Add this to the list of "
Things that never get old."
"HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW TUCKER?!?"
"HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW?!?"
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Ags upset horns b-ball
Road Trip Music
So, Tuesday night befor I left, I stopped by Best Buy for some new music. Needed to make sure I had plenty of new stuff to listen to on my way down to Laredo.
Jay-Z - Kingdom Come
Another good to great album (The Black Album I consider to be Excellent). There's a few songs that I already love. "Do U Wanna Ride", with John Legend has quickly become my favorite, followed by "Anything" with "Us-her-Ra-ym-ond, Skateboard P and the J to the A to the Y to the Z." The Dre track 30 Something is also pretty good. Hollywood with Beyonce I like, but it's got a showtune chorus, so I'm not sure how manly you can be singing to that one. Either way, it's catchy as hell. Really good album and I highly recommend it.
Snoop Dogg - Blue Carpet Treatment
Snoop Dogg - Blue Carpet Treatment
Sadly, I'm not that impressed with the Dre & Snoop track "Imagine". "Vato" with B-Real and "That's That Shit" with R Kelly are the singles you've probably heard, and they're both good. The 2 songs with Akon, "Boss Life" and "I Wanna Fuck You" are probably getting the most play from me. "LAX" with Cube is pretty good as is Gangbangin 101 with name dropper himself The Game. Overall, i'm happy with this release from Snoop.
Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
Man o' man is this a nice album. Fidelity has to have one of, if not the most cathiest hook there is. Love that..A ah A ah.. aw hell I don't know how to type that out. Just look it up on Myspace or something. It's pretty good. Samson is another song I had previously heard from her that I also really liked. She's a singer songwriter, very much in the vain of Fionna Apple i think, although she's not as emotionally conflicted. I'll have to check, but I think "Hotel Song" is another one I liked.
Thanks to my friend Matt for writing about her in his blog Stay Classy Dallas and giving us a download. I like that you introduce me to new music, and yet you probably don't know it yet.
Up next, I'm hoping to get to Beck's "The Information", along with Chingy's "Hoodstar" as well as some other one's I've downloaded: Ok Go and Neutral Milk Hotel. I think I'll end up getting Incubus' "Light Grenades" before I make another music post.
Monday, November 27, 2006
A&M vs t.u. 2006
First thing's first when talking about the Thanksgiving Holiday.
Anybody know what time it is? Oh yea, it's 6:48.
Anybody know what time it is? Oh yea, it's 6:48.
Looks like it's going to be 12 to 7 for a long time in Aggieland.
How 'bout a few more, cause it's fun.
Mark Dodge, coming up big...again.
SCOREBOARD
BOXSCORE:
For the 'sip excuses.
ESPN Front Page
SCOREBOARD...one more time
Too bad this site doesn't let me post gifs.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Burger King Video Games
Picked up these 3 games yesterday from Burger King for 4 bucks each (with value meal). Funny thing is, the manager didn't want to sell them to me all together. He wanted me to come back 2 more times, buying 1 game each time. F' That. Like that was going to happen.
Anyway, I finally got him to sell them to me. Here are some quick impressions.
Sneak King was ok. Pretty funny to play. You're just basically sneaking up behind people, to give them food. The bigger the surprise, the more points you get. Don't walk into their vision cone, or your multiplyer (the amount of people you surprise in a row) goes back to zero. The animation is a little slow, so that annoyed me. Other than that, it was ok. Not feeling gyped (see what I did there, I didn't use Jewed, family friendly blog here....) outta my 4 bucks.
Pocket Bike Racer may be the best of the lot. It's actually pretty fun, and I could see it being even better with friends or onlive. Think of a cheaper version of Mario Kart. Oh and the computer as the King is definetly cheap. I think this one will get the most play.
I'll didn't get a chance to try out Big Bumpin' so I'll post impressions of that later.
GREATEST.VIDEO.EVER.
Let's Go To The Mall
YouTube Version
Robin Sparkles - Let's Go To the Mall
YouTube Version
Robin Sparkles - Let's Go To the Mall
Hilarious video to go along with another Legen.....wait for it....dary episode of How I Met Your Mother.
Monday, November 20, 2006
WARNING! Viva Pinata is HIGH ADDICTING
So I picked up this game Saturday on the way home from work. Yea that's right, I said "SATURDAY on the way home from WORK." Yea, that wasn't fun, but at least I caught most of the Michigan vs. tOSU game and the end of the 'Bama vs Auburn game. Excellent games by the way, but I digress. I'll be honest. Most people would say it's a kids game. They would be half right. It looks like a kids game. It's got a kids cartoon by the same name.I'll be damned if this isn't one of the most addicting games I've played in a while. I woke up Sunday (because I went to bed early on Saturday from being wiped out) and instead of going to get a Nintendo Wii, I booted this game up. It only took a few minutes of gameplay before I was instantly hooked. Played it most of the day, only stopping to go get my grocceries, eat dinner, watch the Cowboys win and a few other shows. It's amazing how only a few minutes of game time turn into a few hours real time.
Wanna know what the sad part is? I've been thinking about this game all day at work. I've been looking through some message boards for tips. I've been trying to think of what I wanted to work on when I get home tonight. Get rid of the Whirms? What about the Tafflys? How come my Sparrowmints keep getting into fights?
Damn, I need to get back into my Gears of War headstomp this cuteness outta me.
Fran, Aggies need to stop teasing and start pleasing
From the article by Richard Oliver at the San Antonio Express
It's time for Dennis Franchione to fulfill his advertised promise.
After nearly four years of laying a foundation now sprawling enough to accommodate four Kyle Fields, it's time for the Texas A&M football coach to build something special on more than paper.
Like on the scoreboard, for instance.
Franchione needs to produce a cornerstone victory.
Now.
If he can't win this week in Austin, falling to 2-11 in November, 4-17 against Top 25 teams, 1-14 against Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas Tech and archrival Texas, it will be time to work up another blueprint for the future.
Simply, because this high-priced architect is running out of time.
Franchione, hired at great cost to rebuild respect, comes into this week's annual showdown spearheading an Aggies program that under his watch is no longer viewed as a Thanksgiving main course for the ascendant Longhorns.
Instead, A&M has become dessert.
It's a bitter development for a fan base feeling whipped around these days like debris on Highway 6. The football operation has become more teasing than pleasing, sending hopes rising and falling in maddening arcs.
Franchione felt the impact of it over the past two weeks as the Aggies suffered excruciating one-point losses to Oklahoma and Nebraska, leaving question marks planted in the aftermath like cleat marks all over the turf. Then, the harsh reviews of his sideline management hit harder and faster than any day-after headline.
The partisan crowds of 80,000 plus, an ocean of maroon surrounding him, poured down waves of boos.
The significance of that? Aggies don't boo Aggies, a tradition almost as dear as Reveille and The Dixie Chicken.
Even in the worst days of Gene Stallings, Tom Wilson and even Hank Foldberg, any jeer that tumbled from the stands was usually shushed by an A&M populace that embraced a belief of loyalty to the school above all else.
Today, however, the 12th Man, whether on site at Kyle or on edge from afar, is demanding more, and with good reason.
This month has offered more painful doses of close but no cigar, and doubtless even the big cigars in the school's sparkling suites felt the discontent rattling the panes, if not their guts.
The most recent setback, a wrenching 28-27 loss to the Cornhuskers, closed with an infuriating five-minute span that included a blocked field goal, an inability to run out the final 2:30 on the clock and the surrender of a decisive 11-play, 75-yard drive helped along by a brainless penalty.
A week after Franchione's spiritless play-calling in the clutch against Oklahoma, Aggieland endured a game plan that had the offense, with time bleeding away, send freshman Michael Goodson on a sweep that sent him out of bounds, stopping the clock.
Looking on was the Aggies' bull of a running back, Jorvorskie Lane, a proven playmaker relegated to only six carries for 13 yards. A wide-body force not so long ago, he's been mysteriously downsized so quickly these days that it's fair to wonder who will next call his number, Les Koenning or Jenny Craig.
Whatever the reason, the last time Nebraska coach Bill Callahan received a gift like that, Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis was handing him a handsome check to leave the West Coast.
Moments later, Callahan and Co. left Kyle Field with an unlikely Big 12 North championship.
Franchione, in what had been projected as a defining season, was left with a defining message ringing in his ears.
If A&M wanted to invest more than $2 million a year for moral victories, it might do better to expand the campus' All-Faith Chapel.
That, unless something unexpected happens this week in Austin, would at least be something to build on.
************************************************************************
Sums it up perfectly. I know Byrne is on a 6 year plan, but this is getting rediculous, especially with the outrageous ticket prices.
It's time for Dennis Franchione to fulfill his advertised promise.
After nearly four years of laying a foundation now sprawling enough to accommodate four Kyle Fields, it's time for the Texas A&M football coach to build something special on more than paper.
Like on the scoreboard, for instance.
Franchione needs to produce a cornerstone victory.
Now.
If he can't win this week in Austin, falling to 2-11 in November, 4-17 against Top 25 teams, 1-14 against Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas Tech and archrival Texas, it will be time to work up another blueprint for the future.
Simply, because this high-priced architect is running out of time.
Franchione, hired at great cost to rebuild respect, comes into this week's annual showdown spearheading an Aggies program that under his watch is no longer viewed as a Thanksgiving main course for the ascendant Longhorns.
Instead, A&M has become dessert.
It's a bitter development for a fan base feeling whipped around these days like debris on Highway 6. The football operation has become more teasing than pleasing, sending hopes rising and falling in maddening arcs.
Franchione felt the impact of it over the past two weeks as the Aggies suffered excruciating one-point losses to Oklahoma and Nebraska, leaving question marks planted in the aftermath like cleat marks all over the turf. Then, the harsh reviews of his sideline management hit harder and faster than any day-after headline.
The partisan crowds of 80,000 plus, an ocean of maroon surrounding him, poured down waves of boos.
The significance of that? Aggies don't boo Aggies, a tradition almost as dear as Reveille and The Dixie Chicken.
Even in the worst days of Gene Stallings, Tom Wilson and even Hank Foldberg, any jeer that tumbled from the stands was usually shushed by an A&M populace that embraced a belief of loyalty to the school above all else.
Today, however, the 12th Man, whether on site at Kyle or on edge from afar, is demanding more, and with good reason.
This month has offered more painful doses of close but no cigar, and doubtless even the big cigars in the school's sparkling suites felt the discontent rattling the panes, if not their guts.
The most recent setback, a wrenching 28-27 loss to the Cornhuskers, closed with an infuriating five-minute span that included a blocked field goal, an inability to run out the final 2:30 on the clock and the surrender of a decisive 11-play, 75-yard drive helped along by a brainless penalty.
A week after Franchione's spiritless play-calling in the clutch against Oklahoma, Aggieland endured a game plan that had the offense, with time bleeding away, send freshman Michael Goodson on a sweep that sent him out of bounds, stopping the clock.
Looking on was the Aggies' bull of a running back, Jorvorskie Lane, a proven playmaker relegated to only six carries for 13 yards. A wide-body force not so long ago, he's been mysteriously downsized so quickly these days that it's fair to wonder who will next call his number, Les Koenning or Jenny Craig.
Whatever the reason, the last time Nebraska coach Bill Callahan received a gift like that, Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis was handing him a handsome check to leave the West Coast.
Moments later, Callahan and Co. left Kyle Field with an unlikely Big 12 North championship.
Franchione, in what had been projected as a defining season, was left with a defining message ringing in his ears.
If A&M wanted to invest more than $2 million a year for moral victories, it might do better to expand the campus' All-Faith Chapel.
That, unless something unexpected happens this week in Austin, would at least be something to build on.
************************************************************************
Sums it up perfectly. I know Byrne is on a 6 year plan, but this is getting rediculous, especially with the outrageous ticket prices.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
3 More Cd Recommendations
Alright, time to talk about what I've been listening to lately. I finally bought an external hard drive about 3 weeks ago, so after moving some stuff around, I finally had space to rip new Cd's to my Ipod. I've bought quite a few Cd's lately, many on release day, but due to limited hard drive space, I haven't had a chance to listen to them. These 3 were ones that I really was curious to hear.
The Roots - Game Theory: 
I've been a fan of the roots since Phrenology. The single "The Seed 2.0" became an instant favorite of mine and still occupies a top spot in my "Most Often Played" playlist. I came to love that Cd. I was a little disappointed in The Tipping Point, partially because I had high expectations for it, but also for the uneveness of the cd. The single "Don't Say Nothin' " was great as was "Be Cool". I think Game Theory is better than Tipping Point, but not as good as Phrenology. The cd starts out great, lags a bit in the middle, then finishes up strong (look out for "Can't Stop This". I really need to give this cd a few more listens, and give star ratings to my favorite songs so I can remember the names.
John Legend - Once Again
Probably my favorite new artist of last year, I loved "Get Lifted" the first time I heard it. "I Can Change" is the most often played song on my music collection (of course, this is all since I started using an Ipod and Itunes). I was eagerly anticipating John Legend's newest album, and I say it doesn't disappoint. While I think "Get Lifted" had more of an R&B flavor (or in this case, shouldn't I say flava), Once Again seems to lean to more towards the soul genre. I talked about "Save Room" back when it was released as a single. While still great, I think PDA has become my favorite song of the album. The tune was stuck in my head for weeks and it seems to have found it's way to my MySpace (there's got to be a better way to stay that). Stereo is also another personal favorite with a very infectious chorus (damn that sounds like a medical problem).
Audioslave - Revelations
Audioslave is probably the most consistent, and arguably the best band out there right now. The past 2 cd's were great and you could easily listen to them all the way through. I'm sure by now you've heard "Original Fire". While it's a great single, "Like a Stone" from the first album is still my favorite by the band (there's an interesting story that goes along with Like a Stone, that I'll save for another time). Anyway, the entire cd is pretty damn good. This time, the bad goes a little more soulful, instead of straight rock. It's a nice change a pace, without deviating too much. Tom Morello's solos have also been toned down, and blend into the song alot better than before. A worthy cd to pickup, even at full price.
Up next....I've been listening to the new acoustic album from the Foo Fighters, "Skin and Bones", as well as Lupe Fiasco's "Food & Liquor". I also plan to get The Game's "Doctor's Advocate this week as well."
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
State of Aggie Football
This was stolen from Texags, and I'm mainly putting it here for my use. Not really informative unless you are an Aggie or a fan.
********************************************************************************
*This is a re-post of a thread I posted earlier this afternoon on the Aggies Only board*
What I've done is go back through the years 1999-2002. These are the years that show what direction the program was taking when Fran got here. I also looked at recruiting during those years.
From 1999 through 2002, we went 29-19. That’s a 60% winning percentage. Not great, but not terrible. Sometime people look at this and think we weren’t so bad off. So I went deeper than that. I looked at the teams that were beaten during those years, whether we actually got any quality wins, and how we performed in the losses.
1999:
Record: 8-4. Not a bad record, but not what everyone had hoped for after the championship.
We beat 3 teams that had winning records - La Tech, Southern Miss, and t.u. Some might consider La Tech and So Miss to be inferior competition, which is true, although they did have pretty good teams at the time. Some might also put an asterisk beside tu, because that was the bonfire game. Take out those three teams, and the other 5 teams we beat combined for 17 wins. The best record of any of those other 5 was 5-6. The 8 teams we beat went a combined 43-50 (again, 26 of those wins were by 3 teams). The 4 teams we lost to were a combined 35-14. In our losses we were outscored 133-25. We lost to ou 51-6, nebraska 37-0, and Penn St. 24-0. We were never even in the game with the three best teams on the schedule. Never even had a chance. The only big win was over texas.
The running game totaled under 100 yards 3 times that season. One time we rushed for 2 yards in a game on 37 carries. We averaged 3.4 yds/rush over the season. We averaged 145 yds/game, and had 19 rushing TDs.
Record vs. opponents with winning record: 3-4
An 8-4 record masked some problems.
2000:
Record: 7-5. Another step down. We did beat 4 teams with winning records - UTEP, TTU, ISU, KSU. Out of those teams, one was a 7-6 TTU team, and the other was an 8-4 UTEP team. The 7 teams we beat went a combined 41-43. The 5 teams we lost to exceeded the win total of the 7 we beat by going 42-23. Big loss: 26-19 over a CU team that finished 3-8. The big wins were TTU, and they were an average team, and a win over a good KSU team that went 11-3. In retrospect, the only win which can truly be considered big was KSU. Big losses to ND (by 2 TD), a poor CU team, and texas.
4 times that season we had rushing totals less than 100 yards. One other game the total was 103. Over the course of the season we averaged 3.8 yds/rush. The longest run that year was 38 yards (how many has Goodson had over 38? And McGee for that matter?). We averaged 146 yds/game, and had 26 rushing TDs.
Record vs. opponents with winning record: 3-5
2001:
Record: 8-4. Seemingly a step back in the right direction. However, looking back, there was probably never a clearer instance of a team being much worse than its record indicated.The problem was, we beat only 2 teams with winning records, and one of those was I-AA McNeese State (8-4). They had the best record of all the teams we beat, followed by Iowa State at 7-5. The 8 teams we beat went a combined 43-49, while the 4 teams that beat us nearly equaled that same number of wins by going 39-12. There were no big wins. What seemed like big wins at the time were, in retrospect, not. Those would be a win over a Notre Dame team at Kyle Field that finished the season 5-6, and a win over a KSU team that finished the season 6-6. We were outscored in our 4 losses 95-38, which comes to about 2 TD losses for each game.
Record vs. opponents with winning record: 2-4
4 times we failed to rush for over 100 yards. We averaged 3.2 yds/carry for the season. We averaged 114/game, and had 14 rushing TDs.
Signs of trouble: close with McNeese (losing 16-10 at halftime, and losing 24-10 in the third quarter), Wyoming score 28-20 (was 21-20 until we scored with 2:35 left in the game), Baylor score 16-10, with baylor throwing into the endzone at the end of the game trying for the win.
2002:
Record: 6-6. Had we been paying attention, the record should have surprised no one. Our descent, coupled with ou, tu, and ttu getting better should have warned us. Instead, it was like a punch in the stomach. We beat 2 teams with winning records - Pitt and ou. I’m not trying to take anything away from the ou win, but the reality is a freshman came in and took over the game. We play that thing 10 times, and we’ll lose at least 8 of them. The teams we beat went a combined 33-42. Excluding ou, those teams went 21-40. The best record of the other 4 wins was a 4-8 La Tech team. The teams that beat us went 50-30. Big losses: a 7-7 nebraska team, and a 5-7 missouri team.
Record vs. opponents with winning record: 2-5.
We averaged 3.4 yards/rush over the season, 118 yds/game, and had 18 rushing TDs. Longest rush of the season was 35 yards.
In all honesty, we should have been no better than 5-7 this year.
We played 48 games, and had 3 big wins: tu in ‘99, KSU in 2000, and ou in ‘02. From ‘99 to ‘02, we were 1-3 against tu, ttu, and ou, or a combined 3-9.
Our inability to run the ball was staggering.
This shows the rushing comparisons for the last several years:
games w/ games
Year avg/rush avg/game TDs over 200yds w/ less
than 100
1999 3.4 145 19 3 3
2000 3.8 146 26 2 4
2001 3.2 114 14 0 4
2002 3.4 118 18 1 5
2003 4.4 177 22 4 1
2004 4.6 167 24 2 2
2005 5.7 234 24 8 1
2006 5.1 207 30 6 0
Now a quick look at building the team: recruiting.
I again started with ‘99, because if they had redshirted, those players would have been redshirt seniors Fran’s first year.
1999
The best players were gone after 2002. Sammy Davis, Ty Warren, Terrence Kiel ,Taylor Whitley.
14 of the recruits were non-contributors, and you could make it 15 because Jared Morris got hurt.
DL - Shannon Mitchell, Brian West
LB - Jason LeDoux, Damien West, Toron Wooldridge
DB - Ellison Collins, Everett Smith, Reggie Waddell
QB - Colby Freeman
RB - Richard Whitaker, Maurice Harris, Oschlor Fleming
OL- James Milkavich, John Kirk, Britt Lively
TE - Teshumbrae Brown, Fred Spiller
That’s 17 of our signees that never contributed as 5th year seniors. Only 8 even made to their 5th year, and those 8 weren’t contributors. Another, Jared Morris, didn’t really because he got hurt.
2000
21 signees. 7 never even earned a letter. 5th year seniors were Keith Joseph, Jonte Buhl, Marcus Jasmin, Kevin Mangum (non-contributor), and Keelan Jackson (injured),
FB - Mathus Gill
TE - Joey “I wish I could sign 20" Perot
DB - Adam Black, Dawon Gentry, Mike Pinesette, Kevin Mangum,
LB - LeBrandon Sheppard, Brian Thompson, Ricky Cardoza
DL - Eddie Brown
WR - Eric Crutchfield
K - Chris Sims
We netted zero linebackers, 1 DL, and 1 DB out of this class. 12 of the 21 were non-contributors. Total letters earned by this class - 38. By comparison, texas and tceh’s classes this year earned each earned 55 letters.
2001
23 signees. 10 were non-contributors. 7 never lettered.
WR- John Roberson
OL - Quinten Holman, Cole Smith
DL - Donny Stringer, Lawrence Hooper, Thomas Carriger (moved to TE)
LB - John Boutte, Brandon Johnson, Randall Webb
DB - Jarvis Mays
We got nothing from the DL class, because Stringer and Hooper never contributed, and Carriger was moved. Nothing from the LB class because Boutte and Johnson never contributed, and Webb was kicked off the team.
2002
23 signees. 8 non-contributors.
WR - Nick Rhodes
TE - Patrick Fleming
OL - Brandon Flanagan
DL - Dennis Ellis, Brandon Fails, Ju Parks, Brian Patrick
LB - Kelvin “watch out for the” Flood, Andy Matakis
So 35 of about 90 players over the course of those 4 recruiting classes either never made it to campus, never played, or played so little that their contribution is minimal. More than 1/3 of players never helped the team at all. 35 PLAYERS IS CLOSE TO THE EQUIVALENT OF 2 RECRUITING CLASSES THAT WE GOT NOTHING FROM.
Dave Campbell’s 5 year rank of the recruiting classes has A&M’s class as follows:
1999: #5 in the state, behind texas, ttu, tcu, and unt.
2000: #6 in the state, behind the same 5 plus rice
2001: #5 in the state, behind the same 5 as 1999.
Our classes were typically highly ranked when we got them, but then fell way short once they were evaluated on number of letters earned, number of starting seasons, number of all conference players, number of all-americans, etc.
This team was on a downward trend since 1998. Wins were coming against weak competition. Decent records masked big problems. Then, ou, tu, and ttu all hired new coaches, who began upgrading their teams. That’s not to mention some new coaches in the north division who began upgrading some truly bad teams. So distance was quickly put between where we were, and we wanted to be. It was like 2 cars pulling away from each other at 60 mph. It might not have been so bad if just the other teams were improving, but we were going to other way.
Fran stepped into a bad team in 2003. A team that the prior year had gone 6-6, even with 3 players taken in the first 2 rounds of the NFL draft. He was left extremely short on talent. The 4-8 season of 2003 was coming no matter who the coach was.
People like to say we weren't a bad team, we hadn't had a losing season in however many years. But the fact is, this team was in bad shape. It was clear on the field when you look past records, and the recruiting was horrendous.
We had a weak team with no playmakers.
********************************************************************************
*This is a re-post of a thread I posted earlier this afternoon on the Aggies Only board*
What I've done is go back through the years 1999-2002. These are the years that show what direction the program was taking when Fran got here. I also looked at recruiting during those years.
From 1999 through 2002, we went 29-19. That’s a 60% winning percentage. Not great, but not terrible. Sometime people look at this and think we weren’t so bad off. So I went deeper than that. I looked at the teams that were beaten during those years, whether we actually got any quality wins, and how we performed in the losses.
1999:
Record: 8-4. Not a bad record, but not what everyone had hoped for after the championship.
We beat 3 teams that had winning records - La Tech, Southern Miss, and t.u. Some might consider La Tech and So Miss to be inferior competition, which is true, although they did have pretty good teams at the time. Some might also put an asterisk beside tu, because that was the bonfire game. Take out those three teams, and the other 5 teams we beat combined for 17 wins. The best record of any of those other 5 was 5-6. The 8 teams we beat went a combined 43-50 (again, 26 of those wins were by 3 teams). The 4 teams we lost to were a combined 35-14. In our losses we were outscored 133-25. We lost to ou 51-6, nebraska 37-0, and Penn St. 24-0. We were never even in the game with the three best teams on the schedule. Never even had a chance. The only big win was over texas.
The running game totaled under 100 yards 3 times that season. One time we rushed for 2 yards in a game on 37 carries. We averaged 3.4 yds/rush over the season. We averaged 145 yds/game, and had 19 rushing TDs.
Record vs. opponents with winning record: 3-4
An 8-4 record masked some problems.
2000:
Record: 7-5. Another step down. We did beat 4 teams with winning records - UTEP, TTU, ISU, KSU. Out of those teams, one was a 7-6 TTU team, and the other was an 8-4 UTEP team. The 7 teams we beat went a combined 41-43. The 5 teams we lost to exceeded the win total of the 7 we beat by going 42-23. Big loss: 26-19 over a CU team that finished 3-8. The big wins were TTU, and they were an average team, and a win over a good KSU team that went 11-3. In retrospect, the only win which can truly be considered big was KSU. Big losses to ND (by 2 TD), a poor CU team, and texas.
4 times that season we had rushing totals less than 100 yards. One other game the total was 103. Over the course of the season we averaged 3.8 yds/rush. The longest run that year was 38 yards (how many has Goodson had over 38? And McGee for that matter?). We averaged 146 yds/game, and had 26 rushing TDs.
Record vs. opponents with winning record: 3-5
2001:
Record: 8-4. Seemingly a step back in the right direction. However, looking back, there was probably never a clearer instance of a team being much worse than its record indicated.The problem was, we beat only 2 teams with winning records, and one of those was I-AA McNeese State (8-4). They had the best record of all the teams we beat, followed by Iowa State at 7-5. The 8 teams we beat went a combined 43-49, while the 4 teams that beat us nearly equaled that same number of wins by going 39-12. There were no big wins. What seemed like big wins at the time were, in retrospect, not. Those would be a win over a Notre Dame team at Kyle Field that finished the season 5-6, and a win over a KSU team that finished the season 6-6. We were outscored in our 4 losses 95-38, which comes to about 2 TD losses for each game.
Record vs. opponents with winning record: 2-4
4 times we failed to rush for over 100 yards. We averaged 3.2 yds/carry for the season. We averaged 114/game, and had 14 rushing TDs.
Signs of trouble: close with McNeese (losing 16-10 at halftime, and losing 24-10 in the third quarter), Wyoming score 28-20 (was 21-20 until we scored with 2:35 left in the game), Baylor score 16-10, with baylor throwing into the endzone at the end of the game trying for the win.
2002:
Record: 6-6. Had we been paying attention, the record should have surprised no one. Our descent, coupled with ou, tu, and ttu getting better should have warned us. Instead, it was like a punch in the stomach. We beat 2 teams with winning records - Pitt and ou. I’m not trying to take anything away from the ou win, but the reality is a freshman came in and took over the game. We play that thing 10 times, and we’ll lose at least 8 of them. The teams we beat went a combined 33-42. Excluding ou, those teams went 21-40. The best record of the other 4 wins was a 4-8 La Tech team. The teams that beat us went 50-30. Big losses: a 7-7 nebraska team, and a 5-7 missouri team.
Record vs. opponents with winning record: 2-5.
We averaged 3.4 yards/rush over the season, 118 yds/game, and had 18 rushing TDs. Longest rush of the season was 35 yards.
In all honesty, we should have been no better than 5-7 this year.
We played 48 games, and had 3 big wins: tu in ‘99, KSU in 2000, and ou in ‘02. From ‘99 to ‘02, we were 1-3 against tu, ttu, and ou, or a combined 3-9.
Our inability to run the ball was staggering.
This shows the rushing comparisons for the last several years:
games w/ games
Year avg/rush avg/game TDs over 200yds w/ less
than 100
1999 3.4 145 19 3 3
2000 3.8 146 26 2 4
2001 3.2 114 14 0 4
2002 3.4 118 18 1 5
2003 4.4 177 22 4 1
2004 4.6 167 24 2 2
2005 5.7 234 24 8 1
2006 5.1 207 30 6 0
Now a quick look at building the team: recruiting.
I again started with ‘99, because if they had redshirted, those players would have been redshirt seniors Fran’s first year.
1999
The best players were gone after 2002. Sammy Davis, Ty Warren, Terrence Kiel ,Taylor Whitley.
14 of the recruits were non-contributors, and you could make it 15 because Jared Morris got hurt.
DL - Shannon Mitchell, Brian West
LB - Jason LeDoux, Damien West, Toron Wooldridge
DB - Ellison Collins, Everett Smith, Reggie Waddell
QB - Colby Freeman
RB - Richard Whitaker, Maurice Harris, Oschlor Fleming
OL- James Milkavich, John Kirk, Britt Lively
TE - Teshumbrae Brown, Fred Spiller
That’s 17 of our signees that never contributed as 5th year seniors. Only 8 even made to their 5th year, and those 8 weren’t contributors. Another, Jared Morris, didn’t really because he got hurt.
2000
21 signees. 7 never even earned a letter. 5th year seniors were Keith Joseph, Jonte Buhl, Marcus Jasmin, Kevin Mangum (non-contributor), and Keelan Jackson (injured),
FB - Mathus Gill
TE - Joey “I wish I could sign 20" Perot
DB - Adam Black, Dawon Gentry, Mike Pinesette, Kevin Mangum,
LB - LeBrandon Sheppard, Brian Thompson, Ricky Cardoza
DL - Eddie Brown
WR - Eric Crutchfield
K - Chris Sims
We netted zero linebackers, 1 DL, and 1 DB out of this class. 12 of the 21 were non-contributors. Total letters earned by this class - 38. By comparison, texas and tceh’s classes this year earned each earned 55 letters.
2001
23 signees. 10 were non-contributors. 7 never lettered.
WR- John Roberson
OL - Quinten Holman, Cole Smith
DL - Donny Stringer, Lawrence Hooper, Thomas Carriger (moved to TE)
LB - John Boutte, Brandon Johnson, Randall Webb
DB - Jarvis Mays
We got nothing from the DL class, because Stringer and Hooper never contributed, and Carriger was moved. Nothing from the LB class because Boutte and Johnson never contributed, and Webb was kicked off the team.
2002
23 signees. 8 non-contributors.
WR - Nick Rhodes
TE - Patrick Fleming
OL - Brandon Flanagan
DL - Dennis Ellis, Brandon Fails, Ju Parks, Brian Patrick
LB - Kelvin “watch out for the” Flood, Andy Matakis
So 35 of about 90 players over the course of those 4 recruiting classes either never made it to campus, never played, or played so little that their contribution is minimal. More than 1/3 of players never helped the team at all. 35 PLAYERS IS CLOSE TO THE EQUIVALENT OF 2 RECRUITING CLASSES THAT WE GOT NOTHING FROM.
Dave Campbell’s 5 year rank of the recruiting classes has A&M’s class as follows:
1999: #5 in the state, behind texas, ttu, tcu, and unt.
2000: #6 in the state, behind the same 5 plus rice
2001: #5 in the state, behind the same 5 as 1999.
Our classes were typically highly ranked when we got them, but then fell way short once they were evaluated on number of letters earned, number of starting seasons, number of all conference players, number of all-americans, etc.
This team was on a downward trend since 1998. Wins were coming against weak competition. Decent records masked big problems. Then, ou, tu, and ttu all hired new coaches, who began upgrading their teams. That’s not to mention some new coaches in the north division who began upgrading some truly bad teams. So distance was quickly put between where we were, and we wanted to be. It was like 2 cars pulling away from each other at 60 mph. It might not have been so bad if just the other teams were improving, but we were going to other way.
Fran stepped into a bad team in 2003. A team that the prior year had gone 6-6, even with 3 players taken in the first 2 rounds of the NFL draft. He was left extremely short on talent. The 4-8 season of 2003 was coming no matter who the coach was.
People like to say we weren't a bad team, we hadn't had a losing season in however many years. But the fact is, this team was in bad shape. It was clear on the field when you look past records, and the recruiting was horrendous.
We had a weak team with no playmakers.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
They Want to Catch Me Ridin Dirty
My new 2006 4Runner. V8 4WD, leather interior..argh argh argh! I'm also having one of those spoilers put on the back like some of the rest of the 4Runner's have. That should be done soon.
I was sad to see my Yukon go, but man alive after 168K miles, I wasn't sure how much longer she would last, so last Friday, I traded it in for this beauty. While I didn't really enjoy the purchasing process, I love actually having a new car and driving it. Great ride down to College Station last weekend for the OU game (Fran, why do you make it soo hard for me to like you?).
Emergence Day is Today!!
Hell Fucking Yea! I'm even leaving work early to pick this bad boy up. It was hard, seeing my friends list yesterday and about half of them already had the game. I should be playing the hell outta this one tonight, with only a small break for LOST, and maybe OTH. See you online!
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Poster for Equus
Our first glimpse at the poster for the West End revival of Equus. The controversial play has generated a lot of headlines after the casting of Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe was announced.The play, about a young man's attacks on horses and a psychiatrist's attempt to explain them, requires Radcliffe to appear NAKED on stage.In the striking new poster, Radcliffe's naked torso is seen morphing into the head of a horse. Don't know much about this movie/play, but I think this is a very cool poster.
Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments II - The Domino Effect
| The guys from EepyBird are back, with 251 bottles of Diet Coke and over 1,500 Mentos mints. In Experiment #137, they did a mint-powered version of the Bellagio fountains. This time, it's one giant Coke & Mentos chain reaction that has to be seen to be believed. * Probably the coolest Diet Coke/Mentos video I've seen. | |
Friday, November 03, 2006
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Borat -The first 4 minutes of his Movie
- My name is Borat. I like you. I like sex. It's niiice.
- .....and *assholes* Uzbekistan
- This a Urkin, the town rapist. Naughty naughty!
- ...a town mechanic and abortionist.
- My neighbor is a pain in my assholes. I get window, he get window. I get step, he must get step. I get clock radio...he cannot afford. Great success!
Hilarious. This movie should be greatness. Now I need to get my friends to see it.
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