
SL Xpress
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I'm glad he's so classy. I'm also glad he's no longer the coach. It reminds me of how I felt about David McWilliams, who remains my favorite head football coach at Texas of all time. I don't hold Terry in the same regard, but I do like him as a person. Still glad he's gone.
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The Leopards Eating Faces and Unlubed Dildo of Consequences Thread
SL Xpress replied to Horn Dog's topic in Cloak Room
I honestly do not believe the conversation about a possible Trump 3rd term as all that important. For one, he's old. He's 78. He'll be 82 for the next election. 86 by the time that term is done. The chances of him dying or becoming otherwise incapacitated increase considerably with his every breath. If he has a serious fall, or he breathes in the wrong bacteria/virus, or some malignant cancer forms in a place that makes it difficult to force it go into remission, or he develops dementia, or dozens of other hypotheticals, this isn't going to matter. Two, for him to run for a third term is not going to mean smooth sailing until that occurs. He's already run roughshod over all kinds of institutional protections from doing so, but he's going to have to run over a lot more. He's going to have to get through the midterms. If the Democrats take control over either the House or Senate, the relationship with the legislative branch changes considerably. We're not going to suddenly get this test case of whether he successfully wins the election in 2028. We're going to have a myriad of test cases prior to that which becomes Rubicon moments of whether we really want to live in a Republic or not. While it feels like we're there already, at the end of the day if we held an election right now, I still think who people vote in would matter, just like it did in 2020, even with all the horseshit that ensued. To me the most important thing is what would lead up to him being able to run for a 3rd term. It's my belief we're on the precipice of losing the ability to decide who our leaders will be at the ballot box. That's going to be crystal clear whether it has occurred or not before 2028. How much are Republicans able to stifle any potential opposition vote? How much do they weaponize the executive branch, just like they're doing with Columbia University and the various law firms who have struck deals with the administration rather than going to the mat? Who do they investigate? Arrest? How well do they control the media? It's not clear how important controlling the mainstream media is any more, frankly. How well do they control the messaging at the places people are actually getting their news these days? How invested does the military become? And how much is dependent on Trump as the figurehead? How much of this cult of personality survives him? All of it? None of it? I just feel like there are underlying factors going on that are way more important than the specifics of whether Trump is able to run for a 3rd term or not. The polarization in this country is real, and it's increasing. We no longer want to know our neighbors. We are more solitary than we ever have been. We depend on echo chambers for discourse, mostly through online mediums. Whoever is able to successfully identify others that can be targeted, isolated, bullied, and either ghettoized, deported, jailed, or executed, is going to win in those environments. It doesn't have to be the next Hitler. It can be the next Robespierre, the next Lenin, Mao. "Those other guys have been the bad guys, and we're going to take care of it for you!" The biggest danger of Trump is he's helping to create an environment where the only way to win is to play his game. If you're not all in, he's going to beat you. But if you go all in, you become what you're fighting against. It takes a tremendous leader to both win that game, and then to give up power once they've won. There aren't that many examples in history, to be honest. Look at China. They had it for 40 years under a totalitarian regime that voluntarily gave up power every ten years until Xi Jingping came along. I don't actually know about an equivalent to that. Normally leaders are scared (rightfully) about what is going to happen to them if they cede power. The Romans used to do something similar by giving ultimate power to consuls during times of crisis. They expected the "dictators" to give up their power when the crisis passed. Which worked until it didn't. We don't understand how fragile our system is. We think 250 years is a long time and it's going to go on like this forever just because, when actually it very well may be a blip in human history. "Here are all the lessons to learn from the failed American Experiment, 1776 to 20xx" says future history books. -
I don't know any more than you do. If I was running the organization I would cast a wide net among players I felt like could improve the team. If there's some mutual interest, it's pennies on the dollar to bring them in. If I have my culture right, I wouldn't get too worked up about what they do to the dynamics, especially if I feel good about a kind of team first attitude they carry themselves with. I just don't have enough information to come to any conclusions. How much is budgeted for the Stanford kid? Does the staff have connections with him that make him an outlier? Is he motivated by factors beyond NIL where we can get him below market rate? Who knows? What I do like is that Sarkisian tends to lead with the school and the program, and get into NIL negotiations later on, whereas a lot of these schools with early commitments are leading with the big dollars, because they're desperate to make a splash. Sarkisian seems to have a really good handle on talent acquisition, which in many ways is the most important job for a college football coach. I found myself concerned early on. Even last year I gnashed my teeth a little bit as I wondered if we were going to be able to make a compelling enough late push. Now I find myself not worrying at all. If somehow we get a downfall in results I'll easily figure out a way to get back to worrying, but it just feels like Sarkisian has a really good strategy and vision for how he's going to go about all this. So if he wants to bring in the Stanford DE I'm not going to spend too much time thinking about the reasoning and just figure he knows what he's doing.
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While I certainly agree with you, I'm also reminded of all the times throughout human history when contemporaries felt like they were living in the end times, and it turned out not to be that way. Of course, sometimes it really was, at least from their perspective. It's inherently impossible to have genuine historical perspective on the times you're currently living in. Nonetheless, we can all see trends, and the trends do not feel very good right now. I think my biggest fear is we seem to be collectively leaning into the basest aspects of our humanity - especially in the United States - and I'm not sure what arrests that other than really negative outcomes. On a selfish level, I don't particularly want to live through those really negative outcomes. I hope for a George Washington/Thomas Jefferson/Abraham Lincoln/Teddy Roosevelt/FDR/Reagan type. I voted Republican all my life (for presidential elections) until 2016. Given where the party has gone, I don't see how someone like that wins the Republican nomination in the future, much less a general election. Honestly, at the foundational level my biggest fear is that in the near future our votes aren't going to matter any more.
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It wasn't very successfully done. After the US, the former Soviet Union, UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel and South Africa developed nuclear weapons. South Africa, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine gave them up after possessing them. I'm saying countries have a lot of incentives to develop a nuclear weapon, and the disincentives are wholly inadequate. But adequate discincentives are likely horrifying.
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You say Iran is disingenuous, and I'd agree with you. But I'd argue everyone is disingenuous. The United States certainly is on all sorts of things. Sometimes purposefully, and sometimes by making promises they end up not having the political will to fulfill. How important is having possession of nuclear weapons for state sovereignty? What are the consequences to a ruling regime compared to the benefits? Why would we ever expect a nation state that has embarked on possessing nuclear weapons to genuinely give up that pursuit? If one doesn't want nuclear proliferation to occur then the only way to slow it down is to make the consequence for pursuing it so painful that it's unthinkable to do so. Since what I mean by that is abhorrent, we're left with a world where more people will have access to nuclear weapons. It would also be helpful if we'd do a better job of guaranteeing the sovereignty of countries that do give up possession of nuclear weapons.
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It's not sustainable. It's a bubble market and eventually it's going to burst. Just like all bubble markets. As a Texas fan it's nice to know we'll have a chair to sit in when the music stops, but it's bad for college athletics as a whole. The plan right now is on April 6 the court will approve something called the House Settlement, which says that schools can pay out NIL payments themselves, up to a maximum, for the entire athletic department. The initial cap is set at $20.5 million. I'm not going to get into all the details. There are tons of articles about it. But the bottom line for me is that the whole settlement has hair all over it. I do not see anyway it's anything but a stopgap measure for a very short time. In the meantime, NIL can be paid by other organizations, including collectives, but those payments allegedly must be at a market rate as determined by an algorithm monitored and enforced by Deloitte Touche. So there will be NIL payments outside the universities, but it's a little vague right now what they're going to look like. There's already legislation being considered in Oregon to completely abrogate any NIL limits the settlement puts forward in the state of Oregon. Shockingly, the University of Oregon with their Phil Knight dollars are pushing the legislation. Meanwhile, Oregon State, whose athletic program is now in a competitive limbo, is not quite as all on board over it. But there are better threads to carry on this conversation. It's a pertinent subject as the program looks to bring in transfers in the spring period. But it's easy for the conversation to take over, when there are NIL threads, there are recruiting threads, while this is the best thread to go to for information about spring practices. On another note, I've been following spring practice "reports" since Mackovic was a coach on the GoBig12 board, and I find them almost utterly useless. I'm not saying we don't get word of someone breaking out who then shows up during the season, but most of the time everyone somehow manages to look awesome even though with internal competition you'd think it would be a zero sum game inherently. And yet, as useless as I find them, I still read them. Just shove it into my veins already.
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Livingstonemania is upon us.
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Thank you. I live in Houston and gleefully tell people I still root against the Texans with all my might for not picking Vince. They think that's an extraordinary level of pettiness, and I joyfully agree with them. Unfortunately, the Texans appear to be getting their shit together. I also happen to like CJ Stroud, which really sucks. I still enjoy seeing the Texans lose.
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UT's next basketball coach - discussion/debate [Sean Miller Hired]
SL Xpress replied to alphahorn's topic in Basketball
You and I are saying the same thing. Which is why I don't agree that UT will have a limited NIL fund for the basketball roster. I'm saying some people seem to enjoy pretending that's going to be the case. I can't tell you how many articles I've read recently that talk about the unfair advantage the Big East is going to have because many of those programs don't field football teams so they can use all of their money on basketball if they want. All I can say is go tell Gerry Hamilton that. Well, I mean I can if I want to. All I'm saying is that's the message I'm responding to. You and I are on the same page. -
UT's next basketball coach - discussion/debate [Sean Miller Hired]
SL Xpress replied to alphahorn's topic in Basketball
There's a clear assumption that collegiate sports is going to be able to honor the so called cap on spending the House Settlement would provide if approved. Del Conte is saying the right things, "Texas is going to get out of the business of NIL and leave that to the corporate world who will be able to directly deal with athletes." Gerry is alluding to it here that Texas will have a limited men's basketball budget since the lion's share of the money will go to football. I don't believe any of this. Maybe it will last for a very short time but market forces are market forces and in this market players are going to be worth a lot more than what the House settlement is going to provide for, and I personally do not believe the enforcement mechanisms are going to either be adequate nor do I believe they're going to last. It's basically going to be up to each program to honor the House settlement to a degree I do not for one second believe all the institutions as an aggregate are going to comply with. I do not know how quickly UT as a stakeholder - and that's not just the administration, but the alumni base and the assorted people who have taken the initiative on NIL in ways I have been sitting on my butt - begins supplementing the pay from the school, but I have no doubt it will come about at some point. But we'll collectively pretend the House settlement is going to stick, and for the amount of time it sticks it will create challenges to what kind of line up Miller can employ. That much is true. -
What are your thoughts on the hire, Pancho? Say, on a scale of 1-10? I'm somewhere around an 8+. Not that you asked!
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UT's next basketball coach - discussion/debate [Sean Miller Hired]
SL Xpress replied to alphahorn's topic in Basketball
I think people can say that. I think it would be silly. We've never won a championship in men's basketball. IMO it's the hardest collegiate sport of them all to win a championship. Would I be frustrated if we made multiple Final Fours but couldn't win the whole thing? Yes, if I'm being realistic about myself, yes I would. But I certainly wouldn't think of the coaching regime as a bust. If Miller is successful enough to take us to multiple Final Fours, there's a decent shot I don't live long enough to see who comes after him. And I'd be fine with that. Ultimately I'd be very satisfied as a Texas basketball fan if that was my lot in life. Of course, we're going to see seismic changes in the collegiate athletics landscape over that course of time, so who knows what the future portends. There's a lot of money in that tournament. If the NCAA can't figure out a way to ensure its (as in the NCAA's, not the tournamet's) continued existence, another organization is going to try to take the tournament over. Specifically, an organization even more centered around the Big 10 and SEC than the NCAA currently is. -
One good tight end that NO ONE recognized as a good tight end entering the season.
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That's a left hand/right hand sort of thing. One group of people were trying to bring Saban in. They lost. The whole process disgusted Saban so much he counseled Sarkisian not to take the job.
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Texas Basketball Recruiting Notes: It's Miller Time
SL Xpress replied to texifornia's topic in 🤫$9.95🤫
I think we have a really good shot here. (no, not really) -
I don't even understand Musk's quote. The fundamental weakness compared to what? I don't understand the context. What society is doing so much better than western civilization, and how is that being measured? Over what time period are we talking about? Is he talking about current western civilization compared to the past? There are plenty of examples of western civilization not exactly excelling in empathy, regardless of results. I read an interview from the leader of the Southern Baptist Convention in the Cloak Room that was downright depressing talking about the book The Sin of Empathy. Is this the new talking point?
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What does it gain me to argue with you? I'm telling you what part of the criteria was, and part of why they were hired. If they had done well I'd be ecstatic. They didn't and now they're gone. I only wish it didn't take so long for Smart to depart. I don't really give a shit about their race. I only care if they win. They didn't. But their race was absolutely a critical part of the criteria for their hiring. Del Conte has primarily hired white men, even for the women's sports. Do I care? Do I cry in exultation? I do not. I don't give a shit. I'm glad Floreal has done well. I do not care that he happens to not be a white man. I love how successful our athletic program is right now regardless of what the demographics of our coaches are. If we happen to show a little more diversity at the head coaching position within the athletic department, so be it, but it's not a personal priority. Or at least not the most important priority. If someone told me all we were going to do is hire white men for head coaching positions from here on out, that would actually bother me. But I don't believe that's the case.
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I just know I wish all kinds of career ruin on that man. 6 years of that horse shit. Like ctj suggested, I hope Marquette keeps him for the next 20 years. I think one of my favorite moments in following college basketball not involving Texas or Phi Slamma Jamma was watching the last timeout for Tom Izzo's Michigan State and Smart's Marquette team in the Sweet 16. Tom Izzo is over there designing a play while challenging his players' collective manhood, while Smart is drawing his team into a huddle for a quick tai chi session. "Breathe" he softly implores his players. Watching the Spartans give his team a smooth buttfucking over the final deciding moments of the game was extraordinarily satisfying.
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I don't think it's meant to be good for college sports. I think the purpose is to give student athletes the same freedoms as fellow students to transfer to another school if they want, along with the same freedoms as the coaching staff and administration that are employees of the university. The damage done to college sports is collateral. Any restraint of trade regarding student athletes is seen as fair game for the court system at this point. People are complaining about the portal window. Those people should be grateful we still have a window. There's no reason why the NCAA can't be sued for not keeping the portal open year round. It's highly unlikely they'd let it go to court, because they're no longer willing to allow anything to go to court.
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No disagreement there. Heck, the baseball search was a real debacle, and that was with interim athletic director Mike Perrin, post Patterson. We ended up with David Pierce, who while not good enough to keep his job, wasn't a complete disaster. But that hiring process was a big oof. Raises for sitting coaches everywhere. You get a raise! And you get a raise! And you get a raise! And who could forget the university president flying up to Tulsa to make assurances to the offensive coordinator up there so he'd take the job at Texas? Thankfully, it's a distant memory, because Del Conte handles these things like a champ. I'm just saying it makes complete sense they were hired as the head coaches.
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What do you mean it doesn't make sense? Both he and Charlie Strong were hired because they were considered the best black coaches available and the person most invested in the hiring process made it a central part of the criteria that he wanted the first black head coach in both sports on his watch. I don't really care what the criteria is if it works. I'm not someone who is against DEI just because. But I have to admit I'd prefer Texas go after the best candidate available, whoever that is, and that wasn't done on those coaching searches, because that wasn't the criteria.
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Texas Recruiting Notes 2026: Boulevard of Broken Bagmen
SL Xpress replied to texifornia's topic in 🤫$9.95🤫
Austin Anderson.
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