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Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (Legends were made on Sunday...)

Because you get pluckers? Not gonna lie, they opened the first onehere in SA and I haven’t been back to BWW or wingstop since.
well, that, too.:D

I was saying I'm rooting for the Warriors to get the three-peat, so if I'm wrong, I still win/
 
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In watching the Texas men's tennis team win its first-ever team national title on Sunday, a few things happened that I wasn't expecting.​

a. I learned where the Tennis channel is on my Spectrum cable package (channel 406). I guessed it was right next to the Golf Channel and was correct, but it was just a guess until Sunday.

b. Despite the fact that I have covered multiple tennis events during my career, including some while working for the Texas SID office, I don't recall knowing that there's no such thing as "deuce" in college tennis. You get to 40 in a game and it's game-point, regardless of what your opponent might have. Mental note taken.

c. Failure to explain to my wife why the Wake Forest mascot was named "Demon Deacons."

d. When college tennis is receiving red-zone type televised coverage from its broadcaster, it's a really good product, even if the cameras angles for replay leave a lot to be desired.

For a couple of hours on Sunday, I'd contend that the Texas/Wake Forest matches and the back and forth nature of most of them was the best reality TV going on Sunday. With its near two-decade head coach Michael Center missing the action while waiting for an official prison sentence, this group of Texas players flexed its muscles and forever became immortals within the Texas program.


Yuya Ito was staring down the hole of a one-set deficit against the defending NCAA single's champion and he boat-raced him over the course of the next two sets. In my mind, we're probably talking about a future Longhorn Hall of Honor member when we discuss the junior who hails from Japan. Same with Christian Sigsgaard, who is originally from Denmark. You can probably add Harrison Scott, who is from Canada, to the future Hall of Honor List as well.

Other contributing members of the squad hail from Brazil, Bolivia and ... well ... Austin. Senior Colin Markes went to Westwood.

A group of guys without an official head coach (I'm guessing that changes. Well done, Bruce Berque) went out and did the damn thing in a way that will see them become legends in a program most probably couldn't have dreamed of performing in when growing up far, far away from the 40 Acres.

In the end, it's a story meant for the wide-screen. Who knows? Maybe one day Disney will do its thing with it because it would make a hell of a screenplay.

No. 2 - About that Tom Herman contract extension ...

I suppose at the end of the day, I understand why the Texas Board of Regents is on the verge of extending Tom Herman's contract two more years, while giving him a raise in the process.

After all, Herman just won the Sugar Bowl, played in the Big 12 Championship and seemingly has the program heading in the direction it desperately desires to be in. If schools like Clemson are going to pay Dabo Sweeney half the national debt with a new contract, the Longhorns want to make sure that the guy they believe as an institution is the "Next Dabo" is forever taken care of.

Honestly, my thoughts on this matter aren't really specifically connected to Herman and in a vacuum, I don't have any issue with the news.

However, I don't live in a vacuum and I can't sit here and pretend like the fortunes of the current University of Texas athletics department haven't been restricted by those in charge constantly engaging in bidding wars for their coaches ... against themselves. All I've heard from sources behind the scenes for years is how the athletic department has an albatross around its neck in the form of millions upon millions of dollars in dead money and head coaching contract extensions.

It's quite possible that the men's basketball program is being held hostage by such a mistake, as the decision-making behind what's best for the program is as much dictated by the amount of guaranteed money left on Shaka Smart's contract as it is what's actually best for the program.

This situation exists because the same school decided to give Smart more years on his contract for merely doing what he was hired to do in the first place. In making this error, the school ignored the mistakes it made with the likes of Mack Brown, Rick Barnes and John Mackovic, when it seemed to be giving out dollars and years on existing contracts like they were being emptied from a Pez dispenser.

If we're being honest, Herman is 1 for 2 in his two seasons at Texas ... 2017 was a massive disappointment, while 2018 represented success. While most believe he's headed for massive success in the future, a trend of excellence has not quite been established yet.

I just don't understand giving Herman an extension this summer. Why not wait until very early 2020 after Texas has either taken another step towards national prominence or not before volunteering to take on nearly 30 million in guaranteed debt with the contract, instead of choosing a course of action with just a shade over 10 million remaining after this season? Why is Texas giving up what leverage it has?

This is Herman's dream job. There are very few jobs in the country that would represent a step up from the platform from which he's currently working. Oh, and there's literally not anyone pursing him at the moment that might force your hand the way it might have been when Texas was trying to shake off UCLA a few years ago with regards to Smart.

Having "only" three years remaining on a contract should never be positioned by someone as "only" having three years left. As a general rule of thumb, the best part of any five-year contract is when the contract gets down to three years. That's right about the moment that it becomes manageable and I'd guess the only way Dave Ramsey would approve of taking on more debt is if consistent excellence has been achieved, which isn't the case right now.

Anyways, I don't care enough to stand on a table or anything about all of this, I'm just pointing out the irony of it all. If we were placing bets on all of this, I'd put my money on Herman coaching at Texas in 2023, but then again, I also thought the same about Smart when the school gave him the now infamous contract extension that might have precluded Texas from landing Chris Beard. This is merely me pointing out that a school that has pledged behind the scenes not to repeat some of these mistakes from old regimes again, only to seemingly do it again for sport when it could have simply taken some Prozac for the next six months, while waiting to see what cards are on the table heading into 2020.

No. 3 - The big questions about Texas baseball in 2020 ...

Full disclosure - I really thought the Texas baseball team was going to turn it around this season. It wasn't until nearly the bitter end that I finally went to search for the white towel.

I suppose I thought this team had more inside of it, but it's possible that the LSU series simply clouded my vision of what this team actually was. More than possible, if we're keeping it a buck.

Suddenly, the gravity of Texas baseball being in the midst of its worst stretch of continued play is sinking in as season No. 2 under David Pierce is an outlier from seasons No. 1 and No. 3, and most of the immediate seasons before it. As my sometimes alter-ego and sometimes alter-pain in the butt @CS pointed out this weekend, the Longhorns have finished below .500 in conference play in five of the last seven seasons.

Over the same time span, the Kansas Jayhawks have also finished below .500 in all but two seasons. That's the company Texas is currently keeping.

From my vantage point, what makes this season's disaster so concerning is that I'm not convinced that Pierce knows why this year happened and how to prevent it from ever happening again. Him having rock solid answers to those questions will determine this program's future because incoming talent alone doesn't seem to be something that can totally be relied on.

Texas needs an elite-level baseball coach because in my lifetime it has had only three head coaches and both of them were among the best that have ever lived. It remains to be seen exactly what it has in Pierce, but with three years left on his original six-year deal, I'd propose to hold off on offering him an extension.

No. 4 - Texas Softball takes a big step forward...

Pushed to the edge its season crumbling beneath its feet after a loss in the opening of its own regional this weekend, the Texas softball team did what a national seed hosting a regional should do.

It outclassed its competition, breaking its will in the process over the course of the next few days.

First, it was goodbye to Texas A&M. Then Sam Houston State. Then Houston.

One by one, whatever it took, no problem. It didn't matter if it meant extra innings, a double-header or someone else's ace pitcher. The Longhorns just did the damn thing. Specifically, Miranda Elish did the damn thing, throwing every damn pitch over the course of the last four games. You go, girl!

On to next weekend.

No. 5 - About the Shaka to Michigan stuff ...

With ex-Michigan star Juwan Howard seemingly the smart bet for the open Michigan job, I just need to say something with respect to Shaka Smart's reported candidacy for the job, which he hasn't interviewed for.

This has all been very weird.

You've got Smart interviewing a Michigan assistant for a position ... he might keep at two different schools? You’ve got Michigan fans rummaging through Texas message boards, horrified that many Texans want to escort Smart to Ann Arbor. You've got virtually zero whispers coming out of Austin.

The whole thing has just been weird. It's amazing that this is the place followers of the program have been put in and that's really all I have to say about all of it.

No. 6 – BUY or SELL …
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BUY or SELL: Giving TH a contract extension while leaving assistants hanging in the wind creates discord?

(Sell) These dudes know the score and their lot in life. It's not like there are a ton of better spots out there just waiting for them to turn to.

BUY or SELL: If you count Herman as an offensive staff member, there are seven offensive coaches and four defensive coaches. As analysts, Fedora, Beaty, and Coleman are all offensive coaches. Only Williams is a defensive coach and he was a position coach. The balance of staff between offense and defense should be a concern?

(Sell) First, let me tell you that I love this question. I love that your obsession for Texas football has led you down into the rabbit hole. That acknowledgement out of the way, I have to tell you this is the biggest example of first-world problems among college athletics programs I have ever seen. I suppose I understand the idea of wanting more balance on paper in a perfect world, but it's important to note that these analysts aren't officially listed on one side of the ball or the other. They’re just analysts and my guess is that Herman has them working in a way where the defense isn't getting the bad end of the deal.

BUY or SELL: It’s reasonable to expect one or two of the football analysts make it to the coaching staff in the next two years.

(Buy) It's a hell of an in-person tryout in an industry that favors personal relationships in the hiring process at almost every turn.

BUY or SELL: The LSU game is the most important game for the Texas program to be played at DKR since 2009? Also, the winner is going to need to score at least 38 points?

(Sell) I'm down with the first part, but not the second part. I don't think we're looking at a 38-34 type game.

BUY or SELL: David Pierce is replaced before Shaka Smart?

(Sell) Great question. I've gone back and forth on this, but I think I lean slightly in favor on Pierce because the end of his season next year ends later.

BUY or SELL: Matthew Boling forgoes college and turns pro after he boat races Ted Ginn?

(Sell) That kid isn't giving up Georgia for a low five-figure bet with an old NFL head. That was just some social media fun.

BUY or SELL: Forgetting money making and financial considerations, currently the women’s sports programs at Texas are more successful than the men’s? And if you agree with me that indeed they are, why do you think that is the case?

(Buy) I think the main thing has to do with the underperformance of the men more than the greatness of the women. This decade has featured the worst two decades in the history of Texas football and baseball, while the basketball program has returned to matching the success of the program in the 1970s and 1980s, which isn't a compliment.

BUY or SELL: Not only does Shaka Smart stay at Texas, but his 2019-2020 team makes it to the NCAA Sweet 16?

(Sell) That's just too much of a leap for me to make.

BUY or SELL: UT’s recruiting class makes the top 10 this year, but somewhere between 7-10?

(Sell) Put me down for a top-five class.

BUY or SELL: The Golden State Warriors look great, but they would be an absolute shoe-in for the title if both Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins were healthy?

(Sell) The Milwaukee Bucks are for real and it's going to be a battle in the Finals, with or without Durant.

No. 7 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …

... The looming Warriors/Bucks series is going to be a monster. I think it's going seven.

... Brooks Koepka has a fourth major, but he should probably think about finding a new supermodel girlfriend because she ain't ever going to forget this moment.


... I haven't liked a lot of Philadelphia Eagles players over the years, but here's hoping Chris Long has a long, happy and healthy life in retirement.

... The Holy Hell Stat of the Weekend: Per Jayson Stark from The Athletic: "The #Astros are now 100 games over .500 since Opening Day 2017! Nobody else in the big leagues is within 20 of that. (Run differential in that time: plus-552!)"

.... Ladies and gentlemen, your new all-time MLS goal scorer ... Chris Wondolowski.

... Dear Pep Guardiola, if you want people to focus on your team’s wins, perhaps make sure your team isn't facing potential Champions League bans, involved in alleged FFP breaches, a flew of nasty leaked emails or singing songs about the fans of other teams being beaten in the streets. Just a thought.

... Gotta give Deontay Wilder credit because he's making the heavyweight division interesting.


No. 8 - Game of Thrones... The End

Well, this is it... literally.

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MVP of the Episode: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss

These two have butchered much of this season, but I have to admit that I really liked the series-finale. I don't know what I was expecting and I'm not even sure that I know what I wanted, but this episode had a lot of payoffs.

Moment of the Night: Jon Killing Dany. After pledging to her and throwing her some tongue-action, I was like, "Whoa, they are uniting." Moments later, he became the Queen-slayer.

WTF: I don't have the slightest clue how Jon Snow wasn't murdered by Grey Worm before his life was saved.

Feel Good Moment of the Night: Jon and Ghost are reunited forever!

Actor of the Night: I thought Emilia Clarke might have given her best performance in the entire series. Her facial expression when looking at the Iron Throne was absolutely perfect. If we had been able to see more of episode six Dany in the first five episodes of the season, we might have viewed episode five so much differently.

Episode grade: A-

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No. 9 - The List: Top 10 Keanu movies ...



After reading this terrific profile over the weekend on the American treasure that is Keanu Reeves, I thought it was time to celebrate an underrated career with a top 10 list.

I do not expect complete agreement on my list.

10. John Wick: Chapter 2
9. A Walk in the Clouds
8. River's Edge
7. The Devil's Advocate
6. My Own Private Idaho
5. John Wick
4. Speed
3. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
2. The Matrix
1. Point Break

No. 10 – And Finally ...

This is what changing lives looks life. What an incredible moment.
The last one is just amazing. What a great gift. Devils advocate is num 2 behind point break
 
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