Tuesday Morning Links on VTM | Kingsbury Spends Day at ESPN; Texas Tech at #68 in USA Today

1. Kingsbury in Bristol | I'll put all of these links in the same item. Yesterday, head football coach Kliff Kingsbury spent the day in Bristol, Connecticut at the ESPN studios, going to all of the shows and chats and all sorts of things. I very much enjoy Scott Van Pelt and Kingsbury was on the SVP and Russillo Show. I listened to this last night.

I tried to listen to the Ivan Maisel podcast but I am having some serious problems with the Flash plugin and it is causing me all sorts of problems this morning (I think that I'm good at computers and stuff, but if anyone knows how to fix this, it would be appreciated). Maisel also write a bit about Kingsbury in his 3-point stance this morning, talking about hiring defensive coordinator Matt Wallerstedt.

Kingsbury did a chat so check that out.

Some newspapers then took some of those quotes from above and wrote stories, including The Eagle, where Kingsbury talked a bit about Johnny Manziel.

In some of the links above, Kingsbury is asked about what makes Texas Tech's situation unique and it is that there are former players who played recently on the coaching staff and the DMN spoke with Skyline OL Ty Barrett and that he's talked to Kingsbury the most and if I recall correctly, there are six coaches on staff, not seven, but I'm cool with that.

2. Red Raiders #68 in USA Today | One of the best writers in the nation, and I'm not writing that because VTM was linked, USA Today's Paul Myerberg ranks every team each preseason and at #68 are your Texas Tech Red Raiders. I think that's a bit low, but I can see where Texas Tech could rank anywhere between 45 to 70 and that is a large range, but I think I understand the variance. I think people don't know what to think of this team. This is Myerberg's biggest concern:

Take both lines, for example. The offensive line has the weapons to develop into something special; I'm merely not confident that this group is ready today, in 2013, and believe it will take some time for everyone to gel as a unit. The defensive line's issues have been documented, here and elsewhere, and the fears have basis in reality: Tech has talent, but none of the pieces seem to fit into the roles demanded from this 3-4 defense. The defense has concerns beyond this line: Tech's linebackers haven't produced in years, while the secondary lacks a second cornerback and proven depth heading into fall camp.

I understand that and I think that I'm worried about those things too. I think the coaching staff knows these issues as well.

3. Mack Interning at SMU | Good stuff from the LAJ on former Red Raider Johnnie Mack who has started on the road to coaching and is interning at SMU.

4. Speaking of ESPN | Another good link, from Awful Announcing where they take a look at how ESPN is no longer about highlights, but about features, debate and analysis. I think most of us know this, it's just interesting to see someone write about it. This post also denotes that a 90 minute version of SportsCenter didn't show a single highlight of a handful of baseball games in the middle of July. Like a lot of you, the only reason I watch ESPN is if there is an actual game being played and that's about it.

5. Steele and the Pinstripe | Phil Steele thinks that Texas Tech will play in the Pinstripe Bowl. I think that not a lot of fans would go to that game.