Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 08.31.09
by Seth C on Aug 31, 2009 6:09 AM CDT
in Texas Tech News, Notes and Links
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Odds and Ends
It's Almost Here: That's right, we're down to game-week, which means that those of you who have been around for a while will know to expect from me, but for those of you who don't, then here's a brief rundown:
Monday: --
Tuesday: A statistical comparison of Texas Tech and their oppponent.
Wednesday: Five reasons Texas Tech will win.
Thursday: Five reasons Texas Tech will lose.
Friday: Prediction time.
Saturday: Open game day thread.
Sunday: Report cards or some other game wrap-up.
I think you'll also be pleasantly surprised with additional content from the DTN co-authors, but we're still working out details and schedules for those. In any event, the season is almost here. I've been working my rear off all weekend to work on some tables, content and things to help the website.
Ticket Selling FanPost: I mentioned this last week and I forgot to do it, but let's try and keep all ticket selling relegated to this weekly FanPost. If I ever forget to post this in a given week, feel free to do it yourself. As mentioned last week, no ticket brokers and this is not a place to make money. If you want to make money, go to Craigslist or some other site. This is here to help out your fellow Red Raiders.
Texas Tech Football
Olson Works to be Left Tackle: LAJ's Don Williams features LT hopeful Chris Olson, who is battling with Terry McDaniel for this final offensive line spot. Here's Olson on how he his role with the team:
"I guess it’s because I know all the positions pretty well,’’ Olson said last week. "I know the offense, the blocking schemes, for the most part pretty perfectly. I think that helps a lot. He knows that I’ll know what I’m doing, whether or not I’ve been practicing there. I guess I just have the technique for it, have the body type. I’m not really sure.’’
And offensive line coach Matt Moore seems to be in awe of what Olson can do:
"It’s unbelievable what that kid can do,’’ Moore said. "To be able to play left tackle all camp, then the backup center gets hurt, and you’re going to be the second-team center, but they go against the first-team defense all the time. But he makes all the calls and had like one bad snap. The kid’s so versatile.’’
Snip
"You just don’t have guys like that that can play every position on the line and play them as well as he plays them,’’ Moore said one day last spring. "He’s smart. He’s relaxed. He doesn’t panic. He understands the game. He’s really good at changing his stance — that’s the hardest thing in going from the right side to the left side. I think when it’s all said and done, he’s going to end up starting somewhere.’’
Captains Named: Per the official website, the following players have been named as a captain for this 2009 squad: QB Taylor Potts, LG Brandon Carter, DE Rajon Henley and CB Jamar Wall. Congrats to these four players.
Texas Tech Football Notebook: LAJ's Don Williams has news that that special teams coach Eric Russell has not decided between sophomore P/K Donnie Carona and freshman P Ryan Erxleben for the punting job:
"I don’t know who it is yet,’’ Russell said after the team’s Sunday night workout at Jones AT&T Stadium. "They both still have some issues that are concerning to me. At the same time, they both hit the ball decently. It’s more operation time and fundamentals and mechanics, and they’re both kind of running out of time.’’
. . . but that the kicking job is set with walk-on phenom, K Matthew Williams . . . IR Austin Zouzalik is getting a closer look at returning both punts and kickoffs (I think this is a fantastic idea) . . . the depth chart for kickoff returner is Zouzalik with IR Detron Lewis and the second unit is RB Eric Stephens and CB Jamar Wall, while the punt returner is still up in the air . . .
The Fighting Sioux: I've had a tough time keeping up with North Dakota because their local paper requires that you sign into the newspaper in order to read their stories. That's quite alright. In any event, the UND Fighting Sioux official site has some good content (video, news, and notes) that I'll try to continue to link this week.
High Price of Tickets: LAJ's Don Williams has a piece on the high price of ticket renewals and required contributions to the Red Raider Club and before we all get too worked up over the required contribution to the Red Raider Club, this is standard operating procedure at quite a few schools. Nevertheless, a good read.
Potts Highlighted: The Orlando Sentinel highlights QB Taylor Potts, along with the below-mentioned Houston QB Case Keenum, as one of five quarterbacks to watch, not named McCoy, Bradford and Tebow:
Buzz: Potts takes over for Graham Harrell in the ridiculously pass-happy Texas Tech offensive scheme. If he is anywhere near Harrell, he will put up big numbers. Last season, Harrell led the nation in passing and passing yards (5,111), and the Red Raiders ranked No. 4 in total offense. Coach Mike Leach says the 6-5, 218-pound Potts has a better arm than Harrell. We'll see how the junior develops this season.
Big 12 Links: NewsOK on five games that will shape the 2009 season . . .
Scouting the Enemy: NY Times blog The Quad talks with former Houston Cougars QB David Klingler on current QB Case Keenum and his bright future . . .
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North Dakota
has a place to listen to the games online, at no cost, something that most major colleges have gotten away from and are charging for that access, just to help the athletic fund. I will be checking out each site of each team that play Tech this year to see if they have the same access, if Tech’s game is not on the TV, that is. Everyone might try this out each week just to be sure each game is accessible. Also, if out of pocket and not able to watch a televised game, this could be a viable option.
TTpilk
Punt Returner
I mentioned this in a previous post, but Don wrote about it in his punting notes. Jamar Wall is a front runner for the top punt returner. This makes me very nervous. I understand you want to put the best option on the field to a) field every punt and b) get a good return to set up good field position for the offense (if not return in to the house). What bothers me is there must be someone else who can do the job well without having to risk our shut down corner. We don’t even have enough depth at this position to fill the other starting job definitively. Each other corner has his pros, but also has enough cons to not stand out above the rest of the depth at that position. I have always thought of the punt returner to a sacrificial lamb against a good punting unit, and I just hate to see Wall put there when the success of our backfield relies so heavily on him.
Suggestion
Maybe its just me, but I think I would rather see 5 reasons Tech will lose before the 5 reasons Tech will win…it just seems like we want to go into any game thinking positive, and not negatively…but it is just one person’s opinion
+1
Agreed. We are not trying to soften the criticism by starting with something positive (How to Win Friends and Influence People),
we are trying to be honest with ourselves before we psych ourselves up silly (How to Go Out and Wreck "Em).
by Goin' Band Fan on Aug 31, 2009 5:56 PM CDT up reply actions
Guys, no problemo
I did it this way last year and just decided to stick to what I did last year (I’m not superstitious, promise).
Go Raiders . . .
Double-T Nation
Sioux fan here
just thought I’d stop by and will be probably checking out the game thread on saturday. As most of you guys already know we have a defense thats trying to reach the dominante level they were at while in D2 and our offense lost our running back from last year and our quarterback so the team is fairly young. I won’t bore you with all the other stuff just wanted to say I like the blog and cya all on saturday!
"I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline... I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - this greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle, victorious." - Vince Lombardi
Welcome
I really hope your fans enjoy Lubbock and the game day experience.
Anything that you can enlighten us with throughout the week, we welcome with open arms. I can assure you that I’ll probably make at least three or four mistakes or assumptions throughout the week.
Go Raiders . . .
Double-T Nation
Oh Sweet Lord
DTN’s regularly scheduled programming is back! Oh happy day! I can’t tell you how long I’ve been waiting for this. Bring on Tech football!
I am totally fine with paying my $100 donation to the red raider club. If we want to win 10 games a year we need to start paying up. Meyers said in the letter I received that the Red Raider Club only funded half of the scholarships on campus for a total donation of about $3 million. I’m fine with helping that cause. It’s not like the money is being used for some weird event or something. The money goes to help kids get an education. I think we can all stand behind that, especially because these kids play sports for Texas Tech.
Also, as discussed before here on DTN we are 11th in the big 12 in athletic revenue. Pathetic. How would you all feel if we were 11th in every sport… even baseball… i know crazy huh?
I’m fine with some complaining but we need to hit that next level and it’s gonna cost some money. Plus I found out that all Red Raider Club members, which I now am, get a free meal before kickoff of every football game. That will make up a lot of the money for a lot of people.
GO TECH!
the article on ticket pricing was really interesting
First of all, I agree with logan5555; it is to pay for scholarships, so go aead and make the donation. $100-$150 isn’t that much money, and if you figure you spend ~$15 for a meal on gameday at a decent restaurant, that 7 meals from the RRC will easily cover the donation.
Second, be happy that your athletic department waited until after you became successful and began shelling out the big bucks to a coach before they increased the prices of the tickets and began requiring donations; that isn’t the method Bill Byrne used at A&M, and we’re paying (literally) for that lack of foresight now.
Third, several of the people quoted in that article have multiple tickets, so it is hard to feel bad for them when they complain about the donation. Cut back on your number of tickets; being able to take your whole family or your best buddies to every game isn’t an inherent right that you have b/c you were a fan back when the team had losing seasons. Times change, so does the price.
The only people who have a legitimate gripe are the ones who paid for their tickets last 2008, before the required donations were put into place. They should have been grandfathered in to the program, since they have already paid, and should be have been allowed to begin paying the donation next year. This avoids the bitter feelings about “holding tickets hostage”.
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