Texas Tech Football:
The hits just keep on coming. The Red Raiders' good buddy, DMN's Tim MacMahon throws fuel on the fire and provides us with this tidbit from A&M's AD, Bill Byrne who thinks that a game in Dallas is a good idea. Here's Mr. Byrne in his weekly newsletter:
Sincerely I believe that's true, besides the financial advantage. Having a constant presence there would not only provide a significant financial windfall for us, but also a positive impact on the entire welfare of Texas A&M University.
I'm with Tim here, it's hilarious to have Byrne confirm what we as Texas Tech fans have been saying all along. Playing in Dallas is a pretty good deal. Byrne's probably got something up his sleeve and is working on another game, but it's obvious that this is a trend that more than one school is following.
I've been doing some thinking (I know, it's a shock) about the actual athletic ability of 3 of our best players, or rather, the players that we expected the most from this past year. Just for grins and kicks, I looked up Filani, Johnson and Hicks 40 yard dash times and vertical jumps in comparison to the 3 top receivers in this year's draft.
| Player | 40 Yrd Dash | Vertical Jump |
| Joel Filani | 4.57 | 32.5 |
| Robert Johnson | 4.69 | 29.0 |
| Jarrett Hicks | 4.67 | 34.5 |
| Calvin Johnson | 4.35 | 42.5 |
| Robert Meachum | 4.39 | 37.5 |
| Dwayne Bowe | 4.51 | 33.0 |
So why go through this exercise? I started thinking about how we, as Tech fans, think the world of our wide receivers and how incredibly productive our receivers are while lacking athletic talent of top tier wide receivers. Filani compares favorably with Bowe, which answers why he was drafted. Think about the production Tech was able to get from guys who essentially ran a 4.7. Johnson had 871 yards receiving and 89 catches, while Hicks, although less productive in 2006, 25 catches for 334 yards, but had 65 catches for 850 yards in 2005.
I find that staggering, the utter lack of true speed on the field, yet Tech has one of the most productive offenses in the nation. Now, Tech is adding some true athletes like Crabtree, Britton, Leong, Franks, Amie, Flannel, Detron Lewis, Hawk, etc. Exciting times my friends, exciting times.
SEN's Tim Griffin echoes some of the same sentiments that DTN user, HubCityRaider, and believes that the key to future Big 12 success is finding an appropriate partner for the television deal. Part of the problem is the lack of top 50 television markets:
Those numbers are dwarfed by other Bowl Championship Series conferences like the ACC (20 percent, 14 top 50 markets) and the Big Ten (22 percent, 13 top 50 markets). The SEC is similar in population (17 percent market share) but has 12 top 50 markets and benefits from its association with CBS.
Shouldn't NBC get in this mix a little more than Notre Dame? Wouldn't that be a natural partner, they could show two games a week, make a lot of money and make us happy.
I've been meaning to mention this for some time, but Texas Tech picked up another commitment, Coffeyville C.C. (Kansas), cornerback, Jarell Routt, who was an original commitment to the 2006 class. I don't know much about him other than he's really fast (4.4 40 yard dash) and has pretty good size, 6-0, 205 pounds.
Texas Tech Baseball:
LAJ's George Watson has an article on how this Texas Tech baseball team is an underdog with 2 weeks to go in the regular season. Coach Hays on the current situation: