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PencilPusher

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  1. I haven't waded into the CDC discussion and obviously the football hiring circus was just that-a circus (which is why we are even entertaining this discussion), but given that the AD at Texas (and most places) is effectively the CEO of the athletic department, I'd evaluate him on managing 2 areas, the front of the house (product) and the back of the house (administration). Primary goals as follows: For athletics administration, the goals are simple. Keep the money train humming and keep the department well in the black, raise capital for big projects as needed, don't add too much bloat-in fact get rid of it as needed, and don't fuck up the small stuff that annoys boosters and other stakeholders. Administration should help, not hurt your cause. Think for the most part, CDC is checking the boxes here though I suspect there are still a lot of things that could be done to improve. For the end product, the goals should be as follows: The absolute floor for performance should be to have the best program in the entire state for each and every sport we participate in. We're the best public university in the state bar none and should have all aspects of the University follow suit. That doesn't mean the best team every year but if someone says..who is the best women's soccer program in the state, the immediate answer should be Texas without anyone having to think about it. If we ain't there, we got a problem and the AD should be on the path to fix it. Win conference championships about 50% of the time. Especially in the conference we are in, this shouldn't be a difficult goal to achieve. Again, take care of step 1 above, Step 2 is a little easier to accomplish. Be in the hunt/discussion for national championships frequently. We should never miss a championship tournament in the sports that play them, at or near the top of the leaderboard in sports like swimming and track, and should always be in or around the discussion of the CFP annually. CDC's grade here is an "incomplete" so far, but given that we've turned over most of the "problem" areas over the last 3 years, we should have a good answer in the next few years. Early returns in things like softball and women's basketball are promising, but initial success does not a program make. That's how I'll evaluate CDC. Overall, I think things are going the right way, but we need to get FB and MBB back in the right direction-those clearly atrophied during the chaotic transition from Powers/Dodds to Hartzell/CDC which casts a pall on everything else.
  2. One of my Christmas presents in 1983 were tickets to the 1984 Tx/Ga Cotton Bowl. Never been so excited to get tickets to any sporting event. Great seats too...30 yard line ish...which were right in front of where Craig Curry dropped the infamous punt. Had to have a perfect view of that. After the Nebraska loss, it hurt even more because Texas would have won the National Championship that year. Of course 13 year old me didn't realize that it would be 2 decades before we would be back in position to get a crack at a national title. There have been multiple other disappointments since then, but for a young me, that was the most stunning.
  3. Had 2nd row center seats to a Van Hagar show at the FEC in the early 90's....can't remember which tour. The assholes behind us from the time the lights went down until the end of the encore could not stop shouting. "You're a God Eddie!"..."Eddie you're a God"..."You Rock Eddie"...ad nauseum. Can't really say this was assholish because the guy that did this was blitzed out of his mind, but was at a Widespread Panic show in NO in 1997 at UNO Lakefront Arena...Halloween weekend-Galactic opened. Of course the crowd was tailgating plenty before the show and we were all in costume given it was Halloween weekend. Group behind us piles in after the Galactic opener and the disheveled chunky guy at the end of the row slumps down in his chair and passes out. Sometime during the middle of Widespread's set, the specific song that was playing brought this guy back to life...so much so that he suddenly rises from his chair, turns around, unzips his pants, and begins to piss on his seat. He proceeds to zip up, turn back around, and recollapse back on his chair, oblivious to the sudden panic of our ladyfriends scrambling to avoid the wide and deep yellow river now moving swiftly down the rows of the UNO arena. When the show ended, the guy was still passed out despite the entire auditorium leaving around him and for all I know, he's still there today waiting for the right song to move him to begin relieving himself yet again.
  4. It's rare that I get a chance to OD on a lot of NFL football on any given Sunday, but given it was week one and there isn't much else going on, it was a glorious day in that regard. Some off the cuff observations: The quality of play was better than expected given no preseason. So let the discussion begin on what to do with preseason. I say kill preseason, add the 17th game (which is the equivalent of what most starters play in the preseason anyway), expand the practice squad rosters (to make up for the development "lost" in preseason games) and lets move on. Could start the season 2 weeks earlier and add an extra bye week for everyone. The lack of fans made the atmosphere at the game feel like the Motor City Bowl between the MAC and C-USA (except in Los Angeles where that is par for the course). Fans will hopefully be allowed in at some level in most places later in the year, but there was a level of intensity missing at GB/MIN and TB/NO that would have made those games more entertaining. There is <20% chance (barring injuries) that the AFC representative in the Super Bowl is not Kansas City or Baltimore. Dear Progressive Insurance...please stop spending my premium dollars on commercials involving a scrub quarterback representing a shitty franchise. The AFC South is easily the worst division in the NFL and that's without seeing Tenn play (but they are a 9-7 caliber team that had to sign Ryan Tannehill to an extension). If Jax is tanking for Trevor, that is not how it is done which also probably says something about Indy. No need to discuss the Texans, a team that over a 6 quarter stretch was outscored by KC 82-14. Dear Progressive Insurance...if you are going to spend my premium dollars on commercials involving a scrub quarterback representing a shitty franchise, Gardner Minshew II should be your guy...fun QB and isn't a raging douchebag like your current spokesperson. Cam will be OK in New England, but New England's days of dominance are over for a while. They feel like 10-6 and a 2nd round exit in KC or Balt. Keep an eye on Buffalo in that division. If you told me Josh Allen would be the 2nd best QB in the 2018 draft, I would have laughed at you, yet Buffalo looks like they could unseat NE in the AFC East this year. The NFC will be a bloodbath this year. 3 of the 4 divisions look like they will be dogfights with the exception being the NFC (L)East division. Here's why I hate masks. How are we absolutely sure that it wasn't Jason Garrett coaching the Cowboys last night. It looked the same to me. I think Cowboys fans are stuck in some weird Christopher Nolan time shifting movie or something because the faces on the sideline changed, but the results were the same. Dallas should make the playoffs given the division they are in, but I didn't see the same quality as some of the other teams right now so the drought looks to continue in Dallas San Francisco will be the latest victim of the Super Bowl loser hangover. I get that Arizona is improved and Nuk Hopkins kept doing his thing for a new team, but that was the type of game SF won a lot of last year. The Niners have 8-8 and missing the playoffs written all over them. Give me 6 games before I can tell you if Tampa's bid to go all in this year has legs. Tough spot to open at NO and draw any long-term conclusions about whether this team is legit or not, but if they are 2-4 heading to Las Vegas to play the Raiders, we will know. Schedule is manageable with the toughest game over the next 5 weeks appearing to be a visit from Green Bay in week 6. Definitely one of the most interesting story lines to watch. Can't decide if the best QB performance of the day was Russell Wilson's gem or Aaron Rodgers gem but they both were sublime. However, in my wife's ladies FF league, Matt Ryan outpointed both of them because of a bizzaro rule that passing yards points double when you hit 300 yards and Ryan had over 450 yards. This is the same league that a few years back saw defenses as leading scorers most weeks because of bizarre double counting rules for defensive touchdowns and turnovers. The league champ had the Jacksonville defense of a few years ago that had something like 12 defensive touchdowns...it was obscene Speaking of obscene, the all ladies fantasy leagues that are in our neighborhood have some of the nastiest team names of any leagues I have seen, many involving current/past players. Putting faces/names to the nasty team names is always interesting, but I also would love to ask the husband of the team owner of "Kamara in my Face" if he actually gets to Kamara in his wife's face... Monday night Football Doubleheader tonight - I'll take "What are 4 teams that have no shot at the Super Bowl, Alex" or "What are 3 legendary franchises and Tennessee, Alex"
  5. Think I know where she stole the idea from....
  6. AND STOP PLAYING WITH YOURSELF! It is God...
  7. The good news is that Summer Creek HS has a UT friendly admin and coaching staff (unlike Atascosita as everyone knows). In fact, SCHS has a "house" system named after Universities - the houses are Stanford, Texas Tech, LSU, Prarie View A&M, UT, and Yale. One big state school glaringly absent... If Banks does go to College Station, it won't be from undue pressure from folks at SCHS to go there.
  8. Can see a coronavirus episode where this character goes around looking for TP...
  9. My bitch better have my money. Through rain, sleet or snow. My whore better have my money, not half, not some, but all my cash. 'Cause if she don't, I'm gonna put my foot in her ass. -Fly Guy, Pimp of the Year circa 1970-something.
  10. I met Little Richard once in an elevator in an LA hotel in the late 1990s. Was in town for business and had gone with some co-workers to Lakers/Rockets the night before and then out to some bars afterwards. Was riding down the elevator in a quest for some sort of hangover cure when the elevator stopped at the floor beneath mine and Little Richard and his posse get on. Little Richard immediately turns to me and goes. "Where you from young man". I told him "Houston". His face lights up and he goes "Houston! I just love Houston....I got my start in Houston way back in the 50s." (which I later read was true-he spent time in Houston very early in his career) He grabs my hand and goes. "You tell all my friends in Houston that Little Richard sends his love!". Then he proceeds to tell his posse to give me some of their religious materials (the same yellow colored religious materials referenced in the post above). As he walks off he says "God bless you young man". Although it was a 30 sec encounter, he was as nice and flamboyant in real life as he was on stage. RIP Little Richard. As everyone has said, much of the music I grew up listening to was influenced by him. I believe the 2 greatest muscial influences from the 50s were Elvis and Little Richard - wish I could have seen Little Richard perform in his prime. A Whop bop b-luma b-lop bam boom!
  11. Frank: "George, we've had it with you. Understand? We love you like a son, but even parents have limits." Estelle: "The breakups, the firings. And every Sunday with the calls." Frank: "What my wife is trying to say is that this is supposed to be our time." George: "I'm not following." Frank: "We're cuttin' you lose." George: "You're cuttin' me loose?" Frank: "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make love to your mother."
  12. Million to one shot doc...Million to one.
  13. I SENT SIXTEEN OF MY OWN MEN TO THE LATRINES THAT NIGHT! They were just boys...
  14. Ricky, we've been getting a tremendous response to your TR-6 mannequin. TR-6? I prefer to think of her as... Elaine. RIP Sam...
  15. There I was on the steps of the 42nd St. library, a grown man, getting a wedgie. At least it wasn't atomic. It was.
  16. Jerry, it's three-thirty in the morning. I'm at a cockfight. What am I clinging to?
  17. WE WILL ANNEX POLAND BY THE SPRING AT ALL COSTS AND OUR STOCK WILL RISE HIGH!
  18. I'll tell you what's going on..."JIMBO FISHER HAS BEEN STEALING FUNDS FROM THE TREASURY!!"
  19. I mean...who isn't a fan of some of their early British invasion work...still waiting on Jazz Odyssey to drop though
  20. In fact, OU has not developed a good to great college QB they've recruited out of HS since Sam Bradford. They've been the beneficiary of transfers the last 5 years that have worked out fantastically. That is an incredible run that is probably a statistical anomaly and 2 of those guys transferred when Stoops was still HC. Even if Riley knows Rattler is a headcase, he has to play the long game here otherwise he will never be able to sign top QB's in the future.
  21. Wanted to check OU's schedule because I am not sure I would intially buy that they lose 3-4 games this year. I think they should be 4-0 going into Dallas as they don't have a particularly daunting non-con and yet again the conference sets them up with a nice home game before Dallas (unlike us). The last 1/3 of their schedule should also be easy as they play 3 of the expected conference dregs plus a revenge game at home against K-State. They probably win all 4 of these (though they will likely get a scare in Lubbock as they always do). So it comes down to the middle portion of the schedule in bold below. That is a tough stretch and it is conceivable they go no better than 2-2 in that stretch. So I think it is possible that they lose more than 2 this year but I am not sure I'll believe it until it happens. Texas should be one of their losses and it wouldn't surprise me if they got popped in Ames the week after. They'll still figure out a way to beat OSU though... Sep 5 (Sat) TBA Home Missouri State Norman Sep 12 (Sat) TBA Home Tennessee Norman Sep 26 (Sat) TBA Away Army West Point, N.Y. Oct 3 (Sat) TBA Home Baylor Norman Oct 10 (Sat) TBA Neutral Texas Dallas, Texas Oct 17 (Sat) TBA Away Iowa State Ames, Iowa Oct 24 (Sat) TBA Home Oklahoma State Norman Oct 31 (Sat) TBA Away TCU Fort Worth, Texas Nov 7 (Sat) TBA Away West Virginia Morgantown, W.V. Nov 14 (Sat) TBA Home Kansas State Norman Nov 21 (Sat) TBA Home Kansas Norman Nov 28 (Sat) TBA Away Texas Tech Lubbock, Texas One other interesting thing I noticed just perusing...anyone care to take a case at which OU game is showing the highest current ticket resale value after the Texas game?
  22. Welp...you saved me from writing something similar in the 2020 offseason thread so have some rep thrown your way...
  23. Listening to the comments from the townhall, reading some of the weekly missives, and talking with a few folks I know, I sense exasperation coming from CDC. Maybe not rip up a copy of the SOTU address exasperation, but exasperation nonetheless. Flash back 13 months after winning the Sugar Bowl, CDC had just completed his first year and everything appeared to be going the way it should. The balance of 2019 however was a disaster, some might say of epic proportions. The biggest men's athletic programs are underachieving and you could argue some of the women's (basketball anyone?). Meanwhile, the state's other P5 programs (except aggy of course) is achieving heights they haven't ever seen. Tech getting to the NCAA championship game (which Texas has never done) and to the CWS in the same season. Baylor currently being ranked #1 in both mens and women's basketball off of a NYE6 bowl appearance in football. You get the picture. CDC is hearing it from all ends and quite frankly is potentially staring at having to replace all of the major men's sports head coaches during calendar 2020. At the end of year 2, the job wasn't as fun as it was after year 1 and comments like "Goliath" perhaps show some of the cracks in the dam. CDC has done a lot to clean up the back of the house so to speak. If you don't think the gameday experience has improved from what it was 5 or more years ago, you haven't been paying attention. Fundraising for projects is getting done and CDC managed to backbench Plonsky and some of the other "cancers" in the department. However, the front of the house can't be shit or no one cares about all of the back of the house improvements. CDC is finding that, although it isn't a mess of his own making, there is a lot more clean up to be done than what he expected. How that gets done will be of great interest to all of us, but even if he butchers the clean up (i.e. hiring the wrong replacements on the first go around), he'll probably get a longer rope. Deloss did and eventually he had things humming during the "aughts", though the bridge from Akers to Mack in football was painful. Unlike Herman, CDC has a lot more support amongst the important people which is why he'll be given the benefit of the doubt. And just because......F Steve Patterson. Can't the University revoke his degree or something?
  24. This guy certainly is in the discussion...
  25. If anyone wondered what kind of owner Cal McNair is going to turn out to be...here's your sign. As expected, this move is being savaged (and rightly so) by the media and fanbase, though the fans will keep showing up to the games like lemmings anyway. Would the vitriol be as high if Bob McNair were still alive? Bob may have not been the greatest owner, but he was a great Houstonian, business leader, and philanthropist. Cal is none of those things at this point other than a member of the lucky sperm club. As such, he isn't going to engender any benefit of the doubt on moves like this, nor should he. We aren't in Dan Snyder or Jimmy Haslam territory...yet...but certainly seems like we are in Bud Adams or John McMullen territory (to recall "great" 🙄 Houston sports owners of yesteryear)
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