Also I've seen Daniel Tosh a couple times. His show "People Pleaser" is one of the best shows I've ever seen. It was on Amazon for a long time. Not sure if you can still find it.
Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (This is personal...)
- Thread starter Ketchum
- Start date
This is all very personal to me.
As Orangebloods creeps closer and closer to being old enough to rent a car, time has a way of washing away beginnings. Before the YouTube shows, a decade of radio, an Amazon best-selling book and 20+ years of the site ranking as the No. 1 subscription site in the Rivals network/industry, I was just a lowly regional recruiting guy in the late 90s working on a platform that was years away from being in the mainstream.
Back in the day, everything felt revolutionary. One day, I had one of the owners of Rivals.com telling me that the concept of the War Room would never work and months later I was teaching it to every site publisher in the network at a publisher's conference. For years, Orangebloods created the blueprint for recruiting coverage and everyone else followed.
Before we go any further, I want to say that I'm very proud of the recruiting coverage from 30,000 feet up. In a recruiting world that is forever fluid in a new era of NIL, I couldn't be more pleased with the pulse we've had on the most important recruiting stories of the Steve Sarkisian era. When we hit the home stretch of the 2025 cycle, we were very clear in reporting that all of the clutter could be removed and that the focus was on three players - Justus Terry, Kade Phillips and Michael Fasusi. When almost all national reporters were not seeing Terry to Texas from a mile away, we were very, very bullish.
The truth of the matter is that you guys are generally very pleased with our recruiting coverage. In a recent survey of more than 1,000+ subscribers, more than two out of three subscribers rated our recruiting coverage as either a 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale. Nearly 90% gave us a rating between 7-10. All things considered, as Larry David might say ... "Pretty .... pretty ... good.
Yet, I would concede that I've grown a bit disenfranchised as a content provider on the recruiting front over a number of years. Everyone just does the same thing. The same style of updates. In some cases, it's the exact same updates on the same day.
Perhaps the worst of the group think that was driving me crazy occurred on the day of UT's only official recruiting event in 2025 to date ... the Junior Day in January. Everyone can close their eyes and see the formula unfold. Every site takes the same pictures at the same time. The interviews are all mostly done at the same time ... with the same quotes. The info is posted in official threads on message boards. It's not that there isn't great work taking place across all sites (because there is), but good grief ... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
This is just how I feel about it all. Perhaps it's harsh, but when have I ever pussyfooted around with speaking directly about anything? I might not always be right, but you've known for 25+ years that I won't give you the company line as a default position. It was on that day in January that I committed myself to a refresh of our entire recruiting coverage plan.
Just like the War Room received a jolt in the arm last year with a revision of the ideology of the format (fewer words, more impact nuggets), we want to accomplish the same thing in the coming months with a completely revamped approach. I want us providing content you're not getting elsewhere in formats you're not otherwise receiving them in. The winner in all of this should be you guys. After going into the lab with the Orangebloods team in the month of February during the dead period, we think we're making changes that you guys will notice and come to love.
No one is really breaking commitments these days. What matters more than anything is the storytelling and our commitment is to be the best storytellers in this industry ... every damn day. Along the way, we're going to take some approaches that won't be considered the norm in the industry and we don't care. Unorthodox is kind of what we're going for. We want to be daring. Honestly, what I want is for us to do a great job of this revised storytelling that everyone in this market is forced to change their methods ... and perhaps forced to copy us ... again. I want you all to see and know it.
That's my goal and I'm putting this section in the lede this week because I want everyone to know it. Maybe we pull it off, maybe we don't, but I want you to know that we vow to you to never stop trying new things. Maybe some of you won't be convinced that we're the undisputed champs, but you'll at least know us for being different.
Here's a look at our new recruiting content schedule that we've already begun to unveil. More is coming.
* Everything Everywhere All At Once (Sunday night/Monday morning at the latest) - Updates on every key visit taken by every key recruit on the map for the Longhorns. We'll go anywhere and everywhere to get the updates, even if it means giving an attaboy to our competition. All that matters is that you get the info that matters, vanity be damned. Debuted last Monday to much fanfare.
* Behind Enemy Lines (Tuesday) - Just like during the football season, the purpose of this piece on the recruiting side is to inspect what's happening on the A&M, OU, LSU and entire SEC fronts from its own local reporting, with special focus on the Aggies and Sooners.
* Back in the Day (Tuesday) - A member of the Orangebloods staff will tell a story from decades in the memory banks. DJ Williams/Albert Hollis ... Ryan Perrilloux ... Darrell Scott ... we'll never run out of stories. Maybe we'll collect them all and put them into a book.
* The Rumor Mill: (Wednesday) - Nothing but updates on key recruits for the Longhorns. No schmoes. Just the big dogs. The title of this article is still in the workshop, but we're paying homage to Rivals' Rumor Mill articles, which is among the best content the network produces. We're just a little concerned that the title is a little too much like ...
* NIL Nuggets of the Week (Wednesday) - Another project with a working title, but the purpose of this content piece is to focus on every interesting and important NIL-related moments across all of college athletics.
* Recruiting Rankings (Wednesday) - Yet another project without a name completely nailed down, but we'll be discussing rankings from Rivals and all of the other services. Anything that is rankings related, including the release of updated LSR rankings and a new set of Orangebloods Out of State Rankings created by @CodyCarpentier will be included.
* Truth and Lies (Thursday) - Bring on the damn rumors no matter how wild or outlandish. We're going to talk about them and grade them. I will not stand for unacknowledged elephants in the room. People seemed to like this one when it debuted last week.
* The Recruiting Board (Thursday) - It's the Recruiting Board updated every single week instead of once per month-ish.
* The Friday Refresh (Friday) - Your one-stop shop for a review of every notable event during the last week in Texas recruiting. Never worry about missing anything again if you're traveling for work. We got you.
* The Weekend (Friday) - A primer for every single weekend throughout the entire year when traveling by key Texas targets is taking place. It'll set the tone for the entire weekend by creating a one-stop shop for remembering who the hell went where from weekend to weekend.
We've got a few other ideas that we're workshopping and you know that we'll add Portal Kombat to the rotation when the first sniff of spring Portal discussion starts to emerge.
I hope you guys enjoy what we have in store.
No. 2 - Passing along some off-season scuttlebutt ...
This is kind of embarrassing, but I forgot to include the Lance Jackson note in the War Room on Thursday night. Oops. The good news is that I went on the hunt for a few more nuggets to make a quality section in the column. Enjoy.
* The people I've spoken with can't wait to see Lance Jackson in the spring. I was told that he's everything that they thought he would be from an athleticism/physical profile standpoint. He looks like millions of bucks every day. There's still some uncertainty over where he ends up, but there's a real buzz to start finding out.
* Had someone tell me this week that Cole Hutson is going to be given every chance to really take a step forward in the battle for starting center, but if he drops the ball in a way that gives the staff any true concerns coming out of the spring, they won't hesitate to act in the Portal.
* The hope for Jelani McDonald is that he emerges as a star for the Longhorns in the secondary this season. "I think once you get past Colin (Simmons) and (Anthony) Hill, it's completely fair to think he can be the third-best player on our defense. It's his time to step up," a team source told me this weekend.
* Kade Phillips was viewed on the level of Justus Terry and Michael Fasusi behind the scenes as a prospect, even if I could never convince all of you that when I tried to emphasize how much of a win it was to take two of three in the great Ocean's 11 theft attempt before NSD. "Not a single corner's job is safe," a source told me this weekend. "No one should be shocked if he's starting by mid-season. I think he's already right there with Malik (Muhammad) and Kobe (Black).”
* I asked one source this weekend about the move of Ryan Niblett to nickel on defense from wide receiver and why he didn't stay on the offensive side of the ball with an injury expected to sideline DeAndre Moore for the entire spring. "All I would say is they don't move guys over from offense to defense if they think they have needed value on offense," the source said. Ok, then. That's disheartening, but fair enough.
No. 3 - Just chill ...
Guys, it's March 16th. It's the NIL era, which means that what happens in March almost doesn't matter.
Texas makes its biggest waves under Stave Sarkisian in the summer. Hell, this coaching staff kind of detests early commitments for a number of reasons, the biggest being that they hate being on the defensive as a staff. They want to attack and not get into the game of protecting until they have to.
Nothing could have happened this weekend that would make me think otherwise, not even if 2026 super blue chip Jalen Lott had committed to Oregon, which On3 recruiting guy Steve Wiltfong predicted coming out of the weekend.
My reaction?
We've seen kids fall in love on unofficial visits over the years and we can set our watch by what will almost certainly happen, especially with a Texas Longhorns legacy.
He'll take official visits. NIL offers will be made (that has not happened from the Texas side until much later). The kid will visit Austin/40 Acres multiple times before the dust totally settles.
There's just a long way to go in his recruitment. I think the kid signs with Texas in December, so I'm not changing my FutureCast any time soon. In fact, I probably won't unless it becomes clear in the summer that Texas has lost momentum that it seems unlikely to regain. We're not remotely there.
No. 4 – The minimum level of success has been achieved ...
Honestly, I thought the Longhorns deservingly made the Tournament. The more I thought about it, the more I thought seven Q1 wins made them more deserving than the teams that got left out.
I have no idea what happens next on the court. They can beat Xavier. They can beat Illinois. They've beaten Kentucky.
They could be out in Dayton.
Who the hell knows?
As it pertains to Rodney Terry, everyone knows the score. It might be Sweet 16 or bust. The next week is massive for him. He knows it. He's living and dying on the floor on every game.
Personally, I still think this team CAN make the Sweet 16, but I don't think it will play two consecutive quality games, which means I don't think it gets beyond Illinois ... at best.
Prove me wrong, fellas.
No. 5 - Final Four or Bust ...
That really couldn't have gone better for Vic Schaefer and Co.
No.1 seed? ✅
No U.Conn as the No.2 seed? ✅
Yes, Notre Dame is the strongest No.3 seed in any bracket, but TCU is the weakest No.2 seed based on Net rankings.
The potential winner of Tennessee/Ohio State could make for a tough night, but it could have been worse. This is an incredibly manageable bracket. Given this team's pedigree, you get the sense that it's going to come down to the Longhorns and Irish battling it out for a spot in the Final 4.
Anything less than getting to the Final Four will be a major disappointment.
No. 6 – Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep ...
It's pretty impossible to tell the story of the Texas baseball weekend without talking about the weekend that Texas A&M... ahem... suffered.
While the Longhorns went on the road and swept Mississippi State, lifting its win streak to 17 games before it hosts No.1 LSU next weekend, the Aggies were swept at home by Alabama.
I guess it turns out that Jim Schlossnagel and the coaches he brought with him to Austin matter a hell of a lot. This is a dangerous baseball team that is emerging as a potential Top 8 seed. Next weekend's series should be wild.
No. 7 - Flexing like a boss ...
You know, on one hand, the No. 2/2 ranked Texas softball team is 28-1 and steamrolling pretty much everyone. Yet, on the other hand the Longhorns have only played against four ranked teams all season. They lost to No. 18/20 Stanford and were pushed to extra innings in two of the others against No. 11/8 Texas Tech and No. 13/11 Arizona.
Not that there's any reason to doubt this program under Mike White, but that resume wasn't exactly a show-stopping force of nature as the Longhorns went into Gainesville to take on No. 3 Florida in its first-ever SEC series this weekend.
All the Longhorns did in the first two games of a series that will conclude on Monday night is roll the Gators to the tune of 20-9. When the Gators put a 5-spot on the Longhorns in the fourth inning of game two to take a 7-6 lead, the Longhorns merely went out and scored the final seven runs of the game to win comfortably, 13-7.
Ho hum, I suppose. The Texas women don't really give any you know whats with regards to the SEC. They come to ball in any sport. The bar for excellence is ridiculously high.
No matter what happens on Monday night, the SEC grind awaits as upcoming weekends include home series against No. 20/22 Auburn, No. 7/7 Tennessee, No. 4/4 LSU and No. 23/NR Kentucky, along with road series' against No. 18/19 Mississippi State, No. 1/1 Oklahoma
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) No offense, but the Big 12 sucks and I'll take the A&M and Arkansas games over No. 12 Oklahoma State and a bunch of jags in 2021. In any year the Longhorns didn't host an Alabama or Notre Dame or USC or someone like that, there was a good chance the highlights of the schedule were a bunch of games Texas fans couldn't wait to stop playing.
(Buy) It makes strategic sense to wait if the guy you are targeting is expected to make a deep run and you don't want to put any unwanted pressure/spotlight on him, but I can't see them hanging Terry out to dry. I expect something quick more than I don't. Of course, the Tom Herman situation also tells us that when someone is under contract and has a buyout, CDC and the athletics decision makers aren't ashamed of saying their sorrys with a check if the moment calls for it.
(Sell) I'm really concerned about his ability to maintain all of what he juggles for the long haul. It feels like the program lives in a sprint at all times and not so much of a marathon.
(Double Sell) I'll take several other true freshmen over Terry at this point. I just don't think they are going to make Manning's legs a foundation piece of the offense. That's not what he came here to do and it's not what Sarkisian wants to do as an offensive mind. The next Manning won't be coming to UT if the current one gets broken trying to be a mini-version of Tim Tebow.
(Buy) Texas is going to win a national championship under Schloss and the Aggies will never forget the implications of it all. Longhorns fans will never let them.
(Sell) I haven't heard that is looming. Not yet.
(Mostly sells) I'll take buys on a 1,000-yard receiver, less turnovers on offense than in 2024 and making the CFP. I'll sell the rest.
(Buy) Sure, let's do this.
(Sell) DJ Campbell will be more than solid at right guard as a senior.
(Buy) To quote the great Robin Hood of Baltimore ...
(Buy) That hasn't come across my radar.
(Sell) Nah, I'm not ready to say that this team takes that kind of step back.
(Sell) I wouldn't say they are ready to do whatever or anything. That feels a little too emphatic.
(Buy) Special teams, too.
(Buy) Weird question.
(Buy) Easily. Sunday sucked, but it pales in comparison to the loss to PSG and its implications on the season.
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... Give me Auburn or Houston to win the national title on the men's side. Those are the two best, toughest teams I've watched all season.
... The SEC got in 14 freaking teams. It's good to be in the cool kids’ club.
... What's the point in having a badass pedigree like UNC owns in basketball if it can't come in handy when they are occasionally on the bubble?
... No offense to Cooper Rush, but I am so thankful that he'll never play another down for the Dallas Cowboys. Nothing is worse than being an average football team that has a back-up quarterback just good enough to keep them average and isn't remotely part of a team's long-term plans. Ok, there are things that are worse, but not much ...
... The Cowboys are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic at this point.
... I'm not remotely ready for the NBA playoffs.
... Premier League Thoughts: Just keep collecting, Liverpool. To hell with everything else. With 9 games to play, Liverpool can finish with as many as 97 points. I really want to break 90 points. Let's make a run for it after the international break. The battle for the top 5 has a chance to be bananas down the stretch and I'm here for it if the Man City/Brighton game is an example of what we're going to get. Chelsea could have played Arsenal for 500 minutes on Sunday and they were never going to score. How could they possibly be so poor without Cole Palmer, considering the money that has been spent? Bournemouth just can't win its home games.
No. 10 - Top 10 Standup Comedians
I'm sure this one is going to cause some disagreements because nothing is more subjective than comedy.
I don't have any women in my Top 10. Sorry, Joan Rivers. Sorry, Sarah Silverman. Sorry, Wanda Sykes.
I've left out a lot of old timers. Sorry, Don Rickles. Sorry, Jonathan Winters. Sorry, Bill Cosby (not sorry, **** him).
I've left out a lot of weird. Sorry, Steven Wright. Sorry, Andy Kaufman.
You like who you like. I make no apologies. Let's get on with it.
10. Norm McDonald
I was lucky enough to see McDonald in person a couple of times over the years. He always delivered.
9. Bill Burr
This might feel too high for some, but he's really put a sensational run together.
8. Redd Foxx
I used to love listening to my Foxx tapes on cassette when I was 10 years old. It felt so raw and dirty.
7. Bernie Mac
Nothing was quite like Bernie Mac doing Def Comedy Jam. It might be the most electric set of all-time.
6. Chris Rock
An oversight on my part that has been corrected. Not originally in the Top 10... I made a mistake and corrected it.
5. Dave Chappelle
Is this too low?
4. Robin Williams
This was the comedy of my youth. It was always Miller Time.
3. Eddie Murphy
He didn't do a lot of stand up, but Delirious and Raw might be my two favorite comedy specials of all-time.
2. Richard Pryor
I know some will say he should be No. 1, but ...
1. George Carlin
Carlin has stood the test of time. He's more important today than he was three decades ago.
Redd Foxx>Bernie Mac
Jonathan Winters, Rodney Daingerfield, Don Rickles honorable mention, at least.
Very good list and I agree with the top 6 except add Norm up there over Robin Williams (though still top 10). I would have Kenniston and Louis CK somewhere between 8-10, dropping Burr and Foxx.
A small comic I recommend to everyone is Geoffrey Asmus. He will be back in Austin in early May. Saw him last year and was better than some of the larger touring acts.
A small comic I recommend to everyone is Geoffrey Asmus. He will be back in Austin in early May. Saw him last year and was better than some of the larger touring acts.
I agree, his live show was outstanding...I like dark, mean spirited humor so his stuff hits along with comedians like Jeselnik, Attell, Silverman...I know she's extremely polarizing for some, but, Amy Schumer live was a riot.
.
This is all very personal to me.
As Orangebloods creeps closer and closer to being old enough to rent a car, time has a way of washing away beginnings. Before the YouTube shows, a decade of radio, an Amazon best-selling book and 20+ years of the site ranking as the No. 1 subscription site in the Rivals network/industry, I was just a lowly regional recruiting guy in the late 90s working on a platform that was years away from being in the mainstream.
Back in the day, everything felt revolutionary. One day, I had one of the owners of Rivals.com telling me that the concept of the War Room would never work and months later I was teaching it to every site publisher in the network at a publisher's conference. For years, Orangebloods created the blueprint for recruiting coverage and everyone else followed.
Before we go any further, I want to say that I'm very proud of the recruiting coverage from 30,000 feet up. In a recruiting world that is forever fluid in a new era of NIL, I couldn't be more pleased with the pulse we've had on the most important recruiting stories of the Steve Sarkisian era. When we hit the home stretch of the 2025 cycle, we were very clear in reporting that all of the clutter could be removed and that the focus was on three players - Justus Terry, Kade Phillips and Michael Fasusi. When almost all national reporters were not seeing Terry to Texas from a mile away, we were very, very bullish.
The truth of the matter is that you guys are generally very pleased with our recruiting coverage. In a recent survey of more than 1,000+ subscribers, more than two out of three subscribers rated our recruiting coverage as either a 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale. Nearly 90% gave us a rating between 7-10. All things considered, as Larry David might say ... "Pretty .... pretty ... good.
Yet, I would concede that I've grown a bit disenfranchised as a content provider on the recruiting front over a number of years. Everyone just does the same thing. The same style of updates. In some cases, it's the exact same updates on the same day.
Perhaps the worst of the group think that was driving me crazy occurred on the day of UT's only official recruiting event in 2025 to date ... the Junior Day in January. Everyone can close their eyes and see the formula unfold. Every site takes the same pictures at the same time. The interviews are all mostly done at the same time ... with the same quotes. The info is posted in official threads on message boards. It's not that there isn't great work taking place across all sites (because there is), but good grief ... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
This is just how I feel about it all. Perhaps it's harsh, but when have I ever pussyfooted around with speaking directly about anything? I might not always be right, but you've known for 25+ years that I won't give you the company line as a default position. It was on that day in January that I committed myself to a refresh of our entire recruiting coverage plan.
Just like the War Room received a jolt in the arm last year with a revision of the ideology of the format (fewer words, more impact nuggets), we want to accomplish the same thing in the coming months with a completely revamped approach. I want us providing content you're not getting elsewhere in formats you're not otherwise receiving them in. The winner in all of this should be you guys. After going into the lab with the Orangebloods team in the month of February during the dead period, we think we're making changes that you guys will notice and come to love.
No one is really breaking commitments these days. What matters more than anything is the storytelling and our commitment is to be the best storytellers in this industry ... every damn day. Along the way, we're going to take some approaches that won't be considered the norm in the industry and we don't care. Unorthodox is kind of what we're going for. We want to be daring. Honestly, what I want is for us to do a great job of this revised storytelling that everyone in this market is forced to change their methods ... and perhaps forced to copy us ... again. I want you all to see and know it.
That's my goal and I'm putting this section in the lede this week because I want everyone to know it. Maybe we pull it off, maybe we don't, but I want you to know that we vow to you to never stop trying new things. Maybe some of you won't be convinced that we're the undisputed champs, but you'll at least know us for being different.
Here's a look at our new recruiting content schedule that we've already begun to unveil. More is coming.
* Everything Everywhere All At Once (Sunday night/Monday morning at the latest) - Updates on every key visit taken by every key recruit on the map for the Longhorns. We'll go anywhere and everywhere to get the updates, even if it means giving an attaboy to our competition. All that matters is that you get the info that matters, vanity be damned. Debuted last Monday to much fanfare.
* Behind Enemy Lines (Tuesday) - Just like during the football season, the purpose of this piece on the recruiting side is to inspect what's happening on the A&M, OU, LSU and entire SEC fronts from its own local reporting, with special focus on the Aggies and Sooners.
* Back in the Day (Tuesday) - A member of the Orangebloods staff will tell a story from decades in the memory banks. DJ Williams/Albert Hollis ... Ryan Perrilloux ... Darrell Scott ... we'll never run out of stories. Maybe we'll collect them all and put them into a book.
* The Rumor Mill: (Wednesday) - Nothing but updates on key recruits for the Longhorns. No schmoes. Just the big dogs. The title of this article is still in the workshop, but we're paying homage to Rivals' Rumor Mill articles, which is among the best content the network produces. We're just a little concerned that the title is a little too much like ...
* NIL Nuggets of the Week (Wednesday) - Another project with a working title, but the purpose of this content piece is to focus on every interesting and important NIL-related moments across all of college athletics.
* Recruiting Rankings (Wednesday) - Yet another project without a name completely nailed down, but we'll be discussing rankings from Rivals and all of the other services. Anything that is rankings related, including the release of updated LSR rankings and a new set of Orangebloods Out of State Rankings created by @CodyCarpentier will be included.
* Truth and Lies (Thursday) - Bring on the damn rumors no matter how wild or outlandish. We're going to talk about them and grade them. I will not stand for unacknowledged elephants in the room. People seemed to like this one when it debuted last week.
* The Recruiting Board (Thursday) - It's the Recruiting Board updated every single week instead of once per month-ish.
* The Friday Refresh (Friday) - Your one-stop shop for a review of every notable event during the last week in Texas recruiting. Never worry about missing anything again if you're traveling for work. We got you.
* The Weekend (Friday) - A primer for every single weekend throughout the entire year when traveling by key Texas targets is taking place. It'll set the tone for the entire weekend by creating a one-stop shop for remembering who the hell went where from weekend to weekend.
We've got a few other ideas that we're workshopping and you know that we'll add Portal Kombat to the rotation when the first sniff of spring Portal discussion starts to emerge.
I hope you guys enjoy what we have in store.
No. 2 - Passing along some off-season scuttlebutt ...
This is kind of embarrassing, but I forgot to include the Lance Jackson note in the War Room on Thursday night. Oops. The good news is that I went on the hunt for a few more nuggets to make a quality section in the column. Enjoy.
* The people I've spoken with can't wait to see Lance Jackson in the spring. I was told that he's everything that they thought he would be from an athleticism/physical profile standpoint. He looks like millions of bucks every day. There's still some uncertainty over where he ends up, but there's a real buzz to start finding out.
* Had someone tell me this week that Cole Hutson is going to be given every chance to really take a step forward in the battle for starting center, but if he drops the ball in a way that gives the staff any true concerns coming out of the spring, they won't hesitate to act in the Portal.
* The hope for Jelani McDonald is that he emerges as a star for the Longhorns in the secondary this season. "I think once you get past Colin (Simmons) and (Anthony) Hill, it's completely fair to think he can be the third-best player on our defense. It's his time to step up," a team source told me this weekend.
* Kade Phillips was viewed on the level of Justus Terry and Michael Fasusi behind the scenes as a prospect, even if I could never convince all of you that when I tried to emphasize how much of a win it was to take two of three in the great Ocean's 11 theft attempt before NSD. "Not a single corner's job is safe," a source told me this weekend. "No one should be shocked if he's starting by mid-season. I think he's already right there with Malik (Muhammad) and Kobe (Black).”
* I asked one source this weekend about the move of Ryan Niblett to nickel on defense from wide receiver and why he didn't stay on the offensive side of the ball with an injury expected to sideline DeAndre Moore for the entire spring. "All I would say is they don't move guys over from offense to defense if they think they have needed value on offense," the source said. Ok, then. That's disheartening, but fair enough.
No. 3 - Just chill ...
Guys, it's March 16th. It's the NIL era, which means that what happens in March almost doesn't matter.
Texas makes its biggest waves under Stave Sarkisian in the summer. Hell, this coaching staff kind of detests early commitments for a number of reasons, the biggest being that they hate being on the defensive as a staff. They want to attack and not get into the game of protecting until they have to.
Nothing could have happened this weekend that would make me think otherwise, not even if 2026 super blue chip Jalen Lott had committed to Oregon, which On3 recruiting guy Steve Wiltfong predicted coming out of the weekend.
My reaction?
We've seen kids fall in love on unofficial visits over the years and we can set our watch by what will almost certainly happen, especially with a Texas Longhorns legacy.
He'll take official visits. NIL offers will be made (that has not happened from the Texas side until much later). The kid will visit Austin/40 Acres multiple times before the dust totally settles.
There's just a long way to go in his recruitment. I think the kid signs with Texas in December, so I'm not changing my FutureCast any time soon. In fact, I probably won't unless it becomes clear in the summer that Texas has lost momentum that it seems unlikely to regain. We're not remotely there.
No. 4 – The minimum level of success has been achieved ...
Honestly, I thought the Longhorns deservingly made the Tournament. The more I thought about it, the more I thought seven Q1 wins made them more deserving than the teams that got left out.
I have no idea what happens next on the court. They can beat Xavier. They can beat Illinois. They've beaten Kentucky.
They could be out in Dayton.
Who the hell knows?
As it pertains to Rodney Terry, everyone knows the score. It might be Sweet 16 or bust. The next week is massive for him. He knows it. He's living and dying on the floor on every game.
Personally, I still think this team CAN make the Sweet 16, but I don't think it will play two consecutive quality games, which means I don't think it gets beyond Illinois ... at best.
Prove me wrong, fellas.
No. 5 - Final Four or Bust ...
That really couldn't have gone better for Vic Schaefer and Co.
No.1 seed? ✅
No U.Conn as the No.2 seed? ✅
Yes, Notre Dame is the strongest No.3 seed in any bracket, but TCU is the weakest No.2 seed based on Net rankings.
The potential winner of Tennessee/Ohio State could make for a tough night, but it could have been worse. This is an incredibly manageable bracket. Given this team's pedigree, you get the sense that it's going to come down to the Longhorns and Irish battling it out for a spot in the Final 4.
Anything less than getting to the Final Four will be a major disappointment.
No. 6 – Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep ...
It's pretty impossible to tell the story of the Texas baseball weekend without talking about the weekend that Texas A&M... ahem... suffered.
While the Longhorns went on the road and swept Mississippi State, lifting its win streak to 17 games before it hosts No.1 LSU next weekend, the Aggies were swept at home by Alabama.
I guess it turns out that Jim Schlossnagel and the coaches he brought with him to Austin matter a hell of a lot. This is a dangerous baseball team that is emerging as a potential Top 8 seed. Next weekend's series should be wild.
No. 7 - Flexing like a boss ...
You know, on one hand, the No. 2/2 ranked Texas softball team is 28-1 and steamrolling pretty much everyone. Yet, on the other hand the Longhorns have only played against four ranked teams all season. They lost to No. 18/20 Stanford and were pushed to extra innings in two of the others against No. 11/8 Texas Tech and No. 13/11 Arizona.
Not that there's any reason to doubt this program under Mike White, but that resume wasn't exactly a show-stopping force of nature as the Longhorns went into Gainesville to take on No. 3 Florida in its first-ever SEC series this weekend.
All the Longhorns did in the first two games of a series that will conclude on Monday night is roll the Gators to the tune of 20-9. When the Gators put a 5-spot on the Longhorns in the fourth inning of game two to take a 7-6 lead, the Longhorns merely went out and scored the final seven runs of the game to win comfortably, 13-7.
Ho hum, I suppose. The Texas women don't really give any you know whats with regards to the SEC. They come to ball in any sport. The bar for excellence is ridiculously high.
No matter what happens on Monday night, the SEC grind awaits as upcoming weekends include home series against No. 20/22 Auburn, No. 7/7 Tennessee, No. 4/4 LSU and No. 23/NR Kentucky, along with road series' against No. 18/19 Mississippi State, No. 1/1 Oklahoma
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) No offense, but the Big 12 sucks and I'll take the A&M and Arkansas games over No. 12 Oklahoma State and a bunch of jags in 2021. In any year the Longhorns didn't host an Alabama or Notre Dame or USC or someone like that, there was a good chance the highlights of the schedule were a bunch of games Texas fans couldn't wait to stop playing.
(Buy) It makes strategic sense to wait if the guy you are targeting is expected to make a deep run and you don't want to put any unwanted pressure/spotlight on him, but I can't see them hanging Terry out to dry. I expect something quick more than I don't. Of course, the Tom Herman situation also tells us that when someone is under contract and has a buyout, CDC and the athletics decision makers aren't ashamed of saying their sorrys with a check if the moment calls for it.
(Sell) I'm really concerned about his ability to maintain all of what he juggles for the long haul. It feels like the program lives in a sprint at all times and not so much of a marathon.
(Double Sell) I'll take several other true freshmen over Terry at this point. I just don't think they are going to make Manning's legs a foundation piece of the offense. That's not what he came here to do and it's not what Sarkisian wants to do as an offensive mind. The next Manning won't be coming to UT if the current one gets broken trying to be a mini-version of Tim Tebow.
(Buy) Texas is going to win a national championship under Schloss and the Aggies will never forget the implications of it all. Longhorns fans will never let them.
(Sell) I haven't heard that is looming. Not yet.
(Mostly sells) I'll take buys on a 1,000-yard receiver, less turnovers on offense than in 2024 and making the CFP. I'll sell the rest.
(Buy) Sure, let's do this.
(Sell) DJ Campbell will be more than solid at right guard as a senior.
(Buy) To quote the great Robin Hood of Baltimore ...
(Buy) That hasn't come across my radar.
(Sell) Nah, I'm not ready to say that this team takes that kind of step back.
(Sell) I wouldn't say they are ready to do whatever or anything. That feels a little too emphatic.
(Buy) Special teams, too.
(Buy) Weird question.
(Buy) Easily. Sunday sucked, but it pales in comparison to the loss to PSG and its implications on the season.
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... Give me Auburn or Houston to win the national title on the men's side. Those are the two best, toughest teams I've watched all season.
... The SEC got in 14 freaking teams. It's good to be in the cool kids’ club.
... What's the point in having a badass pedigree like UNC owns in basketball if it can't come in handy when they are occasionally on the bubble?
... No offense to Cooper Rush, but I am so thankful that he'll never play another down for the Dallas Cowboys. Nothing is worse than being an average football team that has a back-up quarterback just good enough to keep them average and isn't remotely part of a team's long-term plans. Ok, there are things that are worse, but not much ...
... The Cowboys are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic at this point.
... I'm not remotely ready for the NBA playoffs.
... Premier League Thoughts: Just keep collecting, Liverpool. To hell with everything else. With 9 games to play, Liverpool can finish with as many as 97 points. I really want to break 90 points. Let's make a run for it after the international break. The battle for the top 5 has a chance to be bananas down the stretch and I'm here for it if the Man City/Brighton game is an example of what we're going to get. Chelsea could have played Arsenal for 500 minutes on Sunday and they were never going to score. How could they possibly be so poor without Cole Palmer, considering the money that has been spent? Bournemouth just can't win its home games.
No. 10 - Top 10 Standup Comedians
I'm sure this one is going to cause some disagreements because nothing is more subjective than comedy.
I don't have any women in my Top 10. Sorry, Joan Rivers. Sorry, Sarah Silverman. Sorry, Wanda Sykes.
I've left out a lot of old timers. Sorry, Don Rickles. Sorry, Jonathan Winters. Sorry, Bill Cosby (not sorry, **** him).
I've left out a lot of weird. Sorry, Steven Wright. Sorry, Andy Kaufman.
You like who you like. I make no apologies. Let's get on with it.
10. Norm McDonald
I was lucky enough to see McDonald in person a couple of times over the years. He always delivered.
9. Bill Burr
This might feel too high for some, but he's really put a sensational run together.
8. Redd Foxx
I used to love listening to my Foxx tapes on cassette when I was 10 years old. It felt so raw and dirty.
7. Bernie Mac
Nothing was quite like Bernie Mac doing Def Comedy Jam. It might be the most electric set of all-time.
6. Chris Rock
An oversight on my part that has been corrected. Not originally in the Top 10... I made a mistake and corrected it.
5. Dave Chappelle
Is this too low?
4. Robin Williams
This was the comedy of my youth. It was always Miller Time.
3. Eddie Murphy
He didn't do a lot of stand up, but Delirious and Raw might be my two favorite comedy specials of all-time.
2. Richard Pryor
I know some will say he should be No. 1, but ...
1. George Carlin
Carlin has stood the test of time. He's more important today than he was three decades ago.
George Carlin is a treasure.
I wuda put Norm McDonald up there in the top 3-5.
This is all very personal to me.
As Orangebloods creeps closer and closer to being old enough to rent a car, time has a way of washing away beginnings. Before the YouTube shows, a decade of radio, an Amazon best-selling book and 20+ years of the site ranking as the No. 1 subscription site in the Rivals network/industry, I was just a lowly regional recruiting guy in the late 90s working on a platform that was years away from being in the mainstream.
Back in the day, everything felt revolutionary. One day, I had one of the owners of Rivals.com telling me that the concept of the War Room would never work and months later I was teaching it to every site publisher in the network at a publisher's conference. For years, Orangebloods created the blueprint for recruiting coverage and everyone else followed.
Before we go any further, I want to say that I'm very proud of the recruiting coverage from 30,000 feet up. In a recruiting world that is forever fluid in a new era of NIL, I couldn't be more pleased with the pulse we've had on the most important recruiting stories of the Steve Sarkisian era. When we hit the home stretch of the 2025 cycle, we were very clear in reporting that all of the clutter could be removed and that the focus was on three players - Justus Terry, Kade Phillips and Michael Fasusi. When almost all national reporters were not seeing Terry to Texas from a mile away, we were very, very bullish.
The truth of the matter is that you guys are generally very pleased with our recruiting coverage. In a recent survey of more than 1,000+ subscribers, more than two out of three subscribers rated our recruiting coverage as either a 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale. Nearly 90% gave us a rating between 7-10. All things considered, as Larry David might say ... "Pretty .... pretty ... good.
Yet, I would concede that I've grown a bit disenfranchised as a content provider on the recruiting front over a number of years. Everyone just does the same thing. The same style of updates. In some cases, it's the exact same updates on the same day.
Perhaps the worst of the group think that was driving me crazy occurred on the day of UT's only official recruiting event in 2025 to date ... the Junior Day in January. Everyone can close their eyes and see the formula unfold. Every site takes the same pictures at the same time. The interviews are all mostly done at the same time ... with the same quotes. The info is posted in official threads on message boards. It's not that there isn't great work taking place across all sites (because there is), but good grief ... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
This is just how I feel about it all. Perhaps it's harsh, but when have I ever pussyfooted around with speaking directly about anything? I might not always be right, but you've known for 25+ years that I won't give you the company line as a default position. It was on that day in January that I committed myself to a refresh of our entire recruiting coverage plan.
Just like the War Room received a jolt in the arm last year with a revision of the ideology of the format (fewer words, more impact nuggets), we want to accomplish the same thing in the coming months with a completely revamped approach. I want us providing content you're not getting elsewhere in formats you're not otherwise receiving them in. The winner in all of this should be you guys. After going into the lab with the Orangebloods team in the month of February during the dead period, we think we're making changes that you guys will notice and come to love.
No one is really breaking commitments these days. What matters more than anything is the storytelling and our commitment is to be the best storytellers in this industry ... every damn day. Along the way, we're going to take some approaches that won't be considered the norm in the industry and we don't care. Unorthodox is kind of what we're going for. We want to be daring. Honestly, what I want is for us to do a great job of this revised storytelling that everyone in this market is forced to change their methods ... and perhaps forced to copy us ... again. I want you all to see and know it.
That's my goal and I'm putting this section in the lede this week because I want everyone to know it. Maybe we pull it off, maybe we don't, but I want you to know that we vow to you to never stop trying new things. Maybe some of you won't be convinced that we're the undisputed champs, but you'll at least know us for being different.
Here's a look at our new recruiting content schedule that we've already begun to unveil. More is coming.
* Everything Everywhere All At Once (Sunday night/Monday morning at the latest) - Updates on every key visit taken by every key recruit on the map for the Longhorns. We'll go anywhere and everywhere to get the updates, even if it means giving an attaboy to our competition. All that matters is that you get the info that matters, vanity be damned. Debuted last Monday to much fanfare.
* Behind Enemy Lines (Tuesday) - Just like during the football season, the purpose of this piece on the recruiting side is to inspect what's happening on the A&M, OU, LSU and entire SEC fronts from its own local reporting, with special focus on the Aggies and Sooners.
* Back in the Day (Tuesday) - A member of the Orangebloods staff will tell a story from decades in the memory banks. DJ Williams/Albert Hollis ... Ryan Perrilloux ... Darrell Scott ... we'll never run out of stories. Maybe we'll collect them all and put them into a book.
* The Rumor Mill: (Wednesday) - Nothing but updates on key recruits for the Longhorns. No schmoes. Just the big dogs. The title of this article is still in the workshop, but we're paying homage to Rivals' Rumor Mill articles, which is among the best content the network produces. We're just a little concerned that the title is a little too much like ...
* NIL Nuggets of the Week (Wednesday) - Another project with a working title, but the purpose of this content piece is to focus on every interesting and important NIL-related moments across all of college athletics.
* Recruiting Rankings (Wednesday) - Yet another project without a name completely nailed down, but we'll be discussing rankings from Rivals and all of the other services. Anything that is rankings related, including the release of updated LSR rankings and a new set of Orangebloods Out of State Rankings created by @CodyCarpentier will be included.
* Truth and Lies (Thursday) - Bring on the damn rumors no matter how wild or outlandish. We're going to talk about them and grade them. I will not stand for unacknowledged elephants in the room. People seemed to like this one when it debuted last week.
* The Recruiting Board (Thursday) - It's the Recruiting Board updated every single week instead of once per month-ish.
* The Friday Refresh (Friday) - Your one-stop shop for a review of every notable event during the last week in Texas recruiting. Never worry about missing anything again if you're traveling for work. We got you.
* The Weekend (Friday) - A primer for every single weekend throughout the entire year when traveling by key Texas targets is taking place. It'll set the tone for the entire weekend by creating a one-stop shop for remembering who the hell went where from weekend to weekend.
We've got a few other ideas that we're workshopping and you know that we'll add Portal Kombat to the rotation when the first sniff of spring Portal discussion starts to emerge.
I hope you guys enjoy what we have in store.
No. 2 - Passing along some off-season scuttlebutt ...
This is kind of embarrassing, but I forgot to include the Lance Jackson note in the War Room on Thursday night. Oops. The good news is that I went on the hunt for a few more nuggets to make a quality section in the column. Enjoy.
* The people I've spoken with can't wait to see Lance Jackson in the spring. I was told that he's everything that they thought he would be from an athleticism/physical profile standpoint. He looks like millions of bucks every day. There's still some uncertainty over where he ends up, but there's a real buzz to start finding out.
* Had someone tell me this week that Cole Hutson is going to be given every chance to really take a step forward in the battle for starting center, but if he drops the ball in a way that gives the staff any true concerns coming out of the spring, they won't hesitate to act in the Portal.
* The hope for Jelani McDonald is that he emerges as a star for the Longhorns in the secondary this season. "I think once you get past Colin (Simmons) and (Anthony) Hill, it's completely fair to think he can be the third-best player on our defense. It's his time to step up," a team source told me this weekend.
* Kade Phillips was viewed on the level of Justus Terry and Michael Fasusi behind the scenes as a prospect, even if I could never convince all of you that when I tried to emphasize how much of a win it was to take two of three in the great Ocean's 11 theft attempt before NSD. "Not a single corner's job is safe," a source told me this weekend. "No one should be shocked if he's starting by mid-season. I think he's already right there with Malik (Muhammad) and Kobe (Black).”
* I asked one source this weekend about the move of Ryan Niblett to nickel on defense from wide receiver and why he didn't stay on the offensive side of the ball with an injury expected to sideline DeAndre Moore for the entire spring. "All I would say is they don't move guys over from offense to defense if they think they have needed value on offense," the source said. Ok, then. That's disheartening, but fair enough.
No. 3 - Just chill ...
Guys, it's March 16th. It's the NIL era, which means that what happens in March almost doesn't matter.
Texas makes its biggest waves under Stave Sarkisian in the summer. Hell, this coaching staff kind of detests early commitments for a number of reasons, the biggest being that they hate being on the defensive as a staff. They want to attack and not get into the game of protecting until they have to.
Nothing could have happened this weekend that would make me think otherwise, not even if 2026 super blue chip Jalen Lott had committed to Oregon, which On3 recruiting guy Steve Wiltfong predicted coming out of the weekend.
My reaction?
We've seen kids fall in love on unofficial visits over the years and we can set our watch by what will almost certainly happen, especially with a Texas Longhorns legacy.
He'll take official visits. NIL offers will be made (that has not happened from the Texas side until much later). The kid will visit Austin/40 Acres multiple times before the dust totally settles.
There's just a long way to go in his recruitment. I think the kid signs with Texas in December, so I'm not changing my FutureCast any time soon. In fact, I probably won't unless it becomes clear in the summer that Texas has lost momentum that it seems unlikely to regain. We're not remotely there.
No. 4 – The minimum level of success has been achieved ...
Honestly, I thought the Longhorns deservingly made the Tournament. The more I thought about it, the more I thought seven Q1 wins made them more deserving than the teams that got left out.
I have no idea what happens next on the court. They can beat Xavier. They can beat Illinois. They've beaten Kentucky.
They could be out in Dayton.
Who the hell knows?
As it pertains to Rodney Terry, everyone knows the score. It might be Sweet 16 or bust. The next week is massive for him. He knows it. He's living and dying on the floor on every game.
Personally, I still think this team CAN make the Sweet 16, but I don't think it will play two consecutive quality games, which means I don't think it gets beyond Illinois ... at best.
Prove me wrong, fellas.
No. 5 - Final Four or Bust ...
That really couldn't have gone better for Vic Schaefer and Co.
No.1 seed? ✅
No U.Conn as the No.2 seed? ✅
Yes, Notre Dame is the strongest No.3 seed in any bracket, but TCU is the weakest No.2 seed based on Net rankings.
The potential winner of Tennessee/Ohio State could make for a tough night, but it could have been worse. This is an incredibly manageable bracket. Given this team's pedigree, you get the sense that it's going to come down to the Longhorns and Irish battling it out for a spot in the Final 4.
Anything less than getting to the Final Four will be a major disappointment.
No. 6 – Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep ...
It's pretty impossible to tell the story of the Texas baseball weekend without talking about the weekend that Texas A&M... ahem... suffered.
While the Longhorns went on the road and swept Mississippi State, lifting its win streak to 17 games before it hosts No.1 LSU next weekend, the Aggies were swept at home by Alabama.
I guess it turns out that Jim Schlossnagel and the coaches he brought with him to Austin matter a hell of a lot. This is a dangerous baseball team that is emerging as a potential Top 8 seed. Next weekend's series should be wild.
No. 7 - Flexing like a boss ...
You know, on one hand, the No. 2/2 ranked Texas softball team is 28-1 and steamrolling pretty much everyone. Yet, on the other hand the Longhorns have only played against four ranked teams all season. They lost to No. 18/20 Stanford and were pushed to extra innings in two of the others against No. 11/8 Texas Tech and No. 13/11 Arizona.
Not that there's any reason to doubt this program under Mike White, but that resume wasn't exactly a show-stopping force of nature as the Longhorns went into Gainesville to take on No. 3 Florida in its first-ever SEC series this weekend.
All the Longhorns did in the first two games of a series that will conclude on Monday night is roll the Gators to the tune of 20-9. When the Gators put a 5-spot on the Longhorns in the fourth inning of game two to take a 7-6 lead, the Longhorns merely went out and scored the final seven runs of the game to win comfortably, 13-7.
Ho hum, I suppose. The Texas women don't really give any you know whats with regards to the SEC. They come to ball in any sport. The bar for excellence is ridiculously high.
No matter what happens on Monday night, the SEC grind awaits as upcoming weekends include home series against No. 20/22 Auburn, No. 7/7 Tennessee, No. 4/4 LSU and No. 23/NR Kentucky, along with road series' against No. 18/19 Mississippi State, No. 1/1 Oklahoma
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) No offense, but the Big 12 sucks and I'll take the A&M and Arkansas games over No. 12 Oklahoma State and a bunch of jags in 2021. In any year the Longhorns didn't host an Alabama or Notre Dame or USC or someone like that, there was a good chance the highlights of the schedule were a bunch of games Texas fans couldn't wait to stop playing.
(Buy) It makes strategic sense to wait if the guy you are targeting is expected to make a deep run and you don't want to put any unwanted pressure/spotlight on him, but I can't see them hanging Terry out to dry. I expect something quick more than I don't. Of course, the Tom Herman situation also tells us that when someone is under contract and has a buyout, CDC and the athletics decision makers aren't ashamed of saying their sorrys with a check if the moment calls for it.
(Sell) I'm really concerned about his ability to maintain all of what he juggles for the long haul. It feels like the program lives in a sprint at all times and not so much of a marathon.
(Double Sell) I'll take several other true freshmen over Terry at this point. I just don't think they are going to make Manning's legs a foundation piece of the offense. That's not what he came here to do and it's not what Sarkisian wants to do as an offensive mind. The next Manning won't be coming to UT if the current one gets broken trying to be a mini-version of Tim Tebow.
(Buy) Texas is going to win a national championship under Schloss and the Aggies will never forget the implications of it all. Longhorns fans will never let them.
(Sell) I haven't heard that is looming. Not yet.
(Mostly sells) I'll take buys on a 1,000-yard receiver, less turnovers on offense than in 2024 and making the CFP. I'll sell the rest.
(Buy) Sure, let's do this.
(Sell) DJ Campbell will be more than solid at right guard as a senior.
(Buy) To quote the great Robin Hood of Baltimore ...
(Buy) That hasn't come across my radar.
(Sell) Nah, I'm not ready to say that this team takes that kind of step back.
(Sell) I wouldn't say they are ready to do whatever or anything. That feels a little too emphatic.
(Buy) Special teams, too.
(Buy) Weird question.
(Buy) Easily. Sunday sucked, but it pales in comparison to the loss to PSG and its implications on the season.
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... Give me Auburn or Houston to win the national title on the men's side. Those are the two best, toughest teams I've watched all season.
... The SEC got in 14 freaking teams. It's good to be in the cool kids’ club.
... What's the point in having a badass pedigree like UNC owns in basketball if it can't come in handy when they are occasionally on the bubble?
... No offense to Cooper Rush, but I am so thankful that he'll never play another down for the Dallas Cowboys. Nothing is worse than being an average football team that has a back-up quarterback just good enough to keep them average and isn't remotely part of a team's long-term plans. Ok, there are things that are worse, but not much ...
... The Cowboys are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic at this point.
... I'm not remotely ready for the NBA playoffs.
... Premier League Thoughts: Just keep collecting, Liverpool. To hell with everything else. With 9 games to play, Liverpool can finish with as many as 97 points. I really want to break 90 points. Let's make a run for it after the international break. The battle for the top 5 has a chance to be bananas down the stretch and I'm here for it if the Man City/Brighton game is an example of what we're going to get. Chelsea could have played Arsenal for 500 minutes on Sunday and they were never going to score. How could they possibly be so poor without Cole Palmer, considering the money that has been spent? Bournemouth just can't win its home games.
No. 10 - Top 10 Standup Comedians
I'm sure this one is going to cause some disagreements because nothing is more subjective than comedy.
I don't have any women in my Top 10. Sorry, Joan Rivers. Sorry, Sarah Silverman. Sorry, Wanda Sykes.
I've left out a lot of old timers. Sorry, Don Rickles. Sorry, Jonathan Winters. Sorry, Bill Cosby (not sorry, **** him).
I've left out a lot of weird. Sorry, Steven Wright. Sorry, Andy Kaufman.
You like who you like. I make no apologies. Let's get on with it.
10. Norm McDonald
I was lucky enough to see McDonald in person a couple of times over the years. He always delivered.
9. Bill Burr
This might feel too high for some, but he's really put a sensational run together.
8. Redd Foxx
I used to love listening to my Foxx tapes on cassette when I was 10 years old. It felt so raw and dirty.
7. Bernie Mac
Nothing was quite like Bernie Mac doing Def Comedy Jam. It might be the most electric set of all-time.
6. Chris Rock
An oversight on my part that has been corrected. Not originally in the Top 10... I made a mistake and corrected it.
5. Dave Chappelle
Is this too low?
4. Robin Williams
This was the comedy of my youth. It was always Miller Time.
3. Eddie Murphy
He didn't do a lot of stand up, but Delirious and Raw might be my two favorite comedy specials of all-time.
2. Richard Pryor
I know some will say he should be No. 1, but ...
1. George Carlin
Carlin has stood the test of time. He's more important today than he was three decades ago.
Chappelle is too low….hes top 3 if not the GOAT
Was acknowledging him yes. There was nobody bigger in his prime. He was the first guy to really sell out multiple arenas as a comedian if reports by other comedians are correct. Some had done single nights in big venues but he was reportedly the first to be able to book a stadium tour? Then Kinison did it to a smaller degree I think.
Eddie topped them. Chappelle could still do it and, maybe, Kevin Hart of the current shows. I think Chris Rock has missed his window by slowing down too much.
I ended up putting different people on for different reasons. His was just respect for how big he blew up and how true to standup he stayed. He still works and does pop up free shows on the streets of NYC similar to how Chappelle did in his hiatus from Chappelle Show.
Agreed. Not many were. Eddie could roll out on tour right now and probably be on top again.
I’m older than you, so my memory of following comedians started in the 70’s with Richard Pryor. At one point I had an album collection of just comedians.
Getting to a Top 10 is hard because we all have different things that make us laugh or feel good.
I always think about would I want to hang out with them or have dinner or a beer with them. They could be funny as hell but a terrible person. That eliminates them from a Top 10. I don’t care about their political opinions if they can make me laugh.
So my top 10 are only people that make me laugh out loud or belly laugh.
He is Top 50 for me just not Top 10
As always, great read, thanks Ketch! I know many have said it, but now seems like a great time to thank you and the entire staff for always keeping us informed and entertained. For always trying to grow, innovate, improve, and offer the best Adult Recess for all of us - day after day, month after month, year after year, decade after decade. We all have our own lives, the ups and downs, but the common thread of OB runs through us all, and I’m very appreciative and thankful for that. As a business owner myself, it’s hard to articulate what it takes and what it makes to do what you and the team have done, for decades. Admirable stuff.
Once again, amazing ideas for new improvements. No one bats 1,000, but I’ll be damned if yall don’t come close. Whether we all agree or disagree on things, the magic is in the community here. The storytelling.
Cheers to the next 25 years of taking a break from class to come to Recess at the OB playground.
Once again, amazing ideas for new improvements. No one bats 1,000, but I’ll be damned if yall don’t come close. Whether we all agree or disagree on things, the magic is in the community here. The storytelling.
Cheers to the next 25 years of taking a break from class to come to Recess at the OB playground.
It's wild to think about how big Eddie was.
Raw did 140 million in the theaters in 2024 money. I suppose that's not Taylor Swift levels... but it's not far behind it, either.
I have heard Robin Williams was a big joke thief.
I think Jay Mohr is pretty funny, but his most famous joke about partying with Tracy Morgan was stolen from Bert Kreischer.
Kevin Hart, Sebastian, Segura and Gillis are all selling out arenas.
Was listing to the Tuesdays with Stories podcast with Mark Normand and Joe List and they were saying doing an arena is the equivalent of selling out 50 comedy clubs. The money has got to be absolutely insane for those guys mentioned above.
Well I’ll see what I can do, but honestly I prefer to focus on yours 🤣
RAW is the only movie I have ever bought a ticket for another movie and snuck in to see RAW. I think was about 14.
Ironically, I did that with Beverly Hills Cop 2. My friend Eric and I got tickets to Ernest Goes to Camp and snuck into a sold out theater.
Eric later told his parents and it caused a big commotion that he and I still joke about today,
That is so stunning that I don't have commentary. Thanks for sharing. I love the guts.
I’m a Dennis Miller guy. I felt fairly intelligent if I got one of his jokes?
I can remember being a 10-year-old finding my parents album class clown. I’ll never forget the first time I heard the seven words you can never say on TV. I still have it memorized but won’t offend any of my fellow orange bloods.
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