someguy

sometimes that disease of the mind infects winning(ish) teams.

check out the uncalled hold on Trey Moore in the second clip.

I was there in the lower bowl. Georgia was getting away with a lot of holding on their edge runs (holds on Moore and Lole stand out particularly in my mind). I don't know if they showed it on TV, but there was one run Georgia had that gained maybe 10-12 yards where Moore was grabbed onto and prevented from closing the gap that was used. Sark was going absolutely nuts on the sideline. There was another later in the game where Sark went all the way down to the 10 yard line talking to the ref, who promptly shooed him back inside the box. Bottom line - I agree that the bigger issue was less the calls against Texas, but the different standards between what constituted a penalty against Texas and what constituted a penalty against Georgia. Wanna call Muhammed for PI for a tug on the shoulder? Fine, but call it both ways. Wanna call Hill for roughing on an ordinary football play? Fine, but call it against Georgia too. My dad, who lives on the East Coast, told me that on Sunday an Oregon fan approached him and said he couldn't believe how much the officials had it in for Texas. That is just a single anecdote, but I do think the double standard was blatant and obvious to most neutral observers.

I'm not usually a point the finger at the refs kind of guy - typically calls are uneven because human beings are involved and things even out over time. This was different - It really smacked hazing or some sort of nonsense. The combination of ticky tack, drive killing calls on Texas at crucial times and the absolute absence of any similar calls on Georgia was just blatant. Infuriating.

I'll be there. I booked my flight to Atlanta back in September.

All I know is that Florida's chances with Ffrench were just given the kiss of death.

If Arkansas got 4 yards on 1st down, 4 yards on second down, and then was stuffed on 3rd down and had to punt - their success rate would be 66%. If Texas got 3 yards on 1st down, 3 yards on second down, and then had a 15 yard completion on 3rd down - their success rate would be 33%. It is a useful enough tool in the aggregate with enough context, but it is hardly a definitive stat that gets at the absolute heart of the game.

that's not even remotely true. A&M is the game most of the players have been looking forward to the most this season.

I never want to hear from anyone how intensely the Arkansas fans hate Texas. I was prepared for a significant level of hate. Instead, there was no juice at all from the Arkansas side. Leaving my hotel in the morning I had several Arkansas fans talk to me about how pleasant the weather would be and that they hoped it would be a good game. Walking up from the high school, not a single horns down, not so much as a wayward look. The stadium relied on canned noise (how is that freaking train whistle legal?) and the lamest freaking on field hype man you'll ever see. The only time it got somewhat loud was that stretch in the third quarter, and half the stadium bailed with 4 minutes left. I could see how it would be a loud environment in a big night game (the stadium is well designed to keep the noise in), but I never want to hear about how Texas is the Super Bowl for Arkansas. That wasn't even remotely true today.

There is a valid point to be made that Arkansas is hostile ground and shouldn't be taken casually, but for crying out loud the bulk of this team played at Alabama last year, Tech/Ok St/West Virginia, the Sugar Bowl last year, Michigan this year - they are used to high stakes games, games with intense crowds, and games where the local team has hate that isn't reciprocal. Let's not forget that the team rallied around the "farewell tour" last year, embracing the chance to get scoreboard on the entire conference. They remember the last time Texas played at Arkansas. They know what is at stake for the SEC championship and playoff berth. I have no idea what will happen on Saturday. I hope they play well. I expect they will. But if they lose it'll be because they played poorly and not because they were blindsided and intimidated by an 11AM Arkansas crowd.

how on earth does anyone - ANYONE - think that is a good idea? It unnecessarily alienates him from coaches/teammates when there is already plenty of grounds for resentment on nepotism grounds. He is already one of the most marginally talented and accomplished players in the G League - he needs every rep. It makes him look like a diva, makes the Laker organization look weak, and makes LeBron look even more delusional and petty pulling strings behind the scenes. For crying out loud - let the kid fly commercial, grind away at his craft outside the bright lights, and let him try to learn and grow and develop.

cancelled out would mean replaying the down, not granting the automatic first down. Making the call on Utah but not the offsetting call on BYU benefits BYU. Do you want all the technical infractions called or not?

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