This really doesn't belong on the front page, but I'm back from Ethiopia, Fitsum in hand.  First and foremost, I'd like to give a tremendous shout-out to RndRckTTU and San Antonio Red Raider for filling in while I was gone.  You have no idea how much it's appreciated.  I haven't watched or read about Texas Tech in ten days and so to catch everyone up on my life and my thoughts about things, here's my five things rather than five questions.  I'll need everyone else to give me their five things that I missed while I was out to help catch me up on Texas Tech.

1.  Fitsum is a bundle of joy and happiness.  He is everything we hoped he would be and he's even more than that.  We arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Monday morning and picked him up then.  Later in the afternoon he would go on these screaming angry sessions and eventually, maybe after an hour, we were able to calm him down and he would go to sleep.  This lasted pretty much through the entire week and he was screaming for his nannies at the adoptions agency's home.  I wrote in my journal (yes, I really have a journal) that this was a good thing because it means he was loved while at the adoption agency's home and that he was incredibly loyal to the nannies who took care of him.  It took me a bit of time to realize that he's spent half of his life in that home and those wonderful ladies are all the family that he knows.  I hope one day to earn that loyalty and love.  The photo to the right is me and Fitsum as we got to Washington D.C. and is now officially a U.S. Citizen.  The face I'm making is me struggling to hold a kid who weighs 30 pounds as I'm not used to hauling around that sort of extra weight.

2.  Because the screaming angry sessions didn't stop, we were concerned about his health so we wanted to make sure he wasn't sick or have some sort of ear infection as we were about to embark on a 17 hour plane ride home.  We went to the finest hospital in Ethiopia and sat down with the head pediatrician in the hospital and we were a bit worried about the cost.  It turns out that to see this doctor was 100 Birr and that's about $6.00.  The doctor thought he was fine, but if he asked that we take him back to the adoption agency home and if he was fine, then he was probably okay, but just having some attachment issues.  If not, then we would do an ultra-sound to check his stomach for any issues.  That ultra-sound was going to cost 150 Birr, which is about $7.50. 

3.  We got home and it's been a whirling dervish of friends and family wanting to see him.  He's been so good with his new nephews and nieces and the other kids, but he doesn't quite understand the concept of sharing quite yet, but it's understandable considering he's coming from an orphanage where you get what you can.  He has laughed and been entertaining to everyone that's met him.

4.  On Saturday night my mother-in-law brought by my wife's dog, Olive, a 10 year old pug and she wasn't her normal self.  My mother-in-law said that he hadn't eaten all week and has been pretty down, so Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. I took Olive to the local vet and he couldn't see anything wrong with her and I didn't get home until a little after midnight.  On Sunday (yesterday) she wasn't any better and she was shaking and having trouble breathing and I took her to the emergency vet clinic yesterday afternoon and they found an obstruction in her intestines.  They had to do surgery otherwise she had no chance of living.  The vet wasn't able to start the surgery until about 10:00 p.m. last night and he was to call me with any updates.  Thus, I slept on the floor in a back bedroom (we don't have the bed set up) so that I wouldn't wake up my wife and Fitsum.  She passed away after the surgery was over, trying to wake up from the anesthesia at 2:30 this morning.  I had to go break the news to my wife and she was devastated, as was I.  This dog has been my wife's best friend for the past 10 years and when we met, Olive barked and growled at me as if she wanted to rip off my leg.  Over the years, she has come to love me and I love her and she's been a wonderful dog, but she was being protective of her owner, my wife, and that attribute never stopped.  I didn't sleep the rest of the night so I'm running on fumes today. 

I told my wife that Olive lived long enough for us to bring Fitsum home and it was her time.  I don't know how much solace that is, but it was all I could offer last night. 

The circle of life is a funny thing.  It can bring you absolute joy and absolute sadness, all in the span of a couple of days.

5.  I only know the scores of the two Texas Tech football games and anytime that there's a loss, it's tough.  I don't have a clue what happened and I really don't have a clue as to what happened last week or this week.  I didn't turn on the television or hop on the internet the week I was gone.  I was too busy trying to be a Dad and I if you had asked me a year ago if I would have done that I'm sure the answer would have been no, but now, I guess I have a bit of a different perspective. 

I know that a lot of folks are upset at Tuberville for the management of the games, or at least that's the gist I get thus far.  I had a friend email me and tell me that he hopes that all of us Tuberville-lovers got what we wanted and it's time for him to go.  I guess I need some time to figure that out and I'm not sure where I stand.  I think the thing that I first thought when my friend emailed was that given the circumstances when Tuberville was hired, I thought he was the best option.  I didn't like the circumstances of how it all transpired and I think I've made myself clear about that when Leach was terminated.  I'm still hopeful, but that's how I'm wired and how the rest of the season plays out will be a huge part of my personal evaluation process.  It's not going to get any easier from this point forward.

So tell me five things to catch me up on the ten days I was gone.  As always, keep it smart, witty and clean and no name-calling as I really want your earnest thoughts on five things that I should know.

1.  WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST CONCERN AND WHAT IS NOT A CONCERN AT ALL AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF FALL PRACTICES? | I think my biggest concern is the relative youth at linebacker.  It was one thing to have guys like Sam Fehoko, Daniel Cobb and Tyrone Sonier all be mentioned as guys that would see time at linebacker, but now the depth chart consists of Blake Dees (Fr.) and then Sonier at strong side linebacker and Cqulin Hubert and Sam Eguavoen at middle linebacker.  That is a lot of inexperience, especially for Eguavoen, who just started playing football.  You could also include the offensive line with the injury to C Justin Keown.  What doesn't concern me at all is the offensive firepower that seems to be available on this team.  If QB Seth Doege can spread the ball around and get the ball down the field for guys like WR Darrin Moore, WR Jacoby Franks, WR Tramain Swindall, WR Eric Ward, WR Bradley Marquez, etc. to make some plays in space, then the offense is going to be just fine.  And yes, I realize I've left out a lot of playmakers, but that's somewhat the point . . . there are a lot of options.

2.  WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST SURPRISE DURING FALL PRACTICE ON OFFENSE? | The biggest surprise for me has been the emergence of WR Darrin Moore.  I haven't really talked about him all that much, but his name has been brought up for just about the entire fall practices.  I don't think this is posturing by Tuberville or OC Neal Brown, I really do believe that Moore, who is physically this team's most intimidating presence at 6-4/215, just might be a guy that will surprise a lot of fans across the Big 12.

3.  WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST SURPRISE DURING FALL PRACTICE ON DEFENSE? | The emergence of CB Sawyer Vest.  I know I could probably write about a couple of things here, but the fact that Vest is running with the second team at cornerback behind Tre Porter is a complete surprise.  In fact, I was searching on Twitter this morning and ran across this from Josh Abbott (yes, the guy with the band and hat-tip to RedRaiderNation):

Proud to hear my fraternity brother @TheV_V's younger brother Sawyer earned a football scholarship this season at Tech! Congrats man!

So Vest is no longer a walk-on, but rather a scholarship player (as is FB Omar Ontiveros, hat-tip Spencer Rogers) and I admit that I'm a bit worried that a walk-on is beating out scholarship talent or that the depth at defensive back is so poor, that a guy like Vest runs with the second team.  But you've heard nothing but praise for Vest, who has competed and defensive coordinator Chad Glasgow said this (or something like this as it's not a direct quote):

CB Sawyer Vest has competed his tail off every day and I bragged on Sawyer the other day and he went out and picked a ball off.  We will play how we practice.

I think that last sentence, "We will play how we practice," was Glasgow serving notice on everyone on the team that those that compete on each and every play during practice will see game time. 

4.  SO NOW THAT THE BREAK-UP LETTER HAS BEEN SENT, WHO DO YOU BLAME FOR THE BREAK-UP OF THE BIG 12? | This really deserves more writing that I'm about to devote to it, but this will have to do.  For me, I blame both TAMU and UT.  When I have beneficiaries of an estate fighting over items, it is usually the fault of both parties, not just one and that's the case here.  I don't "blame" TAMU as much as UT because now the rhetoric coming from the UT fans is a bit much.  I think that TAMU wants to be treated like an equal and I don't think that UT wants to give up being the team in charge of the conference.  They want to have their Longhorn Network, and I don't blame them for that, but sometimes in life there are consequences to your actions and the Longhorn Network, as awesome as it may eventually be for UT, has consequences.  Now, TAMU will be in a conference where Alabama is treated like Vanderbilt, rather than be in a conference where one member is dictating what happens. 

TAMU, along with OU and all of the other members, could have probably tried to force UT to stop flexing their muscles by acting as a collective group, but that never happened and I think that these teams probably had different agendas as the Longhorns continue to stand looking at the mirror and posing like there is no tomorrow.  Meanwhile, UT fans are blaming the Aggies for breaking up the Big 12 and I've also ready that although UT had the opportunity to leave to the Pac-10 last year, because the Longhorns are so benevolent and love their regional rivalries, they decided to stay and make it all work out in the Big 12.  Bullsh.  UT would have bolted for the Pac-10, leaving the Aggies in the dust, had they been able to have their own network in that conference, but again, it's about treating conference members as equals and I don't think UT wants no part of that. 

Meanwhile, the Longhorns are saying that they'll simply replace the traditional Thanksgiving Day game with the Aggies and now play Notre Dame.  As SBN Los Angeles points out, there already is a pretty big game that weekend that already involves the Irish and USC (during even numbered years) and Stanford (during odd numbered years).

5.  WHAT IS YOUR PRE-GAME RITUAL? | I want to open this up to whatever your normal pre-game routine is.  Whether it's at home, or if you travel.  Love to hear what you do to get ready for a game. 

ALL OF THE QUESTIONS ARE AFTER THE JUMP SO THAT YOU CAN COPY AND PASTE THEM INTO YOUR COMMENT AND ANSWER MORE EASILY.

MISCELLANEOUS LINKS | LAJ's Don Williams writes about K Donnie Carona trying to be more consistent, and I thought this was an honest thought from Carona:

"If I keep missing kicks, they’re not going to have me stay out there," Carona said. "I feel that pressure, but the good thing about kicker is that it’s just you, and what happens depends on you and nobody else."

At the very least, Carona understands the deal and knows that he's missed those short kicks before.  Perhaps the reason Tuberville said yesterday that there are no back-up kickers is that they want to put pressure on Carona to do something he's capable of doing, but just doesn't for whatever reason . . . meet the two-deep continues with CB Jarvis Phillips (watch via YouTube) . . . Barking Carnival previews the Red Raiders and the Aggies . . . CFN previews and predicts Texas Tech's first game against Texas St., as does ESPN's David Ubben . . . the Big 12 previews the Kansas St. Wildcats . . . ESPN's Ubbenator also ranks the Big 12's top 10 safeties and WS Cody Davis makes the list . . . Wreck'Em 24/7 Sports looks at the 2012 commits playing defense . . . the official site has a beautiful photo of former Red Raider track star, Sally Kipyego, and it looks like she's lapped the field (I doubt she did) as she is celebrating, while some other runners look a bit gassed.  Kipyego will represent Kenya at the IAAF World Championships . . . RRS.com's Will McKay talks with 2012 commit Kris Williams about focusing on defense . . .

Continue reading this post »

1.  WHO WILL BE THIS TEAM'S TOP OUTSIDE RECEIVER?  No matter what happens this spring, Texas Tech will have two new outside receivers.  The candidates, at least in terms of the post-spring two-deep are Eric Ward, Marcus Kennard, Darrin Moore and Tramain Swindall.  Which two options of the four do you think will make the biggest impact this fall and why?

2.  WHO IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SENIOR OFFENSIVE LINE STARTER OR WHO WILL BE THE MOST DIFFICULT TO REPLACE IN 2012?  There are three senior starters along the offensive line: LG Lonnie Edwards; C Justin Keown; and RT Mickey Okafor?  I know that 2012 is a long way away and perhaps you can consider this question to be a reflection of which player you think is the most important right now, but who will be the most difficult to replace next year?

3.  THUS FAR, WHAT IS THE MOST INTRIGUING THING ABOUT THE 4-2-5 DEFENSE?  Thus far we've gone over two of the seven parts for a look at the 4-2-5 defense and how it works (Part I: Introduction and Part II: Sizing up the defenses).  Thus far, what are you most intrigued about in regards to the 4-2-5 defenses and do you share any of the same concerns in regards to Glasgow coordinating (i.e., he's never coordinated a defense before and since the 4-2-5 uses two different calls for the front six vs. the back five, I assume he's never made the calls for the defensive line)?

4.  WHICH OF THE NEW BASKETBALL SIGNEES ARE YOU MOST EXCITED TO SEE NEXT YEAR?  Coach Gillispie has signed nine players in the 2011 recruiting class.  The only correction is that you need to remove SF Merv Lindsay and add PF/C Daoudo Saoumaoro. Is there one player or two that you're most excited to see on the court?

Position	Commitment	Ht/Wt	High School/State	Rivals	Scout	ESPN	ESPN Grade
PG	Kevin Wagner	5-8/145	Estacado (Lubbock, TX)	3	2	2	88
PG	Ty Nurse	6-1/180	Midland College (Midland, TX)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
SG	Toddrick Gotcher	6-3/185	Lakeview Centennial (Garland, TX)	3	2	3	88
SF	Terran Petteway	6-5/200	Ball (Galveston, TX)	3	N/A	3	91
SF	Jaron Nash	6-8/185	Tyler J.C. (Tyler, TX)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
PF	Jordan Tolbert	6-7/210	All Saints' Episcopal (Ft. Worth, TX)	3	2	3	88
PF	Hershey Robinson	6-7/200	Christian Life Center Academy (Humble, TX)	2	N/A	2	87
PF/C	Daouda Soumaoro	6-10/220	Our Savior New American School (Centereach, NY)	N/A	2	2	80
C	Kader Tapsoba	6-10/200	Tyler J.C. (Tyler, TX)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

5.  OT:  DO YOU CARE IF I'M POSTING DTN POSTS ON DTN'S FACEBOOK PAGE?  OT:  I've recently started sending the DTN posts that I do to DTN's Facebook page.  The poll is after the jump, but I'm curious as to whether or not you use Facebook and if you care I'm posting stories to DTN's Facebook page.  I admit that I really don't use Facebook at all and I'm rarely on Facebook at all.  Feel free to answer below or answer the poll question.

Follow Double-T Nation on Twitter.
Like Double-T Nation's Facebook Page.

The questions are after the jump for answering in the comments.

Poll

Do you care that I'm posting DTN posts to the DTN Facebook page?

15%

Yes.

24 votes

70%

No.

109 votes

13%

Sorta.

21 votes

154 votes | Poll has closed

Continue reading this post »

It's been so long since we had Five Questions and now it's the triumphant return of DTN's somewhat favorite pastime.  The questions are all after the jump so that you can copy and paste for answering and commenting.

1.  WOULD YOU BE HAPPY WITH A RETURN TO THE HOLIDAY BOWL?  CFN.com is doing way-too-early bowl predictions and one of their predictions is that Texas Tech will return to the Holiday Bowl to face Stanford.  Would you be happy with a trip to the Holiday Bowl and would you consider this an improvement (this would mean that Texas Tech was slotted as the 5th best Big 12-2 team)?

2.  ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT CORNERBACK?  I mentioned this last week, but thought that I should mention this again, which was my thought that cornerback is the position of greatest concern.  I'm actually pretty good with the starters, Tre' Porter and Derrick Mays.  I also think that Jarvis Phillips and Eugene Neboh are also okay, but I don't think that either one at this point would be starters for most Big 12-2 teams.  After that, you have true freshman Jeremy Reynolds, who showed up on campus early, just like Blake Dees, and is now running second team, while redshirt freshman Urell Johnson is in the mix as is JUCO transfer Junior Osunde.  Are you okay with this group and are you counting on the fact that since Chad Glasgow coached the secondary while at TCU, the impact on the secondary could be immediate?

3.  WHAT NEW DEFENSIVE TACKLE WILL HAVE THE BIGGEST IMPACT IN 2011?  You could say that there is an embarrassment of riches at defensive tackle, especially with the late commitment of Delvon Simmons.  Honestly, I thought that Leon Mackey was going to be the guy with the biggest impact in 2011, but with the addition of Simmons, I'm starting to wonder.  I still think that Mackey might be an ideal option at defensive end, but he can certainly play tackle, while Wesley might be one of the few true noseguards on the team (Donald Langley and Pearlie Graves are slotted at noseguard in the spring two deep PDF).  With Simmons you have a guy that is capable of starting immediately, perhaps at either position, with his size and Phillips is most likely a redshirt candidate.  So who do you think has the potential to be the biggest impact at defensive tackle?

Position	Commitment	Ht/Wt	School/State	Rivals	Rivals Rating	Scout	ESPN	ESPN Grade
DL	Dennell Wesley	6-3/315	Butler County C.C. (El Dorado, KS)	3	5.5	2	0	0
DL	Leon Mackey	6-5/260	Hinds C.C. (Raymond, MS)	4	5.8	3	0	0
DL	Donte Phillips	6-3/260	Homestead (Mequon, WI)	2	5.4	3	2	74
DL	Delvon Simmons	6-5/295	McKeesport (McKeesport, PA)	4	5.9	5	4	79

4.  DO YOU THINK THAT TEXAS TECH BASKETBALL IS A TOUGH REBUILDING JOB?  Yahoo! Sports Jason King profiled the toughest rebuilding jobs in the country and Texas Tech was included in the list, along with Arkansas, Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Miami and Oklahoma.  Here's King on Texas Tech:

The positives: Although it may be an unappealing job to some, Billy Gillispie has long felt that Texas Tech was a sleeping giant in college basketball. That’s why he jumped at the chance to take the job when Pat Knight was fired in March. What sold Gillispie? The beautiful, state-of-the-art United Spirit Arena, a rowdy fanbase that’s proven it will support a successful team and one of the top states in the nation for producing recruits. Gillispie, who grew up in the small Texas town of Graford, is the perfect fit for Lubbock and Texas Tech.

The negatives: Even though it’s in the Lone Star State, Lubbock isn’t regarded as one of Texas’ most attractive destinations. There’s certainly nothing wrong with the actual city – but the location is the pits. Lubbock is 570 miles from Houston and 360 miles from Dallas, so it’s not exactly a hop-skip-and-jump from some of the state’s top high schools. Luckily Southwest Airlines has direct flights to both cities. Another negative: Gillispie is inheriting a team that lost all of its top players.

Do you think that Texas Tech is a tough rebuilding job and do you agree with King's positives and negatives?

5.  ARE YOU MORE EXCITED ABOUT BASKETBALL BECAUSE GILLISPIE WAS HIRED?  It's natural to think that a fanbase is going to be more excited with a new coaching hire and I've posted a handful of positional previews (point guard, shooting guard and small forward with power forward and center previews on their way) but they've received little traction.  Ultimately, for you to get more excited about basketball does the team need to win or are you going to get behind this team (for a while) simply because of the coaching hire?

Continue reading this post »