to close the show. While there were a few classics like Sir Duke and I Wish that he played in the first 14 songs, a large portion of the early set list was full of songs I could have done without and the crowd was incredibly flat.
On top of that, in order to get to the main course of the meal in this concert, we'd have to sit through a 20-minute break and another six or seven songs on the back end that felt like concert filler. We're talking at least an hour and a half before my wife would hear two consecutive songs she recognized.
The combination of the guilt over the sitter situation and a slow-starting setlist caused us to make the call 13 songs into the show while he was in the middle of singing Ebony Eyes ... we bounced. When we returned home a half-hour later, our daughter Haven was in the middle of a vomit episode that required me to take two showers before the night was over.
It was just one of those nights when parenthood dominated me on the scoreboard.
Ok, let's get on with the list.
Last five songs out: You Met Your Match
10. Lately
Quintessential Stevie.
9. Sir Duke
One of the better songs he played in the first half of the concert last night.'
8. All In Love is Fair
One of the most underrated songs in Stevie's collection of great song.
7. My Cherie Amour
Few do sweet love songs as well as Stevie.
6. Part-Time Lover
One of the first Stevie songs that I loved as a kid.
5. Higher Ground
One of the songs that I missed last night.
4. Uptight
It just feels like a classic Motown record. This is one of the songs that ushered him into manhood as a performer and away from the old Little Stevie reputation.
3. Living for the City
Not far behind the No. 1 song on the funk meter.
2. Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)
Consider me shocked that this song wasn't on the set-list from his current tour. How do you leave this song out?
1. Superstition
You have no musical soul if you don't move your body just a little when arguably the greatest
funk song of all-time is played
Archives List
Blues/Jazz: Listen via Spotify )
Classical: Listen via
Spotify)
Country: Listen via Spotify )
Electronic: Listen Via Spotify
Funk: Listen Via Spotify (Part I)
Metal: Listen Via Spotify
Pop: Listen via Spotify )
Punk: Listen via Spotify)
Random: TV Themes and My Number 1's on Spotify[/URL]
Rap: Listen via
Spotify), Listen via Spotify),
R&B: Listen via Spotify)
Reggae: Listen via Spotify)
Rock: Listen via Spotify )
This post was edited on 4/5 11:57 PM by Ketchum
Texas athletic director Steve Patterson in a one-on-one interview with Orangebloods.com last November.
Although Texas athletic director Steve Patterson has his fair share of detractors, even the most vigorous of haters will have to admit the man they love to stab with a verbal stick got his man this weekend.
Whatever his professional sins might have been in NBA stops in Portland and Houston, Patterson nailed the landing at his new job in luring one of the nation's elite coaches to Austin from a sport where pulling an elite coach away from his current job is harder than trying to rob a Las Vegas casino. In the process of establishing himself as the man truly in charge of the Longhorn athletic department in the last two weeks, he's also created a legacy for himself that no detractor can ever take away from him.
Patterson didn't break down the final remaining color barriers in the Longhorns athletic universe, he obliterated them in a mere 15 months. Suddenly, a university that had never employed a minority to serve as head coach for any of its revenue-producing programs has become the face of diversity in major college athletics.
All one needs to do to get an understanding of what kind of history Patterson has created in a mere 15 months is look across the landscape of both college football and men's basketball to put in perspective. Outside of David Shaw, Kevin Sumlin, James Franklin and Charlie Strong, you're not going to find another major program in the country that has a black man serving as the face of the program.
As staggering as that three-name reality is to behold, the numbers are even worse in college basketball, where Kevin Ollie at UConn, Tubby Smith at Texas Tech and John Thompson at Georgetown make up what little there is in the way of black head coaches among the major programs in America.
The naive can close their eyes, but decent jobs (let alone great jobs) for black coaches simply don't arrive in abundance. It's such a concern among black coaches currently coaching in college basketball that Smart joined Smith in announcing they were going to be forming an organization to address the matter.
You can make the case that the two most important black men in all of college athletics at the moment are Strong and Smart, and don't think for a second that both don't understand the weight that they both carry.
"I take that very seriously," Smart replied when asked about becoming the first black coach in the history of the Texas basketball program. "For me, I grew up and was able to learn from and benefit from some terrific role models, some great mentors, from some people that I can look at and say, 'Hey maybe I can do what he's doing someday.' I hope that in this role as the men's basketball coach at The University of Texas, I can play that role for someone else in this terrific state. That's something I didn't realize but I take very seriously."
You know who else takes it very seriously?
His boss.
When Patterson agreed to sit down with Orangebloods' Anwar Richardson last November, I felt like the single most revealing comments were the ones he made about the history that was made with his hire of the first black head coach in the football program's history. The raw emotion that he allowed for us to see when discussing the overwhelming significance of the moment wasn't something any of us expected to witness from a guy that rarely puts his emotions or cards on the table for others to see.
"My father founded the Bucks in Milwaukee and Wayne Embry became the first African American general manager," Patterson explained. "When we were in Houston with the Rockets, we hired the first black coach of any sports team in the south - football, basketball, baseball (or) hockey. I hired Nate McMillan to be a coach in Portland."
Does that sound like a man thinks these things aren't important?
That's not to suggest that Patterson hired Smart because he's black (there's very little of that happening in college athletics), but it does suggest that when Smart emerged as the clear top candidate on the potential coach ledger, Patterson didn't so much as flinch over the idea that Smart happened to have a different skin pigmentation than his own.
Patterson's unflinching attitude towards the subject matter assures that regardless of the wins and losses accumulated by both coaches, his own partial legacy as athletic director has been established over the last 15 months and nothing will ever change that.
Socrates once said, "The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear."
In all likelihood, Patterson's reputation in 100 years will be exactly what he desires it to become, in large part because of the endeavors he's taken in the last 15 months that so many
others have declined over a period of time much, much longer.
It remains to be seen what kind of legacies Strong and Smart will build for themselves in Austin, but Patterson's is absolutely established.
No. 2 - Shaka killed it …
As far as first impressions go, I'm not sure how Shaka Smart could have done better than he did in his introduction to the Longhorn universe on Friday at his introductory press conference.
After fighting through some nerves at the outset, Smart settled into a comfort zone once he got through his initial statements and produced nothing but gold. In fact, I found myself wishing I could be a Texas basketball player under his tutelage before it was over.
Press conferences might not win games, but this one opened up the window to Smart's basketball soul and I just don't know how you could possibly come away lacking enthusiasm for the future of the program.
From speaking passionately about his former players to speaking to his new players to reaching out to former players, there wasn't one note that I didn't think Smart landed perfectly.
This will make some of you cringe, but he won that press conference the way Mack Brown used to win press conferences in his early days on the job. The only thing missing was a catchphrase like, "Come early, be loud and stay late."
Among the highlights of the press conference for me …
On what stood out about the job: "I don't want to take away from any other program but there's only one University of Texas. This is an extremely special place. You all know this better than me. From a long way away, I can see that loud and clear."
On what he's looking for in recruiting: "What do I value? I value guys that are energy givers. I believe you can either bring energy or take energy. I think if we have a group of guys that gives each other energy on the floor, that's going to help us go out there and be the more aggressive team and fly around and do some great things. I value guys that are team oriented."
On what would happen after taking the job: "When I interviewed yesterday I talked to [Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director] Arthur [Johnson] and he said 'We'll fly you down for the press conference, and then sometime over the weekend we'll fly you back to Richmond' and I said: 'No, I'm not going back to Richmond. Once I get down to Austin, it's time to go to work.' I'm here to stay."
No. 3 - Eight things to know about what's happening in spring football …
With the first scrimmage of the spring for the Texas football out of the way, I thought I'd go over the notes of importance from the first half of workouts.
1. Nothing of real significance yet has really occurred at the quarterback position. Junior Tyrone Swoopes is clearly ahead of back-up quarterback Jerrod Heard and both of them have taken forward strides from a season ago, but the developmental process for each is a work in progress.
2. Injuries haven't ravaged spring workouts, but they have feasted on a few bodies in the first week and a half. From senior cornerback Sheroid Evans (knee) to redshirt freshman Jermaine Roberts (knee) to senior linebacker Dalton Santos (ankle), the defensive depth continues to be tested and the likelihood that this defense will have a parade of true freshmen on the field becomes stronger. Santos was one of four players (and one of only two on defense) who Strong singled out on Wednesday for taking over some of the internal leadership.
3. The story of camp might be the emergence of true freshmen offensive linemen Connor Williams and Garrett Thomas, both of whom are getting work at first-team tackle spots, while JUCO transfer Brandon Hodge hasn't yet really started to carve out a niche. Given the state of the position a year ago, it's tough to know just how good Williams and Thomas really are at this very early stage, but both players were supposed to be multi-year projects and the fact that they've come in and given the team a lift a critical area of need is nothing short of a blessing from the football gods.
4. Speaking of true freshmen, Malik Jefferson has been everything the coaches had hoped for and his versatility is already earning him reps at linebacker and as a rusher off the edge.
5. Tempo, tempo and more tempo has been the biggest story on the offensive side of the ball, as the coaches continue to grow the foundation of an offense that the coaching staff would eventually like to look a lot like what Ohio State does.
6. For all of the talk about getting Daje Johnson more touches this season, the three receivers who have stood out the most in camp thus far are Marcus Johnson, Jacorey Warrick and Dorian Leonard.
7. Very little has been said about the running backs and running game through the first half of camp outside of some praise for sophomore D'Onta Foreman.
8. Not much has been settled over on the defensive side at all, especially with injuries (both new and old) that have created a revolving door at all three levels of the defense. Redshirt freshman defensive back John Bonney is the name to know right now from the newcomer's list.
No. 4 - After weeks of holding the rope with the UT baseball team, I have a new stance ...
Remember that thing that used to happen with Rick Barnes' teams?
That thing where they would start out like gangbusters and then right about the middle of January of every single season, the parts would start to fall off the car?
I'm not saying the same thing is happening to the Texas baseball team right now, but man, the last two weeks of the season appear to be adopted cousins at the very least. Following the pile-driving in Lincoln a week ago and the loss to Texas A&M CC, you tried to remind yourself that the Longhorns were still in first place in the Big 12 going into the weekend.
Then this weekend happened in Stillwater.
In getting swept by the Cowboys in the three-game set, the Longhorns scored a total of seven runs in 36 innings of play, which translates to less than two runs per every nine innings. Suddenly this team that Augie Garrido was comparing to his very best teams is caught in a seven-game spiral towards the ground at a very high rate. Through 32 games, it is a very average 17-15 overall and an even worse 5-11 in games played on the road or in a neutral setting.
Of course, there's plenty of time for this group to turn momentum around, especially with so many important Big 12 matchups still on the horizon, but only the most loyal of Texas baseball fans has seen this team and believes that special qualities exist.
It's a pretty good team at home, a pretty average team overall and a pretty lost team at the moment.
Time for Augie to do some of that magic Augie stuff that makes him Augie.
No. 5 - Hate on Kentucky all you want, but ...
I'm going to miss the Wildcats on Monday night when the national championship game is played and it has nothing to do with a Wisconsin Badgers team that is very easy to love.
It's just that a Kentucky/Duke match-up for a national title with all-time history on the line would have represented one of the most epic showdowns in the history of the sport between the two college programs that fans love to hate the most.
Watching all of America try to choose between its hate would have represented one of the more
amusing scenarios we'll ever see in college athletics, like two blue Darth Vaders vying for control of the universe that no one wants them to have.
The fact that their loss against Wisconsin drew the biggest Final Four TV ratings in 22 years suggests that the interest was there, as was the mixture of venom and ill-will.
And we were robbed of it on a night when the Wildcats shot 48-percent from the floor, 60-percent from three-point range and 90-percent at the free throw line, while only turning it over six times. It's a credit to the Badgers that they could beat Kentucky on a night when Kentucky played pretty damn well for 38 minutes, but those final two minutes? For the first time all season, the team that owned those final two minutes in a match-up with the nation's No. 1 team was someone other than them. The very thing that had carried this team all season (clutch play), was its undoing in the most important game of the season.
Don't get me wrong, Duke/Wisconsin is an amazing match-up that has a slew of intriguing storylines, but color me disappointed because I wanted two Darth Vaders in this game instead of one.
Now excuse me while I get my Wisconsin pom-poms out.
No. 6 - Scattershooting on the Big Dance...
… I'm not sure I've seen a bigger attempted glory-grab in a Final Four game than the one I witnessed the Harrison twins try to take in the final 10 minutes of the game against Wisconsin. With Karl Towns cooking in the post, both Harrison brothers went against the game-plan and decided they were going to be the heroes for the Wildcats, come hell or high water. That's a hell of a way for a pair of college careers to end.
… In my opinion, we should move on from the Andrew Harrison post-game remark disaster that was directed at Frank Kaminsky. Does he deserve to be called out? Yes. Should he be embarrassed? Damn straight. The night as a whole wasn't exactly a good look for a guy that skipped the post-game handshake, despite having coaches implore him to return to the court, but do we really need to have this conversation about the double-standard that exists, especially whwn you consider that the "n-word" part of his statement regarding Kaminsky wasn't really the offensive part (it was the beginning of the setence that was disrespectful)?
… I said it a week ago and I'll say it again, Towns is a young Andrew Bynum with more developed skill at the same exact age. Does that make him a rich man's Bynum as a prospect? I can't say, but that guy has the ability to emerge as a top-five NBA center. He'll never be Anthony Davis because that guy is a freak unlike anything we've ever seen, but a version of Bynum with some of the growing pains and all of the character episodes could make for one hell of a player.
… The botched call by the officials that allowed Wisconsin to tie the game on a follow-up shot
that occurred after the shot clock expired was a huge moment in the game. Instead of Kentucky being up 60-58 with less than two minutes to go, the game was tied. Instead of being down 61-60 following the following Sam Dekker step-back three-pointer, the Wildcats were down three points and facing a team that had been in the bonus for the final 10 minutes of the game. I can't believe the officiating crew couldn't use TV replay in an effort to get that right.
… I want to be Sam Dekker when I grow up.
… I'm starting to come around to the idea that I want Justise Winslow for my 76ers in this year's draft, regardless of where they pick. He's exactly what that team needs.
… With a 2-9 career record against Coach K, you'll excuse Tim Izzo if he doesn't want any part of the Blue Devils in a Final Four matchup ever again.
No. 7 - Jordan Spieth is going to win a major very soon …
With the Masters days away, I don't really have any doubts that Spieth will be in contention next weekend at Augusta.
He'll be in contention because he's playing as well as any golfer in the world going into the tournament.
Whether he's ready to take the next step and fulfill his destiny remains to be seen, but after watching him on Sunday at the final of the Shell Open, I'm not quite ready to put my money on him for a win in Georgia in April.
As much mental strength and fortitude that he plays with, there were times on Sunday when those traits broke down just a little bit, especially in the final two holes he played on 18, both to end his final round and in the first hole of the playoff.
At times, he reminds me a little of Phil Mickelson, as someone that will win multiple majors in his career, but might have to suffer a little heartbreak on the way to learning how to full control his golf jedi skills.
No. 8 - Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
… What James Harden did against the Thunder on Sunday should be against the law, landing dagger after dagger after dagger on the team that gave him his start and traded him away for a package that the die-hard Thunder fans still try to defend, despite knowing deep down it was the fatal mistake by Sam Presti that could keep the Thunder from ever winning a championship.
… Harden is a very deserving MVP candidate, but my vote still goes to Steph Curry, who is shooting better than 50-percent from three-point range since the all-star break. With six games
to go, the Warriors still have a chance to win SIXTY-NINE games.
… Liverpool wet the bed in each of the last two weeks and the Champion League dreams after such a rough start to the season might not be dead, but they have to be considered on life support.
… Arsonal is g-o-o-d. Much respect.
… Nice job, Alabama. I have no idea if Avery Johnson is suited for the college game, but the Tide didn't sit around and simply choose from an uninspiring collection of next-tier coaches.
... The start of the MLB season begins on Monday for my Phillies and nothing less than 90 wins and a playoff spot is expected. Wait, sorry about that little typo. The start of the MLB season begins on Monday for my Phillies and nothing more than 70 wins and a top-10 draft pick is expected
… Go Cubs. What the hell.
No. 9 - Throwback Photo of the Weekend...
I miss this rivalry.
No. 10 - The List: Stevie Wonder ( Listen Via Spotify
Parenthood defeated ambition on Saturday night at the Stevie Wonder show at the FEC in Austin.
Armed with the best seats I could get my hands on (center on the floor, 12 rows back), the wife and I left the land of suburbia with the intent of knocking off a bucket list item and the good news is that we did achieve that goal. The bad news is that a $500 night didn't quite deliver like it should have.
We should have known the way things were going to go when our sitter for the night called in sick, which left us scrambling to find anyone off of my Facebook page that was willing to do the job reasonably well. Luckily, an old friend from my Dallas Night Club days stepped forward and agreed to sit, along with her nine-year old son.
Once we arrived at the show and sat in our seats, I'd love to tell you that Stevie lived up to the enormous expectations I had coming in, but a unique set of circumstances cramped our style.
First, there was the guilt of leaving or kids with a sitter that had just met them and was doing it out of the graciousness of her heart, despite the fact that her family needed to be at church early the next morning. From the moment we arrived, it felt like we were negotiating a departure time that would arrive before the encore.
Second, and this pains me to say, but Stevie's show started out really slowly.
Three songs into the set, I did a phone search for the playlist of his last show and it turns out that he had a 13-song opening set planned, followed by a 20-minute halftime and then concluding with a 16-song set to close the show. While there were a few classics like Sir Duke and I Wish that he played in the first 14 songs, a large portion of the early set list was full of songs I could have done without and the crowd was incredibly flat.
On top of that, in order to get to the main course of the meal in this concert, we'd have to sit through a 20-minute break and another six or seven songs on the back end that felt like concert filler. We're talking at least an hour and a half before my wife would hear two consecutive songs she recognized.
The combination of the guilt over the sitter situation and a slow-starting setlist caused us to make the call 13 songs into the show while he was in the middle of singing Ebony Eyes ... we bounced. When we returned home a half-hour later, our daughter Haven was in the middle of a vomit episode that required me to take two showers before the night was over.
It was just one of those nights when parenthood dominated me on the scoreboard.
Ok, let's get on with the list.
Last five songs out: You Met Your Match
10. Lately
Quintessential Stevie.
9. Sir Duke
One of the better songs he played in the first half of the concert last night.'
8. All In Love is Fair
One of the most underrated songs in Stevie's collection of great song.
7. My Cherie Amour
Few do sweet love songs as well as Stevie.
6. Part-Time Lover
One of the first Stevie songs that I loved as a kid.
5. Higher Ground
One of the songs that I missed last night.
4. Uptight
It just feels like a classic Motown record. This is one of the songs that ushered him into manhood as a performer and away from the old Little Stevie reputation.
3. Living for the City
Not far behind the No. 1 song on the funk meter.
2. Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)
Consider me shocked that this song wasn't on the set-list from his current tour. How do you leave this song out?
1. Superstition
You have no musical soul if you don't move your body just a little when arguably the greatest
funk song of all-time is played
Archives List
Blues/Jazz: Listen via Spotify )
Classical: Listen via
Spotify)
Country: Listen via Spotify )
Electronic: Listen Via Spotify
Funk: Listen Via Spotify (Part I)
Metal: Listen Via Spotify
Pop: Listen via Spotify )
Punk: Listen via Spotify)
Random: TV Themes and My Number 1's on Spotify[/URL]
Rap: Listen via
Spotify), Listen via Spotify),
R&B: Listen via Spotify)
Reggae: Listen via Spotify)
Rock: Listen via Spotify )
This post was edited on 4/5 11:57 PM by Ketchum
