The love for Wes grows

I'm not a journalist - as you can tell - I barely write at all....sorry.

BUT...

The Wes Welker story is popular - and so often written about because it's the ultimate David against Goliath story.

The small man with the big talent and even bigger heart faces unsurmountable odds and yet comes out victorious. But only after he's pictured at age 4 with his pet bunny, Thumper. I guarantee a call from Wes to his mom today:

"Ma, why the hell did you give them that picture?"

"It's cute son, you loved that bunny."

"You understand I'm gonna have bunny stickers all over my locker tomorrow, right?"

"It won't be the worst thing that's ever happened to you, Wes."

And once again Ma will be right and Wes will beat back bunnies and win a Super Bowl ring. Wes Welker is unstoppable. Maybe he can even join Timmy Smith and come home with a Super Bowl MVP trophy.

Sparky look-alike Elizabeth Merrill of ESPN with the article HERE.

Only if you really love us...

It has been our pleasure to bring to you a Texas Tech blogging experience. We hope that our readers like us so much that they would throw a good word in for us as the 2007 College Football Blogger Awards kick off.

Rocky Top Talk is the clearinghouse for all of these awards - and in case you didn't know - they're kind of a big deal.

Take a peek at the 2006 Awards - their nominees and the eventual winners.

I won't be nominating us. I feel like that would be a little crass. Although some of you are wondering right now "Well if that's the case why is he bringing these awards up at all?" Well Mr. Smarty, I'm bringing it up in the hopes that there's a Red Raider out there that wants us to win an award.

By the way...I think our very own Ignatius J. Reilly should at least get nominated for the "Jenn Sterger's Rack Award" (Best Photoshop or gag post of the year) for his following efforts:

UT Football: Recruiting Champions

Job Options for Coach Fran

Everybody Loves Fran

Texas Tech Wins the MNC


Our all too infrequent contributor "yar" wrote our best piece to date - and incredible read on the Texas Tech/Texas A&M rivalry that is Pulitzer quality. Please Baby Jesus would somebody send this in for the "Tyrone Prothro and His Amazing Catch Award."

Drinking With Boris Yeltsin (Texas A&M Preview post)



Cabron Guey created a great .gif for us:

I has a hat!


As for DiscoTech! I think our best shot to be recognized on this stage would be in the "Best New Blog" category.

Myself, I think I'm certainly going to throw a nomination in the hat for "Best Big 12 Blog." I'll be nominating Seth at Double T Nation. I'm continually amazed at the work that guy puts into his blog. Remarkable work from a guy that I also happen to like.

Thanks for your time.

We always appreciate you dropping by.

The Ultimate Tailgaters

...are about to kick off their next sponsorship fiscal year. Please help these guys out.

First, click the link below and visit the site.

Second, get on the phone and send money!

If you haven't been to these events you need to make sure you go.

These guys are committed to making sure Texas Tech Football has the best gameday atmosphere in the nation.

The Ultimate Tailgaters

Congrats to Bobby Knight

Steve "I wish I was a Lehman Brothers Wall Street type" Lavin:



Coach Knight's Post-Game Presser:




Really, this game ws pretty cool - I was away from the house for the first half - came home at halftime and turned on the TV...

I passed out for a few minutes after I saw the score, my wife revived me by throwing some bourbon on my face and I was as good as new.

I watched the lead drop as the second half began and did my best simulation of our play whilst on the loo...

Came back to the tube and both the Red Raiders and my digestive tract were once again in perfect harmony.

Then Coach Knight gave the crowd a jab - which they deserved - but which Coach Knight will take some abuse for. Hey - the truth hurts sometimes. Like when I go to the amusement park and try to ride the rides and they tell me I can't because my head still fits under Mickey's hand...

900 wins, it turns out, puts you in the company of two women - a dream situation for any red blooded male Raider - except for somebody they call "barbossa".

DT! The Georgia Tech Scout bbs discussed Tulsa dropping us from their schedule - for like a minute - but it's worth a peek.

DT! In other message board madness - I've realized that if Aggies were to dedicate all the hours they spend telling Texas Tech folks how superior they are to us they could have made a Tahoe that runs on maroon watermelons by now. Instead they don't realize that that they have become a lol factory.

So you're saying there's a chance...

"Sounds about right to me"

Bodog College Football Futures

50 to 1 Tech wins the MNC next year...

Ryland Reed Post Season Accolade

Mark Schlabach at ESPN.com has selected a "2007 All-Bowl Team."

Ryland Reed is his starting left-tackle. That and a buck won't get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks - but as the old pappy used to say "That's better than a sharp stick in the eye."

No doubt about it.

Interestingly, he left Chis Long - that's Howie Long's son by the way - off the All-Bowl team. I'm beginning to wonder if Mark actually watched the Gator Bowl - but any publicity is good publicity - especially for a guy who is recovering from surgery on his ankle.

From all of us at DiscoTech! we hope Ryland has the best of recoveries.


You'll pardon DiscoTech!'s lack of basketball coverage...we are much bigger football fans than basketball fans - and we tend to make fun of Bobby Knight more than shower him with adulation.

We appreciate what the man has done for Tech basketball. We encourage him to get his 900th win and in the post-game news conference promptly retire and hand the team over to Pat.

We will try to get excited - we really will.

In case you missed SportsCenter yesterday

Introducing Kenny George...



Tyler Hansbrough is a big guy - like 6' 10" or so - and he looks like he should be playing JV ball when he's playing against Big Kenny...

Crazy video - just had to share.

The AP Poll in a little more detail

Just so you know - you can go to the AP's website and get information on how poll voters actually voted...while this is a quite tedious during the season - the final poll is always fun to look at.

I don't think the coaches disclose who they vote for in the USAToday poll immediately after the poll - info on the last poll of December as we headed into bowl season was made available a few days after the poll was actually released...

Especially when you end up ranked - which Tech has done for only the third time in Mike Leach's eight years at Tech.

So thanks to the big win we have something fun to talk about...

Here's the final poll before we get started:

1. LSU (60) 12-2 1,620

2. Georgia (3) 11-2 1,515

3. USC (1) 11-2 1,500

4. Missouri 12-2 1,347

5. Ohio State 11-2 1,346

6. West Virginia 11-2 1,342

7. Kansas (1) 12-1 1,303

8. Oklahoma 11-3 1,139

9. Virginia Tech 11-3 1,096

10. Texas 10-3 962

10. Boston College 11-3 962

12. Tennessee 10-4 904

13. Florida 9-4 685

14. Brigham Young 11-2 654

15. Auburn 9-4 648

16. Arizona State 10-3 587

17. Cincinnati 10-3 566

18. Michigan 9-4 508

19. Hawaii 12-1 460

20. Illinois 9-4 443

21. Clemson 9-4 353

22. Texas Tech 9-4 308

23. Oregon 9-4 253

24. Wisconsin 9-4 202

25. Oregon State 9-4 110

Others Receiving Votes Virginia 66, Penn State 61, Kentucky 57, Wake Forest 53, Boise State 25, Arkansas 13, Utah 9, Mississippi State 7, Appalachian State 5, South Florida 5, Tulsa 4, Connecticut 3, Air Force 2, Rutgers 2. Dropped From Rankings Virginia 21, South Florida 23, Boise State 24, Arkansas 25.

Some interesting results -

5 votes for Coach Moore's 13 and 2 Appalachian State team (losses to Wofford and Georgia Southern).

Interesting also is South Florida who was at one time second in the nation ends up polling level with App State and just ahead of Tulsa who will be on Tech's non-conference schedule next year.

Seven of our 2008 opponents were in bowl games. UMass, which competes in Division I-AA lost in the second round of the FCS playoffs.

I know - I'm a going on a tangent here - but here's next year's schedule:

2008 Schedule



(2007 record in parenthesis)


Aug 30 TULSA (10-4) Lubbock

Sept 6 at Nevada (6-7) Reno, Nevada

Sept 13 SMU (1-11) Lubbock

Sept 20 MASSACHUSETTS (10-3) (Parents W.) Lubbock

Sept 27 Bye

Oct 4 at Kansas State (5-7) Manhattan, Kan.

Oct 11 NEBRASKA (5-7) (Homecoming) Lubbock

Oct 18 at Texas A&M (7-6) College Station

Oct 25 at Kansas (12-1) Lawrence, Kan.

Nov 1 TEXAS (10-3) Lubbock

Nov 8 OKLAHOMA STATE (7-6) Lubbock

Nov 15 at Oklahoma (11-3) Norman, Okla.

Nov 22 BAYLOR (3-9) Lubbock

Anyhow...back to the poll...

Let's have look-see at some of the pollsters and their opinions of the national championship picture, the Big 12 and Texas Tech....


Chris Fowler - uhhh...no votes from Chris Fowler - so at least he's got his good hair and Jay Leno-like giant pumpkin head still working for him. He even voted Oklahoma as better than Mizzou (yes, I understand OU won the heads-up game) even after OU was embarrassed by WVU and Mizzou stomped Arkansas. In general he clearly doesn't like the Big 12 teams.

Kirk "The Love Bug" Herbstreit - was brutal to his alma mater and ranked them - correctly - 7th even while the Bucks finished overall polling at 5th. he ranked Tech above Virginia and kept a deserving UVA team in the top 25. I like Herbie more and more every year - I think he knows his stuff.

Craig James - well this ought to be interesting - will he have to withhold from voting for Tech next year when Adam is on the team in earnest? A high rank of 19 from Craig who was also rightfully brutal to Ohio State and got the Missouri Kansas conundrum more correct than others with Mizzou at 4 and KU at 5.

Stuart Mandel - Is a fan of the program apparently because he ranked us 14 - which is not only a high ranking but makes me wonder is Stewart wasn't high when he filled out his ballot. But I sure as heck appreciate it - and in case you missed it - Stewart has already released his top 10 for next year - and Texas Tech is....not in the top 10 - we are "a team to watch."

Molly Yanity - Seattle Post-Intelligencer - Molly didn't give us any votes - but what do you expect from a newspaper that makes up words and names their paper the "Intelligencer?" Do yourself a favor and don't do a Google Image Search for Molly - you'll only be disappointed - seriously.

Kirk Bohls - Austin American-Statesman - In what can only be characterized as a "shocker" - Kirk ranks his hometown Texas Longhorns #11 - and Texas Tech #12. What?! Wait. Tech's highest single polling came from Austin. Whaaaaa??? Have I ever told you there are seriously good drugs available near Town Lake - specifically near the Congress Bridge? Well there must be.

Joseph Duarte - Houston Chronicle - must not have watched the BCS Championship - or the Sugar Bowl - or the Rose Bowl - he voted OSU #2. Super serious. His editor is nuts.

Ray Fittipaldo - Pittsburgh Post - ditto the above.

John Hunt - The Oregonian - I'm beginning to think the Great Northwest doesn't know about the Jewel of the South Plains - no votes for TTU.

Rich Kaipust - Omaha World-Herald - Kansas Jayhawks #2 - I gotta say - there's a case to be made there - they just drilled VaTech - a game I thought for sure the Hokies would run away with.

Scott Wolf - LA Daily News - Thinks that despite the fact LSU won the BCS Championship game - that matters little because Georgia is #1. In other Hollywood scripts - Tulsa is #25 while Tech is unranked in his poll. And to top that off - Virginia ends up #21 in his poll - only falling one spot after their Gator Bowl loss. Oh Yeah - and Utah is #24. Hollywood - it's a whole other world.

Israel Gutierrez - Miami Herald - Kansas Jayhawks - National Champs!

That's the basic highlights - there were about 4 other pollsters that didn't rank Tech - and every single one of them kept Virginia in the 20 - 23 area. I guess I just don't understand some of these guys and gals.

Are they making some sort of statement with their votes? They will not be oppressed and will vote they way they want?

Also - I swear I thought I saw 5 votes for App State and yet not a single poll I clicked on had App State ranked - I thought I clicked them all - but I guess I didn't.

ESPN - please can Lee Corso

To quote a friend of mine that put this nicely - because this sort of a PG-13 blog:

"Corso is a dumb monkey."

1. Harrell wears the number 6 - not the number 15.
2. Texas Tech has won 4 of their last 5 bowl games (I have no idea what Virginia Tech's recent bowl record was going into the Orange Bowl was) even though Corso clearly meant Texas Tech - he got his tongue caught on Virginia Tech's penis or something. After all, if it's a college football game on ESPN, odds are Virginia Tech is a participant.

So anyhow - here's Desmond Howard's visit with Michael Crabtree as presented on College Gameday on New Year's morning...

Gator Bowl Karmatic Amazingness

Another incredible finish to another heart-stopping Texas Tech Football season. Another come-from-behind victory in the fourth quarter - and high hopes for a strong squad in 2008...let's get to it...

Bourbon distillers reported an above average consumption of their favored beverage as the clock rolled from 12:00 pm through 2:00pm Central time all over Texas, almost without regard for human alcohol toxicity.

At least that's what went down at my house.

Many more gray hairs will fall to the bottom of the shower in the morning as I head back to my cubicle. Why Dear Lord must you put us through these trials so soon after the birth of Baby Jesus?

DT! Graham Harrell was penalized twice in the first half for two safeties...aw hell...you saw the game as well I'm sure. What was going on was...Chris Long and his defensive line buddies were absolutely on point from the first snap - and as has been common throughout our season, our guys need (but shouldn't) to get knocked around a little before they get going.

DT! I thought that it was absolutely amazing that Virginia didn't commit a single penalty in the entire first half - a bit of karma/yin-yang Asian Rim voodoo that would play a serious role in the second half. We'll get to that later.

DT! I turned to my wife after we went up 7 to nothin' on Detron Lewis' TD and said "We're going to crush them." You can blindfold me and shoot me at daybreak.

DT! I'm a big message board reader as some of you know - and I find that the greatest entertainment known to man - and yet still largely undiscovered by the masses - is reading message board "Game Threads." That is, for the uninitiated, a topic of discussion dedicated to the events of the game as it happens live. In these threads any junior high mind can call for the defensive coordinator's head of his choosing. In this case - Ruffin McNeill.

Listen fellas, did you think after 15 more practices we were all the sudden going to come out and play Minnesota Vikings style run defense? During summer camp Tech will have 15 practices in only a little over one week...so installing an entirely new defensive scheme is not even an option folks.

And Ruffin McNeill should be given the opportunity to be Tech's DC. I think Tech is reaping the rewards of coaching staff consistency as they recruit. Ruff is a big part of the fact that we have some absolute studs coming our way on defense in this coming class.

So Tech allowed a 96 yard run that was a SportsCenter "Top Plays" nominee tonight. Don't tell me you were shocked - just don't.

DT! I can't recall when Tech came out and kicked an onside "surprise" kickoff...it always seems that kind of stuff is happening TO us - is that just me? Al Groh said in his post-game interview that the Cavs prepared for those sorts of things because it was a part of our "aggressive nature." Search me - I had no idea we had that play in our playbook.

DT! Crabtree was great today by the way. Focused the entire game even when things weren't going well for him personally, much less for the entire offense.

DT! I appreciated very much the commentary by Gary Danielson and Verne Lundquist as it related to Crabtree's "Jim Brown" moment in the second half. I thought both those guys did a great job today and were absolutely professional. My only gripe would have been to note that they cheered on big #71 of Virginia's OL as he celebrated a big play - but then didn't bring nearly the contempt to bear on the "Unsportsmanlike" call on Parker only 3 minutes later. They still derided the call a bit but failed to make the connection that I thought was right there in front of their face.

DT! Oh yeah - the officiating. I would call it "equally bad for both teams." Tech seemed to pick up a lot of little BS calls - while Virginia had the one big call go against them. Groh was told the fumble by Crawford was unreviewable - the better made up word would be "un-challengeable".

Groh just couldn't let that call go - and his post-game presser was littered with blame directed at the officiating.

So, Coach Groh, get over it. The call happened early in the second and you had LOTS of opportunity to recover. And it wasn't even a scoring play. The irony for Red Raiders is clear - and there's lots to go around:

1. Your team wasn't penalized a stitch in the first half and probably only had 3 flags thrown against you all game.
2. You should have watched our last few game films against UT.
3. Karma's a bitch.

DT! In keeping with the karma theme, I should counter that negative comment about Groh with a positive one about Chris Long. I had never seen this kid play before today. Holy son of famous pro football player Batman! Did you know he was Howie's kid? The kid is flat out amazing - and single-handedly dominated the game at times. I wish him the best of luck in his NFL career and will watch him many times and say "Remember when he blew up Tech's OL?"

DT! We lost a great O-Lineman today in what had to be one of the more gruesome broken legs I've seen in a while. Rylan Reed is a great man - and deserves better than a broken leg for his trouble. Our thoughts and prayers are with him for a speedy recovery - one that is without trouble or concern.

DT! While Coach Groh is convinced that the deciding factor today, I'm not. I think it was the injury to his QB, Jameel Sewell for all but the entire fourth. His freshman QB was serviceable, but was clearly thrown into a situation for which he was not prepared. The real wonder was when Colby Whitlock all of the sudden blew through the line and blew up a screen. The unfamiliarity with the speed of the game ended up being the deciding factor.

DT! So Tech has now won 5 of their last 6 bowl games - only losing to 'Bama on a dead-duck-last-gasp-sorry-good-for-nothing field goal that barely crossed the pipe two years ago. Good thing I'm not one who remembers things like that. Our bowl record is still for crap as a whole - but that's certainly not Mike Leach's fault who runs his bowl record to 5 - 3.

While we're on the subject of bowl victories let me make sure we're clear on something. Despite the team's poor performance today - they still won the game. And since we haven't been in the business of getting into Big 12 title games, these bowl trophies are important. If we continue to fill our trophy case with these bowl wins, higher and higher quality recruits will continue to grace us with their presence and we may actually be able to put one of those crappy looking NCAA horrible looking but undeniably important trophies right out front of the football offices.

So no bitching and moaning about lack of discipline and mental errors and on and on and on...

The scoreboard says we scored more points than the other team - and they would trade places with us in a heartbeat. So we must be doing something right.

DT! The folks who get paid to write about college football take notice of our continued success:

5. No one has played better bowl games over the last three years than Texas Tech.

The win over the Cavaliers might have been a thriller, but it was nothing compared to 44-41 overtime win over Minnesota in last year's Insight Bowl. The 13-10 loss in the 2006 Cotton Bowl wasn't exactly thrilling, but it was a close battle until the end.

Virginia's bowls have been just as good with an overtime collapse in the 2004 MPC Computers Bowl to Fresno State and a 34-31 win over Minnesota in the Music City Bowl. Bowl games are all about making money and putting butts in the seats, but they also want compelling games.

At this point, Texas Tech has become an extremely attractive bowl draw.

That would be Pete Fiutak on Fox.com. He's a pretty impressive guy and always makes the talk radio rounds during the season. I hope he gives us some praise as he call into FOX radio shows this week. A great recap of the game.

DT! No doubt that there were "good seats still available" at the game. So Pete Fiutak's comment should come as welcome salve to those of you who were disappointed by the massive amounts of blue seats at the game. Let's keep in mind that the University of Florida Gators happened to be playing a big game of their own just down the road. Any potential Gators that might have bought a ticket were elsewhere - and I heard some rumblings that Jacksonville residents felt game tickets were priced out of their range.

So the crowd was dominated by UVA and Tech folks - which I'm sure made the atmosphere plenty electric despite the slim crowd.

To re-iterate - it won't have a thing to do with whether or not Tech is (or is not) chosen for another top-flight bowl game (see Fiutak's comments above).

DT! Shame on ESPN News for not showing a single highlight of the Gator Bowl for a FULL 2 HOURS after the game had concluded. They were far too busy masturbating to Lloyd Carr and their very own Capital One Bowl to pay attention to the thriller in Jacksonville...

DT! Thanks to Scotty at TVTanLine for once again hooking us up with some awesome screen caps - I'll be liberating some of these images and adding them to my hard drive soon...

DT! Richard Justice at the Houston Chronicle wrote a great piece that is quite flattering to Tech today as well - potential recruits and their families should take the time to read it...as should readers of this blog...

That's all for now - I'm sure I missed some topics of discussion - feel free to comment below - we'll sure miss our Seniors and we'll talk about how hard it will be to replace them sometime this spring...we appreciate all the blood and sweat they've shed so that we can be entertained - and frustrated.

another booger eater joins Chase Daniel

When you are in attendance at ANY event that is on national TV - it should not have to be pointed out to you that there are cameras live all over the pace - and that the intertubes are ready and waiting to be sure your booger eating is on display for all eternity...

I'm just doing my part to educate the masses:



This fella joins Chase Daniel as 2007 "Caught on Tape" booger eaters...congratulations to both of you on your achievement.

http://ramblingraiders.blogspot.com/2007/10/hard-hitting-mizzou-preview.html

there's no crying in football people

Christmas YouTube Dump

CBS Gator Bowl Preview:



Thanks to skattershooting for uploading this gem from the 5A Division I State Final game:



That's Jim Rackley at his best - and his worst. Having grown up in the shadows of D W Rutledge and Jim Rackley I can tell you that is a normal day on the sidelines for The Rack.

Emily Jones was flustered. I know some of our readers are taken with Emily - sorry that this video doesn't reveal some of her best features.

But Saturday was Trinity's day, as the Trojans came away with a 13 - 10 win.

Will I apologize?

When something is not a failure but a success and you call it a failure...well that may deserve an apology.

How about when you call something a failure but...

Nevermind...

I called Brian Mayes out and he couldn't tell me the I Like Mike fund was working on spending the money charitably. He feared that it would give away the surprise of the event and I can understand that.

The I Like Mike Fund was not a failure.

While I don't regret calling Brian to the carpet and asking for a little accountability, it turns out my timing was just dreadful and now I have a bit of egg nog on my face.

No biggie. It won't be the last time that will happen I'm sure. I think Brian handled all this pretty well and so I apologize to him for being an ass.

So - to the real story at hand. The I Like Mike Fund raised about $5000 and worked with the Tech coaching staff to use that money to purchase food for the less fortunate and they distributed that food on Saturday.

"It doesn't surprise me that coach Leach would not take the money to pay his fine,'' Mayes said. "This really was always a symbolic gesture to tell coach Leach that, We appreciate your passion for the university. This is our way of showing our passion for you as a coach.' ''

Leach called today's event "a chance to enjoy the holiday season with our fans and those less fortunate than us.''

"We've got great support here,'' Leach said. "Our fans show a lot of commitment to us. We wanted to show our commitment to them, so together we're committed like the pig.''

Mayes said that he plans to keep the fund drive open and wants to use donations for other charitable purposes on an annual basis. Some of the money left over this year, he said, will be used to help send underprivileged children to a Tech game next season.

You gotta love Mike Leach getting in a poke at the commitment of the pig. That guy is a sound bite machine. You also have to love it that Coach would take time out of his busy schedule to deliver the goods himself. He could have easily asked that the money be donated to the Food Bank or to a shelter - but he got in there and went to work himself.

As other fans from rival teams come read these pages - we know this is just one example of why we fight to keep Coach Leach in Lubbock. Even with all his warts - he's a hard working guy - and a man that connects with the fans and the students personally. May he remain at Tech for a very long time.

So again - I look like the Grinch and Brian Mayes looks good - although it's clear his intent was never to trumpet his own name. I hope you continue to come back and read the blog every now and then Brian, maybe one day our paths will cross IRL and I can buy you the beverage of your choice.

Let's not forget that the real winners are a bunch of folks who got a little extra to eat over a cold Christmas weekend, and let's not forget to thank those that gave.

We here at DT! wish all of you a Merry Christmas! Please be safe out there.

(Even if you are a Big 12 official.)

Manny to see game action?

Detroit Free Press

Injuries may provide an opportunity for Manny to get some playing time in the upcoming Lions game against the Chiefs on Sunday:

"Mulitalo on Friday was listed as doubtful for Sunday's game against the Chiefs at Ford Field. Marinelli said if Mulitalo is out, Blaine Saipaia and Ramirez likely will rotate at left guard. Ramirez was a fourth-round pick out of Texas Tech this year. "He's tough from what we saw. He's been tough all year," Marinelli said. "That's what we liked about him. He's a good pass-blocker ... and he's worked hard. He's got the mental makeup."

I hope those with Sunday ticket will get us an update on how Manny does - we wish you the best big guy - Wreck 'em.

Checking up on the Cavaliers

No, not LeBron's - the Cavs in Virginia...

Looks like The Sabre has found some Mike Leach material and we encourage all of The Sabre's readers to come to DiscoTech! and use our search function to find all kinds of Mike Leach craziness.

Looks like they haven't found Mike Leach as the weatherman - that will be fun.

Here's just one of our posts on The Head Pirate (aka TSO) for your enjoyment:

http://ramblingraiders.blogspot.com/2007/05/mike-leach-compendium.html

Al Groh probably isn't good at chess

The former Tech coach loves to wear his sweatshirts
with the sleeves pushed up to the elbows

...that's not the reason he's probably not a chess player - it's just something I noticed when looking for pics of him...


Coach had his pre-Gator Bowl practice press conference on Tuesday. Several Virginia area media outlest were there to cover the event and share their take on Virginia's preparation for the bowl matchup against the Red Raiders.

After reviewing these articles, Coach Groh may need to take a course in strategery from GWB.

From the News and Advance in Lynchburg, Virginia:

Kansas State coach Ron Prince, a UVa assistant for five seasons, figured to be a good source on Texas Tech. Not so. Despite being in the Big 12, Prince's Northern Division Wildcats have not faced the Southern Division Red Raiders in either of his two years in Manhattan. They do next year, however.

"I told him, 'This is screwy,'" Groh joked. "'They're in your conference and we're going to be able to help you more than you can help us.'"

Coach.

Use the internet much? I'm sure you and Coach Prince had a nice visit and all - but you could have learned that K-State is "off-rotation" from any number of wonderful places call "internet sites."

The News and Advance does a good job recapping Coach Groh's short stay in Lubbock and the circumstances that brought him through town:

One of the many stops in Groh's career was at Texas Tech, where he was a linebacker coach for Rex Dockery in 1980. As has been the case throughout his career, it had a lot to do with Bill Parcells.

Groh was Parcells' defensive coordinator at Air Force from 1978-79 before Parcells left to be defensive coordinator for the New York Giants.

That prompted Groh to join Dockery's staff in Lubbock in 1980. Dockery, who was the Red Raiders' head coach from 1978-80, had been the schools offensive coordinator prior to that. The defensive coordinator at that time? Bill Parcells.

Dockery left for Memphis State in 1981 and Groh was hired by former West Point coaching pal John Mackovic to be Wake Forest's defensive coordinator. But Mackovic left two months later to be the Dallas Cowboys' quarterback coach, making Groh the Deacons' head coach. He was there from 1981-86 and went 24-40.

Back to Groh's pursuit of defensive strategy...this time from The Roanoke Times:

Virginia football coach Al Groh has no better source for information about pass-happy opponent Texas Tech than his old University of North Carolina coaching colleague, Gary Darnell.

Darnell is in his second season as Texas A&M's defensive coordinator but he's a little busy right now.

Darnell is serving as the Aggies' interim head coach for their Alamo Bowl matchup with Penn State.

"When I spoke to him, it was, 'OK, I've got a couple of minutes,'" said Groh, who said Darnell told him, 'I'd like to talk to you some more but we've got to go to practice.'

"I'm waiting for the return phone call. It's a little bit overdue from when it was promised. What would appear to be our best resource is not cashing in yet."

Okay Virginia. Since you haven't figured out how to find our schedule online, let DT! help you out with the result of Darnell's defensive strategy against Tech:

Here's the boxscore in case you missed it.

I thought you said that Virginia needed to keep Texas Tech from scoring points? Here's a tip Gary Kasparov can get on board with: Coach Darnell may not be the guy to ask about keeping Tech out of the endzone.

Finally someone in the Big 12 did give Al Groh some advice - and while this coach was not mentioned by name - I wonder if Coach Groh finally decided to call someone that actually played Tech and *gasp* maybe even beat us...

From HamptonRoads.com:

Among the suggestions Virginia coach Al Groh has heard from friends in the business on how to slow the Texas Tech offense is this one, provided by an unnamed colleague who has faced the Red Raiders:

“He said his plan was to put the best basketball players on the field that he had,” Groh said Tuesday.

I would rank this just ahead of whatever Coach Darnell might actually suggest. Basketball players might be fun to play against.

Charlottesville's CBS affiliate has their broadcast video available featuring the mighty Groh at the mic...

Maybe the weird strategy of dial-a-coach is partly responsible for Groh ending up on Stewart Mandel's list of "5 Worst Football Coaches." Mandel wrote this piece before the season kicked off (it was published 7/11/07) and so it's interesting now to see how prescient most of the list is...

#2? Coach Fran.
#4? Coach Doba @ Washington State
#5? Karl Dorrell

His "Just Missed" section includes Bill Callahan, Chan Gailey and Houston Nutt.

Stewie definitely swings and misses after excellent performances this season by Coach Groh, Tommy Bowden, and Ron Zook.

DT! Heather Dinich of ESPN.com reports on the loot that the bowl participants will be given this year. The Konica Minolta will be handing out Oakley Thumps to all the players. That's a $200 gift. Not a Nintendo Wii (BCS Championship Game, Holiday and Poinsettia) or an iPod Touch (Las Vegas Bowl). But it's no commemorative watch.

DT! The LA Times released their rankings and picks of bowl games today. The Gator clock in at the 12th most intriguing matchup. Just ahead of the Alamo and just behind BC versus Michigan State in the Champs Sports Bowl. Good grief. I'm concerned I might be taken to the ER by my wife to get me out of a coma if I watch the Champs Sports Bowl.

DT! I don't know who Chip Ramsey is, but I like this line:

Texas Tech scores like an oilman in a cat house with a roll of $100 bills. Virginia had a nice season, but really. Take Texas Tech.

Wreck 'em.

Not his best side...

Maybe it's a bad camera angle or the lighting...

Your captions are welcome in the comments area...

Everybody's All American

I couldn't keep track of all of these different teams - I hope these links and a special spreadsheet I put together help out...

AP also notes in their press release:

The last freshman to be an AP All-American was Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson in 2004.

Sporting News

AFCA

AFWA

Walter Camp


Because I'm a visual learner - I created this document for you - hope it helps you sort through the maze of All American Teams and the rare company that Michael Crabtree has joined this year.

Only seven players made all five All-American first teams. While I have no idea about this from a historical perspective - it is nonetheless an incredible achievement. When you look over the list you'll see some players that were omitted from only one list (Matt Ryan instead of Tim Tebow say the Coaches Association......really?) and so can't make the claim to be on all 5 lists.

Some players only made one list - but clearly are incredible players - I think Xavier Adibi is amazing and yet can't believe he's only made one First Team...

Thanks to Seth for showing me that Google Documents is cool and easy...


EDIT: Reader noted that Sedrick Ellis of USC was named to all 5 teams as well - I need an editor...Thanks for the fix.

Crabtree and Harrell awards, ranking the bowls, etc

DT! More plaudits for Mr. Crabtree (and the first for Graham Harrell):

Red Raiders.com

Crabtree was named Freshman of the Year and he received the Paul Warfield Award, like the Biletnikoff, given annually to the nation's top receiver.

Crabtree joins Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell as an honoree of The Touchdown Club of Columbus. Harrell was awarded the Sammy Baugh Trophy as the nation's top quarterback. He is the third Tech quarterback to receive the award, after Kliff Kingsbury in 2002 and B.J. Symons in 2003.

All of the post season awards are wonderful and have already raised the profile of the program, recruiting is seeing a definite improvement already, and all I want for Christmas is a Big 12 Championship.

A true test awaits Crabtree in the Gator Bowl and next year. The target will be n his back - and he will get measured for a new hat size - let's all hope that it's the same hat size he wore in the Spring of 2007.

DT! I didn't do it - but this outfit did...

South Carolina's "The State"

Gator Bowl clocks in at #15 - I haven't had much time to think about other bowls that might be more exciting...

Just thought you guys might want to see it...

DT! Brian Mayes has asked me to contact him in the comments section of the post below. Brian, in case you couldn't tell I already contacted you. I'm asking you to contact me.

Of course whatever you tell me will be reported here immediately, so why don't you craft a communication in your own words and send it to me. That way I can't be accused of bending the facts.

You've brought yourself into the public forum - and need to be accountable.