40 Acres Sports

Oklahoma dismisses WR recruit Josh Jarboe. Pressure from local media was finally enough for OU to act.

Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman is scared of VCR’s. Good coach but I’m not sure he’ll ever recruit well.

Has the Red River Shootout declined? Stewart Mandel believes so & thinks the Horns have something to prove.

I’m at the mall with my wife and had a Big 12-related observation. Here in North Dallas in the big sporting goods store (Dick’s) there’s a ton of Longhorns gear and some Oklahoma stuff, but there’s very little A&M apparel at all. There’s a whole wall of Texas and OU stuff with two Aggie t-shirts in the corner. There was more Texas Tech and LSU stuff than that.

It’s even worse at the sports memorabilia store. Some very cool and very expensive Vince Young and Kevin Durant stuff and some Ricky Williams and Earl Campbell autographed prints and mini-helmets. The Sooners are represented solely by Adrian Peterson and the Aggies have absolutely nothing. Think about it, what Aggie memorabilia can even A&M fans collect? Six year old Dat Nguyen Cowboys jerseys?

Dallas is three hours away from Austin, College Station, and Norman yet there’s absolutely no Texas A&M presence here. Just thought that was an interesting real world observation about the state of the three programs.

Baseball beats #9 Texas A&M 5-2 to open series. Good game by Jordan Danks and good outing by pitcher Chance Ruffin.

While discussing upgrades to Kyle Field and Olsen Field, Aggie Athletic Director Bill Byrne let loose one of my favorite quotes of the year:

Byrne also addressed the Aggies’ move last year from Nike to adidas as the department’s apparel provider.

He said he met with a Nike representative and requested the same deal as A&M’s chief rival, Texas.

Byrne said he was offended when the rep told him, “You’re not as good as they are and you’re probably never going to be.” That statement made Byrne’s decision to switch to adidas even easier, he said, in addition to what was a more lucrative deal.

That’s right, the Nike representative put Texas A&M in their place right to their AD’s face. You will be seeing that quote in Texas fans’ signatures on forums for the next year. I’m not sure why Byrne would ever actually admit that Nike said that, all it does it brings up that a major national company thinks you’re somebody’s little brother.

As pretty much everyone, other than Aggies themselves, knows the Longhorns are a class above the Aggies. On the field and in sporting goods stores Texas outperforms Texas A&M year after year. Because of their consistent top tier performance, the Longhorns are on national television many more times per year in both football and basketball. In recent years the university has led the nation in licensing revenue and set a royalty records after the 2005 national championship season.

Bill Byrne is perfect there, only an Aggie would expect to get the same deal and be proud when it didn’t happen.

High school sophomore Chris Martin is one of the top prospects for 2010 out of California. He’s already got offers from top programs such as Cal, Colorado, and Stanford and is being recruited by all the national powers. He doesn’t have a favorite in the recruiting process yet, but he sure knows where he doesn’t want to go to school…

Education is another factor weighing heavily on Martin’s opinion of colleges.

“Academic prestige is the first thing I’m looking for in a school,” said Martin. “I’m not sure on a major, but I think I’d like to go into marketing.

“I do know I wouldn’t pick a school like Texas A&M because I want to go somewhere that has had a line of successful people who have majored in the field I’m interested in.”

Apparently Martin just isn’t interested in Ag Leadership as a career.

I’m not sure where that quote came from or why a kid from California even brings up the Aggies, but it sure is funny. I guess it’s a step in the right direction for A&M though that a national recruit has actually heard of the school. I guess that 35 point loss to Cal in the Holiday Bowl paid off after all.

Maybe the Longhorns should start recruiting Martin, he’s mine kind of kid.

• Source (requires subscription)

This was too entertaining not to post:

At first I was sympathetic to Aggie fans, it would be tough to lose a game that way. Then they started acting like Aggies and threatening a lawsuit over the non-call. Seriously. It didn’t take long to remember there is never a good reason to take pity on them. Now I laugh and laugh and laugh at their despair. (via)

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

Rick Barnes threatens Arkansas fans. I love poking the Piggies with a stick. Should have them nice and riled up.r

It’s been a while since AJ Abrams has been in a groove, but he certainly was feeling it Saturday afternoon against the Oklahoma Sooners. In the Big 12 tourney semifinals, Abrams got out of his funk in a big way by making 7 of 12 three point attempts to score 24 points. His shooting helped the Horns take a close game at half time and turn it into a blowout.

ESPN video highlights are below:

Next up for Texas is their third straight match-up with Kansas in the Big 12 Championship finals. Texas lost the previous two games and has never won a conference tournament since the Big 12 was formed. If the Horns can pull out the victory over KU, they’ve still got a shot at a #1 seed for the Big Dance. The game will be on ESPN Sunday at 2pm.

Related Links

• AP game recap
• Box score
• Postgame notes
• Postgame quotes (PDF)
• Photo gallery

Oklahoma recruit Josh Jarboe was arrested Thursday for receiving stolen property and having a weapon on campus. What the heck are these kids thinking?

Texas women’s basketball team upsets 10th-ranked Oklahoma on the road. Still not making the tourney.

Texas-Texas A&M game returns to traditional Thanksgiving night date. The game will now be on ESPN, I’m not sure if this means more viewers or not but I love the going back to tradition.

The next big video game in College Station? iSheep, the bleeding edge in simulated shepherding technology.

A&M hires old, crazy, good defensive coordinator Joe Kines. Excellent hire by the Aggies.

Gun halts deposition in Reggie Bush case. Looks like a member of Reggie’s crew thought it was a good idea to try to intimidate witnesses.

Bob Stoops sucks and is overrated, or maybe he’s just the new Lloyd Carr. At least an OU fan thinks so.

UT, Texas A&M close to moving game to Thanksgiving? Night game on Turkey Day would be incredible. Great idea, hope it happens.

A&M tight end Martellus Bennett to declare for NFL draft. Not great production but draft is all about potential.

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.)

Aggie yell leaders again embarrass state of Texas: Paterno On His Deathbed. WTF was any of that? A skit? Sad and unfunny.

Dennis Franchione is Texas Monthly’s Bum Steer of the Year. Quite the honor for the former Aggie coach.

Two Texas A&M football players have been arrested for an alleged armed robbery in College Station on November 29th. Less than a week after their upset of the Longhorns, offensive lineman Yemi Babalola and defensive end Brandon Joiner (allegedly) decided it would be a good idea to break into an apartment, wave a gun around, and (allegedly) steal pot from a drug dealer. Seriously.

From the DMN…

According to a College Station police report, officers responded to an armed robbery call at the Callaway Villas Apartments. A resident said two black men entered the apartment and struck the person who opened the door.

A second resident ran upstairs and escaped through a window. The first resident and a friend were bound with tape while one of the assailants pointed a semi-automatic handgun in their faces.

Babalola was charged with aggravated robbery and possession of marijuana. Joiner’s charges include marijuana possession, possession of Ecstasy, and possession of hydrocodone. (Purple drank?)

No, this isn’t a case of the pot calling the kettle black. This is a case of the kettle calling the pot black because the pot wouldn’t shut up the last time the kettle had some guys arrested.

This is not a UT or Texas A&M problem, this is a problem in programs across the country. I’m not sure what’s causing young men to give up very promising futures, but this arrest and the Andre Jones/Robert Joseph/James Henry garbage definitely appear directly tied to drugs. Babalola had actually become a very solid player the last two seasons and was likely just a year away from being a mid-round NFL draft pick and a very rich young man.

These kids are giving it all away to get high.

A&M approves $4.4 million buyout of Franchione. Wow. Wish I could get millions for sucking at my job.