40 Acres Sports

Programming providers announced for Texas-FAU pay-per-view telecast. Find out who is airing the game in your area.

Texas football practices have been closed to the public since a Jordan Shipley injury a few years ago but Longhorn fans will get a couple chances to see their team in person before the August 30th opener. The team will have two mid-week practices open to the public on August 6th and 7th, and will host a Fan Appreciation Day on Saturday, August 16th.

See the release from MackBrown-TexasFootball.com below:

Longhorns fans will have two opportunities to get a first-hand look at the Texas Football team and a chance to personally meet the squad as it prepares for its season opener versus Florida Atlantic on Aug. 30.

The two open practices will include the first full team practice on Wednesday, Aug. 6, and also the practice on Thursday, Aug. 7. Both sessions will start at approximately 6:45 p.m. at Frank Denius Fields (corner of 26th Street and Red River).

However, if practice is moved inside the Indoor Practice Facility (”The Bubble”) at any point, space limitations prevent the workout from remaining open. Fans are encouraged to park at the Manor Garage (PG 5) located on Dedman Drive across from Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium for the open sessions.

The fan opportunities will also include the annual Fan Appreciation Day at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 16. Following a closed scrimmage in The Bubble that morning, the Longhorns will be available to the fans for autographs and photos. More details will follow on the event, so check back soon to MackBrown-TexasFootball.com.

For those who have never attended a practice before keep in mind you are not attending something put on for the fans. It is definitely worth going and hardcore football fans shouldn’t miss it, but practices are of course held to make the team better and not to entertain you. If you keep that in mind you’ll have a great time seeing your favorite team up close.

Happy 4th of July from Bevo Sports. Enjoy the nice long weekend and be sure to take part in the great American tradition of free stuff by signing up to win NCAA Football for free. We’ll be back on Monday with the top 3 college uniforms, more player profiles, and of course all the latest Longhorn news.

Have a fun, safe holiday weekend.

Texas ranked sixth in 2008 college football spring game attendance. Nebraska and Alabama are the top two.

Oklahoma Sooners fan to stand trial for injuring Texas fan in bar fight. The nut grabber deserves jail time for the attack.

The “Ponytail Bandit” in Longhorn cap arrested in Thailand. Morgan Michelle Hoke committed several bank robberies in Austin area.

Longhorns’ new phenom: Filling up Erwin Center. Great to see, Coach Barnes and this team deserve a full house.

Aggies eat their boogers. Seriously. This is no school yard taunt, an Aggie fan picked his nose and ate it on national TV tonight during their Alamo Bowl loss to Penn State. Watch below:

I’d rather be Chris Jessee than that guy right now.

(Thanks to Voltronjacko on Orangebloods for the clip.)

Oklahoma 27, Texas Tech 34.

Because of the Oklahoma loss the Horns are still in the hunt for the Big 12 crown and the Sooners are knocked out of the national title discussion. Not that the team needed it, but now the team has a little something extra to play for next Friday against the Aggies.

Go Raiders!!! (Your quarterback is still a punk and your coach is still whiny and wrong. And your fans suck too.)

No Texas game today so you can spend all day rooting against teams ranked ahead of the Horns, or you’ll have time to catch up on the chores your wife has been bugging you about since August. Either way you’ve got a busy day ahead of you. The game of the day is Ohio State at Michigan. Not as exciting as we thought it would be a week ago but the outcome will decide the Big 10 winner.

If you choose to tick off the misses, here’s what to watch today:

(7) Ohio State at (21) Michigan - 11:00 am on ABC. Winner goes to the Rose Bowl and Ohio State could still back their way into a national title shot if they win.

Duke at Notre Dame - 1:30 pm on NBC. Please don’t actually watch this, I just wanted to point and laugh at the worst nationally televised game in history.

(6) West Virginia at (22) Cincinnati - 6:45 pm on ESPN. Cincinnati “upset” South Florida and UConn the last two weeks but I don’t think they can hang with the Mountaineers if White and Slaton play the whole game. The Big East has been terribly overhyped all season but I think WVU is legit.

(17) Boston College at (15) Clemson - 6:45 pm on ESPN2. This is a game between two decent, ranked teams but I still couldn’t be any less interested in watching it. The media keeps screaming about how many second ranked teams have lost this season, maybe it’s because they keep putting decidedly average (or worse) teams like BC and South Florida in that spot?

(4) Oklahoma at Texas Tech - 7:00 pm on ABC. A win by the Sooners means they clinch the Big 12 South. If the dirt burglars win out they also are probably going to get a shot at the MNC. So in other words… GO RAIDERS!

An SEC match-up between Auburn and Georgia is the only game between ranked teams today but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad day for college football fans. The Big 12 may be home to the day’s best games including a huge trap for the still undefeated Kansas Jayhawks as they travel to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State.

Here’s today’s lineup:

(12) Michigan at Wisconsin - 11:00 am on ESPN. After losing their first two games of the season Michigan has beaten a bunch of mediocre Big 10 teams to climb back up to number twelve in the current polls. Wisconsin beats them at home unless Chad Henne has a huge day.

Texas A&M at (6) Missouri - 11:30 am on FSN. This could be an ugly one for the Aggies, Mizzou quarterback Chase Daniel is going to light them up today and put the final nail in Dennis Franchione’s coffin.

Air Force at Notre Dame - 1:30 pm on NBC. 1-9. Ha. Go Air Force!

Texas Tech at (14) Texas - 2:30 pm on ABC. The game will reportedly be in high definition, finally. Tech is always a scary game for the Horns and today shouldn’t be any different.

(18) Auburn at (10) Georgia - 2:30 pm on CBS. The only game of the day between two top 25 teams. I haven’t been particularly impressed with either team this year but they play great defense and they’ve been winning tough games.

(4) Kansas at Oklahoma State - 7:00 pm on ABC. The Jayhawks’ defense has been incredible this season but the OSU Cowboys’ offense will give them one of their first tests of the year. I’m calling the upset, Okie State wins at home tonight in front of a national audience.

(17) USC at California - 7:00 pm on ABC. Not nearly the match-up we thought this game was going to be a month ago but still should be fun to watch. A battle to see which team will finish third in the Pac-10.

Pretty good week for Big 12 fans as there’s two games to definitely keep an eye on. Texas Tech and Missouri could hit 100 and Kansas has a chance to prove it’s worthy of being the 13th best team in the country.

On the national scene, two SEC games today between ranked teams. Florida at Kentucky if the afternoon and a primetime match-up between Tigers tonight when Auburn visits LSU.

Here’s how to spend your day on the couch:

(22) Texas at Baylor - 11:30 am on Versus. DirecTV finally picks up FSN HD and Texas’ game is on the even crappier Versus. If you thought last week’s announcing was bad, today’s game could be worse.

(15) Florida at (7) Kentucky - 2:30 pm on CBS. The Wildcats are the seventh-ranked team in the country and just knocked off LSU but they’re still 7 point underdogs today at home against the Gators. If Kentucky’s line can protect Andre Woodson they can pull the upset at home today.

(24) Texas Tech at (16) Missouri - 2:30 pm on ABC. Should be one of the highest scoring and most exciting games of the day. Whichever team plays a little defense will win.

(more …)

Only two games between ranked teams and neither is that sexy. The one of the most interest is in the Big 12 featuring the Oklahoma Sooners hosting the undefeated Missouri Tigers. I complain about this just about every week but that game is big enough that ESPN’s College Gameday shows up but the Big 12 television contract is so awful that a huge game between two highly ranked teams is buried on FSN.

(23) Texas at Iowa State - 11:30 am on FSN. Longhorns try to get their first Big 12 win in way too long against former Texas coach Gene Chizik’s Iowa State Cyclones.

(1) LSU at (17) Kentucky - 2:30 pm on CBS. Probably been a while since Kentucky came into this game ranked but I don’t think the outcome is going to be too different. UK’s Andre Woodson has a solid game but LSU still rolls in this one.

Texas A&M at Texas Tech - 2:30 pm on ABC. The Aggies haven’t won in Lubbock since 1993 and are double digit underdogs today. I just noticed Tech QB Graham Harrell has 28 touchdown passes already this season. Wow. A loss for A&M could mean seal Coach Franchione’s fate. Could be ugly.

(4) Boston College at Notre Dame - 2:30 pm on NBC. The Irish get a chance to return the favor for the BC upsets that ruined seasons for them in the past, but they won’t. Boston College actually has a four game winning stream in this matchup, sad (not really) how far Notre Dame has fallen. BC isn’t worthy of being the number four team in the country but Notre Dame sucks so they win easily today.

(11) Missouri at (6) Oklahoma - 5:30 pm on FSN. Were the upset by Big 12 North members Kansas State and Colorado two weeks ago a fluke? Oklahoma is definitely not the dominant team of years past, if Chase Daniel gets hot the Tigers definitely have a shot today. Texas fans should definitely be rooting for Mizzou here, another conference loss by OU gives the Longhorns a real shot at a Big 12 title if they can win out.

As you know from reading this site, we like to talk trash just as much as the next fan. But I think Texas Tech fans might have gone a little too far with this one.

It has been reported that a student at Texas Tech has designed a t-shirt that says “Vick ‘em” on the front, and the back shows an image of a football player (Vick) hanging Reveille. While I guess you could call this “clever”, it will no doubt cause an uproar in the public.

I am thinking this won’t help with the perception that Tech has a bunch of classless fans. It’s also kind of funny that this comes just a few months after Texas Tech announced Raider Power, a campaign the university start to help promote “Honor, Respect, Pride, Tradition.”

Original Rivals Thread

Well there definitely isn’t as much fanfare going into the Red River Rivalry this weekend with both teams losing last week, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t start some of the trash talking between the schools.

Chance McClain from Sports Radio 610 down in Houston The Houston Chronicle hooked us up last year with some nice OU suckage songs from his band Apollo XVIII. So here are the songs, None Suck Better and OU Sucks. Both equally great. The lyrics to None Suck Better are available after the jump.

Apollo XVIII - None Suck Better

Apollo XVIII - OU Sucks

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Not really anything interesting going on this weekend in college football, with only one match-up between two ranked teams. Probably one of the better games to watch is happening tonight, with the over-rated West Virgina facing off against South Florida. Anyone else notice the Bulls use the same hand signal as us? Copiers.

Baylor at Texas A&M - 11:30am on Versus. What’s funny about this match-up is that on the radio Aggy faithful were talking about it being a big game in the season. My thoughts, anytime Baylor is a “big game”, you have reached a sad day in your program.

Kansas State at (7) Texas - 2:30pm on ABC. Revenge game for the first second loss last season. Texas has started this season off a little slow, but things are getting back on track. Texas needs to make a statement in this game in order to carry some momentum going into the match-up against OU.

(6) California at (11) Oregon - 2:30pm on ABC. Talk about some high powered offenses. This game might end up looking like the Texas Tech / OSU game last weekend. I am thinking Oregon will pull the upset off in this one.

Auburn at (4) Florida - 7:00pm on ESPN. Definitely not as much hype in this match-up as last year, but when these two teams play you know it will be a good game. Auburn could get their program back on track with another win against Florida.

Not a great college football weekend at all. Only two games between ranked teams and one of those is Georgia at Alabama but I’m not sure either of those teams are really that great. Not much interesting going on in the Big 12 either. Here’s today’s games worth watching:

(12) South Carolina at (2) LSU - 2:30 pm on CBS. How in the world did South Carolina climb to #12 in the rankings already? LSU looks incredible, they could make this one a blow out quick if Steve Spurrier can’t find some magic.

(10) Penn State at Michigan - 2:30 pm on ABC. Could be disasterous for the Big 10 if Michigan wins this game. Texan Ryan Mallett is starting again for the Wolverines, the kid has a cannon but hasn’t learned to use it yet.

Texas Tech at Oklahoma State - 2:30 pm on FSN. Is Oklahoma State really as bad as they’ve looked in their first three games? And what did they do to quarterback Bobby Reid? This is Texas Tech’s first big boy opponent, any chance they keep things going now that they’re into Big 12 play.

Rice at (7) Texas - 6 pm on FSN. Can the Longhorns finally put up a dominant performance against an inferior opponent? If they can’t blow out the Owls the Interweb is going to explode. Make sure to check your local listings if there is an alternate channel (it’ll be on 667 on DirecTV) to catch the game in case Tech vs OSU runs long.

(22) Georgia at (16) Alabama - 6:45 pm on ESPN. Would Alabama be at #16 if Nick Saban wasn’t their coach? This is their last big test until November when they’ll face LSU. Texas fans wanted QB Matt Stafford bad, will it ever click for him and the Bulldogs offense?

Another solid Saturday of games to watch. There’s a couple of good SEC matchups, which means a return of CBS’s great coverage and great high def picture. Texas plays in the afternoon and there’s another big chance for the Big 12 to prove itself tonight as Nebraska faces off against USC. Don’t leave your couch.

Illinois at Syracuse - 11 am on ESPNU. If former Texas defensive coordinator Greg Robinson’s Syracuse team doesn’t win today he’ll likely start the year 0 - 4 and won’t make it till the end of the season.

Iowa at Iowa State - 12:30 pm on Versus. Speaking of former Texas defensive coordinators… Gene Chizik is just in his first year but after losing to Northern Iowa last week the Cyclones are just hoping they’re not laughed off the field today against the Hawkeyes.

(22) Tennessee at (5) Florida - 2:30 pm on CBS. Good SEC matchup today in HD on CBS. I’m not completely sold on Florida yet this year but they should be able to handle Tennessee in the Swamp.

(more …)

Much to the fans’ delight, UT’s offense is becoming more pass-first and using more formations. I’m glad it happened before the OU game.

A few more exciting games on today’s schedule than last week, including a big matchup for Texas against the TCU Horned Frogs. Two ranked teams and the game is on freaking FSN. The Big 12 desperately needs a better television contract if it wants to be thought of as an equal to the SEC and Big 10.

Miami at (5) Oklahoma - 11 am on ABC. Texas fans will be rooting for the Hurricanes but if OU blows this one it’s going to be tough for the Big 12 to get any respect this season nationally. Can the Sooners’ offense move the ball against Miami the way the did against UNT?

(16) Nebraska at Wake Forest - 11 am on ESPN. Wake Forest played well against Boston College last week but the Cornhuskers should be able to run away with this one. Marlon Lucky is a stud.

Fresno State at (23) Texas A&M - 2:30 pm on FSN. Could be a trap game for the Aggies. This isn’t the same top 25 caliber Fresno State team that was hanging with USC a few years back but if A&M comes out flat they’re good enough to pull off the upset.

(more …)

Not exactly the biggest game of the season this week for the Longhorns, but it’s the first week of the year of college football so there’s plenty to keep Longhorn fans glued to the TV all day. The Longhorns take on Arkansas State tonight at 6pm on FSN pay-per-view, here’s the rest of the games you should be watching:

Colorado State vs. Colorado - Noon on FSN. Always a good rivalry game to watch. Can Dan Hawkins team realize this is intramural football and rebound from an abysmal 2006 season.

Georgia Tech at Notre Dame - 2:30 pm on NBC. A rough season could be getting underway today for the Irish. No idea how good GT is but Notre Dame lost a lot on offense and will be breaking in a new QB against a tough early season schedule.

Baylor at (22) TCU - 5 pm on CSTV. I don’t know how many people get CSTV but if you do this game is of special interest to Texas fans. Can Baylor continue to improve? Just how good is TCU? Interesting match-up.

Oklahoma State at (13) Georgia - 5:45 pm on ESPN2. A big chance for Bobby Reid and OSU to prove what they’re made of right off the bat. If the Cowboys can play like the team I think they are, they’ve got a good chance to show the nation something. Big game for Big 12 respectability.

North Texas at (8) Oklahoma - 6 pm on FSN. The Todd Dodge era begins with a trip to Norman where even just a good showing against Oklahoma would mean UNT is headed in the right direction. I definitely want to see how Dodge’s offense works against OU’s defense. Also our first chance to see OU quarterback Sam Bradford lead the Sooners.

(15) Tennessee at (12) California - 7 pm on ABC. Best game of the day. If Cal rolls over again to Tennessee like they did last season it’ll be a while before the Pac 10 can convince people it’s not just USC and a bunch of scrubs.

As if living in the state of Oklahoma wasn’t bad enough, you now have to wear protective undergarments if you want to go out at night wearing burnt orange.

Allen Michael Beckett of Oklahoma City grabbed on and wouldn’t let go of another man’s junk in a bar just because he was wearing a Texas shirt. Beckett held on long enough to tear Brian Thomas’ scrotum. He has been charged with felony assault over the incident.

Check out more on the story below from NewsOK:

Thomas said Beckett, whom he had never met, called him “everything under the sun” for wearing a Longhorns T-shirt into the bar. He said he and his friend sat at a table in the corner and tried to ignore the other man, but other man — who apparently is a University of Oklahoma fan — kept screaming at him.

Thomas said he decided he’d had enough after about 20 minutes of Beckett’s abuse so he went to the bar to pay his tab. When he turned around, he said Beckett grabbed his crotch and refused to let go.

Thomas hit the other man several times before several bar patrons intervened, but Thomas said Beckett didn’t let go until Thomas heard his scrotum tear and blood ran down his leg. Thomas, who grew up a Texas fan, said it took more than 60 stitches to close his wound.

There may be more to come on this story but for now the only conclusion to come to is that people from Oklahoma are insane and like to grab other guys’ balls. At least Aggies keep their hands to themselves and only squeeze their own. This whole story is nuts.

I’m not one to hang out on Aggie message boards but fortunately there are Texas fans that do and then point out the great ones. Chargee over at Orangebloods found this piece of comic gold on TexAgs’ football board…

WineberryovrGold:

Had an interesting conversation with my friend… He brought up the Ags by asking me how well I thought they would do this season. I told him I was very excited and beleived our team would finish with 10+ wins and a possible Big 12 championship. After hearing this he started to vehemently agree with my points, and even went so far as to say we had a decent chance of going undefeated. This really got me pumped up because he usually never gives A&M much respect, and he is usually right to not make any lofty predictions.

I can’t imagine a Texas fan on Hornfans or Orangebloods coming on and saying “hey my random friend thinks we’ll be good this year!!” Aggies have such a strange and sad longing for external validation, but I guess being little brother for most of the last 100 years will do that to you. And how exactly does one “vehemently agree” with a person? How in the world would that work?

Of course, like any thread on an A&M message board the responses to the original post are just as good:

BaronVonAggie:

We’re like a hot chick who doesnt realize how hot she is.

First off, no you aren’t. Aggies are more like the fat chick who every year claims she’s going to lose 100 pounds and get hot but when swimsuit season rolls around there she is still at a deuce and a half. And even if they were “the hot chick,” how exactly can you personally claim that you’re the hot chick who doesn’t know you’re hot? That’s like saying, “Not only am I the best looking person in the room, but I’m modest too.” It doesn’t work that way.

Aggie_Fanatic:

there is not a team on our schedule that we are not better than. Not only that but we will win convincingly against every team we play.

That’s a lot of confidence in a team that’s beaten one good team the last four years (unfortunately it was Texas) and struggled to get past teams like Army, Kansas and Baylor last season. The Kool-Aid in College Station must be even stronger this year, how else would someone come to the conclusion that they “honestly think we have a 33% chance to win the BCS Championship.” When is the last time the Aggies even finished the year in the top 25?

A&M will admittedly be better this year (though there’s still a lot of questions about their defense), but only an Aggie would make the leap from one 12-7 win over a team with an injured QB and a 35 point loss to an average Pac-10 team to undefeated and untested national champs. I love August.

I guess since the Cotton Bowl game won’t actually be in the Cotton Bowl anymore they’ve got to try anything to get some extra revenue to upgrade the stadium for one game a year. The latest idea? This Sunday people will be allowed to bring their dogs down on to the field to dump on the 50 yard line.

“Petsmart presents Texas’ largest dog park. A once in a lifetime opportunity to have dog owners and their dogs run free on the Cotton Bowl field. From 1-5pm on May 6 the Cotton Bowl will be open for dogs of all sizes to stomp, scamper and swish across the most historic playing field in Dallas.”

All kidding aside, I think it’ll be pretty cool just to get to go down on the field. Maybe you and your pooch can take the frisbee and reenact Vince Young to Billy Pittman for the TD. My mutt would spend the entire time trying to Bomar dogs five times her size.

More details

A group of guys from the Orangebloods message boards are starting up a “Basketball Attendance Committee” in an attempt to improve the fan showing at UT basketball games. If you are interested in participating, show up at the Starbucks on 24th and San Antonio at 3PM on Saturday. Definitely a worthy cause if you’ve got the time.

Check out the details below:

This Saturday [a group of] students will be meeting at the Starbucks on 24th and San Antonio at 3PM.

If there are any other students (or non-students for that matter) that would like to help contribute to improving the basketball attendance to the level that is reflective of a top program, we would love for you to attend and share your thoughts.

We as fans expect quite a great deal from our basketball team, as we should, We’re Texas, but in order for this program to become a legitimate national power, it needs the support of our fanbase, one of the biggest and most supportive in all of college sports.

Fan support in influential in many ways. To begin with, it is a focal part in ensuring that our basketball program has the level of facilities needed to keep up with rival schools. If there aren’t people attending games, the revenue from ticket sales, concessions, merchandise, and advertising are all adversely affected. This in turn reduces the funding available for upgrades for the basketball program. Also, what top level recruit is going to want to play in front of an arena that is only 1/2 or 3/5 full? When recruits are visiting Texas and contemplating where to attend college, the fan support and gameday atmosphere undoubtedly play into the decision. The same is true for coaches, as Barnes has on numerous occasions expressed his disappointment in some of the turnouts for games. If we want to keep top caliber coaches around we must give them the support the deserve and desire.

Bottom line: If we want to have a great basketball program, we need to support it better. There is a great opportunity to take this issue in our own hands and be the change we desire to see take place. Even if you are unable to meet with us this Saturday, you can still help make a difference by just attending games and encouraging those you know to do the same. I know that this is a little anachronistic as the season has just ended and it is several months until next season, but now is the time to start shaping the culture of the fanbase so that when the 07-08 season does roll around, the response from Longhorn fans will be overwhelming.

Hook ‘Em

Update

If you have any questions or want more info contact Chris at hornsbball@gmail.com. A new web site is under development now for the group and they’re setting up a Facebook group as well. Continue to check back here for updates.