Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (Let's just talk about it all... again)

[Craben]

For weeks, I've listened to Texas fans say that big decisions like the one facing the Texas administration with regards to its football program should never come down to a game or two...

The reason the decisions sometimes seem to hang like this is because the UT Administration cares about winning enough to sell season tickets and keep donations and endowments rolling in. Winning championships and making the playoffs aren't the Administration's standards. As a result, the hesitant UT Administration relies on any available evidence that the current guy is succeeding.

Once again the Longhorn Nation now finds itself in a situation where a coach who's given little indication of transforming the Longhorns into a national elite program still has a high chance of keeping his job thanks to the Administration's lower expectations. The stage looks set for a repeat of 2013, where once again Texas has a chance to hire a proven program builder who could transform the program, but fails to do so because a complacent university Administration doesn't want to leave its comfort zone.

 

[streettopeschel]

He could have just caught the ball.

Or not been on the field. He didn’t return a single punt that year.

 

[RLong68]

Nope.

Texas wasn't very good in 2009.

But, it as primed in that game.

You weren't in the building that night. You don't have a full perspective that really matters on this one from my own perspective.

I don't play the what-if games very much and you'd be hard-pressed to find another game I've ever said this about. Just my feelings on the matter and they will never change.

I was in Texas stadium in December 2001 as we were prepping to play CU. Sh*t, that place was electric pre-game. People were there watching end of Tennessee/Florida game (which had been moved from September d/t 9/11). Once Florida got beat, the place went nuts because all of sudden, there was the real possibility that all that stood between us and a matchup with Miami was simply beating a CU team that we had beat down by 5 TDs earlier in the season. Of course, TN still had to play the SEC title game the next week before anything was firmly decided, but that was simply a small detail. Once UF went down, Texas Stadium went nuts because suddenly the stakes went up in the Big 12 title game. Do you remember how that game started out?

 

[Ketchum]

Or not been on the field. He didn’t return a single punt that year.

well, when you put it like that.

 

[Ketchum]

I was in Texas stadium in December 2001 as we were prepping to play CU. Sh*t, that place was electric pre-game. People were there watching end of Tennessee/Florida game (which had been moved from September d/t 9/11). Once Florida got beat, the place went nuts because all of sudden, there was the real possibility that all that stood between us and a matchup with Miami was simply beating a CU team that we had beat down by 5 TDs earlier in the season. Of course, TN still had to play the SEC title game the next week before anything was firmly decided, but that was simply a small detail. Once UF went down, Texas Stadium went nuts because suddenly the stakes went up in the Big 12 title game. Do you remember how that game started out?

I was in both places. They aren't comparable IMO.

 

[Craben]

Right. So that being said, do you think he is the best person to lead 18-22 year olds? I’m surprised more people aren’t discussing this. Wonder if it gives pause to BOR/Hartzell. How many players were arrested under his watch? It’s just funny to me that the athletic department’s slogan right now is “winning with integrity”

The other side of the coin is that it's false advertising to represent to fans and donors that their program is pursuing championships, when the reality is that 2 championships in 23 seasons is not excellence.

The football program has been handicapped for 35 years by poor, hesitant decisions by the UT Administration. With all the resources at our disposal, UT's underperformance cannot be excused by covering it up with a self-righteousness platitude.

 

[Ketchum]

I love that of all the things Rlong wants to nitpick me over today, it's about a basketball team that didn't play and an atmosphere he didn't experience.

 

[RLong68]

I was in both places. They aren't comparable IMO.

Of course you think that. It would be inconvenient if you didn't. I mean, that's why you want to compare it to a regular season home game against Okie Lite. LOL. The likely reality is that if Colt doesn't get hurt that Saban makes adjustments, we struggle to stop their run, and the game ends up being a late Q4 battle. Thinking we blow out 'bama is really based on nothing but emotional confirmation-bias speculation. Sorry, but that's reality.

 

[LnghrnObsrvtry]

I guess I’ve just always thought UT cared more about the person representing its enterprise. Maybe times have changed..

Since when? Please don’t bring up the Mack Brown era either.

 

[anon_v7x9c7xxmv5dr]

Our roster has been improving every year. Next year we will have the strongest roster we have had in ten years.
We now have the best coaching staff we have had in many years. The previous three years of recruiting have probably been the best three years since Mack’s best years. At least according to Rivals.
The environment may be so toxic that we have to make a change but we don’t have to demonize Herman to make a change.

LMFAO

 

[Ketchum]

Of course you think that. It would be inconvenient if you didn't. I mean, that's why you want to compare it to a regular season home game against Okie Lite. LOL. The likely reality is that if Colt doesn't get hurt that Saban makes adjustments, we struggle to stop their run, and the game ends up being a late Q4 battle. Thinking we blow out 'bama is really based on nothing but emotional confirmation-bias speculation. Sorry, but that's reality.

You weren't there. You don't have any idea what the experience is like. Your opinion on this matter carries less than zero weight with me. Sorry, but that is also the reality.

That being said, I thought it was worth a chuckle for you to throw confirmation bias at ME, of all people, with things related to UT football.

 

[drunk randoke]

Since when? Please don’t bring up the Mack Brown era either.

 

[RLong68]

You weren't there. You don't have any idea what the experience is like. Your opinion on this matter carries less than zero weight with me. Sorry, but that is also the reality.

That being said, I thought it was worth a chuckle for you to throw confirmation bias at ME, of all people, with things related to UT football.

LOL. Ok. Says the guy who wants to compare the vibe to a regular season game with Okie Lite but not a Big 12 title game with possible national title game stakes. I think my work here is done.

 

[Ketchum]

Cleve has become quite the strawman in the last few years,

 

[anon_v7x9c7xxmv5dr]

JMO, but a lot of OBers way overbuying that ISU result. Probably, much like the prior inability to consider a Mensa return with a CCG loss, there is a lot of desperation to have this thing done. They will be reading their press clippings then have to come in on a short week for a Friday am game against a very well rested and well prepped Texas team.

"Well prepped Texas team"

Lmfao

 

[Ketchum]

LOL. Ok. Says the guy who wants to compare the vibe to a regular season game with Okie Lite but not a Big 12 title game with possible national title game stakes. I think my work here is done.

Says the guy who was in both places and can speak to the buzz/energy in both settings.

Your work is done here, just for reasons you can't wrap your head around.

 

[anon_v7x9c7xxmv5dr]

Of course you think that. It would be inconvenient if you didn't. I mean, that's why you want to compare it to a regular season home game against Okie Lite. LOL. The likely reality is that if Colt doesn't get hurt that Saban makes adjustments, we struggle to stop their run, and the game ends up being a late Q4 battle. Thinking we blow out 'bama is really based on nothing but emotional confirmation-bias speculation. Sorry, but that's reality.

Greg McElroy disagrees with you.....

 

[RLong68]

Says the guy who was in both places and can speak to the buzz/energy in both settings.

Your work is done here, just for reasons you can't wrap your head around.

To be clear, you compared the the 2H half vibe against Okie Lite in '04 to the national title game but not the '01 CCG?

 

[4thand5TX]

I've considered a lot of things, including things you aren't...

Fair enough. But at the end of the season CDC will go on record and it will go one of two ways regarding CTH. The problem with doing so now is that there are still 3, maybe 4 games left. He is very much in wait and see mode.

 

[Ketchum]

To be clear, you compared the the 2H half vibe against Okie Lite in '04 to the national title game but not the '01 CCG?

Correct.

Also to be clear, I was there in person for all three.

Also to be clear, you weren't, right?

 

[Ketchum]

Fair enough. But at the end of the season CDC will go on record and it will go one of two ways regarding CTH. The problem with doing so now is that there are still 3, maybe 4 games left. He is very much in wait and see mode.

The problem is that he's afraid to answer more than a handful of questions that he has really terrible answers for.

 

[foxymop702]

a. Texas beats Iowa State and Tom Herman is two wins away from posting the best Texas regular season since 2009 and will have the Longhorns into the Big 12 Championship game for the second time in three seasons, which equals the same number the Texas program had achieved from 2002-2017.

I'm sorry, but this is a very misleading statistic. From 2002-2009, the CCG participants were chosen in a completely different way. If the teams with the 2 best records made the CCG in those seasons (as has been the case during Herman's tenure), Texas would have also made the CCG in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2008, and might have also made it in 2002 (depending on how a 3-way tie between UT, OU and KSU would have played out if those teams had all played each other, which they didn't).

So that would equate to 6-7 CCG game appearances in 8 years under Mack. From 2011-2016, there wasn't even a CCG in the first place. While Texas admittedly wouldn't have qualified for the CCG even if there had been one, that's the tail end of the Mack Brown era and the entirety of the Strong era, which isn't setting a particularly high bar.

 

[drunk randoke]

Cleve has become quite the strawman in the last few years,

all ends up at the top no?

 

[Ketchum]

I'm sorry, but this is a very misleading statistic. From 2002-2009, the CCG participants were chosen in a completely different way. If the teams with the 2 best records made the CCG in those seasons (as has been the case during Herman's tenure), Texas would have also made the CCG in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2008, and might have also made it in 2002 (depending on how a 3-way tie between UT, OU and KSU would have played out if those teams had all played each other, which they didn't).

So that would equate to 6-7 CCG game appearances in 8 years under Mack. From 2011-2016, there wasn't even a CCG in the first place. While Texas admittedly wouldn't have qualified for the CCG even if there had been one, that's the tail end of the Mack Brown era and the entirety of the Strong era, which isn't setting a particularly high bar.

It is what it is.

When you have to explain why. stat isn't fair, you're probably supporting something that isn't very successful.

 

[Ketchum]

all ends up at the top no?

It depends.

And I ask this person who believes that college football is a sport with very few boy scouts to say the least...

Are all sins created and equal to each other?

 

[RLong68]

Correct.

Also to be clear, I was there in person for all three.

Also to be clear, you weren't, right?

Pretty sure I already answered. But I was at the '04 Okie Lite game and the '01 game, so I seriously question the recall of a person who wants to compare '04 Okie lite "vibe" to the national title game but not the '01 CCG. Honestly, if wasn't pretty sure you were at the '01 CCG, based on your recall, I would seriously doubt you were in Texas stadium. You clearly don't recall how the first 8 minutes of the first quarter felt.

 

[Ketchum]

Pretty sure I already answered. But I was at the '04 Okie Lite game and the '01 game, so I seriously question the recall of a person who wants to compare '04 Okie lite "vibe" to the national title game but not the '01 CCG. Honestly, if wasn't pretty sure you were at the '01 CCG, based on your recall, I would seriously doubt you were in Texas stadium. You clearly don't recall how the first 8 minutes of the first quarter felt.

No, the main aspect of this is simple... you are trying to debate atmospheres between multiple games when you didn't experience them all in person vs. someone that did.

Talk about confirmation bias...

 

[4thand5TX]

The problem is that he's afraid to answer more than a handful of questions that he has really terrible answers for.

That is completely false. Come on, Ketch. No matter what he says on the record right now it would only make the situation worse. If he shows public support for Tom, then the fire Tom Herman mob would go off and it would create more drama, speculation, etc. it’s also not fair to the student athletes who are competing like hell. There are enough distractions right now

 

[Ketchum]

Remember when Texas fans talk about the vibe in the stadium the night they played House of Pain going into the fourth quarter?

Yeah, that's not a situation that I ever have a real opinion on. I wasn't there.

 

[Ketchum]

That is completely false. Come on, Ketch. No matter what he says on the record right now it would only make the situation worse. If he shows public support for Tom, then the fire Tom Herman mob would go off and it would create more drama, speculation, etc. it’s also not fair to the student athletes who are competing like hell. There are enough distractions right now

You have to show that you have a spine if you want me to treat you like someone that has one.

Del Conte hasn't taken a question about anything since July. Four months ago.

Give me a break with the excuse-making and enabling.

 

[RLong68]

No, the main aspect of this is simple... you are trying to debate about an atmosphere between multiple games when you didn't experience them all in person vs. someone that did.

Talk about confirmation bias...

And based on your awesome insight, the '04 Okie Lite 2h vibe is comparable but not the start of the '01 CCG. For no other reason than it doesn't fit your argument. Rest assured I was at both THOSE games, and '04 Okie Lite isn't very comparable to the electric buzz at KO of the '01 title game all the way up until that pick when we were on our way to opening up a 2-TD lead and steaming towards a national title game berth. So just to summarize, you are going on pure emotion and shaky recall. I'm going based on football logic and pretty much no emotion.

 

[Ketchum]

And based on your awesome insight, the '04 Okie Lite 2h vibe is comparable but not the start of the '01 CCG. For no other reason than it doesn't fit your argument. Rest assured I was at both THOSE games, and '04 Okie Lite isn't very comparable to the electric buzz at KO of the '01 title game all the way up until that pick when we were on our way to opening up a 2-TD lead and steaming towards a national title game berth. So just to summarize, you are going on pure emotion and shaky recall. I'm going based on football logic and pretty much no emotion.

 

[RLong68]

Remember when Texas fans talk about the vibe in the stadium the night they played House of Pain going into the fourth quarter?

Yeah, that's not a situation that I ever have a real opinion on. I wasn't there.

Quite honestly, now you just look silly. But enlighten me on this because to this point, you've pretty much tried to simply dismiss it. What do you recall about the Texas Stadium atmosphere after we went up 7-0 and looking like a knife going through warm butter? I mean, let's see where your head is.

 

[Ketchum]

Quite honestly, now you just look silly. But enlighten me on this because to this point, you've pretty much tried to simply dismiss it. What do you recall about the Texas Stadium atmosphere after we went up 7-0 and looking like a knife going through warm butter? I mean, let's see where your head is.

It was lit.

Now tell me... what do you remember about DKR right about the time Texas took the lead from OSU that night in 2004?

Because it was pandemonium.

 

[UTDB]

I think it's going to take somewhat of a leap of faith.

We'll see if you feel that way if Texas wins this weekend.

I don't know how anyone can accurately grade who CDC is playing this without knowing all that is going on behind the scenes. Has he lined up the money to buy out Herman?. Has he had negotitions with Meyer or his agents to guage his interest in case he does fire Tom? Has he the support of the administration for his plan? Does he hve a set creteria on what Herman has to accomplish to save his job? Would a loss in any regular season game be the end ofr Herman? If the team makes it to the Big 12 game, do they have to win it to save Tom's job? Can anyone with definite certainity say they know CDC's plan? I do think that he isplaying it right by remaining silent at this time. The perfect or imperfect part will be determined by what he does in December and how it all turns out afterwards.