40 Acres Sports

Check out the video about the technology of Texas’ new Nike Pro Combat unis they’ll be wearing tonight against Texas A&M and all next year. Tonight they’ll be throwbacks but next year all the tech will be in the Horns normal uniforms. Watch:

Times are great to be a Longhorn fan! Yeah, tell me something I don’t know, right?

At times in the last few years I have seen evidence that some, if not most, of us Horn fans don’t realize the heady times in which we live.

For a little perspective, let me introduce myself. I was born in May of 1968 and attended my first game at Memorial Stadium in September of 1968. My dad attended UT in the early 50’s around a stint in the Air Force during the Korean War and had been traveling from Houston to Austin to attend games while he was in high school. He became a lifelong season ticket holder and actually named the Longhorn Band the “Showband of the Southwest” while the publicity director for the band as a student. I grew up traveling to all UT football games, home and away. Some people fish or hunt or go camping, my dad and my brother and I went to UT games every weekend. They are the memories of my childhood and youth.

I went to UT and am now 41 and married with 2 young daughters, but still have season tickets. My brother and I have 9 tickets together. My dad passed away last year.

I include all of this to show that I have seen good times, great times, and horrible times to be a UT fan. Let me tell you, right now is as good as it gets!

We have not been ranked outside the top 25 since October of 2000. We have never had a longer tenure in the rankings.

As you can see by winning percentage, Mack Brown’s tenure and our current decade is the best we have ever produced. We have won 21 of our last 22 games, 31 of our last 35 since the 2006 Alamo Bowl.

There are some other parameters where Coach Royal’s run in the 60’s bests our current times. These are of course conference championships, which is well documented and a constant drumbeat of Brown’s critics, but more importantly to me is our record against our main rivals, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

In the 52 seasons since Darrell Royal took over in Austin in 1957, we have only beaten both OU and A&M in the same season 18 times. Of those 18, 11 of those seasons belong to DKR, Royal achieved it 11 out of 20 years, Akers was 3 for 10, McWilliams was 1 for 5, Mackovic was 0 for 6, and Brown is 3 for 11. I am expecting that to go to 4 for 12 this year. But, you can see by the rarity or it occurring that beating both our main rivals in the same year is tough. Royal did it better than any. In fact he did it 11 of his first 14 seasons at the helm. He didn’t beat them both in the same season again after 1970. Mack Brown though, if we win in College Station in a few weeks will have beaten OU and A&M both in the same year 3 of the last 5 years. We haven’t had that kind of dominance since the 60’s. We have only beaten OU and A&M in the same year 3 times since 1957 when both of them had winning records, 1977, 1981, and 1990. Historical comparisons only go so far. I believe it was easier to win the SWC many of the years we won it than it is to win the Big 12 now, but by no means do I mention that to minimize the previous accomplishments. But I would argue that never has UT been more nationally important, competitive and relevant than right now.

We have never had tougher competition. There is now more parity in college football than ever before. To dominate is harder than ever. It is not our birthright to be good. It takes a lot of hard work by a lot of people to make it happen. If it was so easy to win at Texas, why have there been down times? If it was so easy to win at OU, why have they had such lean times in their past? Winning is not an accident, it is a direct result of actions. From 1977 to 1997, the years between Royal and Brown, UT had a mediocre winning percentage of 65%. Those years also included 6 years with a losing record. Brown and Royal have never had a losing record. UT had some GREAT times in those intervening years, winning many big games and I enjoy every minute of it. But obviously never was the level of success sustained.

When I hear people gripe about Mack, or Greg Davis, or not being able to run the ball, etc. etc. etc., I want to shake those people! I was there when we lost to Nebraska 19-3 in the 74 Cotton Bowl. I was there when we lost to Houston 30-0 in Austin. I was there in 1980 when North Carolina beat us 16-7 in the Bluebonnet Bowl. I was there on January 1, 1984 when we really couldn’t score and lost a chance at the National Championship 10-9 to Georgia. I was there when we lost to Air Force 24-16 at the Bluebonnet Bowl. I was there when we beat Pitt in the Bluebonnet Bowl in 1987 and we acted like we had won the National Championship. We were so desperate for a glean of hope. I was at Ownby Stadium when we only lead an SMU team just coming off the death penalty 14-7 at half after being shut out until under 5 minutes left in the 1st half. I was also in Austin when we lost 50-7 to Baylor. I was in Starkville when we lost 13-6 to Sherrill and Mississippi State after such an incredible 1990 season. I was there when we lost to Rice 19-17. I was at 66-3. I have seen BAD offense and MISERABLE defense.

Thinking about those memories now make today seem so much sweeter. Those scores are inconceivable today, something out of another place and time.

So if something happens and we don’t play in the BCS National Championship game this year, or we do make it and lose, don’t lose perspective. Times are great!

It will still kill me a little inside when we next lose. I will still lose sleep over it and lament it, and get angry when it comes to mind (like the 2001 Big 12 Championship game), but I will try like hell to keep it in perspective.

I will think of how I felt as the Eyes played in the Rose Bowl and as I called my dad from the stands to hear his tears of joy. I will think of how I hugged my brother and cried a little myself as we left the stadium. The only other time I can remember crying and hugging my brother was in the stands when we beat A&M 28-27 in 1990. I will think of the sheer joy I felt when we beat OU last year after losing my dad a few months before.

In other words, ENJOY IT HORNS! I promise it won’t last forever.

The Sporting News’ 50 greatest coaches of all-time released recently caused a lot of conversation on sports talk radio. They polled 118 ex-players, coaches, and other experts and pegged UCLA great John Wooden as the all-time greatest coach.

Overall it’s a great list, but there’s definitely some names left off and some order problems (Don Shula number 5?) that have people talking. Austin American-Statesman writer Kirk Bohls thinks Texas legend Darrell Royal deserved to be on the list:

But Darrell K. Royal absolutely must be included.

Without question, he has become the most overlooked great coach in the history of the game. He won three national championships, and I don’t want to hear cracks about his UPI title before the Cotton Bowl loss to Notre Dame in January 1971 because he won it under the rules of the day. Think split national titles, LSU and USC.

“No question, Darrell should be on the list,” said former Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum, one of Sporting News’ 118 voters. “It takes away from the credibility of the list. If Darrell Royal is not on there, it’d be a suspect list, and I’m on the panel.”

What do you think? Is Royal one of the greatest coaches of all time?

Thanks to the poster djbfootball over on the Inside Texas message boards we have new photos of the construction at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

It looks like things are almost completed. From the inside it appears all seating is ready (the gap in the northwest corner is intentional) and that they’re working hard to get the exterior finished by the first game at the end of August. It really looks impressive and I’m excited that the Horns could have an improved home field advantage this season. I can’t wait to go to my first home game this year to see it for myself.

Check out the photos.

ESPN names Darrell Royal the Face of the Program. Vote for him, Bevo, Vince, Earl, or Ricky to share your opinion.

Tom Hicks and the Texas Rangers honored the 2005 National Champion Texas Longhorn football team today at the season opener in Arlington. Coach Mack Brown threw out the first pitch and Longhorn coaching legend Darrell Royal was also recognized. Royal and Hicks were influential in bringing Brown to Texas from North Carolina almost nine years ago. Always coaching, Mack didn’t let next season or our quarterback situation slip his mind for even a minute:

“If I put one in the dirt, which I’m not planning on, it will not change my life any, except (the media) will have more fun with it,” Brown joked before the toss. “If one of our young quarterbacks puts one in the dirt, it changes my life. I’m a lot more focused on the throws next fall than the throw today.”

I can handle a few in the dirt Mack, it’s the ones that hit the defenders that worry me.

Roger Clemens was also at the game, which threw the national media and Rangers fans into a frenzy thinking he was interested in joining the Rangers if he decides to pitch this season. I’m still fairly certain that if Clemens pitches this year it’ll be for the Houston Astros.

In an exclusive interview earlier today on SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket, Texas Rangers’ owner Tom Hicks announced that on opening day the Texas Rangers will honor the 2005 National Champion Texas Longhorns, with Mack Brown and Darrell Royal throwing out the first pitches.

This comes on the heels of the Rangers going after Roger Clemens, a former Texas Longhorn himself. I wonder if this is just one more tactic in trying to lure the indecisive Roger Clemens to the Rangers?

ESPN is running an interesting series of articles on NCAA football boosters and the power their money gives them. They’ve profiled ten of the richest and most powerful boosters and provided a little background on how they got their money, what they’ve done with it, and what kind of power it has given them with the team they support.

Here’s the profile of one of the Longhorns’ biggest backers…

Joe Jamail Jr.

School ties: University of Texas (B.A. Class of ‘50; J.D. Class of ‘53)
Age: 79

Reported wealth: $1.4 billion
How made money: The salty-tongued Houston lawyer amassed his fortune overseeing major personal injury cases, most recently representing victims of a BP refinery explosion.
How much donated: Estimated $30 million
School song/cheer: Hook ‘em Horns
Braggin’ Rights: Just a few telltale signs of money and influence seen around campus: Joe Jamail Field at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. … Only individual with two bronze statues on campus bearing his likeness, the most recent sits inside the football stadium. … Called the “King of Torts” by Time and Newsweek, his $11.2 billion verdict against Texaco in 1985 is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the largest civil damages award in history.

The Buzz: The Longhorns lead the college sports world in fat cats, with Jamail and Billy Joe “Red” McCombs on the Forbes list of 400 wealthiest Americans. Another influential big-timer is Jim-Bob Moffett, an ex-Longhorn tackle for Darrell Royal, who built Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold into a business with annual revenues of almost $2 billion. … McCombs, who recently sold the Minnesota Vikings for $600 million, gave UT’s largest single donation ever of $50 million to the business school. The business school and women’s softball complex bear his name.

I really don’t have a problem with these donors and the powers they wield, as long as everything is on the up and up. They support the team and therefore deserve at least a little bit of say in how it is run. I do think you have to leave people like the university president, athletic director, and head coach in charge and let them run things since they’re held accountable for their actions. I also would prefer the stadiums themselves be named after people who had a role in building the program and not just the person who donates the most money. I think Joe Jamail Field at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium is a pretty good compromise.

Be sure to check out the rest of the articles in the sidebar about halfway down the page.