Sunday, December 31, 2006

Time for a collective sigh of relief. An MRI shows that Goodson suffered a sprained knee.

Saturday, December 30, 2006

I have found the silver lining of the Cal loss. Michael Goodsoon's knee injury late in the game might not be an ACL tear. He is having an MRI and we will know more next week.

Friday, December 29, 2006

The football game was embarrassing. Fans, coaches and players are all doing what we do best, "grasping for positives after a crushing defeat" (ouch). Another disappointment in a long history of post-season disappointments. I kinda wish the basketball game was not moved, so I could turn that on and feel better about our athletic department. Speaking of basketball...

We rolled Grambling State, 101-27. And now for my favorite post-blowout game, fun with the stat sheet.
  • We had more points in the paint (46), more points off turnovers (49), and more bench points (32) than they had total points.
  • As a team, Grambling made only 2 more field goals (10) then both Josh Carter (8) and Joe Jones (8).
  • We made more free throws (15) than they shot (10).
  • Two of their starters (Thomas and Calloway) had the same number of points as my mom (0).
  • Six players, two of them starters, (Thomas, Prestley, Ratliff, Nixon, McFadden, Akpele) had more turnovers than points.
  • No Grambling player had more assists than turnovers while we had 7 (Acie, Joe, Dom, Josh, AK, Sloan, Muhlbach).
  • They had 30 turnovers. We had 49 points off turnovers. That is 1.6 points per turnover.
  • Our longest scoring drought was 2:17 (last 2:17 of the game), theirs was 8:18 (first 8:18 of the game).
I think I am going to start a new stat. The number of major Texas newspapers that run the AP wire story instead of having the college basketball beat guy do a story. Think of it like attendance, but for reporters. This will likely take more work than I am willing to do.

I have already lost motivation.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Most points in any half in history at 65, previous record was 61.
65-13, radio guy will likely come up with about 23874032 stats about how this is the biggest blowout, most points scored by, least points scored against, etc.
Grambling finally scored, but not before we put up 28 including 6 3s from Carter.
Great start, 15-0 run and I believe all of their shots have been air balls. The game is NOT of Sirius, which probably is part of moving the game time. Dave South is in Cali with the football team which means Tom Turbiville is doing play-by-play. And I must say he is doing a VERY good job.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Here is my favorite person's favorite player:

Monday, December 25, 2006

The men's basketball team has climbed back up in the polls, 11 AP and 12 ESPN/USA Today.

Bowl season has historically been a sad time of year for the Aggies. 0-5 at the Cotton Bowl, 1-2 at the Alamo Bowl, 0-1 at the Sugar Bowl, and 0-1 at the Independence Bowl. Our most recent bowl victory was at the soon-to-be-renamed galleryfurniture.com bowl in 2001. I went to that game, and I totally agree with RC Solucm when he said "it was fun to finally win a bowl game." Now we are back at the Holiday Bowl. If history makes you sad, then the history of this game will make you laugh. Not only did we beat BYU in our only other Holiday Bowl appearance, but we dislocated BOTH of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Ty Detmer's shoulders.

The hire that everyone hated, defensive coordinator Gary Danrell, has really panned out for Fran. Danrell oversaw an improvement from
from 107th to 37th in overall defense this year. Apparently he has done it all by adjusting the team's "confidence and attitude". I am impressed with his half-time adjustments, I am just a little confused why we ALWAYS need to make half-time adjustments. Does he not get much from film during the week?

Fran is trying to "get the week started in right direction" by practicing in full pads. And
the team's tour guide, and leading receive, Ma Bennett plans to "shine like Rudolph's nose". For some reason this whole blue stat v red state/war fighter v war protester type of comparison of the game really annoys me.


Saturday, December 23, 2006

The men's basketball team won at Aubrun, 87-58. This was out first road win of the year, and a dominate win at that, but if you asked Billy, "There wasn't a whole lot of fancy stuff". It might not have been fancy, but it was Auburn's worst home loss since 1952. To accomplish that we relied on "good defense and hot shooting". Now that is a formula that will win some games. As I posted earlier I was not able to listen to, or watch this game. I do not think I was alone on that. All of the major Texas papers ran the same AP report. Here is a quick highlight of the game. And of course, my favorite, the box score. Acie was red hot (shot over .61), so was the team for that matter. Auburn was not hot, shooting around .30. That must be the good defense and hot shooting.

In a continuing saga, seven guys logged more minutes than Joe. Was it the fouls? It does not seem to be at first glance. He did have four, but only 2 in the first half. The game log shows Billy benching him for 3 minutes after missing a lay up and then fouling. Later in the first he fouled again with 8 left, and Billy sat him for the rest of the half. Joe found early in the second, and sat for about 10. Looks like Billy is trying to teach him to play without fouling.


My two favorite players got some press. Marlon and his magic foot are nuts of defense and Kirk is a"glue guy."

Friday, December 22, 2006

The women's basketball team beat down Delaware St, 70-43. A number of the freshman are stepping up, which is exactly what we need with Aturase out with a foot injury.

The men's team faces Auburn tonight. The Tigers are 0-for-11 against ranked teams and are looking to turn that trend around. We are also looking to turn things around, our road loosing streak. Odds makers put us up 5 1/2, so gets hope they go 0-for-12. Auburn is not a bad team. Their only losses this year are to OSU, Pitt and Wisconsin. All great teams. However their wins are not very impressive. Remind you of any one's football team? Impressive losses and unimpressive wins? And no live game feed tonight, which sucks.

Good news. You will not have to split your attention between Dave South and the Holidy Bowl. Grambling agrees to move the game time from 7pm (same time as kick-off) to 4pm.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

The men's basketball team stomped Jacksonville, 97-58. As Billy always says when we win, it was a "good win for us" and "we have a long way to go but we are getting better every day". My predictions were:

1) "total domination by Joe and AK"
I was spot on here. Compared to their 2 big men (Allen and Colbert), Joe and AK out-scored them 29:6, out-rebounded them 12:6, and had 2 more blocks and 2 less turn-overs. Points in the paint says it all, 40:26.

2) "Joe will commit... 4 (fouls), 3 in the first half"
I was not spot on here. Joe finished with 3. He got his 1st one 5 min in to the first half, then did not commit another until the second half. Thanks Joe.

Weirdest stat of the game was Jacksonville getting more offensive rebounds than defensive rebounds, 20:17. The surprised Billy too, but "when you guard the dribbler like we do that happens". Apparently our 9 blocked shots and their 20 o-bards are a wash.

Apparently Melvin Bullitt was sick as hell when he posted a team-high seven solo tackles and a pick in the win AT AUSTIN. After being a part of some truly awful defenses, Melvin really stepped up this year.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Then men's basketball team hosts Jacksonville tonight, and I am very sad to announce that I will not be watching the game. My bet is that it will not be a nail biter. Their staring line-up includes: 1 senior and 3 freshman, no one taller than Josh Carter (6'9''), and a former Texas A&M football red shirt. Think domination by Joe and AK. Any guesses on how many fouls Joe will commit on these guys who are 2'' shorter and 25 lbs lighter? I am thinking 4, 3 in the first half.

The Big-12 is sucking it up. RPI rankings put the Big-12 behind the Pac-10, ACC, SEC, Big East, Missouri Valley etc etc etc etc. I must hand it to the Missouri Valley, they have cracked the RPI code. How else do you explain Southern Ill in the top 10? To date the Big-12 is 4-5 against top 25 opponents, we certainly did our part (L to LSU and UCLA) in boosting that 5. But that does not stop A&M from being on of the best "fall/winter sports" programs in the nation. Fall/winter sports? Wtf?

McCoy and Brown switched positions. It doesn't seem to be that big of a deal, but the move got a lot of press (chron, expresss). And finally a preview of the Cal game.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Congrats to the newest Aggie All-Americans : Pistorius, Berend and Arnold. All three of these ladies will be back next year. I can't wait.

The man who helped beat Phi Slama Jama was not so lucky on Tuesday. After starting off poorly, the men's team posted a W on Tuesday versus Fordham, 84-61. Carter was able to get by his four-game scoring slump and post 24 points in 10 shots. How about that for offensive efficiency. Carter was benched for 8 1/2 minutes after an early defensive break-down. BG made sure he Carter had plenty of time to about how he "can't continue to be a liability defensively..." Apparently AK had a late final and missed shoot around. He still put up 19. Must not have been that bad.

My favorite post-game quotes was from Fordham Head Coach Dereck Whittenburg,

"This team (Texas A&M) is very, very good. They could go a long way in the NCAA tournament."

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Tonight the men's team plays Fordam, and once again I will be watching the Aggies All-Access video stream instead of using my season tickets to watch GW play UMBC. While I don't think anyone is thinking up-set, a case of tired legs could prevent the blow out. A BG team, tired? Not likely. We have been known to practice on game days. One of the Fordam fans was kind enough to provide a break down of the game. This guy is amazingly up-beat. He claims they "held our own" against Maryland. They lost by 20.

The number of turnovers we had against UCLA (20), which seems like a lot. However Billy has been "seeing those turnovers in practice for a long time". He should have seen those in the games. We have had a number of games with 17 and 18 turnovers. But those were all wins. A loss makes it possible to fix some of those problems.

AK's European up bringing has made him a passer, but coach wants him to "stop deferring to Joe and Acie, so much". I agree. He has some really great moves to get to the basket. Speaking of forein guys, Billy inked a Russian, Victor Dubovitsky, a top JUCO guy. With box scores like 33 points, 2 assists and 22 points, 2 assists, I do not think we will have a problem with V-Dub (that's right, V-Dub, tell your friends you head it here 1st) shooting the rock.

Reed Arena might not be the best place to watch college basketball, but apparently we are the classiest 5,000 fans you will ever meet.

Monday, December 11, 2006

The loss to UCLA was received MUCH better than the loss to LSU. We "got back to A&M basketball" and our resume is "more impressive than... Duke or Pitt". Hopefully this loss will pay off come "tournament time". As you might expect, Billy G isn't happy with a moral victory. "We came here to win." As a result of the two losses, we are now 13 in the ESPN/USA Today poll.

Ty Branyon won the Aggie Heart Award this year. Which is the "highest honor for a Texas A&M senior football player".

Saturday, December 9, 2006

Well we lost, 65-62. That is a little better than the last time we played UCLA (117-53). Turnovers killed us, UCLA scored 22 points off 20 turnovers. "It was like we couldn't dribble the ball past one defender at half court..." Acie explained the first few, "I was nervous." Other than that, we played well. The nationally televised game provided "proof that the Aggies have arrived as a legitimate hoops presence..."

I have to admit, Packer made a pretty solid comment on how it was actually bad for us for when Mata fouled out. As a .25 free throw shooter, he would have been perfect to foul at the end. I still hate him.
Great. Looks like Billy Packer is providing color for the game. Be prepared to be annoyed.
Reggie McNeal's newest stat is a misdemeanor drug charge. If you remember, he was arrested for fighting with a cop in Houston last month. Looks like he had promethazine. I am guessing it is for his morning sickness.

We know our guys can play the upstart-underdog role, but can they handle being a top-10 team? Today "we'll see what we're made out of."

UCLA coach Ben Howland is worried about how his guys will match up with "a monster" and "a man" (Joe and AK). To win this game we are going to need much more out of Joe and Acie, and Acie knows it. BG is hoping the problems against LSU can be explained by "first-game jitters on the road".

Here is a funny story. With lines like "
Helped... with victories over lower-ranked opponents" , "beating up on lesser schools", and"first major test" I thought this story was a tongue-in-cheek reaction to EVERY story written about A&M this week. Maybe it is.

Friday, December 8, 2006

So you don't know anything about UCLA. As a team they are a unanimous #1 and have beat two top-25 teams (Kentucky and Ga Tech) on the road. They are a well-balanced squad. Four players average over 10 points with Arron Afflalo averaging over 17. We should have the "advantage down low offensively ", which is very good. Billy always says, "Inside-out is the way you are supposed to play". If Joe and AK and do well down low, this will be much easier. Any way you slice it, this game should be a "fun challenge" (great match-up piece).

Thursday, December 7, 2006

Here is are some good pictures of a very bad game. My favorite is the jam on Big Baby, shown to the left.

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Well that sucked. What did everyone else think? Well... the "Aggies played like kittens in the Tigers' den", LSU "was more than up to the task", in a game of jabs "LSU had landed the most", "A&M clearly wasn't ready for prime time", and in our first road test we "landed with a thud". Ouch. Pretty harsh considering we were within 6 with 2 minutes left. At least each of the major papers in the state wrote a piece on the game, instead of just running the AP wire story.

The comment that was the worst was from Billy himself, "we didn't match their intensity". That might be the first time he has said that.

Was anyone else surprised with Davis's play? Did he ever set up in the blocks, or did all of his points come from mid-range jumpers and wana-be Kobe circus shots? If I was a coaching a 300 pound beast I would NOT have him set up way out at the 3-point line and King-Hippo his way to the basket.

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Is anyone else miss to see Acie's knuckle ball? I do, especially the one that dropped 3 on Texas for the win.

"Joseph Jones against the Big Daddy" is today. Joe remembers how close to the Sweet 16 we go. Is it on TV? Yes. Is it on where you live? Maybe. Here is the blackout map.

If you do not get a chance to watch this game no worries, the UCLA game is nationally televised and on the weekend. Now everyone get to see "what's all the hoopla about". This crazy schedule has drummed up memories of previous super-soft schedules. How annoying. Never mind being a seconds away from a Sweet-16 spot last year, lets focus on how we played North Carolina A&T.

Fran's coaching ability gets better every week, just ask his coach's poll entry. TCU's coach is obviously crazy.

Contrats to Ashlee, our newest All-American.

Monday, December 4, 2006

The men's team beat Pacific 74-62. AK had a career high 23 points and a nasty behind-the-back dime to Joe. Billy said he played "as good as he's ever played here". Jones fouled out, AGAIN. I am gonna hate to see him guard some of the quailty big men he will face very soon. The win propells them to number 6 in both polls which is the highest ranking EVER for an Aggie basketball team.

Attendance
was close to 10k, which is almost twice the size of the crowds Billy was complaining about. Hopefully they stay up. With a win at both/either LSU or UCLA I do not think that will be a problem.

Bad news for the women's team. Atunrase broke her foor and is out 4 to 6 weeks. She should be back before we get too deep into Big-12 play. We might not keep such a high ranking, but at least in college basketball rankings don't matter.

Oh ya, our favorite underachiever got arrested. Jack ass. Reggie is turning out to be quite the character down in Cinci.

Saturday, December 2, 2006

The 10th ranked women's basketball team missed a chance to have their best start in 30 years by loosing to Rice, yes Rice, 66-79. Coach Blair notes that we "got schooled on the fundamentals". We were out-rebounded by almost 20, shot 35%, allowed them to shoot 58%, and had a negative assist-to-turnover ratio. I hope it was just a bad, bad bad, day.

The men's team plays Pacific today. These guys handed Billy his only non-conference loss last year in Stockton, CA. Kirk wants to "get them back for last year". While we are facing power houses UCLA and LSU next week, Billy promised that "we won't look past anybody." Once again, I am watching the Aggie All-Access video feed. And once again, AK is playing lights out.

Oh ya, Billy is still whining about the crowd size. I am pretty sure the people that don't go to these games also don't read the sports page. I am guessing 8K for this game.

The new indoor football facility opened, and the team practiced. Looks pretty nice



Fran apologizes for the the late hit against McCoy. In all fairness, I think it is now time for Mack Brown to apologize for his inappropriate behavior with his players.