Best School Spirit EVER

This weekend we had a great doubleheader at the Toyota Center in Houston.  Texas played Michigan State in the opener and Texas A and M played LSU in the night cap.  It was a packed house with the Texas schools having the great majority of fans.  

During the opener, I was noticing the Longhorn people.  They had the cheers you see on tv and the normal flashing of the Horn signals.  I came to the game hoping both of the Texas teams would win.  Texas lost the opener and about 5 minutes before the game with A and M it happened.  As A and M took the court, they did the Aggie cheers.

This was my first Aggie athletic event.  I was told by many people including the great basketball pro Mike Newlin that I should go to an Aggie football game.  Anyway, I heard the cheer.  The first fight song was 8 times louder than the Longhorns sounded.  It was choreographed and the yell leaders were leading it with precision.  I cannot even describe it but it really gave me chills. It also moved my son who was in attendance with me.  Then they did another fight song that they joined arms in and did a swaying movement.  Now I was blown away.  Again, the precision and brotherhood and camraderie was amazing.

I have been to see Notre Dame play a few times, UCLA in football and played against them when Wooden was coach, Southern Cal and many more.  Nothing came close to what I witnessed with the Aggies....and it got me thinking.

What does all this sound like at Kyle field when there are ninety thousand people doing this in unison?  It must be incredible and that brought me to question number two.  How is this team not a top 10 team every year?  If I was a young man being recruited on the sidelines and saw this, I would sign on the dotted line in a split second.   If I was a great coach, there could not be many jobs I would covet more than Texas A and M.  Think about it.  You go in any direction for 200 miles and you have more college talent than anywhere in the country.  And you have this school spirit that is hard to describe unless you experience it.  

I have since asked some Aggies about this and they said when they first entered the Big 12 that all the visiting fans were just blown away by the school spirit.  It was like nothing they had ever seen.  I have since talked with Newlin about this.  Mike is a 10 year plus NBA veteran, and he said there is nothing like it anywhere.  And I thought I had seen it all. 

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                                                TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS PART II

I would be remiss if I did not wrap my last blog up by mentioning Linda Jones.  I was listening to the soul station and I heard the song Hypnotized.  I got the artist's name and promptly downloaded it and a few others by Miss Jones as well.  The  tune was produced very slick for its time.   I had heard it before and was fairly curious about the artist and wondered why she was not well known.  Linda Jones died backstage at the Apollo in the early 70's from a diabetes attack after a performance.  She gave it her all and died doing what she loved way before her time.  

On  a brighter note, check out Betty Lavette on the Austin City Limit web site.  She was a 60's Motown signee who is just now making it.  She reminds me of what Tina Turner  would be like now if she did not go pop... with just a touch of Mavis Staples in her voice.  Has a very strong Muscle Shoals band backing her as well.  Very worthwhile checking this out as someone who has paid their dues for 40 plus years and is starting to see the money roll in.  Very inspiring.

Try a Little Tenderness

I was walking around the other day and ran across the Top 100 Singers of All Time on Rolling Stone Magazine.  This title piqued my interest, so I had to look.  Sitting at number eight on the list was Otis Redding.  And there on the picture was Otis on his knees, with a microphone and a cord dangling while Otis was belting out a tune.  Otis was dressed in slacks and a white shirt and was in a cold sweat.  I felt a chill go up my spine.  This picture represented the feeling of passion better than anything I have seen in awhile.  Don't take it from me, take it from Booker T. Jones, famed keyboard artist of Booker T and the MG's regarding his audition the first time they met:

" It didn't seem like an audition at all.  It was a performance. It wasn't the size of his voice - we knew lots of people with vocal powers like that. It was the intent with which he sang.  He was all emotion. It was like, "this guy is definitely not singing for the money." I don't think he ever did."

To me that says it all,  the picture said it all.  As time has evolved and Otis has passed on, we have sayings now that it's all about the money.  Greatness for Otis apparently was never about the money...it was about the joy and the love of his craft, music. 

Today we have so called artists making millions with little or no music training.  I was told there is one man who hangs with a rapper who makes a certain sound and gets paid millions just to make a sound.  In every sense it feels like most of these people are in it for the money.  I don't resent that, but I would say that if there was such a thing as a time machine and Otis could be brought back to 2008, and Otis could be on stage with any contemporary artist, I think he would blow most of them away.  And I believe the contemporary fan would be awed.  Just a concert, no special effects, no garbage, just performing and how good are you really, without the fluff.

One other thing that hit me about the singers in the article was that a big number of them were proficient on musical instruments and knew about key changes and tempo and timing.   

Otis paved the way for artists to come.  It is a shame he left before his time at the young age of 26.  My favorites, Try a Little Tenderness, Respect, Tramp and These Arms of Mine.  But what do I know...I was the guy my friends called "Mr. Pitiful".   

Is the NBA Season Too Long

Okay, I'm a hoop head so for your benefit I will be as objective as possible. In viewing a ton of games early in the season I am noticing many empty seats at arenas around the league...this includes some of the premier arenas and teams in many cases.

Since I get force fed the Houston Rockets, let me make a few points. I think if Yao Ming sat for thirty days and did rehab before his latest injury he would be ahead of the game. Because coming off stress fracture surgery and summer Olympics and now starting a demanding NBA season will be too much for his body to endure. It's a long season and he has proven not to last, and without rest, history is likely to repeat. I'm not a Doctor, but the same is probably true of T-Mac. He is way off early and hurting. There are players like this on every team. One that comes to mind is Tim Duncan. Name a team and there is a player in this situation. For them the season is too long, whether it's age or injuries.

The season is a long season. From experience, I know how tired one can be from a thirty game college season. Imagine 50 more games at eight minutes longer. I have been through the college season and I cannot imagine how NBA players are not totally broken down after the long season...even before playoffs!

Do the players put out? I think they do although there would probably be a tendency to pace yourself during such a demanding schedule. Still, the season stretches out till June and that is too long. Last year we had the Celtics- Lakers final, so people were interested. Imagine an Oklahoma City- Charlotte final...any interest there?

The bottom line is that the owners have to keep the 82 game schedule because of the high salary level for players and coaches. So is the season too long...yes, but the circus must go on so the players and owners can keep the league propped up. So thank the powers that be for Lebron, and the funny announcers like Charles Barkley to keep the season fresh.

Who Is the Best Football Coach In College?

Let me give a disclaimer on this post. I am not a native Texan, although I have lived here quite a while. I did not go to the University of Texas. In fact during my early years here, I had great delight when my school that I sat on the bench for, the University of Miami, beat Texas quite soundly in the Cotton Bowl. I am thankful that I have mostly realized that it is always just a game, and ususally I can answer none to the question "how many points did you score?"

But now I'll say it. For all the right reasons, Mack Brown is the best coach in major college football. At least in my mind he was yesterday. You see, after yesterday's game with Kansas, Brown pondered to reporters something along the lines of "where has the sportsmanship gone?"

Upon further review, Brown did not have his team score any points in the last quarter of the game. In fact, he probably did something that is revolutionary....he let some of his young men play in a game, who would otherwise see very little time. These same young men have to take all the punishment during practice, in some cases they are human tackling dummies. They have to do all the sprints, all the sweating in Texas humidity, all the weight work and conditioning to be a football player, and in alot of instances they never get to play.

I remember when I was a young man, in my area the big game was Arizona-Arizona State. I was told that if a Sun Devil got in one play, yes one play, he would get a varsity letter, even if that was the only play he was in all year. Something a starter takes for granted is a big deal for a player that doesn't see the light of day very often.

What I see going down with Coach Brown is a two edged sword. He is sacrificing his possible BCS ranking by doing something far more important...Team Building. I think this coach sees the big picture. You see, some of these kids will be future coaches. They will remember this day. It will be to his favor for future recruits when they visit Austin and pet on Bevo, or whatever they do there. He is letting the little guy who sacrifices so much get in a game against a pretty good team, Kansas. But for alot of people, it will be "wow, Texas only beat Kansas 35-7, how can they really be that good." When I see the next coach run up the score against someone who is down, I would say to them, is it really all that. I know you cannot tell players to back off in any sport, especially football, but you can ALWAYS respect your opponent....and this is a lesson that is frequently lost.