On Broadway: Media Days, the final milestone
Every year, once June 1st or so rolls around, I really begin to try and start looking across the college landscape to get a feel for the upcoming football season. Like many of you, I read my fair share of preseason magazines, articles, projected depth charts, begin to form opinions on how I believe various conferences will shake out, and really get a good idea of who the great teams are across the college landscape.
But, it's all really just up-in-the-air conjecture until media days roll around. SEC Media Days kicked things off earlier this week, and the Big 12 will gather their schools and the throngs of media in DFW next Monday. That's when things begin to feel real. There's weight to things once the coaches step up to the podium to discuss their upcoming season, when their players can share their opinions on summer workouts and their expectations for the games to come.
Big 12 Media Days are the final milestone towards the college football season, and while there still may be more than a month left until foot meets leather, you can feel the stick shift out of park and at least into neutral, movement and all.
So, with that being said, I think I already have a firm grasp on what this Texas Tech team is going into the season. Things change with injuries, players stepping up, others slipping back, but going into the year, I think I understand the identity of this team.
First, it's loaded with seniors in the starting lineup, which I've pointed out in my column before. It's a group of seniors that have been through quite a few ups and downs, and they've started a big number of games together. DeAndre Washington, Le'Raven Clark, Pete Robertson, Micah Awe, Jared Kaster, Alfredo Morales, and Branden Jackson have been mainstays for Red Raider football for years, and it's a group that I believe has developed into a good conglomerate of leaders, both vocally and by example.
And because of that, I think they've helped the coaching staff create a group that's hungry. It's a group that wants nothing to do with what happened last fall, and they've tried their best to make sure the rest of the team understands the same.
I don't know how good the defense will be, I don't know if the wide receiving corps will be markedly better, and I don't know if either Pat Mahomes or Davis Webb will ultimately be the starting quarterback that Tech needs. But I do know the mindset, attitude, and offseason work ethic of this coaching staff and the elder players helping them try to make a big push in 2015. There's even a good group of young leaders like Ian Sadler, Tevin Madison, and Mahomes, something that will really pay off down the road.
Because of that, I think this is a team that's going to surprise quite a few people and sneak up on a few teams early on. I'm not saying they're going to beat TCU, Baylor, and Arkansas out of the gate. But, I do think they'll come out firing on many more cylinders than they did throughout the early aughts of 2014, giving themselves a fighting chance against the Bears, Frogs, and Razorbacks.
It's almost time to see if my prediction holds weight.
Link Me, Bro
Reports are now surfacing that Colin Cowherd will be leaving ESPN, and his likely destination is Fox Sports
The Emmy nominations are out, and Grantland's Andy Greenwald takes a closer look
The media campaign for X Men: Apocalypse is starting to heat up, including new images of the young (really young), new actors playing Cyclops, Jean Gray, and more
Ronda Rousey put Floyd Mayweather on blast, and everyone in America with a conscience cheered
In this week's edition of Florida Man, Florida Man goes about has Florida Man as you can
Power Rankings: Soft Drinks
While in the last few years - like most people - have made a big, big cutback on the number of soft drinks I consume on a weekly basis, I still have my favorite go-tos that I'll indulge in when I get a really, really bad sweet tooth. Here are my top five.
5. A&W Root Beer - Not from the can or bottle, from the tap at an actual A&W. It's getting really, really hard to find these days, but if I run across it, I'll usually go all in.
4. Coke - Yep, just good ole coke. Not much to explain here, as it's basically the golden standard. I've also been known to pull the ole peanuts-in-my-coke trick on occasion.
3. Canada Dry - Yall might call me crazy, but a good and crisp Canada Dry is real hard to beat.
2. Dublin Dr. Pepper - While I enjoy regular Dr. Pepper, this is the real deal right here. It makes me even more sad that they had to go and ruin a good thing by discontinuing it. That was a depressing day.
1. Monster - Yep, threw you a curve ball and went with the energy drink. I'm a fiend for super sweet stuff, and the classic green Monster hits the spot for me. I essentially stopped drinking them so my heart won't explode before 30, but they got me through many a long night in college when I decided it was a solid time to study for three weeks worth of material the day before a big test. Good times!
Off The Reservation: Auto Repairs are the pits
So about a month or so ago, I got into a bit of a fender bender. I had to get the back bumper on my truck replaced and a few dings pulled out, so with the last two weeks essentially being the slowest time on our media calendar, I figured it would be a great time for me to take it in and get things fixed. I arranged the details with the repair shop, and I took it in last Thursday with an estimated three to four business day time frame to get things fixed. So, easy enough, right? I went and bought what I figured would be enough groceries to last me so I could just work at home and get a ride from a buddy if need be. Also, this makes more sense if you know I'm 24, so renting a car is still a bag hassle and much more expensive, so I avoided it.
Long story short, I just got my truck back today, this afternoon, which is Thursday, meaning it was in the shop for a good seven full work days. I was pretty humbled throughout this endeavor, as I went a full week without a ride, and seeing as I live by myself, I was essentially on an island for the whole period. And let me tell you, it was the longest week of my life. Sure, living somewhere like DFW, LA, or New York you can pretty much get by without a car if you live in the right spots. But in Lubbock, it's basically Uber or nothing.
My apartment became my Cave of Sadness for a week. And it was maddening not being able to just go do anything in quick order. But hey, I learned a valuable lesson of appreciating what I have, and it paid off a bit too, as I ended up getting a little bit of a refund back for some spending money in the whole ordeal, and I lost eight pounds since I essentially ran out of food on Tuesday and was scrapping together whatever I could or going to eat with a friend when they had time.
So yes, I'm ecstatic today to have a set of wheels again.
Every year, once June 1st or so rolls around, I really begin to try and start looking across the college landscape to get a feel for the upcoming football season. Like many of you, I read my fair share of preseason magazines, articles, projected depth charts, begin to form opinions on how I believe various conferences will shake out, and really get a good idea of who the great teams are across the college landscape.
But, it's all really just up-in-the-air conjecture until media days roll around. SEC Media Days kicked things off earlier this week, and the Big 12 will gather their schools and the throngs of media in DFW next Monday. That's when things begin to feel real. There's weight to things once the coaches step up to the podium to discuss their upcoming season, when their players can share their opinions on summer workouts and their expectations for the games to come.
Big 12 Media Days are the final milestone towards the college football season, and while there still may be more than a month left until foot meets leather, you can feel the stick shift out of park and at least into neutral, movement and all.
So, with that being said, I think I already have a firm grasp on what this Texas Tech team is going into the season. Things change with injuries, players stepping up, others slipping back, but going into the year, I think I understand the identity of this team.
First, it's loaded with seniors in the starting lineup, which I've pointed out in my column before. It's a group of seniors that have been through quite a few ups and downs, and they've started a big number of games together. DeAndre Washington, Le'Raven Clark, Pete Robertson, Micah Awe, Jared Kaster, Alfredo Morales, and Branden Jackson have been mainstays for Red Raider football for years, and it's a group that I believe has developed into a good conglomerate of leaders, both vocally and by example.
And because of that, I think they've helped the coaching staff create a group that's hungry. It's a group that wants nothing to do with what happened last fall, and they've tried their best to make sure the rest of the team understands the same.
I don't know how good the defense will be, I don't know if the wide receiving corps will be markedly better, and I don't know if either Pat Mahomes or Davis Webb will ultimately be the starting quarterback that Tech needs. But I do know the mindset, attitude, and offseason work ethic of this coaching staff and the elder players helping them try to make a big push in 2015. There's even a good group of young leaders like Ian Sadler, Tevin Madison, and Mahomes, something that will really pay off down the road.
Because of that, I think this is a team that's going to surprise quite a few people and sneak up on a few teams early on. I'm not saying they're going to beat TCU, Baylor, and Arkansas out of the gate. But, I do think they'll come out firing on many more cylinders than they did throughout the early aughts of 2014, giving themselves a fighting chance against the Bears, Frogs, and Razorbacks.
It's almost time to see if my prediction holds weight.
Link Me, Bro
Reports are now surfacing that Colin Cowherd will be leaving ESPN, and his likely destination is Fox Sports
The Emmy nominations are out, and Grantland's Andy Greenwald takes a closer look
The media campaign for X Men: Apocalypse is starting to heat up, including new images of the young (really young), new actors playing Cyclops, Jean Gray, and more
Ronda Rousey put Floyd Mayweather on blast, and everyone in America with a conscience cheered
In this week's edition of Florida Man, Florida Man goes about has Florida Man as you can
Power Rankings: Soft Drinks
While in the last few years - like most people - have made a big, big cutback on the number of soft drinks I consume on a weekly basis, I still have my favorite go-tos that I'll indulge in when I get a really, really bad sweet tooth. Here are my top five.
5. A&W Root Beer - Not from the can or bottle, from the tap at an actual A&W. It's getting really, really hard to find these days, but if I run across it, I'll usually go all in.
4. Coke - Yep, just good ole coke. Not much to explain here, as it's basically the golden standard. I've also been known to pull the ole peanuts-in-my-coke trick on occasion.
3. Canada Dry - Yall might call me crazy, but a good and crisp Canada Dry is real hard to beat.
2. Dublin Dr. Pepper - While I enjoy regular Dr. Pepper, this is the real deal right here. It makes me even more sad that they had to go and ruin a good thing by discontinuing it. That was a depressing day.
1. Monster - Yep, threw you a curve ball and went with the energy drink. I'm a fiend for super sweet stuff, and the classic green Monster hits the spot for me. I essentially stopped drinking them so my heart won't explode before 30, but they got me through many a long night in college when I decided it was a solid time to study for three weeks worth of material the day before a big test. Good times!
Off The Reservation: Auto Repairs are the pits
So about a month or so ago, I got into a bit of a fender bender. I had to get the back bumper on my truck replaced and a few dings pulled out, so with the last two weeks essentially being the slowest time on our media calendar, I figured it would be a great time for me to take it in and get things fixed. I arranged the details with the repair shop, and I took it in last Thursday with an estimated three to four business day time frame to get things fixed. So, easy enough, right? I went and bought what I figured would be enough groceries to last me so I could just work at home and get a ride from a buddy if need be. Also, this makes more sense if you know I'm 24, so renting a car is still a bag hassle and much more expensive, so I avoided it.
Long story short, I just got my truck back today, this afternoon, which is Thursday, meaning it was in the shop for a good seven full work days. I was pretty humbled throughout this endeavor, as I went a full week without a ride, and seeing as I live by myself, I was essentially on an island for the whole period. And let me tell you, it was the longest week of my life. Sure, living somewhere like DFW, LA, or New York you can pretty much get by without a car if you live in the right spots. But in Lubbock, it's basically Uber or nothing.
My apartment became my Cave of Sadness for a week. And it was maddening not being able to just go do anything in quick order. But hey, I learned a valuable lesson of appreciating what I have, and it paid off a bit too, as I ended up getting a little bit of a refund back for some spending money in the whole ordeal, and I lost eight pounds since I essentially ran out of food on Tuesday and was scrapping together whatever I could or going to eat with a friend when they had time.
So yes, I'm ecstatic today to have a set of wheels again.
