ADVERTISEMENT

Soul of the Republican Party

House Speaker Dade Phelan had the good judgment to impeach Ken Paxton- whose morals are.... questionable at best. But Ken Paxton is a spineless MAGA sycophant and therefore can do no wrong. So MAGA, through its other sycophant Dan Patrick, fixes the Senate impeachment trial and leaves Paxton in office. Now Paxton and Patrick have taken over the State Republican party and voted to censure Phelan for daring to challenge MAGA trash.

Login to view embedded media
Never mind that the Texas House overwhelmingly voted to impeach Paxton- Phelan must be punished and every person who voted for the impeachment must be challenged in the primary.

Unfortunately the Democrat detractors have been correct: MAGA will poison and take over the Republican party.

Vote in the primary AGAINST the MAGA challengers before it is too late.

In my district north of Austin it is veteran and incumbent Terry Wilson who needs your support.

When accepted ideas turn out not to be factual

Snippets from an interesting article in the The Economist about DNA discoveries disproving the myth of Appalachian inbreeding.

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/02/15/cousin-marriage-is-probably-fine-in-most-cases
My ex wife worked for a while as a foster care worker which means she was a CPS investigator. She told the story of how ‘CPS had broken the Appalachian incest culture’ by ‘taking endangered children out of homes.’
It was known for decades that the Appalachian culture was inbreeding because of all the birth defects that were in the culture that turned out to be… bad nutrition. Which was why the DOD introduced the School Lunch Program back in the late 1940s to cut down on the rate of unfit military service 4F codes due to childhood nutrition deficiencies discovered during WW2.
With DNA, we can peer into the past of the Appalachian culture and show that those toothless (from poor nutrition) rednecks were not actually sleeping with their daughters. DNA shows no higher rate of actual incest in traditional Appalachian culture than in the general background of the US. I won’t mention where the highest is found. Take a guess.

images

Financial Advice

Hey OBs! I am looking for some financial advice / recommendations from the smarter than me folks here (everyone).

I am a retired Soldier (2021), as is my wife (2020). We did just fine financially while active duty. Now that we both are retired and receiving retirement checks AND working new careers, we find ourselves making significantly more than we used to. I think one of the effects of this is we now pay quite a bit when I do our taxes around this time. Last year and looks like this year, we have to pay around 14-15K. This is quite a contrast to what our taxes looked like while active duty.

I was just doing our taxes using turbo tax and decided to stop and maybe seek out a professional financial investor or something like that. Maybe to go over our / do our taxes this year to make sure I am doing it right (fairly confident I am) but more so on how to manage our money better. But I have no idea who / what to seek advice from.

Do any of you all kinda understand what I am saying and have recommendations of a company or advisor to meet with?

tldr: financial dummy needs financial advisor

Thank for any advice!

Where will the Longhorns land in the 2024 NFL Draft?

Since 2021, there have been 10 Longhorns drafted into the NFL, and there is an opportunity for 10 to be drafted this year alone. Eleven Longhorns have been invited to the upcoming NFL combine, so let’s break down how many will be drafted in April and when. We will explore why each player landed where he did in my latest 4-Round NFL Mock Draft and what they bring to their respective NFL franchise.


No. 18 – New Orleans Saints via CIN –Byron Murphy II, DL – Texas

Comparable Player: Geno Atkins, Cincinnati Bengals 4th Round Pick in 2010

Report: Leading the Power Five in pass rush win rate at 19.6% is easy to hear, but if you ask any offensive lineman (aside from Jarrod Hufford before the Iowa State game), they will tell you that they feel that number every week. Despite Byron Murphy’s elite strength, he has room to grow in pass rush creation, a daunting idea for an already dominant user of hands and leverage. His foot speed agility is consistently in conjunction with his hands. Being lined up near the ball, I would expect Murphy’s speed off the snap to be a bit quicker.

Projection: As it stands today before the NFL Combine, Murphy is the only Texas Longhorn that feels like a guaranteed first-round draft pick. Although there are no guarantees in the NFL Draft, we can begin looking at landing spots with Minnesota at #11, Las Vegas at #13, and New Orleans at #14. Since 2014 when Aaron Donald was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams at #13 overall, there have been few instances in which a defensive tackle of Murphy's stature has been drafted inside the top 20. This includes Ed Oliver by the Bills in 2019 and Calijah Kancey by Tampa Bay in 2023.

NFL Combine Expectations: Murphy is currently training at Trench Warfare with T’Vondre Sweat. In previous years, Coach Tucker and his staff helped prepare number one overall pick Travon Walker for the NFL Combine as well as former Texas Longhorns Poona Ford and Charles Ominahu. It is called the Underwear Olympics for a reason. To garner comparisons like Oliver and Kancey, Murphy needs to run in the 4.80 range and aim towards a 7.00 three-cone shuttle, which are two things that can separate him from the pack. In Bruce Feldman’s 2023 “Freaks List,” he reported Murphy hitting 18mph and being shut down after an easy 375-lb power clean. His strength and power are not in question, but teams will want to see it translate to speed and agility next week in Indianapolis.

Screenshot-2024-02-17-at-5.20.58 PM.png

Past 1st-Round NFL Draft Prospects vs. 2024 NFL Draft Prospects

No. 23 – Houston Texans via CLE – T’Vondre Sweat, DT – Texas

Comparable Player: Vita Vea, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1st Round Pick in 2018

Report: Edge rushers are known for using a speed-to-power pass-rushing concept. For T’Vondre Sweat, his power-to-speed fluidity on the interior is his best trait. His strength in the run game to hold ground while bursting upfield to the ball carrier is rarely seen in prospects of his stature. As a dominant run defender, Sweat has the speed to defeat reach blocks on zone runs while exhibiting a strong bull rush with effective creativity on both run and passing downs.

Projection: Jordan Davis ran a freakish 4.78 40-yard dash at 341 pounds and was drafted 13th overall. Vita Vea was top-10 in the country in both quarterback pressures and run stop rate, and he was drafted 12th overall at 347 pounds. Sweat may not run a 4.80 40-yard dash, however, he did finish top-10 this year in quarterback pressures and run stop rate. Jacksonville at #17 overall is where the T’Vondre Sweat door should begin to shine a light. Based on conversations with two scouts at the Senior Bowl, the likelihood that Sweat will fall past the New Orleans pick in Round 2 is near zero.

NFL Combine Expectations: Getting on the scale is job number one for Sweat in Indianapolis. After not weighing in at the Senior Bowl in January, rumors started swirling that his weight may be an issue and he ballooned up over 380 lbs. Teams that are interested in Sweat have been in contact with Longhorns staff and have insights into his playing weight, habits, and care for staying “in shape.” Showing up in Indianapolis around 355-365 lbs. may silence the media and eliminate a talking point against Sweat as the draft approaches. The most recent first-round pick to weigh in over 360 pounds was Mekhi Becton who was drafted by the New York Jets in 2020, and his 40-yard dash was 5.10 seconds.

2023 DL Snap Share/Snaps per Disruption, per Alex Dunlaps Deep Dig (Since 2015 - 165 qualifiers)

2023 DL Snap Share/Snaps per Disruption, per Alex Dunlaps Deep Dig (Since 2015 - 165



No. 46 – Indianapolis Colts – Xavier Worthy, WR – Texas

Comparable Player: Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions 1st Round Pick in 2022

Report: From running 10.55 in the 100m as a sophomore in high school to entering college as a prolific burner, Xavier Worthy’s long speed is at the top of the 2024 draft class along with Troy Franklin from Oregon. His strength makes him a deceptive creator, as he racked up 1,421 yards after the catch in just three seasons, which comprises 51.6% of his total receiving yardage. Like Houston rookie wide receiver Tank Dell, Worthy “skates” through coverage with an uncanny flow. At times, Worthy struggles with concentration drops. He finished his career with 15 drops, which is the same as LSU superstar Malik Nabers.

Projection: After a dominant first year at Texas, most of the NFL Draft media pegged Worthy as the number two receiver in the 2024 NFL Draft class right behind Ohio State superstar Marvin Harrison Jr. As with any prolonged exposure to prospects, people tend to find holes in a player's game. The issue with Worthy is that his frame and injury history raise a red flag for longevity and availability in the NFL. Worthy earned a 1st Round grade as my WR5 in the class.

NFL Combine Expectations: While the conversation about the “fastest man” at the NFL Combine heats up, Texas fans know far too well what Worthy brings to the table. There are reports of him being clocked at 4.29 during college, and if he hits that number, he will be in the same conversation as Henry Ruggs and Marquise Goodwin, who both ran 4.27 in their respective years. The gauntlet drill on Saturday serves as one last opportunity for Worthy to prove to teams that he is more than a one-trick pony. He is smooth and under control at the catch point with patience and quickness to stay en route throughout.


No. 48 – Jacksonville Jaguars – Adonai Mitchell, WR – Texas

Comparable Player: George Pickens, Pittsburgh Steelers 2nd Round Pick in 2022

Report: Adonai Mitchell is just as dependable as the other side of the pillow is cool, as he finished with 55 catches in 2023 with 45 being first downs or touchdowns. His twitch and foot speed adjustment at the top of routes allow him to overtake most defenders while in man coverage. Over the past two seasons, Mitchell has just one registered drop on 103 targets.

Projection: My first exposure to Adonai Mitchell was after his freshman season at Georgia. At the 2022 Georgia Pro Day, his teammate George Pickens proclaimed, “AD is next. Some stuff you just can't coach. He has the mindset, the routes, and the speed.” Fast-forward two seasons and Mitchell has grown into a dependable red zone target while having a more polished route tree than Pickens did coming out in 2022. Mitchell is my WR7 in the class with an early 2nd-round grade.

NFL Combine Expectations: Mitchell has less to worry about at the NFL Combine from a measurables and testing point of view. His game is not built around speed, but consistency and dependability. I expect him to run in the 4.49-4.50 area while making waves in the route running portion of drills.



No. 53 – Miami Dolphins – Jatavion Sanders, TE – Texas

Comparable Player: Owen Daniels, Houston Texans 4th Round Pick in 2006

Report: Jatavion Sanders was able to double down on a strong Sophomore season at Texas, improving his big-play ability by vaulting up 3.8 yards per reception and 1.6 yards per target. Despite his graceful route running and tenacity after the catch (2nd in the Power Five), Sanders could use some tool sharpening in the run-blocking department.

Projection: I have Sanders graded as my TE2 in the 2024 draft class with an early 3rd round grade. There is a large tier drop between him and TE3, which has the potential to force another team’s hand early in the second round. With an impressive showing in Indianapolis, it would be reasonable to begin hearing his name mentioned around pick No. 34 with the New England Patriots through pick No. 72 with the New York Jets.

NFL Combine Expectations: The tight end position has been undervalued in the NFL Draft over the last 10 seasons, so the likelihood of Sanders jumping into the 1st round is slim. However, the strength of the 2024 tight-end class is size rather than speed, and if Sanders can run sub-4.5 in the 40-yard dash, conversations will heat up quickly.

2024 Target Share Leaders, per Alex Dunlaps Deep Dig

2024 Target Share Leaders, per Alex Dunlaps Deep Dig


No. 59 – Houston Texans – Jonathon Brooks, RB – Texas

Comparable Player: Tony Pollard, Dallas Cowboys 4th Round Pick in 2019

Report: Finishing 3rd in the 2024 draft class with 3.91 yards after contact per attempt, Jonathon Brooks burst onto the field following the departure of Bijan Robinson. Robinson led the 2023 class with 4.17 yards after contact per attempt and was drafted eighth overall by the Falcons. Brooks runs with a patience that is often unteachable and can burst through the hole or bend the edge. Brooks will need to improve his pad level in the NFL, as he currently exhibits a healthy amount of surface area.

Projection: Before his mid-season leg injury, the assumed Doak Walker award winner was projected to begin the draft process as the consensus RB1. I moved him down the board due to his injury, but not by far. Brooks sits at RB2 with an early 3rd round draft grade. I expect up to six running backs to be drafted on day two, the same number as in 2022 when there was no first-rounder in the group.

NFL Combine Expectations: I have limited expectations from Jonathon Brooks as he recovers from a torn ACL on November 11th against TCU, as he is 3 months into an estimated 6- to 8-month recovery.


No. 103 – Carolina Panthers via WAS – Christian Jones, OT – Texas

Comparable Player: Trey Pipkins III, Los Angeles Chargers 3rd Round Pick in 2019

Report: Christian Jones showed great physicality and finishing power in the run game against top talents from Alabama and Washington. I caught up with Jones at the Senior Bowl last month and asked him what part of his game needed the most work. He responded, “My hand placement in situations during pass pro – I tend to get a little wide. I'd like to be a better student of the game, understanding tendencies from d-linemen. You can always become a better student of the game.”

Projection: This year is regarded as the “draft of the decade” for offensive tackle depth, and Jones finds himself at the backend of the 2nd tier among the consensus. I have him as the fifth overall right tackle and 10th overall graded tackle in the class. With a 5th-round grade, I predict Jones to be drafted late on day two or in the early portion of the 4th round due to positional importance.

NFL Combine Expectations: Because the pads came off after the Senior Bowl, the best that Christian Jones can do is put his best foot forward in interviews and show his flexibility and movement skills in open-field drills alongside the best players at his position.

Texas BASEBALL - Demolition Derby on Tuesday Night

Final Score:
Texas - 20
Houston Christian - 3


Winning pitcher: Easton Tumis (1-0)
Losing pitcher: Ty Dagley (0-1)
BOX SCORE


RECAP:
For the 4th game in a row, the Horns fell behind early. On a night when the Horns collected 24 hits, 10 of which were extra base hits, it did not matter. The Horns scored early and often only failing to put up a crooked number in the 1st and 4th innings. Needless to say, the Horns had a good night at the plate and due to the fact that Coach Pierce hates the run rule and he wanted to get more at-bats for his young guys, they played all 9 innings.


Retaliate The Godfather GIF



Login to view embedded media

BIG MOMENT:

There were a lot of plays that could qualify as a big moment, so lets shine the light on two freshman from Cali. The first is Will Gasparino who hit the RBI single to left field to give the Horns a 2-1 lead, which they never looked back from. The other fun moment was fellow freshman Casey Borba smacking an absolute bomba to LF, racking up his first hit, RBI, and home run at Texas.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE:

While there were a lot of solid performances tonight, the one that stands out the most is by Rylan Galvan. The sophomore catcher went 4-5 and was a triple short of the cycle, a feat not accomplished at Texas since back in 2015 by CJ Hinojosa. Coming out of high school, we all knew that Cuda could hit and he showed out tonight. Hope to see many more performances like that from him in the future.

Login to view embedded media

TAKEAWAYS:

Overall, a really nice performance from the Horns that allowed them to use a ton of players and saw guys get going offensively and give extended looks at some young arms like Tumis and Hamilton.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

UP NEXT:
February 23-25
Opponent: Cal Poly

KC Chiefs Shooting at Parade



Can't even celebrate without someone shooting people. It's sad we have all this violence in society.

Tommy Delatour, mid-1970s Basketball Player Has Passed

I noticed his obituary while reading the obits in the Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024, New York Times. You've probably seen the small photos that are included in some of these, and for some reason his caught my attention. I did not remember him although I went to a lot of games at Gregory Gym back in the day. He is referenced on three pages in "Longhorn Hoops: The History of Texas Basketball" by Richard Pennington. According to the obit, Tom earned an accounting degree from Texas and worked for Peat Marwick Mitchell and Company, Lincoln Property, and others. He is survived by his wife Grace Fan Delatour.

Perhaps some of my fellow olds can add a comment or two.

Where do you rank Derrick Johnson……

Where would you rank DJ in the lineage of Longhorn linebackers? Bronko Nagurski and Butkus Award winner. Unanimous 1st Team LB. Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. The 15th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. University of Texas all-time leader in TFL. As well as interceptions for a LB. And several other awards. Personally I have him No.1. No disrespect at all to Hegar, Leiding, Nobis, Hicks, Jefferson, or Ford.

Today's Gift (2-21)

The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice...Your integrity is your destiny.
~~~~~~ Heraclitus (Old Greek dude)

We have no choice but to love the imagery of our souls being dyed the color of our thoughts, even as we watch the vessel of our character being filled with our choices.

In the past few months, some of my lawyer buddies in New Mexico have been involved in a nasty piece of litigation. We'll call one of 'em Tom (which is handy, since that's his real name). One of the big issues revolved around some communication between Tom's client and one of the other parties in the case. In taking the deposition testimony of these two guys, a question arose about whether they had exchanged any text messages. The first guy said there weren't any, but as Tom's client began to answer these same questions, Tom got a funny feeling. He asked for a recess, and left with his client. They returned in a few minutes with a stack of printed pages that contained...yep, text messages. Tom told the group that he had "just now learned of these" as he distributed them to the group.

With some lawyers, your immediate response might be "Yeah right, you just now learned all this, after two years." But the person telling me this story said, almost as an afterthought, "You know how it is with Tom, he's so honest, nobody even questioned it. They just started reading."

I don't know about you, but I want to be more like Tom. I pray it's not too late.

Blessings my friends; may joy fill your day.
NT
Proverbs 12:22
Dedicated to Allen Jones, who rejoiced in his redemption as he learned again the beauty of integrity.

Postgame Recap: Texas vs Kansas State (Just Keep Winning...)

Man what a difficult game to watch, but the Longhorns come away with a victory by a score of 62-56.

Kansas State came marching into the Moody center at 15-10 led by the trio of Cam Carter, Tylor Perry, and Arthur Kaluma. If I told you that Texas held them to a combined 12-40 you would've thought the Horns won convincingly. In the words of Lee Corso....

college gameday sport GIF


The first half was an absolute snooze fest as the Longhorns really struggled to get anything going offensively after the first five minutes.

The positive is that Dylan Mitchell and Dylan Disu set the tone early, and were playing with a ton of energy on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. The duo finished the first half with a combined 14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks. If Texas can get this kind of production from the Double D’s (haha) through two halves, the Horns will be in good shape.

After the 16:00 minute mark this game was ground to an excruciating halt. In a game where the Longhorns played with fanatical energy and effort, the offensive execution continues to be a real struggle as Texas went a combined 2-12 from three. The Longhorns need to find a way to right these shooting woes or they are most certainly going to drop a game or two down the final stretch of Big 12 play. Still, Texas was +1 in the rebounding battle and +3 in the turnover margin. That’ll work.

Texas opened the second half with a set to get Abmas a nice look and an easy bucket, but there is a conversation to be had about his efficiency.

Last night he eclipsed the historic 3000 point mark for his collegiate career and counting, but man is he struggling. Over the last 7 games, he is shooting a combined 30-89 (33%) from the field, and 12-47 (25%) from beyond the arc. Texas absolutely needs more from Abmas going into March.

Texas was finally able to get something going here after back to back made field goals from Abmas and Horton to put the Horns up 38-31 with 12:58 to go in the 2nd half. From there it really felt like Texas put a strangle hold on this game, even though Kansas State tried to make things interesting down the stretch.

While the game wasn’t pretty, Texas moves to 17-9 with a must-win at home, and 6-7 in conference play with March still squarely in the crosshairs.

The MVP for the game was Dylan Disu who finished with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and a block, while going 10-11 from the free throw line. Disu continues to play fantastic basketball and there is no telling where this team would be without him.

Next up for the Longhorns is a date at with the #9 Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse, who are coming off a 67-57 win over Oklahoma.

That game will be on Saturday, February 24th at 5pm CT.


More basketball content to come!

OT: Need some help regarding building a home

Here is the situation: building a home on land that I am purchasing, its in a smaller development with the main requirement being its at least 2400 sqft.
While I have built before it was a spec home that was mostly completed. We will purchase the land( just over an acre) with cash and finance the build.
here is the ask-
1 -any insight into suggestions regarding any financing we might do aside from the standard?
2- list of items to be mindful of to control cost
3 any items to consider for the build that you have seen recently which seem like great ideas( layout, functionality)- we have a list but I figured it can't hurt to ask.

We are located in central Missouri, which I think would be outside the range of any builders who might be on the site. As a side note, I spent some of my formative years working with my uncle's construction Co framing houses so I have some knowledge of construction albeit decades out of date.

for your troubles


Sexy Hot Girl GIF





hot girl GIF
ADVERTISEMENT

Filter

ADVERTISEMENT