Tag Archives: Texas Tech Red Raiders

Texas Tech Stands Strong in Face of lhn!

Posted on by
3

I have to hand it to Texas Tech. They are standing strong against ESPN and the now failing network lhn. For those of you who do not know, lhn is the “longhorn network,” a television network started by ESPN that was to cover the texas longhorns exclusively. In other words, 24 hours of longhorn coverage 7 days a week. (Sounds like purgatory to me!) The idea was to market this o so wonderful brand of t.u. to the nation, sort of like NBC did with Notre Dame.

The problem for ESPN is that they didn’t realize the resolve of other schools in the great state of Texas. The resolve is so great that the alumni for those schools called up their local cable networks and told them that if they carried lhn at all, they would go and find another provider. To this date, only two cable networks are providing lhn, and the network is dying a quick death (not quick enough as far as I’m concerned).

The lhn was the straw the broke the camel’s back concerning Texas A&M, and the reason they left the Big 12 conference for the SEC. The problem was that Dan Beebe, then chairman of the Big 12, would bend over backwards to do what was necessary to make t.u. happy. This was why Colorado, Missouri, and Nebraska all left the Big 12 as well. The rest of the schools were simply pawns in t.u.’s quest to exalt itself.

Until recently at least. In an attempt to keep the lhn alive, ESPN is trying to designate the network as a regular ESPN platform sort of like ESPN2, or ESPNU in order to expand coverage. They have added football games from the Western Athletic Conference in order to do this because there just isn’t enough t.u. to fill 24 hours of programming for even the most avid t.u. fan.

It seems that one of the games that the lhn wants to broadcast is the Texas Tech game with Texas State University, which is a member of the WAC. When Texas Tech learned of the possibility of it being aired on the lhn, they stated that they would cancel the game and pay the buyout costs rather than appear on the lhn. Red Raider Sports reports:

ESPN announced earlier this month that the game would be carried on one of its platforms, but did not specify which.

Tech learned of this possibility several days ago, and according to the source, is “adamantly opposed to playing on the Longhorn Network” and is “putting serious consideration into canceling the game and playing an 11 game schedule” this fall.

“We are extremely disappointed,” the source told RRS. “Our hope is that the Texas State game will be played on a primary ESPN platform.”

Can you see some of the passion that is dooming the lhn? Tech would rather pay the buyout costs than do anything that would aid and abet the lhn in it’s survival. What do you bet that there were quite a few Red Raiders calling their cable companies, along with Aggies, Sooners, Cowboys, Bears, Cougars, Horned Frogs, Mustangs, and others telling them “no lhn!”

That is because we know the diseased underbelly known as t.u. We know how their recruiters will badmouth other schools to prospective recruits. We know the giant-sized egos down at that junior college in Austin who think the entire Big 12 exists for the purpose of exalting t.u. We know how they believe we should just bow down in humble compliance with the demands of their athletic department. We also know we are not going to. Nothing would say this more than the failure of the lhn.

I’m glad Texas Tech is standing strong against the lhn, just as I rejoice that A&M bolted the Big 12 for the SEC. Hopefully, the Big 12 will become a thing of the past in the future and t.u. can have their ultimate desire, to become independent like Notre Dame, and end up with the same record. It is sad that schools like TCU and OU are nothing more than canon fodder for the egos in Austin. May the canon fodder humble those involved with t.u. and the ill-advised lhn.

Texas Aggies Update

Posted on by
Reply

It’s been a while since I did an Texas Aggies Update. You have to know that Texas Aggies everywhere are really excited about the inaugural season of football with the SEC and this has us really excited. But there is more to this excitement than just joining the SEC.

First, Kevin Sumlin, the new head football coach, has really begun to assemble a great recruiting class for 2013.  He has done this by promoting the reality that Texas A&M is playing in the best league in the nation, and confronting the lies put forth by those on the recruiting trails from the likes of t.u. Those in the great state of Texas have known for years that t.u. will trash talk all the other schools to recruits. It’s typical coming from that institution. Former A&M coach Mike Sherman ignored the problem, choosing to take the higher road. Sumlin has chosen to confront the attacks with the truth.

Here is what Miketag from Just Wait Til Next Season wrote:

The coaches that Sumlin brought in have a different approach. If a college negatively recruits against A&M, they will get down and dirty in the trenches with them. When Mack Brown tells a wide receiver recruit that A&M has moved out of state and all the Aggie games will be too far away for his parents to watch, the Aggie coaches simply point out Texas’ pedestrian passing game to that recruit.

There is nothing wrong with either approach. Mike Sherman is a stand-up guy and you cannot ask him to be something he is not. These new assistants are young and aggressive and they are not going to take lies from other coaches sitting down.

The response to Sumlin and his coaches so far has been nothing short of amazing. With two cornerbacks giving their verbal pledges yesterday, the Ags now have 19 commitments in the 2013 class and it is only June.

Sumlin has gained commitments from four defensive linemen and two linebackers. He has immediately addressed the glaring issues in the front seven. Aggie fans can expect to see the Ags add two more defensive linemen and two more linebackers to the class before signing day. Bringing in 12 players in the front seven is a great way to fix depth issues.

Sumlin and his staff have achieved their success not only by countering the negative recruiting from other programs, but by changing the perception of the A&M program entirely. Texas A&M has an image as a conservative university, but this football staff is young and hip. Recruits want to play for coaches who are laid back enough to play rap music during the practices like the Aggies do.

Sumlin held a “Friday Night Lights” event where he invited all of the elite recruits in the 2013 and 2014 class to come and watch a scrimmage under the lights at Kyle Field. He and his assistants went on the road and put on satellite football camps at different high schools across the state.

The other issue that should give some Aggies a cause to rejoice is that Bleacher Report did a ranking of the most loyal fans in the nation and Aggies came in at number 7. They rank higher than Arkansas, LSU, t.u., Texas Tech, Notre Dame, Florida, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The only teams that rank higher in fan loyalty are: Penn State, Auburn, Alabama, Nebraska, Ohio State and Michigan, in that order. I think that is deserving of a big Aggie whooooop!