Many years ago when former Texas head coach Mack Brown often found himself citing 10 wins as the standard by which his program would be measured, I remarked that any season that the Longhorns play that ends without a conference title and a major bowl win is a big disappointment/failure.
Championships define programs like Texas and not artificially created plateaus, a point that I have never wavered on during any season since. As the great Bull Hurley once said, "Being number one is everything. There is no second place. Second sucks."
I bring up this point about what defines success on the field at a school like Texas because as I was walking to my car following Sunday's open practice in front of about 1,000 fans at DKR, I found myself thinking about this team in terms that would make Hurley's skin crawl.
"I like this team," I thought to myself as I navigated the exterior of DKR so that I could remain in the shade as much as possible. "I don't know how many wins they have in them this season, but they play hard and seem to embody their coach, and what's not to like about a team that embodies a guy like Charlie Strong?"
mahi
Yes, I like this team. Maybe even really like this team. Just don't confuse that with thinking this team is championship ready because I haven't seen anything yet from this group that suggests today that the group has that kind of run in it.
In fact, as I was continuing my walk, my next thought was, "If the Longhorns win the Big 12 this year it will be the best job of coaching by any head coach and staff I have ever seen on the 40 Acres."
Marinate on that for a second when thinking about how strongly you want to go in with the double-digit win predictions this season. This team has a lot of talent on which other Big 12 programs would be dying to get their hands, but the question marks are so numerous that expecting that it could all be pulled together in the next few months seems unlikely. Therefore, put me on the record right now … a Big 12 title this season deserves a Big Coach of the Year honor and possibly national honors as well.
I've seen what BCS-level teams around these parts look like and we're several stages of development away from being there, but there were a number of things to feel good about coming out of a practice in shorts that limited the amount of conclusions about all of those little pictures inside the much bigger one.
a. When I tell you that this team seems to be embodying Strong's spirit in practice, I can' think of a bigger compliment I can give it given the establishment that it is used to.
b. If it can stay healthy, this offensive line has a chance to be pretty damn salty.
c. I'm more than willing to give Strong the benefit of the doubt on defense.
d. This freshman class has a lot of junkyard dog in it and it could help this team substantially sooner rather than later.
It's not that I'm lowering the standard at all because the bar that defines excellence hasn't changed, but enjoying this season may require you to alter the normal prism through which you view the program.
If you can do that this season, you might just find yourself loving the evolution of this team over 12 games.
As I said to myself following today's practice, this is going to be an easy team to like, even if it doesn't come close to winning all of its games.
Just don't tell Bull Hurley that I said that.
No. 2 - Taking a peek at the key areas of concern …
A week ago, this column focused on the major areas of concern heading into the 2014 season and I thought it might be a good idea to follow up on those discussion points following Sunday's practice.
Here are my snapshot takes one week later …
Depth along the defensive line: The starters in the front four on defense are pretty damn salty, the best in the Big 12 on paper, but I didn't really see anyone jump out among the back-ups in a way that made me think this team won't take a noticeable dip when the starters aren't on the field. It'll be fascinating to see how Strong manages snap-counts for Tank Jackson and Malcom Brown.
The tight ends: It's still Groundhog Day with this position, although M.J. McFarland flashes late in practice on a touchdown down the seam from Tyrone Swoopes. When this team goes into two tight end sets, teams are going to crowd the box until the Longhorns can prove to them that they shouldn't.
The linebackers: Seeing Demarco Cobbs with the first-team defense today in much of practice was a reminder that there are a lot of players from this group who will need to make rapid developments from last season to this season if this positon is going to be a strength for the team. My biggest issue is that I don't really see any playmakers at the second level and this is a unit that is going to need its linebackers to make game-changing plays.
The secondary: Quandre Diggs is exactly the kind of playmaker that the linebacker unit doesn't really have at this point, but outside of him, I think the jury remains out on everyone else. The bottom line is that when I think of great secondary units in Austin, I think of the 2005 and 2009 groups, and I'm not sure the current DB group is within a country mile of either.
Who plays at receiver outside of Jaxon Shipley/Marcus Johnson? One answer would appear to be Jacorey (his friends apparently call him Petey) Warrick, who can get open, but has to become a more consistent pass-catcher. Outside of Warrick, keep an eye on true freshmen Armanti Foreman and Dorian Leonard. It might take some time, but this group has talent, it just needs a lot of seasoning.
What about the kickers: After today, I'm not sure what to think. There were times when I thought things looked ugly and times when I thought things looked pretty good.
About the offensive line … The most inspiring thing from Sunday's workout from my vantage point was the fact that a group with Kennedy Estelle, Sedrick Flowers, Dominic Espinosa, Kent Perkins and Desmond Harrison has a chance to be pretty damn salty, especially if Harrison's light switch stays on while he's on the right side. Just. Stay. Healthy.
Finally, we can't forget the quarterbacks … Status quo.
No. 3 - Scattershooting on the Longhorns …
… What do I make of Dylan Haines as a starter at safety? Well, I'm not sure I've seen enough to make strong, definitive claims, but he seems like a guy that makes up for whatever physical tools he doesn't possess with a mental game that rarely makes mistakes. Does that translate into a plus-safety in the Big 12? I don't know … buuuuuut … nobody has moved him out of the line-up, either. I asked myself today if I thought he was a better option at safety than Marcus Griffin, who was a walk-on that started for the Longhorns in 2006 and was on the field during the most important defensive play of the Mack Brown era (4th and 2 in the national title game), and the answer at this point is no.
… I didn't see a single offensive linemen today on the second-team unit (Marcus Hutchins, Taylor Doyle, Jake Raulerson, Elijah Rodriguez and Camrhon Hughes) that I thought was close to the level of the starter in front of them, although Hutchins caught my eye more today than at any other point in his career in Austin.
… Whatever is wrong with Duke Catalon is not supposed to be serious, but man, with him out of the line-up today the depth at running back got thin very quickly in today's workout. It required a look at the roster on almost every play.
… Marcus Johnson looked pretty damn explosive at kick returner today. The question I have is whether he's too valuable to put on special teams this season? I might just give Armanti Foreman the nod among the wide receivers not named Daje Johnson instead.
… Mykkele Thompson isn't a natural cornerback, but he's more natural-looking at cornerback than at safety. Get ready to see the best version of him that you've ever seen.
… After watching the back-up quarterbacks today, I don't know what the hell this team will do at the position if David Ash goes down.
… None of the freshmen defensive backs today stood out as much as their counterparts at wide receiver.
… I wonder if Ty Templin would be taking first team reps if Mack Brown was still the head coach? Actually, we all know the answer to that question. Charlie Strong seems to play the guys that play the best … period. The players have to love that.
No. 4 - The first-ballet Orangebloods Hall of Fame list …
A week ago, in the immediate aftermath of announcing in this column that this week would feature the debut of the Orangebloods.com Hall of Fame, there was an immediate pushback from a number of prominent posters about what such an idea might create on the board.
Feelings might be hurt. Egos could explode. It's incredibly nerdy (as we all pretend we're not spending hours on an Internet message board).
In the end, the idea was important to me for three reasons:
a. We're going into our 14th season of covering Longhorns football at Orangebloods and as good of a job as we've done covering the team during that window, it would be foolish to suggest that this site has developed into the industry monster that it has become because of the work of the mods alone. No, the truth is that the community that we've formed over the course of those 14 years is an important piece of our identity and I thought it would be cool to recognize those that have become part of the site's DNA.
b. Some of our great posters are no longer with us and forever remembering them is important to me.
c. Reliving some of the memories created by these posters was a hell of a lot of fun and I believe with all of my heart that the majority of the readers will enjoy the walk down memory lane.
Six days ago, the list of first-ballot nominations was in the triple figures, which means that I had to drastically cut the list of candidates down if I wanted to stick to my premise of inducting 10 names in this first-year of creation. In the end, I settled on 16 names that I felt like I just couldn't leave off for a variety of reasons, all of them quite different in nature.
If you think that's too damn many, just know that it's the same number that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted in its first year and that initial class didn't include Bob Dylan, The Beatles of anyone in the Stones. I just couldn't leave any of these fellas out.
Therefore, without wasting any more time, let's get to the first-ballot Orangebloods Hall of Fame list.
(Note: If you didn't make the list this year, please don't take it as a sign of not being appreciated. This list could easily have 100 names on it and I'll probably get complaints about having too many names on the first list as it is. I love you all.)
BigDD (Member since April 2nd, 2003)
Why he makes the list: In a forum full of colorful characters, none have created as much discussion over the years as the site's resident No. 1 supporter from the state of Minnesota. The stories over the years have been so legendary that when he made his first appearance in Austin for a UT football game, it finally confirmed that Derek wasn't just some alias handle out of the Twilight Zone. There's no doubt in my mind that nobody would believe he actually exists had he not visited a few years back and the reality is that he's a pretty awesome dude.
My favorite moment: Without getting into the specifics of his intentions, BigDD once posted modeling photos of himself on a random Sunday night that included a couple of portraits that made him look exactly like Derek Zoolander, which was awesome when you consider that his name is actually Derek. The feedback in the first 20 minutes or so was so brutal that he took the pictures down, but if you happened to be on the board that night at the right time, it was one of the true magical moments in the history of the Internet.
BobR (Member since June 22nd, 2001)
Why he makes the list: The Godfather of Abusing the Aggies. Back in the early portion of the Internet's Wild West days, BobR had a way of turning College Station into Chernobyl with a single post. In fact, I consider BobR to be the original online Aggie troller and for you young bucks out there, let me just tell you something … there's never been anyone better at the craft.
My favorite moment: Back in the early days of the site, BobR would send the Aggies into such an outrage over his posts that scores of posters on our Rivals A&M website were cancelling subscriptions in some sort of odd reverse protest. He's the only poster I have ever known that stopped business on other sites because of the scuds he dropped on Orangebloods.
CS (Member since June 18nd, 2001)
Why he makes the list: Not only is he the most controversial poster in the history of the site, but half of the community believes that the handle is actually an alias of mine. Whether he knows it or not, he's basically the pre-illness Lou Gehrig of the website, as he's been the face of creating angst on the board for 14 straight years, a record of excellence that has never before been seen in these parts. He's a five-page thread waiting to happen at any given moment and he knows it.
My favorite moment: The time that he pretended to be logging out of my name and then answered a question in his handle while giving the impression to the poster he was responding to that he was me, causing an absolute hilarious uproar.
echeese (Member since November 16th, 2001)
Why he makes the list: 86,934 posts. If CS is the Lou Gehrig of making people on the site angry, echeese is the Pete Rose of all things posts related. I call him the site's all-time hit king. Like any good man of the people, he's been banned a few times, he's been angry at me a few times and he's emailed me to tell me all about it a few times, but Chuck is good people and he's been one of the real ambassadors of the site over the years in the Dallas area.
My favorite moment: Just his ability to insult someone without making a direct personal attack, which has often led to him nearly creating an online riot, all while technically acting within the rule book. Along with CS, I'm not sure there's a poster on the site that has ever received more complaints from other users. Even now, I know there are people out there whose blood is boiling because I selected him for enshrinement.
El Mahico (Member since June 25th, 2001)
Why he makes the list: In the last five-plus years that he's been on the site, he's become one of the biggest stop-the-presses posters the site has ever had. On top of posts that people crave to read, he's acted as a voice of reason over the years in an arena that often has few measured tones.
My favorite moment: A UT assistant coach once called me and asked for his identity because he was wrongly worried that he was his source.
ericg320 (Member since December 13th, 2008)
Why he makes the list: Once upon a time, the LSUFreak was the gold standard of Internet Photoshop hijinks, but that was yesterday … today it's all ericg.
My favorite moment: Nobody allows me to have fun by creating the gifs I need for this column than the man, the myth and the legend.
https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/p...#https://imageshack.com/a/img11/1265/woms.gif
Hornya (Member since August 23rd, 2001)
Why he makes the list: There are people who like to live and then there's Ken Collins, who lived every day like he had a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Although he passed away in 2012, there's a piece of him that lives on forever on Orangebloods. I'm not sure I've ever met a man who loved being a Longhorn more than this man.
My favorite moment: Ask me over a drink
= Iceman = (Member since January 30th, 2007)
Why he makes the list: The single greatest Orangebloods ambassador we've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I'm not sure anyone can even keep track of all of the Orangebloods members that he's either helped make the best or worst decision of their lives. Over the years, he's proven to be an even better person and friend than contributor to site, which says an awful lot. He's family.
My favorite moment: He successfully helped me secure the engagement ring of my wife's dreams without ever letting her know that he was shopping for me. Oh, and he HOOKED me up, yo!
LONGHORNREALTOR (Member since November 8th, 2006)
Why he makes the list: Speaking of great Orangebloods ambassadors, you can't put together a list without including the man who has helped fill more stomachs with tasty food and beverages than the incomparable Jeff Dillard. Part of the reason we have a special community is that we have truly special human beings like Dillard, who cares more about doing for others than receiving anything back in return, while bringing all of us together in the process.
My favorite moment: Pick any tailgate in nearly the last decade. A lot of my friends have had too good of a time at his tailgate over the years.
PhxHorn (Member since June 19th, 2001)
Why he makes the list: The Ernest Hemingway of the Longhorn Internet world. It's been more than a decade since Neil Kidwell left this world, but his impact as a poster forever remains. In the old days of the Longhorn Internet world, he represented the gold standard.
My favorite moment: The first time I met Neil in person, it was at a hotel bar in downtown Austin and he was holding court around other posters from the UT Internet universe like Marshawn Lynch at a backyard BBQ, which is to say that he was an absolute boss. I can't remember his drink of choice, but I believe it was a nice scotch.
RayG (Member since December 12th, 2001)
Why he makes the list: It didn't matter whether we had podcasts at low-rent sports bars or post-game events downtown or radio shows as pre-game work, Larry Greisham was going to make the drive from Waco to be there ... even when he was in the middle of chemo. An absolute throwback to a different era, Larry never wanted anything more than to be with people he liked, while talking Longhorns football. Orangebloods misses him dearly.
My favorite moment: The legend of the blue drink started the night of Kenton Paulino's Shot Heard Round the Longhorn World, as Larry got the entire bar intoxicated … well … everyone except Suchomel, who had to drive home and let his wife in the house, even though he did try to talk her into busting out a window to let herself in.
royalewithcheese (Member since February 16th, 2002)
Why he makes the list: Let's call him a cross between BobR and ericg320, which means that way back in the beginning of this site he was a master at finding photos and creating posts that enraged Aggies in a way that ensured boycotts would take place. Had he been able to keep up the pace from his prime, he might have chased down echeese in total posts.
My favorite moment: One of the original board mods for the site, Aggie fans threatened to boycott Rivals unless I disavowed all ties with him. Other than an occasional call for a slight taming of his tactics, I pretty much gave the boycotters the middle finger and let him do whatever he wanted because the reactions always made me smile.
rpongett (Member since June 18th, 2001)
Why he makes the list: Although his days of being a prolific poster have ended, perhaps no poster on the site's history has ever brought better pure football discussion to the table with his combination of videos, analytical breakdowns and other nerdy wizard tricks. If you can imagine a time when video on the Internet of the Longhorns was scarce, his weekly video breakdowns of games were appointment viewings for old-school posters.
My favorite moment: I still don't know how he did this, but he once created a post that said, "I hate …" and when people clicked on it, there was a code built inside that made it so that every person clicking would see their handle in the body of the post. Holy moly, he nearly created an Internet nuclear meltdown, as not everyone appreciates that type of humor … I do.
SantaRita (Member since June 18th, 2001)
Why he makes the list: One of the site's original EF Hutton posters, as people listened when he posted. Also, he issued the very first invite I ever received to speak at any of the various lunch bunches around the state.
My favorite moment: The day he protected me from an older Longhorn fan that wanted to fight me outside of a Dave and Busters.
SpaceCityWrangler (Member since June 18th, 2001)
Why he makes the list: The very first Orangebloods.com subscriber, back when the site was actually founded as The-University.com. Plus, he's just a hell of a good guy that I have had a chance to see a number of times over the years. He's the quintessential Orangebloods lifer.
My favorite moment: I can't remember the year, but one of the first times we ever hung out together was at the Hornsfans tailgate (hosted by Longhorns Internet Hall of Famer Robert Agnor) and whenever I think of good times at that tailgate, I often think of one our conversations, which included his lovely lady-friend.
utx (Member since June 27th, 2003)
Why he makes the list: Widely considered to be the original Orangebloods message board insider and a guy that absolutely drove Mack Brown nuts.
My favorite moment: Any time a former UT assistant coach called and told me that a post from utx had sent Mack into an unstable emotional state and it happened more than once over the years.
No. 5 - With the 9th pick of my fantasy football draft, Sexual Chocolate selects …
With 21 days to go, this fantasy football junkie is in full crumb-finding mode.
Just call me Pookie.
After suffering the most soul-breaking fantasy football loss of my lifetime in last year's championship game, I had pretty much sworn off all things fantasy-related for the last seven-plus months because the wounds are still too damn fresh. Hell, the thought of doing a mock draft still kind of repulsed me merely a week ago.
However, by the time Thursday night's War Room had been posted, a complete 180-degree turn had been made, as a group of six league owners got together at Pluckers to determine this year's draft order and divisions. By the time I was done dramatically revealing the draft order in reverse order via text to the six owners that were not on hand, I found myself ready to begin what will be a no-doubt overly-obsessive preparation that will focus on generating my own rankings based on things like strength of schedule, pre-season evaluations and flat-out gut feels.
Do, I need help? Very much so. Will I seek it? No way. As we enter season No. 14 in what I consider to be an ultra, ultra-competitive league, my team (Sexual Chocolate) is aiming for a fifth title because my thumb is just so damn lonesome without one. I must put those consecutive championship game losses behind me and persevere.
It's time to get back my trophy. It all starts at pick No. 9, a position that won't snag me one of the elite of the elite backs, but will seemingly allow me all sorts of paths to take, depending on where my research takes me.
In the meantime, if you have any feedback, I always enjoy the discussion …
No. 6 - Rory, Rory Woods, y'all…
Well, as far as Sunday majors are concerned, the final major of 2014 was a hell of a lot of fun, but in the end we're all just living in Rory's world at the moment.
As good as Lefty was all day on Sunday, he just didn't have that extra shot in his bag that Rory did all weekend and now we've got to start thinking about Rory in Roger Federer terms.
Basically, what if 10 years Rory turns out to be Federer's version of Rafa Nadal, a guy who owned him head-to-head in majors and potentially ends up soaring past his own accomplishments.
In a tournament with a ton of tasty storylines, all of them were destroyed by Rory the Baby-Face Killer.
As a fan of Lefty, all I could do was shrug my shoulders and tip my proverbial cap.
No. 7 - Damn, damn, damn …
I don't even know what to say about the incident that involved Tony Stewart killing sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr. when he hit him with his car on Saturday night.
Honestly, I have more questions than opinions.
What was Ward thinking? Why would he do that? What must be going on in Stewart's head before, during and after the incident?
My God, how horrifying.
Prayers and condolences to everyone involved in what amounts to the worst track moment I've ever witnessed.
No. 8 - Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
… All in all, I thought Johnny Manziel looked pretty good in his first NFL setting, although I have no idea what he can actually do because the Browns second-team offense is limited to say the least. Although we never saw him push the ball down the field and I think he's going to get killed if they run too much zone-read stuff, he looked like he belonged on the field and his arm is NFL good.
… I didn't see the Texans this weekend, but I have a feeling that Texans fans can do without whatever comments I would have had about a 32-0 loss to the Cardinals.
… DeAnthony Thomas returning kicks in the NFL is going to be fun.
… The Detroit Tigers should have traded for Jonathan Papelbon.
… The Texas Rangers snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Houston Astros on Sunday. Lulz …
… The Illinois Little League team is pretty awesome.
… I love the reported Thaddeus Young for Anthony Bennett trade from a Philadelphia perspective, even if they have to take on an ugly Kevin Martin contract or two.
… It's time to get Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson in the ring together.
No. 9 - Pop goes the culture because the culture goes pop …
… Hottie of the Weekend: Chrissy Teigen is winning
… Hottie of the Weekend II: You go, Britney
… Favorite headline of the weekend: Idris Elba: Not my dong
… Sticky situation: 'Aunt Jemima' heirs file $2 billion lawsuit against Pepsi and Quaker Oats
… Is this a good idea?: Rihanna and Eminem might be dating
… Shark week: Inside two must-see 'Air Jaws: Fin of Fury' moments
… Set Your DVR … or not: The unauthorized Saved By the Bell Story sneak peak
… Miley Link of the Weekend: A special kind of meet and greet
… 100-WORDS OR LESS MOVIE REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy (B)
Pretty damn good. And I'm not just talking about Zoe Saldana, who is currently in my top five in a big way. Without knowing anything about the comic, I came into the theater with a blank slate and found myself completely into the story and characters about 10 minutes in. It's not the best comic book movie of all-time and I think the hype was a little overboard, but I had a damn good time and it ranks as one of the best movies of the summer for my money.
No. 10 - The List: Dylan Listen/Subscribe Via Spotify
Although it's one of the more impossible tasks I'll ever take on with this section, it was time to finally tackle Dylan.
If I thought picking the Orangebloods Hall of Fame class was impossible, narrowing my list of Dylan songs from about 50 to 15 was equally brutal.
Nitpick me all you want… I'm ready.
Last five songs out: Girl From North County
10. All Along the Watchtower
It was a crowded fight for the No.10 slot.
9. Pledging My Time
My choice for most underrated song in the entire Dylan playbook, as this song represents the dirtiest, nastiest, grimy blues song he ever produced.
8. Tangled Up in Blue
Dylan spent two years recording the song chasing perfection.
7. Visions of Johanna
A song that I love more and more every time I hear it.
6. Mr. Tambourine Man
The best song from Dylan's Bringing it Back Home album.
5. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
One of Dylan's best during his early years and the best song off of the iconic The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan album.
4. Blowin' in the Wind
Simple, beautiful and impactful.
3. Rainy Day Women #12 and 35
My own personal favorite.
2. The Times Are A-Changin'
The best "early" Dylan song of all-time and certainly in contention for the No.1 spot.
1. Like a Rolling Stone
Arguably, the greatest rock song of all-time. There's no such thing as overrating it.
Archives List
Blues/Jazz: Listen via Spotify )
Classical: Listen via Spotify)
Country: Listen via Spotify )
Electronic: Listen Via Spotify
Funk: Listen Via Spotify (Part II ? After Hours))
Metal: Listen Via Spotify
Pop: Listen via Spotify )
Punk: Listen via Spotify)
Random: My Number 1's on Spotify
Rap: Listen via Spotify),
R&B: Listen via Spotify)
Reggae: Listen via Spotify)
Rock: Listen via Spotify )
and Listen via Spotify )
This post was edited on 8/11 12:10 PM by Ketchum
Championships define programs like Texas and not artificially created plateaus, a point that I have never wavered on during any season since. As the great Bull Hurley once said, "Being number one is everything. There is no second place. Second sucks."
I bring up this point about what defines success on the field at a school like Texas because as I was walking to my car following Sunday's open practice in front of about 1,000 fans at DKR, I found myself thinking about this team in terms that would make Hurley's skin crawl.
"I like this team," I thought to myself as I navigated the exterior of DKR so that I could remain in the shade as much as possible. "I don't know how many wins they have in them this season, but they play hard and seem to embody their coach, and what's not to like about a team that embodies a guy like Charlie Strong?"
mahi
Yes, I like this team. Maybe even really like this team. Just don't confuse that with thinking this team is championship ready because I haven't seen anything yet from this group that suggests today that the group has that kind of run in it.
In fact, as I was continuing my walk, my next thought was, "If the Longhorns win the Big 12 this year it will be the best job of coaching by any head coach and staff I have ever seen on the 40 Acres."
Marinate on that for a second when thinking about how strongly you want to go in with the double-digit win predictions this season. This team has a lot of talent on which other Big 12 programs would be dying to get their hands, but the question marks are so numerous that expecting that it could all be pulled together in the next few months seems unlikely. Therefore, put me on the record right now … a Big 12 title this season deserves a Big Coach of the Year honor and possibly national honors as well.
I've seen what BCS-level teams around these parts look like and we're several stages of development away from being there, but there were a number of things to feel good about coming out of a practice in shorts that limited the amount of conclusions about all of those little pictures inside the much bigger one.
a. When I tell you that this team seems to be embodying Strong's spirit in practice, I can' think of a bigger compliment I can give it given the establishment that it is used to.
b. If it can stay healthy, this offensive line has a chance to be pretty damn salty.
c. I'm more than willing to give Strong the benefit of the doubt on defense.
d. This freshman class has a lot of junkyard dog in it and it could help this team substantially sooner rather than later.
It's not that I'm lowering the standard at all because the bar that defines excellence hasn't changed, but enjoying this season may require you to alter the normal prism through which you view the program.
If you can do that this season, you might just find yourself loving the evolution of this team over 12 games.
As I said to myself following today's practice, this is going to be an easy team to like, even if it doesn't come close to winning all of its games.
Just don't tell Bull Hurley that I said that.
No. 2 - Taking a peek at the key areas of concern …
A week ago, this column focused on the major areas of concern heading into the 2014 season and I thought it might be a good idea to follow up on those discussion points following Sunday's practice.
Here are my snapshot takes one week later …
Depth along the defensive line: The starters in the front four on defense are pretty damn salty, the best in the Big 12 on paper, but I didn't really see anyone jump out among the back-ups in a way that made me think this team won't take a noticeable dip when the starters aren't on the field. It'll be fascinating to see how Strong manages snap-counts for Tank Jackson and Malcom Brown.
The tight ends: It's still Groundhog Day with this position, although M.J. McFarland flashes late in practice on a touchdown down the seam from Tyrone Swoopes. When this team goes into two tight end sets, teams are going to crowd the box until the Longhorns can prove to them that they shouldn't.
The linebackers: Seeing Demarco Cobbs with the first-team defense today in much of practice was a reminder that there are a lot of players from this group who will need to make rapid developments from last season to this season if this positon is going to be a strength for the team. My biggest issue is that I don't really see any playmakers at the second level and this is a unit that is going to need its linebackers to make game-changing plays.
The secondary: Quandre Diggs is exactly the kind of playmaker that the linebacker unit doesn't really have at this point, but outside of him, I think the jury remains out on everyone else. The bottom line is that when I think of great secondary units in Austin, I think of the 2005 and 2009 groups, and I'm not sure the current DB group is within a country mile of either.
Who plays at receiver outside of Jaxon Shipley/Marcus Johnson? One answer would appear to be Jacorey (his friends apparently call him Petey) Warrick, who can get open, but has to become a more consistent pass-catcher. Outside of Warrick, keep an eye on true freshmen Armanti Foreman and Dorian Leonard. It might take some time, but this group has talent, it just needs a lot of seasoning.
What about the kickers: After today, I'm not sure what to think. There were times when I thought things looked ugly and times when I thought things looked pretty good.
About the offensive line … The most inspiring thing from Sunday's workout from my vantage point was the fact that a group with Kennedy Estelle, Sedrick Flowers, Dominic Espinosa, Kent Perkins and Desmond Harrison has a chance to be pretty damn salty, especially if Harrison's light switch stays on while he's on the right side. Just. Stay. Healthy.
Finally, we can't forget the quarterbacks … Status quo.
No. 3 - Scattershooting on the Longhorns …
… What do I make of Dylan Haines as a starter at safety? Well, I'm not sure I've seen enough to make strong, definitive claims, but he seems like a guy that makes up for whatever physical tools he doesn't possess with a mental game that rarely makes mistakes. Does that translate into a plus-safety in the Big 12? I don't know … buuuuuut … nobody has moved him out of the line-up, either. I asked myself today if I thought he was a better option at safety than Marcus Griffin, who was a walk-on that started for the Longhorns in 2006 and was on the field during the most important defensive play of the Mack Brown era (4th and 2 in the national title game), and the answer at this point is no.
… I didn't see a single offensive linemen today on the second-team unit (Marcus Hutchins, Taylor Doyle, Jake Raulerson, Elijah Rodriguez and Camrhon Hughes) that I thought was close to the level of the starter in front of them, although Hutchins caught my eye more today than at any other point in his career in Austin.
… Whatever is wrong with Duke Catalon is not supposed to be serious, but man, with him out of the line-up today the depth at running back got thin very quickly in today's workout. It required a look at the roster on almost every play.
… Marcus Johnson looked pretty damn explosive at kick returner today. The question I have is whether he's too valuable to put on special teams this season? I might just give Armanti Foreman the nod among the wide receivers not named Daje Johnson instead.
… Mykkele Thompson isn't a natural cornerback, but he's more natural-looking at cornerback than at safety. Get ready to see the best version of him that you've ever seen.
… After watching the back-up quarterbacks today, I don't know what the hell this team will do at the position if David Ash goes down.
… None of the freshmen defensive backs today stood out as much as their counterparts at wide receiver.
… I wonder if Ty Templin would be taking first team reps if Mack Brown was still the head coach? Actually, we all know the answer to that question. Charlie Strong seems to play the guys that play the best … period. The players have to love that.
No. 4 - The first-ballet Orangebloods Hall of Fame list …
A week ago, in the immediate aftermath of announcing in this column that this week would feature the debut of the Orangebloods.com Hall of Fame, there was an immediate pushback from a number of prominent posters about what such an idea might create on the board.
Feelings might be hurt. Egos could explode. It's incredibly nerdy (as we all pretend we're not spending hours on an Internet message board).
In the end, the idea was important to me for three reasons:
a. We're going into our 14th season of covering Longhorns football at Orangebloods and as good of a job as we've done covering the team during that window, it would be foolish to suggest that this site has developed into the industry monster that it has become because of the work of the mods alone. No, the truth is that the community that we've formed over the course of those 14 years is an important piece of our identity and I thought it would be cool to recognize those that have become part of the site's DNA.
b. Some of our great posters are no longer with us and forever remembering them is important to me.
c. Reliving some of the memories created by these posters was a hell of a lot of fun and I believe with all of my heart that the majority of the readers will enjoy the walk down memory lane.
Six days ago, the list of first-ballot nominations was in the triple figures, which means that I had to drastically cut the list of candidates down if I wanted to stick to my premise of inducting 10 names in this first-year of creation. In the end, I settled on 16 names that I felt like I just couldn't leave off for a variety of reasons, all of them quite different in nature.
If you think that's too damn many, just know that it's the same number that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted in its first year and that initial class didn't include Bob Dylan, The Beatles of anyone in the Stones. I just couldn't leave any of these fellas out.
Therefore, without wasting any more time, let's get to the first-ballot Orangebloods Hall of Fame list.
(Note: If you didn't make the list this year, please don't take it as a sign of not being appreciated. This list could easily have 100 names on it and I'll probably get complaints about having too many names on the first list as it is. I love you all.)
BigDD (Member since April 2nd, 2003)
Why he makes the list: In a forum full of colorful characters, none have created as much discussion over the years as the site's resident No. 1 supporter from the state of Minnesota. The stories over the years have been so legendary that when he made his first appearance in Austin for a UT football game, it finally confirmed that Derek wasn't just some alias handle out of the Twilight Zone. There's no doubt in my mind that nobody would believe he actually exists had he not visited a few years back and the reality is that he's a pretty awesome dude.
My favorite moment: Without getting into the specifics of his intentions, BigDD once posted modeling photos of himself on a random Sunday night that included a couple of portraits that made him look exactly like Derek Zoolander, which was awesome when you consider that his name is actually Derek. The feedback in the first 20 minutes or so was so brutal that he took the pictures down, but if you happened to be on the board that night at the right time, it was one of the true magical moments in the history of the Internet.
BobR (Member since June 22nd, 2001)
Why he makes the list: The Godfather of Abusing the Aggies. Back in the early portion of the Internet's Wild West days, BobR had a way of turning College Station into Chernobyl with a single post. In fact, I consider BobR to be the original online Aggie troller and for you young bucks out there, let me just tell you something … there's never been anyone better at the craft.
My favorite moment: Back in the early days of the site, BobR would send the Aggies into such an outrage over his posts that scores of posters on our Rivals A&M website were cancelling subscriptions in some sort of odd reverse protest. He's the only poster I have ever known that stopped business on other sites because of the scuds he dropped on Orangebloods.
CS (Member since June 18nd, 2001)
Why he makes the list: Not only is he the most controversial poster in the history of the site, but half of the community believes that the handle is actually an alias of mine. Whether he knows it or not, he's basically the pre-illness Lou Gehrig of the website, as he's been the face of creating angst on the board for 14 straight years, a record of excellence that has never before been seen in these parts. He's a five-page thread waiting to happen at any given moment and he knows it.
My favorite moment: The time that he pretended to be logging out of my name and then answered a question in his handle while giving the impression to the poster he was responding to that he was me, causing an absolute hilarious uproar.
echeese (Member since November 16th, 2001)
Why he makes the list: 86,934 posts. If CS is the Lou Gehrig of making people on the site angry, echeese is the Pete Rose of all things posts related. I call him the site's all-time hit king. Like any good man of the people, he's been banned a few times, he's been angry at me a few times and he's emailed me to tell me all about it a few times, but Chuck is good people and he's been one of the real ambassadors of the site over the years in the Dallas area.
My favorite moment: Just his ability to insult someone without making a direct personal attack, which has often led to him nearly creating an online riot, all while technically acting within the rule book. Along with CS, I'm not sure there's a poster on the site that has ever received more complaints from other users. Even now, I know there are people out there whose blood is boiling because I selected him for enshrinement.
El Mahico (Member since June 25th, 2001)
Why he makes the list: In the last five-plus years that he's been on the site, he's become one of the biggest stop-the-presses posters the site has ever had. On top of posts that people crave to read, he's acted as a voice of reason over the years in an arena that often has few measured tones.
My favorite moment: A UT assistant coach once called me and asked for his identity because he was wrongly worried that he was his source.
ericg320 (Member since December 13th, 2008)
Why he makes the list: Once upon a time, the LSUFreak was the gold standard of Internet Photoshop hijinks, but that was yesterday … today it's all ericg.
My favorite moment: Nobody allows me to have fun by creating the gifs I need for this column than the man, the myth and the legend.
https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/p...#https://imageshack.com/a/img11/1265/woms.gif
Hornya (Member since August 23rd, 2001)
Why he makes the list: There are people who like to live and then there's Ken Collins, who lived every day like he had a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Although he passed away in 2012, there's a piece of him that lives on forever on Orangebloods. I'm not sure I've ever met a man who loved being a Longhorn more than this man.
My favorite moment: Ask me over a drink
= Iceman = (Member since January 30th, 2007)
Why he makes the list: The single greatest Orangebloods ambassador we've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I'm not sure anyone can even keep track of all of the Orangebloods members that he's either helped make the best or worst decision of their lives. Over the years, he's proven to be an even better person and friend than contributor to site, which says an awful lot. He's family.
My favorite moment: He successfully helped me secure the engagement ring of my wife's dreams without ever letting her know that he was shopping for me. Oh, and he HOOKED me up, yo!
LONGHORNREALTOR (Member since November 8th, 2006)
Why he makes the list: Speaking of great Orangebloods ambassadors, you can't put together a list without including the man who has helped fill more stomachs with tasty food and beverages than the incomparable Jeff Dillard. Part of the reason we have a special community is that we have truly special human beings like Dillard, who cares more about doing for others than receiving anything back in return, while bringing all of us together in the process.
My favorite moment: Pick any tailgate in nearly the last decade. A lot of my friends have had too good of a time at his tailgate over the years.
PhxHorn (Member since June 19th, 2001)
Why he makes the list: The Ernest Hemingway of the Longhorn Internet world. It's been more than a decade since Neil Kidwell left this world, but his impact as a poster forever remains. In the old days of the Longhorn Internet world, he represented the gold standard.
My favorite moment: The first time I met Neil in person, it was at a hotel bar in downtown Austin and he was holding court around other posters from the UT Internet universe like Marshawn Lynch at a backyard BBQ, which is to say that he was an absolute boss. I can't remember his drink of choice, but I believe it was a nice scotch.
RayG (Member since December 12th, 2001)
Why he makes the list: It didn't matter whether we had podcasts at low-rent sports bars or post-game events downtown or radio shows as pre-game work, Larry Greisham was going to make the drive from Waco to be there ... even when he was in the middle of chemo. An absolute throwback to a different era, Larry never wanted anything more than to be with people he liked, while talking Longhorns football. Orangebloods misses him dearly.
My favorite moment: The legend of the blue drink started the night of Kenton Paulino's Shot Heard Round the Longhorn World, as Larry got the entire bar intoxicated … well … everyone except Suchomel, who had to drive home and let his wife in the house, even though he did try to talk her into busting out a window to let herself in.
royalewithcheese (Member since February 16th, 2002)
Why he makes the list: Let's call him a cross between BobR and ericg320, which means that way back in the beginning of this site he was a master at finding photos and creating posts that enraged Aggies in a way that ensured boycotts would take place. Had he been able to keep up the pace from his prime, he might have chased down echeese in total posts.
My favorite moment: One of the original board mods for the site, Aggie fans threatened to boycott Rivals unless I disavowed all ties with him. Other than an occasional call for a slight taming of his tactics, I pretty much gave the boycotters the middle finger and let him do whatever he wanted because the reactions always made me smile.
rpongett (Member since June 18th, 2001)
Why he makes the list: Although his days of being a prolific poster have ended, perhaps no poster on the site's history has ever brought better pure football discussion to the table with his combination of videos, analytical breakdowns and other nerdy wizard tricks. If you can imagine a time when video on the Internet of the Longhorns was scarce, his weekly video breakdowns of games were appointment viewings for old-school posters.
My favorite moment: I still don't know how he did this, but he once created a post that said, "I hate …" and when people clicked on it, there was a code built inside that made it so that every person clicking would see their handle in the body of the post. Holy moly, he nearly created an Internet nuclear meltdown, as not everyone appreciates that type of humor … I do.
SantaRita (Member since June 18th, 2001)
Why he makes the list: One of the site's original EF Hutton posters, as people listened when he posted. Also, he issued the very first invite I ever received to speak at any of the various lunch bunches around the state.
My favorite moment: The day he protected me from an older Longhorn fan that wanted to fight me outside of a Dave and Busters.
SpaceCityWrangler (Member since June 18th, 2001)
Why he makes the list: The very first Orangebloods.com subscriber, back when the site was actually founded as The-University.com. Plus, he's just a hell of a good guy that I have had a chance to see a number of times over the years. He's the quintessential Orangebloods lifer.
My favorite moment: I can't remember the year, but one of the first times we ever hung out together was at the Hornsfans tailgate (hosted by Longhorns Internet Hall of Famer Robert Agnor) and whenever I think of good times at that tailgate, I often think of one our conversations, which included his lovely lady-friend.
utx (Member since June 27th, 2003)
Why he makes the list: Widely considered to be the original Orangebloods message board insider and a guy that absolutely drove Mack Brown nuts.
My favorite moment: Any time a former UT assistant coach called and told me that a post from utx had sent Mack into an unstable emotional state and it happened more than once over the years.
No. 5 - With the 9th pick of my fantasy football draft, Sexual Chocolate selects …
With 21 days to go, this fantasy football junkie is in full crumb-finding mode.
Just call me Pookie.
After suffering the most soul-breaking fantasy football loss of my lifetime in last year's championship game, I had pretty much sworn off all things fantasy-related for the last seven-plus months because the wounds are still too damn fresh. Hell, the thought of doing a mock draft still kind of repulsed me merely a week ago.
However, by the time Thursday night's War Room had been posted, a complete 180-degree turn had been made, as a group of six league owners got together at Pluckers to determine this year's draft order and divisions. By the time I was done dramatically revealing the draft order in reverse order via text to the six owners that were not on hand, I found myself ready to begin what will be a no-doubt overly-obsessive preparation that will focus on generating my own rankings based on things like strength of schedule, pre-season evaluations and flat-out gut feels.
Do, I need help? Very much so. Will I seek it? No way. As we enter season No. 14 in what I consider to be an ultra, ultra-competitive league, my team (Sexual Chocolate) is aiming for a fifth title because my thumb is just so damn lonesome without one. I must put those consecutive championship game losses behind me and persevere.
It's time to get back my trophy. It all starts at pick No. 9, a position that won't snag me one of the elite of the elite backs, but will seemingly allow me all sorts of paths to take, depending on where my research takes me.
In the meantime, if you have any feedback, I always enjoy the discussion …
No. 6 - Rory, Rory Woods, y'all…
Well, as far as Sunday majors are concerned, the final major of 2014 was a hell of a lot of fun, but in the end we're all just living in Rory's world at the moment.
As good as Lefty was all day on Sunday, he just didn't have that extra shot in his bag that Rory did all weekend and now we've got to start thinking about Rory in Roger Federer terms.
Basically, what if 10 years Rory turns out to be Federer's version of Rafa Nadal, a guy who owned him head-to-head in majors and potentially ends up soaring past his own accomplishments.
In a tournament with a ton of tasty storylines, all of them were destroyed by Rory the Baby-Face Killer.
As a fan of Lefty, all I could do was shrug my shoulders and tip my proverbial cap.
No. 7 - Damn, damn, damn …
I don't even know what to say about the incident that involved Tony Stewart killing sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr. when he hit him with his car on Saturday night.
Honestly, I have more questions than opinions.
What was Ward thinking? Why would he do that? What must be going on in Stewart's head before, during and after the incident?
My God, how horrifying.
Prayers and condolences to everyone involved in what amounts to the worst track moment I've ever witnessed.
No. 8 - Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
… All in all, I thought Johnny Manziel looked pretty good in his first NFL setting, although I have no idea what he can actually do because the Browns second-team offense is limited to say the least. Although we never saw him push the ball down the field and I think he's going to get killed if they run too much zone-read stuff, he looked like he belonged on the field and his arm is NFL good.
… I didn't see the Texans this weekend, but I have a feeling that Texans fans can do without whatever comments I would have had about a 32-0 loss to the Cardinals.
… DeAnthony Thomas returning kicks in the NFL is going to be fun.
… The Detroit Tigers should have traded for Jonathan Papelbon.
… The Texas Rangers snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Houston Astros on Sunday. Lulz …
… The Illinois Little League team is pretty awesome.
… I love the reported Thaddeus Young for Anthony Bennett trade from a Philadelphia perspective, even if they have to take on an ugly Kevin Martin contract or two.
… It's time to get Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson in the ring together.
No. 9 - Pop goes the culture because the culture goes pop …
… Hottie of the Weekend: Chrissy Teigen is winning
… Hottie of the Weekend II: You go, Britney
… Favorite headline of the weekend: Idris Elba: Not my dong
… Sticky situation: 'Aunt Jemima' heirs file $2 billion lawsuit against Pepsi and Quaker Oats
… Is this a good idea?: Rihanna and Eminem might be dating
… Shark week: Inside two must-see 'Air Jaws: Fin of Fury' moments
… Set Your DVR … or not: The unauthorized Saved By the Bell Story sneak peak
… Miley Link of the Weekend: A special kind of meet and greet
… 100-WORDS OR LESS MOVIE REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy (B)
Pretty damn good. And I'm not just talking about Zoe Saldana, who is currently in my top five in a big way. Without knowing anything about the comic, I came into the theater with a blank slate and found myself completely into the story and characters about 10 minutes in. It's not the best comic book movie of all-time and I think the hype was a little overboard, but I had a damn good time and it ranks as one of the best movies of the summer for my money.
No. 10 - The List: Dylan Listen/Subscribe Via Spotify
Although it's one of the more impossible tasks I'll ever take on with this section, it was time to finally tackle Dylan.
If I thought picking the Orangebloods Hall of Fame class was impossible, narrowing my list of Dylan songs from about 50 to 15 was equally brutal.
Nitpick me all you want… I'm ready.
Last five songs out: Girl From North County
10. All Along the Watchtower
It was a crowded fight for the No.10 slot.
9. Pledging My Time
My choice for most underrated song in the entire Dylan playbook, as this song represents the dirtiest, nastiest, grimy blues song he ever produced.
8. Tangled Up in Blue
Dylan spent two years recording the song chasing perfection.
7. Visions of Johanna
A song that I love more and more every time I hear it.
6. Mr. Tambourine Man
The best song from Dylan's Bringing it Back Home album.
5. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
One of Dylan's best during his early years and the best song off of the iconic The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan album.
4. Blowin' in the Wind
Simple, beautiful and impactful.
3. Rainy Day Women #12 and 35
My own personal favorite.
2. The Times Are A-Changin'
The best "early" Dylan song of all-time and certainly in contention for the No.1 spot.
1. Like a Rolling Stone
Arguably, the greatest rock song of all-time. There's no such thing as overrating it.
Archives List
Blues/Jazz: Listen via Spotify )
Classical: Listen via Spotify)
Country: Listen via Spotify )
Electronic: Listen Via Spotify
Funk: Listen Via Spotify (Part II ? After Hours))
Metal: Listen Via Spotify
Pop: Listen via Spotify )
Punk: Listen via Spotify)
Random: My Number 1's on Spotify
Rap: Listen via Spotify),
R&B: Listen via Spotify)
Reggae: Listen via Spotify)
Rock: Listen via Spotify )
and Listen via Spotify )
This post was edited on 8/11 12:10 PM by Ketchum
