Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 05.28.10

Taking the Weekend Off:  I'll probably be taking most of the weekend off, other than a few FanShots.  Everyone have a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend.  And to answer your question now, this may be the most explosive DTN DD ever, in the history of ever (just kidding, but I must say it's pretty good).

Tier One Crash Course:  LAJ's Matthew McGowan has a pretty good blog post on Tier One and what it all means.  I'm really interested in the time-frame of how this will all happen:

Tech Chancellor Kent Hance and his team are thinking sooner than later, especially when it comes to the National Research University Fund (same link as above). It's basically a pool of about $500 million set aside to fund the future research ambitions of seven emerging schools in Texas.

Unlike the broader notion of "tier one," this fund materializes a tangible goal and an important first step.

Tech, and especially the University of Houston, should qualify for the fund soon ... probably in the next two to four years. Hance's office has crunched the numbers and expects something like $10 million in the first year the school qualifies.

The Fabric of Our Life to Clean Up BP's Mess?  Also from the LAJ, I've seen this story a few times and it keeps popping up when I search Google News so why not link to it.  Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar says that cotton can be used to clean up the oil spill:

"We are the only ones ... to my knowledge ... focused on taking cotton to oil absorption using nonwoven technology," he said.

The chemistry of cotton makes it the ideal material for oil absorption with its waxiness, strength when wet, absorption capacity and ability to biodegrade, explained Professor Ramkumar, who described his discovery as "a blessing in an ironic situation." Cotton fiber contains 0.5 percent wax, which enables it to soak up 40 times its weight, he said. Add chemicals and it could absorb up to 70 times its weight, he said. Unlike apparel production, there is no need to go through the expensive processes of dyeing, bleaching and weaving the cotton.

Tubs in Amarillo:  I think that Tuberville was supposed to go to the Middle East to visit troops, but I think he ended up having to have some sort of surgery (I can't remember where I read this, but I've read it somewhere).  In any event, per Amarillo.com's Lance Lahnert, Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville visited Amarillo yesterday and I'll give you three guesses, the first two are wrong, as to what he talked about . . . championships:

"I didn't come to Texas Tech to win seven or eight games," said Tuberville, who spoke to local Red Raider Club members and Tech fans at the Amarillo Civic Center. "I could have done that anywhere. I came here to win championships, and it can totally be done."

Tubs also addressed that the wishbone would be implemented into the Air Raid offense:

"Well, I plan on coming out in the first series and running the wishbone. If we make a first down, we are going to continue to run it. Naw, I have hired a guy who knows how to throw the football. But I am a true believer in several things.

"We can win games by throwing the ball 70 or 80 times. We can do that. But you have to play defense and run the ball a little bit to win championships. I don't want to just win games. I want to win a championship. We will be exciting to watch. Mike (Leach) brought an offense to Lubbock that has worked well. I think we can make it better by using our running backs and putting our defense in play in terms that they know they are going to have to win some games. The last 10 years, they have tried to win every game on offense ... that's not my philosophy."

There's quite a bit more there, but I also found it interesting that Tubs is not found of the 2010 schedule:

"I don't like it. I think you need to finish with a conference game that means something. We will deal with it the way it is. But we will adjust that schedule because I want to play one very good BCS team at home or on the road every year. I think that's important for our program and our fans. You know, challenge people and say, 'Hey, we are Texas Tech. Let's see what we got.' We talked to Alabama, but I don't think that's going to work out."

Pretty Good Staff:  DMN's Kevin Sherrington was an expert on all things yesterday during his chat and had this to say about Texas Tech:

Does Texas Tech lose a step with the changes in the coaching staff or are the Red Raiders poised for a run at another Big 12 title?
Nothing against the Pirate's crew, but this is a very good staff. Tommy Tuberville is an accomplished coach with serious credentials. They should be much better defensively. Now, will it take the offense a little while? I think that's a legitimate question. Fortunately for Tech, I don't see anyone running away with the South. Unless Garrett Gilbert plays lights out, I could see Texas, Oklahoma, Tech and even Texas A&M in the hunt.

This is kinda how I feel.  I don't see any team running away with the Big 12 South.  Texas and Oklahoma lost a ton of talent and that talent was truly exceptional (both teams had high NFL draft picks). 

What If:  EDSBS's Spencer Hall with what would happen if Tubs' 2004 Auburn team is awarded the national championship (it's a giggle, but it wouldn't surprise me to see either as this seems to be Tubs MO).  The whole thing is entertaining, but this made me laugh:

HANCE: So, coach, to what do I owe the honor? I've been hearing good things about practices lately. Seems as though you've even found a use for Adam James.

TUBERVILLE: Well, we've mainly just been using him as a decoy in the four- and five-wide sets -- the formations that coach Brown cooked up fool the DBs every time. Or maybe they just really like tackling the hell out of him, whatever.

HANCE: All I care about is that I haven't heard from Craig James in more than two weeks. As far as I'm concerned, you're doing an A-plus job.

TUBERVILLE: Well, I'm glad to hear you say that, chancellor, because I've always been of the opinion that an A-plus job deserves an A-plus salary.

Go read the whole thing, you won't be sorry you did.

Miscellaneous:  Sporting News has their top 100 college football teams and the Red Raiders check in at #36 . . .

Henderson Officially a Red Raider:  The official site came out with a press-release, noting that SG Marshall Henderson (6-2/175) has made it official and is transferring from Utah to Texas Tech. Desert News' Mike Sorensen (beat-writer for the Utes) had an interesting blog post about Henderson:

It's sad to see so many local folks saying "good riddance" to Henderson and making light of his 33 percent shooting percentage. After covering him for a season, I found him to be a good kid, very engaging and one of the best interviews on the team and he seemed well-liked by his teammates. He did have a talent for shooting, but he hasn't learned what a bad shot is yet. In fact in an interview for a feature story late in the season, he admitted he never saw a shot he didn't like and vowed to shoot a 40-footer in a game before his career was over. That kind of attitude, along with a few off-the-court issues, weren't going to cut it under coach Jim Boylen.

I wish Henderson the best in Lubbock. If he can acquire more of a team mentality and continue to improve his defense, he could turn out to be a pretty good college player.

Hmmm.  Henderson is probably going to have to be reined in a bit by Pat Knight and it will be interesting to see with PK.  Despite Henderson's flaws, apparently both on-the-court and off-the-court issues, which may be relatively minor, he's a talented player and well-liked by his teammates.  This whole thing is going to be fairly interesting because PK will have to make the NCAA Tournament next year and there will be plenty of playing time for Henderson after that.  PK, if he's still around, will have to reload quickly and Henderson will be a big part of that equation. 

Big 12 Baseball Championship
(click link to watch games live)
Texas Tech (28-28, 14-15)
Location: AT&T Bricktown Ballpark : Oklahoma City, OK
Radio: Affiliates

Outfield:
LF - Michael Reed (Sr.); CF - Taylor Ashby (Sr.); RF - Bonham Hough (Sr.)
Infield:
SS - Joey Kenworthy (Sr.)     2ND - Jamodrick McGruder (Fr.);
3RD - Nick Popescu (Jr.)                                  1ST - Barrett Barnes (Fr.)
C - Jeremy Mayo (Jr.)
DH - Scott LeJeune (So.)

*Click on the score for boxscore. Texas Tech series preview (pdf).

Bettis Outduels Jungmann, Barnes Goes Deep . . . Twice: If you don't think that Bettis would have made a difference against Nebraska this past weekend, you're wrong.  Bettis pitched a gem of a game (7.1 IP; 7 H; 2 R; 1 ER; 0 BB; 10 SO) and P Bobby Doran (1.2 IP; 0 H; 0 ER; 1 BB; 2 SO) closed it out and earned the save, his first of the year.  Offensively, it was the 1B Barrett Barnes Show (2-3; 2 HR; 3 RBI), as he had two homeruns and led the offense with three RBI. 

The Red Raiders have the day off today and will pick things back up on Saturday morning against Missouri. 

LAJ's George Watson recaps the game and talked with Bettis about getting back on the mound:

"I was really amped up at the first of the game to get out there," said Bettis, who scattered seven hits. "(The suspension) was miserable and I hope I never have to do that again. I put myself in that situation and didn’t help the team in the right way, and I really regret that. But it was great to be back."

And head coach Dan Spencer knew that Bettis would give the Red Raiders a chance:

"You’ve got a chance when you’ve got a real bullet and you run him out there and he keeps you around," head coach Dan Spencer said. "Texas is a hard team; you’re not going to beat them with eight or 10 (runs), you’ve got to beat them 4-2 or 3-1 and Chad gave us a chance. We knew he would give us a chance to beat them or at least keep the score down. Then, our job was to try and score enough runs to make it stand up."

LAJ's Watson also has plenty of notes about the other Big 12 teams from OKC.