40 Acres Sports

I wanted to use a phrase for this football season similar to what Mack Brown uses for his team. This
year’s moniker is “Brick by Brick”. Mack wants to rebuild this program back to where it belongs. I
would like to refer to this upcoming season as PAIN. Not the type of Pain referenced by Clubber Lang to Rocky. (Check out the 2011 Longhorn Football Preview – Rocky Version.)

This season will be more like “Growing Pains” for the Longhorns this year. Did you know that during
this great television show (tongue in cheek) from 1985 through 1992 that the Longhorns had four losing
seasons? After painstakingly finding that crazy stat, I realized that it will be difficult to get back to
the greatness that the Horns had just experienced. Again, I know that the Horns have more talent than
probably most schools in the country, but the ability to beat teams on talent alone went out the window
with last year’s 5-7 season. It was painfully obvious that changes needed to be made.

A new coaching staff, plus a new strength and conditioning coach and a new sense of involvement from
the CEO was taking place. The future looks bright with the young coaching staff and the talent that
should be developed and utilized. Wonder when the first fan will say I am glad we got rid of that pain in
the ass Greg Davis? But it pains me to say that all this hope and new attitude does not always equal more
wins.

Remember that every team that was once the South Division had a better record and you can probably say
that every one of those teams has improved. OU, OSU, A&M, and Baylor all have returning quarterbacks
and their leading receiver. The quarterback position at UT is still a question mark and the offense has to
learn a whole new way of operating. The defensive staff has a new set of cornerbacks and hopes that a
defensive tackle will step up. There are so many more question marks than answers that UT fans need to
up their pain medication for this year.

You need to ask yourself will this team be above or below the 7 1/2 win mark at the end of the regular
season. Give me the under at 7 wins with the hope that we will be inflicting more pain than receiving
towards the end of the season. I know that this prediction was painful to read.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter at 40AcresSports or follow me at Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

You think you are excited for the new Longhorn Network, Bevo can barely contain his excitement in this new commercial for the network:

The Longhorn Network is coming, in HD, for Texas subscribers to Verizon FiOS TV packages. The LHN will be near the other sports programming on channel 579 (79 for standard def) for FiOS TV Prime HD, Extreme HD and Ultimate HD subscribers that live in Texas. Fans in other states will need to be Ultimate HD subscribers (the most expensive package) to see their Horns.

The press release:

Joining a growing lineup of regional and national collegiate sports networks on FiOS TV, the Longhorn Network has arrived on FiOS just in time for the start of the college football season. The Longhorn Network is a channel devoted to athletic programming and related activities at the University of Texas.

Verizon is the largest video service provider to date to announce the addition of the Longhorn Network to its channel lineup.

“The Longhorns have a huge presence in Texas, with a passionate fan base that extends across the country,” said David Preschlack, executive vice president, Disney and ESPN Media Networks. “Verizon’s early commitment to this network speaks to the university’s popularity and the consumer demand for this content.”

Terry Denson, vice president of content strategy and acquisition for Verizon, said, “We know Texas Longhorn fans are among the most loyal and enthusiastic in college sports, so we’re pleased to add the Longhorn Network to our already robust sports lineup on FiOS TV. The addition of this groundbreaking collegiate sports channel adds to Verizon’s commitment to bring the best in sports and entertainment and overall video content to our customers.”

The national distribution agreement with the Longhorn Network will allow fans of FiOS and the Longhorns to start watching the network on Sept. 1. FiOS TV Ultimate HD subscribers outside of Texas can watch LHN on Channel 320. In Texas, FiOS TV Prime HD, Extreme HD and Ultimate HD subscribers can watch LHN on Channels 79 (standard definition) and 579 (high definition).

In the near future, the Longhorn Network also will be available online, on tablets and on smartphones for fans with a Verizon FiOS TV plan, making UT athletics and other programming easily available anywhere, anytime.

Texas safety Christian Scott’s status for the upcoming season has been up in the air since he was arrested in early August on an assault charge related to the repossession of his car. Monday Scott pled no contest to the misdemeanor charges and received deferred adjudication, probation, and community service for his crime. As is standard operating procedure, Texas coach Mack Brown waited for the legal matter to be settled before handing down the team punishment of a 3 game suspension on Tuesday night.

From Mack Brown: “We’re disappointed any time one of our players makes a poor decision, and Christian understands he made a mistake. He has taken responsibility, is accepting the consequences of his actions and has returned to the team.” (via)

Scott was a starting safety last season but had been passed on the depth chart this fall by Kenny Vaccaro. When he returns to the team he will provide valuable veteran depth to the a very young secondary.

Best quote of A&M’s so far failed bid to leave the Big 12 for the SEC:

I’m not quite as sure why the SEC wants A&M, because other than getting its toes into the state of Texas – assuming College Station counts – this is like a high-end mall expanding to add a Walgreens.

From Jeff Schultz at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Andy Katz thinks pretty much every other recent conference move made sense, except of course the Aggies moving to the SEC. Some quotes from Katz:

This move specifically is done because Texas A&M didn’t like the way Texas was getting favored status from the Big 12.

And…

They didn’t like being treated as the second child.

The best one comes from the other host though…

A&M has been in the shadow of Texas for quite some while now.

Too bad for the Aggies. Instead of being little brother to Texas and Oklahoma whipping boy, they’ll now be fighting Mississipi State for fifth place in the SEC West. Aggie fans somehow think they’ll be better in SEC. They couldn’t consistently beat Texas Tech and Baylor but think they can hang with Bama and LSU.

Watch the video…

Very cool video of an advertising company projecting video and effects onto the side of the Tower for upcoming Longhorn Network promos. The use of the black color to give the illusion that the Tower is really being morphed and rotated. A nice Rubik’s Cube effect. Watch some handheld video:

Update: Here’s the eventual “What Starts Here…” commercial that features some of this footage:

As we are on the verge of another college football season, the biggest debate is not over who is ranked number one in the preseason polls (looks like OU in 2011), but whose team is going to be on probation. The entire season will be littered with teams that are on probation, dealing with secondary violations or owners of the dreaded lack of institutional control. I believe that we are nowhere close to the brash and blatant cheating of the 80’s, but this season will be scrutinized by fan bases identifying this team as the dirtiest program in college football.

So how do you propose to change it? I do not have all the answers but I will throw up a few for debate.

Do Not Pay Players

I cannot stress this one enough. Most fans want to see college football players get paid because of all the millions of dollars that colleges rake in. People forget that football pays the bills for many college sports including all the Title IX sports. For every great college football player that is glamorized on TV or on a video game there are a host of other no name college athletes that are still getting scholarship money paid for by the school. Not to mention the facilities that the athletes use, the travel that they get to experience and the notoriety that they can obtain all on the schools tab. No regular college kid would ever be able to have that kind of head start after they graduate. Jay Bilas wants kids to have the ability to make money off their name while in school by autograph signings. Do you think anyone wants to buy the Northwestern’s wide receiver autograph or for that matter want the polo teams John Hancock? There is no solution that be can be equally administered or financially viable for all of these universities.

Shine the Light

Have you ever read a college scholarship offer that is signed by these young athletes? I have never seen the verbiage or the rules that it states. How about language in a scholarship that states that if you take improper benefits you will be permanently kicked off the team? Compliance offices are set up to help guide the student athlete on how to handle overzealous fans. How about every season ticket holder going through a course on what is acceptable behavior around student athletes? Let’s shed a light on these contracts that these kids are signing and educate fans on what their jock sniffing efforts will do to their program.

Coaches’ Amnesia

This is the biggest crock of all. Head college football coaches hide behind the fact that they cannot watch their players 24/7. Coaches have immense resources from academic counselors to compliance personnel, other coaches, and their true football leaders in the locker room. The current thought is if it is not reported than it cannot be wrong. Reporting violations while tedious is still the best way to clean up the bad apples before it affects everyone else. If you are worried about Johnny Five Star going out late and damaging the reputation of your program, do not recruit the kid. Former Coach Mike Leach said that coaches are their own worst enemy because they think that they can rehabilitate these kids when they bring them into their environment. Probably the real problem is that head coaches are numb from all the stupid rules that exist. Until the universities that run the league take a hard look at overhauling the NCAA, it needs to follow the rules that are set forth for everyone. It’s time for head coaches and the AD’s to be accountable for the millions of dollars that they earn every year to police their teams and keep the little issues from festering into a lack of institutional control.

Harsher Penalties

I love the fact that Coach Nick Saban calls runners and agents that hang around college football as pimps. (Don’t college coaches do the same thing?) Ask college basketball coaches what they think about AAU programs and you might find a more colorful word for those people. States need to get involved and legislate harsher penalties so that recruiting services, boosters and agents will be met with loss of certification, jail time and financial penalties. Most state governments around the country made money off the tobacco industry. They sure could use another revenue producing vehicle and college football is full of money. Also, please inform the NCAA that taking wins away does not hurt a school at all. The NCAA needs to affect the schools pocket books with the elimination of college bowl games and television appearances.

College football fans will never tone down their fervor for recruiting, daily updates and the need to go to every practice to rub elbows with the players and coaching staff. Since the passion of college football will never be squelched. Universities, state attorneys, and even the television networks are going to have to shine a light on college football to show everyone what is going on. We thirst for more information on twitter, blogs, and the internet. Add compliance notices and simple NCAA rules for the fans to add to their daily intake.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter at 40AcresSports or follow me at Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

As we conclude another Longhorn basketball season, we are left again unfilled. The men’s basketball team was a crucial moment away from a visit to the Sweet Sixteen which is seen by many fans as a benchmark for success. I am not going to lament the fact that we have only reached this plateau 5 times under Rick Barnes. We need to realize what we have in Austin. There is an NBA team playing on the 40 acres. Let’s take a look at the NBA players that have been drafted while playing for Rick Barnes:

This is a very impressive list of NBA players especially if you compare it to other schools. Currently there are only 6 other colleges that have more players that are active in the NBA (bet you could name the schools without looking at the next sentence). Those 6 teams are the true blue bloods of college basketball: UCLA, Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, and Connecticut. We are tied for 7th with the team we just lost to which is Arizona. Oh yeah, everyone of these schools has won a NCAA championship in the past 15 years while Coach Barnes has been at the helm for 13 of those years. I know that Barnes was quoted by ESPN saying “We would love to win a national championship, but we’re not obsessed with it because we’re obsessed with these guys trying to live their NBA dreams”. I share the same feelings of Jay Bilas who was quoted that “Coaches will down play the importance of winning the title, until they actually win it”. But you can understand the frustrations of Longhorn fans when so many players are at the elite level with no NCAA championships to validate your program.

The Horns program is very similar to many NBA franchise. Go to a men’s home basketball game with the suites, the lack of attendance and the lack of electricity unless the scoreboard calls for noise or a highly ranked team has to make a visit. The brand of basketball played here is entertaining like you would see at any NBA game. The problem is that this team looks like the team you would travel north on I-35 to see which are the Mavericks. The team is fun to watch, entertaining, great in the regular season but nothing substantial to speak of in regards to conference or league titles. I wish the Horns were more like the NBA team that is located just south of us that brings home the championships.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter at 40AcresSports or follow me at Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

The Cam Newton ruling is stunning to me.  The NCAA says his father broke rules by shopping his son, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong for Cam to play stupid while boosters and Cecil Newton negotiated a private transaction.   I sort of get their point – if the school itself and the player itself didn’t do anything improper, what the heck are they going to do about it?

Jadeveon Clowney is the top recruit in the country according to Rivals.com.  He’s a bonecrushing 6’6″ defensive end from the Palmetto State that reminds scouts of Mario Williams, a former #1 pick in the NFL Draft and an All-Pro.  Cownley hasn’t committed yet but has offers from 13 BCS conference schools from Alabama to South Carolina to all the way out West from Southern Cal.  At this point, why commit to anyone?  Just get your dad to contact each school’s booster club and get the best price.   Rivals.com’s #3 prospect is a Virginia linebacker named Curtis Grant, who runs a 4.5 40 and is 6’3″, 222 as a high school senior.  There’s 22 schools after Grant and he hasn’t made a decision.  Why make any decision that doesn’t involve getting paid?  Just let your parents get a media spanking from the NCAA and smile as they cash the check.

I guess it’s nice to know that Texas has one of the wealthiest alumni bases in America, but now we face an ethical decision.  We share a conference with Oklahoma and Texas A&M – who have a long history of shady behavior and are going into the postseason while the Longhorns stay home this year.  If Pandora’s box has indeed been opened – the Ags and the Sooners both will be at the front of the line with their checkbooks open.  Texas can pay coordinators and position coaches more than the majority of head coaches in the FBS…but does any of that matter if OU and A&M start paying for five star athletes?  Just because RC and Switzer aren’t running things doesn’t mean those alums went away.

There’s probably some 14 year old freshman phenom right now leading his team into the playoffs this weekend that will become the first million dollar recruit if his dad plays this system right.  Coaches and scouts will flock to his games in 2014 watching him shred opponents while praying that their school’s rich alums and the phenom’s family can work out a deal behind their backs.  As long as the athletic department stays ignorant and the recruit’s parents tell him where he’s going to school, this is deemed acceptable by the NCAA.  He can roll onto his new campus in a 80K ride and have a 200K off campus condo if his parents bought it all for him, right?

All this talk about the NCAA closing this loophole is probably dumb.  That says that they don’t want a filthy program like Auburn to get punished for THIS season.  Auburn has faced sanctions a whopping 7 times since 1950.   This is a quote from former Auburn president William Muse after the NCAA dropped the hammer on Auburn in 1993 for alums paying players:  “If this program is to survive, there can be no more days like this one, intentional or unintentional.”

Guess you lucked out on this one, War Eagle.  Can Reggie Bush have his Heisman back now?