Good news for North Texas football coach

This has not been the easiest last year or so for North Texas head football coach Dan McCarney. The man deserves a break.

He suffered a stroke last year, and now recently was in the hospital for another surgery.

North Texas said that McCarney had successful surgery last Friday, and is OK. A source said this procedure has nothing to do with the stroke and that McCarney, 59, is fine and back to work. McCarney does not want to be specific about the procedure.

McCarney not being able to work would be a hard blow for a program that recently opened a new stadium, and was enjoying a little bit of momentum after two seasons with the former Iowa State head coach running things in Denton.

He inherited a team that wasn't exactly loaded, and is 9-15 in his two seasons at UNT. The Mean Green were 4-4 in the Sun Belt in his first season, and 3-5 last year. 

This has the makings to be a winning season for UNT. God knows McCarney could use it.

 

 

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The one thing Jerry Jones has made good on

Jerry Jones may not be able to deliver a Super Bowl in the next 50 lifetimes, but the man can deliver others things as promised.

The crooks that run college football have not only decided on a College Football Playoff but that the first title game in the "playoff era" will be at Cowboys Stadium. The game will be Jan. 12 2015.

The Cotton Bowl will also be a part of the rotation for the semifinal games as well with the other rich-kid bowls such as the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange, and Chick-fil-A.

(BTW - Hats off to the people that devised this playoff to name it just that - College Football Playoff. This name is not some post-modernistic art of simplicity. By not including tag 'NCAA' or anything else it can easily sell the naming rights to a corporate sponsor without having to share a dime with the organization based in Indianapolis.)

Now let's just hope that Fort Worth/dallas is not buried in snow and ice the way this region was when the Super Bowl came to town in 2011. While we're at it, let's hope that every paying customer actually has a seat to sit in to watch the game. And that nobody dies, either.

This will essentially give the people at Cowboys Stadium, and North Texas organizers, the chance to correct the many screwups that happened when the Super Bowl came to town. By the time the Unnamed Corporate Sponsor College Football Playoff Title game comes to Cowboys Stadium it will have hosted a Super Bowl, NBA All-Star game, NCAA Final Four, Cotton Bowls, among many others high-profile events.

All of these have gone well with the exception of that one Super Bowl, which was a horror show for event planners.

North Texas is not on the schedule to host another Super Bowl. Those already in the books are:
2014: New York/New Jersey
2015: Phoenix

The Super Bowl in 2016 will be the 50th, and that will likely be in an area that has a tradition of hosting the big game at the end. Think South Florida.

If the College Football Playoff title game goes well, enough time will have passed since that fiasco in '11 that Jerry should enough street cred' to host the Super Bowl again.

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Casey Pachall better be TCU's starting QB

Had a good laugh at the Tweet by Fort Worth Star-Telegram TCU beat writer Stefan Stevenson; he said he would cover TCU's game against LSU naked if Casey Pachall isn't the starting quarterback.

Stefan (pictured) should do it anyway, just to liven up a dull pressbox.

Simple nudity by a beat writer ain't enough - if Casey Pachall is in good standing with the team and he is not the starting quarterback for TCU against LSU on 8/31 at Cowboys Stadium the head coach should be fired and replaced by Pat Sullivan.

All of this talk about the quarterback race between Casey Pachall and Trevone Boykin being tight is laughably stupid. Either that or Casey Pachall is suddenly terrible (he isn't), or Trevone is suddenly Dan Marino (he isn't).

On a conference call with Big 12 head coaches today, TCU head coach Gary Patterson said he will likely name the starting QB during two-a-day practices. He was not laughing when he said this.

"That race with the quarterback is very close. One beats you with his arm and one beats you with his legs," Patterson said.

If Casey Pachall didn't think he was going to be the starter he should have transferred to another school where he could start 11 or 12 games. He needs to play to have any shot at a real pro career.

"He's a little rough around the edges," GP said today of Pachall. "He always had a Josh Boyce as a go-to guy and he's not there. And establishing who he is throwing to and what he is doing and getting him more familiar with the young receivers on the team."

While there is not a soul around TCU's program who is not grateful for what Boykin did last season, and believes that he will be an effective QB, no one says he is better than Pachall. The QB who can beat you with his legs averaged 3.3 yards per carry last season; of note, the stats do not include how many sacks he avoided.

Pachall can make throws to places Boykin simply never demonstrated he could. Boykin never gained the trust of his head coach to make throws into crowded areas. 

That said, there is a level of expecation surrounding Pachall's return that may not be quite warranted.

As good as he is, he has not faced the level of competition that Boykin has. The only Big 12 team Pachall faced was Kansas, which is in the conference because of its basketball program. The only teams Boykin has faced are big ones.

Pachall hasn't done it against the "big people" yet. The safe bet is that he can, and the sure money is that he will be starting against LSU. If not, Stefan is going to be naked in the Cowboys press box and the head coach should be fired.

 

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Bill Snyder drops the truth about college football

Kansas State head football coach Bill Snyder will forever retire the Boring Interview award, but perhaps in his advancing age he is less afraid to state his own opinion. Bravo.

In an interview with 610 Sports Radio KCSP, Snyder went off on the state of college football that it has become a giant money grab that has altered the priorities of what a university should stand for.

Snyder said: "I can only speak personally. I'm grossly overpaid for what I do. That's part of what creates the issue."

No one is disagreeing with Snyder, but who is going to stop this giant gravy train of cash? The coaches? No. The agents? Hell no.

Snyder is 73, and recently signed a five-year deal worth $14.75 million. I wonder if he said, "Heeeeeey, no thanks."

Snyder continued: "I think it's in a bad place right now. It's in a bad place for a variety of reasons. We've allowed it to become money driven. We've allowed it to become TV driven. We've allowed athletic programs or football programs to mean more to a university than what the university is really supposed to be all about.

“The last I heard, we were educational institutions. Certainly there is an education that takes place in football, and I understand all the parameters. But it's not driven by values; it's driven by dollars and cents."

All of the above is accurate.

When schools realized a visible football and men's basketball team could be major revenue producers and beacons for donations is when the model dramatically changed. It has since become a race between coaches inside their own programs for "we need this and we need that" and the spending is non stop. These things need money. This means school officials have to beg donors, or agree to whatever TV wants to cover costs, which also include coaches' salaries.

What will change this reality Snyder did not say.

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Oklahoma State wins 2014 Big 12 men's basketball title

Kansas', or Baylor's, chances of winning the Big 12 in men's basketball next season just took a massive hit as Oklahoma State freshman guard Marcus Smart will reportedly return for a second season in Stillwater.

Smart was the Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Year.

Somewhere Oklahoma State University team owner T. Boone Pickens has to be smiling. Kansas' run of Big 12 titles, which stands at nine consecutive, should be over.

Smart was expected to be top five pick in the 2013 NBA draft had he elected to enter. This is a major coup for Okie State and coach Travis Ford, and for college basketball. Not many guys of Smart's caliber stick around for two years.

He is by far the best player returning to the Big 12 next season. The 6-foot-4, 225 pound freshman from Flower Mound led the team in scoring with 15.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He set a conference freshman record for steals with 99.

The two things he needs to clean up: 3 point shooting (38-for-131) and ballhandling (139 assists to 111 turnovers).

Oklahoma State finished third in the Big 12 last season and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament against Oregon. This should be a Sweet 16 team next season, at least.

Along with Smart, Okie State should return Markel Brown (All-Big 12 second team), Le'Bryan Nash (All-Big 12 third team), Michael Cobbins (honorable mention) and Phil Forte (team record for 3s by a freshman).

If this team does not win this conference, T. Boone will not be pleased.

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Why the Mavericks should sign Brittney Griner

This lost season for the Dallas Mavericks continues to be more about gimmicks, and eighth place, than basketball.

The push for .500 and the chance to shave their beards, and now the owner is contemplating adding a girl to his team.

Mark Cuban said he would consider drafting Baylor center Brittney Griner, which is another gimick but clearly the Mavs owner grasps the concept of professional sports as well as Jerry Jones or anyone else - it's entertainment dressed as sport.

And a "Dallas Mavericks 42 Griner" jersey will be far more profitable than a "Dallas Mavericks 42 Brand" jersey. 

Adding Griner would be for discussion, which is why Cuban should do it. Let's see what arguably the best woman's player of this decade can do against guys. Even in a practice or two.

Maybe she will suck. Maybe she can hang. We didn't know what Annika Sorenstam could do until she played at the Colonial in 2003 and failed to make the cut. She didn't embarrass herself. She beat a few guys.

People were upset because adding Sorenstam threatened the integrity of the game. Don't waste your time with that 1950's idealism crap - the integrity of the game is rooted in selling tickets, creating an interest, moving merchandise The real integrity of the game is business.

There is no need to waste a draft pick on Griner, but sign her to a rookie contract and give her a tryout in the summer. She what she can do. Griner has likely played against guys her whole life, so she would at least be used to it on some level.

At 6-foot-8, 207 pounds Griner's physical stature matches some college prospects. Georgetown forward Otto Porter, who is projected as a lottery pick, is 6-8, 205.

The problem, of course, she does not have a forward's game. She has a center's game, and no 6-foot-8 player in the NBA is a center. The other problem is the size of the ball; it's one thing for Griner to dunk with a woman's regulation-sized basketball; can she it do the same with a larger basketball?

And it would appear the coordination, and strength, to put the ball on the floor and hit 15-foot shots against bigger, athletic bodies isn't there.

Or we don't think it's there.

Let's find out.

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TCU will be representing at the Final Four

TCU senior forward Garlon Green is probably not the best dunker in his family, but he will be representing the Green household next week in Atlanta at the Final Four festivities.

Green has been invited to participate in the NCAA Slam Dunk competition. The event also includes and men's and women's 3-point shooting competition.

Garlon will be doing this just a short while after his older brother Gerald, who plays for the Indiana Pacers, participated in the NBA Slam Dunk competition during All-Star weekend in Houston.

"I really had no idea until (TCU men's basketball media relations director Andy Anderson) called and told me they asked me," Garlon said in a short phone interview. "I really didn't expect it. I didn't have a lot of dunks this season compared to last year because our style of offense changed."

It's nice to see a guy who maybe didn't have the world's most celebrated career get a chance to do something fun as a senior such as this.

Green, 6-7, does not have the hops of his older brother, but he can fly when given the proper amount of room.

He said he has talked to Gerald about what to do, and has a few ideas of what he may try when the competition starts.

"We talk every day. He's my best friend," Green said. "I have some ideas. I'm not going to give anything away, though."

The competition will be at 6 p.m. CT at Georgia Tech. Click here to check out the field and his opponents.

 

 

 

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A former Texas player nails the Longhorns' second biggest problem

AUSTIN, Texas - Alex Okafor has more important things to worry about than Texas Longhorns' spring ball, and he is not about to trash a program that he obviously so dearly loves, but the man has some honest insight into what troubles his college team.

On Tuesday at UT's Pro Day, Okafor worked out for the various NFL teams who made the trip. After his workout, he spoke about playing for UT and admitted there is some stress that comes with playing for a college program that has such high expectations, and has failed to live up to them for the past few seasons.

"After the past two years, there is some stress," Okafor said. "There is going to be stress on next year's team. It's no different."

How can a program that routinely ranks among the nation's best in recruiting start winning the way this team should?

"Physcially, we have to get better," Okafor said.

Amen and amen.

As long as Mack Brown can't find another Vince Young or Colt McCoy, and this state's best quarterbacks routinely go anywhere but Austin, his team needs to embrace a more phsyically dominant brand of football.

Alabama doesn't exactly have Andrew Luck as its quarterback, but there may not be a team that is more physically imposing. Playing physical can compensate for shortcomings in other areas.

I asked Okafor if he meant by physical that means getting bigger, or something else.

"Physically, on the field," he said. "Physically, and mentally, we have to dominate."

UT does not have Alabama's players, but these guys aren't stiffs. This starts with the culture in Austin that needs a slight adjustment. No one is scared of playing Texas.

This doesn't mean players - sorry, student athletes - should be deprived of water or food but it does mean someone either on the staff or on the team sells and embraces a nastier, meaner and ultimately more physical attitude.

If David Ash is going to be this team's QB, and right now that is the case, the defense has to compensate by demoralizing its opponents. Some of that is talent, but a lot of it is attitude.

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Expect a small alteration for Horned Frogs v. LSU

Not necessarily a big fan of the trend of men's college football and men's basketball teams changing uniform schemes at halftime, but this fad is not going away.

A few birdies told ME EXCLUSIVELY that we should expect TCU to be sporting some new duds for its highly anticipated men's college football game against LSU at 8 p.m. on Aug. 31 at Cowboys Stadium.

BTW - There is no better time to play LSU; if TCU wins this game, put Gary Patterson in Canton, Cooperstown, Toronto and Springfield.

This sounds about right regarding some new unis'. It will be a big game on real national TV against a monster opponent, and an ideal time for Nike to roll out some cool new schemes and patterns for TCU.

Please, for the love of God, none of this throwback Zubaz crap. 

My suggestion? Go with Crimson and White. That is a color scheme that seems to work OK against LSU.

 

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The answer key - every NCAA game predicted accurately*

If you are a normal person you still have a hard time filling out your bracket before these non-first round, first round games are played. 

Here is my bracket. Click on it for a larger view. Other than the first game I botched - I had Liberty defeating NC A&T- every pick should be right on.

Final Four: Indiana vs. Florida and Louisville vs. Ohio State.
Title game: Indiana vs. Louisville
Champion: Indiana

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