Scaling Back a Bit: I haven't updated you guys and gals in quite some time, but my wife's and my adoption is proceeding nicely. If things go according to plan, we can expect to travel to Ethiopian some time in October - January to be approved by the Ethiopian court and will pick up our child in April - May. Dates are very sketchy at this point, but I've been thinking that I need to get in the habit of scaling back a bit here on DTN. You can probably expect 3 or 4 stories in a given week, but there's no way that I'll be able to continue to write at my current pace, hopefully that's okay.
The Puppet's Source was UT's Athletic Department? I know what you're saying, that this is an incredibly unlikely story, but CBS Sports Dennis Dodd had a sit-down with Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott, who says that there were only a few people that were privy to the information that was being leaked and Chip "The Puppet" Brown was most likely being fed information from the University of Texas Athletic Department.
Here's Dodds and Scott (emphasis mine):
The website Orangebloods.com was breaking most of the news during that time largely through unnamed sources. It went from being the first to report that the six schools were strongly considering the Pac-10 to detailing the hectic hours as the Big 12 saved itself with the promise of a windfall increase in future television revenue. Scott, though, seemed to suggest that the reporting was driven by a Texas source or sources with an agenda.
"We weren't trying to publicize what we were doing," Scott said. "We were going about it for four months quietly behind the scenes. It's really Texas [that] leaked the plan as they were going into those Big 12 meetings in Kansas City, I think, hoping to keep Nebraska, hoping to keep the Big 12 together."
Asked what person or persons may have leaked the information Scott said, "I don't know ... It could only be a small [amount of people] who knew what was going on."
Shocking.
I've been shunned by a few media members as a result of my railings and I fully admit that I think I went a bit crazy during conference realignment talks because it was incredibly frustrating to see what was happening before my own eyes, but no one seemed to talk about it. At the very least, this is some sort of confirmation that my tin-foil-hat theories (here and here) may have been somewhat accurate.
The article also details, at least according to Scott, that it was Texas politics that stopped the Pac-16.
The Ags Will Get Paid: SAEN's Brent Zwerneman has the quote from Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe:
"The commitment to Texas A&M was made, and it still stands," Beebe said in a statement. "We did not have the luxury of time during the crisis to sort out the details, but that will be addressed in the future."
That's that. I'm ready to move on.
Texas Tech Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor: Per LAJ's Tommy Magelssen, Texas Tech announced that five former players would be inducted to Texas Tech's hall of Fame, footballer Montae Reagor, footballer Marcus Coleman, footballer Herschel Ramsey, volleyballer Lisa Clark and baseballer Johnny Grimes. Joe Kirk Fulton, Texas Tech's first masked rider, will be inducted to Texas Tech's Hall of Honor. The ceremony will be on September 17th, prior to the Texas game. Congrats to all!
Good Preview vs. Awful Preview: Rock M Nation's Bill C. has his BTBS offensive preview of Texas Tech and it's well-informed, researched, etc.
People seem to be predicting at least a temporary step backwards for the Tech program, and for all we know, that might happen; the line is inexperienced, and we might find out that Leach was more of a play-calling magician than we even knew. Even a strong OC like Neal Brown might take a while to figure out what he has. That said, if things click even a little bit, Tech could build up a gaudy early record. Their first three road trips are to New Mexico, Iowa State and Colorado, and while Colorado strangely had their number in the last couple of TT-CU contests (a 30-6 CU win in Boulder in 2006, and a 31-26 CU win in Lubbock in 2007), those are still not the most intimidating of road trips. FO's projection for Tech was an aggressive 16th, based on the projection of a very strong offense. Can they live up to that?
This is an example of a good preview.
SN's Matt Hayes is ranking the teams and picks Texas Tech #36, but also predicts that Texas Tech will finish 6-6 overall and 3-5 in the conference, but then this is the opening paragraph:
This much we know about Tech: It will continue its streak of being the only Big 12 team to finish with at least a .500 record in league history. After that, it gets dicey. There are too many questions and too much newness for Tech to simply continue the trend of the last three seasons, when the Red Raiders won 29 games and joined the Big 12 elite. There's a looming quarterback controversy—Taylor Potts or Steven Sheffield—and the interior lines have too many new faces.
I don't understand and maybe the SN just got the record incorrect on their website. I'm sorry for all of the confusion.
More on ATH Robertson: Dave Campbell's Texas Football's Travis Stewart has a solid scouting report on Texas Tech's 16th commitment, Longview's LaDarrin Robertson. This makes me feel much more comfortable about Robertson's speed, which DC listed at 4.50:
His best attribute is speed and quickness: He's got a great first step, especially when using a stutter step move on the very short hitch. He doesn't seem the kind of guy you're ever going to properly be able to jump a route on: He's just to fast and fluid. He could be an automatic five yards on the hitch whenever he wants. I hit a key word in there — fluid. He moves very easily in space, and he has a few moves that make life difficult on defenders, like a back juke that could put you on your butt. I don't think he's the Mike Leach-kind of receiver, but he makes sense for a more traditional Tommy Tuberville offense. I think he has a chance to be very, very good. This is no class throw-in, that's for sure.
Sharpe with Cowboys: DallasCowboys.com's Joseph Garcia has a short Q&A with recently signed linebacker Brandon Sharpe:
Fitting In: Sharpe played defensive end at Texas Tech, but the Cowboys have him practicing at inside linebacker. He filled the roster spot of linebacker Jay Moore, who failed to report to training camp after signing a deal with the Cowboys. Sharpe said it feels great to be with the Cowboys and wear the star on his helmet.
So Far: On his first snap ever at inside linebacker, he thumped running back Tashard Choice to the ground in Monday's practice. He said it was wide open but didn't try to hit him hard. Also, his teammates have already taken to him including fellow rookie linebacker Sean Lee who was helping him line up correctly in practice. Sharpe said all of the linebackers communicate with him and help him out wherever he needs.
Weeden's Coming Out Party: EDSBS's Spencer Hall made me giggle, yes, I said giggle, as he took note of Oklahoma St. QB Brandon Weeden and his coming out party.