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 University of Texas Longhorns Win The 2009 Fiesta Bowl

Man, was that a crazy football game in Glendale, AZ last night or what? The Blot’s emotions were all over the place as I watched the University of Texas Longhorns take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2009 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. The first half was horrible, with both teams looking pathetic on offense but after halftime the fun began. With QB Colt McCoy leading the Longhorns on a couple of great offensive drives, for a few minutes there I actually thought the game might be over. But then the Buckeyes came back and actually took the lead with just over 2 minutes left in the game.


As the Buckeyes drove down the field in their last successful offensive drive you could actually see the blood drain out of the faces of the Longhorns fans’ faces I was watching the game with. Our defense had become ineffective and you could see the momentum shifting in the Buckeyes favor. When the Ohio State running back broke free for the Buckeyes’ final touchdown I was actually excited. I had thought at that point Ohio State would just run the clock down and kick a field goal to win the game, but instead they had scored too quickly and given Texas the ball back with plenty of time for McCoy and Co. to orchestrate a last minute game winning drive. The rest, they say, is history!


Texas is now 3-0 in BCS games, giving the school the second most wins in BCS games without a loss. The only team with more BCS victories without a loss is the LSU Tigers who are 4-0 in BCS games. Mack Brown and the Texas Longhorns now have a 5 game winning streak in bowl games (2 Rose Bowls – 1 for the BCS National Championship, 1 Fiesta Bowl, 1 Holiday Bowl and 1 Alamo Bowl), which now gives the University of Texas the second longest active bowl game winning streak in the nation behind the University of Utah who have won a bowl game for six consecutive years.

Mack has continued to show this season that he can in fact win big games without Vince Young and the future for this young Texas Longhorns football team looks extremely bright. Junior QB Colt McCoy had a sick Fiesta Bowl, throwing for a BCS record 41 completions, 414 yards, 2 passing TDs and 1 rushing TD. Thankfully, Colt will be returning for his senior season next year, in which he will almost certainly be the front runner for the 2009 Heisman Trophy Award while the Longhorns should be ranked in the top 3 of everyone’s pre-season polls.


But what has The Blot the happiest about last night’s game was the performance of senior wide receiver Quan Cosby who had 14 receptions for 171 yards and 2 TDs. Cosby has been an intricate part of the Longhorns’ offense for four straight years and has provided the offense with some much needed upper-classman leadership these past two season. While The Blot will be sad to see him go, it was great to send him and all of the other Longhorn seniors off with another great win. Now I just need the 2009-2010 college football season to start already.

The Texas Longhorns Destroy Missouri and Claim #1 Spot In The BCS Poll

The Blot attended his first and sadly only Texas home game last Saturday to see the number 1 ranked Texas Longhorns take on the number 11 ranked Missouri Tigers. I have to say it was the loudest I have ever seen DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium in the past 10 years. I can’t even explain how fun it was, especially the first half where the Horns could do no wrong. The additions to the stadium are really nice and I have to think enclosing the north side has a little to do with the new found loudness of the stadium. It also didn’t hurt that this was the first home game the horns have played as the number 1 ranked team in the country since 1977.


After taking a sick 35-3 lead into half time, the second half was not quite as exciting. But, it was a solid quality win at home and our secondary looked outstanding. I am finally starting to believe the hype and can’t even begin to describe how great quarterback Colt McCoy looked. If that guy doesn’t win the Heisman the voters need to have their heads examined. He may not have the same outlandish touchdown numbers as other QBs, but his completion percentage and the way he leads the team are unmatched by any other player in the country.

On a side note it is very rewarding to have Texas ranked #1 in the first BCS poll of the year. It’s the first time the team has ever controlled their own destiny and with a number one ranking in the USA Today Coaches poll, Harris poll and all six computer polls, Texas is in good shape if they can continue to win. It is arguable that even with a loss the team could still somehow remain in the top 2 and their second shot at a national championship in the past four years.


The one stat that everyone keeps pointing to that just seems ridiculous to me is how many teams that are ranked #1 in the first BCS poll make it to the championship game and from that small number how many actually win the game. This is such an ESPN made up statistic. Yes the number is staggeringly low, but there is one big reason why. Up until two years ago the BCS poll came out the first week of the season. After conferences realized how unfair this was to teams who started out ranked low but ended up with amazing seasons, the BCS wisely made changed to now wait to come out with their first poll of the year until after week 7 of the season.


That’s why in the past two or three years the first team ranked 1 has been more likely to make it to the championship game while in the first 10 years that wasn’t the case. Can you imagine how many teams would have been ranked #1 in the BCS poll just this year alone if they had started the poll after week one? Needless to say there are way too many games still left to play to worry about booking a flight to Miami for the 2009 BCS Championship Game, but a fan can dream right?

#5 Texas Beats #1 Oklahoma At The Red River Shootout in Dallas, TX

Man what a great day Saturday was for The Blot. I wanted to blog about the Red River Rivalry on Friday but was afraid I’d jinx the game. Instead the Longhorns came out and gave the kind of gutsy, gritty performance you don’t typically see out of a Mack Brown led team. This was hands down the biggest win of Brown’s career without Vince Young and it could not have come at a better time. What’s more shocking is that this is the first time the Texas Longhorns have been ranked #1 in the AP poll during the season in 24 years. (link)


The Longhorns and the Sooners fought tooth and nail, but between Offensive Coordinator Greg Davis finally putting together a winning game plan and Colt McCoy’s amazing performance, the Longhorns left Dallas and the Cotton Bowl victorious. The next day Texas was anointed number one in the nation by both the AP and Coaches poll as well as all of the computer polls that are factored in to the BCS standings.


While the official first BCS doesn’t come out until next week, Texas is in good shape to be ranked #1 in that poll as well, as long as the team is able to stay focused and beat 11th ranked Missouri in Austin on Saturday, October 18th. The Blot had been praying Missouri would beat Oklahoma State last Saturday night so that the Horns might play two #1 teams in a row. But Mizzou ultimately lost that game at home. Nevertheless, next week’s game is still a must win for Texas and The Blot will be there in attendance to help cheer the Longhorns to victory Saturday night in Austin.

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.

Bush's Heisman In Jeopardy?

I don't know when Yahoo Sports became such a force in sports news, but they seem to have been breaking a lot of stories lately. And no story has brought The Blot as much joy in recent weeks as this one: Bush Hit With Book. The article reports that "The book, Tarnished Heisman by Don Yaeger and Jim Henry, published by Simon & Schuster, will include transcripts of recorded conversations that contain Bush acknowledging he owed money to the financiers of New Era Sports & Entertainment."

Hopefully this will lead to the revocation of Bush's Heisman. For one thing, everyone knows Vince Young really deserved the Heisman Trophy that year and proved it by beating Bush and USC to win the BCS National Championship. I won't dwell on the arguments too much, but how does a player who is not even the best running back on his own team and shares the field with a previous Heisman Trophy winner even close to the best player in college football. Of course it's easy to put up amazing stats with Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart and LenDale White by your side. It's a little harder to put up similarly great stats, while continuing to win, when you have to carry all of that pressure on just your shoulders...like the great Vince Young was able to do that season.

Obviously Vince probably doesn't want a hand-me-down trophy, but regardless I'd love to see the trophy stripped from Bush's cheating hands and the trophy vacated. We'll see if the NCAA investigation actually leads anywhere though. I've seen the NCAA pick and choose who they want to go after, and which infractions they want to ignore, too many times. Hopefully the Heisman Trophy Trust will be a little more pro-active than the NCAA and take a stand against cheating...I guess only time will tell.