(photo courtesy of TexasSports.com)
If the world was a perfect place, Texas swim coach Eddie Reese would drive into campus every day on a road named after him before parking in front of a statue in his image and entering a building overflowing with the banners he's won.
In the aftermath of Texas winning its 12th NCAA team title on Saturday, it's impossible not to take stock of what Reese has accomplished in his 38 seasons as head coach.
Hired at Texas two years before Urban Cowboy was released in the movie theaters, Reese won his first national team title on March 28, 1981, just two weeks after Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" topped the Billboard Charts.
The full roll-call of years that has seen Reese's teams light the Tower with a No. 1 looks like this: 1981, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2015 and 2016.
That means in addition to Blondie's "Rapture" (1981), Reese's championship run includes the following No. 1 songs on the Billboard Charts:
Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" (1988)
Mike and the Mechanics "The Living Years" (1989)
Alannah Myles' "Black Velvet" (1990)
Timmy T's "One More Try" (1991)
Céline Dion's "Because You Loved Me" (1996)
Destiny's Child's "Say My Name" (2000)
Joe (with Mystikal) "Stutter" (2001)
Jennifer Lopez's "Ain't It Funny" (2002)
Rihanna's "Rude Boy" (2010)
Mark Ronson (with Bruno Mars "Uptown Funk" (2015)
Rihanna (with Drake) "Work" (2016)
Basically, as our world has changed, evolved and (in some cases on that list above) de-evolved over the course of an entire generation and then some, Reese has been in the same place winning championships, producing Olympians and doing it all with the type of grace that exemplifies the slogan "What starts here, changes the world."
While my favorite Reese stat is that the Longhorns have posted 30 top-3 NCAA finishes in 38 seasons, perhaps even more impressive than the volume of championships that have been accumulated (more team titles that than anyone in the history of the sport) is the reality that there were often long stretches of failure that never deterred Reese from the trust in his methods. For instance, it would have been easy to question whether the program would win another title under Reese after an eight-year stretch from 2002-2010 left UT without the big trophy, but what Reese's success has taught everyone is to just relax.
It's not going to happen every year, but he's going to be within grasp and over the course of the last 35 years since he won his first title, he's good for a national title every three years or so.
That's Geno Auriemma territory.
Yes, this will forever be a football state, town and university, but at some point we all need to consider the fact that perhaps the greatest coaching icon in the school history isn’t Darrell Royal. Or Gus or Augie or Mack.
Instead, it’s the guy who has somehow been able to suppress the seduction of celebrity, ego and glory over the course of nearly 40 seasons, while watching the city explode from a hidden oasis of hippie/political/student precociousness into one of the most dynamic metropolitan cities in our nation.
In a way he’s emerged over time as this school’s version of Forest Gump, with one possible exception.
He’s won a hell of a lot more championships that Forest.
No. 2 – Baby Steps to the Final Four ...
With 10 minutes to go in Saturday’s Sweet 16 match-up against No. 3 UCLA, the No. 2 Longhorns looked like a team that was running out of gas.
Throughout the first 30 minutes of the game, the Bruins just seemed a step quicker, a step more dialed in and perhaps a step better, a notion that was reinforced by their six-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. It’s not that the game seemed out of reach by any stretch, it just seemed like the Bruins had an answer for everything Texas was trying to throw at them.
Then the fourth quarter arrived and just like Sly Stallone in Over the Top, the Texas team channeled the inner truck-driving bad ass arm wrestler inside of it and overwhelmed the Bruins to the tune of 24-10 in the final 10 minutes.
After being eliminated in the same exact stage a season ago, this team took off when it mattered most after it appeared that the program's quest for the glory days in this sport might be hitting neutral this season.. In getting the win, the Longhorns advanced to their first Elite 8 since 2003.
Slowly and surely, the Longhorns keep progressing forward under Aston.
Next Step: A Final Four.
No. 3 – The UConn problem ...
No team in the women’s NCAA Tournament received a worse draw than the Texas Longhorns, having received its season-ending death sentence two weeks ago with the announcement that it was the No. 2 seed in the UConn region.
Someone has to draw the short end of the stick and this year it was Texas.
I’m not even sure how to set expectations for such a situation, considering UConn just won its Sweet 16 game on Saturday by a mere 60 and beat Texas in another Sweet 16 match-up a season ago by 51.
Playing Texas in Bridgeport is essentially the equivalent of playing the Globetrotters in Harlem.
I’m sure some will scream foul that I would assume defeat before the game ever starts, but we have to keep it real in discussing UConn in its current place in women’s basketball, which seems to be galaxies away from the rest of the sport.
In another region, Texas might be getting ready to advance to the Final Four, but barring the greatest performance in the history of the program, the season will end on Monday.
No. 4 – Texas baseball this weekend in a gif ...
No. 5 – Scattershooting on the Longhorns ...
... Repeat after me... "I will not fall for the okey doke that is spring football hyperbole."
Repeat that 100 times or as often as needed until it sinks in.
... If we were ranking the most important players on the roster that the Longhorns can ill-afford to lose to injury this season, Connor Williams has to be No.1 on the list, right?
... Going into the 2016 season if you had to bet a mortgage payment on one of the team's defensive linemen earning All-Big 12 first or second-team honors, are you putting your money on Paul Boyette, Poona Ford, Bryce Cottrell or the rest of the field?
... If Kai Locksley made the move to wide receiver in the next month, I think it's very possible that he'd be starting or playing considerably by September. Just my opinion.
... I think the most positive aspect of spring workouts from my perspective is the ease with which the new coaches, especially on the offensive side of the ball, has been able to move into the program without any real bumps. This is a coaching staff that seems to be on the same page more than it has been in the past.
No. 6 – Buy or sell …
(As always, these are questions submitted by Orangebloods subscribers)
BUY or SELL: Not factoring in the ramifications for the current coaching staff, in a perfect world, given the current talent at the position, it is better for the program to bite the bullet with a young Shane Buechele at QB at the start of the 2016 season, than to trot out a filler in Tyrone Swoopes or Jerrod Heard?
(Buy) If the Longhorns don’t have an older player they believe can drive the bus to a very good season, then I’m all for turning the keys to the bus to a young player that can take his lumps in an otherwise wasted season. The problem is that Buechele hasn’t looked like a kid ready for that type of assignment yet and until the coaches see a little more grown man out of him in the next few months, and it’s possible that could occur, he’s going to be on the sidelines with a baseball cap on.
BUY or SELL: We set a new DKR attendance record if Shane is announced the starter before the season. We don't if it's Swoops
(Sell) The attendance for the season-opener has 10 times more to do with the opponent than the Texas starting quarterback.
BUY or SELL: Jerrod Heard struggling to blow past the competition this Spring has more to do with his ability as a QB than the lack of coaching development he has had.
(Buy) Guys, he arrived as a player I viewed as a three-year project and he’s entering year three right now, so I’m not in a panic mode with him just yet. If we get to the bowl workouts (assuming there are bowl workouts) and the switch has flickered a few more times than it has since last October, then it’ll be time to wonder if it’s ever going to happen for him. He’s got some plus-level skills that have a chance to help create an impact player with more maturity and development.
BUY or SELL: We do well enough during the season to both A) Finish top 2 in Big 12, and B) land another top 10 recruiting class?
(Sell) What in the world are you doing asking if this team is ready to be in the top two of the Big 12? In what world does a 5-7 team with quarterback issues coming into the next season have its eyes seriously placed so high? That being said, a top-10 class is very doable, assuming Charlie Strong is returning in 2017.
BUY or SELL: Horns steamroll Tech this year and ChuckFnStrong tweets "Apparently today is April 1!"
(Sell) Steamroll? I’m not quite as ready to you emphatic words like Charlie did this past week.
BUY or SELL: Charlie Strong is signing his own pink slip if he names Swoopes the starter against ND AND we get blown out again.
(Buy) Oh yeah, if this team gets rolled at home in the opener, it’ll be tough to circle the wagons, barring an immediate turnaround of success in the next few weeks in Stillwater and in the Cotton Bowl.
BUY or SELL: The Horns find a stud kicker to get us back to the good old days when kicks were money ... not a time to pop a Xanax?
(Sell) I’m not sure the coaches know the name of who will be kicking field goals against the Irish. Hell, I’m not sure they know the names of the kids kicking in the spring game.
BUY or SELL: Sterlin Gilbert can get this offense to average 35 points per game?
(Buy) Yes, he can, but I wouldn’t buy if you were asking me if he will.
BUY or SELL: The offensive line will protect the quarterback in the new offense long enough to allow the quarterbacks time to throw the ball?
(Sell) I’m more of a believer of this offense protecting the quarterback from the rush than the line at this point. You’ll forgive me if I’m going to take a wait-and-see approach with this group before pulling out the anointment oil.
BUY or SELL: Ambien Kool-aid is a dangerous drink during the offseason?
(Buy) Truer words have never been typed.
No. 7 – The Empire Strikes Back in the Metroplex ...
Less than two months since one of the worst Lone Star State recruiting halls in the last 20 years, the Oklahoma football program has seemingly made an all-out effort to turn around its fortunes inside of state borders with the 2017 recruiting class.
If the results of the last few weeks mean anything at all, Oklahoma is re-emerging once again as a real recruiting factor in the state of Texas, especially in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex.
With the commitment last summer from Mesquite Horn four-star quarterback Chris Robison, the Sooners were able to build an early foundation with the 2016 class, which was amplified when national top 100 offensive lineman Tyrese Robinson committed in late January and exploded into a full-forced movement this weekend with the commitments of Waxahachie wide receiver Jalen Reagor and Cedar Hill four-star wide receiver Charleston Rambo.
Suddenly, the Soooners have six commitments from the state of Texas in the 2017 class, with five of them living in the Metroplex and holding a four-star ranking.
As it relates to the this run of commitments and its impact on the Longhorns, it’s not something to get too worried about at this point, as only Robinson and Barnes hold Texas offers, and Barnes’ family connection to the Sooners made him a long-shot from the very beginning of his recruitment.
However, in the name of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer, it’s important to know how things are going north of the Red River and I would suggest that everyone keep an eye on this development moving forward.
No. 8 – Speaking of the Sooners ...
Goodness gracious, Buddy Hield is one hell of a college basketball player.
Of all the things that happened this weekend that led us to our Final Four, nothing was more mesmerizing than watching OU’s senior all-American live out the dream as college basketball’s best player, knocking down three after three in front of Kobe Bryant’s approving eyes.
His run through the NCAA Tournament will be remembered as one of the best in history if he’s able to pull two more tricks out from his sleeves.
If he can close the door on a title, would that make him the best player in the history of the conference?
No. 9 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
… Scattershooting on the NCAA Tournament …
a. Virginia blowing a Final Four appearance because it couldn’t handle the Syracuse press was one of the most stunning things I’ve seen in college basketball this year. That game is in complete control and then in the blink of an eye it wasn’t and the Cavs never could get the momentum back in their favor. You don’t get a better look at getting to the Final Four than the path the Cavs were given and that team blew it. Yikes.
b. Of course, Jim Boeheim gets the last laugh over the NCAA. Nothing better exemplifies college athletics than Boeheim enhancing his legacy in a season that saw him suspended for one-fourth of the season.
c. Kansas picked a really bad time to play a C-level game. I know KU fans have to be frustrated 24 hours later.
d. Perry Ellis’ career ended with four points and five rebounds in 35 minutes of action. I’m guessing he dreams about this game for the rest of his life.
… I know Pop does it all the time and you can never say anything that goes against him, but it was weak sauce to pull all of his top players going into Saturday night’s game against Oklahoma City. The Warriors could have played the same card last weekend after a run of games on the road, but it paid respect to the magnitude of a prime-time match-up and all the fans that paid hard-earned money to see the two best teams in the West play against each other. When faced the same situation a week later, Pop punted. Weak sauce.
… With their win over the Sixers on Sunday night, the Warriors need to go 7-2 in their final nine games to win 73 wins and break the record of the Jordan Bulls. Two of the final four games will be against the Spurs and you have to wonder if Pop will throw a game or two in the final week in the name of resting players.
… According to former Orangebloods contributor Lance Zerlein, the Cowboys will not be taking Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa in the draft. Assuming that’s true, I’m left with more questions than answers as we head into April. There’s no way Jalen Ramsey makes it to No. 4, is there?
… I wish I had been able to get down to the Austin Country Club for some of the WGC-Dell Match Play Classic this week because the stars were out in full force. Man, how good is Jason Day? Of course, he won an event he was advised to skip. Bad back? Vertigo? Whatever, mate.
… If a New York sewer had a baby with toxic waste landfill, what’s created would likely appear very similar to the US men’s soccer team in its loss to Guatemala on Friday. Man, that was rough to watch. I’m not sure there was a player on the pitch that looked anything close to world-class.
… On the other side of the coin, kudos to the English national team for coming all the back from a 2-0 halftime deficit in Germany to defeat the defending world champions, the first time such a thing has ever happened on German soil. That back-heel kick for a goal by Jamie Vardy was special. There will be riots in the streets of London if Harry Kane or Vardy lose time to Wayne Rooney this summer in the Euro championships.
… I kind of dig Mauro Diaz and FC Dallas.
No. 10 - And finally… The List: A Tribe Called Quest
With the loss of Malik Taylor (a.k.a Phife Dog) this week to his battle with diabetes, I thought I’d pay homage to one of the greatest rap/hip-hop groups of all-time with a Top 10 list.
Enjoy.
10. Bonita Applebum
A signature song that HAS to be on the list, so it slides into my No. 10 slot.
9. God Lives Through
Some of my favorite Phife Dog moments can be found from one of the best songs on the classicMidnight Marauders album.
8. Hot Sex
Released on the Boomerang soundtrack, Phife Dawg and Q-Tip bring pure fire on this track. Plus, it gets special points for having a hook that I sometimes say out loud when I see an attractive waitress.
7. Award Tour
One of the best songs off of the Midnight Marauders album, which many argue is the best that the group made. I know this … I've heard the instrumental of this song as much as any hip-hop song I've ever heard.
6. Buggin' Out
One of my favorite songs off of The Low End Theory, which remains atop just about any list of favorite rap albums that I would put together.
5. Electric Relaxation
The best song off of the Midnight Marauders album.
4. Can I Kick It
I'm pretty sure this is the song that truly hooked me in the very beginning and it's my favorite track on their debut album People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.
3. Jazz (We've Got)
There are few songs in hip-hop that I can sit back and chill to as well as this one. Pure genius.
2. Check The Rhime
One. Of. My. All. Time. Jams.
1. Scenario
All these years later and it's still a f'ing masterpiece. One of my favorite songs of all-time.
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