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Kingsbury on Dance-Off and What Sells Texas Tech: Transcribed from a radio interview, head coach Kliff Kingsbury talked about what sells Texas Tech and his thoughts on why he did the dance-off (via DMN). I did like his rational about the dance thing, which I didn't have a problem with personally:
"There’s a fine line. There’s no doubt. It was our last spring practice and we were just going to be in helmets and I knew we had to do something to crank it up and get the energy going because traditionally that’s a tough one to get them going because they’re winding down. They’re tired of practicing against each other, so you just figure that’s a good way to start off practice. We have a younger staff and we try to relate to our players but they know it’s about respect. They know it’s about them handling their business academically and us keeping an eye on them as students and as players. And they know there’s a fine line they can’t cross but at the same time we’re going to have fun and we’re going to make it an enjoyable atmosphere and we’re going to bring energy every day to the practice field."
This makes sense and I think we have to give some of these guys to be normal human beings sometimes and have fun. As far as what sells Lubbock, Kingsbury said that this is about the entire town of Lubbock pulling for Texas Tech. All pulling together. There's an additional portion of the interview that's in a second article (via DMN) that seemed less interesting to me where Kingsbury was asked about Art Briles, where Kingsbury said they were still close, if there is parity in the Big 12 and what he got on his Wonderlic (via DMN).
Walk It Off: Texas Tech got a walk-off win against Dallas Baptist. A walk-off win against Dallas Baptist, thanks to a Stephen Smith single driving in two runs (Recap - Box Score- LAJ). And Smith hit a double in the fifth to pull Texas Tech down from 4-3. Cameron Smith entered in the third inning and pitched 5 innings in relief, allowing just 3 hits and no runs. Just a huge win for the Red Raiders as Dallas Baptist just won two of three against Baylor this weekend.
Don't look now, but if things go according to plan, Texas Tech is going to be a tournament team (via LAJ):
"What it really means is we’ve put ourselves in a good position for now," Tadlock said. "But we don’t need to look back. We need to keep playing and keep getting better, show up and try to get after it on Tuesday (against Dallas Baptist)."
But it’s more than just numbers. Tadlock should start getting consideration for Big 12 Coach of the Year for his ability to hit the right buttons with the right players at the right time. He has instilled, pretty much out of nowhere, a winning attitude that didn’t exist two years ago.
Links:
I haven't had time to listen to this, but Kingsbury was on some sort of fake dating show with Jay Mohr (via Fox Sports Radio). I am sure hilarity ensued.
Apparently Texas and USC had a problem with the new unlimited snacks rule and the requirement that coaches be a certified in first aid. They had problems with these rules (via Athletic Scholarships).
There's a few articles about the Texas NFTC, which is some sort of recruiting deal (via Scout - Receivers - Running Backs - Quarterbacks) and there are some mentions of the two Texas Tech commits.
Action: Pretty nice little time lapse.
