Double-T Nation News:
Good news, the vet called me last night and said that Blue was fine, they were keeping her overnight to watch her. Apparently it was a stone, which was the size of a peppermint. Can you imagine trying to pass that? Anyway, thanks for all the good mojo, much appreciated.
The bad news is that I woke up late this morning, so I'm running behind so a lot of these are without a ton of comments.
Texas Tech Football:
Kyle at Dawg Sports thinks that Texas Tech is one of four teams receiving undeserved preseason hype. Again, I don't have much time, but I do believe the preseason hype is warranted, and I'm trying to be as objective as possible. I don't think there's any shame is giving up 27 points to Oklahoma, especially when they averaged 42.29 there were games where the defense did play well (Iowa State to 17, Baylor to 7 and the TAMU to 7), but the key is that those were all home games. I think this is where experience plays a big part of the success of a team and with the number of returning starters and the talent that most followers of the program know that's there, I think there's a pretty good chance that Texas Tech lives up to those expectations. Besides that I just don't see 5 losses on the schedule this year, which means Texas Tech would have to lose 5 of the 8 conference games for Kyle's assertion to be true. I just don't see it.
RaiderPower's Mark Sparrow runs down the 5 Keys to a Successful Season in 2008, and notice that Sparrow's first item is that the defense must win a few games. Which brings me back to the post on Dawg Sports, we (Texas Tech fans and critics) know the defense needs work, but we also know that it is getting better. This is a good read this morning.
The Tribune's Dave Matter reviewed the Big 12's best linebackers, safeties and cornerbacks (see, we do have good defensive players) Jamar Wall got a mention as the 3rd best of that group:
3. Jamar Wall, CB, Texas Tech: Probably not a household name - yet. The Big 12’s closest thing to a lockdown corner, Wall picked off five passes last year.
I think Darcel McBath should have been on that list, but I'm not sure where, but he and Brian Duncan get a mention in the "others worth mentioning" category.
There was a DTN reader (I can't remember who that was right now, but thank you) who also sent this to me, but Bruce Feldman penned a College Football's Top Workout Warriors and left-tackle Rylan Reed #5:
This spring during Pro Day workouts in March, Rylan benched 225 pounds 23 times. That doesn't sound like all that much, but considering Reed performed with an injured ankle that he had elevated, it was pretty remarkable that he still got 23 reps without proper balance.