"I love the smell of Napalm in the morning...it smelled like... victory"-- Lt.Col. Kilgore (Robert Duvall) Apocalypse Now.

"I love the sound of a crowd roaring in the morning...it sounded like....victory" --me

When I attended the University of Texas at Austin a number of years ago, I had the privilege of living on campus in a dorm within the shadow of Royal-Memorial Stadium. There was nothing like the sound of a college football game day coming through my dorm window from down the street. I could hear more vehicles than usual occupying the streets, dropping off revelers, jockeying for parking spots. The sounds of vendors, of screaming, laughing kids, of whooping and hollering students, was like a mother's heartbeat to the college football soul. It was so awesome to be able to roll out of bed at 11:30am, shower, and walk less than a block into the stadium for game time.

One time I was sick on game day, so I stayed in and watched the game on TV. However, I kept my window open so I could hear 85,000 fans cheering and yelling a few seconds before the television would show me what they were cheering about. To hear a giant base of fans cheering, but not being there was like hearing a ghost whispering in the wind. It sent chills down my spine and raised goosebumps. This is one of the many great memories I have from my excellent time at UT.

It's a shame that many universities do not play home games at a campus stadium. A couple of obvious ones are USC and UCLA. I just feel like a college student loses a part of their college experience by not being able to walk the campus to their school's fighting grounds. Rather, like the rest of the world, they have to drive and fight traffic into a community stadium that isn't theirs.

I've grown up in Houston, and lived here ever since my college days were over in Austin. I remember back in the 80s when the University of Houston played its games in the Astrodome, rather than their own campus stadium, Robertson Field. Though it was a necessary accommodation to the growing fan-base that wanted to see the once successful Cougar football team, coached by Jack Pardee, and helmed at QB by Heismann winner, Andre Ware. In the end it alienated the student fan-base at UH. When the team sank back to the pits, or at best mediocrity, in the 90s and 2000s, the team moved back to its home stadium on campus, and the Astrodome is now an ancient relic of sports and architecture. However, when the team moved back to campus, there was no longer a student fan-base to cheer on the team. The off-campus move killed any interest students might have in their school's team, and turned the Cougars into a city's team. Well, just like professional sports, if you don't win, they won't come. And Houstonians haven't been coming in a good while. The athletic department at UH and the school in general lack the vast sum of funds for their operations that schools like UT, A&M, and Tech thrive on in the state of Texas. The school's national exposure as both a great academic institution and successful athletic program took terrible hits in budget when the cows came home. I feel this is a lesson to other major universities to take note. If you have the means to keeping your boys on campus on saturdays rather than taking them downtown, then do so for your students' sakes.

When I return to Austin and UT from time to time, seeing that old stadium is as much a part of the reminiscing as walking the magnolia lined malls of campus. I don't think I'd be as inclined to come back to the school for visits or lend my alumni support if it weren't for that old stadium. Many schools are cutting out this magical part of their alumni experience by moving off campus for game day. When I walk the street outside of my old dorm, I can still look up at my window, and remember the roar of the crowd and victory sounds. I look up and wonder if the boy in that room now appreciates the same beauty of a concrete monolith down the street.

Please share your stadium and campus experiences. Who's got the greatest on-campus stadium?

Quote of the Day: "You can take the 'horn out of the hood, but you can't take the hood out of the 'horn." -- Me



I'm probably gonna take a little race card grief on this blog, but hey, its blogging, not the Washington Post or even the Austin-American Statesman. And, I'm not a racist, but a realist. I call'em like I see'em. And of course perception can be wrong. So prove me wrong. I'm flexible.

Longhorn's Murderers Row:  Andre Jones, Tarell Brown, Tyrell Gatewood, Aaron Harris, Henry Melton, James Henry, Robert Joseph, and Sergio Kindle

I'm gonna come right out and say what 100% of white americans (and other races) are thinking and wish was loudly stated and declared.....

What is up with the black football players at the University of Texas? Did Mack Brown give out scholarships to whole posses of gangstas? Why is it that these football players cannot stay out of trouble and appreciate the golden opportunity life has presented them in going to The University completely free of charge???

I hear and read a lot of grief concerning Mack Brown recruiting thugs from the hood, and that the University should take more precautions about investigating these student athletes before they are given scholarships. The truth is that every university courting blue chip talent does extensive background checks on these kids and their families. The scholarships are just too limited and precious to chance on a problem-case. For every star invited to school, there are another 2 or 3 that are NOT invited even though they are possibly better athletes, but poorer students and characters. It's not that Mack has purposely recruited a slew of problem children, but the truth is more likely surrounded around the discipline process and student culture at UT as a whole.

The University (not Mack) needs to crack down harder on student life all-around. I remember how lax security was at UT when I went there 15 years ago, and I'm sure it hasn't gotten better. UT has turned into a commuter school with most of the student base living in apartments and off-campus housing. These students are free to smoke, drink, drug, party, and thug it up to their hearts' content as long as the problems aren't brought on campus. I have to admit that one of the nice things about UT is the liberality of the student culture. UT is about as liberal as you can get in the southern US. A cosmopolitan mish-mash of every race, creed, and culture imaginable. Students are free to practice their beliefs, religion, cultures, and lifestyles as long as it doesn't interfere with anyone else's. So, one could imagine that a student could get away with quite a lot of questionable behavior both on and off campus. Austin is also no longer a college town that coincidentally has the state capital in it. It's turned into a thriving small city with all of its wonderful trimmings, such as traffic, pollution, crime, big business, and crazy government. So, its no wonder incidents are on the rise at UT. It's a microcosm of the society around it. For every football player that has gotten in trouble these past months, there's probably been 100+ non-athletes that have gotten in trouble too. They just aren't in the limelight being regular schmoes who either get suspended or expelled without notoriety.

What I think the University and the NCAA in toto need to do is make student-athletes sign lawfully binding contracts for scholarships. Basically, a student is not given a scholarship as a freshman, but they don't have to pay boarding and tuition either. The costs are deferred until their sophomore year. If the student behaves, learns to be a young adult, and lives on campus in special athletic dorms, for their freshman year, then they have their freshman year costs written off to scholarship, and the student is given a full scholarship for the duration of their eligible years. If the student gets in trouble and fails to live up to his/her end of the bargain, then not only are they expelled from the school, but a contractual debt should be imposed upon them, subject to credit reporting and civil litigation.

Also, the University and NCAA as a whole need to stop treating athletes as cash cows. No matter how many commercials I see on TV during the halftime of a college sporting event, that shows academics above athletics, I just can't help but laugh at the millions of dollars the TV contract is making for the universities.

Now getting back to my original point about race in this equation. Granted that many of these black athletes come from broken homes, poor socio-economic backgrounds, and under-funded high schools that fail to nurture a positive human growth experience to these kids. I do not believe that a kid in the 2000's does not understand that possessing and doing drugs is wrong, bad, and illegal; that robbing people and kicking their heads in is not just illegal, but morally wrong. We know these kids understand these basic human rules. The problem is that they get caught up in gang and riot mentalities. That basically if one or two others are doing it, then I have to also, or else lose my street-cred. I think where the kids have grown warped in their sense of right and wrong is that they believe street-cred is more important than basic human rights of others and the laws of this land. A life of crime is considered a sign of manhood. Since a child and their family has no concept of being able to escape a poor lifestyle, then they accept the lifestyle that is glorified the most right in front of their eyes. So, the kids that are being invited to schools of higher education are entering an environment completely upside-down from what they know and have grown to accept. You combine this with godlike status athletes have on campus, and their sense of entitlement and immortality shoot through the roof. In an environment where they think the coach and university will bail them out of any dire situation, they feel like kids in a candy store. Able to take take take from the free system.

I think it's time universities, the NCAA, and society stops glorifying these amateur athletes and possible future millionaires, and treat them like any other student with the same sets of rules. Colleges are for education first. Anything extracurricular should be secondary.

There is certainly much much more I could go on about socio-economics, racism, inequality, capitalism, etc. However, my final word is that colleges and UT in particular, need to grab hold of the reigns and pull back. Don't let your world become like the NFL. One of my favorite things about college football is the notion that these kids are playing for free because they love the game. Under these circumstances you'll play all out. I saw several Longhorns get injured this past week, and at first it looked like bad ankle or knee injuries that would surely side-line the player for the rest of the game, if not the rest of the season. However, these kids were right back out there on the field within 10 minutes. They wanted to be out there, to be the best. They didn't get carted off to the trainers table to sit out several weeks with a splinter in their fingers like professional athletes tend to do with their guaranteed contracts. Let's clean up college sports in general. Get these kids on the right track to becoming well-rounded humans for when their sports days are over with.

WARNING!!! TRAP GAME ADVISORY!!!!

Yes, the 'horns definitely need to wake up and smell this coffee this morning.  There's a round table of Black Knights yearning to saw'em off.  This game is already lining up to be an upset special.

 Let's see what the Longhorns will have to overcome this week....

 1)  UT comes off an emotionally hard fought victory over TCU last week in Austin, and it's very easy to want to play down and relax for this week's little sister at UCF.  However, is UCF a little sister team this year?  They knocked off NC State last week, and they trot out the nation's leading rusher in Kevin Smith who ran for 200+ yards in Raleigh.   UCF may be the newest Florida school playing upwards to the big time.  Here's their chance against #6.  After the TCU win, let's hope the 'horns weren't expecting a vacation and shouting "I'm going to Disney World!!!"

2)  UCF is playing their opening game at their new stadium in Orlando, Bright House Networks Stadium.  The Knights will be pumped to win their inaugural game at home, and they're gonna bring it with emotion.  Let's hope the Longhorns haven't spent all week visiting other Orlando tourist attractions just to forget about this newest site seeing venture.

3)  Another week, another arrest.  How much will the drug possession arrest and suspension of Tyrell Gatewood affect the mental game as well as the defensive secondary of the 'horns?  UCF doesn't have much of a vertical passing game, but I'm testing that freshman safety for UT at least twice during the game.

4)  Travel woes.  The Longhorns had a tough time getting into Orlando this week, and may not have their travel legs back under them yet.  Nothing wears an athlete or any traveler more than a bad flight and airports.

5)  Looking ahead.  The 'horns are traditionally pretty good about NOT looking ahead to the annual OU game.  How many numerous times have both teams arrived undefeated?  However, with OU's 2 dominating performances in their first two games, and their subsequent leap frog of Texas in the polls and national respect, this could have the Longhorns looking a month ahead to Dallas.  BTW, Longhorns don't overlook Kansas St. before OU like you did them last year before A&M.

WHY THE UPSET WON'T HAPPEN:

1)  Road Warriors.  The Longhorns over the last 10 years under Mack Brown have been ludicrously dominant on the road.  I heard the numbers the other day and have forgotten them, but its something like only 4 road losses in 10 years.  Remember last year's UT-Nebraska game in Lincoln in the blustery conditions?  Mack Brown will not let the Longhorns get distracted for this UCF game.  They're gonna show up on the road, and have their best set of burnt orange jerseys on.

2)  Frank Okam and Derek Lokey.  These two guys basically account for 50% of the field when they're out there.  Nothing is gonna run by these two tackles in the middle.  Plus against a smaller offensive line of UCF could give them a field day in the back field.

3) Happy Feet.  After two games, Colt McCoy and Jamal Charles have finally shaken out the cobwebs and disciplined their happy feet into positive outcomes.  Look for more 15+ yard scampers by Charles, and one or two bombs from Colt to keep UCF off balance.

4) Too Much, Too Little.  As it says, the Longhorns have too much talent, too much size, too much speed, and UCF has too little of it.

 Expected Results:

Texas might start slow with a couple of 3-and-outs due to the amped up atmosphere at UCF and the pumping adrenaline on both sides.  However, the defense for UT will snuff any movement from UCF's ground game and force the Knights to throw the ball more.  UT will likely have at least once defense score off of interceptions.  After the defense asserts its dominance, the offense will be able to start clicking with great field position and big plays.  Also, don't forget about Texas' classically dominant special teams play.  A blocked punt or punt return for a TD is very likely due to UT's great speed.  UCF's RB Kevin Smith may get his 100 yards by obstinate play calling, but this would kill the Knight's overall game play.

FINAL:   UT  42   UCF 10


 

There's an old joke that folks around Texas use to tell, "How many Longhorns does it take to change a lightbulb? Answer: "10" : 1 to change the bulb, and 9 to sit around reminiscing about the good ole days."

That was the general attitude about Longhorn football for decades after Darryl Royal and the 'Horns won their last national championship in 1970. However, once Vince Young came around and helped UT to its first national championship in over 35 years, one would think that attitude would go away. Two years removed from UT's championship, we're already seeing the same attitude creep back into college football fans. The good ole days of Vince Young, and the 'horns can't win without Vince.

The idea that the Longhorns only beat USC because of Vince Young does have a measure of validity to it. However, the rest of that Longhorn team is grossly under appreciated. It's rare that a champion doesn't have at least one special star on it that leads them to the promised land. But, even rarer is the team that wins a championship strictly on the shoulders of a single player. The last time I looked, it wasn't Vince Young who stopped USC on 4th and 2 in the 4th Quarter. It wasn't Vince Young who had an incredible interception in the endzone. It wasn't Vince getting open and receiving his own passes for 15-20 yards on 3rd and very long to keep a drive alive. For all of Vince's fantastic skill and freakish abilities, he was just the crown jewel of a team that was already studly. The 2005 Longhorns had to live in the shadow of the unbeatable #1 Trojans all year long, and having been in that shadow caused many to not notice what a talented team was playing in Austin that year. If you dissected the 2005 Longhorns by the numbers, you'd see that Vince neither led college football nor the Big 12 in total yards, passing yards, efficiency, rushing, TDs, etc. However, what you would find is a team full of Longhorns that were scoring TDs in every way imaginable at a clip of 50+pts/game. Special teams, defense, and every skill player outside of Vince were routinely taking the pigskin to pay dirt. So, even though Vince was definitely the key catalyst to making the whole team work, he was not the lone, single reason for the Longhorns' success. So I wish people would stop saying how the 'horns and Mack Brown can only with Vince.

So, this leads me to my main point in all of this. The talent on this year's Longhorn team is every bit as good if not better than the 2005 team. I think this year's team is as good as any other team that stands a chance to go to the national championship game and win it. I think where the Longhorns might fall short this year is that 1) the Big 12 is stronger this year, 2) Gene Chizik is no longer the defensive coordinator, and 3) Greg Davis' play calling seems to get more conservative by the second. This team does not necessarily need a Vince Young type to win a championship, but it does need to gel better and quickly to win it all.

It's definitely true that every army needs a field general and every team needs a leader. I won't deny that the Longhorns may be in need of leadership like Young's. I think Colt McCoy could blossom into that kind of leader over the next few years, but I don't think he's quite there yet. I just don't want football critics continuing to say that UT only won because of Vince, and that they'll never be able to do it again until there's another Vince. This is absurd, because whether Vince had played for UT, USC, Army, or Rice, he'd still have been a freak of nature, and he was truly one of a kind freaky. The difference between Young's talent and Reggie Bush's talent was madein the performances of the teams as a whole. The teams determined the outcomes of the championship game. Does anyone ever say that USC will never win another championship because they no longer have Leinart or Bush? It's a new season with new teams. Maybe Vince's team would not be able to beat this year's USC team. Maybe this year's champion would not be able to beat Vince's 2005 team. Things just fall out strangely every year, but I'm usually always confident that the best team was eventually the champion.

I do happen to think that the 2005 USC Trojans were a more talented team than the Longhorns, but I think the Longhorns and Vince played the better game for the championship that year. And, that's the game that matters most. So maybe a more accurate description of Vince's importance to the Longhorns was in his ability to play up to the big games. Yes, the Longhorns will never have another Vince, but neither will anyone else really. Whatever championship the Longhorns win in the future will depend more upon the all-around performance of the team, and not just a single individual. However, I do think that 2005 team deserves more credit outside of just being the championship that Vince won. Look at the numbers for the 2005 TEAM through the season, and tell me that was all Vince.

No one loves Vince more than I, and I had the extreme pleasure of being at the Rose Bowl that wonderful evening (although I was in the opposite endzone of his winning run :-( ). However, I think it's time to move on, and be optimistic about the Longhorns who are playing now and for the future. UT's recruiting is top-notch as always, and UT is still winning 10+ games a year. Vince can join Earl and Ricky in the hall of greatness for UT, and will always be spoken in the same circles with them. Let's look forward to the next legend who will soon join their ranks, and hopefully bring another championship like Vince did.

(How many championships did Adrian Peterson win?) Hook'em!

As the famous song-writer wrote, "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste." OK, well maybe not wealth and taste, but I'm an orange-blooded Longhorn through and through. Being an alum I have the right to diss and dismiss my 'Horns as I like. I also don't mind taking criticism from fans of teams that are better than UT is at any particular moment, and fans who can make an intelligent argument. So USC fans like lisa4usc are allowed to pick me apart, while A&M and OU can keep their expected and typical comments and jealousies to themselves.

Now, to the story as titled...

I think after today's report that yet another UT football player had been busted for possession, that Austin can now be labeled as "America's Weed-Wagon". Just like the brethren up the road from Austin, in Dallas, earned the label of "America's Crack-Wagon" years ago during the infamous Michael Irvin drug days, UT and Austin have earned their horns as the newest butt of sports jokes.

It's really a shame to see Mack Brown have to go through these trying times as a coach. I think most people in Austin and across the country would think Mack is a decent man, if not decent coach. However, at a time when he should be worrying about his game plan for the OU game, he's instead having to constantly worry and handle discipline issues with his team for off the field issues. I wouldn't be surprised to see a serious smack-down by OU this year. I'm sure every head coach has to mess with knuck-heads all the time, but Mack is now in the middle of a national spotlight that will likely earn him a few jokes on Letterman and Leno soon. So I really feel for Mack and the general student population at UT that are having to wear the horns of shame now because of a handful of thugs.

This phenomena of crime amongst athletes seems to be on an alarming climb this year. However, I think its mostly perception. Off-the-field troubles are as old as sports itself. Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb were notorious off-the-field troublemakers, and caused their teams and team-owners much grief. UT and A&M athletes were frequent visitors of the infamous Chicken Ranch brothel back in the 40s and 50s (made famous by The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas). The problem in UT's case is that we're dealing with amateur athletes in a scholastic environment that expects higher degrees of behavior from its participants. In the old days, scandal and misbehavior would be swept under the rug with appropriate payouts and promises to local police chiefs and former alums in public offices. However, with the blossoming of the Internet and mass-media, every corner of society is under a microscope, and is given intense scrutiny to public opinion. As humans we have a habit of easily pointing the finger and criticizing others in order to divert any attention to our own wrongdoings. So its easy to complain and criticize about student-athletes in trouble at ever increasing rates because we learn about them more than we use to. How many visitors and commentators to this site have smoked weed or gotten a DUI in their time? Probably on-par with the same percentages of athletes who get in trouble. So, is the criticism fair? Absolutely, though it can be overblown at times. I don't think bonafide thugs should be granted scholarships because of their athletic ability that gets the university on national tv. I believe universities should be more scrutinizing in their evaluation of future scholarship hopefuls. As much so as the NFL is for future multi-million dollar draft choices. True, a few kids who have no records and shown no issues in the past will slip through the net, but I know many of these kids are known future felons who should be avoided like the plague, no matter what their premier athletic ability shows. Scholastic institutions should be that first and foremost. There should be no bending of ideals, morals, ethics, or practices to accomodate a student who gives the university a higher national profile. This is a long argument and debate that I could go on and on about; scholastics vs athletics. However, I want to conclude about America's Weed-Wagon.

Many people may not even remember the moniker of America's Crack-Wagon for Dallas, since that popped up more than 10 years ago (Americans have a short attention span, and are quick to forgive and forget). I can't even remember a reference recently concerning Miami's shameful brawl last season that brought back memories of Miami's "good ole days". So with our short attention spans and the likelyhood of another school getting into heaps of trouble (USC and the Bush fall-out?), Texas will soon slide by a few weed problems. Its unfortunate this year that as soon as a month passes, another UT player is getting in trouble again, thus keeping the story and problem alive month after month. So, in light of the plague of issues for UT this year, they rightfully earn the name of America's Weed-Wagon. I am so proud of them. There's no such thing as bad publicity. UT's name is out there again, if not for the right reasons.

UT alums, look at the bright side of things, at least we can't claim OJ, Michael Vick, or The Rock. When our drug problems are long and forgotten, USC, VT, and Miami will have to continue to live with (alleged) beheading, dog fighting, and bad movies.

Hook'em or Smoke'Em if you got'em!