One more public service announcement: The players report tomorrow and the first practice is on Saturday (I think). One more sleep.
TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL
Meet The Two-Deep: Derrick Mays - Texas Tech Red Raiders Official Athletic Site (watch via YouTube)
Make sure and check out Mays' King Tut beard.
Football players bring smiles to young patients | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
This was in the LAJ yesterday, but wasn't published until after I had left for work. Good to see the players in the community trying to make a difference.
Women get taste of Red Raider football at clinic | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Another good thing for the community as the women's football clinic was yesterday and helped raise money for the Women’s Protective Services in Lubbock. You can also check out the Spotted photo gallery.
Texas A&M Chosen As 2011 Black Out Game - Texas Tech Red Raiders Official Athletic Site
More uniform talk.
RedRaiderSports.com - 2011 Fall Preview: Five on the spot
The five players "on the spot" are RB Aaron Crawford, IR Cornelius Douglas, LB Sam Fehoko, PK Bradley Hicks and DT Chris Perry. It's tough to disagree with that group, although I don't know that Crawford is on the spot as I think that at this point, he's been such a good teammate and I think he's overcome a lot personally (I wish I could find the article I'm thinking about, but I just can't find it), he contributes no matter what the role and that's why I cheer for him.
BIG 12 & COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The Toolbox: Home Field Revisited - Football Study Hall
Bill Connelly takes an interesting look at how to measure home field advantage. And in case you're curious, Texas Tech still does pretty well.
CFT predicts: Big 12 standings | CollegeFootballTalk
The writers for CFT thinks that Texas Tech will finish 4th or 6th in the Big 12. I thought that this was an accurate statemetn:
As far as the third tier of the conference is concerned, take Texas, Missouri, Baylor and Texas Tech, toss them in a bag, shake ‘em up and pull ‘em out one team at a time, although I get this sneaking suspicion that I’m sleeping way too hard on the Longhorns.
Film school: the spread in the red zone " Texas Football
Good stuff from Greg Tepper at Dave Campbell's Texas Football.
TEXAS TECH BASKETBALL
# Jeff Kidder Joins Red Raider Coaching Staff - Texas Tech Red Raiders Official Athletic Site
# Junior college coaching standout joins Tech staff | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
# RedRaiderSports.com - Kidder joints Gillispie's staff
I think this is the last hire by Texas Tech head coach Billy Gillispie, which means that as of right now, Gillispie has hired or retained Chris Walker (Villanova), Bubba Jennings (Texas Tech), and Derrick Jasper (UNLV, as a graduate assistant) and now Kidder. If you just look at Kidder's record, it's sterling. Make sure and check out the RRS.com link as it has video of a press conference with Gillispie and Kidder. Kidder has gone 432 wins and 109 losses. That's just amazing. Kidder talks a bit about Gillispie:
"I have known coach Gillispie for a long time and the opportunity to work for him during his first year at Texas Tech makes it exciting," said Kidder. "I think we will put a product on the floor that everyone will be proud of. It is an exciting time for Red Raider Basketball. Coach Gillispie is recognized as one of the most highly successful coaches in the country and we have a tremendous opportunity to build something special here at Texas Tech."
And Gillispie talks about Kidder:
"We are extremely proud to have Jeff as a part of our staff," said Gillispie. "He is a total professional, who has experienced a great deal of success at all levels. He is an outstanding coach, who can recruit and most importantly, he makes a difference in the lives of young people."
The unfortunate part is that this move doesn't come without a bit of controversy. Kidder was the P.E. coach at Howard College and gave two athletes that eventually ended up playing at Texas Tech, A's on a P.E. course that they never attended. The NCAA investigated, but I don't believe that Kidder was sanctioned by the NCAA. Hat-tip to Brandon Rawe's Twitter, here's an old Chron article about the investigation. Kidder and Gillispie both addressed the issue yesterday, saying that this incident was 20 years ago and that Gillispie did his due diligence. Again, there's no disputing Kidder's record and success at the JUCO level, but this is just something to keep in the back of your big sports-brain.
TEXAS TECH TRACK & FIELD
Daily Nation: - Athletics |Kipyego out on mission to Daegu
The best Texas Tech athlete you've never heard of (unless you frequent DTN), Sally Kipyego continues to make her mark in track and field.
MISCELLANEOUS
Chess phenom wins scholarship to Texas Tech at tournament - latimes.com
I don't write a lot about the Susan Polgar chess movement at Texas Tech, but it's amazing how she has made Texas Tech a destination spot when it comes to chess. This is just one example.
The Animated GIFs Of July: In Which Every Living Baseball Player Is Terrible - SBNation.com
Animated GIFs! Woot!
The Autumn of David Stern | The Nation
I love the NBA, but I despise the smugness of David Stern.
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