Bear Down Wildcats

TheCatInTheHat

Never been a Stanford fan myself, for many reasons, but mostly due to even more colossal hypocrisy than most colleges surrounding athletics. More than likely somebody will search the internet for some dataset to refute it, but it seems to me that, pre-Harbaugh, Stanford football tended to coast ...

TheCatInTheHat

At the moment, they've got three guards in Paris, Swann, and Rolf, with Jah and Ross as "bigs", F Brooklyn Rhodes off the bench, and three gals with a history of knee problems. (At least, until somebody else hits the portal.) Adia is fully capable of recruiting transfer replacements, and her husband ...

TheCatInTheHat

UAEebs86 wrote: Sun Mar 23, 2025 12:27 pm West Virginia won Saturday 11 - 3

Yeah, I put in the score in T9 and typed in the stuff about ESPN+ and they had a very quick B9. Meant to say Cats Win, but I was rushing out the door. Wishful thinking.

TheCatInTheHat

And the Cats sweep! Gotta say, after all the crying about losing the P12 Network, I'd have to say we're better off with ESPN+. Yeah, you have to put up with the local homer announcers, but most of them aren't too bad. I've been able to see every football and men's and women's basketball game I ...

TheCatInTheHat

Injuries or not, losing twice in one year to NAU, when you even got a return game at McKale, is unacceptable. Geez, all I ever did was some (fill-in) coaching of 8th grade CYO-league basketball, and even I would have said, "get it down low, but do it quick, get up a shot or draw a foul, and give ...

TheCatInTheHat

No question it's disgusting, and it doesn't change the circumstances of the case, but students are uploading naked pictures of themselves into their university's on-line system? I guess they probably first ask themselves: what could possibly go wrong?

TheCatInTheHat

Don't remember, but Kim Mulkey left Baylor for LSU the same month we played Stanford in the title game in 2021, so you're probably right. Couldn't really see Adia particularly happy in Waco, but with enough money I guess you could tolerate anyplace and just go on vacation a lot.

TheCatInTheHat

Akron played 4 NCAA Tournament teams, going 2-2, which was the home/road split of those games, winning only at home. They also lost to 4 more teams, all on the road. My takeaway to the "they play fast" bit is that against better competition, they only put up big numbers in those 2 games that were at ...

TheCatInTheHat

I used to argue with a guy about injuries from too much hitting in practice. You just hate to hear that a key guy is lost from practicing, but if you "practice like you play", there's more chance in practice than in a game, because of more practice time than game time. His argument was that you can ...

TheCatInTheHat

TheCat wrote: Mon Mar 17, 2025 12:35 pm If any team gets hot from the outside they can beat anyone no matter the spread. Look no further than Oakland vs Kentucky last year and our boy TT.

Yeah, there's an AI-generated bracket that says after we beat Akron, Liberty beats Oregon, so all is well. (But then, Liberty beats us.)

TheCatInTheHat

Before moving, I had season tickets for 40 years. Near mid-court facing the benches, but because they were in the top deck and near the speakers, during the last few years of it, the recorded music alternating with non-stop PA commentary and sponsored contests was pretty blaring. Almost impossible ...

TheCatInTheHat

Yeah, they love to look for story line angles to attract viewers. Can't argue with their success, I guess.

Meanwhile, I caught some of the game yesterday where St. Francis punched their ticket...on a Tuesday. The underdog angle in the tourney is great, but there is quite an advantage to qualifying ...

TheCatInTheHat

Players get tied-up in an at-bat all the time. Sometimes it's with two outs and two strikes and ends an inning. But that's not the time to either lean on an ump on a 50/50 call, or say the failed AB was all his fault if it goes against you. It's the time to protect the plate and foul off the pitch ...

TheCatInTheHat

Fuck 'em to death. God almighty, do they ever have any class? And they have the nerve to make crap up to accuse us so maybe somebody believes it and they won't look so bad? It's way too late for that, guys...you have a massive body of work that's public knowledge. So Matt King gets thrown out ...

TheCatInTheHat

Since it's the only time we'll see ASU at Hi Corbett this year, guess I'll do a quick overview. Other than a couple of one-off wins over Austin Peay and UNLV, in three-game series, they swept Ohio St, and most recently Gonzaga, went 2-1 vs Oral Roberts, 1-1 at UCLA in their only road games to date ...

TheCatInTheHat

Hansen did a brief bit on Barnes in which he said Heeke bumped her to $1.2M right after generational talent Aari McDonald carried the team to the national title game, which made Adia the next big thing in the women's coaching ranks. She's way out in front of the next highest paid Big XII coach in ...

TheCatInTheHat

Love it!

TheCatInTheHat

Yeah, per your comments, if she's great, I don't see how we'd keep her if her alma mater with deep pockets and one of the best histories in women's college hoops called with an offer. Beyond that, she's never made it out of the first round of the NCAAs after winning the weak MWC, and she lost to ...

TheCatInTheHat

I saw that too and thought the exact same thing. He said "were Tucsonians ". I think he likes the lifestyle and the team.

Tucsonans. ;)

It's a funny thing about etymology. The Tucson Citizen stylebook used Tucsonians (I guess to sound like Bostonians), but it never got any traction or ...

TheCatInTheHat

People like to hope for and expect excellence. But, purely from a business standpoint, I can't see replacing Adia. She has built a following that didn't used to exist. (Remember the curtains we used to use?) This year they averaged 6500+ for absolute no-name non-conference teams and 7K+ in our first ...

TheCatInTheHat

Cats open as a 17.5 point favorite.

Don't see any update on Quaintance's right knee injury situation, other than "questionable" and "game time decision." Wouldn't think it looks too good after missing two games, but Hurley's pretty desperate. Regardless, even if he played, that probably wouldn ...

TheCatInTheHat

https://twitter.com/jasonscheer/status/1896365679001182349

Okay, I'm more than satisfied. This looks like a really good hire. DC at Coastal Carolina and previously ST coordinator at SMU and safeties at USC. Nominated for top assistant coach award in 2023. Not sure if he'll do special teams ...

TheCatInTheHat

Despite the loss today, much happier with the pitching and competitiveness. Really like playing lots of tough teams in these early tournaments in covered major league stadia. It tends to tell you what you've really got, and when you win a few, builds confidence. After beating (pre-season) #1 Texas A ...

TheCatInTheHat

Terrific job by Hintz. Now that he's presumably burned for the weekend, it'll be interesting to see how the pitching holds up for the remaining two games, which was my biggest question mark going into the series. (I don't think anybody doubts that we can beat anybody in a single game.)

Meanwhile ...

TheCatInTheHat

Spring Football practices start in 17 days, and we still need a secondary coach AND a stand-alone special teams coordinator. And it's not like there's just nothing at all to do when the players aren't on the practice field. In addition to all the logistics of moving, you'd like to think new coaches ...

TheCatInTheHat

Does anyone know if the Big12 tournament will be on FESPN+?

It hasn't been announced yet. But for what it's worth every game of the Women's Big 12 tournament will be on ESPN+.

The only linear network games are two quarterfinals on ESPNU and the championship game on ESPN. (All times Tucson ...

TheCatInTheHat

I tried the link to the Astros subscription YouTube channel this morning, and an early live game between Mississippi St and Rice came up with no problem, so that might be worth a try for our games.

TheCatInTheHat

Here's a lengthy story on the long history of the BYU chanting issue (and other events), and some context on various related aspects that was written three weeks before the latest occurrence at McKale.

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/byu-couga ... ants-keep/

TheCatInTheHat

When that call was made and the crowd was going super agitated... I said to my son... "This is about to get ugly... people are going to start throwing shit onto the court" I was relieved that didn't happen but I know something would happen. I guess the anti mormon rant was just the easiest ...

TheCatInTheHat

People talk about the hitting "coming around", which is fine, and you can get away with pummeling average teams with gorilla ball. But whether it's college or the majors, when you face elite teams, they shut you down with their pitching, and you have to match them in that area. For the moment, we ...

TheCatInTheHat

I get that officiating is tough. I've been pressed into it a few times in baseball and softball and absolutely hated it. But the guy absolutely couldn't see any foul from way out where he was, it wasn't his call to make with another ref in perfect closer position who saw nothing to call, and late in ...

TheCatInTheHat

Not sure how well the links will work, but one is the video, and the other is a Hansen write-up about it. I had great sideline seats, and I don't know if I've ever felt a buzz like that after a game in McKale, and there have been just a ton of great moments.

https://x.com/i/status ...

TheCatInTheHat

Prior to moving to Tucson and going to school at UofA, there was a bit of a different viewpoint about the college sports landscape. I lived in the upper midwest and saw plenty of Al McGuire's Marquette teams. They were always talented and interesting, but a bit plodding, and it's well-known that Al ...

TheCatInTheHat

I believe it was another position coach, like maybe a D-line coach, and it just lasted one year before he went elsewhere. I tried to look it up, but they don't make it easy and none of the names rung a bell. And, it's also possible I confused early Tomey with a late post-Axman Smith move during a ...

TheCatInTheHat

I'm still waiting for a standalone ST coach who isn't moonlighting or getting OJT. One thing that scares me about Brennan (okay there are a lot of things) is the linkage to some of Tomey's less-admired coaching traits. I seem to recall Tomey making a defensive coach his OC one year, apparently ...

TheCatInTheHat

pc in NM wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2025 1:23 pm What was your FT%???

Around 70%.

TheCatInTheHat

UCLA's box score shows attendance of 7,500, but that's got to be tickets sold, unless they're just making it up. Cronin's some piece of work, isn't he? "The stress in Pauley’s crazy when a guy — ‘Uhhh, uhhh.’ I mean, the guy’s not trying to miss — how about help the guy? How about cheer for the guy ...

TheCatInTheHat

Most people I've spoken to are fine with the Big XII. People throw terms around like relegation, and there's certainly some truth to that for everybody not in the Big Ten and SEC. But people seem to forget that we were also just as relegated if we'd have sat back in the Pac. There was no option to ...

TheCatInTheHat

That would be interesting. Good pull...thx.

TheCatInTheHat

Hurley is getting $2.8M annually, which runs through next season. He delayed almost a year before signing the two-year extension, which I would assume indicates even more behind-the-scenes tension. I don't see how there can be any esprit de corps with their record, the "discipline" issues, and his ...

TheCatInTheHat

0-3 on the Rangers' field in Arlington. Smith Baily started, went 4 and pitched a 3-hit shutout. Michael Hilker came on in relief in the 5th and was shelled, giving up 8 runs on 7 hits. Not sure why Vance is leaving people out on the mound so long when they're obviously having a bad day, but I guess ...

TheCatInTheHat

RHP Owen Kramkowski got tattooed and didn't make it out of the first inning, giving up 7 runs on 8 hits, as the Cats lost to Clemson in Arlington 16-5. They'll wrap up the tournament with another early morning game tomorrow and try to salvage something against Louisville. Next weekend, they've got ...

TheCatInTheHat

First two batters in T9 walked, then sac bunt, K, intentional walk, and a fly out to end the game. #15 Clemson tomorrow morning. Collin McKinney started and went 4.1 giving up a run in the 5th, then Casey Hintz came in, giving up another run in the 5th before shutting them out the rest of the way ...

TheCatInTheHat

As we go through our first Big XII season in the various sports, I continue to be grateful we landed in a decent spot in one piece.

It's been interesting watching Wilner trying to hold his gig together as an expert on every conference but the SEC, as well as contract law, economics, and the ...

TheCatInTheHat

He's really a throwback to the almost 1950s-era point guards that hung on into the beginning of the 1970s. Bob Cousy was a big deal starting in the early 50s, but there were lots of journeyman types like Lenny Wilkins, Guy Rodgers, Bob Weiss, Johnny Egan, etc. And I guess John Stockton and Steve ...

TheCatInTheHat

I tend to agree with not going bonkers trying to make some statement in the Big XII tourney. As the Big XII commercial goes, "every conference game is like an NCAA tournament game." It's a tough grind, and while there are legit complaints about officiating errors and inconsistency, at least they let ...

TheCatInTheHat

I agree with both points. The hope is that a qualified OC can utilize an undersized, but experienced and talented QB behind a (hopefully) marginally adequate O-line and implement a system to get the ball to (what looks like) a reasonably talented group of WRs and RBs in space with some rhythm and ...

TheCatInTheHat

Everybody can, and usually does, assume the worst for football and then be "pleasantly surprised" if they do any better than that. I get it; we've never had the necessary continuity in administrative and financial support to avoid the roller coaster effect, so it makes sense to be skeptical, to say ...

TheCatInTheHat

And that's perfectly fine, as long as the focus is on being strong on fundamentals. Smith also used to say that the kicking game is one-third of football. People say a lot of things. I don't think anybody doubts the need to be good there. My only concern is if somebody comes in who wants to make a ...

TheCatInTheHat

I sure hope so, since we're already returning a DC from a staff that gave up 32 ppg. Some of those came from offensive turnovers, and maybe we were a little short on defensive personnel. But if we're basically keeping the status quo on D, other than adding Salavea and a bit of staff juggling ...

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