ODDS AND ENDS | The Lady Raider season has come to an end and I very much want to thank RndRckTTU for taking hold of the writing for the Lady Raiders and absolutely running with it. Her contributions have been incredibly appreciated by me and I think appreciated by you all as well. Much, much thanks.
I've got a baseball post scheduled to go up later in the morning. I won't be updating this post over the weekend because I'm leaving relatively early tomorrow morning. There will also be an open game day thread scheduled for 5:00 am tomorrow morning.
I didn't get a chance to listen to either of these interviews, but 1340 The Fan and the Sports Shack as well as Double-T 104.3's Bottom Line interviewed Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt. Check them out.
LADY RAIDER BASKETBALL | The Lady Raiders lost to San Diego 51-60 last night (official site) and now their season has ended. Overall, I think this season was disappointing, because it started off so well, and it felt like settling for the NIT after having such a tough stretch in conference play. LAJ's David Just writes about the absolutely horrid shooting performance in the first half (6 of 35 for 17%) and files a notebook noting that it was F Jordan Barncastle's last game. DT's Mike Gutierrez also recaps the game. Just also writes about the injury to G Monique Smalls, who hurt her knee before the first half and had to be taken back to the locker room and didn't return. She's scheduled to have an MRI later today so you all think a good thought for Monique.
TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL | I am so falling for all of the old dudes. Don't judge me. Texas Tech continues their Coaching File series, and up next is defensive backs coach John Lovett (beware auto-play video). I do hope you take the time to watch the video and for those of you who want to see a coach focus on technique and the minor details on the defense, then Lovett just might be that guy. It seemed like all of the footage shot during practice focused on the minor things that each player needs to correct and that's the sort of stuff I want to see. Lovett also says, not necessarily directly, that each player will have their positives and negatives and he has to accentuate those positives. Swoon.
RRS.com has a roundtable of who they think will be the star of the spring game. There are four different opinions, so make sure and check it out, but here is Chris Level's thoughts:
"This choice was easy for me because in scrimmages Ronnie Daniels has oftentimes been the best player on the field. If Daniels hadn't been suspended last season, I firmly believe that the Red Raiders would have made a bowl game. Daniels can do it all on the football field and I might have to go all the way back to Sammy Morris to find a Red Raider with Daniels' size and skillset. Pass pro? Check. Catching the ball out of the backfield? Check. Running inside the tackles and hitting the right gap? Check. Busting it outside and running away from defenders? Check. There is a reason that Bradley Marquez was moved back to wide receiver. Daniels' presence has Chad Scott feeling really good about the depth at running back knowing that he could end up with Eric Stephens and/or DeAndre Washington to help out too. So, want some advice for Saturday? Watch No. 20. You'll like what you see."
Miscellaneous: The Williams and Hyatt Show continues their ultimate 2-deep series and up next is the defensive line . . . National Football Post's Dave Miller projects the bowls for next year and writes that Texas Tech will finish 6th in the conference and play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Woot! . . .