Inspired73

Thanks Blake, this is an interesting list......it seems like these guys fall into several categories: A. Should never been hired to begin with: Brennan, Foster, Locksley, Norvell (These were "the best the AD could do with his budget) B. Bless their hearts - "They don't have a fighting chance": Wilcox (Cal), Elliott (Virginia), Fickel (Wiscn), Pittman (Arky) C. I Want Their Agent: Riley, Venables, D. Be Patient, wee hopper: Napier, Freeze, Stoops, Napier E. No When To Exit Stage Left: Gundy (with the benefactor gone, OSU probably belongs in Category B) Honorable Mention: Any Board of Regents Chair that signed off on a ridiculous buyout deal.

Thank God for OSU. This "classic" has all the makings of a 1-2 season starter. Although Baylor tends to be real good or real bad. Not sure of their current cycle.

Really? Answer: Because you guys (and me) would murder them for crappy recruiting. Let's be clear here. I am firmly in the "I want it all" bucket! Alas, things don't work that way.

That's like noting a tiny zit on the homecoming queen. You know, the one that every guys wants to date but can't even get a smile from her!

I don't get it. Where is the money coming from to pay the 8 Billion in debt service? Here in San Antonio, the Spurs don't routinely sell out. They have two major local sponsors.....Frost and HEB. Local TV rating are flaccid. They only command 1 tv at our favorite bar. These buyers are betting on more national and worldwide tv revenues. I feel certain that those guys are smarter than me, but gee, I just don't see where the debt service is going to come from. The only way the NBA survives is if it turns into a World league with a team in each of the top 20 cities in the world. PS: the interest on 8 billion at 5% (way below market)=400 million annually.

Jeff/Blake Why don't we just report on players leaving that actually contributed to the team's success in 25? Almost all of the leaves are "ho-humm". Or, as an alternative, just build an XL with 3 columns...In, Out, Undecided. We can check each morning, then move on.

This one is quite interesting. From the bleachers, it looks like Coach is building flexibility with his pickups. None of his pickups are super stars, but they all offer something. Gonzales may be the illusive left-handed bat (as well as shutdown reliever)

A fun off season debate. I wonder how they arrived at this list. Must have been bored. Basketball-the fans can be right on you. The fans often intimidate the officials more that the players. Baseball-every stadium plays different. Knowing your home turf is very valuable. Having fans that understand the nuances of baseball is a real advantage at home. Football-whomever plays best for the entire game always wins. Most football players are not afraid of flying tortilla, a burning sofa, or a coach making his intro on a motor bike. Officials are not intimidated. Given that I invested 10 minutes on this response.......you guessed it........i am bored stiff today.

Yep. Last remnants of mediocrity. After watching Coastal and LSU (the Big Boys), it was clear to me that that we have a ways to go..........esp in the pitching area.!

As I read the early press of this decision, the ruling just governs what each school can pay out of its budget. I assume that this makes the players employees. This decision does not (as yet) affect what outside sources can pay.....ie Campbell at Tech or Tito's at Texas., etc. These collective funds seem to be unaffected. (if i am wrong, please so note). If this is in fact true, then the big money schools will not be affected one bit. It does however, allow schools with no 'collective' funds to get into the NIL game. The real question is "does this decision really change anything?" It really does not appear so to me. Interesting side note: If a kid takes school NIL check, they become an employee. They will pay taxes. They will probably no longer qualify for tax free Pell. Their parents will no longer be able to take them as dependent. If schools divvy up the money ratably, then it looks like a net of about 50K each. Good money for a 20-year-old, but not life altering. In fact, their "consultants" will be taking a pay cut. Or, will they even need a consultant? For UT athletics, it probably means no more Drone shows or department sponsored concerts. Oh, the sacrifices we will need to make! On the surface, the only good thing this legislation appeared to do was remove football from the NCAA and signal the end of NCAA division one rule.

I agree 100%. Ever wondered what our record would have been if Pierce was still here?

This comment and some others on the thread leave me with one thought..."Where do I start?" And I will take the High Road while Hashtag and You fight it out for the silliness award. First the pitching was much improved over the last few years. No this isn't Clemens, Shiraldi, et al.......but it was much better than before. The pitchers' mechanics were much more consistent. They attacked the Zone. They got balls in play. Unfortunately, the problem with more balls in play was our middle infield. You can't sugar coat it. We need to be better at shortstop and second. Our middle guys make too many errors. I don't think this is a coaching issue, but rather a recruiting issue. If may just be an experience issue, but a David Williams clone would be sweet. The Spencer issue was HUGE. He is 1 of 2 Horns than were ranked in the top 100 pro-draft prospect....and they weren't top 50. Tennessee had something like 6 kids. Our Sunday starter should have been the Tuesday guy. As for hit batters, this is a direct result of the new style of hitting. Batters today dive into the ball more today because they are afraid of the outside corner strike. Batters also "coil" their hips more today which reduces batter mobility. But, Fans love the long ball and that style generates longballs. The result is the batter has less mobility and is generally not in a position to bail on inside pitches. It also doesn't help that the batters now have all types of protective gear on that takes the fear out of being hit.... thank you Craig Biggio. One last thought on the hit batter issue. I would like to see the stats on "us being hit by pitch" vs. "opponent being hit by our pitchers". I bet it was close to 50-50. Other than you not personally liking Tulo whatever the reason, I see no reason for him to leave. Texas was a very good hitting team. Our hitters had a consistently good approach. We scored plenty of runs. That is his job and he did a good job. (i think there is more to your Tulo issue than you are letting on)

For the Youngs on the thread......... Edwin Simmons was incredible talent. Incredible.......... It is such a shame for someone to waste their God given talent. All of us Olds know the story, but what a shame.

I don't think our SEC tournament seeding is going to affect our NIT invite. We should be solid there.

Or, getting a coach that knows how to utilize his budget! I also think someone that at least has some offensive foundation skills would be nice as well.