My Life Blog

I’ve noticed an increase in traffic to this blog lately because people are finding my post from last November where I say that “Coach Fran Must Go!“  In fact, if you enter those words into Google, you’ll find that post as the number one link on the front page.

I’d like to re-double that traffic with a renewed assertion that this guy must go.  In fact, I now think this is inevitable — its just a matter now of when.  I’m on the fence as to whether I want it to happen right now or after the season.  The players appear to be behind him for some reason, so I can see leaving him in there for him.  The other factor is that there are not too many great choices for an in-season replacement.

Why this post then?  Quite frankly, I’m tired of them losing to Texas Tech.  If A&M is truly battling Texas for the top Texas school and thus competing for the top recruits then they should rarely lose to the so-called lower tier Texas teams.  And yet, Tech has had a stranglehold on the series.  That just needs to stop right now.

Today’s lopsided 35-7 loss was very hard to watch.  I am trying to recall the day when I was comfortable with the A&M defense.  Its been since the original Wrecking Crew.  These current players try real hard, but game-after-game receivers just run through them.  Tech even managed a bit of a running game today.

I really like Stephen McGee as a leader and a player with a huge heart.  But what happened to his ability to pass?  He was actually a passing quarterback coming out of high school.  Of course, if you have no one to throw to, your ability to be a passing quarterback is severely limited.  I feel very sorry for Martellus Bennett.  I’m afraid that we won’t be able to see how good he is until he lands on a pro team.  And its too bad for him that his unimpressive career at A&M will cost him a lot of money early in his career.

So bottom line: let’s get rid of Fran and get another of these innovative up-and-coming coaches.  I’m thinking we need to find football’s version of Billy Gillispie, but work in some loyalty so that we can keep him.  Should be interesting to see how quickly this all comes to pass.

And you thought I only followed basketball and football, eh?  Mostly true.  Baseball had its time for me, but its too boring to watch when there are other options.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t take pride as an Aggie Alumni.  The Ags actually play great baseball too!  This past weekend they hosted a regional tournament and had to claw their way out of the loser’s bracket to advance.  They did so by beating Louisiana Lafayette (who?!) on consecutive days; the last victory coming behind sophomore pitcher Kyle Thebeau (shouldn’t he have been playing for the Rajun Cajuns?) who had a career-high 13 strikeouts.

So this weekend they head to Houston to play a best of three series against Rice who are 52-12 on the year.  Two of those twelve losses are against A&M.  If they win, they make it to the College World Series.  And then I may have to watch.

Aggies at the Beach

Originally uploaded by bill_eisenhauer.

I wish I could say that I staged this, but I would not be honest in saying so. The only silver lining here is that I discovered my error before actually sitting down.

I’m still mourning the narrow loss to Memphis last night — a one point loss where the Aggies looked like they were in a great position to win the game. So while I puzzle on the free throw and foul disparity from that game (10 FTs for the Aggies, 21 FTs for the Tigers), let me take time to celebrate the season.

Wow! What an entertaining season! I cannot remember a college basketball season that was more fun to watch than this one. Obviously, its much more fun when you have a competitive team to cheer for. I am so proud of our program for putting Texas A&M in the mix as a basketball school. So many wonderful firsts this year; beating Kansas in Kansas, winning at OSU, beating Texas (never gets old), and staying in the Top 10 nearly all year.
I wish our seniors Acie Law and Antanas Kavaliauskas good luck in the draft and it will be fun watching them in the NBA. Whoever gets Acie will be especially lucky — I rest so easy when he has the ball. Nevermind the blown layup last night, his body of work is already established.

And now the point of real concern. The Kentucky job is now open. Now they really are a basketball school. And Billy just demonstrated in Rupp Arena what kind of coach he is. He is sure to be on the short list for that job. All I can hope is that he wants to see the A&M program through. I’m sure he’ll get whatever money he’s looking for from either school, so it will probably be up to him to decide where he’d like to win a championship. Unfortunately, his chances may be better in Kentucky because its easy to recruit there. But we’ll see. If he does go, I’ll take solace in the fact that he’s demonstrated that you really can win at Texas A&M and that this is a coveted job.

Sure was nice to put the “whoop in hoop” this year…

Penn.

Louisville.

Watching the NCAA Tournament when you are a die-hard Aggie fan is like having an ice cream headache.  You look forward to the games, you crave them, but then when its crunch-time, your head aches till its over.  But this season, the pain has been worth it.

The Aggies now stand at 27-6 and are in the Sweet Sixteen in the tournament which resumes in San Antonio this coming weekend.  San Antonio should provide them a home court advantage and they will certainly need it with possible foes like Memphis and Ohio State still alive in their region.

Today’s game was so intense.  Every possession mattered.  There were ties, there were lead changes, and there were momentum swings.  The largest lead was 6 by any team.  Both teams played excellent defense; both teams featured outstanding point guard play.  Free throws decided the game.

My advice for Billy Gillispie is to double up on the free throw shooting time this week in preparation for the game.  They were 55% against Penn and 74% against Louisville.  For the season, they are 71%, but I think they need to step it up to give themselves a chance to win.  Let’s face it, all these games are going to be close.  Every game A&M plays is close.  Aside from the “blowout” by LSU (lost by 12), the rest of their losses are by 3 (once), 2 (three times), and 1 (once).  So basically, they are always in the game and a point here and there matters greatly.

Game Balls:

Acie Law:  My mind is never so at ease as when he has the ball.  This goes double against a pressing team.

Dominique Kirk:  Huge shots from a guy known for his defense.  Maybe we need to give him credit for not being one-dimensional.

Marlon Pompey:  For driving the lane and getting the Louisiville frontcourt into foul trouble and more importantly, making free throws at a critical point in the game.

So on we go and here’s hoping I get to write another entry after next weekend anticipating the Final Four!