All things Texas Tech: A deer and a steer! Tech 14- Texas 24, an awful game for both teams!

Last night's game was almost unbearable to watch! Why?
Two things...1) Taylor Potts 2) Little to no Tech offense to back-up the awesome play of our Tech defense. Yes, it was our defense who first scored the first points, the first touchdown of only two which, Tech would manage to put up on the score board for the entire game. The only points Tech would actually have for the entire game came in the first half - zip in the second half. The Tech defense kept them in the game and kept UT from running away with the game thus keeping it a low-scoring game for them (UT) for the first time this season.
Taylor Potts looked like the quintessential "deer caught in the headlights". But don't give the Texas qb or their offense too many accolades for the 24 points they barely managed to squeeze together by the end of the game. Garrett Gilbert also was rattled the entire game. Gilbert and his offense only mustered just one touchdown themselves. The rest of their points came the way of their defense. Gilbert played the role of a steer in this game, folks. He played like he had been castrated, while our Potts played like he just wanted to surrender the ball each time he took a snap. Especially when he was in shot-gun, he merely ran backwards in attempts to ward off the Texas OT's instead of trying to scramble inside, he simply lacked confidence in his O-line and would leave the pocket. Potts was just as rattled if not more than Gilbert the entire game. Potts gave Tech no chance whatsoever to win this game. The Tech offense overall just stunk up The Jones last night. Baron Batch could not run the ball and he looked pathetic each time he tried running with it. The most yards Batch managed to gain were when Potts threw an interception and Batch ran after the Texas defensive player who caught it; Batch managed to catch up to the defender and tackled him a few yards short of crossing the plane.
Tech's hopes looked really good in the final quarter there for a short-lived while. Gilbert looked like he was driving his offense towards another touchdown and Tech fans were just ready to throw our hands up in surrender mode. But then our defense caught their second wind after being tired out obviously after having had to be on the field for way too long, for way too much playing time, and they stood up to the task and managed to stop the Texas O-line as they were near the Tech 27 yard line. Then it happened, Tech's cornerback (#7) Ford did the unspeakable, he went rogue and taunted the Texas receiver as he stopped him from gaining yards thus a first down. A stupid thing to do. Although the Texas defenders were taunting the Red Raiders from time to time and had just gotten away with having done so the very drive which saw Tech get stopped cold. Ford's taunting call cost Tech dearly and gave the Longhorns a first down. A first down which would allow Gilbert and company to put together another drive which would help them get their final touchdown of the night. Unfortunately for Tech, this was the touchdown which would put the final nail in the coffin, per se. The game was out of reach for certain as time was running out and Tech was now down by 10 instead of three points. Unlike previous years when Tech had better quarterbacks who could incite confidence in his offensive line and in Tech fan's, instead Potts just brings out the fear in everyone around him due to his own fear and lack of confidence. Each time our Tech offense took the field in the second half, you could hear a pin drop as Tech fan's stopped breathing because they just knew that Potts was not going to do anything good, the lack of being able to breathe due to the fact that Potts would more so do something stupid rather than something positive.
I am not sure what Tuberville has up his sleeve going further into the season but for sure he needs to consider replacing Potts. He needs to stop being so damn arrogant and stubborn and just admit that Tech's chances for winning a game are not good at all in the hands of one Taylor Potts. Tuberville really needs to replace Potts and give Sheffield a shot of being the Tech starting qb. Even the third string qb Seth Doege would be better in the qb position than Potts. With Potts leading any Tech drive, their chances diminish and the game clearly goes to the Pot.

Dallas Cowboys: Season Opener v/Skins: 7 Seconds of torture

In professional bull riding a rider has 8 seconds to stay on top of a bull as it broncs up and down, back and forth, to and fro all the while trying to throw said rider off its back. Last nights Dallas Cowboy's game was kind of like a bull ride only it lasted one second less and was broken down into two rides. The first one lasting four seconds and the second one lasting three seconds and these were the leading characters in each one: Wade Phillips (Dallas Head Coach), Jason Garrett (Dallas Offensive Coordinator), Alex Barron (Boys Right Tackle), Tony Romo (Boys QB), Miles Austin (Boys WR), Mike Shanahan (Washington Head Coach), and Brian Orakpo (Skins Outside Linebacker).

Each short ride found the 'Boys getting thrown off the bull, but in different ways. The first throw-off-the-bull lasted four seconds and went like this...Jason Garrett (w/Wade Phillips not arguing it nor Romo) simply called a pretty stupid, obsolete play when there really was no need for it. As things went awry with it, perhaps Romo should have called an audible or just thrown the ball away. My gosh there were just four petty seconds left to play in the first half of the game, which was pretty boring and saw the respective defensive lines play way better than either offensive lines, what in the world possessed Garrett and Phillips to go for that play instead of taking a knee and settling for being down just three points. Just three points. That is not a bad point spread to be down by after playing 30 minutes of football. Take a knee, go into the locker for half-time and re-group. Nope, not our Dallas O-staff. Garrett calls the awful play which goes bad almost immediately...Romo barely gets the ball out of his own hands, the receiver barely catches it then fumbles the ball which the Redskin's player then recovers and runs into their end-zone for a quickie touchdown. Washington goes into their locker room now ahead by 10 points. The only true touchdown they would score the entire night. McNabb not at all impressive the entire first half nor the rest of the game. He and his O-line never contributed to their score at all, but then McNabb was not the player or QB whom was supposed to shine tonight. Tonight that responsibility fell on our QB, Tony Romo, and his O-line. Our offense sucked and let us Dallas fans down. Instead of Dallas going into half-time with points on the board, or just down by three points, they instead helped the Skins add to their lead. For certain a momentum switching moment and perhaps even a game deciding blunder indicative of what would come our way in the final two quarters of play for Dallas.

The end of the game, which I have dubbed the second half of the 7 second bull-ride was just as painful to watch. This time it was neither the fault of Romo, Garrett or Phillips, it was the fault of one Alex Barron (#71) whom does not know how to block to save his life. Barron the player who Dallas took this year and added to their O-line, the very player who just happened to lead the league in most penalties last year (7) when he was a St. Louis Ram. Barron needs to learn how to tackle properly. Since when did a bear-hug and a neck choke constitute any kind of tackling in the world of football! It never has. You tackle straight on and rely on force, strength, and intelligent reaction to lead you towards a proper tackle especially in a dire situation such as this one. Some say that had Barron not tackled Brian Orakpo that Romo surely would have been sacked. Maybe so - maybe not. Had Barron just tackled properly I believe Romo would have been okay. After all, Romo was already scrambling and had found his way from Orakpo and into a safe position -as safe as possible- on the field to throw that pass into the hands of Miles Austin. A game-winning throw/catch! One that would've, should've, could've been had it not been for one Barron and his bumbling football antics!

Yes, this game was boring and fell short of the kind of performance Dallas should have had. But let's not completely overlook Mike Shanahan's coaching guise and abilities. The man is a genius at the coaching helm. No small potatoes and Dallas should have been ready for him and his team. The expectations at the QB position, as I stated above, for an outstanding game fell upon Romo, and though he led some outstanding drives, Romo was simlpy not up to par at all the entire 60 seconds of this game. The Skin's coaching staff not so much better than that of Dallas, but they did hold their own a whole lot better this night especially on the side of their defensive skills. Dallas kicked themselves in the back-side...Washington did not beat them.

Dallas is fully capable of winning its division as most sport's pundits have been saying and I totally agree. Dallas now needs to really re-group after this lousy game and go back to playing sound football...football 101. Leave the gimmicky plays to teams with less experience and less talent. Or if Dallas is really gonna make that kind of play, leave it for when Dallas really needs to score and is down by a signifcant point spread - not for when Dallas is down by just three points going into half-time. It made Dallas look like a high school team rather than the professional team with championship-caliber skills. And for Pete's sake, learn to block properly, hold onto the ball and please-please-please figure out a way to cut back on all those stupid penalties. Let's lead the league in things more positive NOT in penalties incurred.

Next week sees our Dallas Cowboys play versus the Chi-town Bears. Let's be ready because the Bears are not going to be an easy win even if Dallas is playing in their own back-yard, per se. The Skins were supposed to be an easy victory for Dallas and we now know how that prediction turned out. Dallas is way better than this. The combined seven seconds of last night's game were grueling for Dallas fans to watch indeed. Next time a Dallas game winds down with three seconds or four seconds or however many seconds it may be and they find themselves playing catch up, let's hope they remember tonight's game and are smarter. Worker smarter - not harder and this especially goes to Barron - that he refrain from trying to rip off the head of any player going forward.

NFL: Taking from billionaires to pay millionaires. Solidarity within the NFLPA!

Skip "Keep it Real" Bayless did not want to see the players in last nights NFL game (Vikings vs Saints) come out in show of solidarity. Skip (aka: "I hate anything anyone else likes and will always oppose it") says it was a game for the fans and not the venue or the time to show that they (the players) are part of union, not a place or time for a show of solidarity. I completely disagree with Bayless, apparently as did ex-NFL player, Robert Smith, a former RB for the Minnesota Viking's. Debating Skip during this morning's ESPN episode of "First Take", Smith was passionate in his support of the NFLPA and the players show of solidarity. To paraphrase what Smith said...it is the goal of players to show the world and other players watching that when it comes to the NFL union that's a one team effort. To remind everyone of the importance of protecting and honoring the legacy of players before and after him. Matter of fact that it was equally important to protect the union and player's interest.
Like I mentioned I totally disagree with Skip "Mad at the World" Bayless and fully understand Robert Smith's passion and position in all of this. I say that the football field is the player's work-place and what better venue and time to show that they are united as one with their union regardless of what the team owners, certain fans or the likes of Skip Bayless thinks or believes.
The owners have long made billions of dollars and need to pay the players accordingly. The players made them (owners) billionaires and they (players) are the ones who risk life and limb each time they play and practice. The players are the ones who will succumb to a lifetime of physical pain as their injuries will surely follow them forever. Whether that pain is already occurring or will occur later in life, it is sure to come. The owners will never have to deal with that kind of physical pain and they should be glad that their players are willing to risk it all. I know the game of football is as much a business of making money and gaining notoriety for the players as it is for the owners, but the players have more to lose in the end.
As fans I believe we should stand firm with the players not the owners. The players are in a way representative of the blue-collar work-force which is America. The owners represent Wall Street in all their greed at the ready to lie, cheat and steal to get their paychecks. The players can be viewed as the millions of Americans who lost homes due to bad mortgage deals (sub prime loans) and the owners are the banks who mucked it all up then expected a financial hand-out from the government. As fans of the game of football, we can put ourselves in the position of the government - just for this once to assist with the analogy of all of this. We hated when our actual government bailed out the financial institutions, it only helped out the banks and such in the end as the American worker still received zero, zip, zilch. As fans placing ourselves in the position of government during this union dilemma in the NFL, let's NOT give the owners (financial institutions) a bail-out. Let's support the players (the workers) and help them get what is due to them. In the long run, the players win and so will the fans. After all, us fans go to the games to see the players play not the team owners.
If we are united with the players and try to see things through their eyes, we can send a loud message to the owners who not only lie, cheat and steal from the players, but they do the same to us fans. How? By expecting larger, fancier stadiums and taking it to us fans to help pay for it all via bonds and higher taxes. Then they (the owners) have the freaking audacity to increase the price of tickets at the very stadiums we, the fans, helped them to build. Everything in the stadium goes up in price - everything!!! The owners just keep on getting richer. The owners cannot share their wealth with us fans, though lowering the ticket prices even for some games would be nice, but the owners sure as heck can and should share their wealth with their respective players.

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1.03.01

All Things Texas Tech: Ani-video: Kent Hance talks with Team Leach member!

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1.03.01

All Things Texas Tech: Texas Tech alumnus talks smack to an Austin CC student "longhorn wanna be"!

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1.03.01

All Things Texas Tech: Even on the worse day, it's always better to be a Red Raider than an Aggie!

All Things Texas Tech: Tech 35 - SMU 27: You can call it a win, but...

Even back during the SWC days, Texas Tech could always muster a bigger margin of victory over the SMU "donks" then they managed to swing this past Sunday.
Sure Texas Tech won in the end, and like my own Mom said, a win is a win. True that - true that; however, if Tech can only manage to beat the likes of SMU by a mere 8 points - how in the world are our Red Raiders going to figure out a win over the other opponents on their schedule this season…especially the really tough opponents which shall remain nameless.
The worse part being the fact that Tech had significant leads throughout the game over SMU only to allow it to diminish by 8 points by the end of the game. AT half-time Tech lead the Pony's 21- 7 then by 35 - 17 after three quarters. SMU lost the ball four times and Tech only managed to convert their errors into points on two occasions. The "Potts to Leong" connection soon enough lost its luster as SMU figured things out and started covering better. Tubberville's decision to go for the fourth down ala that “QB sneak” quickly went awry (Potts fumbled and Batch recovered). Coach Leach would more than likely have succeeded in that instance. WHY? Because that is the kind of coach Mike Leach is…always more savvy, comfortable and having more than one play in his medulla oblongata in a fourth down situation. Besides most opposing coaches know that Coach Leach was more apt to go for it on fourth down so it more so rattled the nerves of the opponents; often Techs offense was able to get the first down by drawing the defense off-sides. Tubberville's offense did not appear comfortable the entire evening. Going on fourth down when he did only made us Tech fans remember how Potts seems to lose his nerve during the difficult times. Potts is clearly not a clutch QB...not now, not ever. Potts is too timid. He wasn't even relaxed enough in his own back-yard at "The Jones" so how are us Tech fans supposed to feel about him when Tech has to play the away games. I posted on my FB wall yesterday that Potts seemed to "wreak" when it was time to "wreck".
Team Leach was closely watching. And NO, we are not Texas Tech haters, we love our university, our athletic programs and our athletes...we want Tech to succeed. But, if the SMU game is any indicator of what Tubberville is going to bring to Lubbock, which is not a good defense or offense, then it's going to be a long, rough season for Tech fans. Plus it will only prove that Team Leach was justified in being livid last year when Myers, Hance and Pierce fired Coach Leach; when they brought an end to our "Pirate Nation" era and quite possibly an end to our "Air Raid". The overall conclusion could very well be that those three unjustly brought an end to the success of our Red Raider football program; an end to the success and notoriety celebrated under the helm of Coach Mike Leach. The bumbling Tech admin (the "three horsemen") alone who took away Leach and gave us Tubberville and company. And for the record, Tommy Tubberville does not replace the true meaning of our beloved "Double T" logo.
Like I stated, Tubberville's team was not impressive at all…Potts was never comfortable in his QB position, he was hot and cold - from one extreme to another, but never in the middle. The WR's seemed to be the lone heroes of the day (Leong and Lewis). Not even our kicker (the "walk-on" himself) Matt Williams (aka: "Lynwood") could add points on the board for Tech; two of his kicks blocked by SMU's Hunt. I just hope Matt is not going to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors, Donnie Carona and Cory Fowler.
All I know is that when my beloved Texas Tech Nation has to bite its nails and watch a game wind down like it did versus SMU and think "we could lose this game"…it is time to get serious about what changes need to come to pass. First and foremost I strongly believe that the starting QB position should be changed from Potts to Sheffield aka: "Sticks"! Our running game needs major improvement as well. Coach Leach was known for the spread and for the passing game, yet our running game seemed more successful under his watch then it did all day long on Sunday under the new Tubberville watch; a run and shoot system which is supposed to be more of a Tubberville forte, but was executed more successfully in years past under “Our Captain”. As for the running game, Batch and Stephens need to strengthen their play ability ASAP. Batch turned out to be a "Leach Hater" and turned Judas to Mike Leach's cause ultimately going around saying some nasty things about our former coach. Baron, you now need to "put up or SHUT ‘TF’ UP!"..."put your money where your mouth is". Your play on Sunday also wreaked when it should have wrecked.
No, sir, Team Leach never stated we hated Texas Tech, we were just disappointed in the actions of our crooked administration (namely the three aforementioned men aka: the "three horsemen"). Disappointed at the year-long+ scheming between the three men with their planning and then firing Coach Leach followed by the numerous lies they then told after they finally succeeded at their dirty deed to rid themselves of the most successful coach in Tech history. Team Leach was formed and we members came together to ask the questions which needed to be asked…questions which we as Texas Tech fans and/or alumni deserved to be answered. We were merely holding the Tech admin responsible and accountable for such atrocious acts against our Coach and indirectly against our university, our team and our football program's overall success.
Team Leach was watching for sure this past Sunday, and we have more questions...this time for Tubberville and company…Tubberville aka: “the savior” of our ticket sales. The new head coach who allegedly helped to sell more tickets than any coach at Tech in our history. Could that largely be because Tech just added several thousand more seats to "The Jones"...or maybe the fact that "controversy sells"! Don't give Tubberville too much credit. One, he was doing part of his job by touring the country and trying to sell tix. Second, as always is in history, the monetary factor will always grow because of the impact the economy has...i.e. the outrageous cost of ticket prices from one season to the next. Meaning? Not one game this year sees Texas Tech fans able to purchase them for under $40 a game. In seasons not so long ago, my family and I attended games that went for $25 a ticket. That fact alone (increase in ticket costs) is why Tech not Tubberville sold more tix and made the millions of buck$. Losing Coach Leach served more as an impact for huge ticket sales as fans everywhere are wanting to see the Texas Tech games just to see what the new head coach will bring to Raider Nation.
Just one game out, though, and Tubberville showed much negative and little positive, but I shall not give up. I will continue to have high hopes for my Red Raiders, always proud to be part of Tech than not. I will hope for better games and victories, and will allow for anyone to tell me "I told you so"...this only allowed when Texas Tech wins more games than not at the end of the year and succeeds to another bowl bid or maybe a BCS (ahem). That is when and only when I will allow myself to be approached by anyone with that comment…“I told you so”.
Next week sees our beloved Red Raiders at UNM...better luck with that game/that team than this last game versus SMY, guys! For now...Team Leach continues to watch and pose questions.