5 THINGS WE KNOW ON A FRIDAY: 7/16/10

1.  The looming QB battle between Taylor Potts and Steven Sheffield is the best at that position in the last 40-years for Texas Tech. No two players have fought for the job coming in with as many skins on the wall as these two.  For the record, I think Potts wins the battle but Tech fans can’t lose either way. It should be one of the great stories around the Big 12 and the national media this August, but probably won’t. Too bad for them.

2.  Tiger Woods will never again be the consistent, clear-cut top golfer in the world. He’ll be amongst the best, he’ll have some nice runs at number one, but never again the dominant top golfer. Does that mean he won’t catch Jack? Don’t know…ask me again  at the end of 2011.

3.  The toughest athletes in Lubbock aren’t playing for Texas Tech. They are the Lubbock Firefighter Combat Challenge team. If you’ve never seen this stuff you’ve got to watch it. You can catch them in action in the Hubbbaplex in a few weeks.  They could always use some more financial support so if you’ve got a business in Lubbock and want to help out, do it! Thanks to Carpet Tech for the great support they’re giving these fine representatives of Lubbock. Rumor has it they were going to do a calendar to help raise money, but the City Manager spiked the idea because it might not present a “professional image”. That’s a laugh. Someone downtown lecturing the firefighters about being professional. . .

4. If you knew half of what went on in college football you probably wouldn’t be a fan. Then again, if most folks knew half of what went on at other businesses they might never shop there, eat there or purchase their services. Sometimes ignorance is both bliss and good for business.

5.  Has anyone noticed Gerald Myers is still the Athletic Director at Texas Tech? Just wondering.

Happy First Day of Summer. As Phineas and Ferb would tell ya, there’s a 104 days of summer vacation til school comes around just to end it. . . Let’s make the most of the next few months. We can say good-bye for a few days to conference realignment and Big 12 rumors and just enjoy the sounds of summer, the CWS, the Texas Rangers (and to a lesser extent the Astros) and of course we’re just a few weeks away from the Dallas Cowboys opening up training camp and finding out if this is the year a team that hosts the Super Bowl plays in it. But for now, we can sit back, enjoy the heat and slow down a bit. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.

Today on the show we’ll check in with the goings on at Omaha and the College World Series that we proudly bring you on SportsRadio 1340 The Fan. We’ll also recap the U.S. Open that gave us a very cool champ in Graeme McDowell as well as a leaderboard on Sunday that was a dream for NBC. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els all in contention. Now we can ask if Tiger is really returning to form or just had a great Saturday?

Our Random Questions today is this: Who is the coolest person in the world of sports? Define cool any way you want to.

We’ll have more for ya of course and we’ll update the show notes as we go through the day, but this is a good start.

Hyatt

1.  Arkansas to the Big 12 didn’t happen yesterday, it won’t happen today and it won’t happen forever. (Ok, odd history reference over ) It makes no sense for Arkansas to leave a solid conference for one that is dying. It does make sense for Jerry Jones to try and do anything to get the Big 12 back to 12 teams and a conference championship game so he can make money on those dates reserved at Cowboys Stadium in a few years. For Hog fans Jerry is like that crazy uncle that’s lots of when he’s handing out cash but when he keeps hanging around the house you really want him to go home. Yesterday Hog fans really wanted Uncle Jerry to go home. Thanks to Dennis Smithson of Hooten‘s Arkansas Football for a great visit on The Show Thursday and some great perspective on why the Hogs aren’t ever leaving the SEC. Why should they? A&M will be there soon enough to provide a natural rival. . .

2.  Houston has about as much chance of getting Texas Lawmakers to push their way into the Big 12 as Baylor did of getting into the Pac 10 with the help of the politicos. That’d be none. Taking a Houston program that barely registers in their home city would be disaster for the Big 12. None of the projected TV numbers make sense from Dan Beebe unless it is a 10-team league. Adding an extra Cougar mouth to feed without those Cougars bringing anything to the league in return makes no sense. There like the guy with no job that moves in for the summer. Not cool.

3.  This may be the one and only time when Phil Jackson has ever won anything without having the clear-cut best player in the NBA on his team. Congrats. Now go away, please.

4.  Tiger Woods for now is just one of several really good golfers out on the PGA Tour trying to grind out wins (and find a birdie or two at Pebble Beach and The U.S. Open). This week he’s just a guy hoping to make the cut. The Golf Channel’s Frank Nobilo had great thoughts on The Dan Patrick Show saying that Tiger Woods has one more great stretch of golf left in him where he’ll lap the field. The question is when it starts and how long it lasts. If you’re Woods right now I guess the best thing is that your biggest problem is your divorce from Hank Haney and your swing and not your looming divorce off the course and other swinging activities.

5.  If you want further proof that the idiots are infiltrating more and more of our public institutions, we give you Rhode Island today and the “crazy hat” school controversy. Seriously, where do these people come from and why do we let them “educate” our kids?

( Ed. Note: Y’all do know you can comment on this, right? )

We’ll get together again today and try to sort through everything that happened in the Big 12 Tuesday and what it all means for Texas Tech and the future. Our questions for you today are simple. I want to know what you think the best thing is about the Big 12 staying together with ten teams and what the worst thing is about the Big 12 staying together like this is. I’m looking forward to your answers both here and on the show tonight.

We’ll also give you a chance to win a free swing eval and intro lesson at GolfTec here in Lubbock at Golf USA. Our Closest To The Pin Contest for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach starts today, sometime around 4p.m. so get ready to draft your favorite golfer. For the first time in 13 years by the way, Tiger Woods is not the stand-alone favorite in the English betting houses. Don’t buy into the Lee Westwood hype! We’ll have Randy Stevenson from GolfTec on today with a preview to help you make your choices.

Don’t forget to sign-up for our podcast so you never miss another show like yesterday’s!

We’ll talk to you at 3 on The Fan at 1-866-984-5326.

At some point his skills were going to erode, younger golfers were going to start making their mark and Tiger was going to come back to the pack. Has his recent off-course scandal hastened this process? Or do you still believe he is by far the best golfer in the world?

Give us your thoughts today and we’ll read them on the Show come Monday.

Hyatt

1. Couldn’t have dialed-up a better day to open the college baseball season here in Lubbock with temps in the 60′s this afternoon. The A-J has a good read about Texas Tech pitcher Chad Bettis to whet your appetite today.  Now, if I could just get some real grass at Dan Law Field and replace the metal bats with wood all would be right with the world. Ya, ya, ya, I know why we “can’t” have grass out there when you try to play games in February and I understand the costs of wood bats vs. metal but I can still dream can’t I?

2.  Make fun of his hair and his looks, bag on the baggy jeans if you will but shredder Shaun White could give  a lesson or three to the likes of Tony Romo and many other so-called traditional athletes. Nobody shows up better on the biggest stages than White. He gets it done when it matters most. A rare trait indeed these days in hyped athletes.

3.  I’d pay good money to see this press conference by Tiger Woods rather than the joke that will go on today in Florida.

Thank you Deadspin. Just scroll down to the comments section and read what Azure Texan wrote. Classic. Warning, you might be offended if you get offended by stuff.

4. Red Light cameras still wouldn’t have stopped any of the accidents that happened in Lubbock lately. Sorry.

5. Admit it. Team USA vs. Canada in Olympic hockey will be on your radar screen this weekend whether you like hockey or not. It’ll come in third behind NASCAR’s California race Sunday and Tech/LCU baseball this weekend, but it will be on my radar. I can’t decide whether I should get upset is America gets beat by the godless Canucks or not. It’ll depend on how Tony Stewart does Sunday I suppose. I’ll let you know.

MORE LATER

HYATT

1. New Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville is putting together quite the staff. He added in Robert Prunty on Thursday from Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia. HMA has an impressive list of graduates going on to college ball and then the NFL including guys like Tory Holt and Jay Ratliff amongst others. If nothing else, Tuberville’s staff has the ability to tap into talented pipe-lines not just in Texas but across the South and Southeast. The SEC country is an area Mike Leach’s staff spent a lot of time and money on over the last few years and it finally paid off in this recruiting class with guys like Corker and Boone. It is good to know that won’t be going to waste in the coming months and years.
2. Why wouldn’t CBS air a pro-life ad featuring Tim Tebow during the Super Bowl? It is funny that before he’s taken the stage in a pro sport, Tebow has already demonstrated more social awareness and the willingness to stand on principle than Tiger Woods could do in the last 15 years. Maybe Tiger was busy texting.
3. Why do I wonder if the money I donated to Haiti relief efforts will ever even end up there, let alone do anything of worht or value to help the people there? It was a broken country before the earthquake, why do we expect to be able to fix it after the disaster? Hopefully this moment will serve as a tipping-point to provide the Haitian people with global accountability that will force their government to improve. We can hope and try and help.
4. Pat Forde does a nice job writing a column that should make any fan think twice before dropping more than a few bucks a year for “recruiting news”. Of course they’ll be no shortage of grades being handed out by the folks at ESPN, but you can’t say he didn’t warn ya. Great read.
5. Why does the NFL think the fans want the Pro Bowl game to be played at all? Why?
]]> http://www.thewilliamsandhyattshow.com/2010/01/5-things-we-know-on-a-friday-12910/feed/ 0 http://www.thewilliamsandhyattshow.com/2009/12/5-things-we-know-on-a-friday-december-4-2009/ http://www.thewilliamsandhyattshow.com/2009/12/5-things-we-know-on-a-friday-december-4-2009/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:25:40 +0000 Ryan Hyatt http://www.thewilliamsandhyattshow.com/?p=1147 Good morning West Texans and all you good, fine, friendly folks out there who wish you were . . .
1. Great crowd last night at the United Spirit Arena for Tech‘s OT win over Washington. Over 9,000 fans on hand at the start of December. That’s a great tribute to Lubbock on a bitter cold night during a time of year when most folks around these parts aren’t thinking about basketball. Those idiots out there that run-down Tech fans for basketball attendance don’t get it and I’m sick and tired of hearing from them.
2. You win a game like that and folks around the country begin to take notice. ESPN’s Andy Katz shared his thoughts on the four-letter network’s blog last night.
3. The best radio you’ll hear this year in the Big 12 is Nebraska Women’s Basketball broadcasts with Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch. If you love basketball it is worth it. If you just like to sit back and laugh out loud more than a few times, these guys are for you.
4. I’m getting tired of folks complaining about the coverage of Tiger Woods by saying that it isn’t a real story because “everyone” does it. Really? Everyone cheats on their wife? I didn’t know that.
5. Mark Mangino is out at Kansas because he couldn‘t control himself and couldn’t get along with his boss. For all the hero worship and media attention college coaches get these days, let alone the pay, it is easy to forget that they do work for someone else. They aren’t the boss and they aren’t untouchable. Call it a witch hunt if you want to, but Mangino worked for Lew Perkins, not the other way around. It will be most interesting to see what A.D. decides to hire Mangino next. If he doesn’t land a job it isn’t because of his weight, Jason Whitlock, it’ll be because he can’t work well and play well with others.

MORE LATER

HYATT

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