Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend

[Ketchum]

Agree on both points!

Ketch -- appreciate the column -- nice work.

Thanks for the kind words. I was drawing blanks for a long time yesterday, so that was nice to see.

 

[CPHornfan]

(Sell) Good grief, it’s time for everyone around here, from the fans to the head coach, to stop thinking this outfit is close to anything but slightly above average on its best day. I don’t even know if this team can win away from home. Double good grief.

As far as Dak and the Cowboys are concerned, who is even watching this game with the World Series on TV? basically, who cares?

 

[txfight]

The sad thing is, I think Luck is picking up his team, that's one of the worst rosters in the NFL

I think this is spot on. And if Luck is Stafford 2.0 then Stafford may be Romo 2.0.

Seriously, remember all the "Romo isn't a winner and can't lead his team" talk when the Cowboys had no running game and the worst defense in their history? Turns out, in the NFL, it takes more than just a QB to win. It took Tony Romo getting hurt and us to run through that calvacade of dipshits to appreciate him.

Lions fans thought the same thing about Stafford a couple of years ago, but when they looked around and saw terrible QB's all over the league (Bears/Browns/Jets/Bills/Jags, Texans/Titans/etc) they realized not re-signing him would be disastrous.

I'd wager to say the only thing worse than a Luck-led Colts team would be if he got hurt and they saw their future without him, which may happen sooner than later given the protection he's getting.

 

[JinSOTEX]

As far as Dak and the Cowboys are concerned, who is even watching this game with the World Series on TV? basically, who cares?

You serious? I'm betting the cowboys game in prime time has big ratings. They always draw big ratings

 

[txfight]

Maybe it's because we are 3 seasons into a struggle.

3 years?!? Did you just become a fan in 2013?

 

[txfight]

After 3 years, Strong shouldn't be on training wheels anymore. What year do they come off?

That really is the question. I think if we can upgrade the coach to a can't miss guy, then we should pull the trigger. But I'm not sold Herman is a can't miss guy. I think he's better than Strong, but is he good enough to hit the reset button? I simply don't know. You know who would have a better idea? An experienced, qualified, top-notch Athletic Director which for some inexplicable reason, we still don't have and don't seem too interested in finding.

 

[txfight]

Do you really know him as a man?

Do you Ketch? I'm not being combative, I'm honestly curious because it's a good point. He sells core values and plenty of people are buying it, but in your position, do you suspect otherwise because if you do, I think we'd LOVE to hear that.

 

[PalsDad]

3 years?!? Did you just become a fan in 2013?

No, but we've been the punching bag of the Big 12 for 3 years. At least under Brown we were competitive. We had up and down years, but we were never this bad for this long.

 

[Golfer301980]

Damn I just want this Strong fiasco to end, along with this crap season. D'onta we will miss you, go get that green paper.

 

[hook_em27]

Smoltz is the best baseball color guy I've ever heard. He's outstanding. Really elevates the experience because of the insight he brings to the table and his ability to communicate.

 

[dsutton_85]

Damn I just want this Strong fiasco to end, along with this crap season. D'onta we will miss you, go get that green paper.

Both brothers came here cause they enjoy playing with each other. D'onta wouldn't even be here if it want for Armanti. I feel pretty good he will stay another year so he can graduate with his bro.

 

[cruelbutfair]

Do you Ketch? I'm not being combative, I'm honestly curious because it's a good point. He sells core values and plenty of people are buying it, but in your position, do you suspect otherwise because if you do, I think we'd LOVE to hear that.

Agreed.

 

[Ketchum]

Reading this article has quickly become my favorite Monday morning activity (so much so, I started on Sunday night this week.)

But if I'm being honest, I was disappointed in the tone. My take on the win was it was a gut check performance and despite all the negativity these last few weeks, the kids played with pride and pulled out a win. With all the players-only meetings, stories about recruiting taking a dump, and skepticism about the coach's future, these guys needed some good news to smile about. Beating a highly ranked (albeit overrated) team who had your matchup circled on its calendar is a reason to be happy until it's time to go back to work on Monday.

I'll be very quick to add that on its own, this win means nothing towards the stability of Strong's job.

But it felt like you wanted to minimize the win because you're worried it will make people want to keep the coach. It won't. He's coaching his last season at Texas (barring a unprecedented streak of wins.) So relax a little and let's enjoy it for what it was; a brief reprise from all the poor coaching/ poor play and a kick in the nuts to a fanbase that needs to have their nuts kicked.

Lastly, I agree the Big 12 is a below average conference. I hate that the national media mocks the absence of defense in our games. But please don't mail in the conference power ranking. I actually really enjoy that section of your TFTW article.

Look, I really like your writing and I love the fact that you go back and forth with your readers. It's so much better than a one side conversation like reading a Bohls article. But this time, I just had a different take on it.

I did kind of minimize the win because I felt it somewhat deserved it. It was not a cleanly, well-played game.

 

[Ketchum]

This is what happens when your eyes get really tired and you can't find your glasses and you'e typing without seeing the screen clearly.

 

[cruelbutfair]

BUY or SELL: Charlie is right, whoever the coach is, this will be a 10-win team in 2017?

(Sell) Good grief, it’s time for everyone around here, from the fans to the head coach, to stop thinking this outfit is close to anything but slightly above average on its best day. I don’t even know if this team can win away from home. Double good grief.

BUY or SELL: Texas' offensive resurgence this year is less about a new offensive coordinator and more about having a competent QB for the first time in years?

(Sell) Shane Buechele would not be this good, this fast under Shawn Watson.

Well stated @Ketchum

As DKR would say, "we're as average as everyday's wash". Nothing I have seen in the last 5 years indicates we are on the cusp of 10+ win seasons again. It could happen in a semi-miraculous way, like in 1990, but that team was senior led and beat a fairly weak schedule (outside of UH and A&M) and won some really close games.

Gilbert is a very competent OC. We had forgotten what that looked like.

 

[Ketchum]

My own thoughts from the game:

1. Baylor played dirty.
2. The announcers don't understand the targeting penalty.
3. I thought it was a "Neat Wrinkle" to have Swoopes spell Foreman.
4. I quit thinking it was neat when I realized they were going to keep doing it.
5. You have to let Swoopes throw a pass or two from the 18 Wheeler Package if you want to keep it effective.
6. Why does every QB we play look like Randall Cunningham? Seth Russell had more rushing yardage in this game than Kyle Porter has all season.
7. Is it me, or did we get hosed on about 4 calls/no-calls in the last 3 minutes of the game?
8. I wish we'd stop talking about replacing Strong and start talking about hiring a qualified AD. You can't do A, until you do B.

1. I didn't notice any dirty play, at least not more than normal. It's not like Ahmad Dixon was back there.
2. I don't think the refs do, either.
3. Yup, for one play.
4. Yup, after every play thereafter.
5. Feels like that ship has somewhat sailed. It's now week nine.
6. Because the defense isn't that good.
7. what sticks out?
8. I've been banging that pot since 2015 but we are where we are.

 

[memhorn]

Just two months ago, Ketch was saying to tap the brakes on 2016 -- that it would be 2017 when this team would make some noise.

That was right then, and, I say, is still right today. Just think about what will be on the field in 2017 for a while: a top notch QB with a year of experience, and, FINALLY an OL with experience and quality linemen. And think of the receivers!

Defense will still be an issue. The way teams play offense these days, defense is an issue for everybody.

Coaching? Fire CS if you want to, but it will be his team making that noise in 2017.

 

[Ketchum]

Good summary. We can enjoy this win while still recognizing the purgatory reality.

Your point about the Charmin-soft B12 lines up with what you, Alex, PDX, and a few others have laid out in detail concerning the conference's weakening recruiting position year after year. No matter how good some of the coaches may be, the lessening talent levels across the board were going to catch up with the conference eventually.

The growing talent gap between us and the SEC/B1G alphas has been growing more apparent over the past season and a half. One wonders how long that will continue.

Until Texas leaves the conference.

 

[Ketchum]

Dang, would be so fun and awesome to see D'onte in a great offense next year running over people, but I totally understand leaving early and wish for the best for the guy in the NFL.
@Ketchum has he talked about what has helped him transform into every defenses nightmare this season? The conditioning program? Gilbert? New RB coach? That is a positive thing the team has going for it I would love to hear more about.

I think the kid just has a burning passion inside of him that probably formed when everyone ignored him to focus on his brother. He's always been very good, but he's emerged into something else.

 

[Buda Horn]

The result: a team-best 10 tackles (8 solo), two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and generally speaking, he played like the player everyone thought he was when the season started.

Don't forget a should-have-been game-clinching forced fumble, fumble recovery, and fumble return for TD.

 

[Ketchum]

The offense has been much better but it still is not good enough. Strong is a great guy, but not a great Head Football coach at a big program. I think he stays if they win 7 games and a bowl win.
Why do people want Strong want him to win and stay most?
A. His core values?
B. He is the first black head coach at TX?
C. He is a top recruiter?
D. He loves the university?
E. He is a nice guy and does things the right way?
F. He is the best coach for the job and gets the most out of what he has?

g. The 10 million he is still owed.

 

[Ketchum]

1. The negative spin by this board on anything relating to Charlie Strong is far more over the top than any spin being put on a person who thinks Charlie MIGHT deserve to be our coach next year. Good grief, Baylor was ranked in the top ten, is still ranked in the top 20, had beaten OSU, a good team that just beat WVU, was playing with confidence from being undefeated and was playing for a playoff chance. Running down our opponents when we win is the height of hypocrisy.

2. Tom Herman may be the next Urban Meyer. Far more likely, he wont be. That's the realistic odds for any young coach coming up. What he is right now is a guy who coaches a team with enough talent to beat OU, but cant game plan and motivate his team to beat a far weaker team like SMU or an average team like Navy. Anyone who thinks Herman is a shoo in the be better than Strong is delusional.

3. Charlie has clear strengths and weaknesses as a head coach. That said, if you took all the posters and mods on OB and added their football knowledge together, it wouldn't equal that of Strong and his staff. Its fun to chat here about strategy, game decisions, etc. But those posters here who thing they know more football than Strong as delusional as the Herman fanatics. I expect lots of pushback from this statement, so I will just wait for those who think otherwise to show me their national championship ring while being a head coach, coordinator, coach, grad assistant or waterboy.

1. No one thought Baylor was good before they played them. All of us said as much in the podcast. This was a watered down team.

2. Strong is an average head coach. I think Herman can at least be average.

3. Most of the people on this board understand counting and how to apply it to game management.

 

[Ketchum]

11. That may have been the worst-coached game I've ever seen that Baylor turned in. Man, if Charlie Strong gets crap for his in-game decisions, Jim Grobe and the Baylor staff should be run out of town immediately after some of the moves they made in this one.

I'm still scratching my head on why Swoopes snapped the ball with 22 seconds on the play clock with 1:00 to go! Just to run a silly QB sneak that adds 4 yards to our FG attempt. That could have been the boneheaded move of the game if Baylor doesn't turn stupid with their play calling. :49 is a lifetime compared to mid 20's.

That play was one I didn't spend a lot of time focused on because I thought people would believe I was being too negative, but yeah...

 

[Gus McCrea]

I am very unimpressed with Porter. We need a game changer in this recruiting class.

GM

 

[Ketchum]

proof. reader. aka editor. I know a guy. I stopped counting at 5. Some of them actually made it difficult to understand what you were trying to say.

What does this mean???



-------------------

On content - People were trashing the O Line changes, which weren't a disaster and I think you have to give Maddox (and Strong) credit for that. You also need to give Strong a ton of credit for how he's dealing with Malik. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't - but it did for this game and he should get credit for that.

Also, who's to say that many of the guys not starting aren't getting into issues off the field? If we're to believe CS has integrity - maybe they just aren't living up to standards either at practice or on Thursday nights. I seem to remember that things can be hard to come by out of the locker room if the players aren't told about it.

Finally, I think there needs to be a discussion about the youth of the team and whether that's actually a contributing factor. To hear Strong tell it, everything is attributable to youth. Basically they don't yet have a good enough base understanding of the defensive scheme to be able to execute a complex defense that will have better results on the field.

I wonder if that may be true - and yet it seems like the ability of elite coaches to change their on the field product is where CS may be falling the most short. If he gets another year and the players have the understanding of what's going on - does that mean we can be much more successful? Who knows. I do feel like Buchele getting another year under Gilbert opens up much more of the playbook, and Maddox getting another year with the oline can't be bad.

I think when you get right down to it, we've fallen so far that the only place to go is up next season. Hopefully with a coach that knows what he's doing.

I actually had a proofer.

 

[podo87]

Just two months ago, Ketch was saying to tap the brakes on 2016 -- that it would be 2017 when this team would make some noise.

That was right then, and, I say, is still right today. Just think about what will be on the field in 2017 for a while: a top notch QB with a year of experience, and, FINALLY an OL with experience and quality linemen. And think of the receivers!

Defense will still be an issue. The way teams play offense these days, defense is an issue for everybody.

Coaching? Fire CS if you want to, but it will be his team making that noise in 2017.

And you just think about all that talent being coached by Charlie Strong and realize he would still lose 4 games minimum in a crap conference with all that talent. The man doesn't coach very well and has proven it over and over again. Why is this so hard for people to get?

 

[Ketchum]

I still say that all of this negative reporting affects the team....you have been more negative lately than ever before, any reason why?....when Charlie first started and released all of the players to get rid of the "thugs" everyone was saying then that 2017 would be the year things fell in place but you seem to have forgotten that....just fire the coaches and start all over.....remember before hyping another coach, the one at Houston, Charlies last 2 years a Louisville were amazing and lool at him now.....Herman is not a sure thing....so prepare yourself to start the fire the coach campaign all over again 2019-2020.....

How do you report on a team that has been below .500 for a full three years and not discuss the negatives?

I mean...

 

[Rex Manning]

Y

Hell, Davante Davis didn’t even get in the game for a single play on Saturday. Is it possible to have a doghouse under the doghouse? If so, that’s where I feel like we’ll find Davis.

Think this happened in the Oklahoma game. He got burned deep and didn't really seem to care, like many other times this year. Charlie was about as animated as I've ever seen him. Met him before he even got off the field and proceeded to yell at him for about 25-30 yards while walking along side him, and Davis was just ignoring him walking to the bench. Must have been a solid minute before Charlie calmed down. Haven't really seen him since.

 

[Tea Leaves]

You’re going to have to forgive me if I come across as something other than joyous in the direct aftermath of Charlie Strong landing a win over a “top-10 team” on Saturday.

Two months ago, it was easy to get swept away in a win over a team like Notre Dame because of the hope that can sometimes exist in the best-case scenario of the unknown. Hell, I was out in the world openly giving people permission to dream big.

If you fast-forward to the present, it’s much harder to give into that same hope after a win over Baylor because the hope that once overflowed has disappeared because that unknown has revealed itself to be mostly a waste of another season.

With a 4-4 record and the best-case scenario including a bowl game that might be meaningless outside of the extra practices that it would provide, no one is in the mood to dream.

At least not about this current team.

With four games to go this season for the Longhorns, the reality is that there’s a single gimmie left on the schedule (Kansas, I think) and three games that rate essentially as coin-flip scenarios (at Texas Tech, vs. West Virginia and vs. TCU). None of those games look the least bit imposing, but that’s exactly the same type of thing you’d say about the Longhorns.

As hard as Strong’s team played on Saturday, can anyone say with certainty that his players will respond the same way next week in Lubbock? It’ll be two below-average teams playing for potential lower-level bowl positioning and a little bit of bragging rights.

In the meantime, it’s impossible to not keep at least one eye focused on how each game impacts the fate of Strong, who was handed a bit of a lifeline from his players over the weekend. Yet, that looming cloud that follows Strong around like the air of disappointment chases Charlie Brown has created an atmosphere that makes writing about this team very difficult when it wins.

Nothing is going to wipe the truth that confronts this program each time it plays the rest of the season.

This is what college football purgatory looks and feels like.

No. 2– D’Onta special season ...

If junior running back D’Onta Foreman does nothing but hits his average in the final four regular-season games, he’s on pace to rush for 1,737 yards in 11 games.

That would rank as the fifth-greatest season in the history of a program that has churned out standout tailbacks at a dizzying rate over the last 50 years.

At his best, Jamaal Charles never posted a 1,700-yard season. Neither did Roosevelt Leaks. Or anyone not named Ricky, Cedric or Earl, and he’s only seven yards behind Earl Campbell’s Heisman Trophy pace.

Of course, that’s if Foreman hits his average in these final four games, one of which includes a Texas Tech game that might give up 200 yards to Foreman next week … in the first half.

It’s amazing to think that he’s on this kind of pace because it was just a little over a month ago when he was sharing the starting job with Chris Warren, but we’re watching one of the truly great individual seasons in Texas history.

I’m not sure I thought it was possible back when he was sharing snaps with Warren, but if he hits the 100-yard mark in every game this season, he has to be a favorite to win the Doak Walker Award.

You’d have to think it would either be Foreman, San Diego State’s Donnel Pumphrey or Florida State’s Dalvin Cook at this point.

No. 3 – Maybe Malik needed a little tough love ...

You just know last week wasn’t easy for sophomore linebacker Malik Jefferson.

Although Charlie Strong was quick to say that Jefferson wasn’t benched a week ago against Kansas State in Manhattan … he was benched. Not only that, but the preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year lost his starting job to Tim Cole … for about five minutes.

It didn’t take long on Saturday before Strong put his much-maligned linebacker on the field and for the first time all season, Jefferson looked like he cut everything loose and just played some damn football.

The result: a team-best 10 tackles (8 solo), two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and generally speaking, he played like the player everyone thought he was when the season started.

I think it’s easy to forget the stress that’s placed on some of these players, but Jefferson has had to carry a lot of weight since he arrived in Austin and it’s probably fair to state that he didn’t arrive ready to own all of the weight that comes from such incredible expectations. Of all the players on the team, he probably wears the scarlet letter of its failings as much as anyone because he’s freaking Malik Jefferson, the only five-star prospect on the field.

Therefore, I can imagine what it was like last week when he found himself behind a player on the depth chart that he knows he’s better than, but whatever emotion he channeled this week to fuel his play, it turned him into the best version of himself that we’ve seen this season.

It makes me think two things going into this week.

a. Keep grinding, Malik.
b. Put him on the scout team in practice, Charlie.

No. 4– The most frustrating things about this season ...

If you had let me watch nothing but Big 12 football before the season started, I would have told you this is a conference just begging for some team to take advantage of its Charmin-like softness.

Let’s just keep it real … any of Mack Brown’s teams from 1998-2009 would have easily won this weak version of the Big 12, most of them in dominating fashion. Hell, it’s possible that his last team in 2013 could have competed with this outfit of teams.

Perhaps the biggest proof of how down the conference is this season was on display Saturday at DKR when Baylor looked more like a team that might be struggling to qualify for a bowl if it hadn’t been playing cupcakes all season than a legit top-10 team.

Oklahoma is probably going to walk away with Bob Stoops’ 423rd Big 12 championship, but that’s because every usual suspect in the conference is a shell of its best self and the Longhorns aren’t in any kind of shape to take advantage of it.

No. 5– Scattershooting on the Longhorns ...

… Is it Dede Westbrook vs. D’Onta Foreman for Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year?

… You can make a case that Anthony Wheeler’s forced fumble as Baylor was going in for a two-score lead early in the fourth quarter was a job-saver for Charlie Strong. That’s the second straight week Wheeler has forced a fumble to keep his team in the game. Who knows? Maybe he’ll keep his starting job …

… I get the feeling that John Bonney is going to start the rest of the season, unless he gets hurt. Hell, Davante Davis didn’t even get in the game for a single play on Saturday. Is it possible to have a doghouse under the doghouse? If so, that’s where I feel like we’ll find Davis.

… Pat Mahomes averages 439 passing yards per game. Unlike Baylor on Saturday, I doubt the Tech coaches forget that the Longhorns defense’s biggest weakness is defending the pass.

… Maybe I’m just being negative, but I found the decision to play Tyrone Swoopes as the team’s No. 2 tailback was a bit of an indictment on Kyle Porter. If Chris Warren or Kirk Johnson are healthy, I have to think that Porter is No. 4 on the depth chart

… Seth Russell might have run for a lot of yards on Saturday, but I didn’t think he looked anything close to an NFL quarterback, let alone a potential first-round draft pick. That’s just silly.

… It seems pretty clear that Armanti Foreman is the No. 1 receiver on the team right now. Guessing who is No. 2 is a week to week exercise.

… Sterlin Gilbert has to get Devin Duvernay more touches … period.

No. 6 – Buy or sell …

BUY or SELL: The Baylor win bought Charlie another year?

(Sell) Only if it is followed with four more wins. I haven’t sensed from anyone that anything changed on Saturday, as everyone that follows the team knows the roller coaster might have a few more ups and downs in it.

BUY or SELL: The rumor from several respected posters within the last 24 hours on Strong not being happy here, wanting out and that a mutual parting of ways has been agreed to after the season is true?

(Sell) This is just my opinion, but I don’t know that he loves it here, but he knows that if he doesn’t make it in Austin, it’s likely that he never receives another opportunity quite like the one he has now. He isn’t gonna just agree to go away.

BUY or SELL: 7 wins in the regular season plus a bowl win and he's back?

(Sell) It would be one thing if the obvious candidate (Tom Herman) wasn’t right down the road, but I think the people that matter know this is a poorly coached team.

BUY or SELL: If Charlie stays and concentrates on fixing the defense we'll see a favorable change from this season to next?

(Sell) That’s exactly the kind of thing people said about the offense a year ago and yet here we were a week ago, watching a 3-4 team after seven games for the third straight year. It’s time for everyone stop using their hope as an enabling device for giving the benefit of the doubt to someone who hasn’t earned it.

BUY or SELL: The media is overreacting once again to a single game and in reality Charlie is gone unless he wins out?

(Buy) What media is overreacting?

BUY or SELL: Coach Strong reads Orangebloods?

(Sell) He’s not a website reader, but I think he likes to know what’s being said about his team in a general sense.

BUY or SELL: D'Onta sets a personal single game rushing record in Lubbock?

(Buy) Ricky’s single-game record is in danger.

BUY or SELL: Charlie is right, whoever the coach is, this will be a 10-win team in 2017?

(Sell) Good grief, it’s time for everyone around here, from the fans to the head coach, to stop thinking this outfit is close to anything but slightly above average on its best day. I don’t even know if this team can win away from home. Double good grief.

BUY or SELL: Texas' offensive resurgence this year is less about a new offensive coordinator and more about having a competent QB for the first time in years?

(Sell) Shane Buechele would not be this good, this fast under Shawn Watson.

BUY or SELL: Texas wins easily in Lubbock next weekend because Tech has no defense to speak of and Patrick Mahomes is injured, plus he will be still upset that his dad was arrested for DWI after the game on Saturday?

(Sell) I expect Mahomes to play and play quite motivated.

BUY or SELL: The recent WSJ article on Baylor is effectively the nail in the coffin for Art Briles' career?

(Sell) I have too little faith in college athletics to believe that.

No. 7 – College Football randomness ...

… If I had a vote that mattered …

1. Alabama
2. Michigan
3. Washington
4. Clemson
5. Louisville
6. Ohio State
7. Texas A&M
8. Wisconsin
9. Nebraska
10. Oklahoma

… Big 12 Power Poll

1. Oklahoma
2. Oklahoma State
3. West Virginia
4. pick a team
5. pick a team
6. pick a team
7. pick a team
8. pick a team
9. Iowa State
10. Kansas

… I’ll admit it, I chose sleep over the second half of Clemson/Florida State and the rest of the late action on Saturday night. I haven’t even bothered to watch the highlights. Nice win, Tigers.

… It feels like there are six teams that are contenders at the moment and another 20 that want to pretend that they are contenders.

… I have Ohio State in that group of six, but I believe that might be confirmation bias speaking.

… Nebraska earned more respect from me in a loss in Madison than in any win it has had this season. The Buckeyes better be careful this weekend.

… West Virginia was exposed.

… If you’re going to take a fourth quarter lead over Louisville, don’t leave nearly two minutes on the clock for Lamar Jackson. You’re doing it wrong at that point.

… Florida beat Georgia by two touchdowns this weekend and that didn’t move my meter at all. Outside of Alabama this season in the SEC … meh.

No. 8 – You like Dak...

It was a game the Cowboys tried to five away.

It was a game the Cowboys refused to let get away from them.

Man, it wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but the Cowboys found a way to get it done and put two games between them and the Eagles in the standings.

At the forefront of the win was Dak Prescott, who looked like Cinderella at about 30 minutes after midnight for much of this game, but he put the pieces together in the fourth quarter,

Hell, even Jason Garrett put a positive touch on the game by refusing to settle for three points in overtime.

Damn that felt good.

No. 9 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …

… Scattershooting on week right in the NFL:

a. Tom Brady put the Bills in their place. The Patriots might not be unbeatable, but that team is too much to handle for most. The Bills are one of those teams in the “most” category.

b. I’d be pissed if I was Cam Newton, too. At some point, the officials have to quit looking at his size and giving defenders the benefit of the doubt when they break rules designed to protect quarterbacks.

c. If the Cleveland Browns can’t beat Ryan Fitzpatrick at home, I’m not sure that team is beating anyone.

d. What we know about Houston is that if it plays a very, very good NFL team, it’s going to get smoked. If it plays an average to below-average NFL team, it’s going to win. On Sunday, the Texans played an average NFL team and won. Rinse, wash and repeat. I hate that it’s that simple, but it is. Honestly, I found a lot of this game to be unwatchable.

e. Russell Wilson has been a marginal player for much of the season because he hasn’t been able to use his feet/legs to create plays. So, what happens when he’s not able to run around like a young man any longer?

f. It’s been awhile since I looked at Andrew Luck and saw anything other than Matt Stafford 2.0. Great quarterbacks are supposed to lift up the play of those around them, but I just don’t see a lot of that in the Colts.

g. Seabass ain’t Seabass any more.

h. Get better, Wade Phillips.

i. Aaron Rodgers was pretty sensational on Sunday and it still wasn’t good enough to get a win in Atlanta. Man, it’s a weird year in the NFL.

... The World Series is headed back to Cleveland and I have a sneaking feeling that this thing is going seven games.Some fanbase is going to have its heart ripped out this week.

… John Smoltz is a hell of a broadcaster.

… With his team off to a 3-0 start, Russell Westbrook is averaging 38.6 points, 12.3 rebounds and 11.6 assists.

… My favorite Joel Embiid moment from the weekend

View embedded media

… Kind of a “handle your business” weekend in the EPL as the top four all earned three points in rather impressive fashion over the weekend.

… No, Pep, Sergio Aguero is not as good in the box as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar. Stop with the silliness.

... The home teams ruled the day in the MLS playoffs on Sunday, but nowhere was that statement true more than in Seattle, as FC Dallas might be in a hole it cannot climb out of.

No. 10 - And finally …

Nine days until election day. I can’t take any more election anything. Please hurry up and be over with. Please. Pretty please.

Big dreaming...

 

[Ketchum]

The fire CS crowd want to lay Mack Brown's last 5 years at the feet of Coach Strong and bitch when they don't get immediate gratification. "We haven't been relevant for 10 years" and are in college football purgatory can NOT be legit reasons to fire a coach new to the situation Not when he is adored by his players and their parents.

That's not holding Charlie very accountable to any standards.

 

[hatch49]

How do you report on a team that has been below .500 for a full three years and not discuss the negatives?

I mean...

Give the kids a break and try some positive reporting...you act like they are the worst team in football...but negative reporting seems to be the thing this time of year...

 

[daflonghorn]

I actually had a proofer.

Yes, you need a new proofreader. I am available

 

[talsimpson]

g. The 10 million he is still owed.

And the $8.5 more million the rest of the staff is owed. If, by contrast, Fenves gives Charlie and his entire staff (GULP) 1 more year before they got canned, I think the total buyout number goes from roughly $18.5 million to roughly $7 million.

 

[Ketchum]

Number 7: I'm struggling to enjoy this college football season. Since 2003, I've spent my Saturday's during football season watching and enjoying the games, and not just UT. But this season feels different. Maybe I've had my fill of SEC talk on the major networks. Maybe it's because we are 3 seasons into a struggle. Maybe it's just that the Big 12 is a tire fire. But it's not fun this year and I find myself doing other things than sitting in my recliner on Saturday's.

Seven years of meh takes a piece of the soul.

 

[Ketchum]

personally I think this was one of the best write ups. Hard to agree on all topics on such a diverse discussion or report,

but IMO, you nailed every topic

You are my new favorite poster. Sorry, @Hello Nasty