OPENING DAY IS UPON US!


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Finally, we have college baseball again. It has been a long haul since the end of the College World Series, culminating in LSU Tigers winning their 7th national championship. 243 days since fans last saw the Longhorns in action out in Palo Alto, their season crashing down in heart breaking fashion.

All that is over now as the 2024 season is here and once again we can all commune together at Disch-Falk Field! First up, the Toreros of San Diego. The Longhorns will look to kick off their 8 game home stand and season with a win.

In case you missed it, here is the weekend preview - San Diego Preview

So whether you are hanging out in Left Field with the gang, chillin' in the newly created Yeti Yard under in the stands - let us rejoice that baseball is back and buckle up for what I am sure will be another fun ride.

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Matchup:
Date: Feb 16-18
Time: Friday at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 2:30 p.m.; Sunday at 1 p.m.
Location: Disch-Falk Field (Austin, Texas)
TV: LHN
Radio: AM-1300 The Zone


Record:
Texas Longhorns: 0-0 (0-0 Big 12)
San Diego Toreros: 0-0 (0-0 WCC)


Pitching Matchups:

• Friday - Texas RHP Lebarron Johnson Jr v. San Diego RHP Josh Randall (Arizona transfer)

Starting Lineups and all the game action to follow!

Anyone drive these small trucks?? What are the pros and cons?

Good show today. I hope you guys enjoy.

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From the Austin paper:
When Texas heads to the Southeastern Conference, what will happen to the Longhorn Network and all of the content that the television station has produced over the years?

At Wednesday's Texas Athletics Town Hall, UT athletics director Chris Del Conte answered that question. Del Conte noted that LHN will be folded into the SEC Network once Texas switches conferences this summer.

As for what LHN has produced since it first went on the air in 2011, Del Conte said that Texas owns "our catalog for the last 13, 14 years of everything that's ever been on the Longhorn Network." Del Conte shared that Texas will create a channel on a platform like YouTube to store all of that content.

"We're gonna have shoulder programming around games, we're gonna still do a lot of things that we're going to do," Del Conte said. "We're also going to have all our great moments that were on Longhorn Network be a part of that. So that'll be rolling out in early June," said Del Conte, who said this new venture will retain the Longhorn Network name.
Even though the SEC Network and other ESPN platforms will air most of the UT athletic department's home games moving forward, Del Conte said that Texas will be tasked with producing those games. Texas has plans to partner with the Moody School of Communication to recruit students to help with that. A new studio has been created for those production efforts.

"They're going to be an integral part of putting all the games on those platforms. How cool is that? And that project is almost complete, and it'll be phenomenal this fall and I can't wait to see that," Del Conte said. "Now sometimes you'll be watching the game and you'll see if there was a home run or not and the camera missed it. It's OK, it's our kids doing it. ... Don't email me or blast them. This is one of those really cool moments in time where we get to partner with our own students and Moody College. This is gonna be something really special moving forward."

@drunk randoke , I just found out that one of my ancestors has got your back.
Born circa, August 13, 582

Arnoul, Bishop of Metz​

Born circa, August 13, 582
Is recognized as a saint by The Catholic Church.
He is the Patron Saint of Beer.

Saint Arnold

Not sure what is best or most interesting about this.


First, the goal, second the Newcastle player wearing parachute shorts and huge shirt flopping on the ground and getting back up, or the keeper in short sleeves coming bac into position. Looks like something you'd see in an indoor league,

The good old days.


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You guys catch that press release from DOJ about how they acknowledge that Joe DID in fact, illegally, take home classified documents, but wouldn't be standing trial for it because he was "too old, too feeblminded, and a jury would probably empathic towards him?

(No seriously.... they said that)

And he was too incompetent to stand trial but WAS competent enough to be our POTUS.

Not to be out done, a few years back, democrats were saying that Trump was too incompetent to be president and wanted to invoke the 25th amendment--- yet Trump is competent enough to stand trial right now.
There's simply no denying it anymore.

We live in a simulation. It's the only explanation. None of this is real.

When defensive tackle Floyd Guidry visited the Texas Longhorns in late January, the UT program didn’t even have a defensive line coach in place. That didn’t stop Texas from making a strong impression on the Spring product, who said he’s taking a big-picture approach to his recruitment.

“It’s Texas, the program itself. I feel like I wouldn’t pick my college because of the coaches, I would pick it because of the program,” Guidry said. “Texas is a big program and I could see myself in it.”

The 6-2, 290-pound Guidry, who picked up a Texas offer in December, got some time with the other Texas staff members during his visit. He said it was a great visit overall and he left that visit with the Longhorns leading the pack.

“The highlight was seeing how they run things. I was able to talk to the coaches, see how they break it down,” Guidry said. “See how they teach you on the field and off the field. It was incredible seeing that.

And what has Texas ahead of offers from other programs like LSU, Cal, TCU, Texas Tech, Pittsburgh and a handful of others?

“What keeps them on top is just because I’m a Texas (guy),” Guidry said. “Growing up with it, it’s like if I want to represent Texas that’s the place to be. I could see myself being there.”

Shortly after former Texas d-line coach Bo Davis landed at LSU, he extended an offer to Guidry. That one caught the eye of both Guidry and his mother, but the Longhorns continue to set the pace.

“My mom wanted that one. The Texas one is still the top one right now,” Guidry said.

Despite the respect for Davis and LSU, Guidry said the January visit to Texas really made a strong impression on his mother.

“Texas definitely won her over. She was like, ‘Yeah I know you got LSU, but …’ After today, the Texas one is up there,” Guidry said.

A commitment could be on the horizon for Guidry, who said he might commit in either February or March. Whenever that decision is made, the Longhorns figure to be a major factor.

“I was just blown away … the more I went down there, the more I was blown away,” Guidry said of his UT visit.

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Jumped the Shark if it hadn't already.


I'd be offended if I was a teammate. I'd be loving it if I was Biden or the Hunt family.

Spouses don't go, right? Did a quick google search and didn't get immediate answer, at work, can't dedicate anymore time to this right now. Imagine how catty those wives would be.

Sorry if this has been posted and discussed was traveling and just saw Keon Sabb hit the portal. @Ketchum does Sark and Co. make a move for him after missing in Muhammad?

What do you expect?

Hard to imagine anything really ground breaking, but what I’m really enjoying is the real time destruction of main stream media and the Wild Wild West world of independent journalism. That’s the closest thing to Freedom of speech we have these days from media. Elon buying X might go down as one of the most important moments of this century.

Wanted to send you a DM but didn’t know how nor have your email. No rush and would appreciate it!

meant to contact you sooner. i need you to cancel my sub next Feb, At this point i really cannot afford it plus i just turned 80 and just do not know how much the Good Lord hhas planned for me. You just rene. you just debited my account yesterday so i will enjoy it for another year. i have really enjoyed being a member even though i never posted often i read OB everyday. to all horn fans GOD bless ad HOOK EM

For anyone in the know, my son who is a junior at UT is signed up for the half marathon but now wants to run the full marathon. But it is sold out.

Is there a forum where injured runners or others with conflicts can legally sell and transfer entry tickets (bibs)?

Also, any insight on where to watch; i.e, easy in and out access if you want to be at different mile markers?

Finally, still have not picked hotel and any insight on one ideal for marathon is also appreciated.

I figured someone on this board has experience with this, so any insight is much appreciated.

Wade clearly paid for their vacations, and they have the financial records to prove it. To try and explain it away, Wade testified that Willis reimbursed him her half in cash. He testified that he never deposited the cash she gave him. He just spent it all.

Willis testified that she never withdrew the cash to reimburse him. According to her testimony, she has had significant cash in her home for years.

In other words, neither one of them can prove there was ever an exchange of cash between them. They just want everyone, including the judge, to just take their word for it.

"Just a Bit Outside" is brought to you by:

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It is Valentine’s Day, a day to show the one you love how much she or he means to you. Of course, if you’re anything like me, it’s also a day where you take that last-minute trip to CVS or Walgreens to pick up a Valentine’s Day card before going to dinner.

I know that makes me a less-than-perfect husband. I truly love my wife but I definitely have blinders on when it comes to Valentine’s Day.

Still, I’m better than some of you scoundrels out there. Some of you are not only trying to find a gift or card for your wife at the last minute, but you’re probably also looking for last-minute treasures for your side piece as well.

Talk of infidelity on Valentine’s Day may seem a little sacrilegious, but it’s beginning to feel like there may be an affair brewing between Texas fans and UT’s backup quarterback.

In case you missed it this week, @Ketchum started hearing some whispers about the progress that Arch Manning has made over the last couple of months and that he is finally starting to look like the bad mama jama that his recruiting rankings said he would be.

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I understand the love affair. Arch has the kind of ability that can lead to championships. He has a big arm. He seems cool under pressure. The other players all seem to love him. And he’s a Manning!

But before you go completely gaga over Manning just remember one thing …

“Quinn’s our starter,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian told reporters last week when asked about the quarterback competition between Manning and Quinn Ewers.

Ewers came to Texas with a similar recruiting ranking. He has a big arm. He seems cool under pressure. The other players all seem to love him. Oh, I almost forgot, he led Texas to the college football playoff!

And yet, if a picture is worth a thousand words then this says it all.


Aaron E. Martinez of the Austin American-Statesman

By any logical, reasonable standard, Ewers should have the Texas fan base eating out of the palm of his hand. Did I mention he just led Texas to a 12-2 season with a berth in the playoffs? Along the way, he threw for nearly 3,500 yards with 22 touchdowns and only six interceptions.

And yet … many fans still seem to be kind of lukewarm about their QB1.

I kept thinking about Ewers while watching Brock Purdy in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Purdy has developed a reputation as a “game manager.” Being a game manager may be a pejorative to some, but it doesn’t seem to bother Purdy.

“I think it's more of a compliment to a quarterback to say that you can go in and run the system well,” Purdy told CBS ahead of the game. “I feel like I have the respect of the guys in the locker room and that's all it matters.”

Ewers, at times during his sophomore season, felt more like a game manager as well. Like Purdy, Ewers can run the system well and he has the respect of the locker room. Also like Purdy, Ewers felt at times last season like he was more of a “game manager.”

When Ewers took care of the ball and played within himself, the Horns won. When he didn’t (three turnovers against OU), then they lost.

Perhaps no play summed up “game manager” more than the checkdown on first down in the red zone at the end of the Sugar Bowl.

(1:04:12 into the video)
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I realize some of you won’t like me comparing Ewers and Purdy, especially tabbing both of them as “game managers,” but the good news is that like Purdy, last year was only Ewers’ second season and also like Purdy, he should get better with more experience.

The progress we saw from Ewers’ freshman season to his sophomore season was nothing short of phenomenal. He spent last offseason working on his body and learning the playbook inside and out. And it showed.

“I think pretty easy to see from the naked eye the development that Quinn made from year one to year two,” Sarkisian said. “I don't think that Quinn is a finished product yet. But I think there is plenty of room for growth and improvement in development and his game going into year three.”

Ewers has a chance this offseason to take another step forward both in command of the offense and as a leader of the team as well.

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“We’re going to need his leadership,” Sarkisian said. “We've got some new faces on the offensive side of the ball, especially at the skill positions, where his leadership is going to be very important.”

But having already led his team to the playoffs, and now being an upperclassman, Ewers will have to carry the extra weight of expectations.

“Assuming the real face of Longhorn football for a year,” Sarkisian said. “Him kind of taking those reins and understanding and understand what that is, is going to be big.”

For Arch, this offseason is all about continuing the growth he started showing last year.

“I want to make sure that when he gets on the field that he plays great football,” Sarkisian said.

And of course, even Sark sees the kind of things that has the fan base falling in love with Arch.

“Arch has got an extremely bright future,” Sarkisian said. “We're very fortunate to have him on our roster. He's got great leadership skills, got a great skill set.”

Of course, the very next sentence out of Sark’s mouth after that was that Ewers is the starter.

Which is just a reminder that Sark is committed to Ewers and, as a fan, you should be too. After all, his success is your success. So maybe, on this Valentine’s Day, show some love for Ewers.

FIRST PITCH!



Baseball season is FINALLY here! The Texas Longhorns open up the 2024 season hosting San Diego beginning on Friday.

In all honesty, the Longhorns should win all eight games on the February schedule, meaning the real season doesn’t kick off until March 1, when Texas faces LSU in the Astros Foundation College Classic at Minute Maid Park.

My expectations for this season really fall in line with what @ZachattheDisch has said, which is that I think this is an NCAA regional quality team, but you could get more if things start to break right.

So far, things have not broken right for the Horns with the season-ending injury to relief pitcher Will Mercer followed by the retirement of first baseman Luke Storm.

Now we get word that Tanner Witt’s recovery from injury still has not progressed to the point where he can be relied upon to be in the weekend starter rotation. Witt will be coming in as a reliever, hoping to hold teams until the closer gets the ball.

This isn’t the worst news possible. After all, the last thing you want to do is rush Witt before he’s ready. And clearly, considering his velocity and command are not yet back to his pre-injury status, he’s not ready to be a reliable starter.

Still, having Witt coming in from the bullpen may end up being a blessing in disguise for head coach David Pierce’s squad. Witt has a lot of experience and a bulldog-type mentality that can help fire up the team in the late innings of games.

TWEETS OF INTEREST

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Eleven Texas Longhorns will be in Indianapolis at the end of the month for the NFL Combine.

It is a chance for the Horns to show off in front of just about every NFL general manager, head coach, and scout. They will be poked, prodded, questioned and worked out as they try to prove they are worthy of being drafted.

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The more we move along in this draft process, the more obvious it becomes that the NFL draft gurus have all fallen in love with Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy. Murphy has been steadily rising up the mock drafts to the point where he is a consistent middle of the first round guy.

However, some of the Horns that we all thought could be first-rounders appear to be falling.

It’s entirely possible T’Vondre Sweat, Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, or Ja’Tavion Sanders could still end up being a first-round pick, but it looks like most of them will have to wait for day two of the draft to hear their name called.

Of course, seeing four Longhorns go in the second round is not exactly a slap in the face. Still, it may provide a little extra fuel for each of these guys to show everyone they belonged in the first round all along.

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Speaking of Byron Murphy.

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Left field just continues to get better and better at the Disch.

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The Texas Longhorn softball team is off to an incredible start to their season going 5-0 last weekend and outscoring its opponents 64-5. That included a two-game sweep of the then number eight team in the country, UCLA (3-2 & 16-0).

The Horns are number three in the country and heading to a tournament in Florida where they will face the #2 team, Tennessee on Friday. They’ll also square off against #9 Stanford, #18 Kentucky and #22 Northwestern (and also unranked North Carolina).

How Texas fares in the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational will be a good gauge of just how good this team can be.

Of course, the real test won’t come until April 5 when they take on OU for the first time. I realize that’s kind of blowing off the matchup against the number two team in the country on Friday, but let’s be real – that’s how far ahead of the field OU is in softball.

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The “Dunkings” commercial was the clear winner of this year’s Super Bowl commercial contest, and now you can see the full-length version for yourself.

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Oh, and if you were hoping to score one of those sweet track suits, you’re out of luck. They’re already sold out.

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Just have to be Longhorn fans and they are yours! Students would be great. Just need you to message me with your email or cell number....Thanks and Hook 'em!

That is nuts. Guessing we are about to see a lot of games pulled from network tv.

They are in Austin for a few shows this weekend, and I have two good seats to the show Saturday night (2/17) at the Paramount Theater that I just found out I can't use now.

I paid $80 each, but will be happy to sell them to any fellow OBs that are fans of the band for less than that so they don't go to waste. Maybe $50 each, $100 for the pair?

Edit: My tix are taken, thanks! I think there are still tix available through Paramount Theater for the Sunday show.