The Fake Lonnie Finch

One of the main things to remember is that its cheap to live like the Chi-panese - lots of rice and ramen noodles and Crisco. When you live like this, it cuts down considerably on your costs. As a meat portion, I also suggest Vienna Sausages and/or Potted Meat Product. Both can be eaten with or without crackers (the food, not the people). Additionally, you can make a sandwich out of the Potted Meat Product.

There seem to be a lot of questions about the basketball program, as well as its players and coaches, these days.

Is there a specific reason Fraschilla has been out of the coaching game for a decade?

Dodge's Hail Mary signing class of 2010 with 10 JUCOs is currently killing our depth. The guys from that class that were not JUCOs: 2010 Signing class preps DT Richard Abbe DE Aaron Bellazin RB Brandin Byrd WR Breland Chancellor DS Blake Dunham OL Graylin Hawkins OL Antonio Johnson K Zachery Olen LB Zach Orr QB Derrick Teegarden DB Will Wright OL Mason Y'Barbo Hawkins is gone, but pretty much every other non-JUCO signed that year will contribute heavily. Key problem with that class today is, with Will Wright moved to LB, it gave us no DBs. 2010 Signing Class JUCOs WR Christopher Bynes - Still here! DB Ryan Downing DB Seven Ford LB Brad Graham DB Jamison Hughes - never showed LB Forlando Johnson DB D'Leon McCord DE Michael Miller - ? TE Jamize Olawale DB D'Andre Wood - never showed Two DBs from the 2010 never got to campus for various reasons. Six DBs signed in 2010: 5 JUCO, 1 prep; the prep is now a linebacker, two never made it to campus, the others have used their eligibility. 2009 isn't much better. At DB, we've got Hilbert Jackson to show for it. We signed Chevy Bennett, who JUCO'd and then signed with Houston. JUCO Ira Smith signed and played out his eligibility. To his credit, McCarney hasn't panicked at DB, despite the number not being on his side. He's only signed one JUCO DB in two classes. The young guys will take their lumps this year...but, they'll be around three or four more years and should be a real strength in 2014.

I agree to the point that the NCAA needs to look at the rule. As a kid, if the coach who recruited you - and your parents, and your high school coach, etc. - decides to jump to another job or is fired, you are stuck in a different situation than you were led to believe would be in place. And, it's not just the head coach. If you've been recruited by a certain assistant and he leaves, or you have a position coach and he leaves, you're in a different situation than before. Then, you add on top of that the fact that the scholarships are year-to-year and not four-year, and you've got that on your mind as well. Basically, the kids have a four or five year window, whereas the coaches have a career. If coaches can move about as freely as they do, and schools can fire them, etc., these student athletes should be able to do so as well. And, personally, I don't think the kids should have to sit for a year. A coach doesn't have to sit out a year if he decides to take a job with another school. Think about this. The reason you hire a new coach is that you want to make your program more competitive. Okay, fine. But, you've got these coaches and athletic departments saying to the kids, "We'll let you go, but not to these schools because we don't want them to be more competitive." That's hypocritical. They don't do the same thing to coaches. If they are going to have year-to-year scholarships, they should let kids move about as freely as the coaches move. There is no repercussion in participation to a coach for him leaving, the kids should have the same freedom.

Because the scholarships are year-to-year and coaches can decide to not renew them, I think it's fine for a kid to leave. It's a two ways street. Why would a kid have to be more loyal than his coach, an adult? Also, the kid only has four or five years of his life to play. A coach can make a career of it at one or many schools as a head coach or assistant. So, really, a kid should do what a kid has to do. As a TU alum, I wasn't thrilled with any of the last three hires - the AD, the football coach, or the men's basketball coach. Time will show whether they can keep recruiting the type of talent the former coaches brought in.

Cal struggling to raise funds for their mega-stadium project; set goal of $270+ million, has gotten only $31 million in three years. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304432704577350214257041598.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

I think we have some sore fans who don't like the johnny-come-latelys quickly getting to our level or surpassing us. But, let's give due where we are to give due - their leadership has been better than ours. That's not their fault. Why wait and "pay your dues" if you have the drive and know-how to get it done quickly. Respect them for what they do...especially if you are a Christian human: "Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor." - Paul, Romans 13:7

This is huge. Clarkson was one of the Top 5 prospects in Texas when he signed with Tulsa. He's a great player. Would love to have him here! Clarkson and Mitchell together would be dynamite! But, we don't have a coach.... Tulsa will tank under Danny Manning. That may not be a fair thing to say about a guy who's been on the job for a couple of weeks, but...you lose your top player right off the bat, it's a problem.

The quitters are beginning to add up. And, some of them are McCarney's own recruits, so it can't all be laid at the feet of Dodge's classes...anymore. Although...the attrition of the 2008 and 2009 classes aren't doing wonders for our depth this year either. http://northtexas.scout.com/a.z?s=353&p=9&c=8&yr=2008 http://northtexas.scout.com/a.z?s=353&p=9&c=8&yr=2009 We're definitely feeling the JUCO glut-signing bite of 2009. (Kelvin Jackson DT, John Weber DE, Jeremy Bean OL, Shavod Atkinson DT, Tony Charles MLB, Ira Smith CB, Mike Outlaw WR, Jamaal Jackson WR). The hindsight on why we had to go JUCO in 2009 is just ugly...and what did we get out of it? Two or three wins for Dodge with those guys until he was fired midway through 2010. What a freaking train wreck this thing is at times. Can you imagine what it would be like if Apogee hadn't been built? All of this, plus still playing in a crappy stadium? Sometimes, it seems like the stadium is all we've got going for us. My hope - again, and again, and again - is that the younger players look at the defections as their chance to step up and become stars. A man can dream. A man can dream about a day when players in a program look around and decide to be the team that pulls the program out of the ditch.

Perhaps he'll resurface at Navarro with Terell Brooks.

Problems: -TU donors give alot of money to basketball; UNT's do not. -TU traditionally plays to full or near-full crowds; UNT does not. The support for basketball, and the importance placed on it, have been night and day different than UNT. Also, John Phillips? Come on. That was a give up promotion because Tulsa was tired of people leaving. They thought hiring local boy Phillips (he and my mom went to high school together at Tulsa McClain back in the early 60s) would be the answer for coaches using Tulsa as a stepping stone. The Phillips experiment was terrible. The program eroded quickly under him. His replacement, Doug Wojcik, won games - 140-92 in seven seasons isn't bad - but, he never got them into the tournament. In my opinion, TU struck out in the hiring of their latest AD and men's basketball coach. I'm also still skeptical of the long-term success of Bill Blankenship. TU's rolled the dice a bunch lately.

Given the UT quarterback situation, he's gotta be kicking himself for not signing with the 'Horns.

I've been curled up in the fetal position for over three hours since I read this news. The kid never played a down for us, so we don't really know whether he'll be missed for his play; but, at minimum, we lose depth. The freshmen defensive backs will have to prove their mettle quickly. With the luck we have, we should change our uniforms to Charlie Brown shirts.

We have a winner! Actually, to go further, it restricts the federal government. People are really, really confused about the First Amendment in this country. Tongue-in-cheek, I say Guillen's word could have incited a riot in Miami...however, I'll bet he wasn't walking down Calle Ocho in his uniform after he praised Castro.

Here's the positive thing: If/When Zimmerman is convicted, the case will be appealed to the Supreme Court, if his attorney introduce the evidence about the Castle Law properly. That way, the Supreme Court will rule on Castle Laws. Supreme Court has already peeled back intrusive gun laws. My guess is, if the court's composition is the same, they will uphold Castle Laws. I personally don't think Zimmerman can get a fair trial anywhere in the United States, so I expect him to be convicted and for the appeals to make it to the Supreme Court in two to three years.

Speech that incites riot or is threatening is not protect under First Amendment. Praising Castro in Miami is on the borderline of the inciting riot angle.

Yeah, well, let's tap the brakes on "she likes older men." We know she likes older men with $3.5 million a year contract who can get her $55,000 a year jobs and stake her with $20,000 on the side. We have yet to see whether she'll consider older men without the same type of set up and pull. Look, she's an entrepreneur, I suppose, in that regard. She has certain assets and skills, and those have a market value. She recognizes that.

Just so we're clear, Conference USA 2013 will be: UAB Southern Miss Tulane East Carolina Marshall Rice UTEP Tulsa POSSIBLE ADDITIONS UNT FIU MTSU La Tech (Charlotte) We can live with that. Anyone uncomfortable with that set-up?

Everything is stealth here, yo. Rick keeps it on the dl.

Well played!

As you know from other posts throughout the years, my dad had some colorful bosses as he climbed the insurance sales ladder. Here is what another of those old bosses told him...and, again in the 70s: "Every women is for sale; you just have to know her price." So, with that in mind, we now know that the price of Bobby Petrino's mistress was $20,000 cash, plus a $55,000+ job in the department. Oh, lordy...that Petrino must be a Democrat, spending other people's money like he was to have his way with that young gal. So easy to spend other people's money.

So, now that Darth Aston has stolen our assistants as well, have we hired this lady yet? Also, which conference are we in?

I don't mind Tulsa and SMU because they should be our gauge as to where we want to get to...then, pass! OU so desperate for a game they go to El Paso. Florida State so hard up they schedule two FCS games. Crazy. We have no pull...no pull whatsoever. Iowa is a beat down. They are night and day different than Indiana...and twice? Crazy.

Here's the problem, our future schedules have us playing two or three road games a year: In 2013, we've got two home games OOC - Ball State and Ohio and an away at Georgia. That's as good as it gets for a while. After that it's: 2014: 8/30 - @ Texas 9/13 - @ Tulsa 10/4 - @ Indiana TDB - SMU 2015: 9/5 - TULSA TBD - @ SMU TBD - @ Iowa 2016: 9/10 - @ Florida TDB - SMU 2017: TDB - @ SMU TDB - @ Iowa I'd be trying to get out of Texas, Georgia, Florida, and one - if not both - Iowa games, and trying to schedule home games in their place...even if it meant going FCS. Am I crazy? Yes and no. But, the 2014 schedule is driving me bonkers. Beyond just winning and getting competitive, we've got this new stadium! Are we to believe that we're only to have one game per September in this new stadium? Does that sound right?