MarkInAustin

https://www.texastech.edu/board-of-regents/bio-heath.php This is the kind of student TT has been trying to attract. As for his role as the student on the Board of Regents it expires tomorrow, or I would have written to him and asked for his vote to end this self immolation, which, of course, is the stepchild of the Board Chair.

TT has been upgrading its academic rep. For example, it has been attracting national merit finalists with full ride scholarships. But now, with this corrupt tail wagging the dog the school has suffered a blow to its reputation that may set back its image for a decade. This is a damned shame. America and Texas need more reputable and affordable engineering schools. Football wasn't ever going to add to TT's quietly improving reputation but it didn't have to sully it, which it has. I think TT's President deserves to be fired, immediately.

While there are teams outside the B1G and SEC that play big boy football and produce lots of NFL players they are not playing schedules full of other similarly talented teams. In a typical season probably 2/3 of the playoff teams should come from the two major conferences and 1/3 from the rest of the football world, and I think the computer rankings would bear that out. As some have already posted, computer rankings should probably be paramount for the playoffs. Then both the B1G and the SEC teams would feel free to schedule a marquee OOC game every season. USC and ND would resume. Texas could play tOSU, Michigan, or Penn State again. Florida would not be disadvantaged for having Miami and Fl St OOC. If 'Bama chose all patsies it would work against them, not for them. In a rational world.

I think it is a serious question. It deserves more analysis than can be applied to it through the media and the public relations machine. But there is no actual mechanism for in depth analysis available for the sports realm. Were there such a mechanism one could weigh each case individually. For instance, one could determine if the player bet on games in which he actually played. One could determine if the addiction to gambling remained a great future risk for the individual. One could closely monitor the player going forward. Without that certainty of investigation, analysis, and surveillance it makes sense to have a one size fits all answer - and that answer must be "No." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I concede that the level of intrusion I imagine above is technologically feasible, so that it may become a reality both in sports and in our daily lives, and not just in the worlds of counter-intelligence and industrial espionage. We won't like that.

And VY was the ROtY.

Wemby tilted the floor. In a game where the team needed Fox [Castle had an unusual number of turnovers] they beat the other currently great team in a classic on their court. Wemby tilted the floor.

Watching James Harden fake being fouled and the refs buying it. Jarett Allen has played very tough on the boards and on D for the Cavs.

Basketball is ultimately a team sport. That Wemby is supported by a superb three guard unit and multiple wings who can shoot the three and defend and a sub center who is more than merely serviceable allows him to optimize his amazing ability. They are unselfish and all pass the ball to the open shooter. It's good team basketball played by great players. OKC matches up well with the Spurs, of course - and vice versa. No other team matches up well with either, although Brunson is a little devil of a ball player and floor general. I worry that the opponents all playing like the Bad Boy Pistons against Wemby will actually get him hurt. His one weakness is that unlike Wilt or Shaq he isn't physically bullet proof.

To me the foolishness of comparing players out of position is patently obvious because it is a team game. To take HarveyCMD's comparisons literally one would have to think that if Kobe were traded for Duncan the Spurs would have improved. That's not right. On the other hand, during that era, one could readily make a case that trading Kobe for Manu would have helped the Spurs. Frankly I enjoyed watching Manu more. But the case for Kobe could be made, apples to apples, no doubt, despite my anticipation of Manu's fantastic passes and sudden defensive moves and of course catching the bat in midair while bringing the ball up court. Watch for the nutmeg passes!

Who is Amen? I didn't think Wemby deserved a flagrant 2 the other night. I think the refs were in the tank.

Sterling looked collected and capable in this game. I think he will be a contributor by the end of the season.

Kelvin Banks, Summer Creek HS - do you think Camara is THAT good? Why? I know he is a highly regarded prospect, but how can one know that even a 5* HS offensive lineman will be an All American and successful NFL player? The world is full of can't miss offensive linemen who missed, and developmental offensive linemen who hit. If you are relying on your own first hand observations of these players - if you are a coach who has watched and/or scouted offensive linemen for many years - I will take your assessment very seriously. If not, I will just hope Camara lives up to his billing and comes to Texas.

Just like that...

I think ranking basketball players who played different positions in the same column, so to speak, is silly; e.g., comparing Jordan and Wemby. Wemby is dazzling, but a bit fragile. He is so good as a stretch 5 that he is already in the conversation with Wilt, Kareem, Hakeem, Shaq, and Jokic. Time will tell. He isn't a wing. He isn't a point guard. Jordan wasn't a power forward or a point guard or a center. He was the best shooting guard ever and could defend a wide range of opponents. Can we keep all that straight, or do we have to continue comparing apples and oranges?

It is too much to ask a team to play its A game every outing. That is why a schedule with only two talented opponents cannot compare to one with eight. It isn't because more talent is required to play the more difficult schedule. It is because an incredibly more intense emotional cost is levied. Notre Dame can surely talent match with the top half of the B1G and the SEC. But the championship in those conferences is worth a two or three loss differential.