Moore Than Enough

Down on the Farm

2008-06-23T22:04:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone! So we just got back from Jay Scotts wedding this weekend and it was amazing. You know how there are those brides that just look like they belong on the cover of a high fashion mag?? Well, Merideth was definitely that bride. She was beautiful, and they had a beautiful outdoor wedding. I would have taken some amazing pictures if Myles and I weren't dying from the heat! He was in his black tux and was extreamly hot! Anyway, for those of you who know Jay Scott I know you are all excited for him!

I have been at my parents house since right after the wedding and we have been having so much fun! My parents are both retired but have about 176 acres of land that work. They have cows and a huge garden that we all try to help with so we can enjoy the harvest! Jackson loves to be out there and ride on the tractor with my dad and pet the cows. (Yes they do know us and come up to us for a little head scratchin' now and then!) It is so awesome to watch him have so much fun. Whenever he comes here it seems like his vocabulary skyrockets, and he is learning so many new things! We are missing Myles though, and Jackson is asking for him multiple times a day!
Hope you are all having a great week!

Jen

2008-06-18T22:43:00.002-05:00

Hi again. So...I have figured out that I am not a very good blogger. I don't post very often and I seem to lack an abounding knowledge of how to keep my blog up to date and fun. Hopefully things will get better as I post longer. Some of the girls and I are having a play date tomorrow! I always love getting together with other moms and friends! It is so good to get all the kids together too! Jackson loves to have his "friends" over. We had Ryan, Kira, Cami and her boys over for dinner Tuesday. (Micah was out of town for a camp) We were also keeping our neighbors little boy, so needless to say the house was crazy chaos! I loved every minute of it! At one point every single toy was out of the neat little bins and all over the floor in Jacksons' room! They were running though the house "powing" each other with balloons and squealing with delight! It is times like those that I really want a big family an lots of kiddos running around...then the times that I have to take care of the aftermath...I am so glad that we just have our sweet little Jackson! I am sure the Lord will make it clear at some point how many children He would have for us to take care of! I would love to post some pictures of Tuesday night, but we were having so much fun and there was so much going on that I forgot to take any!! So sad, but I know we will have some other fun times...especially now that it is summer!

We will be going to Jay Scott's wedding this weekend, and Myles will be going to Florida for some training all next week. Then, he has some more training in San Antonio that next week, but Jackson and I are going with him. We are going to take him to Sea World while we are there!! I am so excited about that! Hopefully I will have some really good pictures when we get back. I hope you guys will be praying for us as we travel and for Myles and I as we are apart. I don't like to be away from him for long.

Jen

By the way

2008-06-11T10:36:00.003-05:00

Myles' sports blog is over here --------> Three-N-Out

It's primarily college football stuff. So send your husbands there.

Splish splash

2008-06-07T20:08:00.005-05:00

Hey friends, we have had a fun week. Jackson and I have been swimming a lot in our pool in the backyard. He is loving it, and we can be outside without burning up in the hot son! I am putting some of those pictures up tonight! Myles and I took Jackson to the pool this afternoon so he got to swim in his big floaty! He has been talking so much more these past few days.The other day he was pulling out the ottoman and climbing on top of it. After the first time he did I clapped and said " You did it!!" He clapped and squealed and repeated what I said "I did it!" He was so proud of himself, he did that for the next hour! I love seeing him grow and change every day. I have been taking tons of pictures lately because all too soon he will be out of this stage and on to the next. For all of you who have just had little ones, I hope that you take the time to treasure all the time you have with your little ones and your family. It all seems to change so quickly! Jackson just turned 17 months and it seems like just last week we found out we were going to have him.

We just got our passport pictures done yesterday for our trip to Mexico in August! So excited!! We both had to get new passports because I forgot to get my name changed on mine after we got married 4 years ago, and Myles had his done when he was 16.
I am playing tennis again tomorrow night and can't wait. It has been so much fun getting back into it again! I love it!

Jen

Crazy Sunset in San Angelo

2008-06-05T23:21:00.004-05:00

Myles was walking out of work late tonight an saw this for a sunset. It was on his cameraphone, but still a heck of a view

I'm Taking Over

2008-05-27T22:18:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone! In case you are wondering this is not Myles! I took over his blog and am adding a little bit of Jen to it...Ok...a lot of Jen!! We changed the name of the blog so don't go to www.edsbs.blogspot.com anymore. The new name is www.moore-than-enough.blogspot.com! I have been looking through many of your blogs and I enjoy reading about your lives and families, and all the new things that are happening in your lives. I decided that it was my turn to fill you in on my life, as basic as it may be. I am excited to keep in touch with all of you!!
To sum up the past couple of years from my perspective, it has been a blessing! Myles and I are doing wonderful, settling into our lives as a one income family. Jackson is such a big boy and he is talking so much! We were at Cheddars today and when he was ready to go he kept repeating over and over...and over "I Go! I Go!" I thought it was cute even if some older couple looked as if I should control my son. :) I love to play workout and play tennis! I just started in a USTA League. It is pretty big in San Angelo so I am excited about the competition!
I havnt posted any pictures yet, but I will soon. I can't wait to get started!!

<>< Jen

2008-03-12T15:04:00.000-05:00

So I don't blog over here any more. Like ever.

The sports blog usually takes up all my time... and I kinda forget sometimes about my real life blog.

things are good. busy as always but good.

Jen and I were in a wedding this weekend (our first one together... and last probably) with our friends Alex and Kelsey Yarborough from Littlefield, TX. It was a lot of fun. We got to spend time with our other friends Leah and Tanner Bryant, Landon Fisher, Ty Walden, and Adam and Lindsey Harvey and enjoy a great wedding.

The little man on the other hand... spent the weekend dirtying diapers with diahrea and discoloring furniture and carpet with throwup.

Awesome.

While we were 200 miles away Jen's parents were stuck with him.

We finally got him on Sunday and the kid acted fine but he soiled 8 diapers in 4 hours. Ugly stuff.

For a fun post I stole this from Kristen Tonne... crap I haven't done these in a LONG time.

Ten years ago...

I was in 8th grade... so probably just worrying about track and getting a woman. At least I was good at one of them.

My to do list today...

Get some work done

Eat my wife's tasty cooking when I get home

Watch last weeks Lost

Look for and plan our maintenance projects next week during spring break

Spend some time with Jen and Jackson.

What would I do if I suddenly became a billionaire...
pay off the house and car

Tithe and give to St. Judes, IMB, missionary and minister friends
1 whole month in the emerald isles.

set up college funds for each kid and some solid trust funds

invest
start traveling to college football games like there's no tomorrow.

keep my job... but enjoy it a whole lot more.

Five jobs I've had...
-Burger Boy @ Angelo Burger

-Waiter/Cook/Manager @ Pizza Hut
-Computer geek @ ASU
-Computer geek @ Region XV

so.... only had 4 jobs. nuts.

Five things people don't know about me...

- I used to be really fast in track and sports.

- I was thisclose to going to Hardin-Simmons, but didn't end up going after I flipped my truck on the way back from touring the campus

- My wife was the first person I ever kissed.

- I probably remember more things about you than you think I do. Like in a creepy, stalkerish way. I've had a lot of weird stares followed by "you remember that? stalk much?"

- I've never broken a bone or had a serious sickness or injury.

Three of my worst habits...

1. When I'm more interested in something than somebody, I tend to ignore the somebody (sory babe)

2. I care way way way too much about sports

3. I drive slow. And try to purposely make things hard on people that speed.

2008-02-12T13:21:00.001-06:00

For Jay

That would be my t-shirt school's hero running circles around your t-shirt school's hero.

2008-02-02T13:48:00.000-06:00

Marine Corps supporter Weston Hoover tries to get past anti-war protesters from World Can't Wait who chained themselves to the front door of the Marine Corps recruiting station on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley Friday. The three protesters were arrested by Berkeley police. The protest came three days after the Berkeley City Council declared the Marines "uninvited and unwelcome intruders" in the city.(Doug Oakley/Staff)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1963187/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1963819/posts
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_8141855?source=rss&nclick_check=1

The U.S. Marine Corps said today it would hold its ground in Berkeley after the City Council asked it to abandon its recruiting office on Shattuck Avenue earlier this week, while the city's mayor retreated a bit.
"We take an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States, and part of the Constitution is the right of free speech, and the fact that they are exercising their rights solidifies our resolve to continue what we are doing," Gunnery Sgt. Pauline Franklin said.

Franklin added that the service "can't predict the future" about its presence in Berkeley.

The council voted 6-3 Tuesday to tell the Marines that their recruiting station "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders."

In a separate vote, the council supported the women's peace group Code Pink by giving it a designated parking space in front of the recruiting station once a week for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week from noon to 4 p.m.

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, a former U.S. Army captain, released a statement today saying the council's action was not intended to show disrespect for those in uniform and that he would seek changes to the resolution's wording.

"I understand that there are people across the country that may not agree with this action but it is the Berkeley City Council's responsibility to represent the will of the people of Berkeley," he said.

"I also understand that the language proposed to the council did not adequately differentiate our respect and support for those serving in the armed forces and our opposition to the Iraq war policy. I will be working with the council to clarify that language at our next meeting."
Meanwhile, protesters from the anti-war group World Can't Wait chained themselves to the recruiting station this morning and tried to prevent people from entering. Several scuffles broke out, and one protester was punched in the face. Berkeley police were on the scene trying to keep order.

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, has threatened to introduce legislation to strip the city of federal funds as a result of the City Council's vote.

"This is a slap in the face to all brave service men and women and their families," DeMint wrote on his Web site. "The First Amendment gives the city of Berkeley the right to be idiotic, but from now on they should do it with their own money. If the city can't show respect for the Marines that have fought, bled and died for their freedom, Berkeley should not be receiving special taxpayer funded handouts.

Marine Coprs supporter Weston Hoover straightens his tie Friday after knocking a protester from World Can't Wait to the ground at the Berkeley Marine Corps recruiting center. Three protesters who chained themselves to the front door were arrested by Berkeley police. The protest came three days after the Berkeley City Council declared the Marines "uninvited and unwelcome intruders" in the city.(Doug Oakley/Staff)

"I am currently drafting legislation to ensure that American taxpayers aren't forced to pay for this insult by rescinding all of the earmarks for Berkeley in the Omnibus Appropriations bill, and to transfer the funds to the Marine Corps."

Among the funding DeMint seeks to remove is $87,000 for the Berkeley Unified School District's nutrition education program.

"If there's a senator from South Carolina that wants to take healthy food away from the children of Berkeley because the City Council has an issue with the military recruiting downtown, I just think that's absurd," said Ann Cooper, director of nutrition services for the district. "We're in the throes of a health crisis (because of childhood obesity), and Berkeley is one of the very few cities in America that's actually really working on children's health through school food. Why anyone would want to take away healthy food away from children is just beyond me."

____________________________________________________________________________

I'm shocked and awed. I just don't have anything to say or think about this.

Unbelievable, even in the liberal epicenter of the country.

2008-01-28T16:27:00.000-06:00

I'm sure none of you actually read this anymore... but it's been hectic.

Christmas. New Years. Anniversary. ER for Jackson. His Birthday Party. Work starting back up. Family coming in. Starting to work in the college ministry. Starting a new small group Having to replace a new tub after leakage and flooding. Starting a new sports blog...

Craziness.

I know I started a new sports blog a while back but some things happened since then that's making me re-evaluate it. I was asked by a good friend if I was doing what I want to be doing (as far as my career goes) and my answer was sadly "No." I like my job... I enjoy it and find it rewarding... but when I'm 50 I don't know that it's something I want to look back and say I spent the last half of my life doing. So I'm going to start pursuing what I do love on the side and hope and pray the Lord will some day pay me money to do it....

And that's college sports. I want to write and try to do some things in that field as much as possible. So I'm going to start writing some serious articles on a separate blog w/ a separate e-mail so as to

The new sports blog can be found here: http://threenout.blogspot.com

Jen and I started meeting w/ the college at the beginning of January and have enjoyed it immensely since then. Sometimes I feel very disconnected from the people I was a part of just a bit over a year ago. Not in a bad way, but I didn't live the life of a college student at any point during college (working full time, living w/ and taking care of my grandmother, getting married, etc.) So I always am taken aback at the freedom that they enjoy. I do love them though and the group seems to gel as well as being very mission centered.

That's it for now. Congrats to Jay Scott tricking a girl to say yes. Well played sir.

2007-12-17T09:03:00.000-06:00

Blog much? seriously....

It's been a whirlwind month since Jennifer, Jackson, and I got back from Thanksgiving.

First and foremost my child is a walking machine, roaming to and fro the earth searching for pacifiers and things to get into and break.

He and Aiden Mariano are the new terrors of the church toddling around, yelling at each other and chasing Aiden's older brother Seth around. We love it.

After a hard day of getting into things I shouldn't

The last week I got to go to the booming and beautiful Metropolis know as......

........
wait for it.......
.........
wait for it.........

Lubbock.

Ahh... sweet Lubbock; green pastures, calm, warm, nice people.....

Wait.... that's College Station. My bad coach.

I had a training that lasted the week. Slide road was nice for finding things to do but past that I don't desire to go there for quite a while. They did have a decent pipe shop in Heroes and Legacies and I was quite alright with it.

Church has been heckabusy w/ Christmas stuff and other things going on. Jen and I have been approached about teaching the college ministry... and we're seriously considering it at this point. I told Jen I just wanted to step out for a year of teaching after doing it for 6 years solid from my Sr. year of high school. It's not that I don't love it or know that ministry is something i can "step" out of for a year

The year is almost up... so now it's time to see where we can be used the most and most importantly, where God needs us.

I know Jen would love to work w/ the college girls and I would love to work w/ the guys some, but we have one small problem

What? Me? A Problem?

We want to be available to the college kids (kids? ... i'm like, 4 years older), but we also can't keep the late hours that they do, which is something we'd love to do. So we're praying about it and seeing if it's what God has for us. We'll see

On a side note. I just want to take a chance here to let everybody know I have a splendid wife and love her much. We both love this season so much and I love all the time I've got to spend w/ her and Jackson lately. We are set to have a few days of just us until we leave for Stamford on Christmas Eve.

As I have a little guy for the first time ever this year it just blows my mind to know that our sweet and mighty saviour was once jackson's size walking around toddling, getting into everything, but not sinning... Amazing.

2007-11-20T12:14:00.001-06:00

Fall.

It is upon us finally.

Lord willing today Tuesday the 20th will be the last day above 75. It's been borderline ridiculous.

I want overcast, skies, sleet, nasty wind, snow, road closures, and all around bleakness.

That sounds bad.

I just love cold, cold bleak weather. I like drinking hot drinks bundling up w/ my wife and son and enjoying the indoors, during the fall and winter.

There is nothing in this world like waking up early on a cold, dreary Saturday morning, brewing some coffee bundling up, getting a pipe out w/ a bowl of Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe and going and sitting outside w/ the coffee and good book or the Bible and just enjoying the cold weather.

God, I love reading scripture in the cold.

After the coffee and my pipe are gone I head back in to defrost my buns and get in the shower and rinse my mouth with rubbing alcohol so my wife will have something to do with me that day.

Then I get the little guy up and we get in bed. There is nothing better than being w/ your loved ones on days like that.

_________________________________________

On other notes.

The little man is almost there with walking. Last night we got in about 40 steps combined before the night was out. His longest was about 8 steps and took up about 6 feet. Pretty sweet. It'll happen soon.

I think I'm going to force my wife to play Tennis with me. We need to have some exercise thing to stick to. I just need to learn how to play.

College Football is about to enter bowl season. It's been a topsy turvy year to say the least. College basketball has already had some crazy upsets to begin the year.

2 of my good military friends are about to ship out in the next 2 months. Kinda sad. I think I'm going to stop getting to know military folk because they all leave.

I kid.

Have a great thanksgiving.

2007-11-14T08:10:00.000-06:00

I plan on having a meaningful post before Thanksgiving but I want to air a grievance. It's not spiritual, political, funny or anything of the like. I'm just annoyed at CNN.

Greatly.

Infuriated actually.

I don't keep up with wrestling, I do know that Hulk Hogan isn't there any more and that the Rock is acting now (and he's not bad)

I also know the new "good guy/main wrestler" now is a guy named John Cena. I don't know anything about him but that his name is John Cena and he's stacked.

He recently did an interview w/ CNN called "Death Grip" about the pitfalls of steroids in wrestling.

Here's his tidbit as aired on CNN.

Sounds quite condemning doesn't it.

Or Not.

Here's the question in it's entirety.

what a giant crock of crap. how dare they edit the question to look like that. When he says "Absolutely, not!" You air that and can work w/ the rest. I hope he and the WWE sues the pants off of them. This is why I hate the media today.

2007-10-21T20:46:00.000-05:00

Jen and I got to experience a new and exciting first this weekend.

First weekend home with a sick baby.

It sucked.

To say the least.

While Jackson wasn't suffering major illness, he was snotty, drooly, whiney, teary, and clingy all weekend. I know what it's like to take care of somebody, for an extended period of time, but not like this.

When I had to take care of Jen during her sickness she could tell me what hurt and I could do my best to help. Jackson couldn't. All he could do was cry and push away whatever we put in front of him to feed him or for him to play with. You just feel helpless for the little guy because you don't want him to be hurting like he is but you have no idea what to do.

It took a big toll on Jen, because she had to deal with it for 2 days longer than I did. Kudos to her. She's a trooper.

Also in an interesting turn, Bugger (my new name for him because I picked a lot of his boogers this weekend. i mispronounced it once and a nickname was born ) has become a daddy's boy.

At every turn he wanted me and me only. It kinda drove me nuts because I wasn't used to it and I had things that I thought were more important to do.

He quickly let me know otherwise. ;)

From washing the dishes to cleaning my room to putting up clothes there was a yank on my leg hairs letting me know that somebody was there and wanted to be picked up.

I respected my wife a lot more after this weekend for knowing what she puts up with everyday.

It also made me love the stinker more. Never has he just come up to me and cuddled for an hour without squirming or running off or ripping my eyelashes out. He just genuinely wanted to sit with me and be held.

The two of them had me at their mercy on saturday afternoon as there were several good games on and Bugger had finally fallen asleep on my chest and jen had the remote across the room.

sigh...

all in all it was a good time. we skipped church for the first time in forever and watched movies and made bacon and eggs.

back on the slow boat of christianity for us.

2007-10-11T17:04:00.000-05:00

I have discovered the new posts name

You may read it and it's inaugural post

here ------> http://wetalkinboutpracticeyo.blogspot.com/

2007-10-01T22:34:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't really blogged about real life in a while... because i've been super busy. Also Texas has gone 2 weeks without an arrest... this takes away a lot of my blogging fodder ;)

What's gone on lately for the Moores.

This last weekend my best friend from High School came in with his wife and stayed with us while they were visiting his family. Matt and Kristen Tonne are some of the best friends that my wife and I could ask for. They are sweet and godly people and every time I'm around them it's a blessing. I could not have asked for my best bud to have married a better girl. I love waking up early on weekends and cooking for Jen, and I got to do it this week for them as well and it was a good time had by all.

Jen recently came across an old friend of ours who we hadn't seen in church for a while. The last thing we knew she was dating a guy who was attending another church and upon not seeing her, we just figured she was attending church there still. 2 weeks ago she showed back up @ CHBC and Jen earnestly asked how she was doing... not just casually. And got an earful! The girl had been walking in some things unglorifying to the Lord and had hit bottom before showing back up to church. Jen agreed to start meeting with her and after a week of several people's prayer and effort this girl gave into the Lord's calling and surrendered her life to the Lord early this last sunday morning. I know that's been exciting for her and she's doing her best to be a good friend and mentor to her. She's also doing a great job raising my future linebacker. He's healthy and happy. I know she loves what she does and it makes me happy to be in a position to let her do that?

Jackson is doing .... well what can I say.... the kid rocks. He's such a happy baby and every day when I get home from work Jen says "who was that?" and i hear a coo followed by some rapid pitter patter of feet and hands hitting the tile to get around that corner. Whenever he sees where I am he stops smiles and high tails it to me and burrows his head into my chest when I pick him up. It's one of the greatest feelings in the world I could ever have. We're not walking by ourselves yet... but we can crawl with the best of them ;)

Everything's been pretty busy for both of us lately (which would explain why I've only blogged about article stuff.) I really think I'm going to start a separate blog for sports stuff. Why? This one needs to be about my family and what the Lord is doing... and while I'm absolutely passionate about sports... they need to be separate. I have really been thinking about why I love college sports so much (specifically college football) and if I obsess too much about it. The answer is "Yes. I do obsess about it too much." But I wouldn't be a fan I wasn't. But I've also given thought to what I could do if I could do anything in the world... and to be honest... if I could do anything in the world I would be a College football writer . While I'm not going to drop my job and pursue that as a career, I want to start taking it seriously as well as cutting off my sports blogging from my personal and spiritual life. It'll kick off sometime next week. I'm taking submissions for the title. It turns out "Every Day should be Saturday" is already taken by a Florida Gator blogger. I thought I was original. crap. So something catchy and sporting will be appreciated.

Well that's it for now. I hope the Lord finds you all well.

2007-09-21T08:35:00.000-05:00

Take your shots.

They are deserved.

Cute plays w/ designed delays and draws. 100% 3rd and 4th down conversions on the first drive for Miami.

2 carries for 2 yards by your most consistent player.

I have never been a fan of firing a coach and i think that it occurs way to often in sports, but the refusal to stick to your bread and butter and inability pick up mid range passes cost the aggies last night and it's frustrating.

On a plus note, My God is a good and gracious savior of whom I am loved and redeemed by.

I have a beautiful wife. A wonderful son. I can't complain.

2007-09-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

And another one

http://www.kxan.com/global/story.asp?s=7091356

Another University of Texas football player is in trouble with the law. Sophomore running back James Henry, 19, was arrested overnight.

Henry is in jail on two charges: obstruction or retaliation and tampering or fabricating physical evidence. Both offenses are third-degree felonies.

He is being held on a $30,000 bond.

Henry is the 11th UT player, or former player, arrested since the national championship in January 2006.

_________________________________________________________________

i wish i was just doing this to be a jerk to Adam, Blake, and Eron... but I'm just reporting the news.

Cates. I can't this weekend... but next weekend i could be up for some ball....

2007-09-17T15:51:00.000-05:00

UT hearts Terrorism

I for one am not suprised.

Link here

I need to get with some serious posting i guess.

We've had an out standing discussion of Calvinism vs. Armeniasm in our study of Romans during Sunday School as of late. Very interesting stuff. It's almost a shock at how the concept of God choosing us is still new to so many believers. I'll talk about it this next week sometime.

2007-09-05T14:59:00.001-05:00

BOMC

*Texas .... wow.

AP news

JONESBORO, Ark. -- Arkansas State coach Steve Roberts says he was told by the Big 12 Conference's supervisor of football officials that game officials wrongly overturned ASU's recovery of an onside kick in the final minute of the No. 7 Longhorns 21-13 victory on Saturday.

"We got a confirmation [Tuesday] that they missed the call," Roberts said.

The Indians were flagged with 56 seconds left in the game for an improper formation. Texas recovered a subsequent onside kick attempt and ran out the clock.

Roberts said the game film showed the Indians had enough players on both sides of the ball before the kick.

"There's nothing you can do about it now," Roberts said. "I don't have a reaction because a reaction's worthless."

The Big 12 Conference said officials coordinator Walt Anderson was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.

2007-09-04T16:45:00.000-05:00

Weekend notes.

- The dove flew straight and true. many were shot. not by me. but many were shot.
- The App State win was confirmed as probably the biggest upset in CFB history. And to think the retards @ the Big Ten network for keeping that out of the homes of the majority of Americans.
- Texas won ugly.
- TCU won pretty.
- Makes for an interesting matchup this weekend. I'm taking the horn. the horned frogs that is.
- Tech trounced SMU... not quite impressed... but we'll see.
- A&M did alright. Coulda been better. Coulda been a lot worse (see Michigan)
- How was FSU ranked to begin with?
- Bob Stoops is still a jerk.
- The in-laws were good. It's always fun to go up there and be w/ the Andersons.

2007-09-01T15:21:00.000-05:00

HOLY CRAP.

#5 Michigan just lost to 1-AA Appalachian State.

1st time that a RANKED (NOT EVEN TOP 5) TEAM has EVER lost to a 1-AA team.

Un-friggin-believe-able.

My vote for biggest upset of all time.

2007-08-29T14:40:00.000-05:00

Final Review of TAMU

Well....boys here it is.

The last blog before the 2007 season kicks off. I think this will be a better season than the '06 season. Other than the Fiesta Bowl... we weren't left w/ a great taste. Michigan stunk it up in the Rose Bowl. OSU proved to be stoppable. Florida, while clearly not the best team, won the right games at the right times, Texas sputtered it's last few games and barely beat a not good Iowa team, the Big XII took a collective crap in it's bowl games (A&M, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Mizzou, KState), while the winningBig XII teams all struggled against inferior opponents (UT vs. Iowa, OSU vs. Alabama, Tech vs. Minnesota), the ACC in general just sucked... mad props to Georgia Tech and Wake Forrest for giving an exciting season on their end. The exciting part of the season was Boise State's rise, and Rutgers, Louisville, and West Virginia duking it out.

I gotta get jet pretty quick so here's my review of A&M

Texas A&M

I was pretty happy w/ the season last year. Obviously the Ags proved they could play anybody in the Big XII. When you're literally 25 points from a 12-0 record and a 4-8 record it's hard to gauge a lot!

I think if the Ags have a year to get it done this is it. Next year will still have a lot of srs. coming back but a lot of the offensive and defensive lines won't be.... which sucks.

Much is made of both groups... some say the A&M line is the best in the nation... I won't go that far... but they're good no doubt.

The year really hinges on whether or not they learned to be a road team last year... They were 5-0 on the road (if you include Army @ San Antonio) and pulled out some good ones while there.

Offense

QB

I love Steven McGee. Can I just say that again? I love Steven McGee.

Like unhealthily.

When I saw him get the ever living crap knocked out of him by Latimer on the option against OU 2 years ago... I thought he was creamed for the game. Latimer kinda lingered over him, probably talking smack. McGee popped up and got in his face. You saw his team come swarming to him and you saw him run it again the next play. Right at Latimer. Awesome.

Next game he's the starter versus UT. Option to the right. He gets stood up and hammered by 3 UT players. Hops up and tells the defender what he thought of that cheap shot. And is pulled off by his players. Outstanding. Next play... Same option different side for a TD. Awesome. I just started loving that kid right then.

Since then he has proven to be the leader we have been missing for a while. While fast... he's not blazing.... while strong... he's not a beast... good arm... not incredible. He's actually very average in a lot of things he does. But it's how he does it.

RB
This is the area to get the most excited about. And this is all I will say about them

Also to boot is Chris Alexander who is one of if not THE best blocking back in the nation.
Watch his blocks on several of those runs (#24)

WR

The weakest spot on the team. The TE's are great. While Mizzou's Coffman and Rucker get all the fame (mainly because they are used as WRs), these 2 are some of the best blocking TE's in the nation.

Gone is the recent stars of Schroeder, Carter, and Murphy.. but we do have Ervin Taylor, Kerry Franks, Pierre, Brown, and Howard Morrow... who all have a bit of experience. I'm excited moreso by the McCoy brothers and the possibility of putting backup RB E.J. Shankle out wide. If the Ags can get this area going... awesomeness.

OL

Considered by some to be the most experienced in the nation. A large group that has a good history.

Clark, Elder, Babaloba, Wallace, and Yoder should anchor the majority of the time. The problem w/ that is that 1 of them is a Jr. and the rest are Srs. A&M needs to get the younger guys to get some mopup time for next year or they could be in for a world of hurt.

Defense

What was expected to be a tough year for the one proud wrecking crew turned out alright. The shift to a 4-2-5 worked surprisingly well. The area that needs improvement is CB and Safety physical play.

Line

Here lies the strength of the defense. Red Bryant is not dominant, but he is very solid at run-stopping. Kellen Heard will probably take the other starter position before the year is out. He is big and mean. And he didn't see that Dodge was down on that interception. I don't care what you say. And Colt was walking towards the A&M Sideline... not his own.

Michael Bennett and Chris Harrington bring the pass rush here. I look for Harrington to be All Big XII by the year's end. Bennett (Martellus' brother) wasn't starting all season but I think his late season performance will have him her more than Obiozer or Smith.

LB
My favorite group. Dodge and Tupe will be the starters but expect Anthony Lewis and Matt Featherton to get involved here. I like the idea of moving Featherton to the Whip position which is similar to a free roaming safety/lb hybrid. he hits big and hard.

Dodge and Tupe are nothing outstanding... but they both cover very well and are good run stoppers. Dodge had some key interceptions and stops towards the end of the year (Nebraska INT, Melton Stop, Texas INT) that really made him a star.

Tupe is just an all-around good player. Good nose for the ball as well as blitzing.

DB's
Here's where the question mark lies. People made Peterson look worse than he was. He was obviously physical... but beat out by Senior receivers with 4-5 inches and 4 years on him on some big plays. I think his mistakes have taught him well. And the kid hussles

Gorrer is the only other real stud potential... He's fast and can cover well. I hope he steps up and starts physically manhandling some receivers this year.

Gregg and Pugh have done some moving around and I'm curious to see how this goes for them

Overall

Thi ;fkj This is the best team the Aggies have had since the teams of the 90's the only thing lying in their way is the schedule and it's daunting...

At Tech, Miami, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. I don't think a top 10 team could make that one unscathed.

here's my picks

W Montana State - easy win W Fresno State - not so easy win. Pat Hill has the Bulldogs competitive again this year W Louisiana-Monroe - I've actually cheated a bit... I watched them last night. Good running team... unfortunately... that's it. semi-easy win
W Miami - I think this won't be a high scoring game at all... but as physical as Miami is... Lane runs them over and Goodson runs around something like 17-14
W Baylor - still baylor. and they are replacing a lot Push Oklahoma State - I still don't know what to do w/ these guys... tons of offensive power... but the defense is questionable to me. I think this will be a shootout
W Texas Tech - enough is enough.
L Nebraska - Sam Keller is just the right QB to get the Ags roughed up in the passing game. I don't think the Ags will pull this one out in Lincoln
W Kansas - fairly easy win. Low score though
W Oklahoma - Fran says to heck w/ you and the visor you wore in Stoops. Ags get it done
Push Mizzou - Defense lost a lot which the ags struggled w/ a bit last year... and A&M just got lucky stopping their offense at points
W Texas - there I said it. I think the ags continue to run the option on UT and it still works. This is the first year in a LONG time that I look at these 2 teams and say.... A&M's starters are as good as UT's in a lot of spots. The talent level has been missing for some time... but I think while Fran doesn't bring in 5 star recruits like Mack does... the gap is shrinking.

10-2 is my honest to goodness prediction.

Thanks for reading and commenting on these guys. I wish the best of luck and health to all of our respective teams...

unless they're playing the aggies... but just luck. they can keep the health.

I love this season.

2007-08-29T10:11:00.000-05:00

ERON. SLADE. RYAN. BLAKE. ADAM. JAY...

You must all come to my house to play my new game!

2007-08-23T11:02:00.000-05:00

Holy schnikies.

The season's literally a week out from tonight and I haven't started my last 2 reviews. Get with it Moore. Seriously.

My best darn review of TU!
(TU is used for rhyming purposes... not a knock on the school)

'06 was a good season for the Horns. Obviously not what the faithful wanted... but it got the job done.

QB
The MNC team in '05-'06 was fairly identical to last year's team except for one position. Vince Young was just absolutely the deal breaker for that team. I think if any other QB (in the world) were there they wouldn't have won that championship. He just brought the perfect balance to that team's running and passing game.

The longhorns had some balance last year... but when you have Limus Sweed, Billy Pittman, Jordan Shipley, Quan Cosby, and Jermichael Finley out there.... you're going to throw the ball a lot. I could look good w/ that corps of receivers.

I think Colt will continue to improve but I'm curious to see what will happen this year. 2 of texas' losses last year came from blitzing in-your-face defenses (yes... i am talking about A&M for a change.) OSU just had the D to stop a Freshman QB in his second game. A&M got in his face and aggressive the entire game ( he obviously wasn't at 100% that game... but McGee wasn't a 100% all season... so go kiss a pig if you think that's an excuse)

I think he'll put up good numbers because he is a decent QB with one of the best receiving corps in the country. He has yet to prove that he is great... but I can't argue w/ the numbers he puts up. I think he'll probably be a top 5 heisman candidate before the season is over.

RB's
The reason Texas had some struggles last year were that w/out Vince's dual threat abilities the run game was somewhat stifled. We expected HUGE things out of Jamal Charles. Not that he had a bad performance... his season just wasn't what was expected. 800 yds and 7 TD's isn't spectacular.

Texas has been blessed w/ power and speed in Cederic Benson and Ricky Williams since the late 90's. The '05 season had power (Melton), speed (s. young and charles), and the moves (romance taylor) to keep the ball moving between the 4 backs. Young is gone. Melton is on defense now. J Charles has put on some meat according the the reports I've read which is really what he needed. I love the type of back that Benson and Williams were. Speedy. Bruising. Quick between the tackles. Agile. Jamal has the speed and agility. he just needs to prove he can take some hits and deliver them.

I look for McGee and Ogbonnaya, to play back up... but good backups. McGee

WR

This crew is scary and doesn't need a lot of analysis. They're fast, big, and they have good hands

Sweed is a tall beast. Jermichael is a tall monster. You can throw it anywhere around them and they're going to make the catch.

I look for Shipley and Cosby to step up this year now that have had a complete year in the system. And here's hoping that Pittman gets better from his shoulder injury.

OL
This is the only part of the offense I have a little bit a question mark on. Texas OL strength is cyclical. Mac keeps good ones coming in. Studard and Blalock are gone.

Dockery is the only coming back w/ a lot of experience. I think there will be a bit of struggle at first but the new guys will pick up as time goes on.

Defense
Gone is Chizick. the man who coached two of the best defenses in the land from '04-'06. I don't think Duane Akina will change too much.

I really think too much was made of Texas' secondary last year. You can't be that bad when you have 3 of your starters taken in the draft (2 first rounders). I think the fact that their run D was so good made the secondary look worse than it was. If I know I'm going to be absolutely stymied by a D line and punishing linebackers... I'm going to throw it a little. I don't think the were ever bad... it's just that everybody threw it on them except for A&M and it made it look worse than it was. KState ran so many goofy pass trick plays that the statistics of that game were skewed.

DL
Texas has Lokey and Okam to rely on here. Strong strong strong guys who you don't push around at all. If you're going to run... do it on the outside. After Dre Jones gets back from his 3 game suspension he'll make an impact if he's not redshirted.

LB
Babino, Killebrew, Kindle. Tough guys. It'll be hard to run and do any sort of short pass slants.

DB
Probably the most untested group of the bunch. Marcus Griffin is the lone returning starter on a backfield that did give up some yardage despite the talent. Foster and Beasley will have to step up to fill the holes left.

Overall...

Tough year. Could be a national champion... could drop 3-4 games

W Ark State - Easy win
Push TCU - I dunno. TCU is tough. Not easy to give this one to texas. I have a strong feeling Tommy Blake will be seeing more of Colt after their appearance on the cover of DCTF
W UCF - Easy win
W Rice - not as easy win. Rice is improving.
W Kansas State - Revenge for last years embarrassment due to trick plays.
W Oklahoma - I'm not sold on Oklahoma yet. No solid QB and an unproven
W ISU - Chizick doesn't have the cyclones there yet. Yet.
W Baylor - Still Baylor. Sorry.

Here start's the murder's row for Texas. Not as bad as others... but...

W Nebraska- was not happy about how the last one ended... I think this will be a tough one but the Horns take care of business in Austin
L Oklahoma State - OSU always seems to have Texas' number at some point. I think this year their offense puts the secondary on the ropes enough to open up Reid and Savage for the running game
W Texas Tech - Tech always puts up their best for Texas... and comes up short.
L Texas A&M - I don't think Texas is quick enough on Defense to stop the option still. That's been a huge problem the last 2 years. McGee can outrun all the linemen and linebackers. Lane will run over your Linebackers and secondary... and Goodson will run around, to the left, right and circles behind most anybody. I also look for A&M's passing game to improve significantly as McGee looks to be 100% this year from the gate unlike last year.

10-2.... maybe BCS. maybe.

Have at it.

2007-08-08T21:23:00.000-05:00

Interesting Question.

My good friend Eron ( who doesn't have faith in my blogging but rightfully so) has asked a question of me.

Should unbaptized believers partake of the Lord's Supper?

Very interesting.

My first thought is... no biggy. of course they should be able. But then I thought well... why do i say that. Why do we even say that you are saved w/out baptism ( i believe you can be)?

The main instance we turn to is when Jesus talks with the thieves hanging with him on the cross in Luke 23. The first thief tells Christ to save himself and them, because he is the messiah.

The second thief rebukes him saying they are just for their suffering, where Christ is being punished unjustly and asks Jesus to remember him in his kingdom. You can call this a deathbed conversion. Obviously the first criminal simply wanted to be freed. The second realized his state (a sinner) and realized that Christ was being punished for nothing. Obviously neither of these men were Christ followers. I think that the second man was face to face with Jesus, realized his sin, saw the sinlessness of Christ, saw his need for repentance, and cried out for God to remember him in paradise. I don't necessarily believe this is a basis for the believe that baptism is not necessary for salvation... but then again maybe it is. We know that baptism is important and is a sign of commitment and a new life.

There are several and I mean several passages that deal w/ new believers needing to be baptized. Paul and Peter specifically tell people to repent and be baptized (1 Pet 3:21, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Romans 6 :4, Gal 3:27)

To my knowledge there is nothing that the Bible speaks to specifically for the Lord's Supper involving this. We are told not to eat with out discerning ourselves. Much of our instruction involving this comes from 1 Corinthians 11.

27: Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. ¹²
28: A person should examine himself, ¹³ and so eat the bread and drink the cup.
29: For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment ¹⁴ on himself.
30: That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying.

Don't partake w/out confessing sin and not having a pure heart. We need to take our sin to the cross before we partake.

31: If we discerned ourselves, we would not be under judgment;
32: but since we are judged by (the) Lord, we are being disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

33: Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

Eat together w/ believers.




34: If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that your meetings may not result in judgment. The other matters I shall set in order when I come.

Don't partake out of hunger.

I don't see anything that doesn't qualify a nonbaptized believer here.

But let's cut to the heart of the matter. What is baptism?

An outward showing of an inward working.

We get baptized to show to the world the washing away of our sins and rebirth into Christ. What the heart of this question is (to me and me alone), is whether or not a nonbaptized believer has the freedom a baptized believer does.

I don't know.

I don't see anything that says they shouldn't... but I definitely see scripture of our Apostles telling new converts to get baptized and do it quick.

But here's a thought. The apostle's also speak of circumcision almost as fervently. But it's clearly a circumcision of the heart. Is baptism also of the heart? I believe it is. It's definitely a lot easier to do if you get saved at a later age.

Nobody argues that one.

I think they can partake of the Lord's supper. I don't think it's in sin and I don't think it being abusive of their freedom.

But I also think they should get baptized soon after conversion. No reason not to.

Thoughts, questions, ideas, or calvinistic disagreements???

2007-08-06T08:41:00.000-05:00

Good Job Mack.
si.com AP News

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas defensive end Henry Melton and linebacker Sergio Kindle will miss the first three games of the 2007 season after being charged in separate DWI cases over the summer.

Kindle and Melton will miss games against Arkansas State, TCU and Central Florida as punishment for being arrested over the summer. The announcement came from coach Mack Brown as the Longhorns reported to training camp Sunday.

The players will also be held out of the first couple of days of practice when they will visit with an unidentified woman whose child was crippled by a drunk driver, Brown said. The players must perform some form of community service on behalf of the team before they will be allowed to play.

"I think we've got to send a message, and kids have to learn," Brown said. "It is a good opportunity for our football team to step up and talk about how serious we feel about drinking and driving."

2007-08-03T09:59:00.000-05:00

Dre Jones in happier times, when he committed to UT. An arrest warrant was issued for Jones in connection with a robbery.

Mack needs to act

by Cedric Golden

Tough discipline, changes in recruiting needed after rash of Longhorn arrests.

Friday, August 03, 2007

The Texas Longhorns are no longer the fair-haired boys of college football.

"We are Texas"? How about: "Which Texas is this"?

Not the Texas that coach Mack Brown molded into a national power with high-character recruits who rarely ran afoul of the law. Not the Texas that steered clear of serious off-the-field offenses.

The second arrest of former UT safety Robert Joseph, this time on aggravated robbery charges, was a head shaker. For the Longhorn Nation, the allegation that freshman defensive tackle Dre Jones participated in the robbery, too, was like running headfirst into a tackling dummy. Without a helmet.

We can't keep saying "another black eye for the program" because the eyes of Texas are rapidly becoming slits. No amount of makeup can cover up these scars. Hook 'em is fast becoming Book 'em.

Since Mack and Vince Young led the program to a fourth national championship on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006, there have been 10 — count 'em, 10 — arrests of players involved with the Texas program. Five have come in the last two months.

What is going on here?

Accountability is everything, and Mack must take the hit here. He won a national title and returned this program to top-five prominence. Now he must re-evaluate his recruiting practices before his program disintegrates into something ugly, or uglier.

Brown has a problem in his football family, and he must face that fact. Instead of taking responsibility, he chided the media this week when he said, "It's very interesting that when you have 130 kids, and 128 of them do everything right, if one gets in trouble, you stir it up about one or two."

I like Mack. He's a good, family man who could charm the rattles off a Texas rattlesnake, but the time has come to take another approach in determining what type of kids he's bringing in here. I know there are background checks conducted on recruits every year. Incoming freshmen in orientation are cautioned to avoid drinking, late nights and to pick their friends wisely.

It's worked for the most part, but changes are obviously needed. What changes are up to Mack. That's why he makes over $2 million a year, to make those tough decisions.

If eight current and/or former players are arrested within an 18-month period, it puts a damper on the clean standing of the other 78 players. Bad news travels fast.

This is not the time for coaches or fans to make excuses. Be angry, not apathetic.

One or two arrests a year? Happens in most every major football program in America. But 10 in a year and a half? Now you're venturing into the seedy era of the camouflage-wearing Miami Hurricanes of yesteryear. We saw what Joe Paterno did when six of his Penn State players were arrested for a fight on campus. In addition to any legal punishment the offenders must face, he ordered the entire team to clean the football stadium after each home game.

Like it or not, it's called accountability. Accountability not only as a football player but as a football program.

Brown can't be everywhere his players go. But they hang out with one another. If a team member knew about guns or robberies, they should have intervened.

In the Texas football media guide, Jones is described as a Parade high school All-American, an honor roll student who graduated from Andress High School in El Paso early so he could join his future college teammates for spring football.

Jones grew up dreaming of being in the UT starting lineup one day, not the photo lineup in which he was identified. Now he will join Joseph in jail, in a different shade of orange uniform.

Which brings us to the easiest decision Mack Brown has faced since he offered Vince Young a scholarship. The lawbreakers must go.

Haven't these kids learned anything from Michael Vick? This dude was a $100 million industry unto himself and now there are sewer rats who wouldn't trade places with him. The lesson is you're only as good as your associations. If you lie down with dogs, you will soon wake up with fleas. So If you want to follow your buddy to the penitentiary, go ahead. But you shouldn't be allowed to do it under the guise of being a law-abiding student-athlete for a college reputed to recruit solid citizens.

How many times have we heard coach Brown say: "He's a good kid from a good family."? Well, it's time to find some better kids. More Kelsons and McCoys. Fewer thugs.

cgolden@statesman.com; 912-5944

_________________________________________________________________

My thoughts here...

I love Mack Brown. I think he's a good guy and a great coach. I think he has an outstanding eye for talent and can pick some of the best of them.

Above that... He's a GREAT recruiter.

And herein lies the problem. Mack is a buddy to his players. He's always been depicted as such a nice guy (which he is) and a player's advocate. When he speaks I can tell he really cares about his players and sees them as his extended family. Two years ago when he went forward to the media and says that Texas deserved a BCS bid I truly believe he did that because he thought his players deserved it.

Here's the problem though. You can't be their coach and their friends. You just can't. You need to know that in this situation you are their coach and not their best friend.

I would like to compare him to Franchione but that is not possible. Obviously Mack has a better record, gets better recruits, and is liked more. Fran is all business, not overly personable, not the greatest recruiter, and isn't very well liked in general.

But here's the difference. Fran does not put up w/ crap in his regime. Players under him say that he is a good coach but not likeable in practice or game situations. He is not tolerant of much and distances himself from players. You see pictures of Mack in practice and you find him much more involved with his players smiling. I can listen to Mack Brown talk all day... he just has that persona and charm that the media loves. Fran does not. Fran kinda drives me a little nuts to be honest. Not much personality in there and doesn't seem to enjoy the spotlight.

Which is better? That depends on your view. I think in the long run Mack will always be considered a better coach than Fran. But I respect Fran a lot more for his program's respectability and integrity. Maybe Fran's just lucky in this. Maybe Mack's just unlucky. But most of the problems that have plagued A&M in the past w/ legal trouble seems to have faded under Fran... and picked up a bit for Texas under Mack.

2007-07-30T09:31:00.000-05:00

Things I'm stoked about.

We're about one month out from the season and beginning of Fall.

That excited me for about a 100 different reasons.

I) I love the fall. Everything about it.
II) The weather starts cooling off
III) College Football
IV) Jackson will be walking soon.
V) Cool Saturdays off w/ Jen
VI) I will soon be getting to experience College Station on gameday.
VII) Waking early and reading outside w/ a cup of coffee and a pipe.
IIX) Leaves changing color
IX) Smack talk w/ Cates, Jay, Plev, and Randon
X) Quiet lazy sleepy Sunday afternoons w/ Jennifer.
XI) I'm hoping that the wet summer translates into a wet Fall
XII) Having people over to watch games
XIII) Labor Day w/ my in-laws
XIV) Hunting!
XV) Suddenly it becomes kosher to be baking awesome things like pecan, apple, and pumpkin pie.
XVI) College Gameday in the mornings
etc...

In the meanwhile here's a list of preconference games that should be interesting.

Week 1
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame
Oklahoma State at Georgia
Kansas State at Auburn
Tennessee at California

Week 2
Miami (FL) at Oklahoma
Oregon at Michigan
TCU at Texas
UTEP at Texas Tech
Virginia Tech at LSU
South Florida at Auburn

Week 3
South Florida at Auburn
Louisville at Kentucky
USC at Nebraska
Florida State at Colorado

Week 4
Texas A&M at Miami (FL)

2007-07-27T13:15:00.000-05:00

Well... I said I would do this before the season ends and here we go. We are almost a month out from the season... so it begins.

We'll start w/ tech... Now as much as an A&M as I am... I do have a lot of respect for the Texas teams and will always root for them outside of playing each other. One thing I have a lot of respect for the 3 major teams is because they each are filled w/ Texas born kids and the three coaches continue to recruit Texas.

I like the 3 coaches for various reasons.

Mac is an excellent recruiter.
Fran honestly is a classy respectable guy. I think that situations have painted a different picture... But he is genuinely a nice guy who knows his football.
Mike Leach is the funniest man in sports. Always has something humorous to say and is quick w/ a comeback. Here's a compilation:

Mike on Lubbock
Mike does the weather
Mike being Mike

I say this... because I'm unbiased. really.

so w/out further adieu

The best darn review of TTU.

Well strange year for the pirates in 07...

Beat A&M... lose to Missouri and Colorado???? I don't get it. Very inconsistent. The real problem seemed to lie in the second half.

Harrell had good days and bad ones last year. He definitely improved over the year but was shut down at points by some better defenses. TCU stymied him. A&M shut him down the last half (except for one throw... tons of cred to him on that one. outstanding toss. perfectly placed) Mizzou caused him to flip off his own fans.

Woods is actually the 2nd on the list of returning rushers for the BigXII. I don't think that will be the case this year. Charles, Goodson, Savage (OSU), and Patrick will all probably come out as better backs this year w/ more yards. It's hard when you're in the offense that he's in. It says a lot when your predecessor holds the record for most TD receptions by a RB. The most shocking thing.... is that he's second on the depth chart at this point. Koby Lewis apparently has taken the starting position for now. I'm sure that'll change. If anything.... Leach doesn't put up w/ a lot of crap from his players. Except maybe his QB

O-Line - Only one starter returns... but I've never known tech to have a particularly bad offensive line. You can't run the offense TTU does and not have strong line play.

WR - This is the first year in recent history that there doesn't seem to be a featured receiver. Filani, Hicks, and Johnson are all out of there. But here's the deal. I doesn't matter if there's a superstar at receiver. Leach trains these guys to have good hands and that's what counts. They make their catches. For all of Techs receiving yards... their YAC isn't that impressive. Not saying it's bad... but not impressive. Short quick routes is Leaches key to keeping this offense going. If you can keep quick guys in there w/ good hands... the system continues. Amendola will the one of the more veteran guys to produce. RS Frosh Crabtree is expected to become the star receiver. The real problem is that no matter how great of receivers they get in there... None is going to be noted as a superstar. You're going to be considered a Tech receiver.

Secondary - Hit or miss really... Tech always has a decent Passing defense.... and they should. They pass against the top receiving corps in the nation. SS Garcia should be a 1st or 2nd Team All Big XII. Parker did decent last year w / a 2nd team nod and 50 tackles... pretty good for somebody in the secondary. Really the strongest unit the raiders have overall.

Linebackers and DLine - I group these because this is one of Tech's most inconsistent areas. You can literally run on them all day. Dawson's gone. What's shocking is on the front line average weight is like 250-260. That's not horribly small but there are no 300 lbers. Not that common. I really think run heavy teams will have their way with Tech this year.

Overall.... I just don't know... I mean I can see this team being 10-2... and I could see them ending up 6-6. Tough call. Harrell returning will be huge and I think that will be a deciding factor.

Here's my call:

W SMU - Pretty easy win. SMU is slowly coming back though.

W UTEP - Ugly win. The miners took it to the wire last year. This game intrigues me.... It really seems like it could turn into a good rivalry. UTEP has definitely improved under Mike Price. (For fandoms sake... I'd love for UTEP to win this just to put that little bit of rivalry there)

W RICE- Decent win. Rice has improved along w/ SMU.

L oSU - Okie Lite is very confusing to me.... No consistancy... Lose to Houston and KSU... come back and thump KU. Lose to A&M... come back and dominate north champ Nebraska. Dominate Baylor. Get thwacked by Texas. Barely lose to OU... Win nailbiter against Bama

W Northwestern State - It wouldn't be tech football w/out one Div III team

W ISU - I don't think Chizik has them going quite yet. Give it a year. Brett Meyer and Todd Blythe will upset the D a bit i think.

L TAMU - I think the road isn't going to scare A&M much this year. This is probably Fran's best team since he's been at A&M. The D showed a lot of improvement last year. A&M's Peterson was literally about 3 inches from accidentally deflecting the gamewinner last year. The secondary will be able to shut them down a bit more. I fully expect this one to be a great game. Neither team wins by much

L Mizzu - Mizzu has too much on offense for Tech I think. This one will be close

W Colorado - I just don't think Hawkins has this team going quite yet. Next year would be different

W Baylor - It's Baylor. Let's say it together.... It's Baylor. They lost their QB Bell... who was outstanding. Ziegler's out. Sheldon's Gone... I really think we need to trade the Bears for the Frogs. No offense... but I just don't think Baylor can get very competitive in the Big XII south. I could be wrong though

L Texas- I just don't think this is the year.

W Oklahoma - Am I the only one who isn't that impressed w/ the Sooners this year? Patrick was a good fill in... QB 's unproven. Defense lost a few. Despite making it to the BCS bowl this last year... I don't think they were that superb of a team. I mean it took Texas losing two close games that they shouldn't have for them to get there. And if Fran didn't forget he had JLane on 3rd and goal from the 2 there would have been another loss.

So 8-4. That's my call. Hope that's satisfactory Jay.

2007-07-26T07:24:00.001-05:00

Let me start out this post by saying that I do not like to keep up w/ celebrity gossip very much.

I don't like reality or celebrity TV and the only thing you'll catch me watching on E! TV is the True Hollywood story of 24 or some other awesome show or individual.

The only celebrity gossip that I enjoy is stuff like David Beckham coming to America. I hope it does well for the sport here. Also... Posh spice is funny.

Since I sit at a computer all day and look at news I do find out some things unfortunately.
I am sad that Fox News puts that info on it's front page.

This week:

Lindsay Lohan apparently drove drunk and was caught w/ cocaine in her pocket. (This is after a recent stay in rehab. Followed by a DUI right after her 21 birthday. Outstanding.) Then she had the audacity to say the crack IN HER POCKET wasn't hers. Oops my bad... I somehow slipped a couple of oz. of into your pochket in your skin tight pants w/out you noticing. Wow.

How do you go through rehab... turn 21 and decide... I should pick up drinking again. Allsome!!
Remember when she was cute on Parent Trap? Or even maybe a little bit around Mean Girls Simpler times... Simpler times.

Britney apparently had some outburst while having a photo shoot w/ OK! magazine. I don't know too much about the whole thing... but apparently she showed up an hour late to the photo shoot went nuts... fired the whole crew of OK! people, started ranting and raving, promoted her bodyguard "Funk" to be her stylist, started the interview, stopped it in a couple of minutes, ate some chicken for lunch, rubbed the grease from the chicken on her $300 dress that she was borrowing from OK!, let her dog pee on a $7000 gown, ruined a pair Ver-Saw-Chee shoes by spilling something on them, went to the bathroom w/ the door open, and finally walked out. Oh yeah, she and her entourage.... no wait let me change that. Calling them an entourage is an insult to the term and the HBO series. Her and her gang of yahoo yes-men, idiots walked out w/ some of OK!'s clothes. Yes... Britney Spears is now literally a thief. Even more outstanding.

It's a very... very sad day when K-Fed is the better option for parenting.

Next up is Kim Kardashian. You're probably asking... Holy crap who's Karen Kadishgan? Wait was it Kim... I forgot already! You're correct in asking this. Somebody even less worthy of fame than Paris Hilton. At least Paris had a TV show and has acted in something and sang a song. You may recall the surname Kardiscan... because her dad Robert Kardashian was OJ Simpson's defense lawyer in the murder case involving Nicole Brown. Why is she on this list... Apparently a few years ago Kelli had sex w/ some guy named RayJ and let him film it. Wow. Good idea Kali... er Kim. (Who are you again?) Who has sex with somebody and lets them film it? How stupid can you be? And who has sex with somebody named Ray J? Her BFF is Paris Hilton... you would think she could have thought about this.

What's Karla known for recently? She recently made a public appearance at a fund raiser. Sounds decent. She didn't necessarily contribute any funds and can't because she has no job... but she showed up and that's what counts. What was the fund raiser you ask? Oh it was the Nicole Brown Foundation (against family violence.)

Yes.

That's right.

Kami showed up at a fund raiser in memory of a woman that was murdered by one of her father's best friends. Oh yeah.... to boot, her father got him off of that one. I'm still not saying OJ did it... but have some decency to think about the situation. I wonder if even occurred to her this might be a little politically incorrect.

Finally we come to Paris Hilton... who hasn't done anything too recently. But she went to jail... how stupid to you have to be to be sent to jail on those terms. How immature and ridiculous do you have to be to get caught drunk driving, have your license revoked and decide to do it again? I mean... I'd like to know what went on in her mind that time....

"Well... I know I'm not supposed to drink really... and they said i shouldn't drive. i know it's illegal... but maybe they won't see me. I mean I'm not that big of a deal am I? People are out there murdering and raping.... I'm just driving after they took my license away. Drunk. There are worse things in the world right? I think I'll do it. It won't hurt anybody"

Then you got sent to jail.. and you had the audacity to go to an awards show or something a couple of hours before. And you get all made up for your mug shot... be a friggin' normal person show up on time do your time and move on w/ your life. Don't do an interview afterwards about how it changed you. Because it didn't. You still party. You still contribute nothing.

I hate the fact that I know that you exist.

I want a reality show to end all reality shows. I will watch if they put this on. Put these women as well as a few other people I can think of.... in a large estate for the summer. Lock them in there and tell them they can literally do what ever they want on the estate grounds.... but you can't leave... You want drugs... sure we'll have them shipped in. Alcohol? you bet! No rules just happy fun times all day and night. No interference from staff... just do it like Big brother. cameras everywhere.

Within the summer AT LEAST one of them would be dead and the other ones would have left them there to rot. Write that down. That would be good reality TV.

***** Edit: I wish the best for each of these people. I really hope that God calls them from their sin and pulls them from the life they are living. I don't mean to make light of anything that is happening for any of them... but I believe that the state they are in is a result of their actions and their sin.
***** End edit

Tangent and rant over. Sorry.

Maybe I'm being a little harsh. OK, I know I'm being EXTREMELY harsh... But I just wonder what led these people to think the behavior they exhibit is acceptable. If I EVER acted like that my parents would have beat me and my bottom beyond recognition... and rightly so. Just hearing that crap infuriates me.

Jackson is actually doing things to defy what Jen and I want... obviously the kid is 7 months old... he has no clue what he's doing. He just knows he wants to do something and I don't let him or I make him do something he doesn't want. For instance... Sometimes he likes to play when he wakes up in the middle of the night. Not cool. I go in there to flip him back on his stomach to go back to sleep. He'll resist and flop back over and give me a dirty look. Now he doesn't have a clue what a spanking is about... So I don't do that yet. But I do flip him back over time after time. He needs to know that night is when we sleep and day is when we play. He needs to know he can't rip my nose or mouth off when I'm feeding him. I know he doesn't get it.. but after I stop him a few times... he'll get the idea and quit.

You have to let kids know there are consequences for their actions. I question if any of these people above were spanked much if at all. It's obvious that some of these people don't think there are consequences for their actions. What's worse is that people report this trash as if there is something to defend here or as if it's no big thing. Atrocious.

I look at that and I think of some of the people I went to college w/ that drank every night and did drugs... promiscuous sex. I asked several of them a question and found an interesting recurrence. Very few of them were spanked.

That being said.... I have more than a few nonchristian friends in life. Some closer than some christian friends. Even among my nonchristian friends... I find the ones that were spanked and disciplined come out to be better people w/ better decison making skills than my christian friends who didn't get disciplined much...

Sometimes I look at Jackson w/ Jen and we wonder what kind of person will he turn out to be? Will he be an athlete? Will he be a thinker like me? Will he like football? Will he like ballet? Will he want to smoke a pipe like I do? Will he do drugs? Will he love God? Will he turn out homosexual some day? Will he be a jerk? Will he be a good man? Where will he go to school Will he meet a girl? Will I have grandkids? Great Grandkids even? What will he do w/ his life? What kinda of person will he be?

I know Jen and I can't pick and choose what he'll be like... But I want him to know discipline and what it is to be the best person he can be. (Even more than that I want him to know Christ and be a believer of course. But that is in the Lord's hands... not mine.)

I don't want him to be like the people I've mentioned here. I want him to have morals and a conscience. I want him to know right from wrong. I want him to know if he gets caught driving drunk and he's 22 I'm still going to kick his butt because there are consequences to what you do. I want him to know you don't talk back to your parents the way Lohan and Spears do. You treat your parents w/ respect no matter what. You treat all people w/ respect. I want him to know that. Sometimes when I'm in public I see people treating an overworked waitress poorly because they gave the wrong drink to the wrong person. I see someone griping and chewing out a guy at the cash register because somebody else screwed up some pricing when the the guy at the register can't change anything. I don't want him to be like that.

Spank your kids. Live a biblical example in front of them. Ground them. Don't let them talk back to their mother(or father). Teach them how to act and treat people all people with respect. Pray for them and love them.

It's worth it. I'm glad my parents did. And I'm glad my wonderful wife and I have the chance to do it now.

2007-07-17T15:36:00.000-05:00

JC.... Living Big.
The Anthology

Haha. I have you finally, you mutt!!!

Foiled again!!! AUGGGHHH!!!

Dad... I don't get it... Why did the mouse run up the clock again???

I get it now. It's similar to the Armenian view on the propitiation of man in a post-millennialism classic dispensation... I'm pickin' up what you're layin' down.

2 of my favoritest things.

Peace.... I'm out.

2007-07-17T13:06:00.000-05:00

The ides of summer are upon me.

Another month.... more miles. Here has been my schedule since June 1st:

San Angelo to Brookesmith... oops... replacement switch broke.... my bad
Brookesmith to San Angelo.
San Angelo to Brookesmith... oops wrong switch ordered. their bad.
Brookesmith to San Angelo.
San Angelo to Winters.
Winters to San angelo.
San Angelo to Ozona.
Ozona to Mertzon
Mertzon to San Angelo.
San Angelo to Novice.
Novice to San Angelo.
San Angelo to Sonora.
Sonora to 10 miles outside of Eldorado. (rember that trip to Ozona? Somebody forgot to reset their trip to keep up w/ the gas mileage because his gauge doesn't work. Then he forgot to check adjust for that first forgetfulness. Thanks to SheaPo for the hookup. My bad.)
10 miles outside of Eldorado to San Angelo.
San Angelo back to sonora.
San Angelo to Coleman.
Coleman to Paint Rock.
Paint Rock to San Angelo.
San Angelo to Zephyr.
Zephyr to San Angelo.
San Angelo to Brookesmith. Replacement switch functions works and is G2G. Peace. I'm out.
Brookesmith to San Angelo.
San Angelo to Ozona...
And Ozona back to San Angelo

I'm wiped. I knew my job would require this sort of travel... but i'm tired of the road. My boss has made a lot of these trips with me so I can't complain too much... but this would explain my lack of blogging.

It's been hectic. It seems like at least 2 times a week i'm leaving before my wife and son are awake and not getting home till it's almost time to go to sleep.

Jen does a great job of making my home a home when i do get back though. She's such an awesome mother and wife and I'm lucky to have her to come home to. If I can just convince her that her and football can coexist peacefully all would be well ;)

Some recent events:

My good buddy, Jay Scott made a champtastic return to San Angelo a couple of weeks ago. Good to see the guy. He is enjoying florida but was glad to come back. He and I enjoyed pipes and cigars till about 1 in the morning catching up and talking about old times. Excellent stuff. He's got a girl these days and I'm proud of him.

And he bought me a steak for A&M/Duke's BBall season bet. The bet was that A&M would have a better year than Duke. I am not foolish enough to think this wasn't a fluke. It was. And I fully expect Duke to return to former glory and A&M to move to upper of the pack in big XII play.

We got to go on a mini-vacation last week to Abilene... Not that impressive... but what can you do when you have no vacation days your first year on a job? We had a great time. We ate big... Watched a movie... stayed up late. You know... young crazy newlywed stuff!!

Transformers rocked. FYI. Go see it. Be a little kid again.

The whole time we still missed the little guy. It seemed like everywhere we went we still saw babies and they sounded and looked a lot like Jackson. It was tough on Jen but she braved through it. We definitely enjoyed our time together.

The only rough patch of the vacation was when Jen decided to cut her hair. She has gone quite a while and let the hair get to about the middle of her back. Now. I think my wife is gorgeous no matter how you slice it... but I prefer it short. She looks good when it's like that. So she's walking through the mall and is tempted to go cut it. I play devil's advocate. Do it Do it Do it Do it. She agrees. I'm stoked. We're aiming about shoulder length. go in for the hair cut... Lady cuts it to shoulder length. Jen approves and the girl gets to doing the whole layering thing. By the time it's done we're well above shoulder length by about 3 inches. I'm a fan of the hair... but it definitely was not what Jen asked for. It's taken a bit but she's gotten used to the hair and is cool w/ it for the most part. I think it looks great. And she gets compliments out the wazoo about it.

We went out and ate steaks that night went to bed. Woke up... had breakfast... skipped church.

Yes. Skipped church.
I am now back on the slow boat.
You're shocked... I know. I am too.

We thought about going to Beltway (Chandler's old church) or visiting Southside (Blake's church) but decided to heck w/ it... We're going to the zoo!!! We had a really good time there as well. I haven't been to the Abilene zoo in probably 12 years and forgot about how much cool crap they have there. I made jen walk through the snake house and she did it. Atta girl.

We finally went and picked up some Bueno (If you're a top Taco Bueno exec and are reading this... come back to San Angelo... we miss you. I promise I'll eat there at least once every two weeks.) and Jackson. I could tell he missed us.

Hopefully things will be settling down for me in times coming up.

I'm about to start reading some books again. My saturdays have been packed w/ other things so my chances to read have been slowed considerably. I have one by MacArthur coming up as well as another CS Lewis afterwards.

I hope your all well. And I love you guys... God Bless.

2007-06-24T22:39:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had the most interesting Dining experience that I've ever had to this day.

Two couples( Ryan and Kira, Micah and Cami), my wife, and myself decide we want some of the P'Zones being offered by Pizza Hut and make a date to go.

We arrive and see that there are no tables set up for larger groups. The waitress stares at us and walks to the back. I start heading for a table and pushing them together. The waitress walks up to me and ask if I will be dining in, carrying out, or delivery. To which I respond "dining in" I tell her there will be 6 of us and 3 kids and we need to make a bigger table. She says ok, but she doesn't know if we can put the tables together

We sit catycorner from each other so the guys can talk and the girls can talk. The waitress asks who will be together on the tickets. We point at our partners and are promptly asked to move next to our partners so we don't "confuse her."

We all decide on what we want and she comes around and asks for my name so she can seperate the tickets by name We tell her we want the two P'Zones for 10.99 deal and two drinks. She responds "It's not really a deal. You see the single P'Zones are 5.99 each and that's the same as the 10.99 deal" (5.99 +5.99 =11.98) We say... "Great... we'll have the 10.99 deal."

She moves on to the next couple who ask for the same thing but they want to cut the green peppers and add black olives instead. She writes on her pad for about 10 seconds and replies "I'll write that down.... but you'll have to wait and see what they give you to know if they can make that substitution."

Finally she goes to Micah and Cami and they ask what all combinations they can have. She says they can have 3 of whatever they want. :youcrazy:

After we've all placed our orders.... A man from another table gets up and heads to the back (restrooms) The waitress chases him down telling him she can check him out at his table. She follows him all the way to the door of the men's restroom to tell him this.

Finally our food comes out and she walks out and asks who has 2 P'Zones (We all did) We ask what's on them and says "I don't know. You look inside"

She brings the rest of the food out. We seperate it.

Afterwards we ask for some ranch dressing. This reply is "I don't know... I'll have to go see what the bigwigs in the back say."

The bigwigs say the ranch is a go.

Micah, Ryan, and I are talking as she walks up and asks if we need refills.
She's sitting behind Micah and says this while he's not paying attention.. She waits a few seconds and yells "MICAH!!!!!" He turns around... "Would you like a refill?"

At the end she comes out and says... "I'll go get your tickets... which you do have to accept."

Thanks.

Finally, Cami calls her son Aiden "Buster Brown" and the waitress overhears and asks what his name is. She replies Aiden. The waitress thinks for a minute... and says she "has a cousin named that. no... a second cousin... or a cousin-in-law.... no wait... it was her neighbor's son. And he was named Adrianne... not Aiden."

When she brings our tickets she asks who had what (we all had the same $15.12 ticket) One friend hands her a $20 and the waitress asks if this is her tip. Cami said "No, but keep the change."

"So.... no tip?"

"No, there's a tip, I said you keep the change."

"Oh... I thought the company got to keep it."

Wow.

To end the night another waitress drops a drink tray and our waitress comments... "Ha. Not me this time."

I really wish I could tell you that I'm embellishing this story a tad bit or that people came out w/ cameras afterwards... but alas no. True story and Candid Camera wasn't there to my knowledge.

2007-06-24T13:55:00.000-05:00

I thought things were supposed to slow down after you graduate....

whoever told me this lied. it just seems like no matter what i get accomplished I still have a million things to do when i get done w/ that first list.

Part of it has a lot to do with having a kid two weeks after I graduate and the day I was supposed to start a new job. It never felt like we got to enjoy that spot of marriage where neither of us were in school and we didn't have a kid (We weren't ever DINKs if you know what I mean...) It was graduation... and poof. Full time job and dad in one day. Not that full time is incredibly different than being part time, but now when stuff breaks you don't get to get off because you have homework or a test the next day.

Don't get me wrong... I love my job. It's rewarding and pays decent (for now). And I love being a dad... how could you not love this? Even if your a TT or UT fan

It just seems so sudden to be a dad fresh out of college. I have a lot of other friends (some of you post on here) who are married or unmarried out of college and it seems like it's such a different life.

You don't get to go out nearly as much because if you want alone time you have to get a sitter and if you want to bring the little guy it requires him bringing his entourage of stroller, carrier, pacifiers, diapers, etc.

Then you don't get much vacation because it's your first year of a job and they don't start giving you many hours till after your first year (dumbest idea I've ever heard of).

All this to say.... it just doesn't seem like I have enough time. What's weird is that if I did an audit of how I spent my time I don't think I'd find a lot of waste. I don't watch very much television... I haven't played a video game in over a month... and the time before that was 3 weeks... I don't do just a whole ton around the house other than things I have to do. Very strange.

I do take solace in the fact that I do spend time every morning w/ my Lord and spend my evening hours w/ my wife and son. I've really learned the power of saying "No." to people at my church and family. That's hard for me because I'm not good at it. I'm too much of a people pleaser and I promised my wife I'd try to stop it this year. It's resulted in a lot more saturdays at home.

I guess you just have to take the good w/ the bad and enjoy the time i do have to relax.

But anyways.... I digress...

Football season is upon us. I will start posting some links to some good reviews as well as doing my own very soon.

For now... a way to early guess on the BigXII outcome:

North
1. Mizzou (Yes, I'm serious)
2. Nebraska
3. K-State
4. Colorado
5. Iowa State
6. Kansas

South
1. Texas A&M
2.Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. Texas Tech
5. Baylor (Yes, I'm serious)
6. OSU

Breakdown.:

I think Chase Daniels and the tigers get it this year. Nebraska returns a good core, but start over at QB and at a few D positions. Mizzou brings back most of last years offense. They do lose a little at D (especially Brian Smith) K-State and Prince may make a splash but we'll have to see how it goes from there. I very seriously doubt the other 3 will even have a chance

The south is pretty open. I give it to the ags for 3 reasons.

1) One of the best offensive lines in the nation
2)As good as Justin Warren and Melvin Bullitt were... they are very replaceable. The D will only get better from here
3) They're my team.

I just don't think Texas is going to be National Championship caliber this year. Neither will Oklahoma. (Not that A&M will be) Both just lost a lot to graduation (and prison for Texas)
Tech will finish its average 8-4 4th in the south (You know it's true jay) And OSU and Baylor just aren't consistant enough to be a factor I don't think.

We'll see how it goes. I'm not a professional at this stuff.

2007-05-30T15:09:00.001-05:00

Stinking work filters....

So my boss and friend recently got ticked off at myspace and blocked all weblogs/personal webpages.

this isn't a problem as I can get around them very easily..... but i just feel bad when I actually do it because it's a bit of abuse of power.

I will continue w/ the Romans and football blogs later this week.

Exciting me news:

Another month... another 1000 miles on the road.
May, June, July, and August are always a bit sad for me. I love baseball and Pro Basketball... but they just aren't college ball. There's just something about falls and football. Now that I'm out of school, I'll really be able to enjoy those Saturdays.
As an early father's day present I got a new pipe rack, humidor, and set of pipes. I'm stoked.

Exciting Jackson news:

Rolling over
Eating his feet
Talking all the time

Exciting Jennifer news:

Hot as ever
Joined health club
Joined Sam's club

2007-05-08T12:29:00.000-05:00

Why didn't I think of this sooner.

+

+

+

+

= one outstanding morning

I am a passionate lover of quite a few things in this world. One of my favorite of those things is waking up early on weekends and drinking coffee and reading or watching TV. It's one of the only times i can be alone during the week (other than my 10 minute drive to and from work every day) This used to be the time that I prepared for sunday school, but I don't have that obligation now, so it's been replaced.
I also enjoy smoking my pipe. I've always enjoyed cigar smoking and thought I would enjoy a pipe as well. As a graduation gift my wife bought me a pipe and some incredibly comfortable slippers. I'm still getting used to the pipe smoking. My new friend Blake Manuel has helped me w/ this immensly (as well as accidentally leaving his blend of tobacco behind) I definitely limit myself with this as my wife doesn't care for it much, and I know that heavy smoking would be bad for my health. I try not to smoke more than once a week. I did do some study into this before I got mine and found out that moderate pipe smoker suffers much less of a chance of falling into the same health problems that others do. The most interesting study was found here. I also enjoy sitting outside on our bench when I do smoke. We have TONS of trees in our yard and live on a relatively quiet street.
For some reason the idea to smoke in the morning while I drink my coffee outside while I read has never occured to me till this last Sunday morning. The day before this I discovered I had a gift card to family christian bookstore that needed to be used. I found a large compilation of CS Lewis' works ( Suprised by Joy, the Four Loves, and The Business of Heaven to name a few)
Now I love to read. Growing up I was the biggest bookworm you could ever meet. I literally won the AR point total from 3rd grade till 9th. But for some reason I lost that passion throughout college. I think it had a lot to do w/ the amount of reading I was forced to do outside of pleasure reading and it really left a bad taste in my mouth. I've been trying to reachieve that passion, but with failed results. I figured this would be a good step towards regaining that. It was an excellent choice thus far. I think I'm a very nervous person (this results from not getting much rest during college) and I find it very hard to sit and do absolutely nothing. 24 and lost are my favorite shows on television, yet when they're on I'm always playing tetris on my phone or finding something else to do.
Smoking and coffee put me in a very relaxed mood and for the first time in ages I was able to sit and read my first book that took a bit deeper thought and concentration in almost 5 years. I also was blessed to have no cars drive by the house for an entire 45 minutes. Unheard of. I am hoping that it won't requre both things for me to continue reading, but it was great to partake of many things I enjoy all at once.

2007-05-04T14:55:00.000-05:00

Myles' Preseason Rankings

1. USC Trojans
They just bring too much back to not put here. They lost 2 receivers and a few cogs in the Defense... but nothing major. Nobody stands out heads or shoulders above anybody this year... but The Trojans stand out at least a red plume helmet thing.

2. LSU
Bring back a quite a bit of talent... despite having 7 starters drafted including Russell. I think they have the shedule to pull this off. Their hardest away game is Alabama... based on Nick Saben... that could be a tough one... but they get Auburn, VTech, Florida, and Arkansas at home in the swamp. Tough to get through those teams, but having them in Baton Rouge makes it a lot prettier.

3. West Virginia
Seven words put them here: Steve Slaton. Pat White. Big East Schedule

4. Michigan
That rose bowl hurt. I mean hurt. Man I thought they were better than that and they were. But that was an ugly way to end a good season. The Wolverines return Chad Henne (more that capable), Super Mario (Manningham) and my third favorite running back in the game, the little big man Mike Hart. 2 Fumbles. 2 Fumbles in 3 years. That's outstanding. The draft took a toll on the D but it is still formidible.

5. Louisville
Brian Brohm rocks my face off. Solid performer on a team that can support him.

6. Forida
People can criticize Chris Leak to their hearts content... they guy won them a championship. Tebow was important last year and lead to a smaller extent. But Leak deserves the glory for last years championship. Take him away and you take a lot of offensive production. The D should still stand pretty strong. Winner of the gators and LSU wins SEC you heard it here.

7. Texas
The draft hurt them a lot. How do you have one of the worst pass defenses in the nation, yet have 3 DB's taken in the draft. I don't get that. All the love for the Horns though. Colt brings back a strong Offense and Mac Brown doesn't have bad defenses. look for the horns and Ags to fight for the Big XII Championship Thanksgiving Weekend

8. Virginia Tech
What a horrible horrible year for the ACC... If you had told me the ACC championship would conisist of Georgia Tech and Wake Forrest I would have hit you in the face and told you to shut up and start watching Women's Division III Basketball for punishment. Wow. what a horribly down year. When it comes down to the wire for Maryland, GTech, and the Demon Deacons it's a down year. Congrats to all three for having better years. Virginia Tech returns a few starters on Offense and Beamer always always always ALWAYS has the best Defense in the land.

9. Wisconson
You would think you get more respect for only losing one game all season. The Badger badger badger's had a better season than they're given credit for. They lost Stocco who has been consistant for a few years, but gain KSU's Allen Everidge

10. Ohio State University
My sweatervest hero returns a good defense and an unproven offense. Chris Wells is back and I expect him to have a highlight reel 2 weeks into the season. Running behind Antonio Pittman kept the lid on for the beginning of the season, but you can expect to hear a lot about him this year

11. Rutgers
12. Oklahoma Sooners
13. Arkansas Razorbacks
14. Auburn
15. Tennessee
16. Boise State
17. Texas A&M (being realistic for the start of the season here.)
18. Nebraska
19. Cal
20. PSU

Your thoughts are valued. unless your Cates or Plevan

2007-05-02T13:17:00.000-05:00

I just want to say this is directed at nobody other than Cates. I apologize if it offends any other LongHorn Supporters here. I wish all of you the best. Except Cates. Grr... we need to hang out sometime bud.

2007-05-01T08:02:00.000-05:00

Google image Graham Harrell and this is what you find:

I'm not saying... I'm just saying.

2007-04-30T13:40:00.000-05:00

I soon plan on a series of blogs about the upcoming football season. We'll cover a little bit of this... a little bit of that.

Mainly: Texas, A&M, and Tech's upcoming seasons as well as an overall look at the season.

While every season is good, this last year was a bit of a letdown. But then again compared to the season we had 2 years ago. (05-06), it's hard to look good. That was definitely the best season in recent memory. No controversy about the bowls... great bowl matchups.... great regular season games. BCS bowls were all outstanding close games. We got to see a classic by Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno w/ an overtime kicking fiesta... Topped off by an outstanding come from behind championship game. Hard to top that one

None of the 3 texas teams were dominant by any stretch this last year... and OU went on to play for the big XII championship... which, I think we can all agree.... sucked. Big time. I fully expect the south champion to be decided during Thanksgiving weekend... and not anywhere north of Dallas.

The first post will probably be a general summary of the upcoming season... Stay tuned.

*** edited for the Jay Scott whining.

2007-04-25T12:20:00.000-05:00

Romans

The study of Romans has been outstanding. The Angelo State University head basketball coach has been the front man for this study. I can't say much more than that I am very pleasantly surprised at his knowledge and wisdom of the Bible. It excites me that a godly man is in charge of our basketball team. I found out that he was a former Denton Bible Church member and it suddenly made sense.

We're only through Romans 2 at this point and I love that. Doing about 4-5 verses a week gives a great chance to dive into the word more deeply.

The best portion we've covered thus far has been the latter part of Romans 1, discussing the sinfulness of man.

18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

This sparked an interesting discussion. I was shocked at the people that still cling to the idea that "God is kind and wouldn't send people to hell who haven't heard of Him." Calvinist or not, it's a foolish notion to think that God will simply not punish a man for his sin. Later on we know that God has written his law on the hearts of man and that they know the difference from right and wrong. A great point brought up was of Malchizidek. A man who was not a jew, but was a priest of God. He lived with forward faith.

Also, from a sociological standpoint, we don't ever encounter new people-groups or tribes who do not believe in some form of diety and formed some sort of moral law. We do not have to teach our children to lie... and we don't have to teach them that lying is wrong either. They know it is wrong because of God's law written on their hearts.

24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of people that we meet that will claim that the Bible only speaks against homosexuality in the old testament and that the new testament doesn't actually preach against that.

One of my favorite sites on the intarwebnets is here. I recommend you play w/ that one for a while. It'll leave you quite frustrated and angry.

Pretty blatent to me... but I digress.

28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

What Paul does so well here is put us (sinners and at the time gentiles) in their place. We are sinful. We are naturally full of the sins listed above. It is only because him softening our hearts that we put those things past us and instead pursue Christ.

Excellent excellent stuff. Romans 2 will be up next week when Paul puts the Israelites in their place as well.

2007-04-25T11:55:00.000-05:00

Eron, Jay.... I apologize profusely.

No words or justification can right the wrong I've done by not posting. I've been in the stages of removing myself from my regular message board activities.... (Goodbye texags...) and continued travels throughout Texas.

March and April were both hard on me:

- First... who misses a wide open layup... seriously... Mr. Clutch himself stuck a dagger in my heart vs. Memphis. Man that stunk.

- Then, my man Billy-G left me for Kentucky and Ashley Judd. That hurt. Understood and I appreciate the man for what he did but it still sucked. Turgeon will continue the ownage.

- Finally... while I was upset for the missed layup... Acie Law IV was robbed of player of the year. Kevin Durant was far and away the best player in the league. Once Oden and Durant hit their grooves they were unstoppable this year. Without the draft rule those two would have been in the NBA tearing it up this fall coming. Remove both of those players from their team and they both finish in the same area. Remove Acie Law and you remove several wins this year from the Ags. Both OSU and Texas were stacked w/ other talent that could have gotten them to the same area. Remove both players and the teams have a 2-3 game difference in schedule.
Remove Law and ags drop about 6-7 more.

Let this be said that I know and acknowledge that Durant and Oden were better and more athletically-gifted athletes. Law was a scrapper. And that's why he deserved it.

2007-03-05T16:44:00.000-06:00

I soon plan on blogging again.

Due to the 1500+ miles logged in the month of February of traveling.... I took a break

Some tidbits from the month

-San Angelo's Mexican food is better than Del Rio
-Del Rio is a plan to take over Texas for Mexico
-Big O's in Valera Texas is a great stop i recommend for all.
-Law IV was intentionally fouled on a 3 point play in the 2nd overtime. That should be 3 at the line and get the ball back to the good guys.
-Kevin Durant is a beast and deserves to be college player of the year. Law IV should be big XII player of the year. I say this, as in Big XII play, Acie Law has been incredible week in and week out. The Ags wouldn't have been in the place they were if not for clutch shooting and consistant asissts that he is known for Durant has by far been the most outstanding player in the country, age aside. Texas is still probably at least a bubble team w/out him. A&M loses far more in the Big XII w/out Law.
-I am stepping out of the youth ministry this Sunday. I have been involved in the youth ministry for almost 11 years w/ some short breaks in there. I'm excited to start going to Sunday School w/ my wife for the first time in our marriage. First book up on deck in said Sunday School class. Romans. I'm stoked here.
- I promise a stirring post on the points of Romans for Eron.

2007-02-08T12:23:00.000-06:00

Theology and aggies.

Before I get to a more serious post requested by Eron, I need to give some street cred to my man, Billy ,G of the Texas A&M Fightin' Aggies. I'll start off by saying that I expected to drop both the games to Kansas and Texas (i did still watch supporting them). After the Kansas victory I was a bit shocked, but proud of BCG and Icie Law for coming through in a clutch. Excellent play and coaching decisions in the final minutes. One of the bigger wins in a somewhat history-less program
Now I have watched Durant this entire year and been very, very, very impressed with him. Hands down player of the year. Oden doesn't even hold a candle. He's decent and has the size to be great, but Kevin Durant is above anybody else this year. His outside shooting is excellent as well as being money inside. He also has great D in the paint. The only downfall is his outside D and it can be improved. For the Aggies to come off of such a huge emotional upset win in Lawrence and come down to Reed Arena and take care of a very talented, athletic Texas team speaks volumes for the improvement of this team. I would love to see them play LSU or UCLA again. I don't know that they'd beat UCLA, but believe they could spank the cajuns and Big Baby if given the chance again.
I think that if the aggies continue this style of play, an elite 8 appearance at the least will be expected.

“You are in a reformed church but secretly long for more of an experience of God, you are in a charismatic church but secretly enjoy listening to preaching and reading books that teach substantial theology.”
-Adrian Warnock

Now to a more serious note. My friend Eron recently asked why I consider myself a reformed charismatic. He referenced my love for Matt Chandler, who is definitely a influence on my theology and approach to evangelism. But I would say that me getting to the point where I consider myself is far removed from the influence of one pastor. My time with calvinists in San Angelo as well as my pastor friends, LakanM and RyanD have had much more influence in that. While Lakan probably wouldn't call himself that... he has a very strict interpretation of the scripture and would put all of God's glory in salvation on God.
To answer this we need to look at what "reformed" and "charasmatic" are. I find it very interesting that separately these 2 words can bring about some negative connotations...
i.e.:
reformed - close-minded, calvinist, fundamentalist
charismatic - loose interpretation of scripture, holy roller, liberal

But when the words are put together it brings about an entirely different picture than either of them alone. People like Matt Chandler and Mark Driscoll are thought of when this term is used. What these men are known for is their commitment to the scriptures, as well as their passion for evanglism and knowing God. I will not say that these men are flawless in their study of the scripture, but they are bible believing men who love the Lord and lost people.

Before I go any further here's a great Blanket Statement: Certain things are absolute: the Trinity; the deity and humanity of Christ; his future second coming; salvation being by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone; and the complete trustworthiness of the Bible.

I have friends that I would define as charismatic. Holy rollers or whatever they may be called. Most are non-denominational and ended up that way because of being scorned from another denomination or pissed off at their previous church and denomination. Some remain very dogmatic to their original denomination, but choose to attend this church for various reasons. Why I would call myself charismatic is that I fully believe in the spirits acting and moving today. I think to discount its importance and presence would be foolish. I see no scripture that says otherwise. Speaking in tongues is a gift. I don't really care if you think that it is irrelevant today. 99% of the time, speaking in tongues is a misused gift, done in sin. I believe the Spirit of God heals people today. But I just can't believe that 1 Cor 14 is irrelevant Others call them miracles and good medicine... I call it God. I just cannot believe and buy into those gifts being useless in today's day and age... or dispensation or whatever. This believe must be taken w/ a grain of salt. How many people do I know that use their gift of tongues? very few. Healing as well. I don't know that I've met somebody with the gift of prophesy ever. For those that do believe that these don't exist, they are entitled to their own opinion. I do not believe however that they are able to judge somebody who does posess that gift, because they are judging on their interpretation of scripture and doctrine... not scripture itself. I don't see how we can say somebody has the spirit of teaching, faith, helps, evangelist, or of administration that we have today.... and say that Wisdom, Knowledge, Discernment, Prophecy, Tongues, Interpretation, Faith, Healing and Miracles. ... meh... we stopped needing them early in church history.

On the flip side I don't think I'll ever be quite as "reformed" as several of my friends... and that's fine. I know they love scripture and doctrine as a result of loving our Lord. But the total sell out to the doctrines of grace is something I have never been able to do. It doesn't really matter at what point I can't agree... but it's something I've never been able to fully embrace. I can fully embrace the idea of the reformation and what it was truly about at it's time. Salvation is by the good graces of God alone (Rom 11:16). That includes his calling, our response and life as a christian... all up to his will and kindness. That being said, I don't believe my response is a work... but still a necessity.

I also believe in the 5 Solas of the reformation...fwiw

For some strange reason... in our christian culture, many believe that those two can not coexist... But I do. I have to believe that they can. I find both to be biblical and essential. I long for the deep things of God and know his scripture and be absolutely entralled w/ his glory and have that be the overwhelming theme of my life. But I also long to be filled w/ the spirit of the scriptures like the saints of old.

I can not believe the statement in John 4:24 that God told us to worship in spirit and in truth to not apply today. Or am I only supposed to worship in truth now that the spirit is not moving? Am I to be led by the spirit, but not let the truth of God take hold of me? I can't seperate them.

2007-01-19T13:21:00.000-06:00

Well..

it's been a long time since a post. And with good reason. Between finishing up moving into our house, starting a new job, finals, graduation, and having a baby I have free time now.

kinda. I guess... a little. suprisingly after you graduate you don't have all the time in the world like one would think. It's annoyingly busy.

College football has come and gone. College basketball is getting to conference play soon. The NFL is winding down w/ just conference finals left to play. I'm always a little sad the day after the BCS National Championship game. Even last year when I was cheering for Texas (one time thing) as they won the national championship game, I was sad afterwards. Just kinda stinks. I mean the NFL playoffs are still there. And I love college hoops, but it really just isn't the same as football. Jay would disagree, but he's a Duke fan (horrible at football and the Notre Dame of BBall).

Which leads me the fact that, I need to start reading again. During college I haven't hardly read anything due to my schedule the entire time. I had thought upon graduation, I would jump right into it but the kid didn't share my sentiments. Upon recommendation of my pastor I've picked up Master Plan of Evangelism. Great read. Very simplistic, biblical approach to Jesus' practice of reaching the masses. The idea is that Christ did not try to hold trendy attractive large services that brought in the masses, but instead took a group of 12 imperfect men and invested in their lives, and encouraged them to do the same after they were equipped. By developing them as indivdual's he brought up 12 (well 11) godly men that were ready to go into ministry. I'm not sure if the idea of reaching the masses w/ shallow sermons was an American invention or just something that developed. I'm pretty sure it was around way before our modern day church got ahold of the idea. I'd be interested to find out where it came from though. If you have a chance pick it up.

I guess that's all for now.

2006-11-01T12:01:00.000-06:00

I hate the BCS... only the BCS could have a one loss Texas and Notre Dame ranked below two SEC teams that were beaten by teams ranked lower than themselves at the time.

Michigan and OSU are there correctly. Can't argue those but let's move down the list here...

West Virginia... One victory over a team w/ a winning record. One. If you're going to put them there then you have to put Boise State there as well. Where's there love for the smurfs??? They have at least 4 victories over teams w/ winning records. Louisville is even a better pick for #3. They have 4 over winning teams and one over a ranked team. For all I know WVU will mop the floor w/ the Cards come Thursday, but right now they have proven NOTHING to be where they are.

Moving on to the one loss teams...

How can a Auburn team that has had almost 3 losses to unranked teams and one lost to an unranked team jump UT and Notre Dame? Preposterous!!! Auburn has had nothing short of mediocrity this year and yet they sit in the top 6? Tennessee above them too? Come on BCS... I'm an Ag and hate ND but this is the royal screwover!!!

Explain to me 2 weeks ago where

Cal was over Tennessee
Mizzou was over A&M
Arkansas over Auburn
Clemson over Boston College.

Tell me this, O' technological genuises of college football how you can take teams w/ even records, and put the team that lost the head-to-head on top of the team that beat them!!!??!?1/11/!?!!?!?1/1??!!/!1

It's almost as if the computers can't think logically enough to take the real world situation of what happened and who has won and put them in a proper place.... Oh wait... they can't think logically!!!

But let's put the deciding vote of who's better into an inanimate object that can't determine that Tennessee beat the ever living daylights out of California. Let's let a computer determine that Texas losing 24-7 to the #1 team in the land deserves to push them down further than Auburn losing 27-10 to an unranked team.

The BCS should not come out until after the last game is played. here's why:

1. look @ Boise State or Rutgers. Great chance that both of these teams can win out and miss the big dance. Any system that doesn't allow ANY team amongst the 119 to win is completely unfair. If you don't start in the top 20 you don't have a chance usually.

2. I'm an admitted aggie fan... but bare w/ me here. Let's say that Auburn wins out the rest of the year and so does A&M ( I don't use Texas in this instance because they began ranked highly). They both win their respective championships and finish the regular season 12-1. A&M was beaten by #25 by 4 points w/ 26 seconds left. Auburn was losing the entire game to a team that wasn't even in the ORV category in most polls by 17 points. A team that smoked them by running the Annexation of Puerto Rico w/ a guy who's 4'11 at that!!!! Who's ranked higher? Auburn. What have they done to deserve it? Have a better team last year? Start out ranked higher? Is one of these fair? Did they take on some strong and great team out of conference better than A&M? Wazzu? Buffalo? Tulane? Do these teams strike more fear in your heart than ULaLa, Army, and Louisiana Tech? Take this year for this year and leave last year and the preseason out.

The BCS and Myles Brand lucked out last year. There was a cut and dry #1 and a cut and dry #2... Unless you're Matt Leinart saying something about being the better team as a scoreboard and large black man wearing the number 10 and carrying a large crystal ball disagree w/ him in the background... but I digress. I have a strong feeling that this year is going to end the same way. Some 11-1 teams are going to be left out of the big dance. Another one will get the invite and get smoked and all the 11-1's are going to be saying wouldacouldashoulda. And they're completely justified in being angry. They do deserve a shot. And they deserve a system that doesn't screw them... be it the playoffs ( write it down. 32 teams, 4 from each major conference, 2 from mid-majors and the independents can join up or shut up), or be it removal of the computers for 12 weeks of the season. Something's got to be done.

2006-10-30T14:46:00.000-06:00

This being the first blog on here I feel the necessity to discuss what we'll be discussing on here.

The topics may include but aren't limited to.
Jesus Christ.
Things that make fun of Texas Tech
Theology that I happen to come across and be worthy of posting.
Duke bashings
My experiences w/ my crazy but beautiful wife.
Funny things my dog does
UT Football and the criminals it hosts.
Sports triva, quirks, announcments, scores and stories
J.J Reddickisms

As you can see, there is a vast array to discuss, not that anybody cares how I feel about it, but I'm sure Jay, Cates, or somebody will have an opinion to make or disagree with. Hope it's good for a laugh or encouragement.