24 December 2007
DMN beats Chron again on A&M/Arkansas JerryDome deal
Back in November, the Dallas Morning News' Brian Davis broke some big news about Jerry Jones' new stadium and an Arkansas/A&M series:
Texas A&M and Arkansas officials are close to finalizing a non-conference football series at the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington starting in 2009, a source close to the negotiations told The Dallas Morning News.
The schools are close to signing a six- to eight-year deal that would bring a potential blockbuster matchup to the area that could rival the annual Texas-Oklahoma game at Fair Park.
Arkansas officials are expected to fly to the area this week for one final look at the stadium and the contract, the source said.
A&M spokesman Alan Cannon said he could not confirm a contract with Arkansas. He did say the school was considering a non-conference game at the new Cowboys stadium. Arkansas and Cowboys officials could not be reached.
A&M athletic director Bill Byrne has made no secret about his desire to play a high-profile game in North Texas.
The Chronicle's A&M beat writer rushed out this CYA update after seemingly being scooped on the story:
Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles said Sunday that his school has been contacted about renewing its football series with Texas A&M at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium.
"We've been asked to consider it," Broyles said. "We're considering it. That's all I know."
When asked about reports that a deal is done to renew the series between the two old Southwest Conference foes, Broyles said that was premature.
"Count on it -- it is not," Broyles said.
Note that the lede was structured in such a way as to cast doubt on other "reports" (like the one in the Dallas Morning News).
That's all well and good, but Brian Davis reported further details of the deal (which is expected to be announced in January) today in the DMN:
Texas A&M University and the University of Arkansas will each be guaranteed $5 million annually when they begin a nonconference series at the Cowboys' new stadium in 2009, A&M athletic director Bill Byrne said.
The schools are close to signing a six- to eight-year contract that will probably include a rollover clause. An official announcement isn't expected until January.
"Both schools are anxious to play the game," Mr. Byrne said. "It's going to be great. I think it's going to have a terrific impact, not only for our athletic program but for the entire university."
A&M has made no secret of its desire to play a game in North Texas. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is an Arkansas alum and major donor.
The schools haven't played since 1991, when they were members of the old Southwest Conference. The Razorbacks lead the all-time series, 38-24-3.
So, it looks like Davis' original reporting on this story was spot on, and Harris' efforts to downplay the DMN scoop... were not.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/24/07 11:05 AM | Technorati | Comments (0)
23 December 2007
Feigen digresses
Jonathan Feigen (of the tortured ledes) supplied this fun bit of prose toward the end of a recent column:
Raptors second-year forward Andrea Bargnani has seemed to digress since a solid rookie season, and has not looked worthy of the first pick of the draft.
Digress?
Maybe Bargnani has also been dissembling?
No, I think it more likely that Feigen meant "REgress."
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/23/07 09:31 AM | Technorati | Comments (0)
18 December 2007
Where has everybody been?
About 5,000 or so extra* fans showed up at Hofheinz tonight to see the Coogs blast Kentucky.
Maybe some of them will keep coming out.
It's certainly more entertaining than what the Rockets are doing right now, and a lot cheaper!
* Extra relative to what the team has been drawing (anywhere from 3,000 to 3,500). Sadly.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/18/07 10:59 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
14 December 2007
Sumlin presser ends with a *thud*
I went over to the UH pep rally/press conference for new coach Kevin Sumlin today.
It went according to form to start -- Dave Maggard made a statement, followed by Coach Sumlin.
They then opened the floor to press questions.
Some old codger in a purple jacket made a big deal of asking the table (where Maggard and Sumlin were seated) how many hands it takes to catch a football. He then asked Bill Yeoman, who was seated in the front row in the crowd. After someone answered "two" (couldn't hear who, to be honest), the old codger made some point about no, 22 (11 teammates X 2 hands).
Coach Sumlin, who seemed a bit confused by it all, said something along the lines of "thanks," and then UH announced that the open press questions were done, and the press could come interview the principals.
And so ended the public part of the press conference. I guess we'll get answers to such questions as to coaching philosophy, recruiting, personnel, etc., from individual reporters.
Quite a thud to end the presser, actually. More details on CoogFans.
Welcome to Cougar Land, Coach Sumlin! I'm not sure anything in Norman quite prepared you for the weirdness, but the best advice is just to embrace it.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/14/07 03:07 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
The Astros' new acquisition
Does it seem like the Astros were in a great rush to get the Miguel Tejada deal done?
Given the rumors about Tejada and steroids, might the Astros have had more trade leverage if they had waited until AFTER the release of the Mitchell report?
Or, is it possible that given Drayton McLane's preference for the squeaky-clean, no deal would have been possible at that point, and if Ed Wade wanted to make the deal, it had to come BEFORE the release of the damning report (because the owner would nix any such deal today)?
And what might that say about the relationship between Ed Wade and the owner? For that matter, is that relationship the same as or different than it was under the previous two GMs?
It would be GREAT if this town had the sorts of sports journalists who would dig at those questions and try to come up with some answers.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/14/07 10:01 AM | Technorati | Comments (0)
Will the critics of the Texans and Mario in particular please SHUT UP now?
Well, I have held off writing on much of anything this football season simply because it has become obvious that the number of fools and uneducated sports fans in Houston far exceeds those that know what they are talking about. Now I realize that true fans of a team tend to make statements that are impassioned or influenced by the moment; however, the amount of crapola that has been flowing through the media about the Texans and Mario Williams since he was drafted ahead of those other two guys, has been insane. But then the same people who have been saying that VY or Reggie would have been the savior of this franchise are the same ones who think that Steve Francis is still an All-Star and capable of scoring 30 points a night. But that is another article.
Here is what you have right now with the Houston Texans, starting at the top:
An owner who wants to win and is willing to do/pay what ever it takes to get the right people in here to do the job;
A GM who is smart and has learned how to find players who have both talent and the desire to work hard to improve;
A Coach who has stayed on message and has found the right buttons to push to get players who want to perform and are willing to do what is needed to reach the next level;
A core group of players who have bought into both the system and the mindset necessary to become a winning franchise. This includes the young leaders on this team -- Andre Johnson, Matt Schaub, Owen Daniels, DaMeco Ryans, Dunta Robinson, and, yes, Mario Williams.
All Mario has done since being drafted #1 is play his WHOLE rookie year with a foot injury that kept him from practice and required shots to allow him to play. This year you can see the progression that he has made, both from being in the league a year and knowing what is needed to be a success, to the improvement on the field because he has been able to PRACTICE. Yes, PRACTICE makes all the difference in the world when it comes to any position on the football field. The numbers speak for themselves. For the season so far 13 sacks, 53 Tackles and 2 Forced Fumbles, and in the five games since the bye week he has been a monster, 9 Sacks, 2 Forced Fumbles and 30 Tackles. Add to that the team is 3-2 and at .500 the latest in the season in franchise history.
Finally, in closing, there are going to be some people who say I am dreaming and am not in my right mind; however, I said when Kubiak and Smith were brought in that they needed 3 years and they could have this team in the playoffs. Well here we are at the end of year 2 and not only do the Texans still have a chance at the playoffs but they are doing it with 17 players, including half their secondary and offensive line on IR.
So to all those critics of the team, I say to you, it is time to shut up and start looking at this team for what it is: a young, hard working, and good team that is on the edge of being a playoff contender. It is also time to stop calling for Vince and Reggie because it is becoming more obvious that despite their enormous talent they are not Superstars.
Posted by bweldon @ 12/14/07 09:07 AM | Technorati | Comments (4)
13 December 2007
Comets, WNBA are circling the drain
The spin coming from the Houston Comets on their upcoming move is amusing:
The Comets will leave Toyota Center and play their 2008 home games at the smaller but cozy Reliant Arena.
Comets owner Hilton Koch signed a contract with Reliant earlier this week.
"We are very excited that Reliant Arena will be the new home for the (Comets)," Koch said. "As an organization, our goal is to provide Comets fans with a phenomenal in-arena experience while at the same time maximizing the team's long-term growth potential.
"Reliant Arena's smaller venue (capacity 5,800) will be a great setting for our boisterous fans and will help create a powerful home-court advantage."
That's the press-release perspective.
Reality is this: The Comets and the WNBA are an inferior product that few people want to watch, and they are moving from a top-notch NBA arena (an attraction in itself, really) to what is effectively a rat trap in an undesirable part of town.
How much longer will the league or the franchise survive?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/13/07 10:01 PM | Technorati | Comments (0)
Twists and turns in UH coaching search
Tuesday, word trickled out from UH that Dave Maggard had narrowed the coaching search to Mike Haywood and Jack Pardee.
By Wednesday afternoon, KBME-790 was reporting that the list wasn't so narrow after all, that TU offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn was not completely out of the running.
Later Wednesday, the Chron's Michael Murphy and KRIV-26's Mark Berman were reporting that Haywood was out, and OU co-offensive coordinator Kevin Sumlin was back in the mix, along with Pardee.
Haywood may be the next great thing, but I'm not sad that he's out. He's been on several elite staffs and has a reputation as a recruiter, but it seems like he's mainly been a position coach (Charlie Weis is generally thought to run the offense at Notre Dame). That's a gamble, although he could well turn out to be an excellent head coach (think of a certain tight ends coach for the Dallas Cowboys who became a successful head man at Oklahoma State, and then moved on to his current job at LSU).
I've warmed to the idea of Pardee a little bit, aside from the notion of David Klingler as offensive coordinator. It just doesn't seem like a good idea for a guy with no college coaching experience to be named offensive coordinator at a program with aspirations. If that's part of the deal, then I hope Maggard goes with another option.
The Sooner fan in me really likes the Sumlin pick, though. The guy enjoyed success running A&M's offense. And even though Kevin Wilson is truly in charge of Oklahoma's offense, Sumlin is, by all accounts, heavily involved. He's been around some very good coaches and should be able to put together a quality staff (and he already knows UH's strength and conditioning coach well, from their time together at Oklahoma, so he's not coming in to CUSA and UH totally blind). He's supposed to be a good recruiter, and supposed to be an energy guy. UH needs those things.
So, yesterday's news that Haywood was out and Malzahn/Sumlin might be back in certainly cheered me a bit. And hey, if Sumlin gets it, we can have Oklahoma/Oklahoma State proxy wars in CUSA between UH and Southern Miss (which just hired Oklahoma State's offensive coordinator)!
UPDATE: Put it in the bank -- Murph says Sumlin is the guy. Boomer Cougar, anyone? :)
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/13/07 08:53 AM | Technorati | Comments (1)
07 December 2007
Jonathan Feigen tortured prose update
Here's Jonathan Feigen's latest adventure in mangling the language (in a lede, of course):
Like the last time the Rockets headed out of town to start a road trip, they left Thursday having taken a home victory to end a losing streak and seemingly repaired their struggling offense.
Ouch.
Has the Chronicle laid off all the sports section editors?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/07/07 10:32 PM | Technorati | Comments (1)
05 December 2007
The madness of King Dave? (updated)
The news yesterday that UH is seriously considering Jack Pardee (think ancient!) as head coach and David Klingler (of no college coaching experience) as offensive coordinator officially marked the descent of the UH coaching search into Silly Land.
Strangely (or perhaps not so strangely), the move seems popular on CoogFans. Here is a sentence actually seen on that fine forum (and the poster was not joking):
I have no problem with Pardee because he is a proven winner, and with his age he will relate to most of our fanbase.
Here's the email I sent to a few friends about the comment:
Bring back a corpse who's been out of coaching years because most of our fanbase need wheelchairs, walkers, and oxygen to make it to games?
There's something for the marketing dept to work with. Hell, maybe we can swing a marketing deal with Viagra!
But Callie beat me with her response:
So, if Pardee goes 0-11 for the season, that'll be fine because he can talk
with the "fanbase" about what he uses for his achy joints?I think a coach who can relate to x's and o's is more desirable than a coach who knows the ins and outs of the Medicare system. They're not mutually exclusive, by any means. But I've never really cared if I have anything in common with a coach. Why does that even matter?
No wonder I haven't seen Maggard at any of the basketball games lately. I bet he's sick to death of this type of advice.
For a while, there was talk that proven head coaches like Jeff Bower and Chan Gailey might be interested in the job. I hear that former Iowa State head man Dan McCarney would be interested. Any of those three guys would be credible hires, if Maggard decides he wants a former head coach with a record of winning.
Likewise, the offensive coordinators whose names have popped up (Haywood at Notre Dame, Malzahn at Tulsa, Fedora at Oklahoma State) would be credible hires with strengths (Haywood has ties to Houston, Malzahn knows the conference and runs a high-octane offense, Fedora has ties to Texas and runs a high-octane offense at a BCS program that is clearly second in its own state to a storied program).
But a fossil who's been out of coaching for a decade who promises to bring in as offensive coordinator a guy who hasn't coached?
While we're living in Silly Land, why not also ring up The Bootlegger's Boy for the head job, and that Bed and Breakfast guy who ran the Raiders offense last year for OC?
One has to hope the new UH chancellor/president, who has been around a real football program that's on the rise, will veto this latest proposal from Silly Land, and King Dave will get on about the business of replacing Art Briles.
UPDATE: One of UH's conference rivals is interviewing a guy (Larry Fedora) with Texas ties and an innovative offense -- a guy who isn't on Medicare. UH should be after this guy -- and he should prefer UH, because UH has more potential.
UPDATE 2: To be fair, here's a thread on CoogFans that speculates on the coaching staff Pardee might be putting together. They are some guys with experience, and probably won't treat the job as a stepping stone. There is something to be said for both, although this route isn't my preference.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/05/07 11:32 AM | Technorati | Comments (3)
04 December 2007
Holes, indeed!
Headline seen on Chron.com:
Doesn't that apply almost to the entirety of the awful franchise's existence?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/04/07 07:45 AM | Technorati | Comments (0)
03 December 2007
We apparently missed this turnaround
After yet another week of injuries, the Texans' Eric Winston had this to say about Fred Weary's season-ending injury:
"A lot of people don't know this, but Fred is one of the big reasons we are slowly making the turnaround," right tackle Eric Winston said.
Turnaround?
How did I miss this turnaround?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/03/07 07:55 AM | Technorati | Comments (0)
Talking up the Texas Bowl
KILE-1560 (my regular morning drive listening) seemed to be having signal problems at 7 this morning, so I flipped over to KILT-610 and heard Andre Ware schmoozing with a Texans Bowl exec. Ware said this (paraphrasing from memory) in complete seriousness to the guy:
TCU must be thrilled to be playing in the Texas Bowl.
Oh yeah, because I'm sure Gary Patterson is ecstatic about finishing 7-5 and fifth in the Mountain West when his team was expected to finish first and possibly contend for a BCS bowl!
Now, granted, it's all relative, and given that finish, I'm sure Patterson IS happy that the Texas Bowl wanted his squad, but that's not really how Ware was portraying it.
That Ware/Vandermeer show can be hard to listen to.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/03/07 07:48 AM | Technorati | Comments (0)
ADVERTISING
DISCLAIMER
All content © 2004-08, blogHOUSTON and the respective authors.
blogHOUSTON.net is powered by Nucleus.
Site design and Nucleus customization are by Kevin Whited.