NFL DRAFT and fight of the century!!! PACQUIAO vs Mayweather

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NFL draft is here. And we're making the call that Tampa Bay are going with... Mariota. And then the fit hits the shan, good luck keeping up with the trades ups and downs.

And there is this little fight of the century. That is unfortunately happening years too late.


Things we are reading:
Don't go to Buffalo Wild Wings for Fight
Still Don't Get OKC Coaching Situation
C-USA kicking out a program? Football Rules!

UT Lives Strong and Wild NFL Weekend

Man three amazing games, one horrible collapse and one quarterback that will face questions all offseason is what we got from the NFL, but before we get to that there was a little change down in Austin.

UT Hires Charlie Strong

Well Strong was on the list of candidates that was circulating around the web for months, but there is no way in hell that he was number one on the list. Saban was the "all-in" bet, but when that didn't work out it was Plan B then ulitmately Plan C (Charlie Strong). Anyone saying that he was UT's choice is rewriting history or is a PR flack for UT. You don't have Mora, Briles etc. declining things if there aren't some conversations happening.

Ok, so he wasnt the first choice, but that does not make him a bad choice. What he accomplished  at Louisville in a very short time is really remarkable. And getting Bridgewater to play like he did at the end of this season and all of '12, he did what any good coach can do is rid the hot hand. Now before everyone gets all excited about Big East or AAC being the same as BIG 12, just ask West Virginia how that is working out. Its a completely different game. On top of that there are reports that Stong is not historically a open to the media type of guy. That's going to be pretty darn hard to be with your own ESPN channel with several hours of programming that the school is getting paid $20 million a year for. Granted the two folks who were behind that are gone, but unless there is some serious contract reneogtiations Charlie is in for some PR training.

End of the day, I think this is a strong hire (sorry) but certainly not a homerun. Guess we will see.

NFL Wildcard Weekend

The Battle of the Westlake Chaps fell to Foles on the TDs and QB rating (i think, that's a jacked up formula) but Brees, Payton and the running game earned the Saints their first road playoff win and a trip to Seattle.

If you were doing family stuff and were checking one the Chiefs/Colts game off and on (like me) you probably turned it off and only tuned back in the 4th qtr. When I tuned in from the car the Colts covered 90 yards in about 5 minutes and that's when you knew this game was over, and they were still losing after that score. Shame that the Chiefs fantastic season has to end and I feel sorry for the slaughter that Andy Reid will get for another collapse.

I can't imagine that the coverage and pressure of being the starting QB for the Bengals is the same as what Romo has to put up with in Dallas, but those are two QBs who can certainly have a long heart to heart about underdelivering in big games. And everytime Zimmer and his defense get his name on a coaching short list, something like the Chargers game seems to happen.

Did you know it gets cold in Green Bay this time of year? Hell it was 35 degrees in Dallas and that felt miserable, I can't imagine what that must have felt like for every linemen that had to put his hands down in that turf every play, let alone anyone a) making a hit or b) betting hit. But what a game. Green Bay was missing some parts all year, but managed to win the North and host a playoff game. However San Fran''s offense and special teams just had more ammo. And its great to see Crabtree making yards out there.

NATIONAL TITLE GAME

I have no clue how this is going. FSU has an amazing offense and defense and so does Auburn. I hate the press that the SEC gets, but you can't argue with success. I think that this will end up being a great game, but Auburn has used up a few years worth of good mojo just to get here so I'll take FSU with the win Alex..

Happy New Year and Welcome Back to Wisdom of the Crowd

Ah the joys of a new year and a new technology that eats an entire post. Well let me make this short and sweet. I'm back to writing this blog and unlike in the past when it was 100% Texas Tech Football, I will be sticking with sports, but covering a lot more (NASCAR, NBA, PGA, etc.) and even taken a stroll in other directions (current events, movies, books, who knows).

BOWL Recap:

Writing this during 1st quarter of Fiesta bowl and Baylor is down 14-0. Who had that in their pool?

Too many bowls to recap them all, but here are a few:

New Mexico Bowl - Thought the Cougars and Leach had this one in the bag and then an avalanche of poor plays came down and buried them. Hard way to start new year.

Alamo Bowl - This game pretty much summed up the final few years of the Mack Brown era, poor play calls, questionable personnel decisions and ultimately a team and staff that looked checked out. I believe that in a few years, UT will look back on the Mack Brown year's differently than they do right now. But due to egos of a few people (mack, deloss and donors) they really screwed up how to wrap this thing up in class. And why do you need a committee to hire a coach at UT? Except if you want to make sure nobody can solely be blamed if he doesn't win out of the gate.

Chik-fil-A Bowl: Two things that don't go with Aggies; second halves and defense. Well not last night. When A&M needed it most, the defense finally stood up and made some big plays. And whatever people think of Manziel personally and how well his play translates into the next level (I don't think it will), he was one hell of a college qb.

Holiday Bowl - WOW! all I can say is wow. Tech has now twice gone out west for this game and played over their heads and taken down a double digit favorite. Fantastic play by Webb and Amaro. Just all around a heck of a game.

NFL:

In case you're not from around here, you might have missed that the Eagles/Saints game has two former Westlake Chaps facing off against each other. That hasn't happened since the mid 79s and is amazing for two guys that were completely ignored by UT, Tech, A&M, etc. Nice scouting.

NO at PHI - Hard to win at Lincoln Field and the Saints stink on the road. That being said, after watching Foles panic with Dallas' pathetic defense, I expect Rex Ryan to send people at him all night from every angle possible. I look for Drew to pull it out and move on.

KC at Indy - Well this is what happens when you play in the same division as Peyton Manning. I think the Chiefs have this in the bag and probably can't hurt to be playing in a dome on wildcard week.

Chargers at Bengals - I'll believe in the Bengals and the Chargers when I see it. Bengals have all the parts, but Dalton is starting to look like Matt Schaub and that is not a compliment. I can't believe there are still tickets available for the first playoff game in Cincy in lord knows how long.

SF at GB - Aaron Rodgers is the man. But San Fran is getting better with all their people back on offense. the weather is going to be cold and miserable, i think SF's defense will come up in the end but expect it to be high scoring.

Phew, that's it for now. hope you enjoy it. share with your friends.

BOWL PREVIEW and the Mack Story that won't end

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Mack won't leave... ever. And we've got way to many bowl games to cover, but we take our guesses anyways. Enjoy.
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Bowl	Location/Tickets	Date/Time	Network
Gildan New Mexico Washington State vs. Colorado State	Albuquerque, N.M. University Stadium	Dec. 21 2 p.m.	ESPN
Royal Purple Las Vegas Fresno State vs. USC	Las Vegas Sam Boyd Stadium	Dec. 21 3:30 p.m.	ABC
Famous Idaho Potato  Buffalo vs. San Diego State	Boise, Idaho Bronco Stadium	Dec. 21 5:30 p.m.	ESPN
R+L Carriers New Orleans Tulane vs. Louisiana-Lafayette	New Orleans Mercedes-Benz Superdome	Dec. 21 9 p.m.	ESPN
Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg East Carolina vs. Ohio	St. Petersburg, Fla. Tropicana Field	Dec. 23 2 p.m.	ESPN
Sheraton Hawaii Boise State vs. Oregon State	Honolulu Aloha Stadium	Dec. 24 8 p.m.	ESPN
Little Caesars Pizza Pittsburgh vs. Bowling Green	Detroit Ford Field	Dec. 26 6 p.m.	ESPN
S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia Utah State vs. Northern Illinois	San Diego Qualcomm Stadium	Dec. 26 9:30 p.m.	ESPN
Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman Marshall vs. Maryland	Annapolis, Md. Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium	Dec. 27 2:30 p.m.	ESPN
Texas Syracuse vs. Minnesota	Houston Reliant Stadium	Dec. 27 6 p.m.	ESPN
Fight Hunger BYU vs. Washington	San Francisco AT&T Park	Dec. 27 9:30 p.m.	ESPN
New Era Pinstripe Rutgers vs. Notre Dame	Bronx, N.Y. Yankee Stadium	Dec. 28 Noon	ESPN
Belk Cincinnati vs. North Carolina	Charlotte, N.C. Bank of America Stadium	Dec. 28 3:20 p.m.	ESPN
Russell Athletic Miami vs. Louisville	Orlando, Fla. Florida Citrus Bowl	Dec. 28 6:45 p.m.	ESPN
Buffalo Wild Wings Michigan vs. Kansas State	Tempe, Ariz. Sun Devil Stadium	Dec. 28 10:15 p.m.	ESPN
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Middle Tennessee vs. Navy	Fort Worth, Texas Amon G. Carter Stadium	Dec. 30 11:45 a.m.	ESPN
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Ole Miss vs. Georgia Tech	Nashville, Tenn. LP Field	Dec. 30 3:15 p.m.	ESPN
Valero Alamo Oregon vs. Texas	San Antonio Alamodome	Dec. 30 6:45 p.m.	ESPN
National University Holiday Arizona State vs. Texas Tech	San Diego Qualcomm Stadium	Dec. 30 10:15 p.m.	ESPN
AdvoCare V100 Arizona vs. Boston College	Shreveport, La. Independence Stadium	Dec. 31 12:30 p.m.	ESPN
Hyundai Sun Virginia Tech vs. UCLA	El Paso, Texas Sun Bowl	Dec. 31 2 p.m.	CBS
AutoZone Liberty Rice vs. Mississippi State	Memphis, Tenn. Liberty Bowl	Dec. 31 4 p.m.	ESPN
Chick-fil-A Duke vs. Texas A&M	Atlanta Georgia Dome	Dec. 31 8 p.m.	ESPN
TaxSlayer.com Gator Nebraska vs. Georgia	Jacksonville, Fla. Everbank Field	Jan. 1 Noon	ESPN2
Heart of Dallas UNLV vs. North Texas	Dallas Cotton Bowl	Jan. 1 Noon	ESPNU
Capital One Wisconsin vs. South Carolina	Orlando, Fla. Florida Citrus Bowl	Jan. 1 1 p.m.	ABC
Outback Iowa vs. LSU	Tampa, Fla. Raymond James Stadium	Jan. 1 1 p.m.	ESPN
Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO Stanford vs. Michigan State	Pasadena, Calif. Rose Bowl	Jan. 1 5 p.m.	ESPN
Tostitos Fiesta UCF vs. Baylor	Glendale, Ariz. U. of Phoenix Stadium	Jan. 1 8:30 p.m.	ESPN
Allstate Sugar Oklahoma vs. Alabama	New Orleans Louisiana Superdome	Jan. 2 8:30 p.m.	ESPN
Discover Orange Clemson vs. Ohio State	Miami Sun Life Stadium	Jan. 3 8:30 p.m.	ESPN
AT&T Cotton Oklahoma State vs. Missouri	Arlington, Texas AT&T Stadium	Jan. 3 7:30 p.m.	FOX
BBVA Compass Vanderbilt vs. Houston	Birmingham, Ala. Legion Field	Jan. 4 1 p.m.	ESPN
GoDaddy Arkansas State vs. Ball State	Mobile, Ala. Ladd-Peebles Stadium	Jan. 5 9 p.m.	ESPN
VIZIO BCS National Championship No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 2 Auburn	Pasadena, Calif. Rose Bowl	Jan. 6 8:30 p.m.	ESPN

WHAT WE ARE READING:

Peyton drops a big deuce in Denver

Why are some leagues classified as "non-profits"? Ask your Senator

Lamar Odom Should Have Stayed with the Lakers

PREVIEW: TEXAS TECH vs New Mexico

Whatever it is that you do you should do, you should do with your head held high. – PINK (yep I’m hitting the bottom of the barrel for lyrics)

Where:  Jones AT&T Stadium

When:  6:00pm Central

TV:  Fox Sports Channel

Weather:  low 70s, partly rainy chance of rain

Line:  Tech -33.5

The mighty Lobos of New Mexico make their bi-annual trip to the slaughterhouse in Lubbock this week as the Red Raiders look to get everything setup for Big 12 play.

But before we get into this week’s game, let’s look back to last week…

You really can’t bitch about anything the Red Raiders did against Texas State last week. The beat them on offense, defense and special teams. It was the kind of game Tech needed and wanted to have. Great job all around. 58 -10 has a nice ring to it.

So in limps New Mexico after getting their butts handed to them by the Longhorns in Austin last weekend.

This has been a bad team for years. Bob Davie for some reason decided to leave the warm confines of ESPN’s college broadcast and come back to coaching after a bad tenure at Notre Dame to try and resurrect this moribund program. I don’t know why, I mean I really don’t know why.  This team was 1-11 last year and 3-33 that past three years overall. They are awful.

Here’s what you need to know. They are installing a new offense under Davie, the triple option but they have no threat to throw as their QB is beat up and has been pretty inefficient to say the least all year.

This is gut check game for the entire defense. New Mexico is going to try and control the clock as much as they can and just run and run.

BEST GUESS

TECH      52

NM        17

FUN WITH NUMBERS

22 – Straight road loses by the lobos

76 – Total points given up by New Mexico in two games.

4 – Tech’s rank in total defense (according to SI.com) take it while you got it

GUNS UP!

TEXAS TECH vs Texas State Preview

I tried to find any songs about San Marcos but nobody has yet to be inspired by visiting a city known for its Outlet Mall it appears.

Where:  Jim Wacker Field, San Marcos

When:  6:00pm Central

TV:  ESPN3 (that’s the internet)

Weather:  mid 80s, some wind

Line:  Tech -18

The Texas Tech Red Raiders begin to play real football, at least technically FBS level football when they travel down to the packed 30,000 seat stadium in San Marcos to take on the Texas State Bobcats.

But before we get into this week’s game, let’s look back to last week…

Well, if there would have been a line the Red Raiders wouldn’t have covered. But they took care of business. Seth Doege and Eric Stephens came back and for the most part looked good, not great. Nice surprise was Kenny Davis getting 75 yards on the ground. 13 different players caught at least one pass and it was virtual 50/50 split of run to pass.

Best part was defense.  They only allowed 84 yards of total offense and 6 first downs. Outstanding.

Now comes some “real” competition. I use quotation marks on real as I don’t know what the Bobcats have got. Are they closer to the team that Tech whipped 50-10 last year? Or are they closer to the team that won their first FBS game as a member of the WAC against a Houston team on the road last week (a Houston team who is replacing their Head Coach, QB, and lord knows who else). Guess we will find out.

Dennis Franchione is rebuilding this team and his reputation and they sure seem to be on the right track. Their defense held last year’s top offense to just 13 points, though a lot of yards (sounds eerily familiar). Their offense seems to be fairly balanced as they led on the ground by Marcus Curry with 131 yards and 2 TDs. Their QB, Shawn Rutherford completed almost 20  passes for 196 yards to 7 different receivers.

If I had any faith in Tuberville, which I have surprisingly little of, I would chalk this up to an easy win. However, until we see what this team really after a few more games is see a 14 pt win.

San Marcos Outlet Mall

BEST GUESS

TECH      42

TSU        28

FUN WITH NUMBERS

105 – seasons of playing intercollegiate football for Texas State

2006 – Last time the Red Raiders held an opponent to 6 or less points

49 – total number of plays that Northwestern State was able to run, North Texas had 46 in 2000

GUNS UP!

ESPN RECAP OF LAST GAME FOR TECH

ESPN RECAP OF LAST GAME FOR TSU

PREVIEW: TEXAS TECH VS Northwestern State

He’s got fishing lines strung across the Louisiana rivers ,Gotta catch a big fish for us to eat
He’s setting traps in the swamp catching anything he can  He’s gotta make a living, he’s a Louisiana Man
Lousiana Man – Doug Kershaw (hey sometimes its tough to intro w/ song lyrics)

Where:  Jones Stadium, Lubbock

When:  6:00pm Central

TV:  Fox Sports Plus

Weather:  mid 90s, clear no wind

Line:  no line due to crappy school

This is week one of Tech’s 88^th season. There is lots on the line but this games is nothing but a glorified scrimmage. Which is good, cause after hitting your teammates for weeks, you need to get a test against an opponent. Albeit in this case and opponent you should dismantle.

The Northwestern State (Louisiana) Demons take the field against Tech. They are brining back 22 offensive and defensive starters, most of which are Seniors and Juniors. So these guys have been playing together long enough to not be picked up by any FBS school. Congrats.

This is short and sweet. Their QB is good, completing almost 62% of his throws. Their defense is lead by Derek Rose who is a two-time All American at this level of play. And they have a ten players, some starting, who transferred to the school last year.

The Red Raiders need to focus on establishing the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and block for Doege so he can pass for 400 yards and most importantly, get some pressure on the other guys QB.

BEST GUESS

NS Alum

TECH      56

NwSt     17

FUN WITH NUMBERS

75- 7 – score of the game from the last time these two teams met

58-26-3 – Red Raiders all-time opening day record

4 – number of new coaches on Tech sideline after last year’s train wreck

GUNS UP!