statsman

As a close observer, it was pretty tough being one of two blue bloods in a ten team conference. So often, the majority of schools viewed things much differently, had vastly different priorities. How would it work out for FSU, who certainly view themselves as a blue blood, as the only one in a 16 team conference? Is that a good idea for anyone?

Does FSU have a landing spot lined up? Or, is this an Aggie plan?

What outcome does Mack desire? An insincere apology? A formal (but meaningless) reprimand of the NCSU coach (I can’t remember his name and I just read the article; he’s just a pissant). It would have been better for Mack to have said nothing at all, like Texas after Yormark mouthed off, or after the call out from the ISU OL.

They did have a plan. They had a coach lined up that would unify the base, excite the recruits, and “got” Aggy. They just didn’t make sure that Dan Campbell would take the job first, before they fired Fisher. They assumed he would, because they believe that bullshit Bear Bryant said about “mama called” when he bailed out of A&M. (Bryant was too smart to tell the truth- “Thank God I can get out of this shithole and away from these nutty assholes”)

Stoops famously bragged, “We coach them hard”. The entire staff, especially strength coach Schmidt, were notorious hardasses. Schmidt’s practices were borderline (and sometimes crossed the border) abusive. That was an era when there were significant barriers to switching teams in college football. Now, I can’t think of a major league with less barriers to switching teams than college football. That OU football, after getting the band back together, struggles to keep key players from portaling out is not a problem of the players, or the structure of college football’s portal system. It is a problem of OU football. The modern reality is that, now, football staffs have to recruit constantly- not just schoolboys and portal candidates-but all of the players on the roster they count on. College coaches don’t have to be “players’ coaches”, but they do have to treat players with respect, or their players will bounce. The right model is the successful NFL coach- firm, fair, honest communicator. OU has had a rough couple of seasons retaining OL. If you don’t think that hasn’t been noted by rival staffs, and pointed out to recruits from HS and the portal… Or, maybe Sooner Nation can fix this by attacking players’ parents. Yeah, that’s the route we want to see.

Really? You’re rolling with that- “recruits, when you commit to Oklahoma, it’s for life. Unless we want to drop you, in which case, go away quietly and don’t take anything with you. But, if you abandon us for a better opportunity, we will respond like Glenn Close in ‘Fatal Attraction’ “. What makes Okies’ self esteem so bad that they can’t handle any kind of rejection? Can you not see that the way y’all feel about Riley, about Durant, about Green, isn’t healthy? Let it go.

That is their trait. Riley, Durant,…it doesn’t matter what someone did for them, what opportunities in life they seek, if they decide to leave Oklahoma, they are so hyper-sensitive that they act out horribly.

Clearly. He’s signed nine players and only two coaches.

From the source, at 2:30 CST, they have received nine NLIs.

Who is James? Surely not James Hale?

To me, the biggest problem is the graft, that they have a fucking EE on the frontline because he didn’t have the cash to bribe into a rear echelon position. Ukraine knows it needs to fix that and is trying to fix that. Part of becoming a free society is letting light shine on issues so they can be addressed.

This is not a fun one to share. The truth isn’t always our friend, but we shouldn’t let it be our enemy. I absolutely support Ukraine’s defense against Russian invasion, but it looks like they still have stuff to clean up. Ukraine's struggling draft system isn’t producing the quantity or quality of troops it needs for front-line combat—or sharing the burden fairly across society https://www.wsj.com/world/ukraines-front-line-troops-are-getting-older-physically-i-cant-handle-this-46d9b2c7?st=pd2kjdgyvqtfxr2&reflink=share_mobilewebshare

Nebraska was a football school, until we took that from them. Now, thy are a volleyball school.

Maybe Klein and the Ags agree on salary, but have a misunderstanding on paying a KSU buyout? That kind of thing seems to happen…

Can I offer an opinion? Feel free to disagree, but if you do, please tell me where I’m off. To me, this idea that the SEC is only for a certain type of (superior) athlete is overblown. To me, the big difference between the SEC play and the B12 play is that the SEC lines are bigger. (The B10’s are, too). That means SEC games are more physical. A guy like Duggan can steal a game against a great Michigan team by balling out and running 15 times (like Gabriel did to Texas), but he can’t do that two weeks in a row (like Gabriel couldn’t). Yes, the SEC has more elite talents, but the Big 12 has more elite coaching. Play a season out, between the two leagues, and the B12 teams will do better in the early season games, and worse in the later. In the CFP, I expect B12 teams to win their share of first round games, and not very many later round games. I expect the semifinals (and maybe most of the quarter finals) to be SEC and B10 teams. Being in the SEC doesn’t make an athlete elite, any more than being in an oven would make you a biscuit. There are just more elite athletes in the SEC.

Is this a rat leaving a sinking ship, or the result of a difficult post season conversation-(“son, it’s not working out for you here. You might want to enter the portal and find a better fit “?) Time will tell. If the kid transfers to a blue blood, it’s a bad sign for Riley. If he transfers to a G5, it means the kid wasn’t ready.

It’s fascinating to watch Texas, OU and TAMU navigate these new waters. The Ikard/Lehman description of the efforts of OU to keep Green gave a peek behind the curtain: OU has a budget, and someone is minding the store, making sure promises aren’t made that can’t be kept, making sure there is a salary structure that won’t drive future dissatisfaction and dissension on the team. The only thing limiting OU is the size of the budget. TAMU might actually have a bigger overall budget, but the slapdash way they throw it around, more to achieve recruiting wins than to set themselves up for on field wins is more indicative of a moron playing fantasy football than a professional GM.

Ole Miss has a somewhat unique strategy. They are efficient with their money, emphasizing building their roster from the portal and not really trying as much to compete on HS recruiting. I expect it to lose effectiveness as more schools imitate it

Again, how does it make sense that he didn’t want to take the reputation risk of bailing on a CFP team (NCAA basketball coaches do it all the time), so he took the much worse reputation risk of throwing a game? That is one hell of an accusation. I know that the state of Oklahoma first got so invested in the football program as a reaction to the dust bowl and the resulting feelings of inferiority. What the Lincoln Riley exit shows is how sensitive they still are to being rejected for something better. It’s not a good look.

Does that even make sense? Why couldn’t he win Bedlam, and take the USC job? Because of the hit to his rep? It wouldn’t be any worse than the hit to his rep if he were found to have tanked a game.

More horseshit. The idea that an institution of higher education might have standards that outweigh football success? Sure, there are dozens of examples. but not the fucking University of Oklahoma

Do the Sooner fans realize that the idea of a star play eschewing the NFL to run it back one more time with his college team is total horseshit? They’re coming back because they didn’t like their draft grade.

I don’t know your roster. Is this a guy that you want to keep?

Dude. You don’t know any Muslims, do you? I recommend you get out more, outside your circle. I don’t know about the Koran, but I do know about the Bible. I taught an adult Sunday School class I called “Least Loved Stories From the Bible”, looking at difficult passages, and one was 1 Samuel 16, where that prophet of God basically calls for ethnic cleansing (genocide, really) of the Amalekites. It’s horrific, and I think it horrified the Jewish rabbis of the 7th century BC, who felt compelled to include Ruth (the story of how a Moabite woman- functionally, akin to a modern Palestinian-became the grandmother of Israel’s greatest king) in the canon. I don’t think your Koranic interpretations are helpful or illuminative.

Something is broken in Norman, to have wanted guys portaling out. I don’t know if there isn’t enough money, can’t stand the coaches or some combination.