Comebacks

Lost in the well-deserved hoopla over the comebacks of Adrian Peterson and Peyton Manning was the year had by another Texas-bred RB, Jamaal Charles.  Charles returned with a career high 1,509 yards and another stellar average of 5.3 yards per carry.  He has only half the career carries of Peterson but sits with a career average of, get this, 5.8.  4,536 yards on just 784 carries.

Meanwhile Adrian Peterson rolled for 2,097 yards, a 6.0 average, and did it while still noticibly favoring the injured knee.  What will he look like next year at the age of 28?  There is some amazing history of east TX running backs as we have talked about.  Dickerson, Campbell, Sims, Tomlinson.  Peterson now stands a real chance of going down as the best of them.  I've run out of words.

What can be said about Manning?  New team, new coaches, new city, new receivers, a year of rust, no matter.  At 37 he nearly matched his career bests.  He is the maestro of QB's.  Again, I've run out of words to describe the level at which he plays.

The other note would be that sports medicine is becoming as much of a marvel as the players.  All of these guys had injuries that would have ruined careers in the recent past.  I wondered about Peterson and Charles ever having the explosion again.  No worries.

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Crash and Burn

Hard to gather my thoughts after the massive disappointment of Sunday night.  True that we all figured Dallas was an 8-8 team anyway.  True that half the defense was a bunch of castoffs and spare parts.  But what I can't get past is that all we needed to make the playoffs after this wheels off season was a good game by our franchise QB, and he could not deliver.

You know how much I value Tony Romo, but at the age of 33 I can no longer give him a pass in big games. Stats can be spun to be what you want sometimes, but Romo's 1-6 record in "win or go home" games and the numbers he's put up in those games just can't be ignored.  He has 11 turnovers in those 7 games and averages 220 yards.  We pay Romo like the franchise and we should expect him to come up with points when given the ball down 3 with almost 4 minutes to work with.  Not, a casual, indifferent lob pass to the flat that ends the season.

I have a hard time defining what happens to certain players in all sports in certain situations.  If you line up Romo and Eli Manning's regular season stats, you would ask "why is there a question, Romo is obviously better".  Yet Eli comes through in big games and Romo cannot.  As if we need more issues on this team, having a QB who melts in big games is the nail in the coffin.  He is cursed, or mentally fragile, or a loose cannon, or a little of all.  But I can tell you that I'm very tired of pulling for a guy who disappoints this often.  The black cloud over this once great franchise just shows no signs of clearing.

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LSU Debacle

One of the things that we had to put in Les Miles' positive column in the past was his bowl record.  But after these last 2 clunkers that is no longer the case.  It is clear that Miles is drinking his own Kool-Aid.  He thinks his talent level and effort by the players will overcome any opponent despite his vanilla game plan and lack of preparation.  The score was hardly indicative of how his team performed last night:

First downs: Clemson 32, LSU 9
Offensive plays: Clemson 100, LSU 48
Total yards: Clemson 445, LSU 219
Taj Boyd was 36-50 with no interceptions, 72%.  He was a one man show.
The offensive line turned Clemson's defensive ends into first-round picks.

Pathetic and embarrassing, just not as obvious as last year's score.  Will this fool learn from this, or put his head in the sand and spout some crap like "we lost to a good team by 1 point"?  I'm guessing the latter.

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Eagles Rule (Allen that is)

A week after the fact, I’m finding time to crow about my adopted Allen Eagles.  One of the most memorable nights of my sports-watching life, being in that live environment with 48,000 fans and knowing many of the players, parents, and cheerleaders.  Being in the stadium all day I was able to score great seats for the final game and sweated it out with the Allen crowd.  And, wow, was Lamar better than we were led to believe!  Big and athletic, well-coached, and with a dynamic QB, they were a load.  No sustained drives on this night by the Eagles.  Big plays won the day: 3 long TD runs, an interception return, and a kick-off return.  For the 2^nd straight game, the defense and special teams made plays that were the difference.  No points allowed in the final 15 minutes.

As you know, I’m a fan who appreciates championships as much or more than anyone.  I know how hard they are to come by.  How many good teams stand in the way and how many small things can go wrong in a single elimination scenario.  This was not Allen’s most talented team, but the soundest, and the most committed I think.  The front 5 on offense and the front 7 on defense controlled the games and won the trenches.  It was enough to make up for a lack of talented skill players.  Here is the capsule from ESPN:

Meanwhile, Allen (Texas) had arguably the toughest road of any team in the nation in capturing its Class 5A, Division I state title. Its 35-21 win over then-No. 15 Lamar (Houston) marked its second straight win over a top-15 opponent. The previous week, the Eagles downed DeSoto (Texas), a squad some considered the most talented in Texas in years, by 15 points. Prior to that, they upended a Skyline (Dallas) squad that started the year No. 4 in the nation. So even though Allen has one loss, a performance against that schedule earns it a top-three nod.

As with the title in 2008, Allen went through 3 undefeated teams in the playoffs, plus a talented 1-loss team.  It’s a gauntlet and so that makes it sweeter.  2012 was amazing:

·         Completion of nationally recognized $60mm stadium

·         Open the stadium by exorcising the Southlake demons, 24-0

·         Capture 7^th straight district title

·         Defeat nation’s #1 ranked team in state semi-finals

·         Win state title at Cowboy Stadium

I told a friend, we never had much of a chance to win state at my own high school, never even a thought.  It was the Neville’s, Ruston’s, West Monroe’s that won state, not Airline.  So I get to experience life on the other side now, and I have to say its pretty fun.  Allen should be a power right through Shelby’s time at the school.

Meanwhile, I see a great coach in action.  I think I can call Tom Westerberg great now.  Nine seasons, 103-16 record.  Since 2006, working on 7 straight district titles, 84-10 record, 3 appearances in state semis, 19-5 in the playoffs, 2 state titles.  This year, he made the tough call to switch QB’s in mid-season, going to a sophomore, who had 55 and 68-yard TD runs in the championship.  That 2^nd title just brings so much more clout.

And so for future reference:

ESPN 25 Power Rankings: Week 18
RANK	SCHOOL/REC (CITY, STATE)	TRENDING	COMMENT
1	De La Salle (15-0) Concord, CA	-- Last Week: 1	Last Game: Defeated then-No. 17 Centennial 48-28 in the CIF Open Division State Championship Bowl Game Next Game: Season Complete
2	Katy (16-0) Katy, TX	2 Last Week: 4	Last Week: Defeated Cedar Hill (Texas) 35-24 in the Class 5A, Division II state championship Next Game: Season complete
3	Allen (15-1) Allen, TX	3 Last Week: 6	Last Week: Defeated then-No. 15 Lamar (Houston) 35-21 in the Class 5A, Division I state championship Next Game: Season complete
4	Bellevue (14-0) Bellevue, WA	2 Last Week: 2	Last Game: Defeated Eastside Catholic (Sammamish, Wash.) 35-3 in the Class 3A state championship Next Game: Season complete
5	John Curtis Christian (14-0) River Ridge, LA	2 Last Week: 3	Last Game: Defeated Evangel Christian (Shreveport, La.) 35-13 in the Class 2A state championship Next Game: Season complete

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Cowboys Saints

As we expected the Saints game was a disaster for the Cowboys defense. They truly never stop someone that has a creative scheme. The Saints controlled the game from the start and only a nother ROMO miracle comeback kept them close.  Truthfully, dropped passes in Cincy and Philly is the only reason they won those games.


Dallas is a pretender by all methods that I can use to determine a quality team

At what point does Garrett get blamed for these yearly blunders? Should Red be given "an out" for the injuries, an offense that is totally dependent on Romo being spectacular, the worst Special Teams coach in the NFL, and working for “Jerry The GM “ and his pitiful player evaluations.

Points allowed vs. Points Scored are a big driver to me in a coach’s ability to get the most out of his teams. Dallas is still (-14) with an 8-7 record. They are the only team in the NFC with a winning record that is a negative in this category. Indy and Luck is the other one in the AFC and they are in a bad division..

Will Garrett ever coach a team that upsets a good team? His past coaching record says NO!



j

Off-Season Disaster for Rangers

Where to start?  Our beat writer Evan Grant actually was writing that it was practically sealed that the Rangers would score Zack Grienke and then re-sign Josh.  Two days later, the franchise gets struck by a hurricane of events.  Grienke to the Dodgers, Hamilton to the Angels!  Then James Shields gets traded to KC, shutting down any chance that Texas could make improvements to the team.  All of a sudden, the 2 faces of this franchise, Michael Young and Hamilton are gone.  Mike Adams then signs with Philly, and there goes our setup man.  Not only do the Rangers now face a youth movement, but must watch the Angels field Trout, Pujols, and Hamilton every night.  From the last week of the regular season till now, the house seems to have burned down.

What can I salvage?  Well, I am on record as saying I wouldn't pay Hamilton $20 million a year, much less the $25 he got from LA.  Maybe Trout will inspire him, or maybe not being the best athlete on the team will make him pout all year.  Who knows.  What I do know is that Hamilton was cruising on his talent and could not carry the team against good competition.  He refuses to adjust and so his mid-30's look iffy to me.

We'll get a look at top prospects Martin in center, Olt at various positions, and of course Profar in the middle infield.  As I've said before, things hinge on Holland and Feliz.  If they neither become front-liners then the franchise is really set back.  Nellie Cruz must rebound, Darvish must settle into a #1, and the kids must prove out.  For certain, they won't be the team to beat next year.

That game 6 loss to the Cardinals looms larger and larger when you see how hard it is to stay on top.  I could live on that one World Series for a long time.  Now, the road back just looks longer and harder.

S

Eagles vs. Eagles

So my adopted hometown Allen Eagles will make their 4th state semi-final appearance of the past decade on Saturday.  A quick look back:

2003 - Unknown Eagles run up against dynasty Southlake Dragons and go down 37-21
2006 - Eagles more of a known commodity but lost QB Nathan Dick on first series and get crushed by Dragons again 38-0
2008 - Now a powerhouse, Allen gets outplayed by most accounts but drives for TD in waning seconds to beat Round Rock Stony Point 23-21 and go on to win state for the first time
2012 - For the 4th time, Allen enters semi's with a 13-1 record and for the 3rd time is the underdog

I go back to early in the season when I said Desoto was the best team in the area.  They beat Trinity, Jenks badly (who went on to win state again), Bowie who finished 11-2, Cedar Hill easily, but most impressively crushed the area's best defense in Coppell by 42-14 and didn't break a sweat.  They had to work for it against Southlake last week, but still rang up 620 yards.  Logic says they win it all.

But, I have watched Allen closely for the last 5-6 years and they rarely, actually almost never get outclassed. They have routinely beaten athletic teams such as Longview, Cedar Hill, Plano East, etc.  They have held their own against Trinity.  Only once in the last 6 years have they clearly been outmatched, that against Trinity in last year's playoffs.  Skyline fielded 8 Div I prospects last week and got thumped by Allen 37-17.  Allen typically runs about 50 times, throws 20 times, controls the clock, beats people up and wears them out.

I am terrible at predictions, and its actually a dumb exercise.  Too many crazy things happen in sports.  I will however be surprised if Desoto has an easy time of it.  Allen will have the size, and they have seen speed this year.  It is probably Desoto's time to finally cash in, but I hope for a couple of breaks and a chance to win it late.  If Allen is overwhelmed by the speed like Coppell was, we'll know early.  Gametime is 6pm and the weather looks good.  Fingers crossed.

S

La State Champions - Private School Runaway

5A- Rummell over Barbe
4A- Karr beat Neville- Public School Victory
3A- Parkview Baptist over Notre Dame
2A- John Curtis over Evangel
1A- Ouachita Christian over Hanyesville.

4 of 5 champs!

The last time I counted LA had about 427 High Schools with around 110 Private Schools with over 100 students.

Louisiana has the 3rd highest Private School enrollment in the US. (Hawaii and Delaware lead)
It is a little less than 20% of total Student Population.

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Manziel Note

Some stuff I've picked up while reading on Manziel and the Heisman coming up.  He was not really under the radar as has been said.  He was a Parade All-American and originally committed to Oregon.  Mike Sherman personally recruited him and flipped him.  Check out these stats as a senior at a 4A Texas school in Kerrville: 3,609 passing yards with 45 touchdowns, 1,674 rushing yards with 30 more touchdowns.  75 touchdowns in one year!  An interesting quote from Sherman was that Manziel has huge hands, accordingly to him the only other person he has seen with hands like his is Brett Favre.

S

SEC New Hires

My opinion on the surprising news of Bret Bielema to Arkansas: I applaud Jeff Long for some original thinking.  I heard Paul Finebaum say that he spoke recently to the Touchdown Club in Fayetteville, and they discussed around 25 potential candidates for the Hog job, none of which were Bielema.  They are getting a good young coach who has won at a high level of competition.  Seven years after taking over for the iconic Barry Alvarez, he has averaged nearly 10 wins, although he has a poor Bowl record.  This reminds me of about 12-13 years ago when a guy named Saban jumped from the Big 10 to the SEC.  He knew where the talent was and knew he could win if he got his hands on it.  I think it says something of Bielema that he was willing to take the challenge of facing the gauntlet of SEC West coaches, rather than staying safe in Wisconsin, where they are happy with 8-9 wins, and 10 wins makes you a hero.

As for Malzahn, I am skeptical, mostly because I view him as an Offensive Coord at heart, who might not have the skills to run a big program outside of the X's and O's.  I may be proven wrong, but many times these guru's don't work out as head coaches.  There is a lot of CEO stuff involved and he may hate it.

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