ODDS AND ENDS | I'm sorta glad that I checked out for a few days. I'm sorry that I didn't go back and comment on Friday morning's post, but I got caught up doing family stuff for a good part of the weekend. I'm glad that post somewhat devolved into how awesome Texas is and the best drives to take. I think we could all agree that I-35 would be last on everyone's list.
Maybe because the conversation did devolve it's somewhat of an indication of where things maybe sit. Maybe it is because the story itself is confusing. I don't know, but I really don't care. I keep repeating that there are some Texas Tech alums that want to tear down Hance, even if it is at the expense of Texas Tech, and now we might have some evidence of that. Again, don't let anything surprise you. The world has a lot of vindictive people in it.
TEXAS TECH SOFTBALL | The softball team lost two of three to the highly ranked Sooners, losing the opener (official site), winning the second game (official site) and losing the third game (official site). It doesn't get any easier as the softball team faces UT up next.
TEXAS TECH BASEBALL | So apparently, as long as Duke Von Shamann is pitching, then everything is okay and Texas Tech is pretty much assured of a win. Texas Tech lost the first game to UT, 4-7 (official site) Texas Tech won the second game, 5-4 (official site) and lost the third game 5-14 (official site).
TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL | This was a really good story that got lost in the holiday and maybe because of Friday's story. I've checked around, but I don't think there are any football teams that have done this. We should be proud of this. I should also mention that Sonny Cumbie started this idea and the athletic department ran with it. So a big shout-out to Coach Cumbie for getting this process started, per the Whitmire article:
"It wasn't a deal where we bribed them or anything," said Cumbie, a former Texas Tech quarterback. "I just came to them and said, 'Hey, you guys want to jump on board? Come on.' And they did."
On Friday, Texas Tech and the football team put out the call for supplies to be delivered to Lancaster after last week's tornadoes. From what I can gather, by the end of the day, there were one and one-half 18-wheelers worth of supplies, which confirms the generosity of the West Texas people.
On Saturday morning, the team left early in the morning, delivered the supplies, toured the devastation left by the tornadoes, and came home. Most likely this was a good experience for these young men, I think I read where Jace Amaro went on the event and that's probably a good thing. LAJ's Tommy Magelssen has a story from Friday when the supplies where collected and LAJ's Adam D. Young has a story after the fact. FoxSportsSW Keith Whitmire has a good story with this from S Cody Davis:
"There's just wrecked homes everywhere," safety Cody Davis said. "One guy was in his car, just parked out in front of what used to be his home. His whole home was destroyed.
"It's kind of crazy, really, how their lives were torn apart like that."
There's also a photo gallery, which you should check out.
On the field, there are a couple of things that need mention. Yesterday, LAJ's Don Williams wrote about the new faces on defense and at the bottom of the article was the depth charts as told to Williams by DC Art Kaufman and OC Neal Brown. I don't think there were any surprises on the offensive side of the ball, but defensively, DE Branden Jackson and DE Kindred Evans are on the left side, while DT Delvon Simmons is starting at one tackle spot and DE Dartwan Bush and DE Jackson Richards are on the right side. At weakside linebacker, LB Sam Eguavoen and LB Justin Cooper are ahead of LB Daniel Cobb. S Tre Porter is listed as the back-up strong safety and free safety and would bet that he tries to work his way into a starting role at some point when he's completely healthy.