Redemption and 24 hours of peace.
In the aftermath of an unlikely Big 12 Tournament championship win on Sunday afternoon, Texas head baseball coach Augie Garrido kept it simple in a postgame Fox Sports TV interview. After a season of disappointment, the Longhorns tapped into their championship pedigree when they needed to the most, allowing Garrido to have a bit of a woosah moment.
Texas is headed to the NCAA Tournament and in the process, you’d have to think Garrido made it a lot easier for Texas athletic director Steve Patterson to do what he seems to want to do, which is give Garrido another season to put a proper ribbon and bow on a historic career.
There was a moment late in Sunday’s championship game against Oklahoma State when things looked far from peaceful, as the Cowboys had taken a 2-1 lead and rain threatened to end UT’s season before the Cowboys could.
However, right when things started to look bleak, a little bit of that Garrido magic kicked in, as his team scored five runs in the eighth inning and ultimately propelled itself into the championship ceremony. After two straight weekends of quality baseball, Texas will enter the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 or No. 4 seed that no one wants a piece of.
The pitching is too good and the mojo is growing.
Nothing that happened this weekend completely changes what happened this season with a team that Garrido championed early in the season as potentially one of his best, but it can’t be stressed enough how fulfilling it had to have been for everyone involved to simply smile and enjoy a moment.
Perhaps it wasn’t a huge slice of redemption and peace, but it was a slice of redemption and peace, nonetheless.
No. 2 – Re-ranking the 2010 Lone Star talent …
(WARNING: The following section is full of information that could induce anger, depression and vomiting.)
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
For years, the Texas Longhorns competed at the highest level of college football with the foundation of the program built around the talent available to Mack Brown from the Lone Star State. But, what happens when you rely on the talent from one state and that one state goes through a little bit of a downswing from a talent perspective?
It’s a question that has produced an answer for the Longhorns the hard way.
Much has been written about the disaster of the 2010 recruiting class for the Longhorns, but with the most recent NFL draft in the rear-view mirror, I thought it might be a good time to go back and take one final look at a year that recently dismissed its fifth-year seniors from the scholarship board.
Barring any sixth-year medical hardships, the Class of 2010 is in the books and it’s ugly for everyone that had any kind of involvement, with the except of Mike Sherman, which is a delicious piece of irony.
Things to know ...
a. It’s an ugly year for the entire state, as only a very select few emerged as elite-level, high-end NFL prospects.
b. This was supposed to be the class that took Texas to another national championship, but when you combine it with the rotten stench from the 2008-09 recruiting classes, it’s easy to see when and how the train came of the tracks.
c. It proved to be the Year of the Offensive Lineman, as the position produced seven of the top 25 players in the re-rankings I’m about to present you … and none of them were Longhorns.
Prepare to cringe.
Here’s a look at a re-ranked 2010 Top 25 from the state of Texas:
1. Luke Joeckel/Offensive lineman/Signed with Texas A&M (Arlington HS)
National ranking: 6.0 Four-star
Rivals state rank: 6
LSR rank: 7
Longhorn connection: The Longhorns were never really involved in Joeckel’s recruitment because both Luke and his brother Matt committed to A&M head coach Mike Sherman very early in the process. Who says package deals never work out?
Snap judgments: I viewed Joeckel as a national top 50-level, but clearly that wasn’t high
enough.
2. Jake Matthews/Offensive lineman/Signed with Texas A&M (Fort Bend Elkins)
National ranking: 6.0 Four-star
Rivals state rank: 8
LSR rank: 14
Longhorn connection: Oh man, this one will drive Longhorn fans crazy, not because Texas lost this recruiting head-to-head against the Aggies, instead it has everything to do with the fact that Jake’s Hall of Fame father pegged the Texas development program under Mack Brown for big men as a fraud and he was right.
Snap judgments: Trust Mike Sherman’s offensive line evaluations.
3. Justin Gilbert/Athlete/Oklahoma State (Huntsville)
National ranking: 5.8 Four-star
Rivals state rank: 37
LSR rank: 49
Longhorn connection: Gilbert grew up as a Texas fan and after a sizzling sophomore season, he looked like a guy headed for a burnt orange uniform, but a disappointing junior season left him without an offer when it was all said and done.
Snap judgments: In my initial rankings for the 2010 class, I had Gilbert rated as the No. 6 player in the state, which was obviously a better call than my final position for him.
4. Cedric Ogbuehi/Offensive lineman/Texas A&M (Allen)
National ranking: 5.9 Four-star
Rivals state rank: 11
LSR rank: 12
Longhorn connection: Mack Brown decided very early in the process that they were going to bypass the offensive linemen in the state (originally, the plan was to take none before they settled on two), so when Ogbuehi exploded as a national prospect following his junior season at a Nike Camp, the Longhorns never so much as made an effort to recruit this future pro.
Snap judgments: In Mike Sherman, I trust. That guy should be getting paid a cool million per year by some school for offensive line evaluations alone.
5. Jackson Jeffcoat/Defensive end/Texas (Plano West)
National ranking: 6.1 Five-star
Rivals state rank: 1
LSR rank: 2
Longhorn connection: One of the few saving graces in this class for the Longhorns, as Jeffcoat emerged as one of the Big 12’s best defensive players for a couple of seasons.
Snap judgments: Every aspect of Jeffcoat’s scouting report proved to be true, as he was a tremendous player when healthy (and his place in the NFL right now proves that), but staying healthy was a big concern and it proved to be prophetic.
6. Damontre Moore/Defensive end/Texas A&M (Rowlett)
National ranking: 5.7 Three-star
Rivals state rank: 72
LSR rank: 64
Longhorn connection: Moore wasn’t on the Texas radar.
Snap judgments: Clearly, one of the most underrated players in the entire class, Moore flew under the radar at a position in a way that should probably be impossible for a 6-6, 230-pound prep player to do.
7. Darryl Williams/Offensive tackle/Oklahoma (Lake Dallas)
National ranking: 5.8 Four-star
Rivals state rank: 40
LSR rank: 20
Longhorn connection: Williams was one of a small handful of players that I openly questioned why the Longhorns weren’t taking a more serious look at, but this future fourth-round pick in the NFL didn’t so much as garner a sniff from Texas.
Snap judgments: One of my best calls in this class, as I had him rated as a top 25 prospect when most didn’t even know who he was when he first popped up on the recruiting scene.
8. Lache Seastrunk/Running back/Oregon (Temple)
National ranking: 6.1 Five-star
Rivals state rank: 2
LSR rank: 6
Longhorn connection: Hello, Will Lyles!
Snap judgments: Although he was all but ignored by the NFL ranks when he declared early for the draft, he still proved to be the best offensive skill player in the entire class.
9. Josh Huff/Running back/Oregon (Aldine Nimitz)
National ranking: 5.8 Four-star
Rivals state rank: 42
LSR rank: 36
Longhorn connection: Another player that I publicly declared that the Longhorns needed to recruit with rigor, but Huff slipped away to the West Coast without the Longhorns so much as getting into the game.
Snap judgments: In hindsight, offering Huff would have been a better move for Mack Brown than offering Traylon Shead as the only running back in the entire class.
10. Corey Nelson/Linebacker/Oklahoma (Dallas Skyline)
National ranking: 5.8 Four-star
Rivals state rank: 23
LSR rank: 9
Longhorn connection: The Longhorns were not a factor in Nelson's recruitment by the time he made his decision.
Snap judgments: When it was all said and done, Nelson proved to be one of the top defensive players in this class.
The Next 15
11. Mitch Morse/Offensive lineman/Missouri (Austin St. Michael's)
National ranking: 5.7 Three-star, Rivals state rank: NR, LSR rank: NR
12. Cameron Fleming/Offensive Lineman/Stanford (Houston Cy Creek)
National ranking: 5.7 Three-star, Rivals state rank: 78, LSR rank: NR
13. Ahmad Dixon/Defensive back/Baylor (Waco MIdway)
National ranking: 5.9 Four-star, Rivals state rank: 18, LSR rank: 16
14. Crockett Gilmore/Tight End/Colorado State (Bushland)
National ranking: 5.5 Three-star, Rivals state rank: NR, LSR rank: NR
15. Marqueston Huff/Defensive Back/Wyoming (Texarkana Liberty-Eylau
National ranking: 5.5 Three-star, Rivals state rank: NR, LSR rank: NR
16. Tyrus Thompson/Offensive lineman/Oklahoma (Pflugerville)
National ranking: 5.8 Four-star, Rivals state rank: 24, LSR rank: 45
17. Marcus Murphy/Running back/Missouri (DeSoto)
National ranking: 5.7 Three-star, Rivals state rank: 55, LSR rank: 32
18. Carrington Byndom/Defensive back/Texas (Lufkin)
National ranking: 5.8 Four-star, Rivals state rank: 29, LSR rank: 18
19. Bud Sasser/WR/Missouri (Denton Ryan)
National ranking: 5.7 Three-star, Rivals state rank: 71, LSR rank: 47
20. Ryan Russell/Defensive Lineman/Purdue (Carrollton Creekview)
National ranking: 5.4 Two-star, Rivals state rank: NR, LSR rank: NR
21. Antwan Goodley/Wide receiver/Baylor (Midland)
National ranking: 5.6 Three-star, Rivals state rank: NR, LSR rank: NR
22. Mike Davis/Wide receiver/Texas (Dallas Skyline)
National ranking: 6.0 Four-star, Rivals state rank: 4, LSR rank: 3
23. Tayo Fabuluje/Offensive lineman/BYU (Arlington Oakridge)
National ranking: 5.6 Three-star, Rivals state rank: NR, LSR rank: NR
24. Bryce Hager/Linebacker/Baylor (Austin Westlake)
National ranking: 5.3 Two-star, Rivals state rank: NR, LSR rank: NR
25. James Franklin/Quarterback/Missouri (Lake Dallas)
National ranking: 5.8 Four-star, Rivals state rank: 20, LSR rank: 39
No. 3 – Duck! Joe Wickline has a shotgun!
With the offer handed out to Arlington Bowie’s Tope Imade, the Texas Longhorns have offered 11 different offensive lineman from the state of Texas, which would appear to be a pretty staggering number when you consider that we’re still 8+ months away from signing day.
In the history of the Rivals.com database (going back to the Class of 2002), not only did the Longhorns fail to offer that large of a number while Mack Brown was coaching in Austin, you can’t find a two-year window where that many offers went out among in-state offensive linemen.
The only year where at least 11 offers went out to in-state offensive linemen?
If you guessed the Class of 2015 with 11 offers, give yourself a gold star!
That’s right … in Texas offensive line coach Joe Wickline’s first 16 months on the job, he’s handed out a whopping 22 offers to in-state offensive line prospects. Or as Mack would call it, every offer the Longhorns made in five recruiting classes from 2009-2013.
If Mack treated an offer like a golden ticket to the Chocolate Factory, Wickline treats them like business cards given out at a night of speed dating. Of course, perhaps it only seems like a night of speed dating because so many of those 11 offers have already committed to other schools.
Only four of the 11 remain on the board at this point: four-star tackle Jean Delance (North Mesquite), three-star Kellen Diesch (Bryon Nelson), three-star Denzel Okafor (Lewisville) and three-star Tope Imade (Arlington Bowie). Of that group, I’m not sure the Longhorns are a leader with any of them, unless the recent offer to Imade blew him away to the point that he’s immediately bleeding a little orange.
Considering the way things went with the offensive line under Brown, any kind of new approach would be better than the old approach, but there’s no getting around the fact that offering 11 kids this early means that you’re missing out on some more coveted prospects.
Overall In-state Offensive Line Offers (2002-15)
2002: 4
2003: 3
2004: 3
2005: 5
2006: 4
2007: 6
2008: 4
2009: 4
2010: 3
2011: 6
2012: 3
2013: 4
2014: 5
2015: 12
No. 4 – Scattershooting on the Longhorns …
… One of these days the Longhorns are going to offer Euless Trinity defensive tackle Chris Daniels and I’m not sure why they won’t just go ahead and get it out of the way. Outside of
Fort Worth All Saints’ Michael Williams, Daniels is the only uncommitted national interior prospect left in the state.
… Speaking of 2016 defensive tackles, if you’re Texas, just keep recruiting the hell out of Kendell Jones and hope that over the course of the next eight months, a crack in the Alabama foundation takes hold, so that you can slide in and attempt to make your move.
… Man, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I want to see what redshirt freshman defensive end Derick Roberson can do off the edge. Get healthy and stay healthy, kid.
… Longhorn Tweet of the Weekend
No. 5 – Buy or Sell …
BUY or SELL: Between Shawn Watson and Joe Wickline, at least out of those two will not return in 2016?
(Buy) Understand that I don’t have anyone specific in mind, but I’m just not convinced that this offense is going to take major steps forward this season and with both coaches on the back end of two-year deals, I can definitely see some turnover when the season ends.
BUY or SELL: Texas finishes with a higher ranked recruiting class than last year?
(Sell) Officially, Texas finished 12th last season according to the Rivals.com team rankings and while I think it will be extremely close, I think the Longhorns finish somewhere in the 13th-15th range. The issue is whether the Longhorns are going to close exactly the same way after what might be another tough season, and I’m not so willing to assume that they will close as strong.
BUY or SELL: The incoming freshman class accounts for 50 or more combined starts in 2015?
(Buy) It’s possible that Connor Williams and Malik Jefferson could combine for 25 or so between the two of them. It will be raining young players by the end of this season.
BUY or SELL: Shaka Smart has more wins at Texas next year than Barnes at Tennessee?
(Buy) Texas was a 20-win team a season ago under Barnes and I expect this year’s team to be better. I’m not sure Barnes is getting to 24-25 wins in his first season in Knoxville.
BUY or SELL: Texas' defense finishes top 3 in big 12 and or top 10 in nation?
(Sell) Top three in the Big 12? Sure. That doesn’t sound impossible. Top 10 in the nation? The Longhorns ranked No. 25 in total defense at the end of the season, while ranking first in the Big 12. This year’s defense isn’t going to be as good as last year’s group, so set your expectations realistically if possible.
BUY or SELL: Texas wins commitments from 5 or more OOS recruits?
(Buy) Charlie Strong wants to build this class with a huge Texas foundation, but when doors start closing, I think he’s going to go where he knows his safety zone is and that’s South Florida.
BUY or SELL: This board is more negative than it has ever been?
(Sell) That’s one of the craziest things anyone has suggested to me in a while. It’s like you’ve already forgotten the Red Banquet.
BUY or SELL: Ramsay gets justice?
(Sell) I’m not sure there’s enough justice in the world for Game of Thrones’ most hated remaining character, but he’s expendable with Roose Bolton set to have another boy. Unless Ramsay kills the baby (not out of the realm of possibilities), I think Roose will eventually betray his own son. I cannot decide how I want Ramsey taken out, but I’m kind of hoping that Brienne of Tarth takes his head off.
No. 6 – The hottest recruiting school in Texas right now is … Houston?
As the calendar prepares to flip from May to June, here’s a stunning little 2016 recruiting note:
The University of Texas and The University of Houston both have the same number of commitments off of the 2016 Lone Star Recruiting list with three, and only one of those schools has received a commitment from a five-star in-state prospect in the last few days.
It’s Houston.
New head coach Tom Herman has put together a staff of recruiters with Texas roots and he’s selling the kind of message that’s working with top prospects in ways I’ve never seen in covering the process in the state for 20 years. Understand that Art Briles didn’t accomplish this. Neither did Kevin Sumlin.
Ultimately, I don’t believe Houston is going to hold on to five-star Ed Oliver once he starts taking visits in the fall and he’s able to compare apples to apples, but Herman has my attention.
A year ago, he was the fan’s favorite to emerge as offensive coordinator under Charlie Strong
and Herman definitely had an interest, but I think all of those that had a man-crush on Herman going into the 2014 season might have underrated his overall abilities. This is a guy with the rep of being a quarterback whisperer and he has mad head coach recruiting skills to boot?
Oh man, one of the reasons Herman won’t land many big-time recruits in his tenure is that he seems potentially destined for bigger and better things … probably before Oliver’s senior year in college.
No. 7 – Houston, we have a problem ...
Lost amid all of the awe inspired by the incredible play by James Harden in the first two games of the NBA Western Conference Finals was the fact that Golden State had built a 2-0 lead in the series without having played a complete game or without receiving a third-team All-NBA performance from Klay Thompson.
As well as Harden had played, eventually he was going to come back to earth (if even slightly) and if it occurred on a night when the Warriors finally put it all together, the Rockets were in big trouble.
Game Three: Golden State 115 Houston 80
Just like that, this series is over, although I’ll forever contend that the series ended after game two when all of the Harden heroics in the world couldn’t get the Rockets a win. It’s a rare team that wins an NBA championship without a few playoff burns on its collective skin before being able to achieve the pinnacle and this series will serve as a harsh third-degree variety burn going into the off-season.
Fight until the end, add a piece or two and make another run. That’s the name of the game of the NBA and it’s the only choice the Rockets really have at this point.
The last step is always the hardest
No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
… Obviously, K.D. has glaucoma.
… Post-UFC187 Scattershots
a. It’s time everyone starts to give Chris Weidman some damn respect. Always seemingly left off the best pound-for-pound discussion, the 30-year old from New York destroyed Vitor Belfort with a 41-1 ground punch assault. After withstanding Belfort’s fury, Weidman took the Brazilian
to the ground and went to hard-core work on him. He’s two more wins away from basically clearing out that division.
b. If you missed my interview with Weidman this week on YSR, I was able to convince him that I'm a wizard, while he confessed he had to give up Brazil this week in his FIFA video game during a fight week against Belfort.
c. Luke Rockhold, you’re next.
d. I kind of fell for fool’s gold in Rumble Johnson because once that fight went past the first round, he didn’t have a chance of surviving with a guy like Daniel Cormier, who can go all 25 minutes with relative ease. As for Cormier, I was as impressed with this performance as any he’s had in the UFC and it will be fascinating to see where he goes next because there’s no assurance that Jon Jones will fight again any time soon. If trash-talking Ryan Bader is delivered to him on a platter, Cormier will destroy him.
e. Cormier’s calling out of Jon Jones when he’s on suspension and four months after he was throttled by the real champ was more than a little weak. I don’t remember Cormier doing much other than crying in the locker room the last time those two met in the Octagon. The only thing more ridiculous than the calling out of Jones by Cormier was Rumble Johnson telling people to never quit a mere moment after he had quit in the match.
f. If I go through my entire life without ever being kicked by Cowboy Cerrone, I’ll be just fine.
g. Pound-for-pound, that was one of the best UFC cards in the last few years. More of that, Dana.
… Roger Staubach is and forever will be a hero of mine. His comments about Greg Hardy this weekend needed to be said, and that they came from Mr. Grace and Class man them that much more impactful.
… I’m not even going to recognize that Liverpool had a game this week to end the EPL season. If I recognize that humiliation, I’m only going to get disgusted.
… Here’s to a second James DeGale/Andre Dirrell fight before the end of the year. Man, throw away the Floyd/Manny fight in the first weekend of this month and it’s been quite a month of May in boxing.
… From the Department of WTF: Former National League MVP Ryan Howard is hitting .303 (33-for-109) with 7 doubles, a triple, 10 home runs, 21 RBI and a 1.011 OPS in 30 games since April 20 (stats courtesy of @ToddZolecki). I don’t know if he’s juicing, but if he is … I’m fully supportive.
… The Eastern Conference in the NBA is an abomination.
… J.J. Watt can stop showing me his bruises on social media. I’m good.
… Sorry racing, I didn’t have time for you this weekend.
No. 9 – Game of Thrones Season Five - Episode 7 randomness
******* WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD ***********
******* WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD ***********
******* WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD ***********
******* LAST CHANCE TO TURN AWAY ***********
RAMSEY MUST PAY! RAMSEY MUST PAY! RAMSEY MUST PAY! RAMSEY MUST PAY!
a. Crap, Bronn is going to die because of that cut. Damn, damn, damn... they wouldn't show that on the rewind unless it was going to end up mattering. RIP, Bronn.
b. Sam better hope Jon never dies and pulls this stunt off with the Wildlings because the rest of the boys on the wall are going to go after him like it's Lord of the Flies if they get a chance.
c. Good grief, Sansa looks lioke she's spent a week with Greg Hardy. She wants no part of this game after this honeymoon at home.
d. Damn, goodbye sweet Targaryen. This world needed more men like you.
e. Winter is no longer coming, it has arrived. Is this going to be Stannis' Waterloo?
f. Sansa knows how to get under Ramsay's skin. Just play the bastard card.
g. Damn, Theon, damn.
h. If this episode ends with Stannis' daughter burning in flames, I'm going to need a hug.
i. Sam can't fight, but he is a gangster. Rumble Johnson didn't have that much fight in him this weekend. He was about to handle some business before Ghost came in. On the other hand, Ghost is a hell of a final friend to have on your side. Who wants some?
j. SAM AND GILLY GOT BUSY!
OH MY!
k. Tyrion kicked that dude's ass. This has the makings of an all-time episode.
l. Now Dany is having sex! Man, everyone is getting some tonight.
m. One person not getting laid in this episode is Tommen. Hope he enjoyed it while it lasted.
n. OK, the Sand Snakes storyline just went up 10-fold in my book. Time to search the Internet when this episode concludes.
o. The winner of the Gladiator Games will see the Queen? Oh, hell. Jorah is about to let it all hang out.
p. Oh, &^%$ just got real. Tyrion, Jorah and Dany all together in Mereen.
q. You could see this Cersei situatiomn unfolding a mile away. What happens to her has already been revealed earlier in this season if you were paying attention... at least that's what I think. I don't know.
******* END OF SPOILERS ***********
******* END OF SPOILERS ***********
******* END OF SPOILERS ***********
No.10 - And Finally...
True story: Many years ago when I was in college, I took a date to a B.B. King show in Austin and while we were watching Jimmie Vaughan open up, my date turned to me with a question.
“Who are we seeing again?” she asked.
“B.B. King,” I replied with concern.
“If he doesn’t sing anything I know, I probably won’t like this,” she confessed.
Yeah, the date was pretty much over at that exact moment.
Let’s get on with the list ...
10. How Blue Can You Get?
B.B. is short for “Blues Boy”.
9. To Know You Is To Love You
He was enlisted in the US Army in 1943, but didn’t fight in World War II because he knew how to drive a tractor and that skill was needed back home.
8. You Upset Me, Baby
Legend has it that the first “Lucille” was named after he left his guitar in a burning dance hall in Arkansas and risked his life to go back inside to get it. Apparently, Lucille was the name of the woman that inspired a fight that led to the burning dance hall.
7. Why I Sing the Blues
Must-watch video here, as Stevie and Clapton get on stage with B.B.
6. Chains and Things
Was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
5. Every Day I Have the Blues
King was once awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush.
4. Don’t Answer the Door
King won a total of 15 Grammys.
3. Three O’Clock Blues
His first hit song back in 1951.
2. Sweet 16
His first name is Riley.
1. The Thrill is Gone
I’m not saying that this had to be the No.1 song, but it kind of felt like it.
