INTERNATIONAL QUIDDITCH ASSOCIATION
Texas Tech University | International Quidditch Association
I don't know what to say, but I'm leading the DTN DD with this link. Congrats on the #25 ranking!
BIG 12 CONFERENCE AND REALIGNMENT
Texas Tech A.D. Kirby Hocutt-FREE Podcast | Williams and Hyatt On Demand
This was a good listen and I can't necessarily explain it, but I trust Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt. Again, I've got no reason to back that up, he seems honest and for some reason I think he's going to do a good job at Texas Tech.
Hocutt concerned about Longhorn Network, not Gillispie | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
You can listen to Hocutt, or you can read a few quotes from LAJ's George Watson. There was tremendous discussion in yesterday's post and a lot of the discussion centered on whether or not it is a violation for the Longhorn Network to broadcast high school football games. I now think that the fellow AD's around the conference really don't care about what the NCAA rulebook says, but they perceive the broadcasting of high school games to be an unfair advantage and if they think it is, then its enough to be an issue, at least right now. In other words, if the AD's don't like it, then they're going to raise hell.
Here's Hocutt:
"In some ways we are in uncharted waters," Hocutt said. "There was a feeling that we wouldn’t be in this position until eight or 10 months down the road. But based upon some events that have transpired, we are dealing with some things today. I’m confident the NCAA will make the proper ruling on that and then as far as the number of football games on the broadcast on the station, we’ll get around the table and work that out to the benefit of all the member institutions."
Beebe issues statement on Longhorn Network - CBSSports.com
The Big 12's fearless leader, Dan Beebe, had this statement yesterday:
The Conference members are committed to working together to address issues in a manner that benefits all members. There are elements of our new television agreement, which take effect in 2012, that need clarification and the members will be working together to develop a process that will work to the benefit of the entire Conference. Until the members have a chance to consider all the issues and come to conclusion about how the Conference will manage the interplay between the Conference television package and institutional networks, no more than one live football game will be televised on any institutional network and no high school content will be televised on a branded member’s network.
Loftin: ‘Uncertainty’ in Big 12 because of Longhorn Network | Aggies | a mySA.com blog
Texas A&M president Bill Loftin about the Aggies and this sounds like TAMU and the Big 12 are in it for the long haul (emphasis mine):
"The Big 12 is not a bad place to be. It’s a good place to be right now. We have a lot of good things going on here in terms of success across a number of sports, not just football. … The Big 12 has great potential to be a very successful conference in the long term if we can work through these kinds of issues."
Checking the Big 12 Program's Conference Realignment Motivation Scale - Cowboys Ride For Free
And last, but not least, go check out CRFF's impressive motivation scale. Texas Tech is starting to creep towards the "Eff Texas" line.
FOOTBALL
20 Questions with Texas Tech Football Head Coach Tommy Tuberville - SportsRadio 1340 The Fan
There's a lot there so I encourage you to go read the whole thing. Here's just one question and answer:
Bob Worden: What, if anything, do you think the team still needs to work on to be successful for the upcoming season?
Tommy Tuberville: It’s lower body strength. We weren’t very strong in the lower body last year. We had a lot of injuries last season in the lower body because of that. So when we got here we changed all of our weightlifting techniques and fundamentals we wanted to get to. Football is upper body strength but it’s just as much lower body strength. That adds quickness and speed and we wanted to be more flexible. In football you get into a lot of different positions and some you don’t want to get into because you’ll get tackled or tangled up and if you’re not a flexible person then you’ll pull muscles or turn ankles. We’ve worked very hard on flexibility over the last 16 months but we aren’t to the point yet to where we can overcome small injuries like last year, but we are getting better.
Sports Radio WHB 810 | Tommy_Tuberville
Tuberville was on with Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City. Tuberville did talk about the weather, as he did in the article above, but honestly, at this point, I'm fine with him raising some awareness about the drought that West Texas is currently suffering. I still think its funny he talks about the weather. Anyway, Tuberville was on for about 20 minutes was pretty honest about his assessment of the defense, just not enough good players and wasn't fast enough.
Meet The Two-Deep: Pearlie Graves - TEXAS TECH OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
DT Pearlie Graves (YouTube) is up and although he's relatively quiet on the video, I bet he's a riot in person.
RedRaiderSports.com - Roster Countdown: Nos. 69-60
The roster countdown continues with brief looks at Jesse Smitherman, Jonathan Guerra, David Neill, James Polk, LaAdrian Waddle, Deveric Gallington and Terry McDaniel.
Big 12 position rankings: Defensive lines - Big 12 Blog - ESPN
I do think the defensive line is going to be a position of strength and Ubben ranks the Texas Tech defensive line at #5. I'm still not sold that LB/DE Sam Fehoko is going to play a lot of defensive end, but I could be wrong. He looked like he added 20 pounds last year and from some of the recent video I've seen of Fehoko, he looks like he's back down to 230 or so. Here's Ubben:
5. Texas Tech -- Sam Fehoko has moved to defensive end from middle linebacker, and should provide some good speed to the front line. Scott Smith looked on his way to an All-Big 12 campaign last season, but was suspended for the remainder of the season by coach Tommy Tuberville and has yet to be officially reinstated. For now, Dartwan Bush and Aundrey Barr will help out at defensive end, outside of Donald Langley, Kerry Hyder and Pearlie Graves. The Red Raiders did snatch a big pickup from departed UNC signee Delvon Simmons, a defensive tackle that could have an impact immediately.
And I would also add that DE Leon Mackey and DT Dennell Wesley also need to be included in the mix, as well as DE Jackson Richards. Again, there is a lot of depth.
Most likely to sneak up on the Big 12? - Big 12 Blog - ESPN
Meh. Ubben just looks at the what he considers to be also-rans, and I think Texas should not have been included in the "contender" list.
Texas Tech: Powerful offense led by unknown commodity at QB
MISCELLANEOUS COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The unsatisfying (and deeply troubled) BCS system is a - 08.10.11 - SI Vault
Just outstanding work from SI.com's Austin Murphy.
Mike Slive Sets Ambitious Reform Agenda - The Blog of the NCAA
The Bylaw Blog takes a look at SEC commissioner Mike Slive's NCAA reform agenda. Definitely a good read.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Twitter / @officialdarko
Awesome! Former Red Raiders Darko Cohadarevic and John Roberson have signed in Slovenia. I love Darko's hashtag:
Me and former teammate John Roberson will be re-united in Slovenia. He also signed with Zlatorog today. #gunsupineurope
Congrats to both!
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