And Casey Pachall's future at TCU is ...

TCU's spring semester begins on Monday, Jan. 14 and quarterback Casey Pachall is scheduled to be in class and is returning to the football team, head coach Gary Patterson told me today.

"He finished all of his in-patient work and has been in out-patient work up until Friday," Patterson said. "He did everything we wanted him to do."

Pachall has not been with the team since his DUI in early October, after which he disenrolled from school. He had been living in Austin with his sister as he attended both in and out-patient treatment.

Pachall is scheduled to be with the team when they meet this afternoon. There are also other issues to be addressed, namely the continued counseling Pachall is seeking; Patterson said Pachall will be assigned a sponsor as well.

Patterson said he does not know if Pachall will be his team's starting quarterback, but that he will begin offseason workouts and training with the team. Patterson said Pachall has not lifted weights or thrown a ball in several months.

"He looks great; it's like he looked when he was a freshman," Patterson said. "Right now we feel really good about this. It's never going to be 100 percent perfect but there is a chance we did the right thing and made a difference."

Patterson added: "You gotta understand, everybody is going to be watching on this."

I asked Patterson if he, or anyone at TCU, has made it clear to Pachall that they stuck their neck out for him and he needs to return the favor.

"He already knows that. He knew that the first time. He knows," Patterson said. "He met with Campus Life and one of the reasons I feel so good about this is because they feel so good about it. They feel very comfortable with it."

If this goes right, Pachall will be this team's starting quarterback in the fall of 2013. His return will dramatically improve this team's chances in their second year in the Big 12.

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Alabama at Texas A&M on Sept. 14 & other games we want to see

The 2012 college football season is over and the amateur Alabama Crimson Tide are yet again national champions with a win so boring over "No. 1" Notre Dame that most of us turned it off by the third quarter.

Cut to it - here are a a few of the area related games we can't wait to see in 2013: 

8/31 - TCU v. LSU, Cowboys Stadium. Whether this game is close depends if Casey Pachall is TCU's starting QB, and he has some line protection. If he's good, and TCU somehow wins, his draft stock should take off.

9/14 - Alabama at Texas A&M. Aggies handed Tide only loss in '12. The Aggies will be 2-0 and hosting the No. 1 Tide in what will be the biggest game in College Station in ... decades? This could be a No. 1 vs. No. 3.

9/28 - Oklahoma at Notre Dame. The Sooners lost at home against the Irish in '12 and with so much of ND returning another loss is likely for Stoops.

10/12 - Oklahoma v. Texas. This one Mack Brown can't afford to lose.

10/26 - Texas at TCU. Frogs won in Austin last year and Fort Worth will be primed for UT's first visit since the SWC days.

11/23 - Texas A&M at LSU. The Tigers play Alabama on Nov. 9 then have a bye before hosting the Aggies.

 

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The beauty that is Brittney Griner

FORT WORTH, Texas - The Google machine is a wonderful device to spread meanness as its vast empty space is the ideal location to spew hate with the luxury of hiding behind a fake name. Feelings be damned.

It's all "well and good" until you see the face of the person on the receiving end, in this case Baylor senior women's basketball player Brittney Griner. There has not been an athlete who has been on the receiving end of so much meanness in recent years as much as Griner, and it's all because she violates the unpardonable sin of not being hot.

There is not a bigger sin in sports a woman can commit than not looking like a cover candidate for Vogue. It's OK to be gay now, but for the love of God please be pretty.

Rather than offer some shallow judgement on her appearance just appreciate what she is - the best player her sport has ever had and an inspiration for tall young girls. She is, as TCU coach Jeff Mittie said, the "Wilt Chamberlain" of women's basketball, and worth the price to watch in person.

On Wednesday night in Fort Worth, Griner came to Fort Worth to play the Horned Frogs and I wanted to see what the fuss is all about with Brittney Griner. What I saw was a woman's basketball player who is not a man. Watching her play in person and then considering that idea is as preposterous as it is cruel.

If she just looked like Lisa Leslie, Cheryl Swoopes or Becky Hammon no one would be saying a thing other than commenting on her greatness. Swoopes was the most dominant player on her generation, and no one whispered about her gender.

The whole idea is just beyond mean.

What I saw was a young woman who very likely has been picked on for forever because of her height, and the resulting meanness has likely scarred her.

As to the name-calling and the meanness, Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said that has slowed down. 

"We've controlled it more. I've controlled it better as a coach," Mulkey said. "Any time I hear something as a coach I have made a committment that I'm going to stop the game. I'm going to call a time out, or get security. There is no place for that. It has gotten so much better."

Now in her fourth year at Baylor, Griner is used to this. All of it. Good or bad.

Griner is accustomed to the double and triple teams, as well as the thousands who show up consistently to see Baylor play specifically because of her. 

"I would say I'm kinda used to it," she said after Baylor defeated TCU on Wednesday night. "Sometimes I'm surprised a litlte bit. I just try to play as hard as I can and don't disappoint them."

She didn't; Griner dunked for the ninth time in her career on Wednesday night.

We have seen good and dominant women's basketball players before, but we have never seen a 6-foot-8, athletic woman who is blessed with good eye-hand coordination. That is what makes her so special.

"I never take that child for granted," Mulkey said. "I've never seen it before and I don't know if we'll ever see it again."

 

WATCH GRINER'S DUNK HERE - 

 

 

 

 

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Casey Pachall's return "not a done deal yet"

(I have no idea what I will possibly write about when this story is finished ...)

TCU's spring semester begins Jan. 14 and apparently Horned Frogs quarterback Casey Pachall is "working hard, continuing the process."

One person familiar with the situation said, "It's still a work in progress. It's not a done deal yet."

According to a pair of sources, Pachall is not back with the team as he has yet to finish the treatment program outlined for him after he left TCU in October. 

It does appear as if Pachall has done all nearly all of the required work in order to school and re-join the football team. 

There were a lot of false rumors that Pachall had returned to practice and even spoken to the team. That's not the case. He remains living away from Fort Worth with a family member where he attends an out-patient clinic.

Pachall has already begun the process of re-enrolling, but there are some remaining hoops to be cleared - namely, medical professionals conferring with the school about Pachall, and how head coach Gary Patterson wants to proceed, not to mention the shortest of short leashes that will be granted by the administration.

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What Tony Romo could learn from RG3

(Have to give this to Star-Telegram's Clarence E. Hill jr. (Twitter - @Clarencehilljr) for this one ...)

If you want to see the difference between Robert Griffin III and Tony Romo just look at their interceptions. The rookie season is when NFL quarterbacks enjoy a grace period of being able to toss picks right and left (Peyton threw 28 as a rookie; Elway had 14 against 7 TDs; Andrew Luck has 18). Even as a rookie, however, RGIII never throws interceptions.

He never has. He either runs, or eats it. He seldom forces the ball.

In 393 passing attempts this season with the Redskins, RGIII threw 20 TDs and was intercepted five times.

Now go back to his days at Baylor and RGIII never threw interceptions.
2008: - 15 TDs/3 interceptions in 267 attempts.
2009: - 4 TDs/0 interceptions in 69 attempts (injury cut short his season).
2010: - 22 TDs/8 interceptions in 454 attempts.
2011: - 37 TDs/6 interceptions in 402 attempts.

That is 98 TD passes and 22 interceptions in 1,585 attempts since 2008.

Tony Romo? Different story. The man is not afraid to throw the football on the football field, which at times has been a detriment to his team.

2000 Eastern Illinois - 27 TDs/12 interceptions in 278 atts.
2001 Eastern Illinois - 21 TDs/6 interceptions in 207 atts.
2002 Eastern Illinois - 34 TDs/16 interceptions in 407 atts.
2006 Cowboys - 19 TDs/13 interceptions in 337 atts.
2007 Cowboys - 36 TDs/19 interceptions in 520 atts.
2008 Cowboys - 26 TDs/14 interceptions in 450 atts.
2009 Cowboys - 26 TDs/9 interceptions in 550 atts.
2010 Cowboys - 11 TDs/7 interceptions in 213 atts.
2011 Cowboys - 31 TDs/10 interceptions in 522 atts.
2012 Cowboys - 28 TDs/19 interceptions in 648 atts.

The moral of the story - Don't throw interceptions. It can only hurt the ballclub.

 

 

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Texas Tech at TCU tops best games of 2012 in FW/d

The one thing we can never get enough of is lists. A list of our favorite songs. The best Nicholas Sparks novels. The top 10 Rocky movies.

The end of the year brings the trite, mail-it-end look back at the year that was. Because The Big Mac Blog loves cliches as much as the next, here is a look at the best games of the year. I tried to spread the wealth ...

1. Texas Tech 56, TCU 53 (3 ot); Oct. 20, 2012.
Hands down the most entertaining game of the Big 12 season. 
In TCU's first year of the Big 12, the Frogs led Tech by five in the fourth quarter before the Red Raiders rallied to take a 10-point lead with 4:06 remaining.
TCU managed to tie the game with 18 seconds lef that set up one of the more entertaining series of overtimes you could watch.

2. Cowboys 27, Steelers 24 (ot); Dec. 16, 2012.
Tony Romo played one of the best games of his career as the Cowboys rallied to win a game they trailed by seven points in the fourth quarter.
Romo passed for 341 yards and two touchdowns, one to the busted-fingered Dez Bryant.
The Steelers weren't as good as advertised but this was a highly entertaining game and offered the Cowboys at their best. 

3. Texas Rangers 11, LA Angels 10, (10 innings); Aug. 1, 2012
The Angels led 7-1 after four innings. The Rangers scored four in the fifth, and runs in the eighth and the ninth to send the game into extra innings. The Angels scored three times in the top of the 10th, but the Rangers scored four runs in the bottom of the inning, the final two on an Elvis Andrus single.

4. Texas Rangers 10, Baltimore Orioles 3; May 9, 2012
Josh Hamilton hit four home runs. 

5. DeSoto 49, Southlake Carroll 45; Dec. 8, 2012.
In the 5A quarterfinals, DeSoto trailed by 18 points in the first half before taking the lead. Carroll QB Kenny Hill was stopped on consecutive running plays from the 1-yard line, the final as time expired.  

6. TCU 20, Texas 13; Nov. 22, 2012.
Easily the biggest win of the year for TCU as the Frogs won on Thanksgiving night in Austin. The Frogs forced four turnovers, including the game-clinching pick by Sam Carter with less than two minutes remaining.

7. Oklahoma 63, Texas 21; Oct. 13, 2012.
The game was boring as hell but there was so much comedy and amazement to watch Bob Stoops' Sooners put yet another nasty beatdown on Mack Brown's Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl. It truly was watching a train wreck.

8. Dallas Mavericks 101, San Antonio Spurs 100 (ot); Jan. 29, 2012
This was before the Mavericks completely crashed in the playoffs and was Jason Terry at his best. He hit a 15-foot game-tying shot to tie the game with 1 second remaining and send the game into OT. Terry finished with 34 points.

9. Dallas Stars 3, Vancouver Canucks 2 (ot); Feb. 26, 2012
Before the Stars fell apart to miss the playoffs yet again, they rallied for this impressive win against a good Canucks team. The Stars were down 2-1 with less than one minute remaining before Mike Ribeiro scored to tie the game. In overtime, Loui Eriksson scored the game winner.

10. Cowboys 24, NY Giants 17; Sept. 5, 2012
In the NFL season opener, the Cowboys defeated the defending Super Bowl champions in what would be arguably their most complete win of the season.
Romo threw for 307 yards with three touchdowns; Kevin Ogletree caught eight passes for 114 yards with two TDs; DeMarco Murray rushed for 131 yards.

 

 

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How to fix the bowl season & do a playoff

A picture of the 2007 Liberty Bowl; plenty of good seats still available

We are still two years away from a four-team college football playoff that will be selected by a "committee" (wink-wink), and it should not be too much longer before this pool increases to eight and then 16.

This is how the NCAA tournament eventually expanded to 68 teams; it keeps growing because the need for more cash never ceases.

This bowl season will once again include tickets that schools and bowl games can't give away as well as a slate of mostly blah-games the powers that run college football would rather die than give up on a business plan that nets them so much money each year in personal incentives.

Using that reality, how are these bowl games going to remain remotely relevant if both attendance and TV ratings continue to decrease at such an alarming rate? 

Flip it.

It's complicated but the basic framework of college basketball can be applied to college football: Move the bowl season to September and start this playoff in December, or November.

The early-season schedule in college football has become over run with dogs as coaches do their best to schedule guaranteed wins. Since TV has most of the leverage, it can put the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl in September and suddenly a Washington vs. Boise State is a pretty attractive game. A Holiday Bowl between Baylor and UCLA is a very big, and relevant, game.

What we have now remains an exhibition schedule that allows countless teams to go home with a ribbon, free swag, and the coach and or AD with a giant bonus check.

How are teams eligible for these September bowls? Base it on the previous year's record, or something along those lines.

Games such as the Rose Bowl are one of the few bowl games guaranteed to draw good numbers.

You keep the biggest bowl games - Rose, Fiesta, Cotton, Orange, Sugar - for the playoffs.

By moving the bowl season to September you give fans and TV more meaningful games and give meaning to these "exhibition" games that right now fewer and fewer people are buying, either with their money or with their time.

 

 

 

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Red Raiders should embrace the Northwestern approach to its new coach

A few days after Tommy Tuberville spit on Texas Tech by leaving for Cincinnati and the Conference USA (aka the Big East) the Red Raiders may have solved their West Texas issues by hiring 14-year-old Kliff Kingsbury.

(BTW - The 14-year-old comment is a joke. He is a bit young.)

Great hire, provided he can bring Johnny Manziel, Luke Joekel and some of the other players who executed his offense at Texas A&M so well this season.

The good people at Texas Tech did not want to bring in someone who did not understand, or not like, the West Texas culture. It’s a good place, but it’s not for everybody. Tuberville was never crazy about the lifestyle out in the greater Lubbock, tri-state area.

Having played there in college, Kingsburgy (33) knows Texas Tech as well as any coaching candidate ever could. Now all he needs is time, which these days in college football is about five or six games before it's collectively decided he stinks. For instance, if the Red Raiders are 7-0 in Tech’s first five games (not a misprint), Kingsbury should be fine.

The Red Raiders need to use the same timeline that Northwestern used for Pat Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald was a linebacker for the Wildcats, and was given the head coaching job at Northwestern in the summer of 2006. He was just 31 when he received the promotion after the tragic death of coach Randy Walker.

Fitzgerald understood Northwestern, and its challenges.

In his first season NU was 4-8. Today the case can be made he is one of the best coaches in the Big 10. The Wildcats are 49-39 under Fitzgerald in seven seasons; they have reached five straight bowl games, and finished 9-3 this season.

NU had to give Fitzgerald time, and in showing some patience they have a coach who has a team with major recruiting disadvantages (i.e. academic entrance requirements) that competes in the Big 10 very well. By giving him a chance at such a young age and showing some patience they probably also have a coach who will stay with a coaching job most of his predecessors could not get out of fast enough.

Kingsbury is going to have something to work with because Tuberville and his staff had assembled some decent recruiting classes. But Kingsbury has never been a head coach before and he is going to need some time to get used to this gig.

By rolling the dice on someone so young, but someone who understands Texas Tech, the Red Raiders have someone who potentially could be there for a loooong time.

It would, however, really help if he could just bring Johnny Football with him.

 

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Why this Horned Frog & former Cowboy need to flee their present location

CINCINNATI, Ohio – For those of you who bag on Jerry Jones you really need to watch a game at Paul Brown Stadium for some proper perspective.

Jerry may not always do a lot of things that are consistent with the late Tom Landry; what the Bengals do these days is all but spit on the legacy of the late Paul Brown, whose influence on pro football is in the same neighborhood as Landry’s. 

It is why both former TCU quarterback Andy Dalton and Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer desperately need to get out of Cincy immediately.

Dalton has a chance to be a very nice NFL quarterback who wins a lot of games, but playing for this organization is going to run him into the ground.

I am not sure whether he is going to be a stud NFL QB. He does not have a huge arm. But much like his days at TCU, it does look like he is improving. 

What I do know is that his upside is going to limited as long as he plays in Cincinnati. The reasons why Carson Palmer would have rather retired than play for the Bengals still exist. Either way, Dalton figures to be in the league forever.

As for Zimmer, the man knows how to coach defense but it is going to be very hard – think impossible – for his work to be recognized as long as he is buried in Cincy. He and Rob Ryan are the longest-tenured coordinators who have never been given a chance to be a head coach.

Zimmer has interviewed for other jobs before but never been offered a head coaching NFL job, which is what he wants. As much as this defense has improved under Zimmer the team merely hovers around .500. Zimmer is worthy of a head coaching position, but selling his name may not be an easy sell to a fan base that wants to see the "hot coordinator".

The Bengals do nothing to help either of these guys.

Never have you seen so much apathy and resignation on the part of a fan base. You can be mad at Jerry, but he does care. The Bengals do not appear to care about the final score at all. The whole thing looks like they just shrug their shoulders at the sight of another loss. This organization is happy receiving their check and going home. 

It is sad to see a franchise that under Paul Brown went to two Super Bowls and had names such as Ken Anderson, Greg Cook, Isaac Curtis, Anthony Munoz, Ken Riley, etc. lounge in mediocrity. 

They may employ a lot of coaches and players who are professional, talented and try, but to ask Dalton and Zimmer to overcome this culture of apathy and indifference may be too much.

Get out if you can.

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Texas Tech needs to call Bobby Petrino or Butch Davis now

CINCINNATI, Ohio - Driving in and around The Queen City this morning it occured to me what a major slap in the face Tommy Tuberville just did to Texas Tech, to Lubbock and to all of Red Raider Nation.

Texas Tech gave the man a pretty good BCS caliber job and a ton of money when no other program would. Now he either figured he was this close to being fired, or he simply didn't like this job. Go with both.

His departure pretty much left everyone in Lubbock stunned. His arrival in Cincy was met with fanfare, and he said he is going to stay.

What a tremendous load of BS.

Tuberville never seemed like much of a fit for Red Raider nation, and despite some progress in the recruiting area it did not appear the Red Raiders were going to have one of those Mike Leach type of years under Tuberville.

This is such a slap to the entire program it's hard to fathom. TT left TT for an OK gig in whatever is left of The Big East. The facilities have been upgraded, but they're not like the ones he has in Texas. TT left to cash a fat check, and be comfortable for a program that is desperate to hang on to a winning head coach (the previous three all left for better jobs). 

Now is the time for Tech to make the right hire after the Leach fiasco.

The first call has to be to former Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino. That or former University of Miami, North Carolina and Browns head coach Butch Davis.

UPDATE: PETRINO IS GOING TO BE THE NEW COACH AT WESTERN KENTUCKY.

Both come with a loooot of baggage, but both would be eager to get back into the game and grateful for an opportunity like this.

Tech may not be Texas, but it sure as hell should be better than Cincinnati.

Petrino may be a such and such and a real you know what, but the man wins football games on the football field. His arrival to Lubbock would cause a major bump in the Big 12. Before his personal life became a national punchline and forced his departure from Arkansas, he made that program nationally relevant in the brutal SEC West.

He has reportedly been talking to Arkansas State. Tech has to get in on this fast before he takes that job.

Davis did well at Miami and North Carolina before the recruiting disaster with assistant John Blake forced his departure. He is an assistant with the Tampa Bay Bucs right now. He reportedly has said he does not want to be a candidate for the Florida International job.

Enough time  has passed since these guys left Tech can spin the "Learned his lesson, second chance" line the alumni base should buy it.

Neither of these guys is clean and there is a certain risk element attached to both, but the upside could be significant for a program that just had its pride stepped on.

 

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