Hurm. Makes me wonder ...

EA Sports: NCAA Football 10 Photo

More on UTSA... From Me.

Pictured: Fake Helmet

So as promised: Here is more reaction sports fans.

This ain't going to be pretty.

Here are the requirements for being an FBS school (or Division 1-A for you fogies)

FBS requirements

To earn FBS status, schools must meet five requirements (UTSA already satisfies Nos. 1 and 2):

1. Sponsor a minimum of 16 varsity intercollegiate sports, including football.

2. Annually offer a minimum of 200 athletic scholarships, or spend at least $4 million on scholarships.

3. Schedule at least 60 percent of its football games against FBS members, including five home games.

4. Average at least 15,000 fans for home games in at least one of two reclassification seasons.

5. Provide an average of at least 90 percent of the maximum number of football scholarships (85).

All the above is from the Express-News.

First off, notice how it doesn't say you have to be any kind of awesome huh? Well, other than drawing 15000 fans a game. Now do you see why the good ol' Mean Green give away student tix?

It's cool though. The U used to do the same thing. Here is a lengthy breakdown of what it all means according to the Internet scroll down to TastyGreek's post. I'll summarize here a bit because it is freakin long:

Its gonna be hard. Other schools that did it had special circumstances and still had it pretty rough. UTSA should not alienate their conference if they want to do this right. 

That pretty much sums it up. Lots of examples and things in the original post however.

What intrigues me most is that UTSA's AD Lynn Hickey said this

“We have worked really hard looking at all our options,” Hickey said. “As a start-up program in a major city, with the aspirations we have, the facility we have, the head coach we have, the best thing we can do is move as quickly as we can to FBS status. And until we’re in a conference that has FBS football, we need to stay independent.”

It makes me extremely curious to see the number that she was looking at. To the average fan, San Antonio produces decent talent every now and then and the city is pretty big population wise but nothing  exceptional in any other areas. So its not like they are striking an untapped gusher here. Austin is next door. UT fans permeate the city. Shit, UT-SA is part of the UT System. Of course UTSA is aspiring to be  a top flight school but realistically what can we expect?

I see something like UNT. Not only do the RoadRunners have to battle for a piece of the state educational fund pie with the other public schools in the state, but also with its own mother: the beast that is the University of Texas.

Its hard to fathom that the state government will ever let UTSA be competitive athletically with the big boys. UNT has a hard enough time.

The private schools have a better chance to compete than do the smaller public schools. There are a lot less regulations to deal with and most importantly, its easier to get money.

And money is everything cousin. 

Big Mike's Coffee Shop- a Mother-CENSORED Review

A while back I talked about the new 24 hour coffee shop opening up. Well in my desire to move quickly and write timely reviews I just went there a few days ago. At the risk of sounding like the Daily's food snobs or whatever I'll tell u a little about it.

First: I like it. One of the problems I had with the Jupiter house is that it closes. Yeah, I mean, why close? Right? I did some research (took a guess) and found that it was (probably) because of the extra cost. Well whatever it is that made them change their hours from 24/7 to closing at 2am to closing at midnite. And I went from going there to not to not.

Secondly:  It's spacious. Relatively. I mean in real space it's probably 3/4 of the size of Jupiter house (square) or Banter. However each table is sittable. At Banter you have two choices: rickety table or couches that will swallow you whole.  Jupiter House gives you those high ass tables. I figure they are thinking that it's kinda like a library or some shit. I figure it's an exposed position. Probably because my dad was a spy --note: there is no evidence he was but if there were he wouldn't be a very good spy would he?-- I like to sit where I cannot be spotted easily. High seats like the ones here and at Hooters just don't appeal to me. And at least Hooters has .... well, hooters. JH has maybe hipster hooters which are covered in ironical clothing from seemingly 1973. So take your pick, homie.

Where was I? Oh yeah: sittable. Plus they have booths (plural but really I think there was only one) with big ass tables which is awesomeness.

The Bad:

Well if you really love you some Coca Cola then Big Mike's is not for you. I remember strolling by when it used to be Voyager's and seeing the anti-coke propaganda. It made me chuckle. Now they have it splayed on the table brochures. Makes me chuckle still. Not that I am anti-human rights or anything. It just makes me chuckle.

Big Mike's Philosophy

So don't ask for a coke and you should be good. I am kind of a night owl so getting there at midnight etc is awesome because I avoid the crowds. If it is crowded during the daytime (probably) then I don't know about it.

Overall: A. I will be going back again.



Sent from my iPhone

UTSA aiming for FBS in five years yo.

Wow. As a San Antonian, I am rooting for the hometown squad. Gotta love the aggressiveness. I still have my reservations of the quality of the kids on the field n such. SA is not regarded as an extremely talent rich area. Still, being in a talent-rich area doesn't guarantee successful recruiting hauls.

Most intruguing:

Beyond any serious resistance from the Southland, Hickey and other UTSA officials are confident the school can meet the five NCAA requirements for FBS membership.
The Roadrunners already offers the requisite number of sports (16) and overall athletic scholarships (200). They’ve raised more than $2 million in donations, well on target to fund the football scholarship pool of 85. The combination of a major metro population and the Alamodome’s capacity provides an ample base to reach the rolling attendance standard of 15,000 per home game.
The biggest concern had been scheduling. But UTSA associate athletic director Ross Cobb said the response among potential FBS opponents has been “extremely favorable.”
“I’d say 95 percent have said they’d definitely be interested in a home-and-home,” he said. “This is a great city, with a great facility, and a lot of these schools recruit in Texas. It just makes sense to most of the people we talk to.”
Though no contracts have been signed, Cobb said, the school is in “serious” discussions with up to 20 FBS teams.
“I was a little apprehensive, just because there are so few teams that (play independently),” Cobb said. “But I think being in this city, with the recruiting hotbed that Texas is, if anybody has a chance to pull this off it’s us.”

More reaction from your favorite north texas mescan later.

Also coming soon on meangreennation.com: some reaction to the Canales signing. If I will be doing a dynasty on NCAA 10 with NT and if anyone wants in on any of it. Thinking of getting a dude from each member of the Belt and battling it out for supremacy.

Spurs v Headbands er Mavs

Well done Headband. Well done. Spurs 103 Mavericks 112. 

Watching the game I had a sense that it was just not Dallas' night and the Spurs were just on. When they shoot 63% in the first half and Headband is struggling --he looked slow and indecisive-- even for Dirk, that sounds like an easy win.

But Mediocre Teams find a way- to misuse a Dr. Ian Malcolm phrase. I can't shake the thinking that this Spurs team is just not that awesome. Sure Duncan is playing like its 2001 and we have everyone seemingly healthy but Richard Jefferson is roller coasting through the season, the defense get's all matador and allows 42 points in the 4th and we can't beat anyone who knows what to do with a basketball.

We made huge gamble trading defense for offense and experience for youthful athleticism. Wait. Gamble is the wrong word. Perhaps we underestimated the immediate benefits of the new guys versus the loss of experienced 'system' guys? I don't want to second guess the front office even if its starting to sound like I am. Despite what you've read so far, I still like this team ... on paper. I don't know how you can go wrong with this group here. It is a nice mix of young and old. Youth and experience. It's just not jelling.

I've heard people calling for Bowen and more 7 footers.  Don't they know he isn't (and wasn't last year) the Bowen of 2005? Dude was slow and couldn't do the one thing that they needed him to do. As for the 7 footer part? Well that is a common NBA request. I've always wanted to make a run at Camby. Before that I wanted Ben Wallace (that was even more unlikely given his contract demands and the fact that he sucks ass now). I think DeJuan Blair is perfect though. He has that Malik Rose energy and he is young and coachable.

Again, I don't think its the talent assembled, or the coaching, or the youth, or the old, or injuries. I just think its time. We need time. They have to play together. The Spurs used to play above their talent level because of their uncanny execution defensively ( and sometimes offensively).  Unfortunately, I think its that simple. Boring huh?

Texas v Alabama BCS National Championship

What do you say? It feels incomplete. Alabama is a very good team. Texas is a very good team. Too bad they couldn't battle it out with their full complement. Ingram was gimpy and Colt barely got a taste of the game.

I think it can be argued that the last two iterations of the Texas Longhorns were the best teams that never got a chance. Texas had a very good argument to play Florida last year, and didn't get to play with their best player this year. I am not making excuses for them. It's not like Gibbert was completely incompetent and the Texas defense, for all its gutsy play when they could have packed it in, still gave up huge clock- eating runs with six minutes to go and that huge Richardson run in the first half.

As a college football fan, not seeing the best versus the best is the lamest part. For Texas, that hangs more with them than the loss. It doesn't matter that some of the other guys didn't play well or dropped passes or gave up sacks. That is part of the game. Texas would have rather lost with their leader.

Other than the Colt McCoy injury, this game was awesome. Lots of drama. Like I said on twitter, Texas sure knows how to make a BCS title game entertaining.



Notes:

- Why is Lee Corso drunk? He is mumbling and sounds incoherent, especially at halftime.
- Although Texas and its fans would have been happy, Colt McCoy will never let this go. Totally sucks fot that guy. Again, especially since he thinks he could have gave it a shot.
- How much criticism would have Mack got if he played McCoy and he played poorly? How many calls for the freshman?
- The looming spectre of that shovel-interception. I feel it was more fluke than poor calling. Its like a fumbled handoff.
- Lee Corso: wtf is wrong with you?
- Texas fans who cheered Bradford's injury are getting a little karma huh? Given the two, I think maybe I would have take then Bradford one if I were Colt. That way you get to deal with it all season and maybe rationalize it all. From a team perspective, you gotta like your chances with 3:15 left, down three, given the circumstances.

Leach

I thought about writing something up about Mike Leach today. This comment on Deadspin says it all though.

It's blindingly obvious that James was not placed at risk at all here. In fact, I can thing of few things less dangerous than standing in a dark room dicking around on your cell phone--not just at a football practice, but in life in general.

It wasn't supposed to be therapeutic so any judgment the doctor has of the act "deviating from the medical standard of care" is completely irrelevant. It smacks or trying a little to find an angle from which to criticize Leach.

As for this new video--doesn't it kind of work in Leach's favor? Weren't we supposed to believe that Leach is just a sadist that flew off the handle because James had the audacity to get a concussion?

I don't have a horse in this race--I barely knew who Leach was before this incident--but watching a man get crucified by the bloodthirsty media for essentially having a player go stand in the corner and think about what he's done is a little disgusting.

Idaho v Bowling Green

Odds are that you didn't watch the end.

It was awesome however.

Check out this guy's break down of the final play and the the last minute of action.

Mike Leach gets canned, ESPN laughs

Mike Leach wasn't going to last his entire five year contract.

From what I've read, they were out to get him. There really are no winners here. Mike Leach will have the stain of getting fired. Tech and Athletic Director Gerald Myers has the label of an annoying, tightwad who lets petty quarrels interfere with the best interest of the university. Adam and Craig James now have the reputation of 'entitled' and 'helicopter dad', respectively.

Luckily for the latter, he has the might of ESPN to spin it in his favor. Already on ESPNEWS, reactions from players, and quips from talking heads are decidedly spinning it in the James' family's favor at least from my perspective.

For instance, the analyist (I cannot remember his name-- a fat dude) pretty much said Leach was wrong because James could have fell down in the shed. Seriously. This is ridiculous. 

When the announcement of his suspension was first publicized, I had a feeling this would happen save for some miracle repair of the relationship. There were just two possibilities in my opinion: 1. They knew something egregious happened or 2. Tech found the excuse to get out from under their obligations.

From the other perspective, if Tech really had had enough of Leach, they were in for a long period of sucking it up if it werent for these allegations. Judging by the reactions of fans to this news, it would have taken a few more subpar seasons and maybe an loss to a FCS school for them to turn on their Pirate Captain.

The administration had already made the turn, however. Leach didn't do himself any favors by flirting with Washington and Tennessee and consistently undermining the administration and Myers in particular. Still this is hardly a firing offense. Or is it?

Hello Internet

It sure has been a while hasn't it.

Fall Semester was a biatch to be sure. Lots of shit to do. Lots of projects to be put off. With so many Obligations vying for my precious little lot of time the chaff has to be separated and discarded. But now time has allowed me to visit my once precious chaff.

So hello chaff. We should hang out some time.

Texas doesn't lose vs Nebraska

Wow. How unimpressive was that? Outside of losing outright, this was the only way they could have played themselves out of the national title picture.

What did we learn?

Colt is not wining the Heisman trophy. Texas is not a shoe-in ( but they are likely in). Alabama looks like the favorite for the title.


Colt: Dude, not only were you living off last years hype, but you had it in the bag if you would have put up decent numbers. I mean surely you could have had the equivalent of a 100 yard game? 225 yards and a score would have won you a statue buddy. But no. Instead you got beat up and pantsed by Ndamukong Suh and co. but still. That WTF moment where you casually put the fate of your squad in the hands of the Booth? Wow. You had your bad game versus Oklahoma. You just needed to be average in this game and you blew it.

Texas: Again, a lot of it had to do with that monster defense that Nebraska puts on opponents. Still, you had to do better than you did. This is probably mostly for Colt, with him being the signal caller. How about at least the 31 points Tech put up on them? I don't mind the lack of yardage. Not championship caliber huh?


Bama: They kicked the Tebow's ass. Ingram ran all over that vaunted defense and made me feel a whole lot better about UNT getting shellacked earlier in the season.



To come: my dream matchups for the Mythical National Title Game, and picks for second, third and fourth place!