On Broadway: The litmus test for 2015
After two weeks of Texas Tech football, I think most Red Raider fans have developed their own idea of what they believe this Red Raider football team is going to be in 2015. Shoot, even looking back to last season, you pretty much knew what they were after the sputter-fests that were Central Arkansas and UTEP. Penalties, turnovers, a lackluster passing game with big drops, and an inability to slow down any running game with any kind of a pulse. That was the picture painted after those two contest, and it was pretty dang accurate for the majority of 2014.
So, what's that picture look like in 2015 at the same point? I'd say this: An elite, explosive passing game with one of the best QB's in the conference, maybe in the country, reduced penalties, and a defense with the ability to generate turnovers, but they'll likely give up a good amount of yardage. That about sums it up, right?
But, at the same time, while the offense has set the world on fire and the defense has been able to grab key, momentum-shifting turnovers, everything else so far this year is a bit of a mystery. While we believe Tech has a pretty solid secondary, they haven't been tested yet in the least. We also don't know what this Red Raider running game is truly going to look like yet, as both opponents have decided to try and take it away so far.
That's where this upcoming three game stretch comes into play. Tech will play an Arkansas team that woodsheded them in the second half in Lubbock last fall, and then they'll take on the two top preseason teams in the conference right in a row. This is where Texas Tech is going to find out just how good they are in 2015.
If the Red Raiders take one of the three games, I think everyone is content, and you're on track for the 8-4 or 7-5 that we all talked about leading into the season. You win two of the three, and you feel pretty good about things. Winning three, well, we'll get to that later if it happens. Losing every single one of them, however, would likely be a bit of a disappointment after the start to the season, and I think some dread starts to creep back in.
So, this three game stretch is the true litmus test for Texas Tech's 2015 season. Time to find out.
Link Me, Bro
The extent of Jason Pierre-Paul's hand injury has finally been revealed in a photo , and I think it's going to be hard for him to rush the passer effectively with a mangled Chubbs Peterson club.
Grantland's Robert Mays asks the question: Is this the best rookie RB class in the NFL in years?
Sick of all the remakes that Hollywood is cranking out? Welp, this isn't for you then. Bryan Singer directing is a positive development, though.
You've probably heard about Austrailian rugby star Jarryd Hayne playing RB for San Francisco this fall. What you didn't hear is that his debut against Minnesota was pretty big Down Under.....bigger than the Super Bowl?!?!
In this week's edition of Florida Man: Florida Man is chased by police after....sniffing women's feet.
Power Rankings: Top Albums of 2015 So Far
With the current musical landscape, artists pretty much release an album about every year and a half now, if not sooner, as the atmosphere dictates that they simply need to in order to stay popular. There have been stinkers and diamonds as there are every single year, but here are my top five favorite albums so far this year as we head into October. Word of warning that this skews quite a bit toward the 18-30 demographic....
5.To Pimp A Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar: A really good album that takes a tour through the mind of Lamar, and how he feels about where he's at in life now that he's, according to most, THE name in rap music. So, what does he do now that he's on top, has everything he's ever wanted, and how does he feel about himself as a cultural icon? That's what the album tackles. It's a journey that can really only be truly enjoyed as a straight listen through of the entire album, but that's fine by me. Not as good as good Kid, mAAd City, but still a great album.
4. Carrie & Lowell - Sufjan Stevens : Sufjan can be an acquired taste at times, as he's gone through a few experimental stages that have turned some off. This album isn't that. Instead, it's a sad, thoughtful album that can really pull at your heartstrings and is an easy listen.
3. Wildheart - Miguel: He's been growing into one of the best R&B artists in the last decade, and with Wildheart, Miguel establishes himself into what I believe IS the greatest R&B artist out there right now. It's so popular in R&B right now to go full Weeknd, being all about drugs and negative imagery. Miguel is the counter to that, however, going all in on a great album about intimacy and the positive imagery in regards to love. It's also just a really, really well produced and put together album.
2. Compton: a soundtrack by Dr. Dre: Believe it or not, but the Doc has only released two of his own albums in his entire career. Pretty incredible to think about, especially when you consider just how his fingerprint is all over modern rap music, and he's as talented of a musician as there is today. Compton came out of nowhere, and I wasn't sure if he could still deliver the goods. Boy was I wrong. It's classic Dre, with crushing, thumping bass and sharp, aggressive, crisp beats. It's a great album that is a nice bow on top for one the best talents in modern history.
1. If You're Reading This It's Too Late - Drake: You can hate him or love him, but he's probably the greatest artist of his generation, and he hasn't been putting out anything but gold for more than half a decade. That continues with IFYRTITL, which goes a bit away from the traditional Drakeness of Drake for an edgier album that sounds more like a true rap album instead of his more R&B/Rap infused earlier albums like Nothing Was The Same or Take Care. Drake just pumps out catchy jams that you can't deny are well made.
Off The Reservation: The TV timeout crisis
I know many have taken note of it throughout the first few weeks of football this fall, and I've noticed it too: Television timeouts are getting way, way out of hand, to the point that it's really disrupting the flow of football games, both in college and the NFL. It's ridiculousness, and it frustrates me both as a fan when watching at home and as a writer when I'm in the pressbox covering games. It's killing the vibe and energy at stadiums throughout the country, but I think I have a solution worth taking a look at.
First, cut out the timeouts after kickoffs. That's plain stupid, so cut it out. Next, we're not going to have any commercials at all during individual quarters. That's right, you heard me. Instead, let's extend halftime by five minutes, and let's add 10 minute TV breaks between the 1st and 2nd quarters, 3rd and 4th quarters. This creates a much nicer rhythm to the game, and it lets both teams and their fans feed off the momentum in the stadiums. That's an extra 25 minutes where you can run as many ads as you want, DraftKings, though we all still hate you.
If advertisers still aren't happy about that, then let's start putting ads outside the edges of the playing field like they do at soccer games.
I think what I've come up with is a super easy fix that can please both parties. We get all the football we want without nearly as many intermittent, herky jerky interruptions, and all you greedy, bloodsucking companies get to barf your commercials at me.
McKay for President, 2024.
After two weeks of Texas Tech football, I think most Red Raider fans have developed their own idea of what they believe this Red Raider football team is going to be in 2015. Shoot, even looking back to last season, you pretty much knew what they were after the sputter-fests that were Central Arkansas and UTEP. Penalties, turnovers, a lackluster passing game with big drops, and an inability to slow down any running game with any kind of a pulse. That was the picture painted after those two contest, and it was pretty dang accurate for the majority of 2014.
So, what's that picture look like in 2015 at the same point? I'd say this: An elite, explosive passing game with one of the best QB's in the conference, maybe in the country, reduced penalties, and a defense with the ability to generate turnovers, but they'll likely give up a good amount of yardage. That about sums it up, right?
But, at the same time, while the offense has set the world on fire and the defense has been able to grab key, momentum-shifting turnovers, everything else so far this year is a bit of a mystery. While we believe Tech has a pretty solid secondary, they haven't been tested yet in the least. We also don't know what this Red Raider running game is truly going to look like yet, as both opponents have decided to try and take it away so far.
That's where this upcoming three game stretch comes into play. Tech will play an Arkansas team that woodsheded them in the second half in Lubbock last fall, and then they'll take on the two top preseason teams in the conference right in a row. This is where Texas Tech is going to find out just how good they are in 2015.
If the Red Raiders take one of the three games, I think everyone is content, and you're on track for the 8-4 or 7-5 that we all talked about leading into the season. You win two of the three, and you feel pretty good about things. Winning three, well, we'll get to that later if it happens. Losing every single one of them, however, would likely be a bit of a disappointment after the start to the season, and I think some dread starts to creep back in.
So, this three game stretch is the true litmus test for Texas Tech's 2015 season. Time to find out.
Link Me, Bro
The extent of Jason Pierre-Paul's hand injury has finally been revealed in a photo , and I think it's going to be hard for him to rush the passer effectively with a mangled Chubbs Peterson club.
Grantland's Robert Mays asks the question: Is this the best rookie RB class in the NFL in years?
Sick of all the remakes that Hollywood is cranking out? Welp, this isn't for you then. Bryan Singer directing is a positive development, though.
You've probably heard about Austrailian rugby star Jarryd Hayne playing RB for San Francisco this fall. What you didn't hear is that his debut against Minnesota was pretty big Down Under.....bigger than the Super Bowl?!?!
In this week's edition of Florida Man: Florida Man is chased by police after....sniffing women's feet.
Power Rankings: Top Albums of 2015 So Far
With the current musical landscape, artists pretty much release an album about every year and a half now, if not sooner, as the atmosphere dictates that they simply need to in order to stay popular. There have been stinkers and diamonds as there are every single year, but here are my top five favorite albums so far this year as we head into October. Word of warning that this skews quite a bit toward the 18-30 demographic....
5.To Pimp A Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar: A really good album that takes a tour through the mind of Lamar, and how he feels about where he's at in life now that he's, according to most, THE name in rap music. So, what does he do now that he's on top, has everything he's ever wanted, and how does he feel about himself as a cultural icon? That's what the album tackles. It's a journey that can really only be truly enjoyed as a straight listen through of the entire album, but that's fine by me. Not as good as good Kid, mAAd City, but still a great album.
4. Carrie & Lowell - Sufjan Stevens : Sufjan can be an acquired taste at times, as he's gone through a few experimental stages that have turned some off. This album isn't that. Instead, it's a sad, thoughtful album that can really pull at your heartstrings and is an easy listen.
3. Wildheart - Miguel: He's been growing into one of the best R&B artists in the last decade, and with Wildheart, Miguel establishes himself into what I believe IS the greatest R&B artist out there right now. It's so popular in R&B right now to go full Weeknd, being all about drugs and negative imagery. Miguel is the counter to that, however, going all in on a great album about intimacy and the positive imagery in regards to love. It's also just a really, really well produced and put together album.
2. Compton: a soundtrack by Dr. Dre: Believe it or not, but the Doc has only released two of his own albums in his entire career. Pretty incredible to think about, especially when you consider just how his fingerprint is all over modern rap music, and he's as talented of a musician as there is today. Compton came out of nowhere, and I wasn't sure if he could still deliver the goods. Boy was I wrong. It's classic Dre, with crushing, thumping bass and sharp, aggressive, crisp beats. It's a great album that is a nice bow on top for one the best talents in modern history.
1. If You're Reading This It's Too Late - Drake: You can hate him or love him, but he's probably the greatest artist of his generation, and he hasn't been putting out anything but gold for more than half a decade. That continues with IFYRTITL, which goes a bit away from the traditional Drakeness of Drake for an edgier album that sounds more like a true rap album instead of his more R&B/Rap infused earlier albums like Nothing Was The Same or Take Care. Drake just pumps out catchy jams that you can't deny are well made.
Off The Reservation: The TV timeout crisis
I know many have taken note of it throughout the first few weeks of football this fall, and I've noticed it too: Television timeouts are getting way, way out of hand, to the point that it's really disrupting the flow of football games, both in college and the NFL. It's ridiculousness, and it frustrates me both as a fan when watching at home and as a writer when I'm in the pressbox covering games. It's killing the vibe and energy at stadiums throughout the country, but I think I have a solution worth taking a look at.
First, cut out the timeouts after kickoffs. That's plain stupid, so cut it out. Next, we're not going to have any commercials at all during individual quarters. That's right, you heard me. Instead, let's extend halftime by five minutes, and let's add 10 minute TV breaks between the 1st and 2nd quarters, 3rd and 4th quarters. This creates a much nicer rhythm to the game, and it lets both teams and their fans feed off the momentum in the stadiums. That's an extra 25 minutes where you can run as many ads as you want, DraftKings, though we all still hate you.
If advertisers still aren't happy about that, then let's start putting ads outside the edges of the playing field like they do at soccer games.
I think what I've come up with is a super easy fix that can please both parties. We get all the football we want without nearly as many intermittent, herky jerky interruptions, and all you greedy, bloodsucking companies get to barf your commercials at me.
McKay for President, 2024.
