Bill Walsh Dies

As you may have noticed, we typically try to stay away from serious topics. We did, however, want to note the passing of Bill Walsh today at age 75. Some of our earliest football memories are of Walsh's 49ers, typically beating our Saints. It is no understatement to say that Walsh revolutionized football, and, more importantly, he was a good man. He will be missed.

Can He Swing From a Web?

No he can't, he's a pig

Hopefully this can help distract you from Longhorns being arrested

Sergio Kindle Doesn't Ride the E-Bus

Sergio Kindle was arrested early Saturday morning and has been charged with DUI. Nice. You can read the ESPN article here. We're not exactly sure what to say in this case as many of the facts are yet to be known, but we have confidence that Mack will handle this right. August starts soon.

Men's Basketball Schedule Announced

A lot to like about the men's basketball schedule which came out today. Texas will compete in the Legends Classic and play a game in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series, which we guess is kinda like the Big 10/ACC Showdown. Texas also faces Michigan State in Auburn Hills and Wisconsin in Austin (11 AM on December 29th, that ought to draw out the students) to round out the non-conference schedule. The conference schedule starts out rough, facing Mizzou in Columbia, Okie State in Stillwater and Aggy in College Station in the first 5 games. The conference schedule seems to be highlighted by consecutive Big Monday games (2/11 and 2/18) against KU and Aggy in Austin. Texas concludes its schedule April 7th in San Antonio, should be a fun season.

We're THIS Close...

A few bullet points regarding recent developments in the world of football.

• NFL training camps have started which means NFL preseason is only a few days away. Preseason is the most glorious time of the year in that it celebrates the return of football...that is until preseason gets old after the first quarter of the first game, or your star player gets hurt (whichever comes first)
• With NFL training camps come college football practices. We probably won't be following nearly close enough, but we're sure of a few things: there will be lots of Jordan Shipley getting hurt stories, Jamaal Charles will look bigger/stronger/faster/quicker than ever all at once, and OU will suck.
• BON let us participate in the first ever Blogger Big 12 Preseason Predictions. It's well worth a read, and we're really excited that our Baylor v. A&M prediction got a mention as best conference game.
• This picture is on the cover of SI. One of us was at that game and saw the hit develop. It was nasty. Everybody was okay and the Saints won, therefore it's acceptable to celebrate that hit as one of the nastiest we have ever seen (live or on TV).
• Finally, a bit of outrage directed toward the world leader in sports. ESPN has put together it's list of top programs of the last decade. Texas comes in at #3 behind USC and OSU. We won't argue that, all of the top-10 programs have had wildly successful decades, arguing that would be pointless. Our issue is Tulane being placed #89 on the list. Aside from Tulane having more undefeated seasons than Florida over the past decade (and tied for USC), we must take issue with Tulane being noted as having only one bowl victory in the last decade. Tulane is 2-0 in that period (1998 Liberty Bowl and 2002 Hawaii Bowl). Our silent protest of ESPN will continue until this travesty is remedied.

The 40AS Guide to Getting the Most Enjoyment From the 2007 Football Season

10. Don't watch the early-December bowl games unless your team is involved. It will only get you frustrated with the fact that North Texas and Middle Tennessee State get to go to bowl games, you'll get burnt out by the time the good games roll around, and you'll be embarrassed to be watching such drek when you could be having social interactions with real people.

9. For college apartments and bachelor pads: invest in cable splitters, which can be purchased at your friendly neighborhood Target, Radio Shack, or Wal-Mart. This allows you to use one cable outlet to watch multiple games at once in the same room. Thank goodness for those tiny little metal thingys.

8. Play the "Which Crappy Big Ten Game Will Pam Ward be Calling This Week?" game with your friends. Check out the several crappy Big Ten games on ESPN on a given Saturday, everybody select a matchup, and tune in for as long as you can bear it to see who wins!

7. If you are awake early enough on Saturdays, look for the Washington State University flag that is present at every single on-location episode of College Game Day. This is an unofficial response by Wazzu alumni to their feeling of having been snubbed by Game Day for the past several years. As a broader rule, try not to listen too much to what the guys are saying during the show. Instead, once you've found the Wazzu flag, look for the other great signs people bring to the set, such as "AJ Hawk Plays With 'My Little Ponies.'" (Happy Valley, PSU-OSU, 2005). Because a college football version of "Where's Waldo?" will always be more entertaining than Lee Corso. If all else fails and you just can't take that these guys are the only option of what to watch before actual football gets going, check this out.

6. Go to a good SEC (or Penn State) tailgate party. It might even be a good idea to go without tickets, skip the game, and just stay at the tailgate the whole time. You might not enjoy the game, especially if your team sucks. But you're sure to have fun at a tailgate!

5. Watch the Texas-OU Game. We're coming off a five- or six-year stretch where any neutral observer could have accurately predicted the winner--Oklahoma for 3 or 4 years, and Texas for the last 2. Coming into the season, this appears to be the first time in awhile when the teams really are pretty evenly matched so it should be a very entertaining fight in October.

4. Watch the Alabama-Auburn Game. We have no real interest in either one of these teams. In fact, we actually rather dislike them both. But with apologies to Ohio State-Michigan, there simply isn't a more bitter rivalry in all of college sports than the Bama-Auburn game. In Alabama, you're not Baptist, Catholic, or Jewish first. You're either a Bama person or an Auburn person. If a kid from a Bama family goes to Auburn, that kid "converted." This is not just about football to these people. This is about getting confirmation that your entire belief system is better than that of the other half of your little state. For people like us who are not involved, it's actually a little much. And funny. And it makes for great football.

As a caveat, we would not, in fact, recommend that Bama or Auburn fans watch this game. It will only get you worked up.

3. Remember that the games are played on Saturdays (and sometimes Thursdays). Do so by not letting your buddies who are fans of other schools get to you and by keeping your own dialogue civil. We will, of course, be writing a lot about what we think in this space but we will certainly be doing our part to try and keep the conversation rational. Some of your friends like to needle you and get a rise out of you over college football. That's cool. But just remember that no matter what they say or how you respond, you will have absolutely no impact on the outcome of the game. So just watch it.

2. Remember that the games are played on Saturdays (and sometimes Thursdays). Do so by watching a minimal amount of football-related television throughout the week. The more you listen to Mark May and all the other talking heads on ESPN, the angrier you will become. Unless you are a Southern Cal fan, you will feel that your team is constantly "disrespected" because we all have a certain level of irrational bias about our teams. And, those guys are blowhards.

1. Be a Texas Fan


*Special Thanks to Jeremy Podolnick, UGA '08 and Hannah Gershen, PSU '07, for their help on this post.

A Short, Much Needed Update

We love America, we love the Saints. This picture of Saintsations visiting U.S. troops in the Middle East was awesome. Sorry for the lack of updates, but football will be here soon enough. Speaking of which, NCAA Football 2008 was released today, it came in the mail, there aren't enough hours in the day to properly enjoy it today.

Summer Reading

We know that we've been real busy, but we hope that some of you are still checking the site occasionally. If so, we would like to redirect you today to BON's post about the just-published Eyes of Texas 2007. We will certainly be buying copies, and will begin to read them on August 6--the day after Camp ends. Hook 'Em!

We're Sorry

It's been slow going of late. One of us is running a camp for a couple hundred kids and the other doesn't have access to phone or internet during the day. Add on to that is the fact that it's the offseason, and the offseason sucks. What we're trying to say is please pardon the delay in posting. We promise to be more active as the darkness turns into light. Tomorrow we'll be under 50 days.

HAHAHAHA!

NCAA to OU: you suck. At least they didn't take away your three BCS bowl embarrassments in four years.

Box Score Of The Day -- July 7th

Enough with the Yankee hating, back to football. Today's box score is our second against Kansas. This one was fun because it was VY's last home game. We still vividly remember Mike Lupica bashing Mack Brown on Sunday Reporters for running up the score. Of course he was referring to Texas kicking a field goal, to go up 52-0. From 35 yards away. After going 3 and out. In the first half. After this one we really started to believe that USC was in trouble as KU didn't have a first down in the first half. Texas 66, Kansas 14.

Box Score Of The Day -- July 6th

This one was awesome and really helped build upon Alex Rodriguez's reputation as a pansy. Allegedly here's what happened: A-Rod gets plunked in the elbow by Bronson Arroyo. A-Rod complains to Bronson that it hurt instead of taking his free pass like a man. Our hero, Jason Varitek, tells A-Rod "c'mon Alex...you know we don't hit guys batting .250 on purpose." Fight ensues. Who knows if it's what really went down, but we like to think it is. Red Sox 11, Yankees 10.

Box Score Of The Day -- July 5th

In honor of the Yankees currently sucking, we present a series of games in which the Yankees sucked. The first one: Yankees 4, Red Sox 6.

Box Score Of The Day -- July 4th

Today's box score is just to remind you that freedom costs $1.05. USA 4, USSR 3 (warning, PDF...go to Hockey -- Medal Round, Game Report 2-Playoffs if you're really interested).

Box Score Of The Day -- July 3rd

One of our dads turned 56 yesterday, so today's box score is in his honor. Before the '05 Longhorns many considered it the greatest offense in college football history. Certainly no QB until VY had as good a season as Shaun King in 1998. For the record, King was the first QB in college football history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 500...VY became the second. Today's box score: BYU 27, Tulane 41.

Box Score Of The Day -- July 2nd

What the hell...why not? We were both there, one of us loves LSU, everybody hates Oklahoma. LSU 21, OU 14.

Box Score Of The Day -- July 1st

It's July! That means exactly two months of this nightmare to go before football season begins again! Today's box score secured a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for Texas and snapped a 37-game home winning streak for the Sooners. Texas came back from a 15-point second half deficit to win the game. Texas 76, Oklahoma 71.