Traditional Media vs. Blogging
A tremendous post by Maize n Brew Dave about the death of the print media and the birth of the new blogosphere. Nestor at Bruins Nation chimed in as well to add to the conversation. I don't have the time to say this as eloquently as Dave and Nestor, but I love the local media. Without them, I don't really have much of a blog, or at least the news part of it. I can always write about the teams themselves, and perhaps I don't need them as much as I think, although I think the traditional media certainly serves a purpose, especially for a school like Texas Tech, which sometimes struggles for media exposure.
I appreciate guys like Don Williams, Jeff Walker, George Watson, Dwain Price, Brandon George and Tim Griffin. Although I find that a little bit ironic that Williams, who is a graduate of Texas Tech (I think), seems to not care much for blogs although RedRaiders.com is nothing more than a Wordpress theme (i.e. blog template). In my two or three years of blogging I've only had contact with a handful of writers (maybe three) despite the fact that I think I present a good product and I don't think I pose a threat to anyone's job despite some initial emails.
I would agree that the there is or was a certain amount of fear of the unknown about blogs especially because there is the perception that blogs are unprofessional, but I think this perception has changed quite a bit over time. The traditional media has a place, or at least I believe they have a place, in this world, and I hope they figure out a way to balance the information that's online versus continuing the print business.
DTN's Top Four:
- A little late to the party, but always funny, Bring On The Cats presents Adventures of the Big 12: Spring Break.
- The * is being removed although the bonus pay to the UT coaches means that they still think they won? I'm so confused.
- Why is Robert Marve still considering Texas Tech?
- Michael Crabtree is now a spokesman for Subway.
Brad Hastings: 1964-2009
There's been quite a bit more on the death of former Texas Tech star, Brad Hastings including commentary from FWST's Dwain Price and ESPN's Tim Griffin. You can donate to the Hastings Children's College Fund for Hasting's two minor children.
Hastings was before my time, I just didn't follow Texas Tech football at that point in my life, but it's clear that he had a significant impact on the success of Spike Dykes and Texas Tech's resurgence.
RaiderAde's Spring Football Update
I meant to link to this earlier, but forgot (boo me) RaiderAde checked out practice last week and has some thoughts on the offense practice as well as some photos from practice
Running Back Tandem
DT's Adam Coleman writes about the running back situation as Baron Batch and Harrison Jeffers look to duplicate 2008, despite the loss of Shannon Woods. Here's running backs coach Clay McGuire on replacing Woods:
"You can't replace three years of experience right off the bat," McGuire said. "I think talent-wise, I think we're fine. Shannon, in a way, was a very strong leader on this team. I'd love to have him back right now, but we don't - gotta move off what we have."
And offensive line coach Matt Moore praises Batch:
"Batch is doing a good job of coaching," Tech offensive line coach Matt Moore said. "Really coaching the younger guys up. He does a good job of going on and telling why. Why you can't hesitate on the goal line. You gotta stick it in there because they got us out numbered in the box. You got that edge pressure coming, and you gotta get it up in there."
Duncan Named to the Lott Trophy Watch List
Brian Duncan was named to the Lott Trophy Watch List. The Lott Trophy is named after Ronnie Lott and is awarded to the collegiate player who exhibits great play on the field and great personal character. Congrats to Duncan for this honor.
Neglected Video, Audio and Photos
TechTalk's first hour delved into scrimmage talk, as well as talking with Richard Jones and with offensive line coach Matt Moore on the progress of this relatively young line and in the second hour Level talks with Seth Doege (who he absolutely loves and if he were the head coach, he'd start over Potts) and Drew Dougherty talks with Taylor Potts. My two cents, Potts is the quarterback unless something drastic happens. Leach also comments at the end of the second hour and here's Leach's recent movie viewing: Knowing, season 1 of Sopranos, The Last House on the Left (okay), but not as good as I Spit On Your Grave (not sure what this is).
RaiderPower has lots of free photos from Monday's scrimmage.
Fox34 takes a look at senior center Shawn Byrnes attempt to regain the starting center position.