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World Cup Pick'Em and Learn About Soccer. Don't forget to join the VTM Yahoo! Fantasy Sports Pick'Em contest. The group ID is 8433 and the password is vtm. You are probably thinking that you don't know a thing about soccer and I'm here to help. There was this fantastic piece on Grantland that explains soccer using other sports, like football and basketball to help relate you to the sport of soccer. If you've ever thought that you don't understand, then you don't have an excuse.
The fact is, Nerdy American Sports Fan, you know way more about soccer than you realize. All those sports you already follow - your football, your basketball, your baseball, all those things you already debate, and fight over, and spend hours reading about when you're technically supposed to be working - apply to soccer as well. You can already speak the language of soccer nerd-dom, you just need to learn the dialect: the lineup formations, field spacing, shot selection, tactical chess moves, one-on-one battles, even analytics. They're all there. You just need to know where to look.
Ham to Coach Atlanta Hawks Summer League. Congrats to Darvin Ham as he will be coaching the Atlanta Hawks Summer League team.
Amaro Q&A. TE Jace Amaro spoke to a NY Jets blog, One Jet At A Time, about all sorts of things and he was asked about being a Red Raider:
Q: How was your overall experience at Texas Tech? In what areas did you grow as a football player, and what areas as a person?
A: My overall experience was amazing at Texas Tech. I loved and enjoyed every single day while I was there and it was something that I will truly cherish for the rest of my life. I grew up so much as a football player from a technique and fundamental state, but it was as a person that I saw the most dramatic change in my life. I learned very quickly that everything doesn't happen the way you want it to happen, instantly. It takes hours of dedication and hard work to get where you believe you can. It wasn't until I went through many hardships off and on-the-field to finally realize this.
You should go read the whole thing.
Big 12 Conference Check-Up. CBS Sports has a look in at the entire Big 12 Conference for men's basketball. Not a lot of Texas Tech stuff, but lots of Big 2 things.
How Players Are Ranked. Ever wonder how players are ranked? Me too. This article is just terrific insight. If I had to pick one philosophy, I think I like the philosophy of ESPN's the best.
Bill Watterson Returns. It's a pretty cool story to see the cartoonist of Calvin and Hobbes return.
Weldon Named Regional Athlete of the Year. Congrats to thrower Kole Weldon for being named the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association as the Mountain Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year.
Kittley and Thomas Named Regional Coaches of the Year. Congrats to track and field head coach Wes Kittley and assistant coach James Thomas for being named by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Monday as Mountain Region.
College World Series Set. We now have the College World Series final eight teams. The way this works is that the eight teams are divided into four groups and play a double-elimination tournament, much like the Regional play and then the final two teams that emerge play a three-game series to determine the CWS winner. The two groups are as follows:
UC Irvine
Texas
Louisville
Vanderbilt
Texas Tech
TCU
Virginia
Mississippi
Texas Tech will play their first game against TCU on Sunday June 15th at 2:00 pm. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
