Sunday, June 28, 2009

FAAAAIIIIILLLLLL!

USA lost to Brazil, 3-2, in the finals of the FIFA Confederates Cup. USA led 2-0 at the half and then just got whupped in the second. No depth, no legs. Maybe by the time the world cup rolls around, they will have a little more of both.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

money, money, money!

No wonder college coaches get paid so much:
University of Texas athletics ranked first in the nation in both total revenue and football revenue in 2007-08, according a report released by Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal.

Texas programs earned $120,288,370 in that period, including $72,952,397 from football. Georgia was second in football revenue, followed by Florida, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Auburn, Michigan, Alabama, Penn State and LSU.

The total revenue top 10 had Ohio State second, followed by Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee and Oklahoma State.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Those Okie Bastards Strike Again

OU has extended Bob Stoops' contract to 2015. The contract is worth 30 mil, payable at the rate of 3.655 mil per year plus an annual bonus in the neighborhood of 700k. Good grief! That is alot of scratch. I assume it isn't being paid by the taxpayers of Oklahoma, though come to think of it, they'd probably pay it gladly.

Ebony and Ivory





Ok, so this isn't sports related but both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, icons in their own ways, died today. Fawcett burst onto the scene with Charlie's Angels and the famous POSTER. Mildly talented and with a screwed up personal life, she nevertheless remained a recognizable public figure. And as for Michael Jackson, well I can't think of a sadder case. Ruined at a really young age by his whack-job father, he was an immensely talented but deeply troubled man. R.I.P., Farrah and Michael.

Shaq Traded to Cavs


Shaq traded to Cavs to try to get some help for LeBron. I like Le Bron and he needed some help.
I am not sure Shaq is fully up to it but it has a chance of working. Shaq should get about 50 dunks a game with LeBron dumping off to him.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Somewhere . . .

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout . . .



Because football season begins in 72 days:
9/5 - UT v. UL Monroe
9/5 - Tex. A&M v. New Mexico

Seminoles Get Chopped

I have seen little and heard less about Florida State being sanctioned for violations involving academic fraud. Here is what happened:

The NCAA determined that a former learning specialist, academic adviser and tutor gave "improper assistance" to Florida State athletes who were taking online courses. According to the NCAA, the former learning specialist typed portions of papers for at least three athletes and also provided answers to an online psychology course quiz by instructing another athlete to complete the quiz on behalf of the athlete enrolled in the course. (By Heather Dinich, ESPN.com)


Probation, loss of scholarships, and forfeiture of games are included in the sanctions. Now, Bobby Bowden is suddenly way behind Penn State's Joe Paterno for most wins.

Does any of this come as much of a surprise? When I attended Harvard, I mean Texas A&M, I tutored football players. Let us just say that they needed plenty of tutoring. But I can say unequivocally that I was never asked to do anything improper...take a test, give answers, write papers, etc. Nonetheless, I wondered at the time how some of these fellows remained eligible. Oh, I almost forgot. It is BOOLEY, after all.

GOOOOAAAALLLLL!

USA beat Spain today in Confederation Cup competition. Spain had not lost since 2006, enjoying a 15 game winning streak. Needless to say, the outcome was quite a surprise. USA advances to the finals, and will take on either Brazil or South Africa.

And the Guy Lewis Award goes to...

The LSU coach's strategic blunder sparked a new question that I would like to put to the booleyean faithful: What is the greatest strategic blunder ever made in coaching? The award has been named after Guy Lewis, in honor of his decision to bury his head in his towel as Phi Slamma Jamma squandered their lead and inexplicably went down to Jimmy V's NC State Wildcats in the 1983 NCAA basketball championship game.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

And how about this moron?


Former NFL Quarterback Ryan Leaf turns himself in to authorities for burglary and drug charges.

Question: Top 10 sports morons ? ( I will be formulating my own list but this guy is in it.)

Cowboys Will Not Make Playoffs


This is not a promising sign:
Three Cowboy offensive lineman sign Heavy Metal deal.
All these clowns are busy being celebrities, Romo included. Even though they have done nothing but fail.

What a world, what a world . . .

LSU - 7
UT - 6

  1. Horns melt down in the top of the 9th -- lose winnable game and waste 5 HR's.

Can not carry on (unless a miracle happens tonight).

Monday, June 22, 2009

Glover Wins Open!

this post was incorrectly posted to Derivative Musings
(a clear case of operator error) if we had more readers I could claim it was a clever ruse to get viewers to my blog but, alas it was just a screw up.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Go David!

David Duval is my rooting interest in the US Open.

Amateur career

Duval was born in Jacksonville, Florida. The son of former Champions Tour player Bob Duval, he graduated from the Episcopal High School of Jacksonville. He was the U.S. Junior Amateur champion in 1989. He continued his amateur career at Georgia Tech, where he was a four-time first-team All-American, two-time ACC Player of the Year, and 1993 National Player of the Year. After two years on the Nike Tour, he earned his PGA Tour card in 1995.

Professional rise and fall (and rise again?)

Success came quickly, as Duval posted seven second place finishes on the PGA Tour from 1995 to 1997, qualifying for the 1996 Presidents Cup and posting a 4-0-0 record for the victorious American team. But a PGA Tour victory eluded him until he won the Michelob Championship at Kingsmill in October, 1997, and winning his next two tournaments in the same month, including the 1997 Tour Championship. Altogether, from 1997 to 2001, he won 13 PGA Tour tournaments, including the 1997 Tour Championship, the 1999 Players Championship, and the 2001 Open Championship, as well as the 2001 Dunlop Phoenix and the 2000 World Cup (with Tiger Woods) internationally. He also tied for second in both the 1998 and 2001 Masters.

Duval's winning speech at the 2001 Open was welcomed by British commentators as "delightfully modest and heartfelt".[1]

Other career highlights include achieving the number one spot in the Official World Golf Rankings in April 1999 and shooting a 59 in the final round of the 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic on the Palmer Course at PGA West in La Quinta, California (doing so in dramatic fashion by making an eagle on the 18th hole). When he won the Players Championship he became the first player in history to win on the same day as his father, Bob Duval, who won a Champions Tour event that same day. Before 1999, only two other golfers in PGA Tour history, Al Geiberger and Chip Beck, had posted a 59 in competition and no one had ever done so in a final round. He also played on the victorious 1999 Ryder Cup team, as well as the 2002 team. (from Wikipedia)

He was so great and then so bad all of a sudden. What I saw of him today was the same guy who used to rain iron shots on the flag, one putt and move on. Today he was hittinng them stiff. In the fourth round he just needs to do that again and nail those putts. He could easily have had 5 more birdies today. So could Tiger by the way but he too far back.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

A perfect TV day

Here in Angel Fire, it is 54 degrees and raining. Gee I wish something was on TV. Gosh its the US Open. Conditions at the Open are tough. Rain, thick rough, long course. Awesome. Guys are missing puts, chipping over the green from bunker and rough like a bunch of hackers. I am building a fire in the fireplace, making some a pitcher of Bloodies and settling in.

The Championship Series: UT v. LSU

Losing 3-2 to Arizona State with one out in the bottom of the ninth, UT catcher Cameron Rupp homered to tie the game. With two outs, CF Connor Rowe hit a walk-off home run to give the Horns a 4-3 victory. UT advances to the 3-game championship series against LSU beginning Monday, June 22.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Football Begins.

For me, football season begins when Dave Campbell publishes.

The 50th Anniversary Issue is out.

Let Football 2009 begin. . . .


Tuesday, June 16, 2009

There is joy in Mudville!


Trailing 6-0 after 3, UT wins 10-6.

Pittsburgh, Philadelphia same thing










In response to one of my comments on the Pittsburgh renaming I received this from lonek8, who not only fulfilled my request but made an "example" of me.

Hawk of the Nile

Miss you, Dad. BBL,Sr: March 18, 1918 -- June 16, 2007.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Longhorns Eke By USM, 7-6

The Longhorns managed to beat the University of Southern Mississippi today in a College World Series baseball game and, boy, am I glad they did. USM deserved to lose, for one reason and one reason only: the way they wore their britches. OMG! I had to turn the channel. Congrats to the Longhorns, especially sbaskind. And what's up with metal bats? I hate those things. Why are they legal in college but not the pros? I know that the rules in college and pro sports often differ, but the equipment? Is there another sport where the equipment is different? In college football, the kickers use tees, I think, and they don't in the pros but off the top of my head I can't think of any others.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Longhorn Basketball



Texas junior forward Damion James has withdrawn from the NBA draft and will return for his senior season. The 6-foot-7½ James averaged 15.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game last season.

With his return, Rick Barnes' club should be a legitimate Top 10 team nationally. Texas lost leading scorer A.J. Abrams and Connor Atchley, but the Longhorns bring back James, big man Dexter Pittman, forward Gary Johnson, wings Justin Mason and Varez Ward and point guard Dogus Balbay.
Barnes will also have Florida transfer Jai Lucas, who will contend for the starting point guard spot, at the semester break.

Texas will also add wings Avery Bradley, Jordan Hamilton and Shawn Williams — all legitimate Top 100 players in the Class of 2009.


PS lsquared, see how I am upgrading the class of your blog.

AGGIES WIN AGAIN


Congratulations!

Aggies win Men's and Women's Track and Field Championship!

At least I think they did if I read the story right.

How 'Bout Them Cowboys

Here is the Cowboys' 2009 regular season schedule:


Sun, Sept 13
@ Tampa Bay (FOX)
Noon
Sun, Sept 20
NEW YORK GIANTS (NBC)
7:15 PM
Mon, Sept 28
CAROLINA (ESPN)
7:30 PM
Sun, Oct 4
@ Denver (FOX)
3:15 PM
Sun, Oct 11
@ Kansas City (FOX)
Noon
Sun, Oct 18
BYE


Sun, Oct 25
ATLANTA (FOX) 3:15 PM
Sun, Nov 1
SEATTLE (FOX)
NOON Sun, Nov 8
@ Philadelphia (NBC)
7:15 PM Sun, Nov 15
@ Green Bay (FOX)
3:15 PM W
Sun, Nov 22
WASHINGTON (FOX)
NOON
Thurs, Nov 26
OAKLAND (CBS)
3:15 PM
Sun, Dec 6
@ New York Giants (FOX)
3:15 PM
Sun, Dec 13
SAN DIEGO (CBS)
3:15 PM
Sat, Dec 19
@ New Orleans (NFLN)
7:15 PM
Sun, Dec 27
@ Washington (NBC)
7:15 PM
Sun, Jan 3
PHILADELPHIA (FOX)
NOON


Here's how I think it will go: wins over Tampa, Denver, Kansas City, Seattle, Green Bay, Oakland, and New Orleans; losses to Carolina, Atlanta, and San Diego. As for division play, split with New York, Philly, and Washington (wishful thinking much?) Surely we can beat the Giants in the home opener in the new JerryWorld Stadium. I believe that ends up at 10-6, which seems high. Oh well, hope springs eternal. Predictions, anyone?

P.S. I added my predictions after sbaskind posted his because I thought it cowardly not to have done so.

Penguins Take the Cup

I love hockey, but I seldom get to watch it working nights and not having cable. Outside of the Blackhawks finally winning a Cup I am ecstatic that the Penguins won an amazing game 7 on the road to win the championship. Sidney Crosby might prove to be the best to ever play the game. Mario Lemieux is a credit to the game. Saving a bankrupt sports franchise both as a player and an owner. Kudos to that franchise and congrats to the team and the city of Pittsburgh.

Friday, June 12, 2009

The Tippett Point

The Dallas Stars new manager, Joe Nieuwendyk, fired Dave Tippett and hired Marc Crawford as coach. According to the Dallas Morning News,

Tippett, 47, was hired in 2002 as a first-time head coach. He was tied for the second-best winning percentage among active coaches at the end of the season (trailing only Detroit's Mike Babcock), and had the Stars in the playoffs for five of his six seasons. The Stars went 36-35-11 and finished with the eighth-worst record in the 30-team NHL.

But this wasn't good enough for Nieuwendyk.


For Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk, it became clear in less than two weeks on the job that a coaching change was necessary. The team needed a bench boss with a tougher edge after missing the playoffs for the first time in six seasons.
Nieuwendyk turned to Marc Crawford, a coach he played for in the 1988 Olympics and someone similar to the coach he played under when the Stars won their only Stanley Cup 10 years ago. "What Marc will bring is a real command at the top," Nieuwendyk said. "The players will know who's in charge. They will be held accountable on a daily basis."


The comments around here are mostly negative. People seem to feel that Tippett got a raw deal but will get snapped up by another team. As for Crawford, it remains to be seen. He has not enjoyed any success since he won the cup with Colorado in 1996. His last job, from which he was fired after one year, was with the Kings. Oh goody. Another mediocre Dallas team.

Do You Care about the Lakers?


I have always loved the sports dynasty -- even regarding teams I might otherwise dislike. Therefore, I am today a big Lakers fan. I want Phil Jackson to win his 10th title and over take Red Auerbach (who has 9 titles). I want Kobe to win his 4th ring and first without Shaq. I want the Lakers to win another championship and improve on their league leading playoff record (with 56 play-off appearances.).

But mostly, I wanted an excuse to post on the so-called lsquared's blog a picture of the Laker Girls.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Mamas, Do Let Your Sons Grow Up To Be Cowboys

Here is ESPN's list of the top ten Cowboys of all time:

1. Tom Landry
2. Roger Staubach
3. Michael Irvin
4. Bob Lily
5. Emmitt Smith
6. Troy Aikman
7. Tony Dorsett
8. Randy White
9. Don Meredith
10. Drew Pearson

Well, well, well. Tom Landry will, rightly, be associated with the Cowboys forever and he was great. I can't even begin to name all of the innovations that he brought to the game. Nonetheless, when I think of the top ten Cowboys, I think of players. So, for me, Landry isn't on that list. I mean, if Landry is on the list, Tex Schramm should be on the list as well, and maybe even Clint Murchison, who knew enough to hire Landry and Schramm and then leave them alone. So, back to the players. I am glad that Meredith made the list. I remember him in the 60's, when Dallas had both the Cowboys and the Dallas Texans, which ultimately lost the popularity contest, moved to Kansas City and became the Kansas City Chiefs. Anyway, Meredith was the QB of this miserable, untalented expansion team. Much like Archie Manning in New Orleans, Meredith took an absolute beating, game after game. He was incredibly tough and grossly underappreciated. But I think also of Don Perkins, Jethro Pugh, Harvey Martin, Lee Roy Jordan, Chuck Howley, Bob Hayes, Jay Novacek, Charlie Waters, Cliff Harris, Danny White (also underappreciated), Bob Newhouse, Walt Garrison...the list goes on and on. I guess mine would be as follows:

1. Bob Lily
2. Roger Staubach
3. Emmitt Smith
4. Troy Aikman
5. Randy White
6. Drew Pearson
7. Darren Woodson
8. Mel Renfro
9. Don Meredith
10. Michael Irvin

Tomorrow's list could be different. I do love me some Cowboys.

Horns Beat Frogs


The Horns beat the Frogs 5-2 and advance to the CWS.
All is well.

Frogs Beat Horns


TCU beat Texas on Sunday to even the 3-game super regional series at 1-1. Deciding game today. All right-thinking people will request of the higher power of their choice to weaken the arms of all Frog pitchers.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

FARMERS FIGHT


Baskind,I'll see your cheerleaders and raise you some yell leaders.


Danica Disappoints -- Back to Football



Danica Patrick finished 6th Saturday at the Bombardier Learjet 550 ending her 4-race streak of top 5 finishes. So I am giving up racing and returning to my first love: College Football.


In the end, football wins outs:




Saturday, June 6, 2009

College Baseball


Your College baseball reporter here. UT beat TCU today 10-4, winning the first game of a three-game series in the Super Regional in Austin. Most notable, Texas used 7 sacrifice bunts in the game (an NCAA record). Winner pitcher Chance Ruffin -- complete game. Already in the College World series: Arkansas, LSU and CS Fullerton. Five more teams will qualify.

Aggie Football Predictions: It's never too early!


Here is the 2009 Aggie Football schedule:

Sept. 5 NEW MEXICO Kyle Field
Sept. 19 UTAH STATE Kyle Field
Sept. 26 UAB Kyle Field
Oct. 3 vs. Arkansas (Cowboys Stadium) Arlington, TX

Oct. 10 OKLAHOMA STATE Kyle Field
Oct. 17 at Kansas State Manhattan, KS
Oct. 24 at Texas Tech Lubbock, TX
Oct. 31 IOWA STATE Kyle Field
Nov. 7 at Colorado Boulder, CO
Nov. 14 at Oklahoma Norman, OK
Nov. 21 BAYLOR Kyle Field
Nov. 26 TEXAS (ESPN) Kyle Field
My prediction: 9 wins (indicated above in bold font) and 3 loses.

Borel Gets The Bird

Dang it. Mine That Bird came in third in the Belmont Stakes, beaten by Summer Bird. Weird factoid: both MTB and Summer Bird were sired by Birdstone, who won the Belmont in 2004, upsetting Smarty Jones' triple crown bid. So, MTB wins the Derby, comes in second in the Preakness, and takes third today. Pretty durn good.

Auto Racing Sucks

















Personally, I prefer soccer.

Auto Racing


This Blog has ignored auto racing as best I can tell. I have recently become interested in this fast-paced sport -- but can't really explain my new fascination with it. Are there other racing fans here?

Friday, June 5, 2009

More on Mine That Bird

This explains the name: therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/how-mine-that-bird-got-his-name/ -

"mountain" biking in Nebraska....whouda thunk it

There is mountain biking in Nebraska! Much to my delight I have discovered some good trails here in Omaha and I've heard that if I'm willing to drive I will be surprised at the amount of singe-track throughout the state. While there are no huge climbs a la Colorado, the terrain is very good and the trails well kept. Let's face it, at my present physical state I do not need to be trying to ride up Pike's Peak. I've decided that Nebraska mountain biking is perfect for my reentry into the sport. Watch out 24 Hours of Steamboat 2010....here I come!

Longest Baseball Game


In a game on May 31 that lasted an NCAA all-division-record 25 innings and went 7 hours and 3 minutes, the No. 5 Texas Longhorns toppled the Boston College Eagles 3-2 at the NCAA Austin Regional at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Saturday evening.

The evening was highlighted by the relief performance of Austin Wood. The Longhorns left-hander entered the game with one out and a runner on second base in the seventh inning and proceeded to pitch 12.1 innings before yielding a hit.

For the game, Wood pitched 13.0 scoreless innings, scattering two hits and four walks while striking out a career-high 14. He logged 169 pitches on the evening.



-----------------
Texas Longhorns. 020 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 1 - 3 20 3
BC Eagles........... 000 101 000 000 000 000 000 000 0 - 2 8 0
------------------------------------

E - Loy, B. 2(8); Keyes, K.(2). LOB - UT 24; BC 12. 2B - Clark, P. 3(13);
Keyes, K.(12); Anston, R(22). HR - Keyes, K.(5). HBP - Moldenhauer;
Lawrence, A. SH - Belt, B.(8); Loy, B. 2(23); Hernandez, D 2(6); Hamlet,
M(12). SF - Sanchez, T(3). SB - Tucker, T.(12); Belt, B. 2(14).

Texas Longhorns IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA
--------------------------------------------------------
Ruffin, Chance...... 6.1 5 2 2 1 2 21 24 73 2.95
Wood, Austin........ 13.0 2 0 0 4 14 41 46 169 2.03
Dicharry, Austin.... 5.2 1 0 0 1 4 18 19 65 2.40

A few days after history was made, the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. made a phone call to Longhorns equipment manager, Vinny Alcazar, inquiring for some artifacts from the game. Austin Wood, who threw 169 pitches over 13.0 innings, will donate his size-7 gray cap with the orange bill he wore during the game.


Texas will play TCU in a 3-game series in the Super Regional in Austin beginning June 6.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

First Timer

This is my first official post. I once again thank the so-called lsquared for adding me as a commentator to this impressive and well-known blog. In this first post, I will not mention the University-that-must-not-be-named. But from now on, you can not expect that. In my next post, I plan on reporting on the longest college baseball game of all time.

You Throw Like a Girl

In a recent post about the Aggies winning the NCAA national championship in golf, my nephew-in-law innocently commented that perhaps, in a few years, his son would lead them to another. Actually, it was rather sweet of him, because he isn't an Aggie. But, when I read the comment, I thought: What about your daughters? Isn't it possible that one of them could lead the Aggies to a championship? And of course, I so commented. Sorry, Brett. I guess I have to admit that I am a bit touchy on this subject. In fact, one of the few times (maybe even the only time) that I ever got annoyed with Oxey was when he opined that the Nike commercial featuring girls saying "If they let me play sports..." was the stupidest commercial he'd ever seen. That remark just sent me over the edge...and it sent me over the edge because... THEY DIDN'T LET ME PLAY SPORTS! ("They" are not my parents, though I know my mom was perplexed by my choice of sports over ballet, or dolls, or any other "girlie" thing, and Santa never, ever gave me either the football or baseball glove that I asked for every year (after I was in college, my dad gave me a football for Christmas, finally!)). We had no little league, no soccer league, no organized sports of any kind for girls where I grew up, save the country club sports of tennis and golf (high school had girls tennis, golf, and swim teams). It wasn't deemed appropriate for girls to play team sports back then...it wasn't cool. But why? Shouldn't girls learn the same lessons from team sports that boys do? Wouldn't that be a good thing? Obviously, times have changed and all those old stereotypes have gone by the wayside (I hope). At least sports are available to girls now and the girls who play them aren't considered total weirdos anymore. I would have given my left nut....oh, wait a minute, I don't have a left nut...I guess that is the point. Anyway, I would have given a lot to have been able to play. So, to all you sports loving dads and moms out there: don't forget your daughters; don't forget to play catch with them; don't forget to coach their teams; don't forget to take them to games, read box scores, watch sportscenter, play flies and grounders, pick teams during March Madness, hit a bucket of balls at the driving range, chuck the football around the front yard, play horse,...don't forget your daughters.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

A Fightin Illini Joins the Team

Welcome to bajohnson000. We look forward to your contributions.

Mine, Mine, Mine That Bird!

I guess I am the only one of the W-C-L bloggers who is fascinated by the game of jockey musical chairs that has gone on in connection with horse racing's triple crown. (See Who's on First?, Eat My Dust ,and BACK TO THE FUTURE entries). In any event, it looks like Calvin Borel will be riding Mine That Bird in the Belmont Stakes after all. This race is the longest of the three but based on his performances in the last 2 races, I think MTB can take it, unless he is just too beaten down. As Gary Stevens said after the Preakness, if the race had been 2 strides longer, MTB would have won. So, I will be watching and cheering for MTB all the way.