bizzle

i regret not posting my literally nothing can go wrong screed on here last week as i was extremely confident going into that game, and even halftime, only to see us get absolutely run the fuck over by a team that appeared to want it way more than we did. columbia is an absolute shithole, but that stadium is fun as hell and we obviously were, ah, not quite ready for the moment. we gotta regroup, survive hugh freeze wizardry and then prepare for what will surely be a game on the 30th that both fanbases have very level heads about.

oh this is very much the thread for this particular conversation.

for those that care deeply - most of you - this has been an interesting month as the things i hoped for most under elko: some discipline, the raising of the collective floor, guys improving over the course of the season, adam cushing being a golden god, etc., have all largely taken place. we're not world beaters, but the team is playing well, the higher-end talent is being put in position to succeed and by and large guys are playing really fucking hard. unfortunately lsu is just a shit matchup against a secondary that still is struggling. the lack of tyreek chappel is going to hurt as there's just not another nickel on the roster, bryce anderson has to be hurt for as terrible as he has been playing and the rest of the guys are either just not good enough or not quite ready. defensive line will have to play out of its mind against a great lsu front and hope nussmeier makes a mistake or two. i think we'll manufacture 24-27 points but not sure that will be enough. should be entertaining.

kirby has said this is his thinnest team depth-wise since being there. makes you wonder are they really ready for the game.

got tix to both nyc nights. let's fucking go.

because i got in a random conversation about the ability to program the all-time station lineup: 5:30-10: jub, doocy, gordo (i mean, it's probably craig, he just annoys the shit out of me but perhaps that's part of the show's greatness) 10-12: bob playing the role of norm with donny and sirois shooting his wheels off 12-3: hang zone 3-7: hardline with mike, circa 1997 greggo and corby (also open to jake playing the role of greggo here) i don't give a shit about tickers, saturdays can be sirois and danny from 10-noon, ben and skin from noon-2, and kickaround from 2-4. weekenders and monty can fill in on dry dock, mino and sean bass are simply never allowed to speak over the air.

the difference is the rather messy and complicated history of the united states, socioeconomics and why 'recruiting the best player i can land within 100 miles of my campus' looks slightly different in western colorado versus northern alabama. my username on texags is taylor.hamm

after a decade spent basically dominating the league, the only part of the argument i agree with is even the 'bad' teams run out offensive and defensive linemen that don't exist anywhere else in america, which i do think makes for more of a grind when looked at in aggregate. this doesn't necessarily make mississippi state or south carolina Good Football Teams, but it does mean there are some early round defensive tackles and offensive guards beating the shit out of you with hammers that simply don't exist most places. obviously a&m has taken this time to adjust our talent accordingly.

i began drinking at 3pm on a thursday for reasons both defensible and not, but there is a growing chance adam cushing is Completely Fucking Awesome. please carry on with your #1 ranked team or whatever.

a lot of this will end up being how good the nd defense is (i think pretty solid) but the ol was not horrific saturday, which is kind of frightening considering how the game went. we new the wr / te spot would be rough but weigman repeatedly shit himself and then klein panicked and those two continued their back and forth all game long. i have a modicum of hope for the ol coming together into something approaching mediocre, but not sure it matters based on everything else going on via that side of the ball.

i am going to begin with the words of the brilliant and gifted spencer hall, who everyone should subscribe to: TLDR: i have no idea. i think we go 9-3 because elko is a smart guy and the floor is significantly raised, i think this roster has more talent on it than people realize, and i am first and foremost a fan, which means i am willfully, blindly optimistic about collin klein, even though the jury is very much out. speaking of collin klein, i think he is clearly the biggest delta of this whole ordeal. there are those that think he is running bill snyder's 2004 greatest hits, and those who view him as one of the brighter young offensive minds in college football. he is about to be running an offense in the most difficult defensive conference in america with a decided lack of playmakers*, speed or highly ranked players at the skill positions and a qb who threw 119 passes last season. let's fucking go. (*holding out hope for noah thomas). qb: weigman is whatever you want him to be right now. great pedigree, decently natural thrower of the ball, reasonably accurate and pretty tough when not getting rolled up on. can he stay healthy behind the ol, and how often does klein feel like he needs to run him as an easy button? tons of upside here and in the current world of college football, great depth with marcel reed and jaylen henderson. ol: i think history will judge me gently when i went all in on steve addazio being recommitted to football. last year was so absurd that between scheme and talent this group will surprise and be mediocre. trey zuhn is a passable left tackle another year removed from the knee injury, coaches love bisontis at guard, nabou or faaiu should be an improvement on bryce foster falling down at center and contrary to ctj's desire for reed-adams to be a jayhawk casualty, the guy is a very competent guard. i do not for the life of me understand what has happened to ruben fatheree and the fact that crownover may be starting is concerning. g-c-g should be solid, rt cannot be a turnstile. another place klein should be helpful is not calling for these guys to hold blocks for 7 seconds each passing play. rb: leveon moss is a talented guy. needs to stay healthy because behind him is amari daniels, who was really fast his sophomore year of high school 40 pounds ago, and ej smith, who does all the little things right except gain yards when handed the football. maybe bussey gets some snaps, whatever. this room goes as moss' health goes. wr: yikes. i really like noah thomas and there is potentially something there. other than that . . . jahdae walker reminds me of the juco guys i got excited about circa 2001, jacob bostick couldn't get on the field in the worst college offense of all time, moose muhammaed will have 12 catches for 171 yards against lsu after not playing for 6 weeks, and cyrus allen and micah tease are supposedly very fast and can't catch. jabre barber will be useful if he returns from injury. evan stewart is going to win the biletnikoff and i'm going to cut myself. te: they're pretty big and can block and kind of slow. coaches really like tre watson, we'll see. donovan green looks like a shell of his freshman self, needs another few months to heal, supposedly the swedish guy is coming along, will be interesting to see how much 12 and 13 personnel gets run here. i'm as bullish defensively as i am skeptical on offense, i think mike elko is a really, really solid defensive coach and if he's calling your defense, you're going to be sound, a pain in the ass in the red zone, and make the qb's life annoying. dl: there is still a ton of talent here and should be far better not doing whatever the fuck dj durkin reverted to. nic scourton is getting hyped by people not usually prone to hype, shemar stewart looks great, there are six reasonably athletic defensive tackles assuming brownlow-diddy really exists and i think the biggest difference between the jimbo/elko groups and this year is the ability for cashius howell, malick sylla, etc to be used off the edge - those pieces didn't exist for him last time. this should be a very fun, very productive group. lb: taurean york is a very solid college lb. can we find another 1.5 alongside him? have to make this work somehow. if york goes down it's not good times. shout out anthony hill, you big jerk. cb: along with klein, i think the other biggest determinant to the year - one can squint and see a rotation of tyreek chappel, bj mayes, will lee, dez ricks and see a jump in both talent and production from last year. maybe bravion rodgers and jayvon thomas make a 2nd year jump. maybe riley leonard throws for 350 yards saturday. crazy low floor, pretty high ceiling, what could go wrong. s: this is an underrated room. bryce anderson and dalton brooks are going to be a very good duo, and capable of covering far more ground than any of the thumpers rolled out there the last few years. good depth as well. some fun depth options if elko wants to get creative. st: we have a good punter again. hopefully bussey is ready for the spotlight at returner. please get moose the fuck out of there. this team is going to crush unders, sit on people from the defensive side, not allow anything over the top and generally play some rc slocum style football. in this era of football, can this group of skill position talent score enough in those games you have to have 28, 31, 34. who knows! fuck nd.

every male in the uk between the ages of 25-60 is going to attempt to get tickets to these shows. i was at the deep elllum show above, i have seen them around 10 times and despite hit and miss nature of their live shows, when they are on it remains one of the most powerful communal live music experiences that has ever been. noel isn't exactly beethoven when it comes to nuance, but he has an ear for melody few writers can match. this is going to be fucking epic, assuming they don't kill each other first.

tour. depending which blovating british correspondent you believe, either a handful of nights at wembley and somewhere in manchester, potentially glastonbury, and then some have a handful of dates in north and south america happening as well.

this is confusing. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/allcity-network-launches-fifth-market-with-expansion-into-dallas-302230027.html The ALLCITY DLLS platform will offer a mix of unique editorial content, social media engagement, and on-the-ground events, all curated by a team of local experts. Helmed by longtime ESPN and New York Times NBA insider Marc Stein, the DLLS outlet features talent from Mavs.com, The Athletic, Star Telegram, Dallas Stars, and local sports radio stations. This localized focus will ensure that DLLS becomes the go-to source for fans not only looking to stay informed, but who also want to participate and connect with the communities around their teams. throwing this here because i'm curious if any local radio talent shows back up in this particular arena.

i am going to spend entirely too much time in manchester next summer if this thing stays on the other side of the atlantic.