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Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (Announcing some changes)

Ketchum

Resident Blockhead
Staff
May 29, 2001
293,174
468,657
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Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'


Before we get knee-deep into this column and the symbolism of one of Dylan’s masterpieces, let’s start things off with a couple acknowledgements.

First, happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there. It should probably be happy Mother’s Day week, as a single day could never do justice to what so many of you mean to your sons and daughters.

Second, happy 15th birthday to Orangebloods.com, which quietly celebrated another checkmark on the calendar a few days ago and is only one year away from being able to legally drive a car.

Ironically, the fact that the site was approaching another birthday only occurred to me on Sunday morning, while I was listening to Bob Dylan and considering the timelessness of his lyrics. More than timeless, his words evolve over time.

Yes, the times are a-changin’.

Fifteen years ago, this site was part of an online unknown, not respected by the mainstream, but energized by the idea that it would serve as a catalyst in changing the perception of what coverage of Texas Longhorn football could look like.

Fifteen years later, as the online world morphed from the unknown to the way of the world, this site has become much more part of the mainstream.

Over the course of the last decade-plus, the competitive waters have definitely grown, but a big part of this 15th year for the site is to take the needed steps to ensure we won’t be drenched to the bone. While our position in the market remains strong and steady, it’s been my goal over the course of the last six weeks or so to begin taking steps that will create a renewed sense of urgency and emphasis on not just leading the marketplace with our content, but striving to redefine what quality in our field looks like. Be better, right?

Specifically, we’re aiming to improve the four heads on the Mount Rushmore of our content: Football, Football recruiting, basketball and video.

Let’s examine a few tweaks and changes that we’re making for each category.

Football

Although Alex Dunlap has been heavily involved on the football side of our coverage for a while now, we’re narrowing his focus some in officially naming him as an Orangebloods Football Analyst, a position that will allow him to spend almost all his focus on producing football-specific content each week.

Although the quality of our football content received very high marks in our in-house surveying this month, it’s our desire to improve the day-in and day-out coverage of the team and I’m of the opinion that adding Alex there in more of an official role will help out considerably. In addition to adding a boost in personnel on the football content side of things, we’ll be tweaking the coverage in the coming weeks and months with added emphasis on analysis, interaction with subscribers (multiple weekly chat sessions) and additional features that will be in development over the coming weeks and months.

I feel like the combination of Anwar and Alex on the day-in and day-out football side of our coverage gives us the best 1-2 punch in this market and almost all others.

Football Recruiting

This was the area of our content that received the highest scores in our subscriber surveys, but its importance to the success and well-being of the site is such that it was critical that we took a step towards improving this area as well, which is why we’re moving Taylor Gaspar to a role within the site that will allow her to serve as a wing-man of sorts to Jason Suchomel, who serves as OBs director of recruiting content.

As is the case with our football content, one of the areas we’ll be tweaking is the way we approach coverage, adding a special emphasis on providing more analysis on every kid on which we’re reporting. While there is a 25-percent block of the subscriber base that leans almost exclusively towards the recruiting content (let’s call them super recruiting nerds), the majority of the subscriber base doesn’t have every detail of recruiting on complete lockdown, which means one of my goals is to make sure we take the steps needed to ensure that those in the mainstream of the site find the presentation of our coverage a little more complete for their needs.

Basketball

We’re going all-in with Shaka. For the first time in the history of the site, I’ve decided to commit a significant chunk of our resources to exclusively covering Texas roundball, as I’m excited to announce that Dustin McComas is our new Director of Basketball Content. After serving as a jack-of-all-trades for the site for the better part of the last decade, we’re going to turn McComas loose on the basketball beat and if you’ve been paying attention over the last few weeks, you’ll see that he’s taking the concept of covering the basketball program to a new level.

The truth of the matter is that there’s a little bit of a leap of faith taking place with the decision to elevate McComas into this specific role because the thirst for basketball content simply lags far behind football and football recruiting, we’ve sensed a newfound thirst in hoops since the arrival of Smart and we’re going to gamble that there’s real value having the best basketball coverage of any site that covers Texas athletics.

For those wondering, McComas will continue to give support on the baseball side of things, as well as lending help to football and football recruiting when events warrant his contributions, but we’re absolutely serious about letting him devote the overwhelming majority of his attention on all things basketball for the foreseeable future.

Video

While I’m of the opinion that our video production in the last few years has been outstanding (thanks to the work of Taylor Gaspar), there is some fine-tuning that needs to take place and we’ll be devoting attention throughout the rest of the off-season towards a relaunch of the video content as we get closer to the football season.

Overall

All of us on the Orangebloods staff are excited about the direction that we’re headed in, but these announcements serve as only the first step towards achieving all of our 2015 goals. We’ve got an amazing community that has been incredibly supportive to the site over the course of the last 15 years and our unwavering commitment to improve what we think is the best site in this industry is what we hope leads us into a new frontier of coverage on all sides.

We’re going to swim our butts off and make sure that sinking like a stone never occurs.

No. 2 – Most Underrated Recruiting Class in the modern era of recruiting?

By now you already know that Charlie Strong’s record of selecting underrated talent and developing it into an NFL-desired product ranks up there with any coach in the country, past or present.

By now you already know the data that proves that Strong develops three-star talent into NFL talent at 2.5 times the rate that the rest of the nation develops 4-star talent into NFL talent.

What you might not yet know and what I hope to educate you on today is the reality that Strong’s 2011 recruiting class at Louisville has to rank as one of the most underrated classes in the history of recruiting. What you might not know is that a class that was ranked 29th by Rivals.com when the faxes came in on National Signing Day has produced more NFL Draft picks than any of the celebrated recruiting classes that Mack Brown produced over the course of 16 years.

Yes, that includes the Vince Young-inspired 2002 recruiting class, which paved the way for the 2005 national championship, and featured 22 five-and four-star prospects. While that group of Longhorns produced seven NFL draft choices, including four players that were selected in the first three rounds of the draft, it has nothing on Strong’s unheralded group, which has produced six players drafted in the first three rounds, half of whom were selected in the first round.

In the history of Rivals.com, there are only a handful of recruiting classes that have produced NFL talent like the 2011 Louisville class (2003 USC, 2006 Florida and 2008 Alabama come to mind), but none did it with the assortment of three-stars with which Strong was able to pull it off.

Take a look at the results from the NFL Draft involving Strong’s first full recruiting class at Louisville:

2011 Louisville (21 prospects)

1st Calvin Pryor 3-stars 5.7
1st Teddy Bridgewater 4-stars 5.8
1st Devante Parker 3-stars 5.7
3rd Jamon Brown 3-stars 5.6
3rd Lorenzo Mauldin 3-stars 5.6
3rd John Miller 3-stars 5.6
6th B.J. Dubose 3-stars 5.7
6th Charles Gaines 3-stars 5.7
6th Deiontrez Mount 3-stars 5.6
7th Gerod Holliman 4-stars 5.8

No. 3 – Longhorn Photo of the Weekend …

Life after pro football seems to be treating Jordan Shipley well.



No. 4 – Buy or Sell …

BUY or SELL: Texas gets a grad transfer and/or brings Merrick in 2015?

(Sell) Unless there are plans to open up an NCAA Graduate Transfer store, I’m not sure how the Longhorns stand in the way of pulling a rabbit out of a hat. When good quarterback options from the grad transfer route become available, they usually look for situations that include a supporting cast that can help elevate their own play and help contend for a championship. Texas has playing time as a selling point, but not much else going into the 2015 season.

BUY or SELL: Jonathan Gray rushes for 1,200 yards in 2015?

(Buy) That’s exactly the number I’m projecting for the senior from Aledo.

BUY or SELL: Texas wins 10+ games in 2016?

(Sell) Until I see quarterback play that inspires me to think that kind of season is possible, my answer will remain sell. Seriously, the last time we saw the Texas football program in action, it was getting stomped into the mud by a run-of-the-mill SEC West team. Charlie’s team has to walk before it can run.

BUY or SELL: Ryan Newsome and/or John Burt start against ND?

(Sell) My answer is different if we’re talking about week three.

BUY or SELL: Tevin Mack commits to Texas by this coming Friday?

(Buy) It’s going to happen sooner or later.

BUY or SELL: Canelo Alvarez has a chance against Triple G?

(Buy) Of course. Between the two, I believe Alvarez is the more skilled overall fighter and seems to get better in a different area in every fight that passes.

BUY or SELL: Randy Gregory plays 16 games for the Cowboys before he is suspended for violation of the NFL drug policy?

(Buy) I think Gregory wins NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors as a focused player this season on a defense that will create playmaking situations for him. What happens after that is anyone’s guess.

No. 5 - In case you missed it...

While we all wait for the official word from must-have Tevin Mack following his visit to Austin this weekend, I thought I would make sure everyone interested in Texas hoops knew that Dustin McComas killed it on the road this weekend while covering the Nike EYBLTournament in Houston.

Make sure you check out his update on 2016 superstar De'Aaron Fox, as well as his breakdowns from action on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

If nothing else, make sure you see the sick crossover from Fox he recorded on Saturday.



No. 6 – As a self-loathing Cowboys fan, I hate to admit this...

I don’t know if I’m simply riding the wave of excitement following the La’el Collins signing, but there’s a feeling overcoming my football fan’s soul in the last few days.

I believe they call it hope.

Oh man, I can’t give in freely, but I want to so dearly. I’ve even had thoughts of the Super Bowl in the last few days.

Must. Resist. The. Urge.

No. 7 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …

… Canelo Alvarez isn’t the best fighter in boxing, but there are few guys I want to watch more when they enter the ring. His destruction of James Kirkland might be boxing’s signature moment of the year thus far.



… Dear PGA golfers, you can shove that overrated label from your anonymous survey right up your backside.

Signed,
Rickie Players Championship Champion Fowler

… What am I supposed to say about the Houston Rockets after Sunday night? The positivity from the series win over Dallas feels like such a long, meaningless time ago.

… Chicago had LeBron James on the ropes and it let him recover and deliver a game four dagger. I had the Cavs winning the series all along, but if they lose that game in overtime on Sunday, that would have been the dagger to their own season.

… Golden State is in trouble, especially when the MVP is doing stuff like this on the road…



… Like every man that has ever tried to sneak a lie past his wife, Tom Brady is going to learn that the cover-up is always worse than the crime. All signs point towards at least a four-game suspension for one of the game’s all-time greats, which means that Garrett Gilbert is one snap away from being the starting quarterback of the New England Patriots.

No. 8 – The most agonizing read from the weekend ...

Forgive me if it sounds like hyperbole, but this article from Kate Fagan on the suicide death of Penn student Madison Holleran isn’t just stop-you-in-your-tracks good, but if you’re a father of a teenage daughter (or son), it is a must.

Just be prepared for your soul to ache during the duration of the read.

It’s haunting.

No. 9 – Game of Thrones Season Five… Half Way Through

******* WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD ***********

******* WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD ***********

******* WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD ***********

******* LAST CHANCE TO TURN AWAY ***********

Before we get started this week, just a mini-complaint. As much as I’ve enjoyed this season, I’m surprised that we’re five episodes deep into the season and still haven’t really come across a jaw-dropping, must-talk-about scene on a Monday thus far.

Soon, right?

Grey Worm lived! Ser Barristan the Bold? Not so much. Oh man, Dany is beyond pissed. She’s now serving up the Sons of Harpy as lunch for her special needs dragons. The people of Meereen better hope Gray Worm makes it through with flying colors.

2. Ramsey is a total bastard. He’s replaced Joffrey as the No.1 dude on the show that must die in grotesque fashion. Theon has to achieve some measure of revenge along the way.

3. There aren’t a lot of logical deep thinkers in the Night’s Watch. It feels like Jon Snow is one of only a handful of working brains on the Wall.

4. Man, it feels like this season is on a slow boil, but when all hell breaks loose soon, madness will take over my screen.

5. Grey Worm and Missandei are officially an item.

6. Jorah is going to be pissed when he finds out that Dany is getting married… oh wait… he’s turning into stone!!!!

******* END OF SPOILERS ***********

******* END OF SPOILERS ***********

******* END OF SPOILERS ***********

No.10 - The List: TLC (Listen via Spotify)

Don’t judge the selection of music this week.

During the week of Mother’s Day, Momma Ketchum gets her selection of musical choices and if Momma Ketchum wants 90s R&B, she gets 90s R&B.

Therefore, let’s not waste any more time and get right to it.

Last five songs out: I Miss You So Much, Bad By Myself, Unpretty, Sumthin' Wicked This Way Comes and Crazysexycool Interlude

10. Kick Your Game

Get ready for a whole lot of material from the CrazySexyCool album. All these years later, it still stands out as one of the best

9. Let's Do It Again

If you've never heard the story behind Lefteye burning down Andre Rison's home ... well.. here ya go.



8. Diggin' on You

Of the three members of the group, I have to admit to being a card-carrying member of #TeamTBoz. In her prime that girl was bad.

tionne-t-boz-watkins.jpg


7. Baby-Baby-Baby

One of the jams that really got it started for the group.

6. Red Light Special

This song may or may not have been a part of one of my slow-jam mixtapes that were designed to help seduce women in the 90s.

5. What About Your Friends

Among those that worked with the group on its debut album were Babyface, L.A. Reid, Dallas Austin, De Funky Bunch, Jermaine Dupri and Marley Marl.

4. Aint 2 Proud 2 Beg

The song that set it off for the group and still one of my favorite videos from the 90s.

3. No Scrubs

The last great song the group ever made.

2. Warterfalls

A strong contender for the No. 1 spot, but if I can only hear one TLC song for the rest of my life, there's another that I'm going to choose.

1. Creep

The definition of crazy, sexy and cool. T-Boz never looked better than she did in those silk jammies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlZydtG3xqI

Archives List

Blues/Jazz: Eva Cassidy (Listen via Spotify ), John Coltrane (Listen via Spotify ), Janis Joplin (Listen via Spotify ), Norah Jones (Listen via Spotify), Leadbelly (Listen via Spotify), Amos Lee (Listen via Spotify),Toni Price (Listen via Spotify) and Stevie Ray Vaughan ( Listen via Spotify )

Classical: Johann Sebastian Bach ( Listen via Spotify) and Beethoven ( Listen via Spotify)

Country: Gary Allen (Listen via Spotify), Brooks and Dunn (Listen via Spotify), Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash(Listen via Spotify), Merle Haggard (Listen via Spotify), George Jones (Listen via Spotify), Robert Earl Keen (Listen via Spotify), Natalie Maines (Listen via Spotify), John Michael Montgomery (Listen via Spotify), Willie Nelson (Listen via Spotify), Reba (Listen via Spotify ), Kenny Rogers (Listen Via Spotify), Gary Stewart (Listen Via Spotify ), George Strait (Keith Whitley (Listen via Spotify), Hank Williams Sr. ( Listen via Spotify). ) and Dwight Yoakam ( Listen via Spotify )

Electronic: Daft Punk (Listen Via Spotify)

Funk: Chuck Brown, James Brown (Listen Via Spotify) , Kool and the Gang and Prince (Listen Via Spotify (Part I), Listen Via Spotify (Part II - After Hours)) and Red Hot Chili Peppers (Listen Via Spotify (Part I)

Metal: Metallica and Pantera (Listen Via Spotify)

Pop: Hall and Oates (Listen via Spotify), George Michael (Listen via Spotify), Billy Ocean ( Listen via Spotify ), Rihanna (Frank Sinatra ( Listen via Spotify )

Punk: The Clash (Listen via Spotify) and The Ramones (Listen via Spotify)

Random: Best of 2013 (Listen via Spotify), Best of 2014 (Listen via Spotify), Cartoon themes, One-hit Wonders from the 1990's (Listen via Spotify), TV Themes and 2-Pac (Listen via Spotify), 8-Ball and MJG, Beastie Boys (Listen via Spotify), Biggie Smalls (Listen via Spotify), Drake (Listen via Spotify), Eminem (Listen to Spotify), Ice Cube (Listen via Spotify), Jay-Z(Listen via Spotify), Kool Moe Dee (Listen to Spotify), Kendrick Lamar (Listen via Spotify), NWA (Listen to Spotify), Outkast (Listen via Spotify), RUN-DMC (Listen via Spotify), Scarface (Listen via Spotify), Snoop Dogg Listen via Spotify , A Tribe Called Quest (Listen via Spotify), UGK (Listen via Spotify), Kanye West (Listen via Spotify) and Wu-Tang Clan (Listen via Spotify)

R&B: Aliyah, Aretha (Listen via Spotify), Boyz II Men (Listen via Spotify), Ray Charles (Listen via Spotify),Sam Cooke (Listen via Spotify), Al Green (Listen via Spotify), Chaka Kahn (listen Via Spotify), Whitney Houston (Janet Jackson (Listen via Spotify),Jodeci (Listen via Spotify), Mo-Town (Listen via Spotify), R. Kelly (Listen via Spotify), Gerald Levert (Listen via Spotify), Otis Redding (Listen via Spotify), Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson (Listen via Spotify), Jackie Wilson (Listen via Spotify) and Bill Withers (Listen via Spotify)

Reggae: Bob Marley (Listen via Spotify)

Rock: AC/DC, Listen via Spotify), Arcade Fire (Listen via Spotify), Arctic Monkeys (Listen via Spotify), Beach Boys (Listen via Spotify), The Beatles, Bon Jovi (Listen via Spotify), David Bowie (Listen via Spotify), Jeff Buckley (Listen via Spotify), The Cars (Listen via Spotify), CCR (Listen via Spotify), Eric Clapton (Listen via Spotify), Dave Matthews Band (Listen via Spotify), Gary Clark Jr. (Listen via Spotify),Listen via Spotify), The Eagles, Joe Ely (Listen to Spotify), Genesis (Listen via Spotify), Guns N' RosesListen via Spotify), Heart (Listen via Spotify), Jimi Hendrix (Listen via Spotify), Billy Joel (Listen via Spotify), Elton John (Listen Via Spotify), Journey(Listen Via Spotify), Led Zeppelin, Little Feat(Listen Via Spotify), Stevie Nicks (Listen Via Spotify), Nirvana (Listen via Spotify), Roy Orbison (Listen via Spotify), Pearl Jam (Listen via Spotify), Tom Petty (Listen via Spotify), Pink Floyd, Elvis Pressley (Listen via Spotify), Queen (Listen via Spotify), Reckless Kelly (Listen via Spotify), Lou Reed ( Listen via Spotify ),The Rolling Stones (Listen via Spotify), Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen (Listen via Spotify), The Strokes(Listen via Spotify), U2 (Listen via Spotify), Van Halen ( Listen via Spotify ), Velvet Underground ( Listen via Spotify ), Jack White ( Listen via Spotify ) and ZZ Top ( Listen via Spotify )
 
Ketch,

Don't get giddy on the Cowboys until we see someone carry the rock. That's a huge hole.
 
The faux outrage by the Fowler thing is a bit humorous. What else would you call a golfer who before today was one of the most promoted golfers despite having just one tour win? Not sure he wasn't the male version of Anna Kournikova up until today.

Kudos to McComas. FWIW I don't see it anywhere near a leap of faith but rather LOOONG overdue.
 
The faux outrage by the Fowler thing is a bit humorous. What else would you call a golfer who before today was one of the most promoted golfers despite having just one tour win? Not sure he wasn't the male version of Anna Kournikova up until today.

Kudos to McComas. FWIW I don't see it anywhere near a leap of faith but rather LOOONG overdue.
I would suggest that the lack of interest from the majority of the subscriber base towards basketball has long played a huge part in that. We're taking a leap in hoping we can change that mentality if the program has success.
 
Good stuff. Did I miss any specialty for Anwar?
 
I read the Madison Holleran article - I have a 15 year old daughter and that scares the shit out of me. I know awareness is the intent but that is just flat out sad - a beautiful girl who left this world too soon.
 
Like every man that has ever tried to sneak a lie past his wife, Tom Brady is going to learn that the cover-up is always worse than the crime. All signs point towards at least a four-game suspension for one of the game’s all-time greats, which means that Garrett Gilbert is one snap away from being the starting quarterback of the New England Patriots.


I feel like I'm in some weird, bizarro alternate universe.

To quote the immortal Walter Sobchak, "has the whole world gone crazy?"
 
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Saying JGray is going to rush for 1200 yds is kind of like going all in on a blackjack hand after the dealer has kicked your ass 3 times in a row (I picked that number because he's a senior. Get it?:))

Look, I'm all about the positive mental attitude and the leadership that he brings to the team, but he hasn't even sniffed numbers like that since he's been here. He's also going to need holes to run through because there's no evidence to suggest that he can break tackles and achieve YAC without more than solid line play. It's not all his fault. Our line sucks and has since what seems like the beginning of time. Gray getting his will require a team effort. He's not good enough to get it by himself.
 
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Saying JGray is going to rush for 1200 yds is kind of like going all in on a blackjack hand after the dealer has kicked your ass 3 times in a row (I picked that number because he's a senior. Get it?:))

Look, I'm all about the positive mental attitude and the leadership that he brings to the team, but he hasn't even sniffed numbers like that since he's been here. He's also going to need holes to run through because there's no evidence to suggest that he can break tackles and achieve YAC without more than solid line play. It's not all his fault. Our line sucks and has since what seems like the beginning of time. Gray getting his will require a team effort. He's not good enough to get it by himself.
a. He's going to get a ton of touches.
b. He looked as good this spring as he has at any point in his career.
c. He's going to get a ton of touches.

I think he's the only thing Strong really believes in on that side of the ball.
 
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Come on Ketch. Alvarez beat a one note fighter and now you give him a chance against a bigger stronger more skilled fighter than himself. Personally, I hope neither has to leave their comfort zone just to make a big fight happen.
 
Come on Ketch. Alvarez beat a one note fighter and now you give him a chance against a bigger stronger more skilled fighter than himself. Personally, I hope neither has to leave their comfort zone just to make a big fight happen.
More-skilled?

Alvarez's roll-call of wins and opponents puts him into a little different air... a place that GGG can get with a win.
 
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