Odds and Ends
One of Those Days
Ever have one of those days? Yesterday was one of those days for me and I'm not at full strength this morning. In any event, later this morning, we'll have DTN's Best of Lubbock reader submissions for Italian food. And for those of you who haven't noticed, I created a special page for DTN's Best of Lubbock, located on the left sidebar under the Helpful Links widget, above the countdown clock. And yes, I realize I need to update.
Texas Tech Football
Ruffin McNeill Q & A
Amarillo.com's Lance Lahnert has a lengthy Q & A with Texas Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill, who was in Amarillo for a Red Raider Club event. Go read the whole thing, but here are some portions of the session.
On CB Jamar Wall:
Jamar Wall of Plainview will be a senior this year for you in the secondary. What do you expect from him, and is he an NFL prospect?"I think Jamar is an NFL prospect athletically. He was not able to go through spring drills because of some rehab from surgery. We expect Jamar to be a leader for us on defense. He's been playing since he was a freshman, and we have a lot of confidence in Jamar."
On Captain Mike Leach threatening to go on vacation with his staff:
Tell us something we don't know about the intriguing world of Mike Leach?"I love working for Mike. It was a no-brainer when he asked me to work for him. I will tell you Mike is a players' coach. People saw that nationally when he defended Graham (Harrell) and Michael Crabtree during the draft. He challenged the NFL. Secondly, Mike is a family guy. I appreciate that. People don't realize it, but he's a Chevy Chase vacation-type guy. He makes every one us take a Chevy Chase vacation. And if we don't, he has us go with him. That's the truth."
On DE Daniel Howard:
Tell us a player under the radar today who Tech fans will enjoy watching next fall?"Senior (defensive end) Daniel Howard is the guy. Our fans saw him spot play a lot last year. He was used on special teams and as a pass-rush specialist last year. He's put on weight (listed at 239 pounds last year) and will be more of an in-your-face player this year."
Ranking Texas Tech's Opposing QB's
RRS.com's Joe Yeager ranks the quarterbacks Texas Tech will face next season. Am I the only one that would put Houston's Case Keenum ahead of TAMU's Jerrod Johnson? I know that Keenum plays in an offense similar to Texas Tech's and doesn't face Big 12 competition, but he had some incredible numbers last year. I'm not denying Johnson's potential, because I certainly think he's going to be a very good quarterback, but right now, based on what we know, I think Keenum is ahead of Johnson, and I don't think I would have Johnson ahead of Oklahoma State's Zac Robinson either.
Texas Tech Basketball
Ranking Big 12 Coaches
The Dagger's Eamonn Brennan is ranking every conference's coaches and yesterday it was the Big 12 coaches. There's no question who is at the head of the class, KU's Bill Self and UT's Rick Barnes, right behind Self. Here's what Brennan had to say about Pat Knight:
Pat Knight, Texas Tech: Because of the nepotistic way former Texas Tech coach Bob Knight gave his son his position in mid-season, and because Pat Knight has no college experience to draw from, it's hard to say what kind of coach he will be. He'll no doubt follow his father's principles -- man to man defense, motion offense, a dearth of three point attempts -- but will he be able to inspire and/or dominate his teams with sheer force of will the way his father could? I don't know. You don't know. Nobody really knows.
Texas Tech Baseball
Duke Von Schamann, Texas Tech Commit
NewsOK.com's Ryan Aber sits down with Texas Tech baseball commit Duke von Schamann (Edmond Santa Fe, Oklahoma). I don't follow recruiting very much and I certainly don't follow baseball recruiting, but I couldn't help myself considering the following: Duke has a sweet a$$ name and his father is Uwe von Schamann, a former OU kicker from 1975-78. Duke intended on following his father's footsteps to OU, but decided to go to Texas Tech because head coach Dan Spencer wants to let Duke play both third base and pitch:
"I’m going to get to play third base and pitch at Tech," Duke said. "I would only have been able to pitch at OU. I definitely want to keep doing both."
Here's a good story from KOCO on his Uwe and Duke: