Seven damn long years.
That's how long it had been since one of the big three men's sports teams on the 40 Acres had won a conference title before Saturday's return to burnt orange peacocking. Seven years for the baseball team. Nine years for the football team. We've hit a decade in basketball.
Even when you know the details, sometimes it still doesn't sink in until you see it right front of your face.
2011 is when Charlie Sheen had his meltdown. The final Harry Potter movie hadn't yet been released. Manny Diaz hadn't coached a game in burnt orange.
I mean ... damn ... it's been a while.
Therefore, to see the Texas baseball team pull off something I figured was highly improbable over the last few weeks meant that the tens of thousands of people that frequent Orangebloods each week had a chance to enjoy something they really hadn't enjoyed in far too damn long ... a true moment of fulfillment as a fan of Texas athletics that can only be felt when true excellence has been achieved.
A friend of mine actually texted me early Sunday morning and the exchange went like this:
Him: "We're winning 10 games this year, I don''t give a &^%$ what you say."
Me: "How long have you been drinking?"
Him: "I stopped counting."
Me: "Winning is awesome. It's like so much better than losing."
Him: "I don't want this day to end."
You know what that is?
Absolute perfect happiness.
There was an exhilaration enjoyed over the weekend that you'd love to capture in a bottle in an effort to preserve it. In the aftermath of winning on Saturday, I felt almost a sense of relief for everyone that cares about all things burnt orange.
I'm sure the members of the baseball team realize they accomplished something big in winning the league, but they could never fully know the valve of frustration they opened over the course of three days, and the amount of pressure that was released.
If the football team can do the same thing in the very near future, we're going to see some damn good fun around here.
No. 2 - Kody F'ing Clemens ...
What in the world do we even say about the kid that practically put this Texas team on his back towards the back end of a championship push?
Let's start with this ... he's a better college baseball player than his old man ... yanno ... that guy that has his number retired.
Don't get me wrong, his old man was a hell of a player, but he never had an all-America season on par with what young Kody has produced this season. Roger wasn't a national player of the year candidate. Some would argue he wasn't the best pitcher on that 1983 national championship team.
What his old man did have, though, was a special moment. Roger started in the 1983 national championship game and went down as the winning pitcher. Of course, later on he did all those other things.
Well, Kody can't quite match that, but his walk-off home run on Friday night and overall weekend performance in a championship winning moment will be remembered around these parts forever. It reminded me of the time Miami's Pat Burrell came to town for an NCAA regional and just made the entire event his own.
We're going to remember Kody Clemens for a long time around here and it's going to have much more to do with what he's personally accomplished this season than anything the second-best Clemens on the 40 Acres achieved 35 years ago.
No. 3 - Someone check on T-Boone ...
The Oklahoma State Cowboys ended the month of April with a three-game sweep over Bedlam rival Oklahoma and a mountain's worth of wiggle room in their pursuit of a Big 12 regular-season championship. Barring Texas sweeping its final six game of the season (which it didn't do), all the Cowboys had to do entering the month of May was win two of their final six conference games.
Just two.
Despite losing three of four non-conference games going into the Baylor series last weekend, they still found a way to win a game, which means the Cowboys needed to win only a single game to ensure a share of the Big 12 title at the very least. Just win a single game in Stillwater at home against Tech Tech and you're gold.
Didn't happen. Instead, the Cowboys were pelted over the course of three games by a 30-13 score and now find themselves having lost eight of their final 10 games as they enter the Big 12 Tournament.
Yikes.
No. 4 - Deserving of its own section ...
Love seeing the Texas football program invest time in its players future outside of football and I thought this deserved its own section.
No. 5 – Nana Nana Boo-boo ...
It's not a loss that will leave the same type of sting that losing Garrett Wilson to Ohio State created, but there are a bunch of little stings being felt with the loss of Fort Worth Nolan Catholic linebacker/defensive end Nana Osafo-Mensah to Notre Dame this weekend.
Let's go through the significance of the loss.
1. Osafo-Mensah is the top in-state linebacker on the Texas recruiting board and one of only two that currently have offers.
2. It makes Katy Cinco Ranch offer David Gbenda a little more important as he represents the only remaining in-state linebacker target with an offer.
3. Of the top 10 prospects in the current Rivals250 rankings from the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, Osafo-Mensah probably represented Tom Herman's best shot of landing someone from that group. There's a very real chance that Texas will get shut out of the Metroplex’s best prospects in 2019 outside of Mansfield Legacy defensive back Jalen Catalon, who currently ranks No. 11 in the Metroplex in the current Rivals rankings.
4. It once again underscores the importance of the school's out of state recruiting efforts. Having De'Gabriel Floyd in the cupboard nullifies the pain of the loss, while other out of state prospects could help fill in spaces if this is a position group the coaches want to address with three or four slots in the class.
No. 6 - The most important in-state prospects left on the board ...
Here are the remaining four-star and five-star prospects from inside state borders that the Longhorns are still heavily in the mix with (with Suchomel's UT percentages from the recent Longhorn Recruiting Board):
Five-stars
Humble Atascocita offensive lineman Kenyon Green (30-percent)
High four-stars
Richmond Bush defensive back Erick Young (15-percent)
Mid four-stars
Conroe Oak Ridge offensive lineman Tyler Johnson (75-percent)
Mansfield Legacy defensive back Jalen Catalon (70-percent)
Cedar Hill Trinity Christian defensive back Lewis Cine (35-percent)
Houston Mayde Creek defensive end Marcus Stripling (30-percent)
Low four stars
Crandall offensive lineman Brandon Bragg (75-percent)
West Mesquite wide receiver Dylan Wright (70-percent)
Austin Bowie wide receiver Elijah Higgins (50-percent)
Katy running back Deondrick Glass (30-percent)
No. 7 – Buy or Sell …
BUY or SELL: IF Houston had hired Orlando instead of Major, UT’s offense would be better off today with Applewhite as our OC instead of Tim Beck.
(Buy) The track record of the Herman/Applewhite offense is a better one than the Herman/Beck offense. Their success at Houston would have given them a lot more cover after the first season in Austin if the storylines had remained somewhat the same.
BUY or SELL: Tre Watson is really better than Young and Carter ?
(Buy) I think he brings a different, much-needed skill set to the table and does so in a more experienced and mature package. I don't know that I'm willing to say his overall upside is as high, but I think he's got a chance to be better in the 2018 season window.
BUY or SELL: Tom Herman wins a Big 12 championship before Shaka Smart?
(Buy) I can see the football program winning a conference title by the end of the 2019 season, in part because I don't know that a Kansas-type program will be in its way like it is in basketball. A Baker Mayfield/Bob Stoops-less Sooners program is a brave new world for the entire Big 12.
BUY or SELL: If Texas has close to the same record as last year and gets bounced out of the tourney in the first round, Shaka Smart is still the coach at Texas in 2019-2020?
(Sell) I think he needs more than accomplishing the bare minimum of acceptable standards. He can't be the Connie Clark of the men's athletic department. I think he needs to be in the ballpark of 25 wins and at least a win in the Tournament would represent tangible progress. Less than 20 wins and no success in the Tournament is the kind of lame season the athletic department can't get by with when fundraising is largely the name of the game for the athletic director.
BUY or SELL: Pierce wins at least 7 regular-season titles at Texas. He is 23 years younger than when Augie retired. All things consistent, let us say he coaches 20 more years?
(Sell) I'm just not the person to ask these types of questions to because the odds would suggest anyone having a 20-year career when they are 1/10th of the way there are pretty unlikely to occur and I can't ignore that. Yet, Piece is off to almost exactly the kind of start you'd hope to have as he finishes his second season. The only thing missing is a trip to Omaha.
BUY or SELL: The 1970s is the decade that produced the best movies?
(Buy) I'm tempted to go with the 90s, but when you consider The Godfather I and II, One Flew Over the Cuckcoo's Nest, Jaws, Apocalypse Now, Rocky, A Clockwork Orange, Patton, The Exorcist, The Deer Hunter ... oh ... and STAR WARS ... yeah you have to go with the 70s.
BUY or SELL: We see a New Orleans Pelicans vs. Philadelphia 76ers NBA Finals sometime in the next five years?
(Sell) Anthony Davis is going to need to leave New Orleans before he plays in a Finals.
No. 8 – So, it turns out that Steph Curry is just fine...
Well, that got out of hand in a hurry.
In a moment, game three of the Western Conference Finals was a game that the Warriors led by 10, but could have been up 20 (if it had made shots) or tied (if the Rockets made layups) at the same time.
The next moment, the Warriors were up 20...*blink*... and then 30.
And Steph Curry was out on the floor stuntin' on James Harden like he had entered the game with a grudge.
Suddenly, the wiggle room for the Rockets is getting small. Harden and Co. have to shake off the cobwebs from this Sunday night beat-down and put together 48 minutes of good basketball or this thing is going to be 3-1 by the end middle of this week. The ominous cloud that hangs over this series is that the Warriors still haven't really had a night when two of its stars go nuclear on the same night.
Either James Harden plays the post-season game of his life on Tuesday night or his MVP trophy will lose a little shine. What happened on Sunday night wasn't completely his fault...not by a long stretch, but part of being an MVP is shouldering the responsibility when YOUR team loses by 41.
Let's see what you got, James. There better be an answer.
No. 9 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
... I kind of feel like game four is going to be everything in the Eastern Conference Finals in the NBA. If LeBron and Co. tie the series at 2-2, I think we're going to see the Cavs in the Finals.
... I think I'd take Luka Doncic with the first pick of the upcoming NBA Draft.
... Dallas wide receiver Terrance Williams has a 2017 Lamborghini. He scored zero touchdowns in 2017.
... Justify is 2 for 2, but if the Preakness had been another 10 meters, I'm not sure if that statement would be true. As it stands, just one more win from all-time great greatness.
... Phillies outfielder Odubel Herrera struck out in a five-pitch at-bat against Cardinals rookie Jordan Hicks on Sunday with the five sinkers he faced reaching 104, 105, 104, 105 and 103 mph on the gun. According to Statcast, those were the five fastest pitches thrown by any player all season.
... I don't think I've looked forward to a sports event as much as I'm looking forward to Saturday's Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid since the Rose Bowl in January of 2006. You heard it here first: Liverpool 3 Real Madrid 2. Sadio Mane will be the Man of the Match.
... I wish Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte could play each other every week.
No. 10 – And Finally …
Harry got the right girl.
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