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Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (No excuses, time to whip OU)

That’s clearly not what you meant to say. Unless “above” is not “ahead”. But usually if you rank something “above” something else, you think it’s better.

I get it. I mean, you’re wrong. But I get it.
How can one be wrong about their own personal top 10 list of anything?
 
@Ketchum…I know this was a personal preference list, but Veep over Curb?

Also The Simpson’s kicks SNL in the dick.

a. Close call, but Veep really was a tremendous show.

b. I can't name one person that starred in The Simpsons, while the other show kick-started some of the most important people in modern pop culture history.
 
a. Close call, but Veep really was a tremendous show.

b. I can't name one person that starred in The Simpsons, while the other show kick-started some of the most important people in modern pop culture history.

SNL in of itself isn’t great. It has always merely been a platform to showcase greatness, and it accomplished that by being the only game in town. As we have seen in the past 10 years without that generational talent, it’s not a very good product. The highs from SNL are some the greatest moments in TV, but there have been huge stretches of mediocrity in between.

The Simpsons spawned a cultural movement easily as large if not larger than SNL, and it’s influences are still massive in today’s culture. No way you say that about SNL.
 
SNL in of itself isn’t great. It has always merely been a platform to showcase greatness, and it accomplished that by being the only game in town. As we have seen in the past 10 years without that generational talent, it’s not a very good product. The highs from SNL are some the greatest moments in TV, but there have been huge stretches of mediocrity in between.

The Simpsons spawned a cultural movement easily as large if not larger than SNL, and it’s influences are still massive in today’s culture. No way you say that about SNL.
again, I can't name a single person in The Simpsons.

Let's not overstate the cultural movement... come on.
 
the trend of this offense since Sarkisian arrived is to regress as the game goes along and Sark is forced off of his pre-game script once opponents have adjusted.

Just once I would like to see us be the team that makes the better in-game/halftime adjustments. It hasn't been a trait I've seen in Sark to date.
 
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@Ketchum sorry if this has been covered already and I missed it in the many pages. But I’m curious to get your take on the legality or not of aggie recruiting. They seem to be splashing around Saudi money and lapping the field in recruiting. In the past when we sort of complained about this being cheating you sort of responded that what they were doing is fair game in the new NIL world. Your comment in this piece about paying players before being on campus is illegal and Texas wouldn’t want to do that. I’m curious, do you think that anm is just moneywhipping the whole football landscape legally or are they doing things that we won’t do. Is it that their donors are beating our donors is it more complicated?
 
again, I can't name a single person in The Simpsons.

Let's not overstate the cultural movement... come on.

You might be spinning in a different hemisphere, but in the now massive Comic-Con/nerd world the Simpsons have been and always were more massive than SNL. I would say since at least the early 2000’s Simpsons have been more mainstream culturally relevant than SNL, for the under 30 demographic. When I was in college 20 years ago SNL was already considered a dinosaur. the Simpsons opened the doors for classic shows like

Beavis and Butthead, Southpark, Family Guy, etc.

Mike Judge, Seth McFarlane and Matt and Trey credit the Simpsons for much of their inspiration/influence. That group of guys have shaped pop culture WAY more in the past twenty years than anyone from SNL in the same time period.
 
@Ketchum sorry if this has been covered already and I missed it in the many pages. But I’m curious to get your take on the legality or not of aggie recruiting. They seem to be splashing around Saudi money and lapping the field in recruiting. In the past when we sort of complained about this being cheating you sort of responded that what they were doing is fair game in the new NIL world. Your comment in this piece about paying players before being on campus is illegal and Texas wouldn’t want to do that. I’m curious, do you think that anm is just moneywhipping the whole football landscape legally or are they doing things that we won’t do. Is it that their donors are beating our donors is it more complicated?
I think they are doing whatever they have to by whatever means they have to.
 
You might be spinning in a different hemisphere, but in the now massive Comic-Con/nerd world the Simpsons have been and always were more massive than SNL. I would say since at least the early 2000’s Simpsons have been more mainstream culturally relevant than SNL, for the under 30 demographic. When I was in college 20 years ago SNL was already considered a dinosaur. the Simpsons opened the doors for classic shows like

Beavis and Butthead, Southpark, Family Guy, etc.

Mike Judge, Seth McFarlane and Matt and Trey credit the Simpsons for much of their inspiration/influence. That group of guys have shaped pop culture WAY more in the past twenty years than anyone from SNL in the same time period.

To be fair, my list probably isn't cultivated for the Comic-Con universe.

I wore a bart Simpson shirt when I was a kid... but I wouldn't say it has a massive cultural imprint for me.

I don't think it's a better show than Family Guy. 🤷‍♂️ 🤷‍♂️ 🤷‍♂️
 
I cannot get euphoric about the possible curb stomping of OU. OU was exposed by TCU, which is a really good football team. We may not yet be as good as TCU.
 
again, I can't name a single person in The Simpsons.

Let's not overstate the cultural movement... come on.

South Park & King of the Hill are funnier anyway, don't get the Simpsons angst...



The Gang won't forgive you for leaving them out.

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I ride with you on pretty much all that. I would have probably found a way to get Arrested Development in my top ten instead of ER. Medical shows just lose me. Also, I had a girlfriend that was a nurse and they would bag on that show all the time. I don’t get the Simpson stuff either. Never resonated with me, but I’m not much of an adult cartoon guy.
 
I ride with you on pretty much all that. I would have probably found a way to get Arrested Development in my top ten instead of ER. Medical shows just lose me. Also, I had a girlfriend that was a nurse and they would bag on that show all the time. I don’t get the Simpson stuff either. Never resonated with me, but I’m not much of an adult cartoon guy.

The early seasons of ER are still bangers. Changed television.
 
I think you are giving them too much credit by saying it cant happen. If that kid can stand up and not drool while doing so they will play him. Its who they are
You are correct, except that I doubt the drooling would bother ousux at all.
The methheads will do anything to win.
 
@Ketchum

I like your top 10 list . . . Rolling Stone has "The Leftovers" at 17, I think it's wildly underappreciated but not surprised that RS thinks highly of it. Many scenes were filmed near Austin and Lockhart.

If QE is at least 75%, I'm picking QE to start, despite other good arguments to the contrary.

If Dillon Gabriel starts next Saturday it will of course be a huge headline, and not in a good way imo.
 
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I did.

Is one game against a great Bucs defense how you are choosing to frame the quality of a player that threw 37 touchdowns and posted a 104.2 season rating a year ago?
It was typical bad Dak: routinely throwing behind and above open (emphasis on 'open') receivers. I'm not with Jerry that there is or should be any kind of controversy, but Dak is a deeply flawed QB.
 
Basically, everyone can see that the only thing A&M has going for it is its willingness to throw money around, which isn't a terrible thing to have going for it in recruiting, but it isn't going to help win games in the immediate future.
This opinion is going to be unpopular and I know you qualified winning games with the word immediate, but Jimbo is going to win plenty. First, he isn't going anywhere. No one can afford a $95 million buyout and $40 million for a new coach ($8 million x5 years). Despite some weird decisions (like only playing three of his eight 6.0* and 6.1* defensive linemen at a time), he is only a portal QB away from 10 wins or the playoffs.
 
And why do you think that is?
I loved the wire…my wife did not. My son-in-law wrote it off on his first attempt to binge it…I encouraged he give it a second look and appreciate the writing with no preconceptions about how he felt about “drug / gang shows”.

It took him a few episodes to settle into the pace and ended up loving it.
 
@Ketchum

I like your top 10 list . . . Rolling Stone has "The Leftovers" at 17, I think it's wildly underappreciated but not surprised that RS thinks highly of it. Many scenes were filmed near Austin and Lockhart.

If QE is at least 75%, I'm picking QE to start, despite other good arguments to the contrary.

If Dillon Gabriel starts next Saturday it will of course be a huge headline, and not in a good way imo.
I tried the leftovers and just couldn't quite stick with it.

I think Quinn has probably been in the 75-percent range.

agreed
 
It was typical bad Dak: routinely throwing behind and above open (emphasis on 'open') receivers. I'm not with Jerry that there is or should be any kind of controversy, but Dak is a deeply flawed QB.

Dak's career passer rating is 0.5 behind Drew Brees.

He ranks 6th all-time.
 
This opinion is going to be unpopular and I know you qualified winning games with the word immediate, but Jimbo is going to win plenty. First, he isn't going anywhere. No one can afford a $95 million buyout and $40 million for a new coach ($8 million x5 years). Despite some weird decisions (like only playing three of his eight 6.0* and 6.1* defensive linemen at a time), he is only a portal QB away from 10 wins or the playoffs.
define plenty
 
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He needs a spectacular season to make a run and that's not really remotely happening.

He's having a very good season.
Sorry, my comment was related to ou’s next hiesman winner coming off the bench. We are bartered fans, so we fully expect whomever replaces Gabriel off the bench to win a heisman and be in those stupid commercials for years to come.

Bijian is having a great year, but heisman talk is pretty much off the table now.
 
@Ketchum, Michigan is 5-0 having played their first 4 games at home and one of the weakest 5 game schedules in the nation (112th I think.) Curious why you have them ranked ahead of some others such as Clemson or honestly a couple other schools behind them. What makes you think so highly of Michigan? I think they might end up deserving to be top 5 but as of now Im not sure what it’s based on.
 
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Go ahead and get the clichés ready for this week.

You know the drill ... OU is a wounded, dangerous animal.

Or ...

You can throw the records out the window when these two teams play.

Or ...

You can never count out a team that has given up 96 points in its last two games.

Ok, maybe I just made that last one up. The bottom line is that it's Texas/OU week and for the better part of the next week, we're going to hear a lot of rhetoric about the importance of respecting an OU team that was beaten so badly on Saturday in Fort Worth that the person running the TCU Football Twitter account literally ran out of fear.



Here's the reality of what awaits the Texas Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday ... a pretty piss poor Oklahoma team that has been exposed as a team with a terrible defense and will probably arrive to the fairgrounds without its starting quarterback if its coaching staff takes brain injuries seriously at all.

Meanwhile, the status of starting running back Eric Gray, wide receiver Theo Wease, offensive tackle Wanya Morris and safety Billy Bowman remains unclear.

In the 20+ years this site has existed, I'm not sure any OU team has ever entered this game more primed for an outright butt-kicking than this year's team.

In a game that Texas must win, it absolutely should win. It's the better team. It's the healthier team. It's the better-coached team ... I think.

Frankly, of the final seven games the Longhorns have left on the schedule this season, the game on Saturday might rank as the second easiest on paper. That's not me taking potshots at OU as much as it's me respecting the remaining true road games that exist, as well as the performance levels of teams like TCU and Baylor.

This isn't a Bob Stoops- or Lincoln Riley-led OU team. There should be no fear, only extreme confidence.

It's time to slay the dragon.

No. 2 - Hudson Card or Quinn Ewers ...

From my perspective, the decision at quarterback for Steve Sarkisian is a fairly easy one.

If Quinn Ewers looks like Quinn Ewers this week in practice, he gets the start.

If Ewers is still struggling to look completely like himself this week in practice, Sarkisian should start Hudson Card.

There's no reason to panic.

One of the good things about the last month is that Card has emerged as a player that can play well enough to win as the starter after looking like a player that you didn't want on the field at all based on the optics of the season-opener against La-Monroe.

Given that Oklahoma could come into this game with a quarterback situation that is so undesirable that the Sooners might chop off a finger for a chance to have someone like Card running their offense, there's just no reason for panic if you're Sarkisian.

Through five games this season, Card has put together a passer efficiency total of 158.3, which is 7 points higher than Sam Ehlinger's best season total (151.8 in 2019) while he was with the Longhorns. That's not to say that Card is better than Ehlinger as much as it’s to say that Card is playing a fairly rock-solid brand of football. If you merely focus on what he's doing instead of what he's not, you can win with him on Saturday.

Simple as that.

If Ewers is ready to play and can let it rip without issues, he's the guy.

If not, there's no need to rush it like we all probably would have guessed there would have been a month ago.

No. 3 - The Dillon Gabriel dynamic ...



As soon as I saw this hit on Saturday, my first impression was that there could be no way that Gabriel plays against the Longhorns less than seven days later.

After the high-profile concussion issues that Tua Tagovailoa suffered in front of the entire football world in the last week, any player that takes a hit like the one that Gabriel did is going to find a general public that is going to stress using extreme care with his return.

The last thing the Sooners can afford to have happen is bringing Gabriel back too soon, only to have him suffer another brain injury in less than a week. As important as the Texas/OU game is for everyone involved, it's not more important than ensuring Gabriel's long-term health.

If Oklahoma lets him play, it'll be a sign that Gabriel's brain and the optics of their care for his brain matter less than beating Texas.

That just can't happen.

No. 4 - Fool's Gold In College Station ...

We've reached the point in Jimbo Fisher's tenure at Texas A&M where the crazy talk has turned insane.

None other than Paul Finebaum was telling anyone that would listen on Sunday that Aggie alums are prepared to spend whatever it takes if Jimbo continues to drag the Aggies into the depths of mediocrity.

Of course, that would mean paying a NINETY-FIVE MILLION DOLLAR BUYOUT if they wanted to put their money where their mouth is.



There's no way that's happening any time soon, but the mere fact that A&M boosters are getting the word out that they will go YOLO with their money if they have to should give everyone an idea of how much money is flowing through the hands of recruits in College Station.

Meanwhile, A&M opened as a 20-point underdog on Sunday to Alabama and the line had climbed to -24 in less than an hour.

Basically, everyone can see that the only thing A&M has going for it is its willingness to throw money around, which isn't a terrible thing to have going for it in recruiting, but it isn't going to help win games in the immediate future.

No. 5 - Football Scattershooting ...

... After not making a single tackle in the season-opener, Jaylan Ford ranks first in the Big 12 in tackles per game with 10.2. No other player in the league is averaging more than 8.8. I really can't say enough about how well he's played in the last month. He's gone from a no-show in week one to showing up every week since then. As someone that had real questions about him coming into the season, he's earned a tip of the cap.

... It's kind of crazy that the Longhorns have created only two turnovers all season. The Longhorns rank 128th in the country in turnovers created. Only Notre Dame has turned teams over less. That changes this week, right?

... Bijan Robinson ranks 14th in the nation and second in the Big 12 right now in rushing yards, but it doesn't feel like he's quite having the nuclear season that a lot of us thought he might have in store in 2022.

... Regardless of who starts at quarterback on Saturday, it feels like Xavier Worthy is poised to have a monster game against a secondary that can't seem to help leaving wide receivers wide open.

... Barryn Sorrell is on pace for 7.2 sacks this season. He still has to bring more consistency to the table, but that would be a very solid sack number for him in year No. 2. He currently ranks seventh in the Big 12 in sacks per game, while no one else on the defense is in the top 25 in the Big 12.

... Bert Auburn has made 83.33 percent of his field goals this season and is a perfect 6 for 6 from 40+ yards. No one saw that coming.

... D'Shawn Jamison is tied for 1st in the Big 12 in pass breakups per game (1.2).

... Bijan Robinson's 183-yard performance against UTSA is the No. 1 rushing performance in the Big 12 this season, but he doesn't have another performance this season that ranks inside the top 20 rushing performances in the Big 12.

No. 6 - Still undefeated ...



The No. 1-ranked Texas volleyball moved to 11-0 over the weekend with a sweep in Lubbock. Of those 11 wins, two were over the No. 6 team in the most recent rankings (Ohio State), while the team also has wins over No. 7 Minnesota and No. 9 Stanford. As it stands, Baylor is the only other ranked team in the Big 12.

TCU comes to town on Wednesday night.

No. 7 – BUY or SELL …



(Sell) No, I don't have a sense that Arch is wavering behind the scenes. We've checked and it's not the vibe we're sensing.



(Sell) It's possible ... very possible ... but he's a young quarterback and it's impossible to say with certainty what would have happened had he played all four quarters against Alabama or played in Lubbock. There's an assumption that he would have gone buck wild over four quarters against Alabama, but the trend of this offense since Sarkisian arrived is to regress as the game goes along and Sark is forced off of his pre-game script once opponents have adjusted.



(Sell) I'm not sure that Oklahoma State will lose twice. Its opponent in the Big 12 title game will definitely have at least two losses.



(Sell) I just don't think OU can play him.



(Sell) I expect Texas to win, but I don't think it automatically translates to picking up a commitment.



(Buy) A&M boosters are gonna A&M booster before we get to 2025.



(Buy) That was the easiest game on the Big 12 schedule. No one should overreact.



(Sell) Nah, I think he sticks with Texas.



(Sell) I love the Game of Thrones spin-off and merely like the Rings of Power.



(Buy) Pretty much.



(Buy) It probably doesn't happen right away, but I can definitely see that happening.



(Sell) Texas will not be doing well to go 7-5. That's not doing well. That's doing mildly ok.



(Buy) If they have to play their back-up quarterback, I'm not sure an Alabama-like game plan is even needed, but I expect Patterson to have cooked something up in the last 6 months.



(Buy) At some point, Quinn Ewers will be back and start to develop into the type of player he's expected to become.



(Buy) Yes, if by undercover recruiting you mean working back channels to make sure their unhappy players know there's a place waiting for them.



(Buy) And it's not even close.



(Sell) I don't buy that they will be massively improved this week. Not at all.



(Sell) I'm not ready to say I believe that PK is going to be the long-term answer as the DC.



(Buy) Card currently has the highest passing efficiency of any Texas quarterback since Colt McCoy in 2008, but there's so much focus on the plays that he doesn't make that it causes a lot of people to lose sight of what he actually does.



(Sell) That's illegal and I haven't sensed that Texas wants to break the law.



(Sell) Not yet. His winning percentage is just barely ahead of Charlie Strong's winning percentage through 17 games. Forgive me for wanting to see more proof.

No. 8 - Scattershooting on anything and everything ...

... If I had a vote that mattered ...

1. Alabama
2. Georgia
3 Ohio State
4. USC
5. Michigan
6. Clemson
7. Ole Miss
8. Oklahoma State
9. Tennessee
10. Penn State

... Jalon Daniels has one of those games that young quarterbacks can sometimes have out of nowhere and KU still found a way to win. I'm not sure I would have guessed that would happen.

... Consider me incredibly impressed with Alabama after winning convincingly at Arkansas with Jalen Milroe pulling the strings.

... Clemson exposed NC State as just a pretty good football team and nothing more.

... Spencer Sanders has been pretty exceptional all season. I'm starting to believe he's a slightly different guy than he's otherwise been in his career.

... I still kind of view Max Duggan as fool's gold.

... Adrian Martinez is the worst-rated starting quarterback in the Big 12. The Wildcats will come crashing back to earth at some point.

... The Dallas Cowboys are 3-0 without Dak Prescott. I didn't see that coming from a mile away.

... Dan Campbell is not going to want to do it, but he might have to fire Aaron Glenn before this season is over.

... I award the Houston Texans a moral victory for fighting so hard against the Chargers.

... Out of words.


... Pretty much.


... Someone pitch to Aaron Judge. Stop the cowardice.

... Man City was scary good on Sunday. They end up winning the Premier League by 10+ points when the season concludes.

... I'm really, really, really, really concerned about Liverpool.

... Not everyone needs to sit ringside at a UFC event. It's not for everyone.


No. 9 - The List: Top 10 TV Shows of All-Time ...

Rolling Stone Magazine came out with its Top 100 TV shows of all-time earlier in the week.

Let's just say that I didn't agree with a lot of it, especially when talking about the best of the best ... the top 10 shows. For instance, I can't rank The Simpsons over The Wire and Breaking Bad. Give me a break.

Here's how I would rank them.

10. ER
9. Veep
8. Seinfeld
7. The Office
6. Saturday Night Live
5. Game of Thrones
4. The Sopranos
3. Better Call Saul
2. The Wire
1. Breaking Bad

No. 10 - And Finally ...

I didn't see a single thing all weekend better than this. Instant tears.

I respect that is your top 10, but mine would have NCIS and Law & Order. I like some new shows like Dark Winds. SNL would be pre 1990.
 
"I didn't see a single thing all weekend better than this. Instant tears."

Great but mean.
 
In the 20+ years this site has existed, I'm not sure any OU team has ever entered this game more primed for an outright butt-kicking than this year's team.

2005 comes to mind. That was one of Stoops worst OU teams against one of the best teams of all-time. OU was 2-2 going into that game and Peterson was limping around on one ankle.
 
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