Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 05.21.09

Odds and Ends

Happy Anniversary

Four short years ago today, my wife and I walked down the aisle and got hitched. It's been four great years and I cannot thank her enough for being so supportive of my addiction hobby, Double-T Nation.

Texas Tech Football

Big 12 AD Meetings

A few updates regarding this week's Big 12 AD meetings. Kyle Ringo of the Daily Camera details that the Big 12 will eliminate track regionals as well as the production of media and recruiting guides in all sports. Ringo has a lot of detail about the effect of the track issue. DMN's Chuck Carlton writes that the league is discussing increasing the number of conference basketball games, from 16 to 18. And Randy Riggs of the Austin-American Statesman confirms that the entire league is in a conspiracy against Texas as the AD's also agreed not to change the Big 12 football tiebreaker procedure.

Red Raiders 5th in Big 12 South?

Columbia Daily Tribune's Dave Matter thinks the Red Raiders finish 5th in the conference:

Outlook: A fifth-place prediction for the Red Raiders isn’t a reflection of Leach’s coaching chops or the talent he’s collected in Lubbock. It’s about the emergence of Baylor. And it’s about respect for departed Tech stars Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree. Taking over for Harrell at quarterback, Taylor Potts will probably lead the country in passing, and someone, maybe Detron Lewis, will produce Crabtree-like numbers at receiver. But even the most loyal Red Raider fan must admit a slight drop-off on offense is inevitable. On defense, was last season’s early success a mirage? Too many established stoppers are gone from a group that was exposed late in the year.

Matter has Baylor ahead of Texas Tech, but I just don't see that happening this year. Robert Griffin is an immensely talented player, but I don't think Baylor has the overall talent that Texas Tech has. It may take a couple of years for Art Briles to do it, and I think he eventually will, so long as he stays at Baylor. I know that losing lots of talent plays a part in these types of things as well as Baylor returning so many players (20 I think), but just because you return 20 starters doesn't mean that they're all good starters.

Neglected Audio, Video and Photos

Fox34 takes a look back at Nevada.

Texas Tech Baseball

Outfield:
LF - Michael Reed (Jr.); CF - Taylor Ashby (Jr.); RF - Garrett Totten (Fr.)
Infield:
SS - Joey Kenworthy (Jr.)     2ND - Willie Rueda (Sr.);
3RD - Justin Berry (Fr.)                                  1ST - Chris Richburg (Sr.)
C - Jeremy Mayo (Fr.)
DH - Scott LeJeune (Fr.)

*Click on the score for boxscore. Texas Tech Big 12 Tournament preview (pdf).

Red Raiders Dropped by Oklahoma

The Red Raiders just couldn't ever get it going against the home team, Oklahoma Sooners, losing 5-2 last night (recap and quotes). AJ Ramos (5.2 IP; 8 H; 5 ER; 2 BB; 2 SO) pitched good enough to win, especially considering how well the offense has been playing recently. The bullpen was also lights out, not allowing a hit or a run for the final 2.1 innings, but OU's tandem of Andrew Doyle (8.0 IP 4 H; 2 R; 0 ER; 1 BB; 4 SO) and Ryan Duke (1.0 IP; 0 H; 0 ER; 0 BB; 2 SO) were more impressive. At the plate, only 2B Joey Kenworthy (1-4), 1B Chris Richburg (1-4; 1 RBI), 3B Justin Berry (1-4) and DH Scott Lejeune (1-4) managed to get a hit off of Doyle.

The Missouri Tigers are up next on Friday and I believe that the Red Raiders will need to win out to make it out of their pool.

LAJ's George Watson (again with video!) recaps yesterday's action:

The effort of Doyle and Hubbard tainted a solid outing by Tech starter AJ Ramos. All of Hubbard’s RBIs came on a misplay by Taylor Ashby in the fourth and a ball that ricocheted off Chris Richburg’s glove in the sixth. Oklahoma’s other run came on an RBI groundout by Bryant Hernandez when his slow roller to second allowed Jamie Johnson to score from second to give the Sooners (41-16) the lead for good.