October 26, 2008 by pabernathey.

Man, a tough win against Oklahoma State today. Over 900 yards total offense for both teams. I thought it was not going to be as close as it was, and when I think about it: it shouldn’t have been.

That’s right. Texas was up, and scoring at will on Okie State. The defense was giving up the run, but had made a few stops. An interception and a fumble really gave the Cowboys life. Had Texas scored on those drives, the score is 42-21. Sure, college football is about what the scoreboard says when the final guns sounds, but this Texas team could be quite good if they get a real killer instinct.

They need to finish better and make do what they did against Missouri in the first half.

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October 15, 2008 by pabernathey.

Jordan Shipley is a bad ass. I mean, his kickoff return was as huge as it gets.

That was one of the better football games I have ever watched, with or without my team being in the game. It was totally back and forth to the end. Awesome. Texas got 100 yards from Chris Obanaya, which is not Colt McCoy. I thought we needed that to win. We did not get 7 sacks (just 3) but they came at important times. Sergio Kindle’s hit on Bradford was nice.

Bradford had a good day, and he is a very good quarterback. I think Texas gained the momentum at the right time and just worked.

Now Missouri looms. That’s a tough ask, but it Texas’ defense can work it out there should be no way the Missouri defense can stop McCoy and the Horns.

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October 10, 2008 by pabernathey.

The 2008 version of the Red River Shootout is here. For 103 years these teams have been going at it. While I dislike the Sooners, I love the fact that Texas has a rivalry of such length and depth.

The teams are evenly matched in the stats catgory this year. That doen’t mean much. On paper, OU should win, that doesn’t mean much either. The Cash catch, Stonie Clark’s hit, Walker’s catch, Butch Hadnot, Billy Pittman racing into the endzone to end the first half, Ricky wearing #34, 15-15 after the Boz talked so much shit, I could go on and on.

And remember, I have only been watching this game for 30 years. There was probably a lot more before my time that is just as good - DKR beating Bud for the first time was probably pretty righteous. Also, any loss by Switzer was good. While Stoops is a better human than Barry, he is still a jerk.

Here is my pet peeve in election season: sports reporters ask tough questions, political reporters do not. Sports reporters really second guess, critique and disect - political reporters do not. Why not?

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October 8, 2008 by pabernathey.

Here’s the deal:

Texas wins if they get 100 yards rushing from someone other than Colt. Why? That means a guy who was not expected to come up big did. It opens up passing lanes. If Colt is all of the offense, they the day will be long. The game may be tight, but it will not be good for the good guys from the south bank of the Red River.

 Also, Texas needs seven sacks.

The Red River is an important river, but people don’t give it enough credit. Tugs and barges go all the way up it to Shreveport. “The Red River Valley” is one of my favorite old timey songs. You ever been on the Red River? It is interesting. There is an old one-lane bridge near Dennison, Texas that is a cool place to visit. It is a good canoe river. Oh, and fishing for striped bass in Lake Texoma (what a stupid-ass name) is really nice.

Not far from the Red River is Denton, Texas. Home of the University of North Texas - my other favorite team. Holy crap! The Mean Green Eagles are terrible so far this year. I am glad I did not renew my season tickets. I am sad, sad, sad. Both the defense and the offense have struggled. I expected the defense to be bad, but not the O, baby.

I am not John McCain’s friend.

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October 7, 2008 by pabernathey.

No. 2 Blog post, not No. 2 game, silly.

Anyhoo…

So I am trying to be really objective in this Texas/OU week. But it is hard. Why is Bob Stoops being so praise-filled when it comes to Texas? He usually doesn’t give a hoot. Is it because he has been whipped in bowl games and he knows humility? I doubt it. Is it because he knows he is going to win, and he wants people to think Texas is that much better than he really does? I doubt it. Is he worried? Nope. THEN WHY?!?

I was listening to an interview on NPR this morning about this former CIA dude who took eight guys into northern Iraq in 2002 to hunt Al Quaida and other Taliban-esque bad guys. Well, he is a little pissed about how the administration failed to act on the all the intel his team was providing. He really is a little miffed, and it is in his voice. A caller chimes in about how this guy shouldn’t be pissed because he is just a pawn of the Trilateral Commission and the New World Order dudes at the IMF, etc. Diane cut his ass off quick, which in itself is funny, and we all got a kick out of cooks.

I feel like the cook during Texas/OU week!!!!!!!

I think the Council on Foreign Relations is out to rule te world through an oil conspiracy created by the Jews - but only during Texas/OU week. I think Stoops is being extra cozy to Texas because he has a massive shit sandwich up his sleeve - just like those bastards who created NAFTA, the UN and the dollar bill’s Masonic images. Why does this week make me crazy? I sat in meetings all day today thinking only about Texas being manhandled by Oklahoma’s O-line. I was a wreck. I am scared to death that OU played LSU in the national championship game in 2002 (and lost, which is the cool part) - which was coached by Will Muschamp. He is now the defensive coordinator for TEXAS!! I am not making this up, people! These stars aligning correctly mean the OU coaches know something we do not.

Freemasons run the country - we all know that. The Texas Revolution was really just an extension of York Rite Masons fighting their global battle with Scottish Rite Masons for dominance of the gold and other things. LSU beating OU in 2002 was just the first zephyr in the arctic that creates a wind pattern that creates a heat wave in Africa that creates a thunderstorm that creates a hurricane that floods a major southern city. Muschamp is compromised! Any idiot can see this. I am on my third bottle of Malox, and it is only Tuesday. Stoops has the “ever-seeing” eye. He is the Washington Monument, the Tri-Lateral Commission, Jaques Demolais (sp?), the Rothschilds, the Bushes, the Ewings, the Shrine Circus (his team discipline, hee hee) with those little cars, The New York Times, and the person who made Sarah Palin a VP choice all rolled into one.

I am a nervous wreck this week. I hate losing to the Sooners more than any fear of inflation. The DOW dropped 500 points today, who cares? Will Demarcus Granger and Gerald McCoy play? That’s what I want to know. I pray to all that is un-Mason (would that be the Knights of Columbus?) for them to both be on the bench a lot on Saturday.

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October 6, 2008 by pabernathey.

It is only Monday, and my stomach is in knots. This happens to me every week before the Longhorns play the Sooners. Why? Well, I am a little nervous before all Texas games (when you have watched them as long as I have, during the period that I have, you get let down a lot by Texas teams - 1983, all those losses to A&M, at Notre Dame in 1990s, Notre Dame at home in 1990s, 2001 versus OU, et al). So, I have a little bit of anxiousness everytime the Horns hit the field. Vince Young was my therapy. But he is gone. He leaves and Colt McCoy is lost at K-State (and Billy Pittman fumbles at the goal line against Ohio State). I could go on and on. I think I am too much of a Texas fan - I want them to win it all every year. It makes for an unhappy and unrealistic exisitence on game day.

Especially on Texas/OU game day. OU is good. They have been good. They have beaten Texas a lot over the last 11 years. I am crying as I type this. To have to praise Oklahoma is like saying nice things about the guy who got the promotion ahead of you. - “Yes, that Skippy is a real find.” - All said as you swallow the tooth powder that you ground down in mid sentence.

Anyhoo…I think Texas can win this game. Why? They have a few things going for them - which is nice.

1) Pass rush. Say what you want about OU’s O-line (it is big and good), but UT is using some speedy dudes this year. If you want to see the true battle of the game - look in the jumble of large men. This is where it is to be lost or won.

2) Smart safties. Youth will be negated by brains. Blake Gideon and Earl Thomas will rank up there with the Bradleys, Greys, Richards and Huffs of the UT world. Gideon is a smart dude. He also likes to hit people. He is consistent. Thomas is a hitter, and he will be in the right spots. Texas will not fall for a lot of long crap like Baylor or TCU.

3) No sell out to blitz. Texas can generate some rush on 50% of their plays with no blitz. If they can get that to 60%, the game is won. OU can beat a blitz - and they do it well. Texas’ linebackers are 100% better this year (and faster). If they are not blitzing, they should be able to cover the monster TE and others.

4) The offense won’t lose it for UT. They will do the work they need to do to score 24 points. A turnover by OU could push that to 31.

Now, if none of those things happen, then OU will roll. Yuck. Texas has had poor performance from the stable of running backs this season (Chris O shown some as a runner vs. Colorado). We need more sweeps, less zone read. It seems like McGee and Johnson just run up the back of their O-linemen. Hit a hole, you guys are good.

That’s it for this one. Visit www.caringseniorservice.com for a cool video.

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September 6, 2008 by pabernathey.

So, the Horns whipped Florida Atlantic last week 52-10 in Austin to start the season. No big surprise there, except that FAU won the Sun Belt (where my beloved North Texas Eagles play), and then beat Memphis in the New Orleans Bowl. So, FAU was not regular patsy like Louisiana-Lafayette, Temple, San Diego State or North Texas.

I actually went to the North Texas vs. FAU game last year in Denton. North Texas had ‘em beat but threw four INTs - two in the endzone. FAU got a nice TD bomb late to ice it.

I loved Cody Johnson. Some say he is a smarter Butch Hadnot. I watched Hadnot run through OU and Houston in 1990, then he and Gardere got shut down by Miami in the Cotton Bowl (I froze my ass off there that sad, sad day). I got the Cotton Bowl tickets from the head coach at Rice - but that is another story for another time. Anyhoo, back to Johnson. He looked good. McGee is nice, too. I like a good running game.

This week, the Horns go to El Paso to meet the Miners. I thought the Miners were going to have a nice season this year until they got bombed by - BUFFALO!?! Don’t be too down on the Bulls, they are coached by Turner Gil, and he learned how to win at Nebraska. But even is UT-El Paso were to have beaten Buffalo, they won’t get by UT-Austin. You know these are the only UT-system schools that play football? A&M has a lot of schools in its system that play football - A&M, Prairie View, A&M-Commerce, West Texas A&M, A&M-Kingsville, Tarleton State - but not UT. UT-Arlington used to play, and they have thought about bringing it back, but not any time soon. UT-San Antonio is thinking about adding football, but that is a long way off.

Anyhoo, back to UTEP vs. Texas. The Texas offense may score on every possession. I am not joking, people. I have been to the Cotton Bowl, many D-III games and assorted other college games (all divisions) and I can say without hyperbole that this will be 1000 times different. Texas will score at will on UTEP. Texas has the horses, and looks to have discipline to go along with good play calling (against sub-par teams). You cannot stop a good-executing team of studs, unless you have a bunch of good-executing group of studs.

Go Horns! UNT plays Tulsa at home. Ugh.

 Use Caring Senior Service for all your senior-care needs.

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August 7, 2008 by pabernathey.

The Longhorns started practice today. Woo hoo! All those people that think Blake Gideon should not be in the mix at safety because he is a true freshman, or because he is “slow” do not know jack about football. This kid is SMART-ASS-SMART, he is fast and big. He will knock your teeth out, too. He has forgotten more about football than most people on the chat boards will ever know - his dad is a coach and he reads the game very well.

That’s OK, though, the Internet is full of experts - including me.

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July 7, 2008 by pabernathey.

Well, I am still working on becoming rugby fit. Work at Caring Senior Service is as busy as ever, but I am forcing myself to workout.

I have almost gotten back to the strength I was in 2005 - bench 315, 12 pull ups - but nowhere near the conditioning - run 3 miles in 20 minutes. I cam running 3 miles again at each workout, so I think my base level will get where it needs to be soon. One thing I will do is to incorporate sprints in these workouts earlier than I used to.

I am not playing 7s this summer, as to save the body while I get it back in shape. I am 36, so I have some age-related issues that must be considered.

I am drinking Mona Vie like crazy as well. It has done a lot for me.

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June 28, 2008 by pabernathey.

Well, here is my official review.

One note: I used to wait religiously for this magazine to come out - as I am sure many others in Texas do. This year I really didn’t care. I almost waited until July to buy it, which would have been unheard of in the old days. I only picked it up because I was in Borders for something else and saw it.

Anyhoo, the magazine is good, but not as good as one would hope. I am a freak about college football, so I am always left wanting more. If I were to do a magazine, I am sure it would cost $50 because I crammed so much stuff in it. Yes, I know the Web has a lot of things - and I like that - but there is still something nice about sitting in a fortress of solitude and reading.

Texas is picked third in the Big 12 South. No argument from me there. They have a tough-ass schedule, and OU and Tech seem to be loaded. Crabtree at Tech is a beast. Everyone knows that. But, I am thinking there are some defnesive backs at Texas that may not be getting enough respect. Sure, the have yet to earn it, but they are talented, talented athletes. Texas’ DL needs some serious work, and if they can do anything, Texas will do better than expected. If their DL does nothing, it will be a long season.

North Texas should be improved. I did not renew my season tickets this year. I do not get up there enough, so I passed. Maybe next season.

As usual, the magazine does not do enough for me for D-II and D-III. Lots of high schools, but none of them really stand out. I guess UIW in San Antonio will be in it next year. What a silly move that will turn out to be.

Buy the magazine and let it stay in the bathroom on the back of the toilet. I devote my serious reading to the Economist, so Texas Football is a diversion now.

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