SL Xpress

The Soviet Union always had issues with any element of projection of power. Their biggest source was communist revolutionaries battling against incumbent, often western facing, authoritarian leadership of one kind or another. Mostly colonial occupation, but not necessarily. Their navy always had serious issues projecting competent power even at the height of the Soviet military. Their air force was designed for Eastern Europe, not projection to far away places. They heavily relied on multiple warhead ICBMs, in large part because of the cost effectiveness. Their ability to attack the continental United States with bombers was always virtually nonexistent. Their biggest successes in projecting power were the rise of Castro in Cuba, the support for various movements in Africa, the establishment of a naval support center in Syria (later upgraded to a base), and then, of course, the dominance of Eastern Europe following WWII. The biggest threat from the USSR militarily always came in the form of a massive invasion of Europe. There wasn't another theater where they were ever any real threat. Something similar could be said about China. I don't know if that changes. They're trying to change it. But I don't think it's changed, yet.

I don't know the actual reasons, but one thing I'd point out is that what is rewarded in the military is staying in your lane, not showing too much initiative, and being ruthless. The FSB is not considered the same kind of potential threat to Putin's rule as the military. Not that people in the FSB and associated secret services are exempt from being culled, but it's possible to be promoted when conducting aspects of hybrid warfare in ways that initiative in the military is not. It is much safer to do what you're told and then be capable in finding a scapegoat when things go wrong than it is to change doctrine or advocate for a different plan of action because of serious concerns about capabilities - in this case the capability of defending the air field. The dynamics for handling the military change drastically when they're constantly seen as the greatest threat to the ruler's power. It's something we take for granted in this country in ways we really shouldn't.

Maybe. My guess is they'll do both. There are a lot of players on the team. It would be pretty easy to put together a scrimmage with the team. It seems dumb not to do that in front of an audience if they have the opportunity, which they do. But they haven't announced one yet, so maybe not. I just can't remember a season where they didn't have an orange and white scrimmage, so it's hard for me to fathom they won't do one again this year. They also scrimmaged UTSA in the spring. That was pretty funny. The UTSA students came out in force for that one.

You realize that a significant portion of the country would be very happy if no more aid was given to Ukraine? Russia should have been fucked a long time ago. Instead, everyone let them have their way for 8 years futzing about in the Donbas, and the support for Ukraine hasn't exactly been balls to the wall since the full scale invasion. I'm grateful for the assistance given, but it didn't have to be like this. The failure to continue aid for months while a strong majority in Congress would have voted for it is a significant sign of how easily this can still go sideways. Let's not suck each other's dicks off just yet.

If you're going to mention Reagan Rutherford from Ridge Point, you should probably mention Skylar Fields. I went to see Rice play USC in Tudor Fieldhouse last year, and Ridge Point followers made up a significant part of the crowd. They had a group of 50 or so students, plus all the adults in the crowd there to cheer on Fields and Smith. I'll also say Texas was owning the state in recruiting before the last two titles. Just can't get everyone. A&M is going to be tough to beat in the near term for Houston Skyline kids. Jamie Morrison went all in to build ties there, including hiring their founder/director as an assistant. The combination of facilities, academics (yes, that can still be of importance - at the very least in terms of rationalizing the decision you want to make anyway), the city of Austin, winning, NIL, the culture Elliott has built, means Texas simply doesn't lose many recruiting battles unless it's against Nebraska. Sometimes depth chart can be an issue but even that is less of a factor than you'd think. BTW, two of the three 2026 scholarships are going to out of state players. Cugino is a libero/DS out of Ohio, and Harris is a setter out of North Carolina. Vander Wal from 2025 is from Illinois. Both Ayden Ames and Macari Spears moved around a bunch and their parents have close ties to out of state schools. It's not as simple as a lot of these girls are native Texans. But there is a close to home factor, for sure. Mostly it's just that Texas is an extremely compelling volleyball product, and Elliott has always been a fantastic recruiter. Bring back Jim Moore as coach and we'd see how much good those Texas ties do in recruiting.

How much do you think she was paid to come to Texas after her sophomore season at Kentucky? Brian Davis did a FOIA request of UT athletics for all reported NIL deals. The highest compensated player on the volleyball team was at $50k, which was Logan Eggleston due to her appearance in the national ad for Champion's sports apparel. But if you feel like you have better information regarding her compensation level, by all means share it. The difference is Texas showed Skinner a path where she could earn more through NIL through her own efforts. Same thing happened with Ayden Ames, who had more guaranteed NIL money from Nebraska but preferred the opportunities at Texas. Also, Texas wasn't competing with Nebraska for Skinner, and no one else had any real organized NIL money for their volleyball program. There's still a huge gap out there, frankly. What you're insinuating is Texas basically bidding against itself. It simply didn't take much NIL money to help convince Skinner to come to Texas, because no one else out there really had anything.

Nebraska has a war chest of about $750,000+ a year in dedicated volleyball funds they can spend in NIL money, with $500,000 coming from a mall developer that's committed over the next 10 years. That's without asking for any one offs from wealthy donors. That's in addition to a stronger local NIL because Nebraska volleyball endorsements mean more from a commercial standpoint in Nebraska than they do in Austin. It's not nothing in Austin, and certainly Texas dwarfs anyone else, but no one is writing a $500,000 check every year for the Texas volleyball NIL program. We lost to Nebraska on Kaitlyn Hord two years ago. We lost to Nebraska on Leyla Blackwell this year even though Texas had a much bigger need at middle blocker. Nebraska stole Taylor Landfair right from under Wisconsin at the last second even though Wisconsin had the bigger need at left pin. We're still beating Nebraska on the recruiting trail, and we've put together better rosters. We're also getting a steady stream of former Nebraska players in Kaylei Akana, Kayla Caffey, and now Whitney Lauenstein, all of whom have varying degrees of antipathy toward the Nebraska staff. Plus Ayden Ames, a high school recruit who switched extremely late in the process, putting Nebraska in a bit of a bind in a sport where no one really flips. Ever. If what you said was true Leyla Blackwell would be on the Texas roster. This team has no experience at the middle blocker position. Talent, yes. Experience, no. Depth? Non existent with Nya Bunton's mysterious injury (she did play some in the spring). Nebraska on the other hand has two veterans at the middle blocker position who are going to be almost impossible for Blackwell to unseat as a starter. Yet she picks Nebraska for her last year. There is no one in volleyball who is relevant when it comes to NIL compared to Texas other than Nebraska. But Nebraska has more resources invested in their volleyball program than Texas does, both from an athletic department standpoint and from an NIL standpoint. They also have more of their collective identity invested in the sport. Doesn't matter. We're the ones with back to back national championships, including arguably the most one sided butt whooping in a national title game in the history of the sport. Certainly in the rally scoring era. But right now Nebraska is going to tend to get their first pick of talent out of the transfer portal, and then Texas will get first pick of the rest. At least when it comes to NIL spending.

Pennies on the dollar. The biggest NIL payday in that portal class was Kaitlyn Hord, who was paid about $100,000 for a year at Nebraska. We lost that one after having her on campus. Skinner and Fleck were the big names brought in, and neither of them were paid above the low tens of thousands of dollars. Both of them are hustlers who leveraged a lot of their own NIL deals. Fleck runs a series of libero camps she tours nationwide with. Caffey was done dirty by Nebraska, but was paid bare minimum NIL dollars by Texas (which is still more than anyone in the country that year outside of Nebraska). Akana wanted a scholarship and John Cook said no, while Texas said yes. Bergmark was hardly a high dollar transfer. Both her and Ewert simply wanted to go somewhere to compete at the highest level. Your post insinuates Texas volleyball paid top dollar for that championship, when nothing could be further from the truth. They had a bunch of unhappy people transfer out, including Cabello and Williams to NC State, Fields to USC, Iosia to Michigan State, and Peterson to play her Covid year with her sister and her head coach Mom at Northern Iowa. It LOOKS like an NIL extravaganza, but it was more about timing and no one else having any NIL resources devoted to volleyball. Even now Texas is ahead of the curve versus everyone other than Nebraska, who has lapped the field with their NIL riches in volleyball. I know this is the softball thread, but I didn't want to let that throwaway comment pass without a response.

Invariably Texas stacks up well in recruiting year after year with pretty much anyone. I'd say the three recruiting superpowers in years past were Stanford, Nebraska, and Texas. Stanford is often hard to gauge because they can't/won't accept commitments until admissions says they're accepted to the school, which doesn't happen until late in the process. It's also tough to be completely clear on if they lost a recruit because of academics or something else. In the past, though, if they wanted a player and the player could qualify academically, they pretty much got them. Not sure how true that's been over the last two recruiting cycles, so we'll see what happens in the future. Nebraska and Texas are 1A and 1B in that order. Nebraska tends to make their choices quickly. They rarely extend their recruiting efforts past the summer. If a player wants to wait and take visits, often they'll just go on to their next target, which puts a lot of pressure on kids if they do get an offer. For about 3 years there they didn't really lose any recruiting battles. Ayden Ames switching to Texas was one of the first ones in three years they lost on. Last year they beat Texas on Campbell Flynn, but Texas beat them on Macari Spears and Taylor Harvey, although Nebraska was pretty much on the outside for both of those players, even though both of them visited the Nebraska campus. Taylor Harvey was even there for their big record setting volleyball match in the football stadium. Outside of that there's another tier of recruiting, probably led by Wisconsin. Wisconsin doesn't really beat Texas or Nebraska for recruits, but they rarely lose to anyone else. Pitt arguably has the best class this cycle, and they're certainly part of that 2nd tier. Louisville is recruiting better than they have in the past, and their past recruiting led to a couple of Final Fours and the championship match appearance against Texas. Minnesota used to put together highly rated classes but have fallen off the pace a bit. USC has a really good class. If you're not Nebraska, it's pretty tough to beat Texas on the recruiting trail right now. Macari Spears and Abby Vander Wal could make a case for the #1 player in the country. They're both left pins. Henley Anderson this year is in that same kind of category. Taylor Harvey was the highest rated middle in her class (although I wish we'd been able to grab Favor Anyanwu - she's going to be a beast of a middle for the Trojans). Genevieve Harris is widely regarded as the best setting in her class. Texas had several good liberos at their elite camp this year, and chose to offer Cugino among them, so whether she ends up being the best or not, they're getting their first choice. It's tough to find issues with Texas volleyball recruiting right now. We're pretty much the 800lb gorilla in that arena. And now the NCAA is going to add 6 more scholarships to the roster, going from 12 to 18 (which makes me very happy - no more 2+2 and 1+3 deals for players to walk on in the hopes of being offered a scholarship later down the track). There are no guarantees regarding future success, and it will be tough to replicate back to back championships, but they're well positioned to be Final Four threats for the foreseeable future, that's for sure.

I think it's going to be exceptionally difficult without congressional action. And I don't foresee congressional action in the current political climate any time soon. There is no transparency, and no real mechanism or governing body that can provide it. Without transparency market forces can't really come to bear efficiently. There's also not the same kind of commercial incentives in college sports that exist in professional sports. I understand they're not exactly NOT present. Of course they are. But there are plenty of boosters willing to invest massive amounts of money to make sure their favorite alma mater is able to win championships without a monetary return that does not exist in the same way in commercial sports. I think we'll continue to see NIL payments explode, even with the settlement, until either the system collapses in some existential way, or congress steps in to provide a workable framework on some level. I don't think there are any other workable solutions. I think a student athlete union has hair all over it and is unworkable as well. That said, I hope Canady comes to Texas, is paid a fortune for it, and Texas continues to excel at collegiate sports because of a robust NIL system until it's finally changed. Don't hate the playa, hate the game.

Hairline fracture plus soft tissue damage around her ankle. It's not clear yet when she'll return. I'm rooting for her to miss the Texas match. Or for Franklin to at least be rusty if she does return to the lineup. They have a true freshman setter starting for them, so at the very least the connection isn't going to be great there, even if she does play. They also face Louisville the week before, and then Stanford right after us.

I'm going to be a little depressed if/when Canady heads to OU from a Texas fan perspective. In softball I'd feel a bit like Carthage going against Rome. I mean, if education was THAT important to her, she wouldn't have entered the portal from Stanford in the first place.

Russia is rich with historical traditions. Like Potemkin villages, for example.

Tomorrow is the first day players can commit. It looks like we're looking good with Genevieve Harris (setter) and Henley Anderson (outside hitter), who just attended the Elite Camp. I don't know if they'll be early commits or not, but maybe. Harris is out of North Carolina. Anderson is from Dripping Springs. Both of them are top 5 overall players in the country types.

I guess what I don't understand is people bringing this kind of stuff up like it's somehow unusual. On a long enough timeline, this is normal human behavior. The amount of times societies with different races/cultures ended up with violence are too many to count. The amount of times societies with different cultures peaceably lived side by side into perpetuity without some serious assimilation, including interbreeding to the point distinctions were lost, are extremely rare. I'm not sure there is one. We're going to figure out ways to create us/them dynamics. That's what we do. It's an easy way to power for those who crave it. Find an "other" to point to, generate fear, envy, contemptuousness, what have you. There's always going to be an other. But things like race, language, religion are easy pickings. Especially race.

Wait, what? I don't think any human beings have to teach other human beings to be mean. I don't think we have to teach human beings to be nice, either. What I do think can be done is to show other human beings the incentives of doing one or the other. Or both simultaneously, as the case may be.

I guess maybe suicide is on a spectrum? Someone who puts a gun to their head and blows their brains out is on one side of the spectrum. Someone who only goes outside in a hazmat suit made up of bubble wrap would be on the other. I'd say the guy was hellbent on making a name for himself, had limited resources to do it, was running out of time and funds to make his dream a reality, and was willing to go through with risks other reasonable people would have balked at. He was also willing to take other people's money and put them at risk as well. Reading the article it becomes obvious everyone understood deep sea diving involved tremendous risks, and that things could go wrong for any of them. It wasn't the idea that people could possibly die while in a deep sea submersible vehicle that concerned them. They had already gotten past that objection a long time ago. Their concern was how Rush's negligence and hell bent attitude for realizing his vision was going to set back the industry when the inevitable occurred, and it was discovered how reckless he had been the whole time. I don't know that I would classify that as suicidal, in terms of seeking out his own preferred method of killing himself, as much as just a complete disregard for any risks he was taking because his identity was wholly connected with the success of his venture, and he didn't have the money to spend to make it safer. But again, I'd say these things are somewhat on a spectrum.

If Mike White comes in second in softball every year for the next 10 years there will be plenty of people talking about how he's a failure as a coach. That's just how it is. Personally, I'm glad we have the guy. It used to drive me nuts with the amount of softball talent in this state and the amount of money they spend on the program we weren't any more competitive than we were under our previous coaches. Gasso is an all timer. She's extremely good at what she does. It sucks to lose to her team, but it's not some kind of personal failure on White or any of the Texas players that OU was much better. They didn't win four championships in a row by providential luck. They've been the equivalent of the Wooden UCLA teams. They've had the Eddie Reese of softball over there. I know it was only one person, but calling Elliott an also ran until he won the latest back to back trophies is pretty rich, too. I get it. If you don't win it all, but you're very successful, you're known as the coach/player who never won it all. Dean Smith was known that way until he broke through in '82. Michael Jordan had that reputation early on with the Bulls. Could score, but could never lead his team to a championship. Bobby Bowden and Tom Osborne both had that reputation before they broke through. If UT had fallen short against USC in 2005, his reputation as a head coach would be entirely different. I choose to see Mike White building an extremely successful program, that will continue to have a tough time against OU. Same thing with the women's basketball team with Staley at South Carolina and Voldemort over at LSU. But the series win was still a heck of an accomplishment against a program that has completely dominated us. Okay, we shit the bed in the championship series. The season still represents a step forward. Hopefully they can break through and win it all soon. Maybe next year!

That will change next year.

One thing I feel highly confident in saying. Whoever permanently replaces Putin is going to spend a lot of time tearing down his legacy in an effort to build their own. May not be whoever takes over directly after him if they're dependent on his legacy for their control. But if someone establishes their own loyal hierarchy, part of it is going to come from distinguishing themselves from Putin. Also, maybe Andrei Belousov can be their Robert McNamara.

I'm a little late to the discussion, but James Patton was a defensive tackle for us for one of the unsung best defensive units in Texas football history. The defensive line in particular was fearsome. Patton and Tommy Jeter were the defensive tackles, and Shane Dronett and Bo Robinson were the defensive ends. Teams had such a difficult time moving the ball against that defense, but the offense was beyond putrid. Ended up with a losing season at 5-6 and McWilliams was fired at the end of the year. Patton was an awesome defensive tackle. He didn't play much in the NFL. Picked 55th overall. He had a hip injury that never really fully healed. As far as names for our Beach Volleyball complex, is we're thinking along the lines of Deathstar or Starkiller, I vote for calling it the Thanos Snap.

"I been caught stealing, once, when I was five I enjoy stealing, it's just as simple as that Ah, well, it's just a simple fact When I want something, man I don't wanna pay for it Now I walk right through the door And I walk right through the door Hey, all right If I get by It's a-mine Mine, all mine Hey! Yeah, my girl, she's one too She gon' get her a skirt Stick it under her shirt She grabbed a razor for me And she did it, just like that When she wants something, man She don't wanna pay for it She walk right through the door Walk right through the door Hey, all right If I get by It's a-mine Mine, all mine Let's go"

This is what pisses me off the most. There was a time the Ukrainians had the Russians on the defensive. Then the aid stopped, and it all became a series of depressing information, while in my community no one even thinks about the war in Ukraine any more, really. Then you look at the vote in both houses, where there's overwhelming bipartisan support for aid, but the minority has been able to dictate whether the bill even gets to the floor for months now. I like how the NY Post labeled the house representative Moscow Marjorie, because that's how it's felt to me, regardless of any other politics involved. And she's not the only one.

If Beard takes Ole Miss to the Final Four, we'll see if he gets looked at or not the next time the Kentucky job comes open. Unless we're all assuming Mark Pope is just the man to right the ship. Of course, we're a long ways away from Ole Miss doing anything significant just yet. It's just not much of a prediction when Ole Miss didn't even make the tournament last year. Not much to go on. Miller in much the same situation.

If Beard takes Ole Miss to the Final Four without melting down in some way he might get a different level of consideration. He's not going to get considered when Ole Miss didn't make the tournament. But the chances of Pope meeting the expectations of Kentucky fans feels pretty slender to me, so he'll get another shot at the job in due time.