No. Actually I thought the coaches were who really really sucked as the whole team was not prepared and Arkansas totally out executed in every phase of the game.
Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (An Arch commit in the distance?)
- Thread starter Ketchum
- Start date
should sark have seen the pick six coming that card threw before half at home against Kansas?
Nope. Coaches had little to do with Card’s lack of ability other than putting him on the field.
Amen on A League of their Own— love that movie and I can watch it over and over again…
and
There’s no Crying in Baseball
and
There’s no Crying in Baseball
Never seen it. Lou Gehrig is one of the greatest sports stories regardless of the movie representation. I’ll put it on the list to watch.
also on the list…
Bull Durham
Remember the Titans
This DKR quote always looks good on paper but is not true in real life. I coached high school football for 25 years in Texas. 15 years as a Defensive Coordinator at the 4A and 5A level (when 5A was the largest classification). Had several players that were not very aggressive as young players but who matured and became great players. Had a Freshman one time that was so timid we tried to get him to give up football because we were afraid he was going to get hurt. He stayed with football, worked hard, and became a first team All-State Defensive Back as a senior. He went on to play college football and had a cup of coffee in the NFL. He is now a college asst. coach. He definitely would not bite as a pup but would knock your d*ck in the dirt as a senior.
Card should transfer after the Spring. He needs a fresh start with a different fan base and different coaching staff.
Cedric Griffin knocking the ball out Hamby’s hands in the end zone in Columbus in 2005 was one the most underrated plays in Texas Football history.
LOL. You’re comparing freshman in HS to a 19/20 year old. One of the dumber posts I’ve seen in a while.
I think the reason we are down on Card is that he played scared. You can't do that as a quarterback. Granted our line sucked. He needs to prove he's worthy. And tough.
How could you leave Personal Best with Mariel Hemingway off that list? An excellent movie about a woman athlete released at a point in time when women's athletics were just starting to gain recognition.
Why would anyone have false hope about Arch? Were none of the other Mannings successful so he’s their last chance? 🤔
From weenhorn above, if Little Arch doesn't sign as a "Horn, how many of his list still arrive for residency on 40 Acres ?
“It looked like he was already one of the UT guys. So I have a pretty good feeling about him."
Texas offensive line signee Kelvin Banks about Texas quarterback target Arch Manning to Orangebloods on Sunday.
From my perspective in the immediate aftermath of Arch Manning's unofficial visit to Texas, the thing that stood out the most was that the buzz from every single level of sources that Orangebloods communicated with about the visit seemed to mirror one another.
Arch's visit felt less like a recruiting trip and more like a return home.
On a weekend from which the Austin Chamber of Commerce will likely make postcards, it all just came together for the Longhorns in a serendipitous way. Perfect weather. Good times at every corner. Strengthening relationships.
When it concluded on Sunday, there was clearly less mystery about whether Manning will return to Austin for yet another visit in the coming months than the circumstances that might surround such a visit.
For instance, when Manning next returns, will he do so as a member of the 2023 recruiting class or will there still be an element of needing to close the deal that needs to take place?
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian can't put any football questions completely to bed in March after a 5-7 season in 2021, but everything else seems to be perfectly in place.
The Mannings love Sark. They love the school. They love the city.
So much of the hard stuff is already taken care of.
All eyes will return to Manning in the coming weeks when he finishes up his spring barnstorming tour. There's growing confidence that a commitment to the Longhorns can be seen looming in the distance, but it's hard to completely know how much pause from the football side of things will remain until a little more proof can be tasted in the pudding.
If a commitment is coming any time soon, it's going to be Texas. If this recruitment extends beyond the middle of May, the reasons why will be obvious.
For now, take extreme solace in the knowledge that in a world where perfection is so often impossible to achieve, the Longhorns might have actually achieved it this weekend with the collective presentation provided by the program, the city of Austin and weather.
No. 2 - Four things to know from the first week of camp ...
Here are the five things that stand out the most from the first three Texas spring football practices:
a. The quarterback battle is still in its infancy stage
Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will be Quinn Ewers' career in Austin. Saturday's turnover-plagued practice was a reminder that the 30+ practices that will take place between now and the first game of the season will represent a process. So, what should everyone make out of Saturday's practice? Not much. It was step two or 30+ that will take place.
b. The offensive line ain't yet right.
There have been more than a few jail breaks. There's just not enough depth. It really is a situation that makes everything we're watching have to be viewed with several grains of salt. For instance, how much of Saturday's turnover issues were related to young quarterbacks being young quarterbacks or young quarterbacks being young quarterbacks running for their life? These heralded freshmen better be ready because this position group is screaming for the cavalry to show up.
c. The offensive has firepower all over the field.
Bijan is Bijan. Roschon is Roschon. Jordan Whittington is healthy. Isaiah Neyor is what everyone hoped he would be. And Xavier Worthy? Enjoy him every minute while you can for the next 21 months.
d. Alfred Collins has his hands on the light switch.
There's no reason to go overboard with excitement right now because the path that still needs to be traveled with Collins is long, but the single most talented player on the Texas defense with the single highest-amount of raw upside is showing flashes early in camp that he might just realize his potential yet.
No. 3 - What if...
One of the lasting images of the early Mack Brown years occurred in 2003 when a young Texas defensive back named Cedric Griffin had a moment that threatened to define his career when he seemed to give a lack of effort on a play alongside the sideline in a 65-13 loss.
Eventually, he re-defined his career during back-to-back Rose Bowl winning seasons, but there was a time when every time his name was mentioned on the Internet, it was mentioned with negative overtones from fans who were just unwilling to see him as anything other than the guy who became the poster-child for a 52-point loss.
All these years later, you can't even find that play on Youtube. It's an afterthought of a memory for most for a player that went on to have a pretty storybook career when you consider some of the circumstances of his personal story.
He's always the reminder for me that you can't completely judge young players when they do young player things. Sometimes you have to give them room to spread their wings and when you do, they often will take flight.
When Kelvin Banks shows up in the fall, no one is going to give up on a five-star lineman if he struggles against Will Anderson in week two.
If Quinn Ewers throws four interceptions in the same game (potentially his second career start), it won't be an indictment on what he might just become by the end of the 2023 season.
All of these truths make me a bit befuddled by the judgment that has been rendered on Hudson Card following the Arkansas game last year. I would offer that dozens of Texas players that night were tossed aside like rag dolls by an Arkansas team that spanked UT's bottom with a paddle, but only one player truly wears a scarlet letter over what happened that night in such a way that nothing he does for the next five months will matter at all for fans of the program.
Deep down, he must wonder how in the world he's ended up in a place that no other player in the program resides in following a season that was so historically poor that the Arkansas game wasn't remotely the worst aspect of it.
He's been the better quarterback through three practices, which shouldn't be completely unexpected, but the overwhelming majority of the overwhelming majority of Texas fans don't even want to remotely hear that he's performed well in a practice.
Why?
Because of 40 minutes of the first road game he ever played as a collegiate player.
Fair or not, this is the world we live in and this is the hand that Card is suddenly playing with.
No. 4 - Texas aiming for the Final Four ...
This section is currently a work in progress. Return after tonight's game for the full breakdown and analysis.
No. 5 - Trips to Lubbock can often suck ...
I'm almost at a loss for words over what happened in Lubbock this weekend in a series that defied reason and logic.
On one hand, Texas outhit the Red Raiders 49-22 over three games.
On the other hand, it lost two of the three games in some of the cruelest possible fashions, including a walk-off steal of home in game one and a grand slam in extra innings of game two after the Longhorns had rallied from being down 7-2 to take an 11-7 lead.
Baseball, man ...
It's a long season and after all of the brutal body blows were taken, the Longhorns came out and run-ruled Tech on Sunday and are a mere two games back in the loss department in the Big 12 standings. Not ideal, but not the end of the world, either.
Surviving this weekend took guts and we know this team has plenty of that. It's the pitching that we suddenly don't know if they have enough of.
No. 6 - Is Texas a gold school?
Ho-hum, just another Texas-ex taking over the No. 1 in the world ranking, the second in the last six years.
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) I don't think either player is an issue for the other in the slightest. Ewers' plan is to be out of Austin by the time Manning will be ready to compete for the starting job. Meanwhile, the presence of Ewers means that Manning can show up on campus in his first year without the weight of the world being on his shoulders. That pressure only belongs to one for now.
(Sell) It's not off the table, but I would definitely expect a top-3 type of class.
(Sell) It feels like the kind of club that owning a national title requires entry into. Obviously, Eddie Reese has his, but Vic's not there yet, while Edrick Floréal just took the Texas men to an indoor national title last week that I wasn't sure any of us would ever see.
(Buy) Sure. That list feels fine.
(Buy) In the last 20 years, here is the list of quarterback prospects that finished No. 1 overall in their recruiting classes:
Vince Young (2002)
Jimmy Claussen (2007)
Terrelle Pryor (2008)
Trevor Lawrence (2018)
Quinn Ewers (2021)
Of the four players that have completed their eligibility, two were top-5 picks in the NFL Draft and the other two were drafted in the second and third rounds, respectively. That's a 50 percent rate of being a player worthy of having a statue when he's done playing and a 100-percent rate of going in the third round at the absolute latest. Five-star quarterbacks typically get drafted at a 75-percent clip. If there's ever been a guy that should be bust-proof, the math says Manning has to be up there on the list.
(Sell) I don't know that it would mean that at all. He could just as easily be starting by week three and leaving at the end of 2023 in that situation as he would be staying three years.
(Sell) I don't think any program in the country ever has 90+ percent buy-in from its players. That doesn't leave a lot of room for unhappiness and in my mind. You can always count on there being a chunk of players that are less than completely bought in. Also, the optimism last off-season was higher than it was this off-season. Hell, Sarkisian was talking about a rematch with Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game in the immediate aftermath of the loss in Dallas last October.
(Buy) Texas women's basketball has been in the wilderness enough in the last two decades. Give the man whatever he needs/wants.
(Buy) He's the No. 1 prospect in the country. Trust me, a lot will be written about him, even if he doesn't live on the camp circuit.
(Sell) It's hard to know what Murphy's career is going to look like, but I'm not sure that a Manning commitment automatically translates to Murphy's departure. Murphy has more fight in him than that.
(Sell) I don't expect Hutson to start this season.
(Sell) Being a Manning has never guaranteed that.
(Sell) That's a level of benefit of the doubt that hasn't remotely been earned.
No. 8 - Scattershooting on the sports weekend ...
... Man, the Elite 8 games were hot garbage.
... I can't believe the basketball gods are giving us a Duke/UNC game in the Final Four at the end of the Coach K’s Farewell Tour. No game in the history of the rivalry has ever had higher stakes. Wowzers.
... Nice job, St. Peter's. You balled out all the way to the Elite 8. No one can ever take that away from you.
... Kansas looked unbeatable in the second half on Sunday against Miami.
... Enjoy retirement, Triple H. Here's hoping that you've got decades of life left to enjoy it.
... What a fraud.
... I always find myself rooting for any team that Kevin Durant plays on, but Kyrie Irving makes it so tough.
No. 9 - The List: Top 10 sports movies about women ...
I finally got around to watching King Richard this weekend and I have to say ... I freaking loved it.
It reminded me that the story of the Williams sisters has to be one of the more improbable things we've ever seen in sports. At one point in the movie, Will Smith (playing Richard Williams) is asked if he truly thinks he has a couple of Mozarts in a single household, considering that producing even a single Mozart is more than a million to one shot.
The movie made me laugh and cry, while reminding me that real-life success stories often make the best movies. As soon as it was over, it occurred to me that I might have just finished the single-best sports movie about women that I've ever seen.
It's too far for me to go in the moment, but it's definitely in the discussion and Sunday's Oscars win for Will Smith will ensure that the movie has a long-term historical reservation.
10. Whip It..
9. The Cutting Edge
8. Bend it Like Beckham
7. Battle of the Sexes
6. I, Tonya
5. Million Dollar Baby
4. Love and Basketball
3. King Richard
2. Bring It On
1. A League of Their Own
No. 10 - And Finally...
Haven softball Update: After some practice this week on her swing, 8-year old haven emerged from her game this weekend with the best contact of any batter I've seen in any game in our 8U league, driving a ball off the best pitcher in the league into center field.
Fielding is a work in progress, as it throwing the ball from second to first, but she might have the highest OPS in the league, despite batting last in the line-up.
I suppose that wasn’t clear enough... False hope propaganda about Manning playing football at the University of Texas.
It doesn’t seem probable considering the history of this program for the last 13 years and the other factors involved but we shall see. I’ll be thrilled if it happens.
Million Dollar Baby still makes me tear up when I watch it. It's number one in my view.
W T F!!! Are you a life coach?! Why should he move on, he’ll be a snap away from coming in for Ewers if Ewers wins the job. He’s got two years after this regardless. What a STUPID post!
“It looked like he was already one of the UT guys. So I have a pretty good feeling about him."
Texas offensive line signee Kelvin Banks about Texas quarterback target Arch Manning to Orangebloods on Sunday.
From my perspective in the immediate aftermath of Arch Manning's unofficial visit to Texas, the thing that stood out the most was that the buzz from every single level of sources that Orangebloods communicated with about the visit seemed to mirror one another.
Arch's visit felt less like a recruiting trip and more like a return home.
On a weekend from which the Austin Chamber of Commerce will likely make postcards, it all just came together for the Longhorns in a serendipitous way. Perfect weather. Good times at every corner. Strengthening relationships.
When it concluded on Sunday, there was clearly less mystery about whether Manning will return to Austin for yet another visit in the coming months than the circumstances that might surround such a visit.
For instance, when Manning next returns, will he do so as a member of the 2023 recruiting class or will there still be an element of needing to close the deal that needs to take place?
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian can't put any football questions completely to bed in March after a 5-7 season in 2021, but everything else seems to be perfectly in place.
The Mannings love Sark. They love the school. They love the city.
So much of the hard stuff is already taken care of.
All eyes will return to Manning in the coming weeks when he finishes up his spring barnstorming tour. There's growing confidence that a commitment to the Longhorns can be seen looming in the distance, but it's hard to completely know how much pause from the football side of things will remain until a little more proof can be tasted in the pudding.
If a commitment is coming any time soon, it's going to be Texas. If this recruitment extends beyond the middle of May, the reasons why will be obvious.
For now, take extreme solace in the knowledge that in a world where perfection is so often impossible to achieve, the Longhorns might have actually achieved it this weekend with the collective presentation provided by the program, the city of Austin and weather.
No. 2 - Four things to know from the first week of camp ...
Here are the five things that stand out the most from the first three Texas spring football practices:
a. The quarterback battle is still in its infancy stage
Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will be Quinn Ewers' career in Austin. Saturday's turnover-plagued practice was a reminder that the 30+ practices that will take place between now and the first game of the season will represent a process. So, what should everyone make out of Saturday's practice? Not much. It was step two or 30+ that will take place.
b. The offensive line ain't yet right.
There have been more than a few jail breaks. There's just not enough depth. It really is a situation that makes everything we're watching have to be viewed with several grains of salt. For instance, how much of Saturday's turnover issues were related to young quarterbacks being young quarterbacks or young quarterbacks being young quarterbacks running for their life? These heralded freshmen better be ready because this position group is screaming for the cavalry to show up.
c. The offensive has firepower all over the field.
Bijan is Bijan. Roschon is Roschon. Jordan Whittington is healthy. Isaiah Neyor is what everyone hoped he would be. And Xavier Worthy? Enjoy him every minute while you can for the next 21 months.
d. Alfred Collins has his hands on the light switch.
There's no reason to go overboard with excitement right now because the path that still needs to be traveled with Collins is long, but the single most talented player on the Texas defense with the single highest-amount of raw upside is showing flashes early in camp that he might just realize his potential yet.
No. 3 - What if...
One of the lasting images of the early Mack Brown years occurred in 2003 when a young Texas defensive back named Cedric Griffin had a moment that threatened to define his career when he seemed to give a lack of effort on a play alongside the sideline in a 65-13 loss.
Eventually, he re-defined his career during back-to-back Rose Bowl winning seasons, but there was a time when every time his name was mentioned on the Internet, it was mentioned with negative overtones from fans who were just unwilling to see him as anything other than the guy who became the poster-child for a 52-point loss.
All these years later, you can't even find that play on Youtube. It's an afterthought of a memory for most for a player that went on to have a pretty storybook career when you consider some of the circumstances of his personal story.
He's always the reminder for me that you can't completely judge young players when they do young player things. Sometimes you have to give them room to spread their wings and when you do, they often will take flight.
When Kelvin Banks shows up in the fall, no one is going to give up on a five-star lineman if he struggles against Will Anderson in week two.
If Quinn Ewers throws four interceptions in the same game (potentially his second career start), it won't be an indictment on what he might just become by the end of the 2023 season.
All of these truths make me a bit befuddled by the judgment that has been rendered on Hudson Card following the Arkansas game last year. I would offer that dozens of Texas players that night were tossed aside like rag dolls by an Arkansas team that spanked UT's bottom with a paddle, but only one player truly wears a scarlet letter over what happened that night in such a way that nothing he does for the next five months will matter at all for fans of the program.
Deep down, he must wonder how in the world he's ended up in a place that no other player in the program resides in following a season that was so historically poor that the Arkansas game wasn't remotely the worst aspect of it.
He's been the better quarterback through three practices, which shouldn't be completely unexpected, but the overwhelming majority of the overwhelming majority of Texas fans don't even want to remotely hear that he's performed well in a practice.
Why?
Because of 40 minutes of the first road game he ever played as a collegiate player.
Fair or not, this is the world we live in and this is the hand that Card is suddenly playing with.
No. 4 - Texas aiming for the Final Four ...
This section is currently a work in progress. Return after tonight's game for the full breakdown and analysis.
No. 5 - Trips to Lubbock can often suck ...
I'm almost at a loss for words over what happened in Lubbock this weekend in a series that defied reason and logic.
On one hand, Texas outhit the Red Raiders 49-22 over three games.
On the other hand, it lost two of the three games in some of the cruelest possible fashions, including a walk-off steal of home in game one and a grand slam in extra innings of game two after the Longhorns had rallied from being down 7-2 to take an 11-7 lead.
Baseball, man ...
It's a long season and after all of the brutal body blows were taken, the Longhorns came out and run-ruled Tech on Sunday and are a mere two games back in the loss department in the Big 12 standings. Not ideal, but not the end of the world, either.
Surviving this weekend took guts and we know this team has plenty of that. It's the pitching that we suddenly don't know if they have enough of.
No. 6 - Is Texas a gold school?
Ho-hum, just another Texas-ex taking over the No. 1 in the world ranking, the second in the last six years.
No. 7 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) I don't think either player is an issue for the other in the slightest. Ewers' plan is to be out of Austin by the time Manning will be ready to compete for the starting job. Meanwhile, the presence of Ewers means that Manning can show up on campus in his first year without the weight of the world being on his shoulders. That pressure only belongs to one for now.
(Sell) It's not off the table, but I would definitely expect a top-3 type of class.
(Sell) It feels like the kind of club that owning a national title requires entry into. Obviously, Eddie Reese has his, but Vic's not there yet, while Edrick Floréal just took the Texas men to an indoor national title last week that I wasn't sure any of us would ever see.
(Buy) Sure. That list feels fine.
(Buy) In the last 20 years, here is the list of quarterback prospects that finished No. 1 overall in their recruiting classes:
Vince Young (2002)
Jimmy Claussen (2007)
Terrelle Pryor (2008)
Trevor Lawrence (2018)
Quinn Ewers (2021)
Of the four players that have completed their eligibility, two were top-5 picks in the NFL Draft and the other two were drafted in the second and third rounds, respectively. That's a 50 percent rate of being a player worthy of having a statue when he's done playing and a 100-percent rate of going in the third round at the absolute latest. Five-star quarterbacks typically get drafted at a 75-percent clip. If there's ever been a guy that should be bust-proof, the math says Manning has to be up there on the list.
(Sell) I don't know that it would mean that at all. He could just as easily be starting by week three and leaving at the end of 2023 in that situation as he would be staying three years.
(Sell) I don't think any program in the country ever has 90+ percent buy-in from its players. That doesn't leave a lot of room for unhappiness and in my mind. You can always count on there being a chunk of players that are less than completely bought in. Also, the optimism last off-season was higher than it was this off-season. Hell, Sarkisian was talking about a rematch with Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game in the immediate aftermath of the loss in Dallas last October.
(Buy) Texas women's basketball has been in the wilderness enough in the last two decades. Give the man whatever he needs/wants.
(Buy) He's the No. 1 prospect in the country. Trust me, a lot will be written about him, even if he doesn't live on the camp circuit.
(Sell) It's hard to know what Murphy's career is going to look like, but I'm not sure that a Manning commitment automatically translates to Murphy's departure. Murphy has more fight in him than that.
(Sell) I don't expect Hutson to start this season.
(Sell) Being a Manning has never guaranteed that.
(Sell) That's a level of benefit of the doubt that hasn't remotely been earned.
No. 8 - Scattershooting on the sports weekend ...
... Man, the Elite 8 games were hot garbage.
... I can't believe the basketball gods are giving us a Duke/UNC game in the Final Four at the end of the Coach K’s Farewell Tour. No game in the history of the rivalry has ever had higher stakes. Wowzers.
... Nice job, St. Peter's. You balled out all the way to the Elite 8. No one can ever take that away from you.
... Kansas looked unbeatable in the second half on Sunday against Miami.
... Enjoy retirement, Triple H. Here's hoping that you've got decades of life left to enjoy it.
... What a fraud.
... I always find myself rooting for any team that Kevin Durant plays on, but Kyrie Irving makes it so tough.
No. 9 - The List: Top 10 sports movies about women ...
I finally got around to watching King Richard this weekend and I have to say ... I freaking loved it.
It reminded me that the story of the Williams sisters has to be one of the more improbable things we've ever seen in sports. At one point in the movie, Will Smith (playing Richard Williams) is asked if he truly thinks he has a couple of Mozarts in a single household, considering that producing even a single Mozart is more than a million to one shot.
The movie made me laugh and cry, while reminding me that real-life success stories often make the best movies. As soon as it was over, it occurred to me that I might have just finished the single-best sports movie about women that I've ever seen.
It's too far for me to go in the moment, but it's definitely in the discussion and Sunday's Oscars win for Will Smith will ensure that the movie has a long-term historical reservation.
10. Whip It..
9. The Cutting Edge
8. Bend it Like Beckham
7. Battle of the Sexes
6. I, Tonya
5. Million Dollar Baby
4. Love and Basketball
3. King Richard
2. Bring It On
1. A League of Their Own
No. 10 - And Finally...
Haven softball Update: After some practice this week on her swing, 8-year old haven emerged from her game this weekend with the best contact of any batter I've seen in any game in our 8U league, driving a ball off the best pitcher in the league into center field.
Fielding is a work in progress, as it throwing the ball from second to first, but she might have the highest OPS in the league, despite batting last in the line-up.
Let’s not forget that the whole world was still sleeping on Arkie as a team at that point. No one expected them to be as good as they wound up being last year. We were more nervous about game 1 than game 2 at the beginning of the season last year.
I can’t “like” this comment enough. Nobody is talking enough about if our OLine will even be improved next year much less good enough.
It was an epic recruiting class for OL but damn few OLineman can contribute their freshman year.
Great and underrated movie I agree...but car racing, especially drag racing is not a sport. It takes no athletic ability whatsoever.
Pat and Mike is the best sports movie about women. Your list looks like you think they started making movies in 1992. It evens has Babe Didrikson Zaharias, the greatest female athlete of all time, in the movie.
@Ketchum back in the winter when you were almost conceding Arch to Georgia and Bama and told Texas fans to “forget about Arch” on YouTube, you underestimated Sark’s value to the Mannings.
