Star Wars College T-Shirt Collection

Star Wars has teamed up with the NCAA to release a new line of collegiate t-shirts featuring your favorite Star Wars characters! As StarWars.com explained, “whether a member of an undefeated empire or part of a rebel alliance, collegiate sports fans know what it means to be part of a legacy. Now college sports fans can celebrate their school pride with the power of the Force sporting a new collection of apparel and accessories featuring iconic designs from the Star Wars saga!” This awesome Star Wars Collegiate T-Shirt Collection includes over 50 schools (including my alma matters Texas and Alabama), and features characters like Yoda, Darth Vader and Stormtroopers.

These t-shirts are available now at retailers such as Kohls and Old Navy, and the entire collection (including hats, throws, outerwear, lunchboxes and coolers) will be available at campus stores nationwide later this fall.

March Madness Infects The Blot

Last weekend was the opening weekend of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and it is far and away my favorite sports weekend of the year. I tried so hard to be productive this past weekend but I kept being beckoned to the television to watch college basketball. There is nothing better than watching the little guy take it to the big state school and show them that on a neutral court it truly is anyone’s game. While there weren’t as many Cinderella stories this year, it was amazing watching 14, 15 and even 16 seed teams push their “more talented,” higher recruited rivals to the brink.

It reminded me of my first ever March Madness experience and one that submitted my eternal love for what is IMHO the greatest sporting event in the world. Picture it: Birmingham, Alabama - March 12, 1987, it was the first round of the NCAA tournament. My dad took a then 7 and a half year old lil' Blot to his very first session of NCAA Tournament games. The first game was between the University of Illinois Illini, a three seed, and a little known school named Austin Peay, the 14th seed.

Back then I knew nothing of rankings, seedings or who was “supposed” to win. What I did know was the Austin Peay Governors, who were in the NCAA Tournament for only the third time in school history, had the best cheer ever, “Let’s Go Peay!” Let me just tell you, to a 7 year old “Let’s Go Peay” is probably the coolest thing you could be cheering over and over again at a basketball game. The stadium was going crazy for the underdogs from Clarksville, Tennessee and the Governors pulled off a huge upset.

After that my dad and I watched 6 seed Providence Friars, coached by the now legendary coach Rick Pitino and led by a then unknown (and current head coach of the Florida Gators) Billy Donovan, begin their march to the 1987 Final Four by defeating our hometown heroes the 11th seeded UAB Blazers. It was a fun time to be a 7 year old and it was an afternoon I won’t soon forget. Once I got older I made it a point to attend as many NCAA Tournament games as I could, which thankfully wasn’t too hard as there always seems to be games taking place in a city near where I live, either in Birmingham, Atlanta, or one of four cities in Texas.


I’m currently running a pretty hot streak, having gone to games 10 of the last 13 years, including the 2002 Final Four. But no games are in store for The Blot this year as the tourney has for some reason skipped Texas completely. That’s ok though, because when you are in the thick of March Madness as we are right now, one game just isn’t good enough. You need to be watching bits and pieces of the two, three or four games going on in hopes of catching that last second upset and ultimately the tournament’s one shining moment.

The Blot Catches Up On Blogging After A Busy Weekend

Sorry I’ve been missing all day, but The Blot’s Monday has been really busy following a crazy weekend. The first thing I can report is that I am officially caught up on Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica just in time to start watching Season 4 this Friday. The only think left for me to do is watch the made for TV movie Battlestar Galactica: Razor which debuted last November on the Sci-Fi Network. The movie is set in the past and explores what took place on the Battlestar Pegasus btween the initial Cylon attack in the 2003 Battlestar Galactica mini-series and when the Pegasus rejoined Galactica and the colonial fleet in Season 2. Evidently some events from this movie help to set up the storylines to come in Season 4, so I’d like to watch it before Friday’s season premiere.

I was waiting to watch Razor until I caught up on Season 3, since it came out after Season 3 ended and I was worried it might spoil something in the season for me. Now that Texas was knocked out of the NCAA Basketball Tournament by the Memphis Tigers in the Elite Eight, I should have plenty of time to catch up on Razor and watch Season 4, Episode 1 this week/weekend.

What a disappointing game I attended on Sunday. Texas was thoroughly outmatched and outplayed by Memphis. I figured we at least had a chance to beat Memphis considering Texas beat Kansas at home late in the year (and Kansas is arguably as big and talented as Memphis), and Texas beat Tennessee by 18 on a neutral court early in the year (Tennessee is the only team to have beaten Memphis this year and the game was at Memphis). As it turns out, all of my rationalizing was moot once the game started as Memphis dominated Texas from tip-off and completely took the primarily pro-Texas crowd out of the game.


While I was pretty dejected during the game, in retrospect I am very pleased with our season and in the fact that Head Coach Rick Barnes and the team made it to the Elite Eight. The season went better than anyone could have imagined after losing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year and then losing the NCAA Player of the Year, Kevin Durant, to the NBA. The team really came together this year and ended up being even better than last year by being ranked in the Top 10 most of the year, breaking the school's record for wins in a season, and beating 3 top 5 teams, including two Final Four teams, in UCLA, Kansas and Tennessee.


With that being said, Texas couldn’t have asked for a better route to a return trip to the Final Four with their Tournament games being scheduled in Little Rock, Arkansas, Houston, Texas and then in San Antonio if they had reached the Final Four for the second time in the Rick Barnes era. I guess there’s always next year. Hopefully our All American point guard D.J. Augustin will see the benefit of staying in college for another year so the team will have an even better chance to return to the NCAA Tournament next year.

One Shining Moment

The Blot will be gone for the rest of the day. I’m going to pick up my dad at the airport and then heading down to Reliant Stadium in search of my one shining moment (a.k.a. two big victories by the University of Texas men’s basketball team). Yes, I’ll be at the NCAA Men’s Basketball South Regional tonight cheering on my Texas Longhorns against the Stanford Cardinal and then hopefully returning on Sunday to watch them battle the winner of the game between the Memphis Tigers and the Michigan State Spartans.


Everyone keeps saying what an advantage it is for Texas to be playing their Sweet 16 game (and possibly an Elite 8 game) basically at home in Houston, TX. I say it’s only an advantage if they win. Hopefully 30,000 fans in burnt orange will prove to be as much of an advantage as a lot of the critics think it will be. What I do know is that while it’s nice Texas has “reached the NCAA Sweet 16 five times in the last seven years” (the only other schools to have accomplished this feat over the past 7 years are Duke and Kansas), I think it’s high time for the Longhorns to break through again and make it to the school’s second Final Four under Head Coach Rick Barnes. (link)


Honestly though, I’m being cautiously optimistic about the game against Stanford. While I think Texas has the talent to make it to the NCAA Final Four, I’d be lying if I didn’t say the Lopez brothers’ size and skills don’t scare the hell out of me. Hopefully starters A.J. Abrams, first team All-American D.J. Augustin, Damion James, Justin Mason, Connor Atchley and the rest of the team are ready for a war.

March Madness

The NCAA Basketball Tournament beings….now! And honestly, I couldn’t wait much longer. These next four days have to be my favorite sports weekend of the year. The buzzer beaters, the upsets, the bracket wagers, this weekend’s got it all. Of course I’ll be rooting on my Texas Longhorns to make it to Houston for the South Regional Finals and eventually San Antonio for the Final Four, but even if they don’t make it to the third weekend of the tournament I’m sure there will be some compelling story lines to get us through the month. I’m interested in seeing which team Cinderella’s slipper attaches itself to this year.

The Blot Invades Westwood

A few years ago The Blot was bored and made a list of all of the different sporting events and specific games I’d like to attend one day. Surprisingly, over a much shorter period of time than I expected, I’ve already been able to check off a good portion of the list. Whether it was just a matter of being at the right place at the right time or through the generosity of others, I’ve witnessed some pretty cool sporting events. Last Sunday night I was able to check off another item on my list.

You see not all items are necessarily big events. Growing up I was a huge UCLA Bruins basketball fan and always wanted to see the home of the Wizard of Westwood from the inside. Last December when it was announced that there was going to be a Big 12/Pac-10 matchup and the marquee game was going to be Texas at UCLA I knew I had my excuse to head west to Pauley Pavilion. So after a year of planning, Al and I flew to LA last weekend to visit some friends and family and then go support our #7 ranked Texas Longhorns take on the #1 ranked and undefeated UCLA Bruins.

This was the first true road game I’ve ever attended and the crowd at Pauley Pavilion was intense. The stadium was packed and there was actually a pretty good number of Texas fans scattered throughout the arena. Ironically we actually ended up sitting next to two Texas fans who now live in California. I don’t think I’ve ever attended a basketball game that was that loud. It’s such a different experience going to a college basketball game at a school with such a rich and historic basketball program. After every single basket scored by the Bruins their fans erupted.

It was the loudest basketball game I’ve ever been to. You’d have thought UCLA was killing us the way their fans cheered every play and supported their team, instead of what was really going on…Texas going on a 17-0 run in the first half for a huge 16 point lead. I was super impressed with the Bruin faithful and their support of their team. It never wavered. But then again I was sure we were going to blow it in the second half. That’s just how basketball works, right?

Sure enough the second half started and UCLA came on strong. I don’t know how it translated on television, but the stadium was incredibly loud the entire second half. Once the momentum shifted towards UCLA the crowd was going nuts and then the Horns squandered their entire first half lead. The lead changed back and forth for a while and both teams kept hitting big shots. Within the last five minutes the lead was never more than 4 points for either team and I finally started to believe an upset was possible. The fact that Texas was able to take the lead with 8 seconds left and then hold on for the victory was unreal. Texas fans throughout the stadium were going nuts and Pauley Pavilion was silent. You’d have thought with Coach John Wooden at courtside, all of the NBA scouts in the audience (reportedly 29 of 30 teams were represented at the game), and Hollywood elite like Denzel Washington and John Lithgow in the crowd cheering on the Bruins, UCLA would have come out on fire. What I didn’t realize was how great Texas’ zone defense really is. The Longhorns swarmed all over the court and all UCLA could do was pass along the perimeter and take bad shots. Texas was even able to hold UCLA’s star freshman Kevin Love to just 11 points and 5 rebounds.

I can’t even describe how impressed I am with how great our sophomores played. Point guard D.J. Agustin controlled the flow of the game and Damion James looks like a completely different player from last year. His intensity and rebounding is still there but now the guy can shoot lights out. Combined with the improved play of junior Connor Atchley, the Horns haven’t skipped a beat after losing Playing of the Year Kevin Durant to the NBA.

Before the game I was just hoping the game would be close and that the Horns wouldn’t get blown out. It’s my own fault for not seeing enough of our early games to realize how good this Texas team really is. After beating then ranked #7 Tennessee on a neutral court and now this 63-61 victory over UCLA, Texas is a legitimate national power and a deservedly ranked Top 5 team.

I also can’t speak highly enough of the UCLA fans. After attending the 2006 Rose Bowl where Texas played USC, I was a little concerned with how UCLA fans would act. Obviously they are two very different schools but both fan bases are in Los Angeles. The USC fans that game were atrocious and were pretty rude to all of the Texas fans throughout the game. UCLA fans, on the other hand, were the complete opposite of how USC fans acted. Now it could be the difference between football and basketball, but everyone was very friendly and nice before and after the game.

As I was walking around before tipoff admiring the 11 basketball NCAA national championship banners hanging from the rafters I was stopped by an older fan who wanted to share some stories from back in the day and pointed out to me where Coach Wooden would be sitting during the game in case I wanted to try and get a picture of him. After we won, fans were congratulating us and couldn’t believe we came all the way from Texas to watch the game. It was nice to see fans being good sports after such a devastating loss. The whole game some fans behind me kept screaming to the Texas players and Texas fans that “this is what it means to play in Pauley!” I guess what he was saying was true… it was a cool experience and an even better win. So on the way out I thanked the fan for showing me the true meaning of what it meant to play in Pauley Pavilion.