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closetojumping

Burnt Ends
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Posts posted by closetojumping

  1. 5 minutes ago, txhorns said:

    They aren't going to fire a ton of people in one movement.  That would create chaos in the athletic department.  They will continue to fire 10-15 people at a time until they get to where Del Conte thinks they need to be.  

    Take this FWIW, and I think I wrote about it earlier in this thread, but the headcount shave will ultimately happen in 3 ways, and they'll wind up with more like 200-250 people as a result. Some layoffs, as seen. Some unreplaced attrition, also currently happening. Finally, whichever group wins the bid for the new basketball venue will be taking on the employment of some 125+ current AD staff members associated with the management of the Erwin Center. 

  2. 17 minutes ago, utee94 said:

    Playing USC sounds fun.  Maybe Stanford, too.  Playing Oregon State, Washington State, Berkeley, Arizona, Colorado, or Utah sounds boring AF to me. I'm indifferent to UCLA or ASU. 

    Playing Michigan and Ohio State sounds fun.  Playing Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota, Rutgers, Maryland, or Iowa sounds boring AF to me.  I'm indifferent to Wisconsin and Nebraska, and won't even talk about Pedo State.  

    So as "boring" as the B12 is, neither the PAC nor the B1G excite me any more than that.

    Even a hypothetical move to the SEC West alongside OU potentially results in a move by Alabama and Auburn to the eastern division, so your annual divisional opponents are OU, Arkansas, A&M, LSU, Ole Miss, and Miss State.  With only an occasional game against Alabama, Florida, Georgia, or Tennessee, that are offset by crap games against Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and South Carolina.  So the only real positive there is being reunited with historical rivals Arkansas and A&M, and the majority of surly posters openly declare they never want to play A&M again so there's not much gain there, either.

    Now if we form the Prestige Worldwide Conference-- then we'd be in business.

     

     

    13 minutes ago, formermav43 said:

    If the prospect of playing Indiana, Purdue, and Illinois excites you more than Oklahoma State, K State, and TCU, the problem is with you, not the conference.

    Subjective bullshit thrown out there as though there's some sense of propriety in the positions. I'd much rather play and travel to Oregon State, Cal, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado than the middling schools in the northern part of our conference. You don't prefer that? Great. My view is unchanged. And the premise that playing and traveling to UCLA and ASU cause indifference is sadly comical, but it's your life, utee94.

    Regarding the carve outs you just highlighted, formermav43, I realize you see yourself as quite clever, but I was typing about the macro state of joining a conference, not picking micro-issues with one. Any conference will have some shit opponents. Most won't have majority of shit opponents on the schedule. But hey man, you keep digging Kansas State and the cockroaches if that gets you wet. I'll take a pass, as will most folks if given the option.

  3. 18 minutes ago, Machinator said:

    IT

    DB Lewis Cine, Trinity Christian (Cedar Hill, TX): UP. The staff is recruiting the cover safety like a priority and things are looking pretty promising as of now. One thing I don't have any clue about is if Deion Sanders has any influence and if so, how much and does it affect Texas negatively or positively?

    All accounts have Sanders being neutral with his players. He wants them to go somewhere in which they'll be treated right by the staff and get an opportunity to play. Who knows, though?

  4. 10 hours ago, BornOrange said:

     

    I found this info at https://salaries.texastribune.org/university-of-texas-at-austin/departments/intercollegiate-athletics/positions/

    It is from July 2017, when Perrin was still AD.

    Here are some of the positions and their median salaries.

    • 23 Assistant AD's - $100, 742
    • 12 Associate AD's - $144, 969 
    • 4 Executive Senior Associate AD's - $242, 899
    • 3 Senior Associate AD's - $164, 932
    • 2 Athletic Directors - $695, 417
    • 1 Chief of Staff - $156, 080

    Forgive me if this is in the link I did not click on, but I am assuming the salaries are just the salaries, correct? Bonuses, burden, and other forms of compensation turn these numbers from $7million to probably somewhere in the $10million range. Almost none of these people should be employed within the AD if they're doing it right, and that $7-$8million in savings by cutting 3/4s of this clown show could go towards improvements at various facilities or within various programs who could use the $$ for improving off-field coaching help or nutritionists or academic support, etc. It's a stunning display for bureaucratic bloat. 

    • Like 2
  5. 14 minutes ago, UT Lawnghorn said:

    I agree the Big 12 sucks and we should leave in 2022, but I also don't really care that it sucks because I don't think it affects Texas much. If we quit sucking, we'll get plenty of national attention. If we win the Big 12 with 1 loss, we'll be in the playoff and not be dinged because we're in a bad conference. Honestly, if we were good, we could take advantage of the remaining years we have left by having an easy path to the playoff, just like OU did last year, and it could be a short-term advantage. 

    Also, to address the more general discussion, I don't view the conference as good or bad based on the quality of teams nearly as much as how the Big 12 conference itself does influencing perception and planning for the future.  They're god awful at it. No championship game, getting caught flat footed when teams leave, they basically fucked the Big 12 out of a playoff spot the year TCU and Baylor tied for the conference title by refusing to pick a winner all in the same season where the conference mantra was "one true champion."  The Big 12 conference's lack of foresight, organization, or ability to positively influence national perception is why it sucks, not the quality of football teams. Arguing the merit of football teams in each conference is fairly silly considering they play each other for 2/3 of the year. Overall, the Big 12 has put out a lot of quality football teams, but the one spot where the individual schools hurt the Big 12 is the lack of number of prestigious programs that bring in a lot of money and have a large fan base.

     

    My thinking on the Big 12 isn't very strategic, at this stage, and it's not going to get any better for the next few years. I agree that Texas will get its due when it deserves it by performing on the field. I also think the money is fine.

    That all considered, I'm just flatly bored with the conference. Iowa State, Kansas State, TCU, Oklahoma State, and Baylor do nothing for me. I enjoy playing Tech, OU, and KU every year. West Virginia too, for that matter. I'd like variation in the conference schedule and then I'd be less bored with those other teams. So if the Big 12 went and added ASU and Arizona, I'd be all for it. I'd feel less apathetic about the conference. If they added Cincinnati and UH, I'd puke. So if they ever added anyone, I'd like it to be meaningful adds. Of course, I don't see any of that happening, so just get me out of here in whatever manifestation that takes on as the GoR timeline heads towards an end. 

    Some day, I'd like to be in the B1G somehow. It makes the most sense when the Big 12 breaks up, but whatever. 

    • Like 1
  6. On 4/11/2018 at 3:36 PM, ChiTownDoc said:

    This thread is kind of Aggy.  What really completes it is the 'his uncle was a Longhorn legend'.  Aggy always has some relationship to some other relationship which will lead to good fortune for Aggy.   Only it never seems to work out.   But those fuckers should rename themselves NextTime A&M.  You guys are better than that. 

    Murray is a midget AND a Sooner.  A Sooner who practiced cock gobbling skills in SheepFucker Station.  How could he suck more?  You should have left it at that. 

     

     

    On 5/9/2018 at 4:17 PM, ChiTownDoc said:

    He's sucking shit through a straw right now in baseball.  Highly doubt he goes MLB unless two things happen: he gets back on track in bases and he looks like shit as fall football practice kicks in.  I don't think he's another Baker Mayfield but I also don't think he will suck.  OU's system has made plenty of mediocre QB's look competent. 

     

    On 5/9/2018 at 4:38 PM, ChiTownDoc said:

    Well after that post I think you’ve clearly put more thought into the whole thing, at least when compared to me.  I threw in my 2 cents.  Had no idea I was dealing with an expert.  My bad.  

     

    On 5/9/2018 at 4:29 PM, closetojumping said:

    I don't know how closely you follow baseball talent acquisition, if any, but a small streak in favor or against a player is irrelevant to the teams drafting at this stage. He was coveted out of high school (pedigree matters with baseball front offices and the reasons for it would deserve their own thread), he played well in the Cape Cod league last summer, and until the past two weeks was having a fabulous season as a potential 5 tool player for a major college program. They're going to draft off of all of that, plus the facts that he's putting out word that he'd sign and not play in the fall as well the belief that he's still really raw and has a lot of room to develop. 

    Think what you want though, we can check back after the draft. Did you ever think maybe I'm in better tune with the player side of things than you are on the OU side of things for this one? 

    I promised to circle back after the draft. We’ve now circled. 

    • Like 5
    • Haha 1
  7. 39 minutes ago, Machinator said:

    They're insisting that he'll play football this fall before bouncing. Time will tell.

     

    34 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

    MLB Network is apparently reporting that Murray plans to play football this fall and then join the A’s.

     

    32 minutes ago, JOSEYWALES66 said:

    All of the commentary from the people covering the draft seems to think he will play FB for one more year. 

     

    28 minutes ago, Machinator said:

     

     

    As I referenced earlier in this thread, Kyler Murray’s uncle works directly for and with Scott Boras. Kyler Murray is working with his crew to execute a strategy for maximum returns to the family. They’ll play it to the bone that he’s going to play football before signing and heading to A ball. There is what is being said to the media and the public and then there is what is happening. I’m telling you what’s happening. 

    Also, hahahahahahahahahaha!!! The ol’long range kill shot on this one. 

    • Like 6
  8. I clicked on this thread to see what the hell was going on and, holy shit, a sooner appears to be the poster with whom I agree with most closely. You other guys are defending the Big 12 as a conference? The Iowa State guys and Okie State guy, I get, sure, because they're proper fucked when the Big 12 ceases to exist. But Longhorns defending the Big 12? Come the fuck on. This conference sucks and I cannot wait to leave it. I can't wait until 2022 when it starts to become real that we're heading somewhere else, anywhere else. 

    • Like 4
  9. 1 hour ago, Machinator said:

    IT

     

      Hide contents

     

    On Malik Hornsby....The 2020 signal-caller from Austin High in Houston will make it back to the 40 Acres for the first time since his offer. He's set to perform at UT's summer camp on Tuesday and tells me he's excited to get back to the state's capitol. The staff will get the opportunity to see him throw in their settings. As for the Hudson Card commitment, it doesn't seem to phase Hornsby in the least. Like we've mentioned here, he's a Longhorn fan with connections to the staff - his HS coach also coached Bryan Carrington, Texas' Director of Recruiting. This is trending exactly like it should.

    SATELLITE/SUMMER CAMPS

    Camp season offers us a look into the coach's evaluations. Texas goes full throttle at these events. It's a joy watching Herb Hand teach technique to young offensive linemen, and Oscar Giles does a great job with d-linemen, demanding proper foot placement, use of hands, and angles to take collapsing gaps or the edge. It's also an example of how active these coaches are during camp season. Check out the schedule:

    June 1st - St. Louis (MO)
    June 2nd - Marshall (TX)
    June 3rd - Dallas (TX)
    June 5th - Austin (TX) (on campus)
    June 7th - Houston (TX)
    June 7th - San Marcos (TX)
    June 8th - Los Angeles (CA)
    June 9th - Houston (TX)
    June 9th - Commerce (TX) (A&M @ Commerce, 42 schools including Alabama)
    June 10th - Austin (TX)
    June 10th - Los Angeles (CA)

    That's a lot of prospects to evaluate. There were over 700 at ETBU in Marshall on Saturday. After a pair of Texas-attended satellite camps last weekend, here's who caught UT's attention.

    JJ Sparkman, Longview Pine Tree - WR (2020): It took a little while, but after Saturday, Sparkman is no longer a secret. After his performance at the ETCA Combine two weeks ago, Iowa State was the first offer for the 6-foot-4, 175-pound pass-catcher. After Saturday's event, Arkansas extended an offer as well. He'll net 25+ offers over the next 18 months based off pure talent and size. He's got elite body control, who is also an All-ETX basketball player. I coached JJ's uncle over 15 years ago, so height and athleticism run in the family. Texas liked what they watched at ETBU. He's already been on the 40 Acres once. I'd bet he'll return soon.

    Savion Williams, Marshall - WR (2020): While the C/O 2019 might be down in East Texas, the 2020 class will return the region to glory. Williams is one reason why. At 6-foot-5, he's got a special set of skills only Liam Neeson could relate to. Marshall HC Claude Mathis, who lauds the Texas staff for its efforts in the region, told me Savion could be the best WR he's ever coached. That's high praise from a veteran in the TX HS football ranks. He already holds offers from Bowling Green, Southern Miss, and Texas State, and an Arkansas offer could happen any minute now. During 1-on-1s, he didn't disappoint. His speed, agility, and ability to high point the football was borderline unfair to the campers on Saturday. Best part; Texas now knows him.

    Jacarrion Green, Marshall - QB (2020): Known as 'JJ' to his family and teammates, Green is the top dual-threat in the area and one to watch in-state for 2020. Ole Miss, Nebraska, and Texas State have already offered the 6-foot-2, 170-pound quarterback. He accounted for over 2500+ total yards and 24 TDs in his first season on the varsity. Even though UT has its sights set on Hudson Card and Malik Hornsby, Green is one to watch. TCU, Arkansas, Texas Tech, and LSU have been in contact.

    Herbert Gums, Diboll - RB/DL (2020): At 6-foot-2, 245, the big man from the piney woods came to camp to play running back, but his future is on the defensive line, per sources close to the Texas staff. He's got some Henry Melton, Lamaar Houston, Chris Whaley to his game; ball-carriers who moved to the d-line to maximize their potential. He doesn't have the lateral quickness for linebacker, but is as strong as a bull, so you put 40-50 pounds on him and teach him the 3-tech. He's really under the radar, offer wise, only holding Houston and SFA invitations. He's set to attend a dozen camps this summer for some much-needed exposure. Texas is keeping its eyes on him.

    Kelvontay Dixon, Carthage - DB (2020): The little brother of Texas RB Keaontay Ingram, Dixon is already taller and faster. That's probably why he's destined for CB or safety. He ran a 4.5 (40) and 4.1 (shuttle) on Saturday, so the talent gene didn't skip him in an athletic household. Texas and TCU recruit him the hardest, but after Saturday, that offer list will only increase. He's set to attend one of UT's on-campus camps this month. I'd like to see more of him at corner, because he looks similar to another ETX DB from the C/O 2015, Texas' Kris Boyd. He's got some of that dog too.

    Myles Price, The Colony - WR (2020): Almost the entire Texas staff was in Dallas last night for the SMU camp. Besides obvious take, Dylan Wright, a few guys stood out. Price is one of them. At 5-foot-9, 160 pounds, Price ran a 4.38 (40) and 4.09 (shuttle) at TCU's mini-camp last week. So they offered. Price caught the attention of the Texas staff as well, as he looks to be an ideal slot receiver. With times like that, it's only a matter of time before more schools come calling.

    Elijah Yelverton, Bishop Dunne - TE (2020): The guy that really caught the Texas staff's attention was the Bishop Dunne tight end product. While the tape won't blow you away, the potential might. The Bishop Dunne pipeline to Texas has never really formulated yet, but the junior tight end could change that.

    At 6-foot-5, 225-pounds, he holds over a dozen offers, and after his SMU Satellite Camp performance, he might get a Texas invitation. They noticed.

    “It was great, got some good work in," said Yelverton. "And it was good to finally talk to the coaches in person especially coach Herman. I don’t know much (about Texas) but we’re definitely keeping in touch.”

    Any schools stand out this early?

    “It’s too early to pick out favorites, but a Texas offer would be amazing," Yelverton said. "It would really mean a lot and I’d definitely be excited. We’ve already checked out Texas A&M, Arkansas, Iowa, and Oklahoma State. Seeing Austin would be great."

    He definitely caught the staff's attention.

     

    So Claude Mathis is at Marshall now? Fuck that guy.

  10. 1 hour ago, Machinator said:

    Of interest: the DB coach at Houston Lamar (the school that just gave us Anthony Cook, D'Shawn Jamison, and Al'Vonte Woodard) just moved to North Shore, the school of Zach Evans.

    That is ... great news. 

  11. 3 minutes ago, C-Man said:

    I think we're arguing two different points -- hey it's Surly and all, it's what we do! -- but I get what you're saying. Buyers aren't all buying electricity on price. But they probably should be because what I'm saying -- and I think tokamak is saying -- is that there's no reason to not treat electricity in deregulated areas of the state as anything other than let me choose the plan that charges me the least. Everything is select-grade steak, there is no Wagyu, Prime or Choice.

    I was with Breeze for 4 or so years because a buddy was a co-owner, the rates were good and there was no BS behind-the-scenes charges. I could care less if he was paying Energy Ogre for referrals -- I wasn't using that service. Sad that it's gone because I liked it and I didn't have to continually shop knowing I was being treated fairly. 

    The reality is that electricity is a service. Calling it a commodity might work in certain context, but you're getting a service. The service isn't just the charge of power into the home. It's the billing, the problem resolution, the heaps of data that can be derived from the power into your home if you have a smart meter and/or smart devices. It's the mobile app, the partnership offers the provider brings, the long term contracts or short term price arbs you can select into, etc. That service occurs at a much higher level in the competitive space than the competition. It's no different in that respect than getting your haircut. You can go into Supercuts and get one kind of service, and you can go into a place like The Board Room and get a totally different experience. You're getting your haircut either way. Same as your steak premise. Given that you cannot source the "commodity" yourself, no, it's not just a commodity and never has been.

    On a separate note, it's simply not actually a commodity. You can easily store all other commodities. Power is basically use it or lose it until battery tech comes within light years of the hype, which isn't right now. Also, there's not another commodity in the world than have a 15 minute price spike from $30 to $9000 and that happens with electricity. You won't ever see that in gas, gold, oil, coffee, you name it. I contend electricity isn't and never had been a commodity and offers its own complexities to consumers accordingly, but it's a tangent in this discussion.

  12. 4 minutes ago, Bernard said:

    I'm curious about that too, Close.

    To date, OE has signed me up with: Pennywise Power (still in business); Star Tex Energy (sold to Constellation); Reliant (still in business); Breeze (lasted through my contract, but now gone); and Our Energy (jury is still out). I guess another benefit of OE that I hadn't even considered was the fact they they'll automatically switch me to a new REP if mine goes BK.

    Maybe the Breeze founder can chime in again about what happened to them. Did the very recent switch of me (and who knows how many other OE customers) to Our Energy put them out of business?

    Bernard

    Pennywise is and always has been owned directly by NRG, who also owns Reliant. Almost no failure risk on that one. The real risks have come as the guys with nothing else to offer have used price as their sole sales technique and Energy Ogre has chosen to carry those offers. Like I said, there's more to any buying decision than just price, even if the buyer doesn't always understand that.

    What happened to Breeze is that they weren't hedged properly and had a margin call from ERCOT to cover a gap in the exposure they had to the power pool and they couldn't make the margin call. ERCOT then collapsed on their business and they're moving the book to POLR. I'm fairly certain we'll see this again later this summer if the heat wave being forecasted comes to fruition. 

    I'm guessing Breeze Aggie has some bigger problems they're working on right now. I don't envy those cats at Breeze one bit right now.

  13. To be clear, fly by nights like "Our Energy" aren't going to change the risk. You want to be with a REP that is funded or mature or both. These guys out there hanging by a thread are in deep shit this summer, due to the weather forecast, generation scarcity, and the real time price blowout this past weekend driving up near term pricing to mitigate unhedged load. 

    This is where playing only on price fucks you guys making decisions solely on that basis. The lowest price is inevitably going to be the guy with nothing else to offer as a differentiator, so they're going to be almost always unknown and largely untested or clueless. You pay a premium for brands with everything you buy, and for good reason. 

    I'm going to come back here later this summer for grins and see how "Our Energy" fares and whoever Bernard picks for his mother.

  14. 1 minute ago, BigBenBamboozle said:

    @closetojumping, is Green possible with a bad aggy season + a good/great UT season + whatever extra incentive?  Or would that scenario still be steep sledding? 

    My view is that the results on the field will not matter with the recruitment of Kenyon Green. I'm wrong a lot, so don't view that as some sort of gospel. Hell, I've had hope on Green during this cycle. Well, new shit can always come to light and I recently heard one of the more absurd and hilarious things I've ever heard in recruiting and it's colored the recruiting of Green for me. I can't put it out there so I apologize, but from my end, I just, well, don't see Green as ending up anywhere but in the SEC and almost certainly ATM.

  15. 13 minutes ago, C-Man said:

    Yes, but most of what you have listed as commodities come in varying qualities. Or are you going to argue that Select beef is just as good as Prime or Wagyu?

    Electricity in Texas is going to be the same regardless of the name on your statement. You can have fully renewable and things like that but the actual source that is keeping the lights on so to speak, is the exact same. No reason to pay Cadillac prices for electricity in Texas -- unless you want to. Or am I missing something?

    Yes, you're missing the part where I've accounted for all of the other reasons of why people buy power other than the lowest price. This is a pretty straightforward process. Either you believe that all buyers in the market are buying the lowest priced provider because they only care about that as "it's just a commodity", or you acknowledge that millions of customers have bought for reasons other than price, examples of which I've already enumerated. If you can't acknowledge or understand the latter, then there's not a starting point for us to have any kind of reasoned discussion. It's the equivalent of putting your fingers in your ears and shouting "la-la-la-la-la" while an adult tries to show walk you through additional sets of data counter to your own thinking. 

    Also, I was thinking you were a journalist or something from posts of years gone by. Is that incorrect? Are you actually something like an engineer, actuary, accountant, etc? See above in my response to tokamak. If you're only going to choose to see the world through your buying lens, you're of course going to never understand that others behave differently, largely because it impedes upon your buttoned up worldview. 

  16. 34 minutes ago, tokamak said:

    Out of curiousity, what else would someone buy electricity on other than price? It's literally a commodity. If I ever have any problem, I call Centerpoint, not my REP. The entire extent of my involvement with the REP is they email me a bill every month, I glance at it, then the charge hits my credit card a few days later.

    Buyers are liars. Almost every person ever to make a purchase will go in claiming that they're buying on price. Only about 15-20% of the gen pop actually does. That group, however, is the narrowest thinking of any of the segments and they're usually shocked and/or in permanent denial that anyone makes buying decisions but for price. This segment mostly self-selects into careers that lend themselves well to cut and dried certainty and little room for concepts like chaos or creativity. This segment is usually tax and regulatory lawyers, accountants, engineers, traders, and scientist/doctors. Which profession did you choose?

    "But it's just a commodity!?" can be said about Gold, Groceries, Cell Phone Service, Coffee, Chocolate, Pork, Beef, Energy, TV Service, Tiles, Cars, you name it. Yet somehow, in all of those industries, and virtually all others, companies have made fortunes appealing to the market with their products and services with something other than a price play. Not everyone wins with a Walmart or Amazon play (and frankly, Amazon is winning as much on convenience as they are on price at this point).

    I've seen tens of millions of data points at a proprietary level across many different services including electricity in which I've looked at what the consumer bought and what else was also available through the experience in the same category at the same time. Seeing the data is stark in what it reveals. It turns out, people buy for many reasons, and price is but one. Promotion, brand, customer service reputation, position on the monitor or with the salesman, length of term, add-ons, bundles, referrals, testimonials, you name it. 

    I'm not trying to convince you, just trying to provide background. You can read up on this stuff at a rudimentary level if you go and check out some write-ups on persona-based sales, albeit those are dumbed down and often fail to even understand why they're focusing on differentiating buyers in the first place. 

  17. 5 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    San Antonio news article from last week stating that the deregulated areas pay more:  https://www.expressnews.com/business/eagle-ford-energy/article/Deregulated-electricty-markets-paying-more-12935019.php

     

     

    Oh Christ. It's a TCAP discussion. Look, I'm not going to tumble down this agenda-driven rabbit hole with you. I realize you're not pushing an agenda, just a newspaper article, but the origins are agenda-driven. The numbers and assumptions they're using are faulty, they're using a false premise with the "if you never switched" scenario, and they've selected an arbitrary timeline even still to suit their needs. 

    The reality is that if you switched power in 2008 and beyond, and then chose to do so again and again at various points in time in the future, you'd be winning in Houston and DFW versus SA or Austin or anywhere else in the country. If you can't grasp that in the macro, ask yourself about the circumstances in the micro. If you're in a competitive space right now and have been, would you rather continue to be so, or would you trade for Austin Energy, Entergy (The Woodlands), or CPS? It also works vice versa. The answer is, no, you wouldn't want to be in those monopoly footprints, not now, not last year, not a decade ago. And this is only considering price. Take into account features, services, experience (wait times, mobile, apps, bill pay, transfer) and there isn't even a vague fucking contest. 

    Either you're arguing to argue, or you're underinformed and willfully so. Either way, it's fucking tedious. The original point of the thread was a response to the praise heaped onto the REP Breeze and the service Energy Ogre from participants on this board and shaggy, you included, in the context of the news today that Breeze has been poorly run and is closing shop in the market and those staying with them are about to be rolled big time. 

  18. 8 minutes ago, bizzle said:

    bragg is a monster, and is the kind of top-15 nfl pick stanford spits out every other year, but i'm curious how you rate a G/C as the most important guy in a class besides a qb.

     

    In the context of team need and impact, a center of Bragg's skills is the highest need on the board besides RoJo. There isn't a WR, TE, OT, OG, or TB that's going to fill a hole on the roster that's been as overtly apparent over the past decade as the C spot. Defensively, it is hard for me to follow claim from anyone that a single player being recruited fills anything resembling a desperate need that hasn't been filled in 8+ years.

    Others will obviously have differing POVs on the player of highest need, which is fine. I'm going to stick with mine even if it looks odd, uninformed, or other.

    • Like 1
  19. 1 minute ago, SydneyCarton said:

    I'll take a split at this point and be fine. Bragg might be the biggest need recruit we have considering our deficiencies at Center, both in years past and on the current roster. If we can steal Shepherd late, all the better, but Green is a done deal at this point. Give me Bragg to go with Johnson and I'll take the push and move forward. This is going to be a bloodbath of a year in recruiting.

    Bragg is absolutely the most important recruit in this class besides RoJo, from my perspective. It's always been that way. 

    Texas needs to sign 5 OL in this class. Johnson is a good start. Get Bragg. Somehow land Shepherd. Find a couple of other late developers or get lucky with someone like Wilkins, and there you go. 

    They could also just get really, really aggressive and sign Green. I'd prefer not to see it, myself.

  20. 37 minutes ago, bernorange said:

    I just tried the tool (zip 77546 - TNMP), but:

     

    It's weak tech. They're focused only on Oncor and Centerpoint tdsps. TNMP is harder to map, so it looks like they just said "fuck it". I was part of the first online mapping of the tdsp market in Texas for ecommerce purposes and I can tell you with certainty that the TNMP footprint is a bitch and all of the mapping needs to be done at a 9 digit zip level. If they're not taking the mapping to 9 digits and sticking at 5, they'll have conflicted zips that share two tdsps and you'll see bullshit like what you referenced pop up.

    Also, to the others swearing by Breeze Energy and the honesty of their aggie chief, LOL given today's news. 

    Also also, Chicken Fried Bacon is correct in how the compensation schemes work between EO and REPs.

  21. 2 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    Where did I say that deregulated Texas rates are among the highest in the world?    You really misinterpreted my statement.

    I said that most Texans in the deregulated areas are paying higher amounts than Texans in the regulated markets.  Basically comparing most of Texas to Austin and SA.    For some unknown reason, the deregulated consumers are choosing to pay more than needed.  They're either really bad at making choices or they're too lazy.  Maybe both.      My mom fell into this category.  I tried to move her to a better plan but she like her electric company because they made it easy for her.  Now I that control more of her finances, she's amazed how cheap electricity has become.  Funny how that works out.

    My point was that your one person anecdote doesn't translate to the market as a whole. Consumers in Houston and Dallas are paying less than the regulated areas of Texas over the past 11 years. Yes, there are oldsters who never switched. Everyone else has, and they're the majority benefiting from the market.

  22. 1 minute ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    Seems like most consumers are either rate chasers or traditional/lazy/uninterested.   The rate chasers will join the new companies that offer promo deals where the providers are almost assuredly losing money or making very little.  Then the consumers will move on when the promo ends.  The traditional buyers will care less about switching from Reliant, TXU, etc.    

    It's pretty easy to take any provider's posted rates and then compare them, apples to apples, to CPS, Austin Energy, Xcel, Entergy, ComEd, ConEd, PG&E, APS, etc. If you're paying for electricity in the US, you'd prefer to be in Houston or Dallas versus damn near anywhere else. 

    Some folks have never switched from Reliant or TXU as their incumbent. That's a dwindling lot as they're literally dying out. Almost 70% of the market has now switched. There are numerous choices to be made, whether on price, service, term type, rewards program, refer-a-friend program, whatever. All of them are better deals than what any monopoly is offering. This is also reflected in the JD Power scores, which had the competitive aggregated score over 15 points higher than the highest rated utility in terms of customer satisfaction. 

    There's undoubtedly bad actors in the space at any given point in time. It's an open market. That said, the competitive retail energy story in Texas is a fucking grand slam case study in dereg at this point. The first 6 years were filled with growing pains and separating wheat from chaff, but the market has delivered huge savings and customer experiences versus the monopolistic entities for over a decade.

  23. 1 hour ago, tokamak said:

    I always wondered what happens if/when these REPs fail. For the past couple years we've been using one that seems like it's basically just run by a dude with a PO box (Discount Power, very creative company name). So far so good but I've always kinda expected them to blink out of business some day.

     

    Lots of shadiness in this business, it seems. PowerToChoose is a good idea in theory, and can be very useful if you're smart and educate yourself on what you're actually looking at, but most of the headline numbers on there are manipulated, misleading bullshit. Just typed in my ZIP code and I get a big ol' "2.6 cents!!!" in my face. Lulz, right.

    We always used to ignore PowerToChoose as a distraction to our business when I worked in the space, but many REPs have no clue about doing anything well online, so they view PowerToChoose as their only online "strategy" and now the site is a total clusterfuck, overrun by a bunch of bullshit offers from REPs who are playing a "buyers buy on price only" mindset, which is incorrect but for about 15-20% of any aggregated group of buyers.

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