Et tu, Turge?

Welp, looks like Maryland has hired away Mark Turgeon from Texas A&M. My reaction? I, um . . . I don't care.

I should care, and in some ways I do. It's problematic, but unsurprising, that A&M is a stepping-stone job. And I don't like that part of the reason Turgeon is leaving, probably, is that Aggie fans do not fill Reed on a regular basis. That's stupid. There's no excuse for poor attendance when the team has been consistently good. And, of course, I worry about who Bill Byrne will get as a replacement, especially since it's a little late in the off-season to be finding somebody.

However.

Mark Turgeon seems like a real nice guy, and he's a good coach, but he's not a great coach. This year's Aggie team, in particular, was just awful to watch. I'm glad they made the tournament, but watching them play was like getting teeth pulled.

Now, this is partly coming from me just not following Aggie basketball as closely as I used to. I'm sure I would have liked Turgeon's teams better if I'd known them better. Certainly, A&M could do worse than Turgeon. Certainly. But I feel that he continued Billy Gillispie's success instead of truly building on it. So I think, and I very much hope, that A&M can find somebody who can do at least a little more than that. We'll just have to see. Click here to read more . . .

RIP, One Shining Bracket

Well, KU played terribly today and deserved to lose, but since they were my projected national champions, they took my bracket with them. There are two vague silver linings (for me personally, not for, like, the guys who actually play for KU--sorry, dudes): first, a whole lot of people also picked KU, so at least we're all in our unfortunate predictions together; second, there's a sort of freedom in not needing to worry about how my bracket is doing. I can now root for whatever the opposite of chalk (see def. 6) is qualm-free.

I can do this because A&M is an underdog from here on out; Tennessee will be except in the unlikely event that Georgia Tech beats the Ohio State University; I know I should root for Wisconsin over Cornell, but I just love me a scrappy 12 seed. Also, in a development that chapped my hide, Baylor ended up with a congenial route to the Elite Eight. I wanted them to lose to underdog Old Dominion today, and hope very much they'll lose to giant-killer St. Mary's next weekend. I really hate Baylor as far as men's basketball is concerned. I hate their coach, I hate their dirty fouling, and I hate their fans. (That's why I still enjoy this so much. Oh, and this one too. It was a clean screen!)

Oh, here's an upside to KU being upset by Northern Iowa specifically: more of this guy!


Mutton Chooooooopppppppppppps!

I feel like I should have more to mention, but I can't think of anything that would top mutton chops. Click here to read more . . .

Madness!

Even though I barely followed college basketball this year, I'm still very excited about The Tournament and, of course, my bracket.

I love brackets.

I filled one out on ESPN.com, and so far I'm doing worse than President Obama, but better than LeBron James. (The thing I'm proudest of, though, is what I named my entry: "One Shining Bracket." Oh, it makes me chuckle every time I think of it. Tee hee!) In case you're wondering, I have KU as my national champion, beating Kentucky in the title game (I couldn't resist the symmetry of KU vs UK); my other final four members are K-State (because I like the idea of KU playing K-State in the semifinal) and Duke (because I've read multiple people who have sports opinions for a living snarking about how the selection committee handed Duke the South region on a silver platter). For now, here's my Day 1 report:

The worst thing that happened to my bracket
Vandy losing. I had Vanderbilt in my Elite Eight, so it's a real blow that they lost to Murray State. I don't know if I had heard of Murray State before today. March Madness is so educational! (Tied to for second-worst-thing-to-happen-to-my-bracket are the losses by Notre Dame and Georgetown, both of which I had in my Sweet Sixteen.)

My best pick of the day
Well, the only real upset I picked today was UTEP over Butler, which failed to come true, but I did pick both of the 9s over the 8s (Northern Iowa over UNLV and Wake Forest over texas), which are each little upsets and pretty OK if you lump them both together. Right?

Best pick I made based on spite
I only picked texas to lose to Wake Forest because I wanted them to lose to Wake Forest. And hurrah that they did! (However, I could just as easily have picked them because Rick Barnes is not a good coach, because he is not a good coach.)

Pick I wish I had made based on spite
I don't like Notre Dame, so I wish I had followed my antipathy and predicted Old Dominion's win today. I cherish the hope that Old Dominion will continue to carry my spite torch and beat Baylor when they meet on Saturday.

My most cherished hope for tomorrow
is that the A&M/Utah State game (hot Aggie on Aggie action!) will be a very dull non-upset. I am so scared about being the 5 in a 5-12 matchup, I cannot even tell you.

My next-most cherished hopes for tomorrow, in descending order
Siena over Purdue (so that A&M, if they win--knock on wood, can play Siena instead of Purdue)
Cornell over Temple (because I also picked that as a 5-12 upset for good measure)
Vermont over Syracuse (because a 16-1 upset is the Holy Grail of Upsets)

The one basketball conversation I attempted to have at work today
Me: "So, do any of you follow the college basketball tournament?"
Everyone else: [silence]
Me: "Oh."
Me, airing what was on my mind anydangways: "They play this terrible song at the end of it every year, and it's already stuck in my head."
Co-worker: "I don't want to ask, do I?"
Me: "Well, even if I sang it, you wouldn't get the full effect of the cheesy 80s music."
Another co-worker: "Is it a different terrible song every year, or the same one?"
Me: "Oh, they've been using the same one for years. That's why it's terrible and from the 80s."

Morals of the story: 1) Libraries are staffed mostly by ladies, and ladies often do not care about sports (to the extent that they're blissfully unaware of "One Shining Moment") and 2) having "One Shining Moment" repeatedly stuck in my head is my comeuppance for "One Shining Bracket", and I don't know how I'm going to make it through the month, songs-stuck-in-my-head-wise. Click here to read more . . .

Sometimes I Just Like to Watch This

"How can you not know, Tucker? How can you not know?"

(Answer: it was loud.) Click here to read more . . .

Keeping Up With My Correspondence (with Billy Gillispie)

Dear Billy,

Hey, man. I'm sorry you got fired.

I'm not going to pretend I'm heartbroken, or anything, but I do feel fairly bad for you. I want to let you know two things:

First, it's going to be OK. Even after everything (and by "everything" I just mean you leaving A&M for Kentucky, even though we LOVED you. We loved you)--I still believe in you. For whatever reason--I don't know if it was the crazy pressure you were under, or that highly-recruited Kentucky kids don't take to your strict discipline like underdog kids do--you did not tear it up at Kentucky.

But I still know that you are a good coach. A really, really good coach. Maybe you just need the right type of program, but I am confident that at your next job (which you will of course get, although I don't know at what level), you will go back to excelling. I know it.

However, the topic of your next job, whatever it may be, brings me to my second point:

You have got to change.

My hunch is that you didn't really need the boosting that I gave you a couple paragraphs up. You know you're good, or else you wouldn't have wanted so badly to bolt from A&M in the first place. So this is the more important point: starting acting right.

Kentucky probably would have given you more of a chance if anybody there liked you. And it's your fault they don't, buddy. Change 1: you've got to be less of a jerk, at least until you really prove yourself. People will tolerate a jerk if he wins. Until you get comfortable and successful at a job, hide your tendencies.

Change 2: in the "hiding your tendencies" genre, maybe try to scale back the drinking and skirt-chasing? People do pay attention to what you do, so you should really tone it down in that area.

Change 3: play zone every once in a while. Geez. (I remember your stubborn commitment to man-to-man losing us a couple of games against Tech, but apparently you do not.)

Change 4, and this might be the most important: get over whatever your bizarre deal is with not signing contracts. That's so weird, dude. I really think you have some sort of phobia or irrational hatred of the things and let me tell you, it does not do you any good. It makes you seem slimy and, again, even if/though you are slimy, you shouldn't make it so obvious.

Again, I want to emphasize that this is friendly advice. Good luck on the job market. I'm sure I will continue to follow your career with interest.

Sincerely,
Rachel Click here to read more . . .

Where Are They Now?: Bobble Billy

Bobble Billy came into my life serendipitously--Nancy's sister acquired him at a basketball game (before I even started attending them), but she wasn't very hardcore in her Aggie basketball fandom, so she asked Nancy if she wanted him. Nancy did not, but lived with someone who did (me).

Bobble Billy quickly became one of my most treasured possessions, what with my fanaticism and all. He sat on top of Nancy's TV in our apartment in College Station. He came with me to Wisconsin, and I brought him with me to serve as good luck when I watched the Aggies on TV. Sometimes the luck worked, like when I took him to Chanda's house to watch the Ags' first ever win over KU (he wasn't entirely welcome, either, since Chanda and Mr. Chanda are hardcore Jayhawks fans). Sometimes his luck wasn't enough, like when he came with me to my least favorite bar in Madison to watch the Ags lose (as they too often do) to Texas Tech. (Seriously, what's with the Aggies losing so much to Texas Tech, especially when Tech is a significantly worse team? It's like they're kryptonite!)

Me and Bobble Billy in happier times

But then, of course, the unpleasantness happened. Flesh-and-blood Billy walked out on A&M for bluer pastures in Kentucky, and one of my first concerns was what that would mean for his bobbleheaded counterpart.

I couldn't bear to take out my frustrations with Human Billy on Bobblehead Billy (some people did--I didn't save a picture I often saw in those days of a bobble Billy in a urinal), but I couldn't have him around like I used too, either.

I toyed with the idea of finding some Kentucky fan (since Neal is related to several) who might take Bobble Billy in and give him the good and loving home that I could no longer provide. Unfortunately (read: hilariously), Billy has done poorly enough at Kentucky that nobody there likes him, and his firing may be imminent. Poor guy (again, read: hilarious).

OK, I'm being unfair to Much Larger (But Still Rather Small in Grown-Up Man Terms) Billy. Honestly, my most noticeable feeling about his failure (failure in, of course, University of Kentucky terms) is befuddlement. I know I keep telling people this, but: it is impossible to overstate the change he wrought in Texas A&M's basketball program. It was just terrible, and then he came along, and now it's one of fewer than 10 programs in the country that has made the tournament and gotten to the secound round four years in a row. Yeah, it's not Duke, but it's more than respectable, which is amazing if you compare it to how much less than respectable it used to be. (Example: when I was a freshman at A&M, I didn't know much about college basketball, but I knew that we were terrible. One day on Rudder Plaza, some people were handing out men's basketball schedules, and I wouldn't even take one until they added that it was a magnet. Since my roommate and I loved plastering our mini-fridge with magnets, I then accepted it.)

What was I saying? Oh right, it's amazing how much Billy accomplished with so little to work with. He made it to the Sweet Sixteen starting Chris Walker and Marlon Pompey. Now, I love those guys, but Billy made it to the Sweet Sixteen STARTING Chris Walker and MARLON POMPEY. For those of you unfamiliar with those lads, let me just say--neither would ever, ever come close to riding the bench at a place like Kentucky. So how is Billy not succeeding, given his proven abilities and the recruiting and resources of Kentucky? I will never figure this out.

But back to Bobble Billy. He ended up in the back of my closet in my old apartment, but he got shuffled around when I moved in with the 'sband. Our closets are pretty full here, but we do have copious cabinet space (especially way up high, where we can't put anything we use regularly because I can't reach up there without clambering up onto the counter, and that is not becoming for a Grown Up Married Lady [read: I totally still do it sometimes]).

So Bobble Billy is behind the bag of surplus sugar that doesn't fit in the canister.

It's quite a demotion from the old days, but it's where he shall stay indefinitely. Click here to read more . . .

The Brackets

This is post three on what is apparently Basketball Day here at Wisconsin Adventures. As it is also (not coincidentally) Selection Sunday, here are some of my scattered impressions about this year's tournament:

Most importantly, we have the Aggies. And it's weird, dudes. Just like last year, the Ags have a nine seed. Just like last year, it's the nine seed in the West Region. And just like last year, the eight seed against whom the Ags are matched up is BYU. I really like to know if, or how often, that's happened before. (Maybe I should email the Big XII blogger. Hmm.)

(OK, I just emailed Tim Griffin at ESPN.com. I'll check back every now and then to see if he replies.)

I don't think the Ags are going to win the BYU rematch. I just don't think they've been very good this year--I'm pretty surprised they got a nine seed, since it was unsure they'd even get in as recently as a couple weeks ago. That said, I'm still going to pick them to win in my brackets. Heck, it's not like BYU is going to get past UCONN, so it'll just cost me a point to pick with my heart.

OK, other than that, I don't have much to say. I haven't been following college basketball well this season, which was made abundantly clear to me when I had to guess my way through my Facebook brackets. (Seriously, I have no idea what to pick.) I bet Memphis will get pretty far, if only because they're the only high seed I dislike, and I'm usually thwarted in regards to teams I do not like. For instance, I would like for texas to get upset by Minnesota, so I bet they won't. We'll know I'm cursed if they beat Duke in the second round, though. Click here to read more . . .

BIG XII TOURNAMENT! [fist shaking angrily at sky]

I think I've decided that I hate the Big XII tournament.

It's really just shocking how bad the Aggies have been--this year and historically--in the blasted thing. Three games ever, people. In the twelve year history of the conference, the Aggies won one game in '06 and two games last year (bright side: that means the Turge has won twice as many conference tournament games as Billy). '07 was particularly frustrating, as the Ags came in with a #2 seed and, therefore, a bye round, and immediately lost to a desperate Oklahoma State team.

As usual, I didn't get to watch the Ags play on Wednesday night. However, it's easy to be frustrated just from watching the score--how do you squander a 20-point halftime lead? To Texas Tech?

Stupid tournament.

It's fairly disingenuous for me to say I hate it, though, because given the chance, I'd love to go see it in person. It's one of my long-term goals. Click here to read more . . .

Xanga Reclamation Project #3

Here it is--the third installment of old Xanga entries. I've decided that today's theme is basketball--I haven't blogged about basketball at all so far this season, because I think I'm burned out on trying to follow teams I can't watch. (We're going to get cable soon, I swear it! I shall have my ESPN!) But it's March Madness time, so I'm going to reminisce about when Aggie basketball was pretty much my reason for living.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Currently Watching Gargoyles - Season Two, Vol. 1 see related Aggie Basketball! Well, tonight's game was not the greatest, as far as the Aggies playing goes. However, the bottom line (as Dave South [whose autograph I have, by the way] pointed out on the postgame radio show) is that we won. And that JoJo scored 35 points. (Holy crap.) But, besides the actual basketball of the basketball game, this one was pretty sweet. First of all, tonight was my 12th stamp. So I got a t-shirt! (Is there anybody who doesn't love free t-shirts?) Secondly, they were giving away coupons for a free cookie at Kroger. Free cookie! No strings attached! But perhaps most importantly, whilst I was getting my 12th Man Reward t-shirt, a guy asked me and Marlis if we wanted to do the free throw contest! So we did! Marlis shot the red ball, I shot the blue one, and some nice freshman girl was green. Let me just point out that I was in the middle, giving me something of an edge, since I didn't have to shoot at an angle. And I totally won! It was a contest involving hand-eye coordination, and I won! I got a letter entitling me to a free large pizza from Domino's (whoop!) and a poster of Billy Gillespie/Gary Blair. Marlis and Freshman got posters, too. And, as another consolation prize, Marlis got to shove me in front of thousands of people after I won. Thanks and gig 'em, Marlis.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Currently Watching South Park - The Complete Seventh Season By South Park see related I Had a Dream Last Night I was at Reed Arena (but on the left side of the student section, not the right--that was weird) and I was watching the A&M-t.u. game. The clock was down around a minute, and the Aggies were down by one. We got the ball, and either Acie Law or Josh Carter took a 3-point shot, but missed it. Then the sips took it down and scored a 3-pointer, and the shot clock was turned off because there were only 22 seconds, and they got the ball somehow, and all that was left to do was watch us lose. And we did, 62-58. Then I woke up, and was really relieved that it was only a dream, and went back to sleep. And then I woke up for reals and thought, "Whoa, that was really detailed. And since when can I do math in my sleep?" The point is, well, there are two points. 1: I am thinking way too much about this game. 2: If the score is actually 62-58, sips, tomorrow, I will be disappointed but also PSYCHIC!

Click here to read more . . .

My Nightmare

After the disastrous showing the Ags made the week before last, one of many (six)breathtakingly lopsided/just terribly played games of this season, I made this comment to several people: "I'm done investing any emotion in the Ags this season."

Pop quiz!

Was this statement:

A. Hooey

B. Nonsense

C. Faradiddle

D. Gammon

E. Malarkey *

. . . The answer is, of course, faradiddle. (You thought I would say "all of the above," didn't you? If so, then you have an underdeveloped appreciation of how fun it is to say and to write "faradiddle.")

It helped that they beat Baylor, of course. (Losing to Baylor is only slightly bearable this year, since they're actually pretty good. But losing to Baylor twice? I shudder at the thought.) And when they played Kansas, well . . . they didn't just roll over and die, and that's nice. But what really gets me? Is the bubble.

It's that time of year, isn't it? When the internet is filled with people, paid and unpaid, speculating on who's in and who's out--except those aren't interesting; it's who might be in and who could be in and who's probably out that keep the basketball press churning away.

Take this article: A&M is not in the "should get in," they're in the "work left to do." And that's scary. Because with this team, I never know whether they're going to show up to work or not. Added to that: the "work" is the Big XII tournament, in which Texas A&M has won one game ever. Sure, our first opponent is Iowa State, but that game is an unhatched chicken. I'm not going to count it, and you can't make me!

I mean, from those teams that get categorized as "maybe" or "work left to do," presumably some of them aren't going to cut it. What if my Aggies get left out? And what if that happens and . . . Kentucky gets in?

That's where the nightmare is, ladies and gentlemen. I mean, the Ags started 15-1, Pre-Season NIT champs. Kentucky, on the other hand, started 7-9, including the nightmarish (read: hilarious) loss to Gardner-Webb. That kind of thing really gets a girl's hopes up, is all I'm saying.

But now, according to the Hoopundits, A&M and Kentucky are on equal footing. If, before next Sunday, the two diverge even farther . . . it's going to be a sad, sad day.

On the other hand . . . check this out.

Of course, the brackets probably won't look like this when they're the real thing, but I'd just like to point something out. In the south bracket, the guy has Kentucky as an 8 seed playing Baylor as a 9. In the west, there's BYU as an 8 seed versus Texas A&M at the 9. Now, if you were on the committee, and if I were on the committee, and if people who like to make games interesting were on the committee (hint: one of those might be true and sadly, it's not the one where I'm on the committee), wouldn't we flip those around?

If Kentucky and A&M both end up around there in the middle, I know I wouldn't be shocked if they got paired up. And that would be either the greatest thing or the worst thing ever. (I say that sort of thing a lot, but this time, it isn't faradiddle.) Because we'd either lose (the pain!) or, if the sainted spirits of Reveilles I through VI could talk Jesus into it, win. (Awesome.)

So, like I said . . . I'm still emotionally invested.

*I included a link to the definition of "malarkey" because of the example phrase: "snookered by a lot of malarkey". I plan to employ that phrase whenever possible from here on out.

Click here to read more . . .

Great Aggie Basketball Picture

I've been disenchanted with my boys as of late (I promised myself I wasn't going to say anything about this, but . . . 10 points in a half? Ten points in a HALF????? OK, I'm done), but I found this picture today (where, you ask? Um . . . I don't know. That is to say, it does not necessarily have anything to do with the words "facebook" or "stalking" or "Josh Carter"), and I really, really love it.

The only way this could be better was if I knew exactly what Josh, Joe Jo, and DeAndre were so shocked and appalled about.

Click here to read more . . .

Keeping Up With My Correspondence

Dear bus people,

Just because it is (as WeatherBug matter-of-factly informs me) "bitterly cold" outside, that does not mean you should eschew deodorant.

Seriously.

Regards,
Rachel

* * * * * * *

Dear Project Runway,

I wish you could be shown by a major network as a Writers' Strike Special. You're so much better than Dexter.

Love,
Rachel

* * * * * * *

Dear Fightin' Texas Aggie Men's Basketball Team,

Are you trying to kill me?

OK, that's unfair. I guess what I should be asking you after the (admittedly epic) quintuple overtime games is: are you trying to kill yourselves?

Let's focus on the positive, of which there is some. You certainly improved from the last two games. I paid $6 to watch last night on my computer, which besides turning out to be a pretty good deal, dollars-per-minutes-wise, was not a horrible, root-canal-like experience like paying to watch the K-State or Texas Tech games would have been (especially considering that I barely wanted to keep watching the former, even though it was free. And did quit listening to the latter partway through). You managed to stay in there against the best Big XII team you've faced so far. (And how weird is that to say about Baylor?!)

Also, on personal note to Bryan Davis here--you did good. You are now formally admitted to the prestigious rank of one of My Boys. That's right. I'm going to be saying things like, "Bryan Davis! He is MY BOY!" when you complete impressive plays. Congratulations.

However, let's not pretend you don't have major problems. Again, it seemed to me like you lost not because of the innate awesomeness of your opponent, but because you just couldn't get it together. Spotty defense, intermittent offense, and--most annoyingly--horrible free-throw shooting.

I'm going to put this bluntly: it is STUPID to miss 40% of your foul shots. Just stupid. You play Div I college basketball; it should not be a problem to make an uncontested and untimed shot. (Personal note to DeAndre Jordan: if you took a second or two before you randomly threw the ball near the basket, that would at least make it look like you care whether you miss or not.)

There were parts of the game where you, as a team, were hovering around 50% from the line. You know what? I shot 50% in the Dominoes Halftime Free Throw Challenge.

Listen, you know I still love you. Just--try to step it up a bit more, ok?

Love,
Rachel

* * * * * * *

Dear Fightin' Texas Aggie Women's Basketball Team,

I am even more perplexed about what your deal is. Holy cow. Do you think Gary Blair needs to be meaner? That's the only thing I can think of.

Love,
Rachel Click here to read more . . .

I'm Worried.

Well, I watched the Aggies play their second lackluster (to put it politely) game in a row yesterday. And, as the title of this post informed you, I'm worried.

We are now off to a 1-2 conference start. However, this is not an insurmountable problem--this is basketball, after all, and we've overcome worse.

In the 2005-06 season, for example, we started at 1-3, had to battle to 6-6, but then finished 10-6. That was enough to get us into the tournament, which is really my hope for the team this year. After all, under a first-year coach, it seems unfair to demand improvement upon last season (which was, as you will recall, the greatest season in Aggie basketball history).

But this is what worries me: when we were 1-3 in '06, those three losses were by 2 points, 1 point, and 4 points. We didn't win any of those games, but it was plain to see that we could have. But this year? Losing by 15 points to Tech and 21 (twenty-one!) points to K-State? I ought to be worried.

Now, I've only gotten to see one game so far (my friend Lindsay had a great idea: "You and Neal need to get cable. It can be your wedding present to each other!" Hear, hear); then of course, I don't really know that much about the nuts and bolts of basketball (the only way I'd be able to tell a zone defense from a man defense is if ESPN developed a graphic for the top of the screen for it). Nevertheless, I believe I have identified the major problems that the Ags just need to fix to be successful.

One: my Aggies are getting out-hustled. No no no no no. I understand when you have an off-night and get out-shot. I can sympathize if, on defense, you get out-manuevered. I can't come up with any solution if God just did not make you as tall as guys on the other team. But there is no reason to let yourself get out-hustled. Dive for that loose ball! Do it now!

I know this team has more natural talent than it has in the past, so hustle is no longer the only thing going for it. But imagine if the talent was coupled with hustle! Oh, what a wonderful thing that would be.

Two: I hate to say it, but there's no Acie. It sounds mean, because nobody but Acie needs to be exactly like Acie. Still, there are some roles Acie took (besides the whole clutch shot gift he had, which--how could you replicate that?) that need to be filled. Sometimes yesterday, it just didn't look like there was a whole team on the court. There were five guys, sure, but they weren't gelling right or complementing each other. (It was like those episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus from Series 4, where there's no John Cleese, and the whole thing just seems off.) Acie not only knew what he needed to be doing, but he made sure everybody else was doing what they needed to be doing.

More than that, Acie would take the responsibility for winning. When it was necessary, he would ut the team on his back and do what needed done. (This is why Acie was a much bigger asset to the Aggies than Antoine Wright was. [And, as a note from The History Has Vindicated Me Department: I always knew Acie was better than Antoine.])

Somebody on this team has got to get that "This is my team!" mentality. It could be Joe, or D Kirk, or Josh, DeAndre . . . anybody. But somebody has to be willing to be the leader, somebody has to feel personally accountable for how the team performs. (Obviously, it would be easier for everybody to play well at all times, but that's never going to happen.)

In any event . . . just please, please, beat Baylor next Saturday. PLEASE.

Click here to read more . . .

I Was Afraid This Would Happen.

Seriously?

What is it about Texas [note my lack of restraint in not putting an expletive here] Tech? Their team is NOT AS GOOD as A&M's, and yet they keep beating us!

Twice by two points apiece last year (the second one causing me to swear really loudly in a public place, not to mention slam my hand down so hard on the table that I wasn't entirely sure that I hadn't broken something in there), and now this.

However, the worst part isn't that we've lost to them three times in a row. The worst part isn't even that it was Bobby Knight's 900th win (although that would be the worst part had the game been in Reed Arena). No, the worst part was that the Ags played horrrrrrrrrribly. I didn't get to watch the game (I somehow continue to to make it through a life without cable), but I did try to listen to it. In a rare display (I flatter myself) of un-Aggieness, I stopped listening early. I think it was about the time Joe Jones travelled for the fourth time? Or when Josh Carter racked us up yet another offensive foul?

I forgive missing shots (except free throws), because I understand that a player can sometimes have an off-night. Sloppy play, however, I just do not care for. Again, I don't know how it looked (and I don't know if the refs were being unfair to the Aggies, though it did sound like they were calling it both ways--and Dave South didn't complain about it, anyway) but it was like torture to listen to.

The upside to this is that if the Ags step it up, maybe--maybe--they can finally beat Tech when they come to our place. I asked my gentleman caller after I looked up the final score last night, "Why can't The Turge, Joe Jo, D Kirk, D Sloan, D Ro, DeAndre, B Dav, and Josh beat those guys?" (His reply: "I don't know.") But I know they can.

They've just got to try A WHOLE LOT harder.

Click here to read more . . .

Check It Out!

I'm officially much too busy with end-of-semester schoolwork to be blogging, but . . . I'm in the paper!

Specifically, I wrote a letter to the Aggie sportswriter in the San Antonio Express-News. Mine is the penultimate question in the Aggie Mailbag.

As he said, he edits for clarity/brevity, and he changed mine slightly for (I hope) the brevity. When I sent it, it said " . . .Yes, Aggies ought to pack Reed--for their own good as well as the team's".

I was agreeing with the larger point he was making in his previous column: that Aggie fans ought to go watch the team no matter who they're playing. I don't care if the opponent is someone you've never heard of--the other team, your team, is a top fifteen team. They'd be a huge draw anywhere else they play, so why not in Reed?

Go. Fill seats. Be loud (except when our boys are shooting free throws). Intimidate the other guys, encourage our guys. But the easiest thing of all to do at an Aggie basketball game is have fun. You totally will.

Still, though, saying that Billy Gillispie would still be in College Station if he'd played to a packed house every night--I'm sorry, no way. He was getting national exposure, big bucks spent on his contract and on new facilities, and the attendence was steadily going up. Plus, of course, he was well on the way to becoming A&M's one and only basketball god. All he had to do to get deified was stick it out for ten, maybe just five years. The man is Ambitious, and once one of the basketball schools of all basketball schools called, he was going to go. I don't care what Brent Zwerneman says otherwise (and, of course, you'll notice that Brent doesn't really say anything otherwise. He musters no proof, he just restates his [wrong] opinion).

Not that it matters now, because now we have The Turge . . . but Brent Zwerneman is right that The Turge wants, and ought to get, more attendance. Just like his predecessor. Click here to read more . . .

Schadenfreude!

Poor ol' Billy (and his new team) got, in the words of Some Guy from Fox Sports, "completely dominated" by Gardner-Webb University (no, I haven't heard of it, either), and as you can see from the graph (courtesy [if, by courtesy, I mean "totally stolen from"] ESPN), that guy is correct.

He also thinks Billy was the wrong handshake man for the job, anyway.

Boo, and may I add, hoo.

(I guess I'll also add a "tee" and a "hee.")

Click here to read more . . .

The Schedule is Up!

Lookit!

Seven nationally televised games. Not too bad.

Edited to add: OK, so they announced it yesterday, but I was in Green Bay, not checking the internet for stuff, yesterday. Give me a break. Click here to read more . . .

An Off-Season Pick-Me-Up

It picks me up, anyway.

Click here to read more . . .

What a Man.

In celebration of my having figured out how to put videos in my blog, I bring you one that I enjoy very, very much:

(In case anyone's wondering why there hasn't been a Ridiculous Boyfriend Spotlight on Acie Law IV--that's because it's not ridiculous. I mean, we went to college together. We did! Technically. And I, of course, have A Plan. But it's A Secret Plan, because I don't need any random internet hussies stealing it.)

Click here to read more . . .

I Wish I Could Animate GIFs

Then I could make things as funny as these.

Subtle, huh?


Daddy Bush and the SecDef (as those of us who know him well call him) are the highlight of this little vignette.

Bitterness: a great artistic motivator.

Click here to read more . . .