For this post we'll call this The Longhorn Network

espn.com college football article link

Oh how the mighty have fallen.....and fallen into quite the pile of money

After the pounding that BYU put on Texas when they not so graciously had them up for a double blindfolded DP and finished up with a Blumpkin goodbye to the score of 41-20 including 550 rushing yards with an additional 234 through the air for a grand total of 679 MASSIVE YARDS FROM SCRIMMAGE! Once the regents, board of directors, donors and other boosters made their displeasure know, defensive coordinator Manny Fernandez was put before the firing squad and played the good patsy I mean soldier.

It was lock-down time in the lone star state..... Next up was Mississippi and they were stacked up almost immediately after they got 10 or 15 yards up field. The fact is Texas nearly cut their net yards given up in half surrounding a measly hair under 300....yes, 300 yards of rushing offence AND that was nearly half what they got stomped on for the weekend before.

Mack Brown has been a winning coach at Texas. Texas considers itself one of the premier, upper echelon, top notch programs in the nation. Texas fans expect nothing but absolute 100% commitment to not just the program, team, coaches and school but to the community.  If the good citizens hoping to have to honor to be buried in burnt orange are surrounded by 40 high school ESPN top 300 recruits, 3 times more then the next closest state, they at least deserve to beat hated rivals, Texas Tech, Texas A+M, Oklahoma, Baylor and the rest of their below average strength of schedule.

Longhorns 2013 final schedule and scores

Throughout the past week, and that's on the low end, I've heard various versions of why Mack Brown is obviously staying, why he's obviously not leaving and why were all just stirring things up by reporting on this whole Nick Saban thing. Mr. Master Million Dollar Manipulator just netted himself a cool extra 2 MIL outta the already pitiful president, AD, and everyone else in the state of ALABAMA. 

SURPRISE. MACK BROWN IS "RETIRING" OF HIS OWN VOLITION AND NICK SABAN IS STAYING AT NATIONAL POWERHOUSE AND RECRUITING GIANT ALABAMA.

Orpik gets punked like a typical Penguin and in typical penguin fashion their "franchise" player cries more in a game then the whole floor at the infancy clinic in a year.

ESPN.com Boston Article Link

How about a topic that has completely been overblown, exaggerated, dissected and redirected by people in and around professional hockey....some from x-players and coaches and then a bunch from random "official NHL commentators" who have chosen to either ignore the subject completely or essentially absolve Thornton of his thuggish actions.  When I say thuggish actions, I actually mean it as a complement. I'll explain.

So, Mr Orpik opens up and sets the tone by intentionally "green lighting" one of the Bruins "perceived" young future budding stars, Loui Eriksson and kneeing him in the head as he knee-led on the ice. Erikkson's tough guy terminator and own hometown hero Shawn Thornton immediately challenged Orpik to a straight up fair fight which the 6'2" 219 lb defense men shamelessly refused. It's bad enough this breaks "old school" protocol but with the bad blood already boiling from Stephen Neal's cheap-shot on Brad Marcharnd for which he got a 5 game suspension. 

Shawn Thornton is listed at a solid 6'2" and weighs all of the 217 in the media guide. SO YOUR TELLING ME HE ACTUALLY WEIGHS LESS THEN THE GUY WHO TURNED THEIR -CHICKEN-SHIT, CHEAP-SHOT, COWARD BACK ON HIM. I listed to talk radio like Felger and Mazz lambaste, flambe, burn, and trash what Thornton did in every possible fashion but how about we bring up the ensuing action. 

EVERY ACTION HAS AN EQUAL AND OPPOSITE REACTION.... Should Thornton have just taken no for an answer and waited for the BitchBerg Penguins to send out someone a few inches taller and a significant amount heaver to handle their lack of following that hockey code and "protocol" that they so feverishly pound their drums for now? WHY? The back-trip was a dirty move by an absolutely straightforward, tough, man's man who made a mistake. It was a dirty move. THAT PART WAS DIRTY. Orpik should've fought though...what a fucking coward. YOU DO SOMETHING THAT MAKES AN OPPOSING PLAYER WANT TO BEAT YOUR ASS, TAKE YOUR MEDICINE ASSHOLE. 

I'm sorry for the end result. No one save for pedophiles and sexual sadists deserve immediate and swift action.

Heat Stroke Kills.

As we start to hear the rumblings of pre-season football yet another anniversary passes. While it seems we hear a new story of a young athlete falling ill on the field at a rate far greater then we should, teams are making an effort to keep players safe both on and off the field.

Outside the Lines Video Link

Heat Stroke kills athletes suddenly, tragically, and indiscriminately. Over the past decade as the public has become more and more aware of the dangers to athletes during the hot summer months we have gained knowledge through the unfortunate deaths that have occurred. One that was both highly publicized and extremely heartbreaking was that of Minnesota Vikings lineman Kore Stringer. With his wife and kids lounging around in the air conditioned home that all his hard work on long hot days on the football field provided, Kore Stringer succumbed to a number of factors while at a practice with the Minnesota Vikings.

One of the facts that were stated on the Outside the Lines piece was through the Kore Stringer foundation they have found that 1/3 of all high school football teams do not have a trainer on staff at this point. Since the Stringer death unfortunately happened his widow has been at the forefront of the movement to enlighten the public about the dangers of heat stroke. Heat Stroke is something that can be prevented.

Everyone from children participating in youth sports like football, basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, tennis, to high school kids and even professional athletes can fall prey to being a victim of the heat. As athletes we have everything from our own personal ego to a sense of competition involved. Sometimes we can't be the ones to make the right choices when it comes to things like water breaks. When the temperature rises outdoors and it's combined with pushing our bodies to the absolute limit there can never be enough "water breaks". Drinking water during practice shouldn't be something scheduled, players need to be encouraged to replenish their system continuously if they want to keep their bodies in top shape and condition.