The Fake Lonnie Finch

BYU uses helmet stickers.

All of this talk of South Florida, Central Florida, and Ball State does nothing but prove my point - they hired coaches with collegiate coaching experience to lead the programs! We didn't! Their athletic departments made it a point to raise the money to get the right guy in the head coaching position - we didn't! Our athletic director got into a pissing match with one head coach, fired him, and then hired a high school coach a few weeks later. He should have been out getting money together for a real college football coach - he wasn't! And, so where are we? Celebrating two wins against Western Kentucky, a provisional FBS school, and another against ULM? This is progress? Raise the f'n bar, somebody please.

Rick Villareal leads North Texas coach Todd Dodge over the bar set by himself and the UNT administration. Ah...one win...looks like he cleared it!

Yeah! Another "You're Not A Coach" Post. Obviously, no one should be able to post unless they've been a coach. Never mind that many of us have played and watched the game for 3/4ths of our lives. It's just so intricate isn't it? I mean, tackling, covering, getting a line that can block for a QB, or one on the other side of the ball to create a consistent pass rush. And, the level of competitition we've gone 3-18 against. So much tougher than what Ron Prince faced at Kansas State. Or, what Phil Fulmer faced at Tennessee. The Big 12. The SEC. What pushovers compared to the Sun Belt. I mean, who can expect to win more than three games in two years when you take on coaching a Sun Belt school? Seriously, just look at FIU. Four wins, all against FBS-level schools. A coach in his second year. No games with where opponents scored 70 points during his short tenure. No games this season where the team has given up 50. It's so hard. It's so hard to understand what Todd Dodge is going through. Waah-waah-waah. And FIU's coach is doing better without "his players." Only a coach could understand why other can do it but Todd Dodge can't. Only a coach. But, of course, all of this can't be what I'm seeing because I chose to go to law school instead of coaching. Please.

They may make a run at Patterson, but his base at TCU is about what the package was for Prince. TCU has the willing donors and funds for a bid war with K-State. And, this on the eve of the Frogs' MWC showdown with undefeated, Top 10 ranked Utah. Anyway, congrats to K-State's athletic department for recognizing that it wasn't working. I wish ours was the same. Our problem is that if we were 16-18 over 34 games, the idiots who run our department would want to name every building on campus after the coach. Our bar is set very low. To wit - Auburn OC - fired midway through the season. Tennessee's Fulmer and his one national title, and division title from last season - gone. K-State's Prince and his two wins versus UT - gone. Us...3-18 over two years with one win over a full FBS team, and we're staying, apparently, with what we've got. Wish we'd set the bar higher. <sigh>

I would argue that it doesn't matter what happens in the Big 12 South because the top five teams in the SEC have defenses that would shut down any of them. The Big 12 is the same as it's always been - overrated. Currently, horrible defenses at several schools - OU, Texas, Tech - are masked by high scoring offenses. These teams would be also-rans in the SEC.

No. He wasn't. His problem is the same as it was for Ronald Reagan - the press never gave him credit for anything. His prescription drug plan has allowed many to get needed prescriptions for free or very little. The No Child Left Behind Act has seen reading comprehension rise in 4th graders. To me, the most important thing is that he protected life. My fondest memory of Bush is his stance against embryonic stem cell research. Now that seven years have passed, medical researchers have made break throughs without having to destroy embryos. And, of course, I always appreciate that Bush was forward-thinking enough to fight terrorism where it is - over there. The last thing we need is to wait and fight the battle only if foreign boots hit our soil, as mega-idiot Ron Paul suggested. Note to Ron Paul - hello, McFly? Ever hear of intercontinental ballistic missles? Yeah. Those things would allow rogue nations to strike us without putting their boots on our soil. What an idiot. At his core, Bush is and always will be, a good man. He was the right man to be the leader when terrorist brazenly struck us. In the end, it was my admiration of Bush that led me to sit this election out. After moving to Frisco in May, I chose not to register to vote. I neither respect nor do I believe Barack Obama or John McCain. I view both as liars who were both too interested in being president. It manifested itself in different ways between them. With McCain, it was evident in the fact that he couldn't really pick a direction for his campaign. He couldn't really say why he wanted to be president. In Obama, it was evident in the fact that he wouldn't say in detail what his plans were. And, only when pressed did he release vague, talking-points type of answers. As always, Viva Bush!

Briles appears to be doing fine with 14 commitments so far. Of those five are offensive linemen, three are defensive linemen. Two are "four star" recruits. Two run sub-4.5 40s. Two are from Dallas areas schools. http://baylor.rivals.com/commitlist.asp

No, seriously. Why not?

Why not?

We've beaten WKU two years in a row. Each time, it gives everyone the warm, fuzzy feelings. So, let's revisit for the nine millionth time, the issue of scheduling. Ever since I found and joined the board, I've lobbied for scheduling one FCS level team for game one, at home, to begin each year. Seeing as it gets the fans and players jazzed up, what's the harm? It's better than getting clobbered. And, the injuries we deal with throughout the seasons after the cash for bash games...not worth it. Also, look at Texas Tech. People pooh-pooh them for the out of conference schedule which sometimes includes two FCS teams. But, has it hurt Tech? Did playing UMass and Eastern Washington prevent them from getting up on Texas? It has also allowed them to have seven home games in a season. So, tell me cash-for-bash defenders...based on the fuzzy, warm feelings about beating FCS-halfie WKU in two consecutive years, and the way Tech, Kansas, and Kansas State rebuilt their programs scheduling one or two FCS-level teams per year, why would it be such a bad thing for us? Again, I say end the cash-for-bash, give us more home games against teams we can beat, and really start taking steps to build the program the way other "down" programs have.

That's wrong, too, because RV doesn't have the sense to fire him. Therefore, it would take someone with sense enough to let them both go at the same time. Neither the Board nor Bataille seem to have enough sense to do it, though.

True, there was a long list. Add Northern Illinois' Jerry Kill to the list: "You still have to do the fundamental things that you've learned coming up, you have to block and tackle. You have to be able to run the football to win." http://niuhuskies.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl...ll_jerry00.html And, his defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys as well, who has the Huskies ranked #5 in the country in pass defense, #11 in run defense, and #9 in points allowed (13.6 per game). These two resurrected the Southern Illinois program: http://niuhuskies.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl...ys_tracy00.html At a minimum, bring their secondary/special teams coach Jay Sawvel on to coach the ... secondary and ...special teams. He's good: http://niuhuskies.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl...wvel_jay00.html

It was like watching one of those "pro" boxing matches on Tuesday night with the overweight, out of shape guys who don't really know how to box. Something happened in Bowling Green last wekend, but it wasn't great football from either team. In short, it was like watching Butterbean fight Kimbo Slice.

shaft, The coaches will be judged on the whole season. We're already going to have a losing season. We've already fielded an iffy offense, pourous defense, and spotty special teams all season long. There's nothing more to say. The coaches are responsible for the terrible season, possibly a 1-11 season now that we have no more FCS/FBS halfies left on the schedule. If the Dodge apoligists want to spin this win as a turning point let them. Those of us who want better understand what it is - a nailbiter of a win over a very poor team...a team without a win versus FBS-level competition this year. It doesn't chage the fact that anytime we've been on the field a full-fledged FBS team, we've been blown out. Don't worry, dude, not everyone's head is in the sand. Many people want this win to erase all of the poor gameplanning we've endured for two years. It is what it is - a game won on the last play, that could have gone either way, against another terrible team. Nothing more, nothing less.

Look, don't bash here. Yes, the team we beat was basically still working with its FCS limit of scholarships. Yes, they had a losing record and an idiot for a coach. The game was good for the players. The coaches will still be accountable for what happens based on the entire season. A 1-11 finish will not be easy to swallow no matter how much of a relief this game was. Two of the last three games are on the road against conference opponents. We'll see what happens from here on out. We still gave up a ton of yards and points to a very bad team. Sometimes, though, the guys on the other side of the ball will help you out if you just hang in there. WKU helped us immensely, and for once, we took advantage of it.

TCU needs OU to be ranked very high in order to help them in their quest to be a "BCS buster." I'd bet the house Gary Patterson did it. Hey, why not? No one else is going to help his team along as far as FBS coaches go. Patterson knows he won't get respect/love from them, so he's doing what he can to help his team and program. He's coaching a "mid-major" not in one of the chosen few conferences with automotic ins. He's got to do what he can.

Keith Wilkerson. I went to that game as well. It was the first UNT road game I attended. Wilkerson was dating one of my girlfriend's friends at the time. He was a good player for that era. Nice guy, too.

Well, we're about to find out if we can handle a half-FBS, half-FCS team in about 15 hours. Folks, if WKU is blowing us out in the first half.... I mean, fill in the blank. It's bad enough that FIU and ULM were kicking the crap out of us in the first halves of those games. If provisional school WKU gets up on us large before the break.... I can't imagine it. But, then, I couldn't imagine getting blown out by FIU either.

Look, I'm white. White as a cracker. I have a cousin (female) who has been on government programs. And, she didn't need to be. Her dad, one of my dad's older brothers, was a very successful homebuilder and for 12 years a member of the House of Representatives in a neighboring state. He had plenty of money. He bought every house she and her husband ever lived in. However, she didn't like the lectures she got when she and her husband (an academic type who was always working on this degree or that), got into a economic pinch and had to call home for money. So, she stopped asking my uncle, who would basically tell her and her husband to wake the F up and get real jobs, and started getting government money. Therefore, when I speak about this type of thing, I'm talking about everyone. White, black, hispanic, Indian, thee-headed giant...anyone. It is far too easy to live off of the government in this country and Obama/Pelosi/Reid would make it easier. The last thing I want is for the government to take more money out of my paycheck to give to people like my cousin and her husband. And, believe me, they could care less. They throw the switch for every Democrat that come down the pike. There is only so much the real workers in this country will take. Americans like my cousin and her husband need the work ethic my wife has. Today, my wife doesn't work because she chooses to stay home with the kids. But, before that, she was seven days a week, balls to the wall. My cousin and her husband, despite advanced degrees, still kick around from job to job, "underemployed", and suck off the government teat like millions of other educated, able-bodied Americans. Screw that. I'm not paying more in for those type of people.

We called them 'clusticles' back in the day. Then, it was 'jimmies.' Although, in the painfully ongoing process of potty training our two year old son, I now go with 'goobers.' I don't want my son to think people name their sons after part of the male anatomy. so 'jimmies' is out.

Other than the fact that they were human beings living on planet Earth when North Texas hired them, there is no similarity between Hayden Fry and Todd Dodge. Before Fry ever set foot on campus, he'd been coaching 14 years on what used to be called the Major College level. The 11 years prior to the NTSU job, he'd been the SMU head coach. Before that, he was on Frank Broyles' staff at Arkansas. He had already coached in the Gator Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and Cotton Bowl. He'd taken down Oklahoma in the Bluebonnet Bowl. He'd been a part of two SWC championship and had been named SWC Coach of the Year once. The guy had skins of the wall before he arrived in Denton. Todd Dodge had no skins on the wall. His hire and Hayden Fry's were worlds apart because Fry had already been at the top of the college game, facing not only the best Texas' teams in that schools history throughout the 60s year after year, but also Frank Broyles Arkansas' squads of that era. Add to that facing Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma in bowl games. There is no similarity in Todd Dodge and Hayden Fry. Quit bringing up what he did versus what Todd Dodge might do. Todd Dodge was in no way prepared to coach at the top level of college football; Hayden Fry was prepared to the hilt. Just knock off the nonsense. Winning isn't a matter of hoping, believing or having faith. It's a matter of preparation. Dodge doesn't know how to prepare on or off the field for this level of competition. No amount of wishing, hoping, believing, and other nonsense can change that. Our athletic director needs to get us a coach and coaching staff who can prepare for this level. If not, he needs to get out of the way so someone else can.

Look, man, my wife is from Guanajuato and she doesn't buy into the Obama thing. One of the first things she asked me on our first date was 'Why does your government pay people not to work?' At that point, I knew she'd one day be my wife. There she was, green card in hand, busting her butt cleaning houses and office seven days a week, and in apartments around her, American citizens were laying on their backs all day collecting welfare checks. Sorry, dude. But, the shoe fits all too often. And, I've got no guilt about the plight of any race in America. None. I grew up in the 70s and 80s in classrooms full of blacks, white hispanics, asians, and middle easterner. There were even some random Canandians thrown into the mix. Same thing in college. Everyone has a shot in this country if they try. Hell, even those who half-ass it do pretty well here. This country has spent trillion of the "poor." There's no telling how many trillions in addition to that states have throw away on "the poor." Except in rare cases, you have to absolutely try to be poor. The state and federal government already throw program after program at "the poor." And, it doesn't change. As of the last census, asians surpasses caucasians in average annual income earned. Why? They work their butts off at school, home, and work. Most of them didn't speak a lick of English before they arrived thirty years ago, not they've surpassed the American black, hispanic, and white! Obama/Pelosi/Reid can throw as many trillions as they want into the same hole in the name of "fairness." The result will be the same - the lazy, drug-addled, violent, and alcohol-prone will still be poor. And, the people who work will still be not only doing well, but employing other people who are willing to show up and work. I love America. I love my Mexican wife. I think the whining "poor" in America with their hands out can stick it. The real poor, those who really have some disability or hard luck usually are too proud to go around with their hands out. Those are the only poor I am interested in helping.

Well, WKU is a provisional FBS school, so they don't have the type of talent and fire power yet that, say, a Florida International has.

Look, players and former players are sometimes too close to the situation to look at it objectively. When John Blake was fired at OU, several players threatened to leave - Josh Norman, Rocky Calmus, Roy Williams, etc. Two years later, with a new head football coach and staff that knew what they were doing, they were in Miami hoisting the Sears crystal football as national champions. I'm not saying that we'll be in the national title game if Dodge is fired. I am saying that while player and former player input here is good, they sometimes don't see the forest because they're too close to the trees. I'm not in the forest. I can see it, and it's burning. I want someone to put the fire out before the whole thing goes up in smoke.