40 Acres Sports

Good news for both Longhorns and Sooners today as the two universities have reached an agreement that will keep the Red River Shootout in Dallas through 2010. The lack of improvements to the Cotton Bowl had caused both UT and OU to threaten to change the matchup into a home-and-home series.

While the agreement is only through 2010, Dallas officials are poised to announce renovations to the stadium totaling $50 million next week. That money would be a big step to keeping the game in Dallas and would likely result in a long-term deal. The game brings in big time money and it was definitely in Dallas’ best interests to keep the game in the city. For the two schools, the low capacity and lack of luxury boxes in the Cotton Bowl limit the revenue brought in by the game. Hopefully the proposed renovations will create a stadium and a situation that causes all parties to want to keep the game in Dallas.

One last note, contrary to what Mayor Laura Miller (the reason we’re in this mess and the Cowboys are in Arlington) and the Dallas TV media are trying to claim, this is not a five year extension. The previous agreement would not have ended until 2008, so while this is a new five year deal it only guarantees an additional two years at the State Fair for the historic series. The city of Dallas has avoided complete disaster (for now) but they must get the $50 million bond approved or we’ll be having these same discussions in another year or so.

Kudos to Texas’ DeLoss Dodds and OU’s Joe Castiglione for getting a deal done, and to Mayor Miller for miraculously not screwing things up.

“The recipient must be in compliance with the bylaws defining an NCAA student athlete.”

Still not cleared to play, but at least he’s not thinking retirement.

Paris Hilton? No wonder so many teams passed on him in the draft.

Cedric Griffin should be able to contribute to their secondary right away.

New system has only requirement: school name must rhyme with “motor lame.”

I heard that’s why he fell to 7th round, I had no idea it was serious enough to miss 2006.

“In 10 years, Vince Young will have won two Super Bowls and will be a cinch Hall of Famer.”

Need to upgrade offensive line and WR group for Vince in 2007.

The ESPN Insider homepage had this genius headline and teaser for an article that barely says anything similar.

Mr. Wrong?

Even though [tag]Vince Young[/tag] is an amazing talent, the Titans shouldn’t have taken him at No. 3. Tennessee needs a QB who can step in right away, and Young isn’t that guy.

The article is a pick-by-pick analysis of the first round and one of the 32 things they discuss is that the Titans should have drafted Matt Leinart because he was more ready to make an immediate impact.

I’m sure if Jeff Fisher, “whose job could be on the line if Tennessee doesn’t bounce back with a strong season,” would start Billy Volek or beg Steve McNair back if he was overly worried about losing his job. The Tennessee Titans would probably win five games with Billy Volek (and maybe six with Steve McNair) or a whopping three or four with Matt Leinart. Mel Kiper has over and over again screamed how stupid it is to draft a QB on how he’d do in the first year.

Who cares how many games a quarterback would win in 2006? None of these three first round guys are ready to play right away and shouldn’t be forced too, 2006 is probably the least important year in their NFL careers. What matters is how many games they can win in 2008 and which guy you think can lead you to a Super Bowl in 2009.