Just Hide Behind Me, Mack

I have said this all season, and I am not changing now. I believe that Vince Young is the story tomorrow. I believe in him and his confidence and his ability to beat Oklahoma. He is truly a special player, but more importantly he is a guy who brings a swagger to a program that is not sure about its swagger most years.

Now Dan will remind you that I pick Texas to win this game almost every year, and he is right. I made the mistake of believing in Chris Simms and Mack Brown, and then I made the mistake of believing Vince Young was ready last year. I will not run from those poor predictions, but I also won’t concede that because of being wrong in 2002 or 2004 that will make me wrong in 2005.

If you are picking Oklahoma, you are picking them based on history. You are picking them based on what you have not seen this season. You are picking them based on some Jedi-mind trick that Bob Stoopes will put on Mack Brown so that Mack will let Ben and the Droids pass through Mos Eisley. It can’t be on anything you have seen so far this season. Like, Texas beating Ohio State and Missouri, Oklahoma being dominated physically by TCU and then ambushed by UCLA.

Has Mack Brown changed? Not sure. But Vince Young doesn’t rely on Mack Brown. He won’t need Mack to step in and answer a question for him. He won’t need Mack to make some weak game plan to protect him. This is not Chris Simms. It is a new day for Texas Football. It may only last until January when Vince makes the ill-advised decision to turn pro early, but it is here. Texas wins because they have a QB who is not affected by Jedi tricks.

Texas 27, Oklahoma 13




Gay?

This story claims money doesn’t buy you championships in baseball …despite the fact that money buys you a playoff berth evidently (see yesterday’s blog)…
P1 Aggie writes on Tech website …



Nascar distances from the stars and bars …

Brian France doesn't like fans flying Confederate flags at races as he tries to make auto racing more appealing to minorities and women.

"It's not a flag that I look at with anything favorable. That's for sure," France said in an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes to be aired Sunday. "I can't tell people what flag to fly. I can tell you the flag we get behind: It's the American flag."

Last night, I watched a good portion of the NHL slate, including the Coyotes-Kings. Kings won 3-2, but the remarkable moment was when Kings coach Andy Murray pointed out that The Great One filled out his lineup card wrong ….

Right wing Fredrik Sjostrom was listed as a scratch but dressed and played the first five minutes of the game before being ruled ineligible.

Gretzky didn't fill out the roster, but took the blame.

"The bottom line is it's my responsibility," he said. "There's no one else to blame but me. It happened and it won't happen again."

funny cab driver story …

St. Louis cab driver Bill Carson says he was only talking up the home team when San Diego Padres manager Bruce Bochy responded with words about a knock on the head. Carson said he wasn't amused.

The Wednesday edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported on Bochy's cab ride from the Hyatt Regency Hotel at Union Station to Busch Stadium Tuesday morning. Without naming the driver, the newspaper quoted Bochy as saying the cabbie said, "'The bleeping Cardinals are going to kill those Padres.'"

Bochy said he told the driver, "Yeah? And how do you think a knot on the back of your head will feel?"

Shown a copy of the Union-Tribune article Wednesday, Carson told a somewhat different story.

"I never would cuss the Cardinals. I might cuss the Padres," said Carson, 48, a driver for Midwest Taxi. "I figured they (Bochy and two fellow riders) were with the Padres somehow, so I told them the Cardinals would win 8-3, and only because St. Louis would give them a few runs. Then he talks about a knock on the head. I thought it was pretty inappropriate.

"I was standing up for my home team," Carson said at the cab stand near Union Station.

The Union-Tribune said riding with Bochy were general manager Kevin Towers and pitching coach Darren Balsley.

Carson said the 10-block ride netted him a tip of only $1.50. "Maybe we should give the poor guys a free ride to the airport," he said.

NFL Turnover numbers for Week 4.

Here are the 14 game winners, followed by the turnover margin from each game. The object of the game here is that the team that wins the turnover battle wins the game.

NYG +5, NO +2, SD +2, Den +4, Cin +1, Wash -1, Ind +1, TB -3, Balt -2, Oak +1, Atl +3, Phil +3, Arz +1, Car +1

Week 4 totals: 11-3 79%
Season totals: 38-13-9 75%

Records for teams that finish:

+5 = 7-0
+4 = 4-0
+3 = 5-1
+2 = 8-4
+1 = 14-8

Watched another game last night…

Chargers 41 – Patriots 17

It is still hard to believe that a team that was so stacked could still go ahead and land Cory Dillon last year. I know I should accept it, but talk about the rich getting richer. Tim Dwight makes me think the same thing…Antonio Gates proves to me every time I watch the Chargers play that he is no fluke. Unstoppable…Shawne Merriman is starting to contribute to the Chargers defense finally…The Patriots defensive backfield looks especially vulnerable right now with Harrison out…Apparently, the Chargers have figured out that Tomlinson needs the ball often…I freaking love Ben Watson’s game. I knew it on draft day of 2004, and his injury hurt, but he is now ready to star…Reche Caldwell made some big plays, but somehow, the Chargers do what they do pretty much with Gates and LT – and that is how Brees keep so efficient, as he never takes a chance with the ball…Keep an eye on Michael Turner, who showed some brilliant bursts…That was a very impressive win from the Chargers…


Here is some email follow-up to our discussion about the history of Baylor-A&M:

Bob,

I was just listening to your segment on the SA Express article on the Student death/hijacked railcar story about the Baylor-A&M rivalry. I, too, heard that story from an old Baylor professor and it was pretty much word-for-word what you read. I thought you might be interested to hear a few other stories passed down about the rivalry:

1) The old tradition at Baylor was to literally “beat” an Aggie if you ever found one on campus – so, a long-time BU tradition was to make “Aggie Sticks” that each student would carry with them the week of the game and if any Aggies were caught on campus anywhere (playing a prank or whatever), the students were supposed to beat them with the stick until they got off campus.

2) (Going off the tradition mentioned above of “beating” Aggies) Supposedly, a long time ago when Samuel Brooks was President of Baylor, there was an instance when the Baylor students saw/caught an Aggie student on campus. Well, instead of beating him, they decided that it was a good idea to hang him from a tree outside of the Baylor administration building. Legend has it that they strung him up and President Brooks saw it out the window and had to go cut the rope himself to save the poor guy. Once again…please understand…this was a story told to me.

3) Another story is that the Aggies came to Baylor’s campus one time and took tranquilizers from their Vet school and sedated the Baylor bear and stole it. The Baylor side of the story is that the tranquilizers wore off and the bear woke up in the car on the way to College Station and they had to “abandon ship.” Supposedly that bear is the one that is stuffed and stands in a case in the Baylor library (not joking).

So…that gives you a taste of the stories that float around about the rivalry. They could just be legend, they could be true – I don’t know. I figured you guys would enjoy them nonetheless. My understanding is that the rivalry for many years had to do with the proximity of the campuses to each other and the fact that Baylor was a STRONGLY co-ed school and A&M was all male until the 70’s.

Have fun in Aggieland.
Best regards,
Isaac Haas

And then this which was forwarded to me doesn’t help the myth about sports people:

Why Athletes Can't Get Other Jobs

Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson on being a role model: "I wan' all dem kids to do what I do, to look up to me. I wan' all the kids to copulate me."
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New Orleans Saint RB George Rogers when asked about the upcoming season: "I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first."
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And, upon hearing Joe Jacobi of the 'Skins say: "I'd run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl," Matt Millen of the Raiders said: "To win, I'd run over Joe's Mom, too."
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Torrin Polk, University of Houston receiver, on his coach, John Jenkins: "He treats us like men. He lets us wear earrings."
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Football commentator and former player Joe Theismann, 1996: "Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."
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Senior basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh: "I'm going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes." (now that is beautiful)
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Bill Peterson, a Florida State football coach: "You guys line up alphabetically by height." And, "You guys pair up in groups of three, then line up in a circle."
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Boxing promoter Dan Duva on Mike Tyson hooking up again with promoter Don King: "Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton."
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Stu Grimson, Chicago Blackhawks left wing, explaining why he keeps a color photo of himself above his locker: "That's so when I forget how to spell my name, I can still find my clothes."
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Lou Duva, veteran boxing trainer, on the Spartan training regime of heavyweight Andrew Golota: "He's a guy who gets up at six o'clock in the morning regardless of what time it is."
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Chuck Nevitt, North Carolina State basketball player, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at practice: "My sister's expecting a baby, and I don't know if I'm going to be an uncle or an aunt." (I wonder if his IQ ever hit room temperature in January)
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Frank Layden, Utah Jazz president, on a former player: "I told him, 'Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?'

He said, 'Coach, I don't know, and I don't care.'"
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Shelby Metcalf, basketball coach at Texas A&M, recounting what he told a player who received four F's and one D: "Son, looks to me like you're spending too much time on one subject."
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Amarillo High School and Oiler coach Bum Phillips when asked by Bob Costas why he takes his wife on all the road trips, Phillips responded: "Because she is too damn ugly to kiss good-bye."
(Dead man walkin')