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Hondo

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Everything posted by Hondo

  1. I made a point about how hard playing an SEC schedule is - week in and week out over an entire season - and you "refute" it with a comment about ONE team's performance over ONE season? Calling someone's opinion/position "laughable" and then talking straight out of your ass isn't a great look for you. Condescension - while yourself lacking basic reading proficiency, comprehension, and logic - makes you look silly. Pro tip for life: It's easier to accept a differing opinion when it's presented respectfully.
  2. Bowl games aren't indicative of running the gauntlet of an SEC schedule every week for an entire season. I'll quote myself below to answer your question. Look, I'm not dogging UT or rooting against us for whatever reason. I'm just telling you the SEC and the Big 12 ain't the same - and anyone thinking it won't be much tougher is in for a surprise. And hell, we haven't done all that great in the Big 12 for starters. IF Sarkisian has been recruiting with the SEC in mind and we're willing to adopt a blue collar attitude vs. "we're Texas; we're a blue blood", we'll be okay. If we think we're just going to roll into the conference and have success because "we're Texas", well, they It's like a guy who "has done martial arts his whole life and is 78-0 in tournaments" going to prison. The baddest MFer on the block never took Karate/TKD/BJJ...he's just been fighting all his life and wants to kill you. IF martial arts guy gets lucky and wins, it'll be one of those fights where you win but it still feels like you lost. And then you gotta do it again with the next guy...and the next guy...and the next guy. That's an SEC football schedule. The Texas we're all used to is Mr. Karate. The Texas that succeeds in the SEC is Mr. Karate after he's been in prison for 10 years and is now the meanest MFer around.
  3. Hey look, I'm all-in for UT football. I hope we beat the snot out of everyone, run the table, and walk away with an SEC Championship and a Natty - all in year 1. I'm just being realistic, based on personal observation and objectivity. Those who haven't seen it for whatever reason will see it soon enough.
  4. I've been to a lot of Big 12 games and a lot of SEC games. It's different football. It is physical, week in and week out. Even the lower tier teams (we can probably exclude Vandy and maybe Mizzou here) have big, strong athletes that can beat you. Watched a sub-.500 Florida team play LSU in Tiger Stadium and it was like gladiator shit - dudes just absolutely smashing each other. The Texas we're used to isn't built for that. Hopefully they're aware and are changing it. If not, they and the fans are going to learn the hard way. Exactly. Kinda proving my point here. I've said before, I went to a SWC/Big 12 school for undergrad and UT for graduate school. When the Big 12 was hot, I scoffed at the people saying the SEC was tougher. And then I saw it first hand. It was kind of shocking actually. Sure, a Big 12 team can hang for a game here and there - even win some. But an 8-10 game schedule where every week is like getting hit by a train, win or loss? Anyone expecting 7-1 or even 6-2 in SEC play in 2024 is probably going to be disappointed.
  5. There are very few easy wins in the SEC. 5-3 or even 4-4 would not be shocking.
  6. Ewers has to improve his footwork and mechanics. He is an incredibly talented "thrower" - one of the best you'll ever see at the college level/his age - but that will only get you so far. He needs to be developed and I trust that he is getting it. As for Arch Manning...I'm not sold on him just yet. I know some folks with direct ties to the Manning family and football down there, and even they'll admit that his last name gets him an additional star. That's the general consensus from people in Louisiana who really know football. I'm not saying he won't be great (nor are they), just that it's not a guarantee...yet. But shit...it feels good to even be typing about Ewers and Manning vs. being pissed we don't have anyone to be excited about. It's good to be a Longhorn.
  7. Don't necessarily disagree with your premise, but I don't think it has as much of an effect as you do. Texas has been getting beaten because we haven't been very good, plain and simple. We haven't had the coaching and we've been trying to play 2000's football. I am a Texas alumnus and obviously love Longhorns football, but I'm also a realist. Back when the Big 12 was stout and Texas/OU were in the mix for Nattys, I used to scoff when people would tell me the SEC was a different animal. Then I moved to an SEC powerhouse city for a few years for work. The first week I was there, I saw some of the football players in a local gym. Not "collegiate student athletes" like I was used to seeing in the Big 12...these guys were grown ass men. I was mid-30s and not a small guy myself - former collegiate athlete and have stayed in good shape - and these guys made me look like a little kid. Looked up their jersey numbers from their t-shirts - "19 years old, RS freshman", "20 years old, second string OLB"...MFers looked more like a 30-year old NFL players. It's one thing to hang with Alabama at home for 4 quarters and lose by 1 point. It's another to play SEC teams week in and week out. I hope we're ready, but like I said before - it's going to take a big mentality shift. Finesse, skill players, and "we're Texas" won't cut it. We're going to have to get nasty...which is a little more difficult for us than most of the SEC schools because...well, we're Texas (a public ivy with standards). Whatever happens, it's going to be a helluva ride and fun to watch.
  8. Texas certainly played down to the Big 12. Will we play up to the SEC?
  9. It did hit him in the arm. It just hit something else first. Not saying it was the knob of the bat - it could have been that or his lead forearm, but it hit *something* prior to hitting the right forearm. One of the replay angles shows the ball changing trajectory prior to hitting the right wrist/forearm. I'm speculating that it was the knob of the bat because Flores only indicated the right forearm/wrist impact. Doesn't matter now anyway, only that I don't consider that particular call/no call to be all that egregious in the grand scheme of things.
  10. Whatever the SEC does, several things can be certain: -Alabama will dodge the tough teams when they're really good or, at a minimum, get them at home. -Georgia will get a bunch of cupcakes every year. -Whatever years Texas has its best roster, it'll get Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State (OOC), Michigan, etc. - all on the road.
  11. I wouldn't count on them moving LSU/Aggy off of Thanksgiving weekend.
  12. The replay showed the ball clearly changing trajectory before hitting his right forearm/wrist. It definitely hit something, either the knob of the bat or his left forearm. Based on his reaction only being the right forearm, I'm guessing it did, in fact, hit the knob.
  13. Who cares who/where we have play on the road? Let's just roll in and fuck 'em up, whoever it is. Would be sweet to open SEC play with wins against Arky and Aggy in their houses. I know Sark's been recruiting in preparation for the move (bigger in the trenches, etc.), but to be competitive in the SEC, we're going to have to find that last little "something" that's been missing for the last decade. Can't be the rich program riding tradition anymore...we're going to have to get a blue collar attitude and start getting nasty.
  14. No sweat. Agreed on EK and DC. They both had great seasons and aren't to blame for the way it ended. Can't see what you can't see. Here's the AB just before the final one. Granted, the tying run was a gift to us (2 strike 3s the ump didn't call on DC), but still. Crazy how it went down.
  15. Maybe ease off on calling people pussies and talking about kicking people in the ass. Everybody knows you wouldn't do a damn thing in person and it takes away from your baseball related points. (You quoted me, so I'm not sure if any of that was directed my way or what.) Regarding your baseball comments, I don't disagree with much - rebuilding year, outperformed expectations, etc. However, the game has changed a bit. Pitching/defense and manufacturing a few runs here and there doesn't cut it anymore. Sure, pitching and defense is still necessary, but in 2023 you have to put up runs. It's shifted a little more toward offensively outscoring the other team vs. defensively limiting their runs to fewer than yours (obviously you have to score more runs than your opponent; I'm talking strategy and how you get there). Pitchers, no matter how good, still have to throw the ball through the strike zone. As hitters get better, stronger, and smarter (through analytics), they're narrowing the gap between good pitching and good hitting. The adage of "good pitching beats good hitting" is still true, but not as much as it used to be. Teams, Texas included, have to recruit and develop hitters too. I speak from experience, not just observation and theory. I actually played college ball (maybe you did too; not saying I'm the only one or anything special) and today's game is a LOT different than when I played ~25 years ago. The athletes are more athletic, swings are different, tactics/strategies are different, etc., etc. Baseball is no different than any other sport - it changes over time and if you don't change with it, you get left behind. I hope Texas changes with it - minus the fur coat HR celebrations, mullets, and all that other flashy/dumb shit - or the SEC is going to be a meat grinder.
  16. Very good point. That's one of the things Texas is going to have to adapt to. Can't be just a pitching/defense program anymore. They're going to have to start recruiting differently. Look at LSU's roster. A bunch of big dudes with a handful of "skill players" mixed in. Even Stanford's guys were notably bigger guys (for the most part). It's not about winning 4-1 via pitching and defense anymore. It's about giving up 8, but scoring 10.
  17. We definitely got screwed on some calls, but there is no bottom of the 9th if the ump didn't gift us that last run by not calling strike 3 twice. Flores was hit twice, once before it hit the trailing forearm. The ball clearly changes trajectory, whether from hitting his leading wrist or the knob of the bat. They made the right call on Brown's HBP. We got screwed on some pitch calls, but so did they. Had we won that game, it would have been a travesty to Stanford and their fans. Losing it is one to us. But we're not a once-in-awhile program. We'll be back and it'll be fun to watch them compete in the SEC. Baseball is different down there. They trash the game up a bit more than I like, but they can absolutely play some ball. There is no doubt about that. Texas is going to have to step it up a notch to be competitive week in and week out. On to 2024.
  18. "How can you not be romantic about baseball?" This one is more like catching your wife cheating and then her taking half your shit in the divorce, but still...
  19. Dead ball on the batter/runner (not out if he ends safely on base) and dugout warning.
  20. I still feel it in my plums. It's just a different feeling now.
  21. Here is the explanation. Anyone who's played the game awhile will tell you this is exactly what happened. That ball was hammered straight up...a true pop up to the outfield.
  22. You have to be shitting me
  23. Or at least throw 4 changeups in the dirt
  24. Put this guy on for the force at any base
  25. Not sure you can take your helmet off and rush the field. Is that not an out?
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