And the announcers of the Maryland v Oregon State game just talked about the "casket" story... fantastic.

SA-Express published the Texas A&M Alamo Bowl roster. It is pretty worthless considering it lists two player that are not eligible to play in the Alamo Bowl (Mi Bennett and Jodie Richardson).

When Penn State has the ball, we need to "drive [their QB] from the pocket and require him to make split-second adjustments." We are screwed.

Note: A different analysis from the same news paper states that "Penn State is 7-0 when they run for 190 yards or more and 1-4 when they produce fewer yards." I didn't run the numbers, but that seems to be a pretty strong correlation. I will leave it up to the professionals at the four-letter network to decide if the stats indicate that we need to stop the run and the pass, or keep their offense off the field. I have a hard time figuring out which one is appropriate.

Penn State is ninth nationally in total defense and is "especially good against the run", but Les Koenning is in control of the offense and he "loves to throw the ball." We might not be screwed.

And we made DeadSpin, they usually have funnier comments...

And I am stuck in the St. Louis airport...

As you might expect, the comment by the now-on-his-way-home Yell Leader that the 81 year old Penn State coach Joe Paterno is "on his death bed and someone needs to find him a casket" has really fired up the Aggie-haters. Seems most of them are still mad at the "classless clowns" comment. Here are some of my favorite comments:

Robert: Just another example of Aggies being "classy".

13th Man: The real Classless Clowns just got booted off center stage.

Fran: This is just another example of the true "classless clowns" who represent Aggiedom.

MJS: They are embarrassing. There's got to be a way to keep them in Texas' "closet" as it were.

regskc: the gayest tradition in college sports

Dan: What he said is an embarrassment to A&M, and to an abomination to any decent individual.

Raider40: Go build a bonfire and try not to get anyone killed this time.

What did JoPa think? "Some young guy got up there and he's trying to be funny. Maybe he's accurate, I don't know. I honestly didn't hear it, and I don't particularly care about it."

San Diego Chargers tight ends coach Clancy Barone has agreed to become our next offensive coordinator. I am sure Barone is a good coach, but to specifically hire a tight ends coach is interesting given that: 1) we have one of the best tight ends, 2) the general feeling is that he was under utilized (although he was our #1 receiver with 45 catches, 541 yards, and 4 TDs), 3) he is about to jump to the NFL, and 4) Sherman has already pointed out to him how the Texans offense utilizes its tight ends. Is this hire a move to get Ma Bennett to stay, kind of like how Turge hired DeAndre Jordan's AAU coach Byron Smith?

McGee will have surgery after the Alamo Bowl to "get something cleaned up", which apparently happens when you play like McGee plays and "get the crap knocked out of you now and then."

Backup QB Jerrod Johnson is back with the team after taking some time off to be with his family after his father passed away. Jerrod's dad, Larry, was a receiver and defensive back for A&M from 1976-79.

I was excited when Gary Darnell was named interim head coach because he gives the best quotes. When asked about taking over after Fran, he said it "is like a family and brother got kicked out of the house and someone has to take care of the household until he gets things squared back away." That is magic.

We have two academically ineligible players: defensive end Michael Bennett and fullback Jodie Richardson. Penn State is down five players for a number of reasons, most exciting is a felony assault charge.

As a fan of Texas A&M football, bowl season does not bring me joy. In my lifetime we have had 17 tries, but have only brought back 6 bowls. Winning once every 4.5 years does not exactly equal happiness. So tonight, I will choose to stick my head in the sand, ignore the 5 1/2 points Vegas is giving us, and post about the obvious: Mike Goodson will not transfer to LSU, and J-Train will not jump to the NFL early. I am pretty sure no one was genuinely concerned about either of these thing happening. Goodson is set to jump to the NLF after his Junior year; if he goes to LSU he will have to sit out his Junior year. J-Train needs only look to the last over-sized A&M back to see how high fat guys get drafted.

The detail of the soon-to-be (staring in 2009) anual game between Texas A&M and Arkansas at the Dallas Cowboy's new stadium were released. The contract will last between six and eight years, and each team is guaranteed $5 million. In comparison, UT and OU are only getting $4.7 mil. HA!

As reported earlier, Arkansas interim head coach and defensive coordinator Reggie Herring will be the next brave soul to lead the squad formerly known as the Wrecking Crew. Major Applewhite may also be on our coaching staff next year (ya, I know) that is if he is willing to take a step backwards, from offensive coordinator at Alabama to coach at A&M, and a pay cut.

Texas A&M 88, UC Irvine 66

Living on the east coast means I watch most of my A&M basketball from the couch. However this year the scheduling gods were on my side, and I was able to combine a game into my holiday plans. What a game it was! UC Irvine "tried to play defense", but didn't have the size to keep up with our big men. The mismatch allowed us to get almost half our points (40) in the paint, and a number of spectacular dunks. The alley oop from Sloan to Junior was my favorite. I am not sure, but I think it was a no-look feed.

Even more amazing than the dunks was the fact that Joe Jones played 26 minutes and committed ZERO fouls! I am not sure that has ever happened before.

I was a little annoyed when I thought we were going to only win by 17; in my book anything 10 and under is close, and it is not a beat down until you get above 20. Thankfully Beau and Denzel were about to put a few more in before the buzzer to bump it above the threshold.

My condolences to Nathan Walkup's family. Nate missed the game to attend his grandfather's funeral.

Texas A&M 65, GW 66

That was hands-down the best women's basketball game I have ever attended. Sucks that we lost, especially since at the end of regulation the scoreboard read "TAMU 60 GW 59" when the score was actually 60-60. Because of this our players didn't 1) rush down the court and try and get a last second shot or 2) call a time out so a play could be drawn up. Instead they ran out the clock and we went to overtime.

Here are some pics from the game...

Coach Blair and his shinny new Big 12 championship ring.

The crowd. GW fans are on the left, TAMU fans on the right.

Some of the few GW faithful. I am not exactly sure what is going one here, but I do know that is one well secured crotch. Two hands, pressed against the chest; that is just good fundamentals.

A few very confused GW fans. Yes, thats right, those are hook'em horns. I don't get it. Fans for the team we are playing are cheering for our rival. Can they not cheer for their own team? What is their objective here? Am I supposed to be offended?

Our men's basketball team plays Detroit tonight. A W tonight will be out 100th win in Reed Area. Let's hope that, unlike the UAPB game, we can get some value out tonight's game. Turge
is especially disappointed in our in-side-out game, he knows our "big guys can work hard... and our guys can do a better job of feeding the post." Maybe he will make a rule that you can't shoot the ball until a big guy catches it on the block first.

Attendance tonight... 7,600.

P.S. Joe Lunardi has us as 3 seed in the Denver bracket. Is there still skiing in March?

P.S.S. Kentucky has lost 3 in a row; including two at home and one by almost twenty. They are now 4-4.

The crowd at the game tonight was 7,789; I called 7,650. I am just saying...

According to "someone in the Texas A&M football offices", the current staff will be let go after the Alamo Bowl vs. Penn State. According to another source, Arkansas interim head coach/defensive coordinator Reggie Herring is a leading candidate for to head next year's defense.

This has not been the most exciting week in Texas A&M sports, but there were a few things going on...

Ashlee Pistorius is one of three finalists for the 2007 Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy (soccer’s version of the Heisman Trophy). Ashlee has got to be one of the best players, in any sport, that A&M has seen in a long time. She came in as a big-time recruit and has done very well every year.

Our 12th ranked women's basketball team made some gutsy shots late in game to hold off 14th ranked Auburn Tigers. A'Quonesia Franklin credited the guys that make up the practice for the team's ability to hit clutch shots, "we go against guys in practice. They play very good defense on us, and we have to take those last-second shots. We hit more of the crazy shots."

Coach Sherman made us all a little more confident in $Bill's decision by stealing a 4-star recruit from Bob Stoops. Rivals100 receiver Jeff Fuller had committed to OU, but "once Coach Sherman came in, things changed considerably." Receiver is a spot where we need help, great job coach.

Our (also) 12th ranked men's basketball team comes off an idle week to face the surging University Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions. UAPB's three straight W's were just enough to push them above the 300 mark in Jeff Sagarin NCAA Basketball Ratings. We are 15th in those rankings. Turge “can't believe we don’t have more people coming out here to watch this team play." Maybe seeing a tiny crowd a few more time will make him a believer. I am calling the over/under for the attendance of tonight's game to be 7,650.

Texas A&M 109, Texas State 79

Texas State head coach Doug Davalos knew his team had no chance matching up with us in the half court, so he had his team press all night. Now I was not able to watch the game, but as far as I can tell, it looked like an And1 game. We had a "school record" 17 dunks, Bryan Davis dropped 7 dimes (one of which was behind the back), and we had as many blocks as they had assists.

62 of our 109 points were in the paint. We made seven three pointers, that is 21 points. 20 of our points were from free throws. 109-62-21-20=6. SIX! Only six of our points, that is 0.055% of the total, were made between the paint and the three point line. That is incredible.

We also managed to hold them to 33% from the field while only having one player commit 3 fouls (it wasn't Joe!!). On the other hand, we shot 67%, and seven of their players had 3 or more fouls.

Fran's buyout is $4.4 million; $1.7 mil a year until he gets another job, which I am guessing will not be for about three years.

Police are now saying the robbery that Yemi Babalola and Brandon Joiner allegedly committed was part of a drug deal. The victims of the robbery said they were in contact with the robbers prior to the attack, and gave the phone number they used to set the deal up. The police called the number, pretended to be a "basket company", and got Yemi to give up his name and address. Yemi admits to being at the apartment to "maybe get a little weed," but has no clue how two guys ended up bound in duct tape and robbed (cellphone, some keys, and $40 bucks). He simply "ran inside and that was it."

I don't know about you, but I am convinced. And that duct tape in his car; that is just smart. Duct tape can be used to tie down fix almost anything.

Drugs? Armed robbery? Things are looking up for Texas A&M football. Yesterday Yemi Babalola, a starting offensive lineman, and Brandon Joiner, a defensive end, were arrested in connection with an armed robbery where...

A resident said two black men entered the apartment and struck the person who opened the door. A second resident ran upstairs and escaped through a window. The first resident and a friend were bound with tape while one of the assailants pointed a semi-automatic handgun in their faces. Several small items were taken, and the intruders fled on foot.

When police executed search warrants on Babalola and Joiner's residents they found weed (was Reggie McNeal there?), hydrocodone, and "Ecstasy" (I am not sure why the D-Morn put ecstasy in quotes, and I am not sure how I feel about having rave kids on our line).

I have been saying for years that we are not going to be a big time program until we start getting some felonies. Although you don't want a starting guy to get locked up. I usually like to see a 2nd string corner back, or maybe right offensive guard (considering you have a right handed quarterback, of course), getting charged while your first string guys are let go due to lack of evidence and cooperation. Maybe that is what will happen here. Keep your fingers crossed, Yemi has 1 year left.

Denny Clement, a two-time state wrestling champion, signed a letter-of-intent to play... baseball? In addition to wrestling and baseball, Clement is high school football team's leading scorer. You have got to love 2A schools. 5 says he is valedictorian too.

Not too much going on right now...

We blew a 20 point lead against Arizona in Arizona. This was a bit of a disappointment given the momentum after the NIT and Alabama game, "when the crowd got into it, we were not tough enough. We will be, we just were not."

After the Nebraska coaching shake up, we picked up Tim Cassidy as the associate athletic director for football. Before Nebraska, Cassidy spent 19 years at Texas A&M in positions ranging from graduate assistant to associate athletic director.

A few awards were handed out to as well:

Cody Wallace has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American second team.

Coach G Guerrieri was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s Coach of the Year for the Central Region.

Ashlee Pistorius has made two big-time lists; she is a semifinalists for the 2007 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, college soccer’s version of the Heisman Trophy, and a finalists for Soccer Buzz Magazine’s 2007 National Player of the Year award.

Joe Jones and A’Quonesia Franklin are up for the 2007-08 Lowe’s Senior CLASS (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School) Award;

We will be playing Penn State in the Alamo Bowl.