This is typically the slowest sports day of the year because there are no sports. I do my best to help.
DELIVERING TICKETS | Well, this is pretty cool. IR Austin Zouzalik and WR Eric Ward delivered tickets to some fans yesterday.
#TexasTech WRs Eric Ward & Austin Zouzalik giving local fans their season tickets for 2012 season. twitter.com/ScottLacefield…
— Scott Lacefield (@ScottLacefield) July 10, 2012
The LAJ's Nick Kosmider also has an article (beware video auto-play) and Zouzalik said this:
"The coaches are always (reminding us) we played terrible at home," Zouzalik said. "These fans deserve to see better during home games. It’s nice to see people still buying season tickets. They said we’re a little bit ahead of where we were last year at this point. It’s nice to come out here and see people who aren’t fair-weather fans. These people are committed."
Co-sign.
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR RANKINGS | A Student of the Game's Cody Davis ranked the last four (this is laughable in itself) defensive coordinators for ease of learning the system and enjoyment of playing. I won't spoil the results, but Art Kaufman and Ruffin McNeill are neck and neck.
COACH SPEAK WITH NEAL BROWN | This is already mentioned in a FanPost on the right and I did listen to Coach Speak with tennis coach Tim Segal (this is a direct link to the audio) this early yesterday morning (I was going to post today). I also enjoyed Brown talk about a number of things, not just the offense. Sounds like he has a good handle on the NBA. I was going to transcribe quotes last night, but I RRS.com's Mike Graham already did that. The headliner is that Brown really wants the fans to unite and I'm kinda there with him. Granted, we all can probably acknowledge that if you win, then most of this falls into place, but I understand his frustration:
"I'm off vacation, I'm a positive guy, I feel refreshed," the usually reserved Brown said as his takeaway note at the end of the program. "Red Raider nation, let's get on the positive. We've got 20 out of 22 starters coming back, a great schedule and a returning quarterback. We've got a group of receivers that are very talented. Four returning O-linemen and we've got a great experienced defensive coordinator coming in.
"It's time to be positive. Let's get together."
Brown also talked about replacing Mike Leach:
"I knew what I was getting into when I came because in essence I'm filling Mike Leach's shoes," Brown said. "He's one of the best offensive minds that's out there. This is a great opportunity. It's an opportunity and I had other opportunities, but I thought this was the best one. I knew the pressure was here. I knew about the past performances.
"I felt like we had done well enough at Troy, but I didn't really have a vision on where else we could take Troy to be honest with you. I thought we could do some things here that haven't been done and I still think that's the case."
I've said this before. Brown isn't perfect, but I think he's pretty good.
SPIKE DYKES CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT | Spike Dykes is holding a golf tournament at Barton Creek Country Club in Austin on July 21st to benefit Alzheimer's Disease (this is an example of a press release) and will feature a handful of players. I'm going to have a lot more on this next week.
WALK-ONS | RRS.com is previewing what I might call preferred walk-ons (these are all behind a paywall, but the lead to the article mentions each of their names). Because I am insanely curious, I looked up some video of some of these players. A couple of days ago they featured The Woodland's QB/RB Cooper Woodyard (6-1/205 | 4.5 40-yard dash | YouTube) and yesterday they featured Waller's DT Jordan Hamilton (6-3/279 | 4.9 40-yard dash | YouTube). Here's some YouTubery on Woodyard and Hamilton. I think that Hamilton is actually a pretty nice prospect (he even had an official signing with his high school), but Hamilton's YouTube video is awesome because he gives play-by-play of what he does.
MISCELLANEOUS | I'm running out of time, so these articles only get a passing mention: RP.com's Joe Yeager continues his Critical 20 list with WR Darrin Moore . . . LAJ's Don Williams notes the passing of Mr. Red Raider Club, Leete Jackson Jr.. Condolences to his family.