PencilPusher

This is probably the time to remind folks that Connelly's system, at least at the outset of a season, factors in past performance significantly Which means we have both Herman's first season plus some Strong suckitude factoring in. Case in point - West Virginia. Their preseason rank of 38 is just behind us and ahead of Iowa State. Yet, they lost their NFL drafted QB, several receivers, and a ton of production, not to mention their head coach. While it is conceivable they could be favored (this is allegedly a betting system, after all) and win by 2 or more points in Morgantown, the system implies this would be a "pick em" at a neutral site and based on what we know about what both teams return, that seems a big stretch. Other eye-rollers: LSU -14......in Austin. LSU will be a tough game and yes they can win in Austin because they have a lot of talent. But.......I'll take LSU fans giving me 14 on the road in Austin any day of the week. Only the really drunk Cajuns (which may or may not include their coach) would offer that bet up today. Again, past history is inflating the number. OU - 16. Don't need to explain this, but the last time OU won by greater than this margin was at the tail end of FUPM Mack Brown era in 2012. Since 2014, the regular season OU wins have been by 5, 5, and 5 and in the Big 12 Championship, the margin was only 12. Any OU fans want to give 16 points on this game right now? Even the Baylor number looks inflated....we have less of a chance to win in Waco than in Ames? Iowa State will be a better team than Baylor this year and Ames is a tougher environment than Waco, where 40%+ of the fans will be clad in Burnt Orange at the Toilet Seat. Plus you have a coach that historically has outperformed the model. Even Connelly acknowledges that with his joke that we will beat OU and LSU, but lose to LaTech and KU. In short, if anyone gives you the O/U on TX wins at 6.7, bet the over. You actually might find some Ags that will do that......to them I say

My 13 year old thinks the same about Billie Eilish.....given some of the other music she thinks is "great", that is a pretty damning indictment.

So I have been meaning to post a few shots (of the over 1000 I took) from trip to Italy in March...hopefully some of you who haven't been to Italy will be further inspired. Here is a few from Rome: Renegade picture of ceiling of Sistine Chapel. Even in March, there was damn near 300-400 people crowded into the chapel which made taking this more difficult (beside the over-observant Vatican Museum personnel). Michaelangelo's Pieta Fontana di Trevi at Night. Also crowded, but able to get close enough to take a pic that looks like no one was there View of the Pantheon in through the Fontana del Pantheon We were actually at the Pantheon on Unification Day, which is March 17th. There was a ceremony inside and there were wreaths and guards on the graves of both Vittorio Emmanuele II and his son Umberto. I'm mostly Irish and Italian, which means March 17th is a culturally important day for me and I have been lucky to be in both Ireland and Italy on March 17th. Again, recommendation for La Sagrestia which is right down the street (< 1000 yards) from the Pantheon. Thanks to Penelope Witherspoon for highlighting this place in her thread More to come when I get around to it.

RIP. Growing up in Austin in the 80's, he was definitely a fixture in local TV

Wow! Care to let us in on what happens.....may want to put down a bet in Vega$

Dr Cosmo Kramer.....Proctology!

What dipshit Clay Travis doesn't understand is this is likely an investment and in no way tethers Jimbo to CS (or anywhere else for that matter). What dipshit Clay also doesn't know (since he aint from around these parts) is that 44 Farms is well regarded for its beef, so any cows that come from there are going to be worth a lot, especially at an auction say at something like the worlds largest f'in rodeo and livestock show 90 miles down the road in Houston. Jimbo may be a cuck, but at least he's smart enough to make a decent investment in good stock livestock. Now back to the livestock fornication jokes!

Do you know what the penalty for animal cruelty is in this state? No sir I don't Well......its probably pretty stiff.

I hit Megaton Saturday night... Like many breweries in their early incarnation, the Megaton beers were Ok, but nothing to write home about. The beer in the foreground was their Wastelander Grand Cru, which was the best of the 4 I had in the sampler. However, the place itself was nice....big indoor tap room with an obvious steampunk theme with pool, airhockey, video games, and a big screen TV as well as a nice outdoor area with a food truck, games, and live music. Stay open late too....until midnight on Sat nights which is definitely different from a lot of the other taprooms. Drew a pretty nice crowd for the Rockets game plus the weather was really nice Sat night. It will probably thrive on being a place to be while they get their feet under them from a brewing perspective. Would go back, especially as they hopefully broaden their options.

I have long been of the opinion that the Texans organization, at least as it relates to the football piece of it, runs completely the opposite of the way the Astros and Rockets run their "product" piece of the organization. As the Texans seem to fiddle while Rome burns, the Rockets have managed to consistently be in the discussion and were a Chris Paul injury away from the finals (and probably the championship) last year and are always looking to re-invent themselves. Everyone knows what the Astros have done in rebuilding the franchise and Jeff Luhnow and team seem to be lead innovators in MLB. Bob McNair may have been an innovator in business, but he and the Texans organization have always seemed to eschew innovation from a football perspective. Now that Bob is gone (RIP), not sure that Cal will run it any differently and based on what we saw Thursday night, the Cal/Brian Gaine era will be no different. We don't know if Tytus Howard will be a good pro, but my sense is he isn't ready to step in and play at even replacement level next year and could have been had lower in the draft. They got outfoxed by Philly on Dillard and the local media should absolutely harangue them about that. They won't, and the vast majority of the fanbase will still shell out dough to see mediocrity. In this regard, the Cowboys and Texans fanbases are pretty similar. Here's hoping the Astros make another October to remember so the Texans will be relegated to mere indifference by the city of Houston until November. Without JJ, Deshaun, and Nuke, this team would be the least interesting franchise by a country mile in the NFL. As it stands, they are only mildly interesting with those guys.

Good to see.......I liked Norvell when he was here.....curious if he has a good run at Nevada if it will lead to a bigger gig.

Rep for Larry's as well as it relates to old school Tex Mex.

Another great entry - bought this CD in college basically on the strength of David + David's "Welcome to the Boomtown" and certainly played the heck out of this CD as well. Need to dig it up and listen again.

All predictions guaranteed to be wrong, but my bold prediction is that Texas will yet again outperform Connelly's model (and FPI for that matter) for 2019. Will probably continue to outperform those models until the Charlie Strong era of suckitude is no longer used as a data point. Although I like Connelly's work for the most part, relying too much on historical data as a starting point has limits, especially when there are a lot of factors (such as coaching staffs) that might not be comparable from say 2016 to today.

Nice pictures....been a long time since I have been to Notre Dame. Nice to visit the cathederal and hop over to Glacier Berthillon on Ile de St Louis for some chocolate ice cream on a hot Paris summer day.

I'll second for Jardin del Rey.......when I am visiting my brother who lives in CP, that is usually the Tex-Mex place we frequent. My Mom lives close to Jardin Corona on Pond Springs which is also very good, but not as close to the Cedar Park Center.

Think I am liking Axe's new lady friend......definitely a Not WTF Celebrity Crush

Agreed....GCOH was a great pre-Masters venue because of the setup similar to Augusta. TPC course in SA can't really duplicate that so it becomes more of a place to either just get swings in or to qualify for the Masters. While the field may be the best Valero Texas Open has ever had, it pales to some of the fields the SHO had just a couple of years back. While it sounds cool that the Houston Open will move to Memorial Park, outside of the first year for the novelty of it I don't see the major pros, other than Texas guys like Spieth, turning out to play Memorial Park. The renovations are only $13 mil and I don't see how they are going to make the course long enough or challenging enough to attract good names, especially during October. Logistics of course will be a nightmare as that area of Houston is not easy to get into at all. There's a news story in there somehow to look at how the HGA and Steve Timms screwed the pooch on having one of the best set ups in golf for a non-major tournament. Have it on good authority that after Shell ended its sponsorship, there were several major corporations that offered 5 year sponsorship deals and were turned down by HGA because it wasn't longer. Somehow, the well also got poisoned with GCOH's owners Estancia, though there is plenty of blame on the Estancia side too from what I understand. While Jim Crane deserves some credit for reviving the event, the Astros Foundation probably won't continue with it after the 5 year run unless the event gets a better date and a better venue than Memorial Park to get some of the bigger names attending. The problem with Houston is there just aren't that many courses that are able and willing to host a PGA event. The beauty of GCOH is it was built specifically for that purpose.

Loved me some Enchirito as a kid.......

Rec on that book - those authors do one for each of the major islands in Hawaii (Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Big lsland) and they are all excellent. If it is recommended, it is usally excellent. Big Island - Volcanoes National Park is a must - I'd spend a day down there. If you go to the Hilo side, going via Saddle Road is a unique experience as you cross between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Believe you can actually drive to the summit of Mauna Kea, but need a 4WD to do so and can't take young kids. For a weird experience, go to South Point, which is technically the southernmost point in the US. You can cliff jump there if you are daring, but the area around it is breezy and quite barren looking. Might see some weirdos around too- this is pretty off the grid so to speak. There is a green sand beach you can hike to but i've not been. Cool thing to say you've been to the southernmost point in the US and if you've done the Key West spot, you can claim both the Continental US spot and the US spot. Second horseback in Waipo Valley. That is a cool experience.

Scott Woodward has only proven he will overpay for above average coaches, nothing more. He's probably an average to slightly above average AD, but combined with the "genius" that is John Sharp and the lackeys on A&M's board of regents almost guarantees that they will underperform all of the "expectations" that are being thrown their way. In 10 years, which athletic department will boast more success? The Fenves/CDC led Longhorns or the Sharp/Woodward led aggy collective. I have a feeling I know where the "sharps" would bet and it wouldn't be on Sharp.

Either VTech is ponying up to prevent Buzz from making what is at best a lateral move or word has gotten to A&M regents from the lege that the minimal chance in hell that you will be getting extra $ to fund your school will drop to less than zero if you overpay for a basketball coach that is making what is at best a lateral move.

Just to be clear, the TSA thieves I was referring to were the people who just take your stuff when they look through your bags, irrespective of whatever customs requirements exist. Have had bad experiences at Newark in the past because it is..well Newark. And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...............