sunset87

Well...that's better.

WTF is wrong with the block? Non existent, yet Mich is getting hands on everything we hit.

So 247 has decided, SEC (or is it just aggie?) commit ratings bump, Big 12 commit ratings drop. Even though schools from both conferences were/are recruiting some of the same players...Seems legit.

Mikaya has really developed her all around hitting game this year. The more I think about it the more I believe her tipping is on purpose most of the time. Some of it is just the preference or the experience of the hitter. If the set is a little off, some hitters will choose to take a chance and swing anyway (I think Logan does this more) while others, like White, will try and take something off the swing or tip. Obviously whatever Mikaya is doing, it's working pretty well (Big 12 POY). I just hope she adjusts as needed when they play the elite teams in the tourney, because those teams don't let many tips hit the ground and instead turn them into good kill opportunities.

Yeah, I didn't specify, but the quicks are what I was referring to in regards to the timing and height of the sets to the middle. It probably is more of a timing problem with Butler because she is still developing and a bit raw, plus those sets are the toughest to time correctly and can look really bad when they are off. Jhenna's sets on the slides and back sets to Yazzie have been on the money.

Definite upgrade on the setting with Gabriel. I'll trade that any day over having a blocking advantage with Shook. I have noticed Gabriel is still struggling somewhat with the timing on setting the middles. They will have to clean that up a bit to have a chance to make a deep run (along with some of the same old problems). And what is the deal with Mikaya tipping so much still. It's been fairly effective in conference but I'm not sure it's going to work later in the tournament. I don't know if it's just part of her game or she is still working on timing issues with Gabriel. I thought it was just a Shook deal but she is still doing it quite a bit, probably not as much as she was with Shook...I guess?

Absolutely this. Add this in with the ability for these guys to find like minded people within social media and get affirmation that they are not alone in their skewed view of life, might help embolden them to take action. The whole incel sub-culture is a product of social media giving these individuals a way to connect. I think there have been at least 3 mass killings from guys that considered themselves "incels". The other thing I wonder is if these types have become the modern version of the serial killer that seemed much more prevalent 20+ years ago. There's been a large decline in the last 3 decades of serial killings, at a similar time as the increase of mass killings. Is it because of societal change? Dunno. They might not be related at all, just an observation on my part.

The new democrat governor elect in New Mexico doesn't sound too promising for oil and gas, but the new land commissioner elect there sounds down right scary for the energy sector. POSITIONS Garcia Richard has no previous environmental, energy or land management experience, but her antagonistic stance toward the oil and gas industry secured critical progressive endorsements from the Sierra Club, Conservation Voters of New Mexico, and “Frack Free Four Corners” group. She repeatedly voiced opposition to hydraulic fracturing on state lands on the campaign trail and opposes leasing in the Chaco Canyon area. Garcia Richard has consistently accused the oil and gas industry of “failing to pay its fair share” and pledged to increase royalty rates. Her campaign platform mostly focused on incentivizing the expansion of the renewable energy industry and opposing the oil and gas industry. The centerpiece of her campaign was to “leverage the mandate of state land office to restore transparency and make more money for our schools, hospitals, and colleges.” She has also repeatedly promised to “end the backroom deals that allow [the oil and gas industry] to pollute our lands, waste our water, and pay less than Texas.”

We are out numbered at the line of scrimmage, the safeties are playing deep and at the snap they are both back pedaling. So no run support help from them until the RB gets 10+ yards down field. That alignment is beaten badly before the ball is snapped. Sterns is a great talent and is a hell of a ball hawk, but his weakness is run support.

I didn't get to see either of the last 2 matches, however, based on the what I read here and seen in previous matches, Shook just isn't mentally tough enough. She seems to have plenty of physical ability, but she gets rattled to easily and starts to play not to make mistakes instead of aggressive and freely. And is the case in most sports when you go into that mode things typically turn to shit. The setter has to be your mentally toughest and fiercest competitor. While hitting and passing require plenty of technical skill, there is also quite a bit of instinctual reacting. Setters have to be able to think fast and make good decisions under pressure, just like QBs and point guards. I've seen pretty good setters just lose it and get the doubles like a golfer gets the shanks. I wondered about Shook when she decided to stay home before her freshman year and play club ball. Contrast that with Eggleston, whom looks to be a future star. There are plenty of problems with this team right now, youth, passing, blocking, serving, but these things can and likely will improve. Unfortunately, I'm not sure setting will. The stage might just be too big for her. I certainly hope I'm wrong.

Same issues rear their ugly heads last night. Shook struggles and it becomes a tipathon until the other team puts it away. Not sure about the MH rotation, I've seen Johnson murder the slide at times, just very inconsistent. However it's tough to hit the slide when the ball is set to the 10 ft line or even with the tape. I'm not sure I've ever seen Butler run the slide, seems like that would be a huge weapon in her arsenal. Has she? On the other hand she is still struggling closing out on the block. Like Tstrong mentioned the block was really weak last night.

Anyone else notice that Butler seems a little slow to the block. Athleticism isn't the problem, I think she just has a hard time reading the setters. When she does get there she puts up a formidable block. She is just a bit raw, which explains the red-shirt. Against good setters (Stanford, Wiscy) the block is just not effective at all. And it's not just Butler, they didn't slow down or take away any of the hitters against Tree or Wiscy. If this team can't put up a good block against the elite teams they are in trouble because, as has been mentioned several times, the setting, serving and out of system defense is far inferior to the better teams they've faced. On the plus side, Peterson looks like the real deal and if Shook can get some consistency setting Butler in the middle, that looks unstoppable and should free up the pins.

So it sounds like identifying high level liberos is a problem, maybe like trying to recruit and project good OL prospects in football. I was not aware of that. Even so, the other top level teams are better overall, at passing and defense at all positions. Either the Texas coaches are not spending the time and effort practicing or they're not as good at developing some of these other skills. I don't like how it went down and am not close to the program at all, but there was speculation that some of these issues are why Sun left...Overall development, yada, yada.

The only facet of the match that UT was the equal to Stanford was hitting...that's it. Against elite competition it becomes painfully obvious that this team is consistently inferior in serving, passing and setting. Against Stanford they were also out blocked by a large margin, which is a little unusual. But the same thing happened against Wiscy. Of course a good setter can make blockers look bad. The new libero looks pretty good, especially for a freshman. Why doesn't Elliot recruit a few liberos, let them compete for the libero position and move the others to DS? You can't win with just a bunch of big athletic hitters. They've got a least 2 or 3 sitting on the bench that will rarely see the court for their entire careers. Elliot's teams are consistently out classed against high level competition in the other fundamentals of the game. I mean he's a good recruiter and coach but he has some blind/weak spots that need some introspection.

I think the timing for setting the middles is the most difficult. They're trying to play fast, so the set needs to be hit on the way up or at it's peak to beat the block, unlike most outside sets. And every middle hitter jumps differently so the timing is just tougher to get down. They should get better as the season goes on, and hopefully they will develop a slide attack. Going to need that to keep the block honest.

Herman has some petty, narcissistic traits. He's going to make some enemies (see Urban Meyer) and probably deserves some blame on this. There's just a little too much smoke for me to think otherwise. However, I don't like how Elliot handled the situation, putting coaches and a program on blast with tons of room for speculation. But none of this type stuff will matter if Herman gets things turned around. Although, there is a line that can be crossed (see Art Briles) which I don't think will happen with Herman. It's been said before, Saban and Meyer arguably the two most successful active college football coaches, can be or are complete assholes. They live in the grey area. Yet no one cares, because they win. I doubt this is the last time something like this happens involving Tom. I don't give a shit, if he wins and keeps the UT name and program in good standing.

I was leaning towards the Sapphire...appreciate the help.

I am new to all of this, but I have been doing some research and I’m trying to decide which card to get. I would like to get a card primarily for travel rewards. We would be traveling mostly domestically and would use SWA probably about 75% of the time and American and United the rest (those are the only airlines that fly out of our local airport). I already have the SWA Chase Visa, but want to add another. I used the credit card matching tool on thepointsguy website and was pre-approved and most interested in the Capital One Venture, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and the Bank of America Travel Rewards. I wouldn’t consider the BofA card except that I am in the top tier of rewards because I bank there. Also, I’m not locked into those three, they are just some of the ones that appeared when I did the matching tool. We don’t travel a ton at this point (kids in college) but enough that I would certainly like to take advantage of some of these reward programs. So, does anyone have any suggestions/recommendations?

Urban is a petty, pompous, prick who is probably even more fueled by grudges than Herman. It's quite obvious that he has a burr up his ass for Herman, after his press conference last year when he called him out. I think he his taking these head to heads personal and pulling out all the stops. He obviously doesn't mind getting in the mud. Hopefully Herman has realized that his "mentor" is stomping on his throat. Your not going to win them all in recruiting but it is becoming very irritating losing the elite guys from Texas to this asshat. Stoops needs to share his bag-o-dicks with Urbs.