The Fake Lonnie Finch

You can't have someone hang 28 on you in a quarter. I don't care what quarter or what game or at what tenure in a coach's career. I didn't watch the first half because today was the day our company moved, and it took the movers until damn near eight to clear out. But, I've review the play-by-play, and here's what I see: -Giving the home team a short field right off the bat at their 29. Bad special teams. -Going for 4th and 1 on the road early in the game. Still alot of game left. Punt and pin them back. Play the percentage - especially on the road with a young team -Wrap up your tackles. Bad defense -Protect the ball. Especially on the road - and, when behind by 21. That's just the first quarter. I realize people might be jacked up and wanting to prove themselves on the 4th and 1 on the FIU 40 on our first possession. But, what separates the Tom Osborns and Barry Switzers of the world from the also-ran coaches is they realized a football game is 60 minutes long. There's a time to call a knock out play or a smash mouth play. But, that time is not with 57 minutes left in the game. Play the percentages. And, a smash mouth play is not run from the shotgun! I thought we had this figured out after the Dodge fiasco! Put a damn fullback in the game and pound out your one yard if you are going to try to pound it short! The dropped passes from years and years and years gone by continues. Can no one recruit even one wide receiver who can make catches in the clutch? Oh, hell...forget about the clutch; there's no need for clutch when you're down 28...just one player who can catch the ball consistently would be nice for a change! About midway through the 3rd, we take over at the our 13. We drive to their 47 in seven plays: four runs, three passes. Then, bomb. Then, bomb. Then, another pass. We lost rhythm. Yes, I know passes were dropped. But, keep something positive going. I feel pretty disappointed overall. I guess I could say that I'm proud they kept fighting. But, f*ck that. If I want fighting, I'll watch a boxing match. I'm not interested in fighting; I'm interested in winning. Winning means smart coaching and smart playing. Both were lacking tonight. The only positive is that we didn't start this season on the road at OU or Texas. They'd have pounded us to the tune of 60 or 70 points. Which brings me to my final point: NO REDSHIRT FOR DTs! Keep throwing any available DT out there until you find out which ones are going to make plays. That means giving Brooks and Thompson a baptism by fire beginning next week and continuing throughout the season. Frogfart. (AND, USE YOUR F*CKING TIGHT ENDS, DILLBRAINS!)

I hope that mine are in my mailbox when I arrive home because I love my wife.

The first expansion should be over the opposing teams' locker room. In those stadiums where the locker rooms are directly beneath stands, it can get quite loud before the teams run out onto the field. I've got a friend who played linebacker at UNLV. In the mid-90s, they played at Tennessee. He said their locker room was literally shaking from the noise when the pregame hoopla started (band, Vols running out onto the field, etc.). And, when they opened the door for the Rebels to run out on the field, the wall of sound hit him so much so that he froze. His position coach, who was behind him, kicked him in the butt and yelled, "Get your ass out there!" Tennessee whipped them. But, he said the noise before and during the game were intimidating, unlike anywhere else he played. We're not going to have 100,00+ like Tennessee (yet). But, if we are going to add on, let do it in a way to maximize the noise against our opponents.

But, under Hayden Fry wasn't the problem more of the school not really giving much attention and resources to the football program? Again, I'm not advocating either way. I'm just saying with the new stadium and facilities surrounding it, it's obvious more attention and money are being put into the program now. The Miami example is a great one. Although, they were headed for extinction before Schnellenberger arrived. Florida State is another. The Seminoles were independent from 1951 to 1991, joining the ACC in 1992. Again, they'd had some success here and there before Bowden, but he was really the one that made them take off. We'll soon see whether Dan McCarney is that type of transformational coach that Schnellenberger was to Miami )and Louisville and FAU) and Bowden to FSU. I think it's true, though, that the climb would be steeper these days to transform an unknown independent into a power the way Miami and FSU did in the 80s.

The Hook and Ladder play he, Johnny Quinn, and I executed at the GMG.com Bowl in June is Hall of Fame worthy in an of itself. This isn't debatable.

I second that! Done! Harry...you're up, yo!

BYU is now independent. Navy and Army are. Of course, Notre Dame. Texas is at least sometimes mentioned as one who could go it alone. I know it's been discussed here before, but I've forgotten the pros and cons. Off the top of my head the cons would be not being tied to a guaranteed bowl, and scrambling for money with no television contract. I guess I can't really think of any pros, other than being able to set a schedule with high profile schools. You could pretty much have Army, Navy, BYU, and possibly Notre Dame every year or two because they are also looking to fill (remember, Notre Dame squeezed Tulsa in last year). If there really are super conferences and schools are looking for games against programs that aren't traditionally as strong, I think we could make a decent schedule of it. But, who knows. The A&M thing and the potential bust up of the Big 12 and other conference realignment means, though, that we should at least put every option on the table to be debated. Cornflake. Cornflake. Frosted flake.

I don't understand it. How did the New York Times scoop Chip Brown? Doesn't the New York Times know to check in with DeLoss Dodds?

FIU doesn't scare me because we finally have a special teams coach - a real special teams coach whose job is dedicated to special teams. Also... ...tight end ...fullback ...snaps from under center ...handing the ball off to your top threat Anyone else here recall that we had Jamario Thomas wasting away in 2007 while the Giovanni Vizza Experiment was in full swing...as in, how many passes can Vizza throw to Fitzgerald in one season, win-loss record be damned? Yeah. I have a feeling these coaches understand how to use the talent they inherited on the roster. They won't force these guys into a system just for the sake of running a system.

Mizzou and OU talk heating up again over meetings among Mizzou, OU, and A&M officials last weekend. Who knows, though, maybe they were just having lunch and discussing other things. Kids, the wives...maybe showing off summer vacation photos. OU AD Castiglione did get his first real AD gig at Mizzou. And, his 11-years-younger-than-him wife is a Mizzou grad that he cradle robbed while he was AD there. How newsworthy would that screw job be - OU and Mizzou announce they are seeking SEC entrance and effectively tanking the Big 12 together? It'd be big. OU looking out for Mizzou? Maybe. The ties that bind are currently in power between those two. DeLoss Dodds...I mean, Dan Beebe...would then have to get three to five new schools to push around. All announced in tweets by Chip Brown, of course...with Houston Chronic's Jerome Solomon blaming everyone but Texas for the ruinous situation.

...guy wanted some new threads. Went to Macy's last weekend where his girlfriend worked. He bought $1,596.09 worth of clothes for $12.91, with girlfriend as cashier using her debit card. Then, the genius went back this week, and the she sold him $1,238.75 worth of clothes for $0.34, which he paid himself. Felony embezzlement. It's a problem. For Tulsa. http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/TU/article.aspx?subjectid=94&articleid=20110826_94_0_Thegir976429 Did I say we'd have a better than average chance of beating them on October 1? KA-POW! Well, look at the bright side, Damaris...you did already set the NCAA record for all-purpose yards last year with the rout of Hawaii in the bowl game. There really was no need for you to come this year and just pile on.

Yes. Because my dad, and all of his brothers, grew up in poverty and got out of it by working their asses off. People who choose to stay there stay there. My dad and all of his brothers used the military as their way out. My dad and a couple of others used the G.I. bill after that to go even further. All ended up owning their own businesses...and passing them along to their kids. My cousins and my brother and sister, we're the first generation on my dad's side of the family not to grow up on a sharecropping farm or on the poor, west side of Tulsa. Had our dads not looked around and decided, "To hell with this place" we'd have grown up there as well. But, they didn't. You choose to be where you are. Those kids' parents choose to be where they are. In America, you can do anything you want. Or, you can do nothing but sit back and continually take the consequences. It's called get up off your ass, quit feeling sorry for yourself, lay down the crack pipe, and take advantage of what the government is trying to give you to help! There are a ton of programs in this country to help the poor up and out of their situations. But, you still have to take the initiative to go and do it. No one is going to do it for you. So, yes, I feel bad for the kids whose parents will not get out of those situations. They have a choice. When they don't take the choice for better, their kids are stuck in hell holes. Someday some one has to make a sacrifice to get out. Hell, immigrants who speak no English come over here from all over the world and take advantage of programs meant for minorities. Pakistanis, Koreans, Indians...they own things. We joke about them. But, they are simply taking advantage of programs that are available.

Agreed. Especially having been to the stadiums at Iowa State, SMU, and our new one. We really, really need to win before A&M joins the SEC in 2013. We have to show a different culture. We have so much more upside than those schools and their facilities now. And, I 164% agree on the MWC. Their profile will be much higher than the C-USA. I'd love a schedule with Fresno State. We've been in a conference with Boise State before. Las Vegas and Reno are good places to visit. Hawaii? Is that better than Monroe? I know it's better than Tulsa. We must aim higher. Thank Rick for giving us a coaching staff with connections to the closest bigger conference - the Big 12. But, if not that miracle (both the Big 12 surviving and us joining it), go with the next better options. MWC is by far in a better position to become the next BCS AQ than all other non-AQs.

CBS is licking their chops to expand the SEC into Texas even moreso than it already is. Tortious interference claim threats will go nowhere. A&M and the SEC are doing their due diligence, hence the letter to Beebe - who demanded that they notify him of their plans. It's just posturing on his part because it's all he can do. UT will try to scare up a fight because they have to. Their prayer is that OU doesn't get the itch as well. OU has national appeal beyond A&M or Texas, more national titles, more award winners. You can add all of A&M and UT's titles and awards together and they still don't add up to what OU has done historically. If OU also says, "To hell with you all" then it's all over. They can put a band aid on the conference if A&M leaves and pretend Houston and SMU are good football replacements. But, OU's loss would be the mortal wound.

Every report has the same list of school to replace A&M - Houston, SMU, Air Force, Notre Dame, and BYU. Houston and SMU would jump at the chance. Air Force might. Notre Dame won't. BYU might. But, outside of Notre Dame, none of them have punch of A&M. All of this goes back to the big schools eating themselves. The Big Ten, SEC, and Pac-12 are content to share and get along. Texas isn't; so, there will always be dysfunction in the Big 12. Sad for their supporters, too, because the Big 12 was the premiere football conference at the beginning of the century. Greed tears things apart - even football conferences. Congrats to A&M for seeing the light and getting out while the getting is good. And, like the OU and Nebraska fans who had to get over losing their annual Thanksgiving rivalry, A&M and Longhorn fans will live. An A&M in the SEC will have a built in game with just as much national appeal. Texas will beg someone into the spot as a replacement. Since nothing is sacred to Texas except money, maybe they'll move the OU game to JerryWorld Thanksgiving weekend.

A&M doesn't need Texas, it's the other way around. Also, the whole state doesn't buzz with the UT-A&M game. I can think of very few, outside of their graduates - who don't constitute "the whole state" - who even care. A&M is doing what's in its best interest - moving to the strongest football conference in the country, and leaving a crumbling conference behind. Only OU and Texas are stupid enough to believe the Big 12 is salvagable, The list of replacements for Texas A&M is a joke. Houston? SMU? Air Force? Pathetic.

I only know that on the day of the Kickoff Cookout, it made the merchandise purchasing line longer to have part of the check out counter taken up with people not checking people out. I brushed it off at the time as them just doing it because they knew people would be in the store at the stadium opening. With about 3 or so thousand people, it made a delay in the merchandise check out line. If they are going to do it on game day with 7 to 10 times that many, it will be a bad idea. If it's just during the week, I don't think it'll be a problem, though. I think maybe having at the stadium may be encouraging the sale. On game day, though, I'd have the Mean Green Club people out of the store on tables in the walkways.

I had a nephew who played for Granbury last year. They came over here to play RL Turner. There may have been 100-150 people on the RL Turner's side of the stadium - their home stadium! Over on the visitors' side, Granbury had it filled up from end to end. I felt bad to the Turner kids. When I was in high school at Berkner, they were in our district. They're in shambles now. Their band didn't even have uniforms. It was awful to see those kids marching in the blue jeans and stuff. Granbury, even little Granbury's band had sharp marching outfits. When it comes to politics, I think it's too easy to just say, we should cut this or cut that out of schools. But, when you are sitting face to face with the reality of it, you really feel bad for the kids caught in the middle - or, at least if you have any bit of heart you do. Hard to know what the answer is. The kids are in those districts because their parents have likely made some really bad choices in their lives. So, on the one hand, it's not really the kids' doing that they are in a poor school. On the other hand, you've got the fact that the middle class can only be squeezed so much for property tax dollars before you tank them financially. In my naive mind, you try to put more private dollars in play by giving them tax breaks for doing things like, maybe, picking up the tab to furnish uniforms to a high school band. It's a tough situation. I'm glad kids like Freddie are going to get to showcase their talents in our new stadium. Looks like we'll enjoy watching him take us to higher heights. He really has the ability a gamebreaker. Proud he's on our side! And, guys...if this is what this coaching staff can do with just two months of recruiting? Wow! We've got a bright future ahead of us.

Even so, why would Georgia stoop to Boise State's level uniform-wise?

Exactly. Georgia isn't a program that should have to submit itself to this type of garbage. Let johnny-come-latelys like TCU and Boise State play Ken doll for Nike. I have yet to see a traditional power have an improvement by Nike. Nike just makes them all look stupid. And, maybe that's their goal. After all, Oregon hasn't been winning all that long. It's Oregon/Nike's revenge on the rest of the football world because they sucked for so long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BI0szjpxJs

http://www.cafepress.com/TheWhyNotShop Quick-n-dirty, no markup; you pay shopkeepers price of cost + shipping. Merry Mean Green Christmas.

Look, I don't want to make fun of SMU because they've had a couple of good seasons. But, that pony on the ceiling is just cheesy. Looks like something you could pick up at a garage sale for $5 or $10.

Can't wait for 9/10/11!

If things go well for us in this game, it goes a long way toward proving the "coaching matters" belief. The coaching staffs and athletes McCarney and Bowen prepared to opposed, just with OU, is striking. But, consider how long McCarney's been in the game at places like Iowa, Wisconsin, and Florida, as well as his stint in the Big 12. In reality, McCarney should be able to know what to expect from Wilson, Sumlin, and any other coach standing across the sideline from him. Ditto Bowen with Houston and Indiana because Kansas played many games against OU when he was the defensive coordinator and also position coach. ...and Kent Riddle. We have guys who have coached at the same level with Wilson and Sumlin, so we should expect to compete with them. Again, no excuses. We have the coaching staff many of us have hollered that we needed. It's now just sitting back, taking in the results, and comparing them to the results of Dickey and Dodge.