This is for all of you that followed WAC football in the early 2000's...
Remember SMU QB Kelan Luker? One in the Art Briles Stephenville lineage of All-Star QB's??? (See Kevin Kolb, Jevan Snead, etc.)... You remember, of course, that he left SMU to play bass in a Creed wanna-be band called Submersed.
Of course, UTEP throttled defending CUSA Champion UCF on Saturday. I predicted that the Miners would win this game, but not 58 to 13. Nobody predicted that. Here's why it happened:
1. UCF had to start a true freshman QB in Rob Calabrese. Starting QB Michael Greco, who had been responsible for 125 yards a game (not great, but still) was out with a knee injury. He played horribly against Boston College the week before in his 1st career game, and is easy to defend.
2. Trevor Vittatoe played for the 1st time on a bum ankle.
How did that benefit UTEP? He's a VERY cerebral QB, and at times, looks like he overthinks his decisions on the field. He spent a majority of Saturday thinking of how to protect his ankle-achilles injury. How did that benefit UTEP? Vittatoe's instincts took over.
Instinctually, he might underrate himself. He won 4 of his first 6 starts as a Miner. That's early in a career, meaning it's all instinct at that point. Vittatoe has them, and on a seperate note, Calabrese doesn't. As Vittatoe's grown as a QB, as many do, he might be 2nd guessing himself in an effort to improve his game. That can sometimes backfire. It didn't have a chance to against UCF. 263 yards passing, 3 touchdowns with only 1 interception. Analyze that.
3. Defensive growth. This is the 1st game, possibly in the Mike Price Era, didn't give up a "Big Play". The "Big Play" is a thief. It steals momentum, and all of the big plays were made by UTEP. Even the Miner defense outscored UCF, 14-13. Cornelius Brown blocked a punt, and had 2 interceptions, giving him 3 for the season. That's tops in conference. He'll have a bigger test on the road next week at Southern Miss with QB Austin Davis. Though S. Miss lost to Marshall Saturday, he did throw for 308 yards.
BLOG STEW
- UTEP Kicker Jose Martinez kicks the 2nd longest FG off the ground in College Football history at 64 yards. Hard to see in that video, but he talks about it here, aud/vid taken by the GREAT Duke Keith of KLAQ fame.
- Hey fellas! Having trouble with the ladies??? Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach is here to offer assistance, so that your date doesn't end like this.
Mos of you know now that Rick Reilly is on ESPN, and ESPN.com. Once his contract ran out with SI, ESPN made him a flattering offer that he humbly accepted, and that brings us to date...
Currently, his article on espn.com talks about the high school pitcher/catcher combo that blatently let a fastball go by the catcher, and hit the ump in the mask. Seems they didn't like the way that he was calling the game. The kids coach thinks that they just got their signals crossed, and that the catcher was expecting a curveball instead of the fastball that the ump got.
Judge for yourself...
Pretty obvious that the catcher took a nosedive so that the ump would get hit. Reilly stated that the high school catcher involved was going to walk-on to a small college in the area... After learning of this episode, the college coach told him not to bother coming out.
Here's the kicker though...
Now the Ump involved has lawyered up. He went and got checked out at the hospital, and took an MRI. What's going to happen next? The catcher's Dad is going to have to settle with the Ump and his lawyer. The video, as you can plainly see, is too damning. The irony? The father could have to dip into the kids college fund to pay the settlement.
Maybe he can get the shortstop of the tema to cut a check for him, as he was the 15th overall pick in this year's baseball draft.
By the way, if you read the story, you see that it was the Georgia AAA State Championship game... Talk about one to remember...
I'm glad Reilly is finally at the network. It's a natural marriage, and we'll be seeing more than just a 1 page article in the back of SI.
If you have yet to go see a Socorro Baseball game in action this season, do yourself the favor of catching a couple of innings...
What will you see? Offense. What else? Defense. This team is the best one that they've had that I've personally seen in the past 3 years. The difference in this team? They KNOW they're going to win. Coach Forbes has raised this program to a level unseen in El Paso, maybe ever. Of course, last week, the Bulldogs made history being ranked the top baseball team in the state of Texas in 5A. That's some heavy stuff. They host Montwood this Friday. Get to Forbes Field, and enjoy some baseball on what's supposed to be an El Paso Chamber of Commerce Postcard Day....
What a mess they have at Oklahoma St. Firing Scott Sutton after just 2 years???? HUNH??? Wasn't he supposed to be the heir apparent? HUGE mistake by Mike Holder and the folks in Stillwater. Holder was a heck of a golf coach, and is a good fundraiser. He's a VERY below average basketball coaching evaluater. Here's hoping a majority of the OSU basketball team ask for their release. Who the heck is going to want to coach for a guy that only gives you 2 years?!?!?!?! AND DON'T TELL ME BILL SELF, I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH $$$ T-BOONE PICKENS HAS!
Not a big fan of spring football. Of course, all schools have to do it. It's just yet another season for the football players. The big payoff? The Spring Game. If you're a big BCS School, they may even televise the game on THE NETWORK. What purpose does it serve?
There's nothing better than going out to these practices with a camera on your shoulder, to watch players go 1/2 speed. *yawn*. Not hating on these coaches, hating on the game...
Anyone tired of Jose Canseco yet? Hope you were able to catch him on Letterman Monday night.
I've never seen Dave grill someone like that. (Unfortunately you don't see it in the clip above). It was the kind of uncomfortable that you feel when you spill Hawaiian Punch on your rented tux...
Nothing but 2 segments of insinuaton. He's no Amazon.com....
"Vindicated?" Each one of you that buys his book is supplying him with about... what... 1/6th of a cycle of steroids??? Good times...
NMSU kicks off Spring ball Wednesday. Going to be curious to see how they look jogging, too....
And finally, Kennth Pope is a HUGE pickup for Clemson's next footall class... Any chance he's some sort of entrepreneur?????
Now that the Miner Women have ended their unlikely season, it's time for a new campaign. The "bruise" has healed, and just a nasty memory now. There's no doubt that UTEP Women's Coach Keitha Adams will be a topic of discussion for openings at other schools, such as UCLA, and Arizona.
The UTEP Athletic Department needs to find a way to, "Keep Keitha." It starts with a mindset. She needs to know that she hasn't accomplished everything possible at UTEP. This program is her baby. They need to convince her not to abandon her "teen-ager". Financially, it's time top bump her up. Again. She's done the job. Pay her for it. Find a way to be competitive. I know she can't make what Gail Goestenkors makes at Texas ($900,000K-ish), but who can??? We've seen the type of player that Keitha has brought to this program over the past 2 years. That needs to continue. Keep Keitha.
Now onto the slap and tickle...
When I was sick (see below), I had 2 weeks to just sit in my apartment, and do nothing but vacuum, and watch TV. Unfortunately, when I moved to El Paso, I opted for only the basic cable that came with the apartment. I knew I'd be waaaaay too busy to spend too many a day in front of the boob tube, so I upped my Netflix account to a 3-movie rotation instead of juicing up my cable package.
Fast forward to my 2 weeks at home. I became an expert on what is played on basic cable from about 10am to midnight, and you won't believe what my top surprise was...
1. "Gone Country"- what an unexpected gem this was. This show brings in people from 7 different walks of life (or entertainment), and these "has beens" are all living together in a mansion-like log cabin, vying for a country music contract. The participants are the kicker. They consist of Bobby Brown, Sisqo, Carnie Wilson (of Wilson-Phillips), Julio Iglesias Jr., Dee Snider (of Twisted Sister), Maureen McCormick (Marsha from "The Brady Bunch"), and Diana DeGarmo (American Idol, 2004). They're living in John Rich's house-cabin (of country music band Big & Rich), and he has them doing all sorts of chores (nothing like seeing Bobby Brown and Dee Snider clean out a horse stall). It's hard to tell when this show airs, as it airs about 4 times a day on CMT. Enjoy!
I've been sick the past 3 weeks with what seems to me to be a variation of the Chicken Pox. It's called Stevens- Johnson Syndrome, and it put me out for some time.
I can't begin to thank everyone that sent prayers my way and visited me in the hospital. It just re-inforces what we all know. The people of El Paso truly are special and unique.
Today (2/18) is my first day back at work, and it's nice to get back in a working routine. I know I've promised in the past to be on here more often, and now I'll be able to since I'm back at work, and am close to fixing my home computer.
Since I've been in front of the TV on the couch exclusively for the past 2 weeks, I'll post a TV schedule of the "must-see's" for people that just have basic cable like me. Nothing short of fabulous entertainment (or not).
OOF! Sorry that I haven't been here in a while, but my home computer picked up a virus, and I've been unable to post on here since. I know, likely story, right?
I incurred the Win32.TrojanDownloader, and that SOB not only ate up all of my memory, but it made my computer slower than dial-up when it worked at all. Any time I'd try to get rid of the virus, the computer would shut down.
It's hard to blog at work. Phone rings. Meetings, press conferences, etc. I can barely complete a thought as-is, much less, write rants. Just look at my sportscasts!!! (just kidding, boss)
On that note, I'd like to issue a statement. This is to people that not only pioneer computer viruses, but others that fund their efforts.
How on earth can you think that I'll support, or even be interested in your product if you pay to be a pop-up window on a virus? Not that I need to meet "single women in my area" or "get a degree online".
If you click through one of those pop-up pages that pay the virus people for that purpose, you might be stupid enough to get that degree at that non-exhistant university, or meet some stranger at the mall that you've been getting model-esque pictures of. Wait until you meet that person "in-person". Better yet, wait for that employer to ask you where Ardville Tech is actually located. Such a proud tradition...
I wonder if there are virus advertising sales people. "Hello Mr. Smith, I'm Joe Schmo at Moron Technologies, and we've developed what we think to be the greatest, most harmful virus to date. How would you like your product or service to be forcefully placed on millions of computers for a nominal fee?"... I'll bet that's a resume builder....
Super Bowl will be a Super Bore. I can tell you right off the bat that the highlight of the whole game will be the Super Bowl Ads, and Tom Petty at the Half. This season just needs to end. Once the Patriots got to 12-0, I lost interest as the season got anti-climactic... Pats all the way in this one, and we knew that would happen in October...
This one's for the Miners fans. Lay off Tony Barbee. Give him time. No need to be impatient. He's playing with kids. Mad at Randy Culpepper taking rediculous shots? Live with it for now. He's figuring out how to play on the next level, and we all know how special that kid is going to be.
I know they look sloppy at times, but they're called growing pains. Wait until they get that 1st conference win on the road. With that will come confidence, and improvement will follow...
However, big ups to Keitha Adams and the Miner Women. 30th in the nation in the AP. That's huge. Remember when these seniors were freshman? Remember how bad those teams were? Think about the Miner men the same way. The same will happen (if Barbee is still around by then.)
Should have the home computer back soon, and once I get it back, I'll be back in the saddle again for good (or at least until the next virus)...
5-9, but 6-3 with the afro... Former frustrated athlete that found out media would be my path after sitting the bench in just about all sports in high school, doing fake play-by-play.
