Finally. It is here. Super Bowl Sunday. Not so much because I can’t wait to watch the New York Giants play the New England Patriots, but rather because the hype is over and we can get on with our lives.

That said, we’ve got to add a little spice to things so let’s have some fun with it beyond trying to figure out a creative way to get out of work on Monday. ( post your best excuses-ideas here by the way )

We want y’all to give us your score picks today. If anyone gets it exactly right, including the winning team of course, we’ll get you set-up with some great Rudy’s BBQ! For tie-break purposes we need to know how many receiving yards former Red Raider Wes Welker has tonight. Closest to that actual number will be the winner. We’ll also throw in some other random prizes for great picks, predictions and analysis.

So, have at it. Give it a shot and give us your pick today!

If you heard the show Friday, you know I went with New York 31-24. It’s crazy to pick against Tom Brady, but I think the Giants offense can put a number up on the Patriots defense that I just don’t see New England being able to match today. So, with that in mind, obviously you should pick the other way.

Be sure and let us know what you’re cooking today and where you’re taking the game in. Don’t forget our pre-game coverage starts at 1 on The Fan, so listen online or if you’re out driving around the Hubbaplex today you know where to find The Super Bowl on your radio dial! Time for me to get the queso going.

Hyatt

1. Josh Hamilton is human. Josh Hamilton may or may not have had a “relapse” as reported Thursday night by many media sources. It doesn’t change who he is or who he wants to be in the future or how people should look at him. He’s flawed. Just like you. Just like me. If you liked him before, like him even more now. Why? Like him because whatever it is in your life that you can’t quite master, he’s going through the same battle-just in front of the cameras, in the papers and on the internet. When that happens, it really doesn’t matter how much money you make or who you are. Think about it and get back to me…

2.  Les Miles has more to be ashamed of today than Josh Hamilton. Miles most likely was sober when he publicly ripped a kid whose greatest crime was not wanting to be mis-coached by Miles at LSU and have to be defended by Bobby Hebert. Maybe there is a reason why Miles never got his dream job. . .

3.The most impressive thing to me about Texas Tech’s signing class is that no one bailed. A brutal finish to the season, a tumultuous off-season that saw a contentious departure of your defensive coordinator and other position coaches yet they still didn’t lose and in fact added. Impressive. Texas Tech fans should feel good that recruits seem to be looking at the school, the program and the experience in total.

4.  If Texas Tech ever wears silver or red helmets under Tommy Tuberville I will lead any effort necessary to make sure he has to watch the Tech-OSU game tape for 24 hours straight.

5.  I have been told by two folks outside the Big 12 footprint that The Longhorn Network is going to undergo significant changes and restructuring and that it will no longer be a barrier to Texas joining the Pac-12 or other conferences in the future. Seems the House Of The Mouse has realized the Network is an albatross costing them not just money, but the ability to control college sports by using it as a bargaining chip. The Mouse hates that. Will it lead to a new round of realignment talk? Of course. Will anything happen? Ask @DanBeebe on Twitter…

I welcome your comments, thoughts and anything else you’ve got today. Post ‘em here and share with your friends.

Hyatt

Spent a lot of the weekend watching the 50th Rolex 24 from Daytona. What a great show! Even if you’re not into motorsports you’ve got to appreciate the team-work, endurance and just pure sporting nature of a guys and gals that want to get after it and compete for 24 hours straight. It was also a lot of fun to watch one of our favorite guests, Andy Lally, win his fourth Rolex-this time with Magnus Racing.

The folks at Magnus Racing did a tremendous job in the GT class putting together two strong teams They did an even better job representing one of their sponsors in The Children’s Tumor Foundation. What they did for those kids and the NF Heroes was fun to watch. The win was impressive but the work they all did at Magnus for those kids was humbling. We can all take a lesson! If you’re a fan of racing or just want to help, go to their facebook page!

As for the event itself, I wouldn’t mind seeing some other sports give the 24 Hour thing a try! Pocono already seems like that for the Nascar folks but I still think it would be cool to see the engine builders try and come up with a Nascar engine that could last that long. It would also be cool to see how long Kurt or Kyle Busch would last. . .

I’m not sure how to do a 24-Hour event for football but if anyone has any ideas, let me know.

Undercover Boss

I just got done watching Undercover Boss with the President  of Kendall-Jackson. It may be stupid, but I’ll be more likely to buy their wine and products in the future after watching the show. Whether it be for TV or otherwise, I’m usually impressed with leaders that go on that show and are willing to make changes, admit that strategy might have been misaligned and then face the music. Rick Tinger seemed to fit that bill tonight.

Obviously the true test will be time. Will Tinger continue to be as open-minded and willing to listen to the people that make the company work? My bet is that he will. When you do a show like this, you not only make yourself accountable to your employees, you open yourself up to the scrutiny of the wine buying public. Pretty good way to hold yourself to your standards.

Texas Tech Football

National Signing Day can’t get here soon enough for Tommy Tuberville and the Red Raiders I’d imagine. They need something good to take everyone’s mind off the finish to 2011 and an off-season that saw the ugly divorce between the program and former defensive coordinator Chad Glasgow.

For what it’s worth, I think Texas Tech A. D. Kirby Hocutt did a fine job handling the mess back in December. Maybe now some fans will understand why Texas Tech was being so guarded in the responses to the media and others about Glasgow’s status. Hell, I’m not even sure Glasgow was sure of his own “status” after reading the e-mails in the A-J on Friday. He obviously wanted out, but he obviously wanted to make it look like he got fired. That comes in handy when making a cash-grab. Between college football coaches and city managers around here, I’ve got to figure out a way to get paid while leaving my job . . .

Speaking of the recruiting class, @AJ_DonWilliams has the latest on another California kid coming to play defense for the Red Raiders. I wonder if Robert Prunty put out a help wanted ad there. . .If the mid-term guys make an impact next year, and most have to, that alone with make the class a success. As it stands, it looks like Tuberville and crew will back-up last years strong class with another. That’s how it gets rolling.

Come Monday on The Show we look forward to taking your calls on about all of this and much more. We’ll have the obligatory Super Bowl hype as well as look back over a weekend that saw the Lady Raiders take down Texas (that never gets old), the men scrap pretty well at Mizzou but come up short again and we’ll even delve into the world of food and fun just because we can. Join us starting at 3p.m. on www.1340thefan.com. We’ll be taking your calls on The Domino’s Fan Line-1-866-984-5326.

Looking forward to hearing how y’all recap the weekend on the Good, Band and Ugly topic.

Rest well, get us your thoughts and drive Texas Friendly.

Hyatt

Hope you’re having a great weekend. I’m knee-deep in Texas Tech basketball and the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Nice way to pass the time til we hit the Super Bowl next week and work in a little National Signing Day mayhem as well.

We’re gonna start a new thing on Sunday’s and hopefully be able to keep up with it for a while. I always feel like I miss something during the week, don’t pass along everything we find interesting or just flat-out forget to get back to something. On Sunday’s I hope to pass along a few links to interesting stories, podcast, interviews or other things that will be of interest to you guys. I’d also like to encourage y’all to post any links to cool stories or otherwise that you find for us here and we can all benefit from group knowledge.

So, let’s get on with it. Here’s what we got today.

Earlier this week it came to my attention that a new blog was up and going at Chicago Now featuring news about pork, music, gummers, sports and leisure suits. How can I resist? I highly encourage you to give a read to my friend’s blog: And They Call It Pork!

If you are a fan of history, you need to be reading WWII Tweets from 1940. These guys are “live tweeting” events from WWII. It is amazing. You’ll gain a whole new appreciation for how events unfolded and the impact on the normal folks of the time. Very creative and good work. If you have kids I would say they should follow this on twitter or facebook too. Much beyond the text book. . .

I enjoy reading lots of different business, motivational and marketing websites. PickTheBrain.com has some good stuff. Here’s one from earlier this week that will help you stay focused when things get a little fuzzy in life.

I’m really looking forward to what you guys have to contribute to this today. I think we can have a lot of fun sharing some links and stories, so have at it boys.

Thanks, Ryan Hyatt

There’s not much worse than getting sick around a holiday or a vacation. I hate it. Started feeling poorly Sunday night and it just kept getting worse. I get a bad cold or flu once every few years, so I guess this was my time. I used to schedule it for October, right before basketball season started so it wouldn’t affect my play-by-play. Now that I don’t travel with Texas Tech I guess it decided it can show up whenever. Thanks.

The worst part was not being able to stay up and watch the Stanford-OSU game last night. Sure, there’s DVR, but when you know the results it just isn’t the same. Throw-in the fact that the game is rendered meaningless under the current BCS system that tells us only one game matters and you have a great game in a vacuum syndrome. It was cool to watch, but means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Oh if it were the National Semi-Final Game! We’d be talking about that game last night for years to come. Instead, fans will largely forget about it in a few weeks nationally, which in Palo Alto is a good thing I guess.

That would be one thing I’d be talking about on the show tonight, except I won’t be there, so I’ve got to bang out a few words here and see what y’all think.

How much more attention would you have paid that game last night if it had been for the right to play in the National Title Game? If Alabama gets the win against LSU does Oklahoma State rightfully have a claim to a split-title this yr? Did the Cowboys really do anything last night to make you think they deserved a shot at LSU? ( A little defense would have been nice to see )

If we were on today we’d also recap the end of the Dallas Cowboys season. We all saw it coming, but for different reasons I think. I’m still surprised at how many people think Dallas choked this year. They continue to over-value the talent that the Cowboys have on both sides of the ball. In order to choke, you’ve got to have a decided advantage over your opponents and then do everything you can to make them win. That rarely happens in pro sports. Fans just like to throw that word around because it makes them feel like the other team isn’t really better, it’s just their team stinking it up.

Dallas didn’t choke, they’re just not that good. Slightly better than average talent in most spots and well below in other spots for sure.

Now the question becomes for some, do you give Rob Ryan more time on defense or does he become the fall-guy for this past season? I’d stick with him. Get better talent, give him a full off-season to work with players and I think you’ll see results. It ain’t the X’s and O’s in Dallas right now it’s the Jimmies and Joes. . .

Oh well, time for the meds to kick in. Y’all listen live tonite via www.1340thefan.com and get the latest on the Red Raider’s search for a defensive coordinator ( Art Kauffman anyone? ) as well as recaps of the bowls and more with Don Williams, Robert Snyder and Zack Kennedy. I’ll be back Wednesday if the creek and my fever don’t rise.

Hyatt

With a new year we almost bound by media laws to produce some sort of list of predictions for the coming year. Much like “giving a monkey a shower” on Phineas and Ferb, it has to be done. ( If you get that, I applaud you for your fine viewing habits )

So, keeping in mind that these predictions must be both bold and brave, here goes. We’ll check back this time 2013 and see how close we got.

12.  In March, Lubbock’s Tent City will incorporate. Tent City will then vote itself wet, and further drive down beer and liquor prices in the Hubbaplex. Seeing the huge success of Tent City, Lakeridge will secede from Lubbock, incorporate and name itself “GeorgeBushStickersStillOnOurTahoes”. It too will get wet, but only from 9-to-midnight at Market Street and only for the Methodists. Cards will be issued.

11.  Texas Tech Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt will find the secret panel on the desk in his office that Gerald Myers had installed years ago. Inside the panel Hocutt will find a book revealing all the secrets in the last 75 years regarding Texas Tech Athletics. Artifacts will include the pictures Bob Knight had on David Schmidly, a letter from Mike Leach to Donald Trump admitting he made up all the stuff about liking pirates just because it sounded better than telling folks what he really enjoyed was puffy, white shirts as well as the post-it note containing Jerry Moore’s play-book. Hocutt will find the actual number to Chad Glasgow’s cell phone the most interesting part of all. Turns out they’d entered it into the company directory wrong after-all. . . what a misunderstanding.

10.  Tommy Tuberville will mention the wind blowing during spring practice at Texas Tech and still somehow manage to sound shocked and amazed.

9.  Texas Tech Lady Raider Head Coach Kristy Curry will replace the phrase, “it is what it is” with, “I told you I could coach, now start coming to the games and supporting these kids-they’re damn good!”.

8.  Jerry Jones will do what he’s always wanted to do. In July he’ll announced he’s cloned himself and will serve as both Cowboys head coach and quarterback for 2012. With Jones leading the team the Cowboys fall one game shy of the Super Bowl losing in the NFC Championship game to Washington. The Tony Romo-led Redskins complete a 21-point comeback in the 4th quarter on a Romo to Daniel Snyder TD pass.

7.  Someone, anyone, will finally notice that a gallon of orange juice costs more than a gallon of gas and that oranges actually do grow on trees and don’t require drilling for dead dinosaur guts. . .

6.  Roger Goodell will suspend James Harrison 3 games and fine him Bolivia for slapping Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger too hard on the rump after a pre-season scoring drive.

5.  Dan Beebe will return to be the commissioner of the Big 12 after changing his name and sneaking past the hiring committee of Deloss Dodds, Deloss Dodds id, ego and super ego. The interview will be televised on The Longhorn Network to the delight of its subscriber, Mrs. Dodds. Upon his return to the Big 12, Beebe will announce that he’s invading the SEC in an attempt to regain Texas A&M and Missouri. Beebe’s forces advance as far as the hotel ballroom at SEC Media Days before being rebuffed by the hotel kitchen staff, all former SEC defensive players, proving once again the Big 12 can’t handle real defenses. . .

4.  The Texas Rangers Cy Young winner Yu Darvish will announce he hasn’t understood a damn thing Ron Washington said all year and that he’s demanding a trade to be with his homie and soul-mate, Ozzie Guillen ( the only one who really gets me, Darvish tells Eric Nadel in a gut-wrenching interview )

3.  Keith Olbermann will finally quit calling Dan Patrick late at night asking if he wants to come over and play, “read the teleprompter”.

2.  NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart will go vegan. Repulsed, Andy Lally orders a steak and says the hell with it…

1.  On December 31, 2012 Dick Clark will be wondering once again why he even bothers to do this thing if it means working with Justin Bieber and Ryan Seacrest. His New Year’s Resolution for 2013–Host the Rockin’ New Year’s Eve on The Playboy Channel–life’s too short–even if you’re 112 years old!

Happy New Year y’all. Be safe and make the most of it. It should be a grand one!

Hyatt

We had some big changes at SportsRadio 1340 The Fan this past year and we know that even more exciting things are in the offing for 2012.

Thanks for keeping us from having to get a real job all these years.

Blessings to you and your family,

Ryan Hyatt and the entire staff at The Williams and Hyatt Show

Getting ready for the show today and I’ve got a few thoughts rambling around my head. Obviously Tim Tebow is a news-generator and for some a polarizing figure. I get that. What I don’t get is why some want to see him fail. After watching New England’s defense finally decide to tackle a few folks in the second half of their 41-23 win over Denver it didn’t take long for the posts on Facebook and the twitter traffic to begin to flow with thoughts of how this somehow “Proved” Tebow wasn’t “all that” as one wrote.

Why are so many so focused on taking joy in Tim Tebow’s team not winning? Why do they feel the need to see him lose in order to prove something about their own lives?

I also don’t buy it when I hear folks say they like Tebow but hate the media for all the coverage. I’ve been doing a daily call-in show for 17 years now and during that whole time I’ve heard the laments of those that hate the thug elements in sports, that can’t stand the glorification of “deviant” life-styles and a mocking of traditional values.

Well, a guy comes along that seems pretty decent and now folks don’t want to hear about it.

Interesting.

I think the reaction that folks have to a Tim Tebow-like celeb is more telling about themselves than anything about the media or Tebow. For some reason seeing a person like Tebow have success seems to make some feel either inadequate or less of a person than they either see themselves as or want to be known as. When he “fails” then they can laugh and say that,”see, even the Great Tim Tebow didn’t win with all the good he does and the character he has!” as if it somehow absolves them from their own failings.

It is an odd reaction to watch and I’m interested in what y’all are taking away from the “Tim Tebow Phenomenon” right now. Are you one that is upset with the attention he get? Do you think he is over-hyped, whatever that may mean or do you also think part of this is a reflection of a modern American society that doesn’t always want the “good guy” to win if he somehow makes them feel bad for their own lives?

Let me know.

Ryan Hyatt