My daughter is a pediatric ER physician who also has an immunocompromizing medical condition. She continues to treat patients but I really worry for her.
Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (Consider me shocked by CDC's bold hire...)
- Thread starter Ketchum
- Start date
You mentioned previously that those who were slamming CDC should wait and see how he handles the women's bb coach and hire. He nailed both. I was very encouraged to see how he handled the softball and women's bb search. He's done very well with both!
Whut???? Tell your dentist to use modern tools and to put down that sledge hammer.
I have watched that game many times. We had so many great players on that team. I think I read that 33 of them played in the NFL, several of them were All Pro. But USC had a great team also, I think perhaps the best of all time that did not include VY. Without VY we would not have won that game, nor the MIchigan game the year before. When asked before the 2005 season who was going to win the national championship, Justin Blaylock pointed to Vince and said "Whoever has him, so I guess it's us". Vince was the greatest college football player of all time. We are not likely to ever see his equal again.
I bet he is a damn good coach.
I'd like to share some of Coach Vic Schaefer's blood lines in Women's Basketball. We can all identify Coach Gary Blair who had won 3 state high school championships in Dallas with South Oak Cliff. He joined Leon Barmore's staff at Louisiana Tech and they won 2 National Championships. Kim Mulkey was on the staff toward the end of Blair's tenure. Blair gets the Arkansas job and hires Schaefer. Then Blair takes the A & M job and takes Schaefer with him where he wins a National Championship. Schaefer is a prime target so is hired by Mississippi State where most of you have learned his achievements there. So we have Leon Barmore and Kim Mulkey who have won several National Championships and are in the Women's NCAA Hall of Fame. Blair will be there soon. IF Vic Schaefer does what he did at Mississippi State at Texas he will be in the Hall of Fame. Blood lines are important in coaching as we have all seen. Welcome to the Forty Coach.
Be careful Ketch. There are a few on this board that will argue that CDC can make lesser sport hires, but will not be able to come through with replacing coaches in the big 3 sports.
I dunno. This was a pretty baller move.
The sample size is small, but the sample size is the sample size.
You are a real pro Ketch, but:
I'll be honest when I tell you that I didn't know what to expect when it was announced a few days ago that Karen Aston would not be retained as women's basketball coach.
Oh, I expected that much. From the very moment Chris Del Conte gave Shaka Smart a vote of confidence last Monday and failed to do so with Aston, you'd have to be trying not to pay attention to notice that it sent a rather ominous signal.
But, beyond the somewhat obvious?
It all looked so tricky on the surface. Here Texas was looking to replace its head coach in a non-revenue sport in the middle of a pandemic, just as money in college athletics across the country is about to become quite the talking point with the threat of the college football season going up in smoke remaining a possibility.
When you consider that Texas has been seemingly pinching pennies on women's basketball since the Gail Goestenkors experiment nearly a decade ago, it was hard for me to wrap my head around the direction Texas would volunteer to go.
On top of there seemingly not being any obvious monster candidate to offer the job to, how would Del Conte even be able to work out the interview process? Would Texas really swing for the fences in women's basketball at the exact moment furloughs are being discussed at some schools in the Big 12? Would it have to look to a non-Power 5 name and overpay in the process?
It's the single-worst time to be looking for a head coach in any sport across the country and I guess as I kind of talk it out in my head, I didn't think I'd be leading off the column this weekend with a jaw-dropping, sport-shaking, cash-splashing-on-the-table type of hire.
Because that's exactly what the addition of Mississippi State's Vic Schaefer represents.
After winning a national Coach of the Year Award in 2018 and finishing as the national runner-up in two of the last three seasons, there's no getting around the fact that Schaefer has emerged as one of the big dogs in women's basketball at the age of 59.
This is a coach that has taken down Geno and Kim in March in the last couple of years. This is a coach that was already one of the highest-paid coaches in his sport. This is a coach that has thrived in the most competitive women's basketball league in the country.
I didn't think Chris Del Conte had this hire in him. Not right now. No way.
Yet it happened.
What we learned today is that even in the middle of a pandemic, the University of Texas can flex its collective muscles when it wants to.
I'm just a little shocked that it wanted to.
No. 2 - Scattershooting on the Schaefer hire ...
* Although Schaefer was born in Austin, he's an Aggie grad who spent nearly a decade as an assistant in College Station and a LOT of Aggies have assumed that he'd replace 74-year old A&M coach Gary Blair whenever Blair is ready to hang up his whistle. I wouldn't have guessed this hire was even possible, so mad credit goes to Del Conte for getting his ducks in a row on this one and striking when no one in the sport was anticipating. This one counts as a massive win from about 20 different angles.
* Schaefer is known as a very good recruiter inside the state of Texas after coaching in the state (or right next door at Arkansas) from 1987-2012. His entire program in Starkville was built around his ability to recruit in the Lone Star State. Consider this quote made just over three years ago about the topic.
* In the last couple of years, Schaefer has landed national top 100 prospects from the states of Louisiana, Tennessee, Maryland and Michigan. In fact, his best player this year was true freshman Rickea Jackson, who was the No. 5 prospect in the 2019 class out of Detroit. Schaefer is walking away from a future first-team all-America-level player in Jackson.
Jackson chose Mississippi State over Dawn's Staley's South Carolina program. Check out her explanation as to why she choose Schaefer over Staley:
“Coach Schaefer is a major developer, as you can see with Big T,” she said, referring to 6-7 All-America Teaira McCowan. “As a freshman she was not that good and look at her now. She is amazing. I feel like he will help to polish every that I have, especially my defense because they are a defensive team.”
No. 3 - Attaboy, Sam ...
Let's just take a moment to acknowledge that if Sam Ehlinger never plays another down at The University of Texas, he'd still rank as one of the best young men that has ever served this program.
He's just good people. The kid represents Texas with class at every turn.
I want to be like Sam when I grow up.
No. 4 - Random thoughts from watching Texas/USC all over again ...
a. My goodness ... what a freak VY still remains. Consider this comment from Michael Griffin:
b. How is it possible that Michael Griffin hasn't watched that game since it happened? I would have watched that interception on loop for the last 15 years.
c. The head-hunting in that game was vicious. There were a number of hits to the head in that game from both teams that would have been ruled as illegal in 2020.
d. Texas fans like to hate on Reggie Bush, but my goodness, that dude was breath-taking every time he touched the ball. All these years later, he's become an underrated player.
e. I hate that Tarell Brown had to celebrate the game with a broken arm.
f. David Thomas has proven over time to be almost as irreplaceable as anyone on that Texas team over the years.
g. Game recognizes game.
h. I went to that game with Sean Adams. I wish I could still talk to him about it. Rest in peace.
No. 5 - Story-time with Uncle Ketch ...
Note: I had a couple of people ask that I re-tell the Albert Hollis/DJ Williams recruiting story from 20 years ago and since it's a good one and it allows me to cheat a section in this week's column, I'm going to repost this from a storytelling moment from a few years ago.
"It's funny to me that after all of these years, the DJ Williams/Albert Hollis official visit weekend from December of 1999 has taken on a bit of an urban legend feel to it that people still references nearly 20 years later.
For those that don't know any of the backstory, Williams was the No. 1 player in the country and was viewed as a Texas lean coming into the visit, while Hollis was a national top-five running back prospect that had declared his intentions of committing to Texas before the visit. Both kids were from California, but unlike the cliques that we see in today's recruiting, these two arrived as a pair, only because they were from the same state.
Things got off to a bad start on the night of the Friday night team banquet when Hollis walked up to starting running back Hodges Mitchell and told him he was going to take his job. The veterans on the Texas team took huge exception to such a call-out of a popular team leader and a couple players had to be held back from turning it into a more flammable situation.
What isn't known about the Hollis side of this is that he was actually a very nice kid and within 24 hours, he'd kind of made good on his early mistake, only for things to kind of go sideways on Saturday night through no fault of his own.
Later that night, almost the entire Texas team was hanging out at a bar on 6th Street called the "Sidestreet Bar" and quite a good time by all was being had. Yet, hanging out at a bar wasn't what Williams came to Austin to do and he indicated that he wanted to go over to a club that used to be named "Catfish Station" because he wanted to go dancing.
Once it became clear that Williams wanted to leave, Texas sophomore Cory Redding (who was Williams' host) told him within a couple of inches to his face that, "Texas players practice together, Texas players play together and Texas players party together."
If you're wondering how I know these specific details, it's because I was standing about three feet from it all.
Williams didn't back down and he just left and grabbed Hollis on his way out the door, never to be seen from again by any of the Texas football players, as he did the thing he wanted to do the most ... dance.
Later on, Williams and Hollis got lost trying to find their way back to the hotel and were reduced to calling me for directions.
The next week, Williams visited Miami, where he found dance floors at every turn and his future home, while Hollis' commitment to Texas just kind of dissolved into an idea that never came to pass. Of course, Williams ended up being a first-round draft pick and a long-time NFL player, while Hollis' career ended because of a horrible non-contact injury. Hollis eventually became a fashion model with the moniker "Dynast Hollis" (feel free to Yahoo search)."
No. 6 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) I don't know when the season will start, but I believe it will start later than scheduled. I'm also thinking we might only see teams play conference schedules next year instead of a full 12-game regular season.
(Sell) Erik Hardeman (Class of 2003) has to be in the list for me. Ask anyone that played at Texas during that time and they'll tell you. He was freaky. I'd also rank Malcolm Brown and Ramonce Taylor over Foreman, who ended up having the best single-season between all of them, but doesn't rank as more talented in my mind.
(Buy) I think at least half of the Big 12 will be crushed financially. It could seriously threaten the viability of a number of departments.
(Sell) Nah. It's not even worse so far than the 12 weeks before I had it wired. I'm just glad it's finally being treated correctly.
(Buy) Ehlinger, Cosmi and Ossai. Things have gone wrong if those three aren't on the list at a minimum.
(Sell) No, I don't believe that's going to happen.
(Sell) Wut?
(Buy) I feel like this is a contest that Case should be thankful to lose.
(Sell) Always believe in the Big 12's ability to get something horribly wrong. Trust in that.
(Sell) Nah, not even close from my perspective. I see more coming together than anything else.
No. 7 - Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind ...
... It's been 70 days since Kobe Bryant died. It feels like it's been 700 days.
... I didn't watch a single second of Wrestlemanie this weekend outside of the things that popped up on Twitter. I just didn't have it in me to watch a card without the fans.
... I have no interest in watching NBA players play horse in confinement on ESPN. Sorry, ESPN.
... Rex Ryan needs to stop trying so hard to be Rex Ryan.
... Here's to Aldon Smith falling on his face and not making the Cowboys roster in the fall. Cheers!
... Man City's Kyle Walker is being investigated for having a get-together during the Coronavirus lockdown in the UK at his house with a couple of sex workers just hours after begging people on social media to stay home and respect social distancing. Bold strategy, Cotton.
No. 8 - Three Random Things From This Week in Quarantine ...
a. Ron Swanson popped up in an episode of ER and I did not recognize him.
b. I've never realized how well we all can contain our sneezes and coughs until the last few weeks when I haven't so much as heard a single person do either in the times I've had to go get an essential item or two.
c. 500 years from now, assuming there's still a planet, the kids will learn in the history books about this thing called hand-shaking that used to exist between people upon meeting. Those kids will be perplexed at the idea that hand shaking ever existed, as the thought of willingly touching someone else's unwashed body parts upon greeting them will sound as foreign and obsolete as driving with a horse and buggy.
No. 9 - The List: Top 10 Bill Withers Songs ...
We lost another giant in the world of music over the weekend with the passing of Bill Withers. Like the loss of Kenny Rogers, this one hits me in the gut because when I think of Withers' music, it makes me think of time with my family.
My six-year old son Hendrix has had a thing for "Lovely Day" from the very first time he ever heard it.
It just makes me feel good to think about. Here's my list..
10. Lonely Town, Lonely Street
9. Who is He (And What Is he to You)?
8. Use Me
7. Hope She’ll be Happier
6. Harlem
5. Grandma’s Hands
4. Just The Two of Us
3. Ain’t No Sunshine
2. Lovely Day
1. Lean on Me
No.10 - And finally...
to take a moment today to thank the entire staff at Round Rock Hospital for the care, consideration and comfort that they provided on Thursday when I had to go in for a jaw-wiring to fix my broken jaw.
Despite all of the apprehension by needing to go to the hospital during a pandemic, the staff at Round Rock Hospital was first-class in every department every step of the way, from the moment I checked in to the front desk to the moment I was escorted out of the building. At a time when stress must be at an all-time high, I was overwhelmed by the love and care I received. It just felt like every detail had been considered and every precaution had been made. I had been dreading the idea of going into the hospital and they made the entire experience something less than the anxiety-attack I was expecting.
Much love to all the medical field workers out there. Not all heroes wear capes.
1) Who is Ron Swanson....explain it to me like I’m 5?
2) May I ask how you broke your jaw...again, I must be asleep at the wheel?
1. Swanson is a very popular character from the TV show Parks and Rec. He would have made an awesome Orangebloods poster.
2. Had a wisdom tooth taken out 13 weeks ago and my jaw was broken in the process. It's taken three months to get the right prognosis.
My recollection on that 4th down play is the spot was extremely generous to USC. Refs tried hard to give them the first.
Its really a boring story. You should claim that you were so bored from the lack of sports that you got drunk and tried out your old skateboard....o-r-a-l -s-u-r-g-e-o-n
I never had a skateboard. I was always kind of terrified of them.Its really a boring story. You should claim that you were so bored from the lack of sports that you got drunk and tried out your old skateboard....
Thx for filling in dumb guy. And JESUS F’ing CHRIST...how the hell does that happen? Wow, get better soon...sounds like you have some tedious days ahead.
Coach of the year in 2018 and in final four year after year, "not a splash hire?" Just out of curiosity what is your definition of a "splash hire?"
Honestly, it hasn't been that bad, but today is the first day I've truly been hungry.
Women’s Basketball is the Face of Texas Women’s Athletics (Much like Football on the men’s side) which makes THAT coaching Hire is the Biggest priority and Worth spending the 2.5 million I feel Coach Schaefer will now be paid.
I mean every hire at the University of Texas should be a splash hire. We have more resources then anyone!! That should be our expectations!! Not average or just good enough. Mike White has been great and I expect Vic Schaefer to be that way also!!
When Shaka is replaced it should be a splash, not good enough!!
Seems like a good time to corn teen and heel all at the same time. Hang in there, man.
In CFB, at the very worst, it's whoever you would put immediately after Dabo, Nick, or Urban.
The actor’s name is Nick Offerman, married to actress Megan Mullaly. I’m sure you’ve seen them in the Dish Network “Sling”commercials where they talk about “slinging” like its “swinging.”
Great job Ketch! Hope you get better soon and here's to a speedy recovery! Love Story Time with Ketch! More please!! If you can retell the big time RB from Cali that choose Colorado over Texas recruiting stories of that recruitment!!
"I didn't think Chris Del Conte had this hire in him."
Why not? The guys been all aces since he arrived here. He doesn't make knee-jerk decisions but he has never indicated a lack of stones.
And here's wishing you a speedy recovery.
Why not? The guys been all aces since he arrived here. He doesn't make knee-jerk decisions but he has never indicated a lack of stones.
And here's wishing you a speedy recovery.
