Twitter Campaign: I've started a new Twitter campaign in order to get new readers to join DTN. Let me know if you think this is an effective method of gaining a few new readers:
Conference Realignment Chronicles - Some Leftovers: Just a few more links on conference realignment. Corn Nation's Husker Mike has similar questions about the reliability of Orangeblood.com's Chip Brown . . . Rock M Nation's Bill C. takes a look at the Big 12 if Nebraska and Colorado had never joined. This is from the years of 1996 through 2000 . . . ESPN Dallas' Jeff Caplan talk with TAMU AD Bill Byrne, who says that he's not a fan of the Bevo Network . . . RRS.com's Robert Giovannetti has Texas Tech Chancellor Kent Hance on the tiered revenue plan, but I think these are essentially the same quotes (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) from yesterday's AAS.com's article by Kirk Bohls and Cedric Golden . . . the LAJ has an editorial, but I'm not sure who wrote it and so I'm asking you to take the following quotes with a grain of salt, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if they were true:
- It's one thing for the five schools fearful of being left out of realignment to offer money to Texas, A&M and Oklahoma. Why not include Tech and Oklahoma State? But what's worse is Tech and OSU were never told and Tech found out about the potential offer in the media. Texas has said it won't take the money. We've heard the Aggies and Sooners won't take it either and hope that's true.
- Why did UT's president announce the Big 12 schools potentially going to the Pac-10 Conference were staying put? Again, no one at Tech was contacted.
I'd like to find out who the author of this editorial is, and if it's true, then this is a pretty good indication as to why Hance appears to be leading the charge against the tiered revenue plan, which is that only a handful of people even knew about the plan at all . . .
Potts Interview: FSSW's Steve Hunt interviewed QB Taylor Potts. Go read the whole thing, but I'll pick out some interesting things from the interview. Potts on his hand:
How is your hand?
Potts: I’ve been cleared already, so I’m good to go right now actually.
And a little bit on the difference between the new regime and the old regime:
From the quarterback’s standpoint, what’s the biggest difference you’ve noticed between how things were under Coach Leach and how they are now under Coach Tuberville?
Potts: Coach Tuberville and Coach Brown, they feel like they have a system and a way of coaching and handling quarterbacks that’s successful. They really want to hand that to us and let us be as successful as possible. They’re really good coaches. They really coach us hard on details and things that will make us a lot better as opposed to kind of coaching ourselves and doing that’s comfortable for us.How did Coach Leach impact you the most on a personal level?
Potts: Personally, he really pushed you to be a leader. He really expects that out of a quarterback position. It leaves you no option but to be a leader. He wants you to take over. He always told me that I was the only guy that had a right to talk and that’s a big privilege on the football field. So, since I had that privilege, everybody was looking towards me. In the huddle, I was the only one who had the right to talk and say anything. So I had better say something good and say it often.
Previewing the Red Raiders: With all of the conference realignment talk, I neglected to mention that I did a Q&A with College Football Zealots previewing Texas Tech . . . Athlon's Magazine is also releasing their rankings outside the Top 25 and they've picked Texas Tech to finish 37th:
No. 37: Texas Tech — The team seemed to play with more of a spark when Steven Sheffield was the quarterback in 2009, but they call him "Sticks" for a reason. He’s so wiry that it’s been hard for him to stay healthy. If Sheffield can stay on the field this season, Tech is probably an eight- or nine-win team with an outside shot to do better than that. The offense has to figure things out on the right side of the line, but the skill talent is among the best in the league. The big issues are up front on defense. Missed tackles were a problem in the spring. Nosetackle Colby Whitlock, linebacker Brian Duncan and cornerback LaRon Moore will all have to be leaders for a defense in total transition.
Video of Tubs on Realignment: KAMC has video of Tubs talking about the conference realignment and being disappointed with losing two universities and the conference game.
Conference Realignment and Baseball: LAJ's George Watson opines that losing Nebraska and Colorado will have little impact on the Big 12. Here's head coach Dan Spencer:
"I don’t think the power or the strength of the conference will change at all," said Texas Tech head coach Dan Spencer, who just completed his second season. "Nebraska was obviously a great member of the league but I don’t think losing Nebraska will affect our RPI or our deal at all. We need to know from the standpoint of the schedule, are we going to have a 24-game league schedule or what are we doing? Are we going to do something different or have another weekend of non-conference or whatever? But I don’t think it will affect the RPI of the league."
Barnes and McGruder = Freshmen All-Americans: Per the official site, 1B/OF Barrett Barnes and 2B Jamodrick McGruder have been named to some freshmen All-American teams, including both being named to the 2010 Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-America and Barnes being named to the first team of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Congrats to both young men.
Braden on HBO Real Sports: Former Texas Tech pitcher and current Oakland A, P Dallas Braden, was / is on HBO Real Sports. I found some FoxSports video of the interview, feel free to post additional links if you find any.