Good Bull Hunting: All Posts by Jimmy GardnerBeating the hell outta the blogospherehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/50575/gbh-fav.png2021-01-12T12:04:31-06:00https://www.goodbullhunting.com/authors/james-gardner/rss2021-01-12T12:04:31-06:002021-01-12T12:04:31-06:00Get to Atlanta.
<figure>
<img alt="SEC Championship - Alabama v Florida" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qtUzGDi0ERn_TYePDzRSRtfLo_g=/0x77:3237x2235/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68656481/1230222911.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<blockquote><p id="cB3Yjr">“Be so good they can’t ignore you.” - Steve Martin</p></blockquote>
<p id="L2sFe7">In rote, predictable fashion, the Alabama Crimson Tide beat the shit out of Ohio State on Monday night for the National Championship - their <em>sixth </em>under Nick Saban.</p>
<p id="KOdo3B">In the semis, Notre Dame tried to slow the game to a crawl and play ball control against Alabama. No matter. Alabama can play anaconda football all day.</p>
<p id="5O2I6L">In the championship, Ohio State tried to play tempo against Alabama. No matter. Alabama can run your ass out of the stadium by halftime.</p>
<p id="xIxyrm">The chasm between this year’s Alabama team and the rest of the country is staggering.</p>
<p id="AXaiBc">The chasm between this century’s Alabama program and the rest of the country is historical.</p>
<p id="PVwbX6">We’re witnessing the best coach the sport has ever had retool, adapt, reload, rejuvenate, and dominate year after year.</p>
<p id="ei9R6a">If you’re reading this, you’re likely to have a serious take about whether or not Texas A&M belonged in the College Football Playoff.</p>
<p id="h6EPBq">Several weeks ago, <a href="https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2020/12/21/22193072/broken">I laid out why the system is broken</a>.</p>
<p id="Soa7jg">The grave, super important suits on the Playoff Committee had to allocate two slots to three teams with decent - but flawed - cases.</p>
<p id="QVR1wZ">Notre Dame had an undefeated regular season, but got embarrassed in the ACC Championship.</p>
<p id="334ufW">Ohio State won the Big Ten title but did so by only playing SIX games.</p>
<p id="nZbIow">Texas A&M got drilled by the aforementioned Alabama (as anyone would this year), but got objectively stronger and more dominant as the year progressed.</p>
<p id="ZvnTRk">I was transparent in my take - I didn’t think Ohio State belonged. I think you gotta play games.</p>
<p id="JB4tfG">In this sport, a solid - but imperfect - resume hangs you out to the subjective leanings, biases, and groupthink of pollsters, media lackeys, journos, and the Playoff Committee.</p>
<p id="Bv3gcC">You have to endure silly conversations around ‘eye test’ or ‘resume’ or ‘schedule strength’ or ‘body of work’... Fine. That’s the cartel that we currently operate within in college football.</p>
<p id="U816qE">On Monday night, many Aggies took to Twitter to dunk on national journos (a favorite pastime of mine) and remake their cases for why A&M deserved to be in the playoff over Notre Dame and Ohio State.</p>
<p id="Y70QHx">I understand the catharsis. I <em>do </em>believe Texas A&M is one of the four best teams in the country. Your frustrations are valid. Get them out of your system because this sport has never been fair and bitching about a snub or perceived slight is a road to nowhere.</p>
<p id="F5PZC0">When Texas A&M joined the Southeastern Conference, I said that the football program should have one primary goal every single year.</p>
<h2 id="rnJgen"><strong>Get to Atlanta.</strong></h2>
<p id="1hsjlF">Take care of business within the West division and get your asses to the Championship in Atlanta.</p>
<p id="aaebdQ">That extremely challenging path is at least straightforward and objective. There is no secret math or ‘eye-test’ or ‘resume’ nonsense. Win your division, go play for the league championship in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.</p>
<p id="Gc2l8s">Take care of that business, and the bigger goals and opportunities are right in front of you.</p>
<p id="7tQofM">We can lament or brag or posture or gripe about the No. 4 ranking to end the year.</p>
<p id="yH6bIb">But I assure you, history does not give a shit. Elite programs know that if it doesn’t come with a trophy, it doesn’t matter. And John Sharp trophies don’t count.</p>
<p id="JXz0Fk">The Texas A&M football program has not won a conference championship in over 20 years. </p>
<p id="Z1NO8q">We chose this road with Alabama, LSU, Auburn, and the others. I firmly believe that Jimbo is building something that can get the program to Atlanta and beyond.</p>
<p id="BlB6Hw">To hell with the hot air that never stops coming out of the face holes of Klatt, Herbie, Kanell, and the rest.</p>
<p id="W6lAAC">Kick enough ass that there isn’t even room for a debate.</p>
<p id="FgGsCJ">In nine months, the Aggies can beat the living hell outta Alabama at Kyle Field. Parlay it into a December trip to Atlanta.</p>
<p id="2GIG9E">The opportunity is right there.</p>
<p id="JiuVLP">Take it.</p>
<p id="mK1ePb"></p>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2021/1/12/22227094/get-to-atlantaJimmy Gardner2020-12-21T16:05:01-06:002020-12-21T16:05:01-06:00Broken.
<figure>
<img alt="NCAA Football: College Football Playoff National Championship-Host Committee Press Conference" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/G-5ih7SIFQDeMPbhTH-l7S66jU8=/123x0:5334x3474/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68562950/usa_today_13908044.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<blockquote><p id="gjigMm">“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” - Frédéric Bastiat</p></blockquote>
<p id="s5wWPk">College football is in trouble.</p>
<p id="wqOwVT">In 2014, the maligned, unpopular Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was replaced with the College Football Playoff. Sports are magnetic because of their pure meritocracy, and the sport of college football was going to finally embrace a format for competition that rewarded on-field performance.</p>
<p id="uXMjdq">Or so we were led to believe.</p>
<p id="gwsggV">On Sunday, ESPN produced a four hour (!) made-for-TV spectacle replete with all of the pomp, manufactured drama, and gravitas required from a Disney entity. It served as a platform for the largest egos in the sport to pontificate and ramble about a Final Four that surprised exactly no one. This, on the heels of weekly ranking shows with very serious analysis repackaged, regurgitated, and spit out to the most passionate fans in sports for <s>enragement</s> engagement.</p>
<p id="OZp6rU">The stage was what you’ve come to expect - a very important roundtable of Rece, Galloway, Pollack, Palmer, and Herbstreit.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lXX0eEUyPZYa0sGCkrmExKvlVRs=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22188557/ROUNDTABLE.jpg">
</figure>
<h2 id="V1ju5F">Take a shot of Jack for every time you’ve heard one of these buzzwords...</h2>
<ul>
<li id="2b7jNT">Résumé </li>
<li id="IhbOqU">Body of work</li>
<li id="s163Vg">Eye test</li>
<li id="CXe9a7">Strength of schedule</li>
</ul>
<p id="D37nqR">You’re likely in a bodybag at this point - a preferable resting spot versus having to sit through the four hours of propaganda and posturing courtesy of the World Wide Leader.</p>
<p id="I6LhsB">As viewers, we were treated to the manufactured theater of the five majestic Roundtable Bishops pretending they didn’t know who the Top 4 would be.</p>
<p id="NsMdn3">Naturally, the Top 4 was as predictable as a Russian election with Vladimir on the ticket.</p>
<p id="5Tzba9">I’m not going to get into the merits of which teams belong (Alabama, Clemson) and which do not (Ohio State). That fodder is all over the internet. I want to shed light on the idiotic shit charade we’re being fed so that this sport can fix what’s broken before it’s too late.</p>
<h2 id="hILV79">This isn’t a playoff. It’s an invitational.</h2>
<p id="BxRSgR">Would Maryland be in the Playoff if it had Ohio State’s résumé?</p>
<p id="ekwgWX">Would Texas A&M be in the Playoff if it flipped résumés with Notre Dame?</p>
<p id="z3rKQY">The answer is - who the hell knows? Thus, this isn’t a playoff.</p>
<p id="nLphd0">This is the BCS 2.0 with somehow less charm and thrill.</p>
<h2 id="jCnhjT">The ESPN fellas are on the Playoff Committee.</h2>
<p id="lLIPpL">The closest thing college football has to a governing body is ESPN. They control the eyeballs and the pursestrings. Week in and week out, we are treated to Rece, Kirk, and the gang stitching together the acceptable narrative in real time. They are the PR arm of the cartel. I don’t even think it’s nefarious. This sport has always been a big grift, and the likes of ESPN, the Playoff Committee, and Herbie & Co. get fabulously wealthy by maintaining the status quo.</p>
<p id="VDSrE5">You’re not watching five objective, independent thinkers at the mighty roundtable. You’re merely seeing the best TV-ready smiles of the Committee. It’s too produced, too slick, too... 24-hour cable news.</p>
<h2 id="O0yT2L">We gotta talk about Herbstreit.</h2>
<p id="ZMNvts">I’ve been watching (and loving) Kirk Herbstreit for nearly 25 years. It’s no secret that Kirk Herbstreit played at Ohio State and his two sons play at Clemson. Fine. If anything, he should be commended for how impartial he’s been over the years.</p>
<p id="owWzla">Something about this Pizza Party (yay!) exchange was irritating...</p>
<div id="NGroSJ"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jqBE-f2j72c?rel=0&%3Bstart=455&start=455" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media; accelerometer; clipboard-write; gyroscope; picture-in-picture"></iframe></div></div>
<p id="mH0JnS">These are the elites of the <s>Playoff</s> Invitational hamming it up and having a folksy laugh while the cartel pisses all over the likes of Cincinnati and any semblance of transparency and meritocracy.</p>
<p id="r69zaV">Kirk Herbstreit is the most influential voice in all of college football. When he talks, everyone in the sport listens. If anyone has the weight to call bullshit on this whole racket, it’s Herbie.</p>
<p id="mLElYf">Unfortunately, for the last handful of years, it seems like Herbstreit has treated the sport like it’s one big corporate junket. He yucks it up with the bluebloods, eats in your town’s finest restaurants, zips around on the private jet, punches a seven-figure salary, and gets to be everyone’s bud:</p>
<div id="8vc5zq">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Know there’s a lot of debate & frustration on this day every yr in CFB. I just wanna say I’m so grateful to the players, coaches, & staffs across the country that we had a season-It’s given our country football & a sense of normalcy-Thank you ALL for your sacrifices & efforts. </p>— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) <a href="https://twitter.com/KirkHerbstreit/status/1340824050965368834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 21, 2020</a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div>
<p id="NCG9y8">It’s not good enough. The most passionate, raucous, insane sport in America deserves a postseason that is more than the coronation of bluebloods and money funneled to old white dudes. </p>
<p id="Qa7NRb">The cartel is yielding a product that is hollow, corporate, and soulless. I noticed it a couple years ago during the National Championship - Fowler and Herbstreit seem to be going through the motions. Maybe that’s human nature. They’ve both been doing this for a long, long time and have become fabulously wealthy. This sport is desperate for critical thinking and fresh voices. The status quo is a pig turning into a hog that is fit for slaughter. Speaking of...</p>
<h2 id="G2T6zo">The Playoff Committee doesn’t need to exist.</h2>
<p id="u5rwEd">Could this bloated band of boomers be more condescending and insulting? It’s all so SERIOUS and IMPORTANT. WE WATCH FILM AND STUDY METRICS.</p>
<blockquote><p id="Ko3Vaz">“Mortgage-backed securities. Subprime loans. Tranches. It’s pretty confusing, right? Does it make you feel bored? Or stupid? Well, it’s supposed to. Wall Street loves to use confusing terms to make you think only they can do what they do. Or, even better, for you just to leave them the fuck alone.” - The Big Short... could be paraphrased into the College Football Playoff selection committee</p></blockquote>
<p id="vQGskE">We - the paste-eating serfs - are given glimpses into the four-star hotel ballrooms where these gout-riddled emperors decide who shall live and who shall die.</p>
<p id="GdBIEy">Think of all the hours wasted and hot air blown out of mouths and asses to ultimately land on Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Notre Dame.</p>
<p id="UE3lJW">Put a Las Vegas bookmaker, Spencer Hall, a jar of moonshine, and a revolver in a Motel 6 and it would be a more efficient and effective committee.</p>
<h2 id="iwH6g6">How do we take a sledgehammer to what is already broken?</h2>
<p id="lWSSWn">So glad you asked.</p>
<ol>
<li id="7jNigq">
<strong>Remove all bowl tie-ins to the playoff</strong>. The Rose Bowl structure - the finest sporting venue I’ve ever visited. The Rose Bowl enterprise - a dubious tax shelter that masquerades as tradition. Know what else was a college football tradition? Not allowing black players. Have the national championship at the Rose Bowl. No need for THE Rose Bowl to have anything to do with the playoff. Want to know how pointless THE Rose Bowl is? It took a couple phone calls to ship it to the worst corporate relocation destination on earth - Arlington, Texas. All bowls can continue to exist. Lord knows I need all bowls for wagering on games of chance. The bowls would simply have nothing to do with the playoff.</li>
<li id="nm6U82">
<strong>Eight teams</strong>. Power 5 champs, Group of 5 autobid, two at-large to be selected by my Motel 6 committee outlined above. Yes, you will still be pissing off some people who get left out, but at <em>least</em> we’re moving in the right direction.</li>
<li id="vkNRwg">
<strong>Campus sites</strong>. An eight team playoff will require three rounds. Rounds 1 and 2? Those will be on campus sites. <em>But, but Gards - the MONEY</em>. I don’t give a shit. This status quo is not sustainable. People are tuning out. We gotta shake this thing up for the sake of the next ten years and beyond. I will show it on my bracket below, but imagine PLAYOFF games in Tuscaloosa and Columbus versus Miami and Arlington.</li>
<li id="UVVxUA">
<strong>86 the Committee</strong> and this weekly parade of North Korea media. <em>But, but Gards - the MONEY</em>. Again, I don’t give a shit. Rece Davis ad nauseum... “How does the committee view a one-loss SEC team versus a Cincinnati team that plays an inferior schedule.” My God this is no way for us to live.</li>
<li id="E54Kzx">
<strong>My 2020 bracket</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yU8ca-vN7bJ51kDyQKBK5SXFZkI=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22189038/2020_Playoff.png">
</figure>
<p id="jW3N12">Is it perfect? Hell no. But at least we’re putting a dent in the cartel and opening up some seats at the table.</p>
<p id="OFOGOk">Gig ‘em and Go Irish.</p>
<p id="JjCzIu"></p>
<p id="QXSBdp"></p>
<p id="tR98mX"></p>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2020/12/21/22193072/brokenJimmy Gardner2020-08-12T08:37:44-05:002020-08-12T08:37:44-05:00Dr. Anthony Fauci and Matthew McConaughey discuss Coronavirus
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/M7R82_8l0m1zNarcaIuGmjxCAt8=/77x0:910x555/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67192338/McC_and_Fauci.0.png" />
<figcaption>A doc and a minister talk life</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="6q4yeq">AUSTIN, Texas — actor and ordained minister Matthew McConaughey interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the nation’s Coronavirus Task Force on Instagram. Good Bull Hunting got exclusive access to the discussion that is scheduled to air on Thursday.</p>
<p id="rlSHYB"><strong>McConaughey</strong>: Hola, Doctor Antonio. How’s America’s Medicine Man?</p>
<p id="Uig8HT"><strong>Dr. Fauci</strong>: Good evening, Matthew. It’s a pleasure to be with you.</p>
<p id="vaqS01"><strong>McConaughey</strong>: Dig, dig. Now the surname Fauci is Sicilian. Means sickle. The agrarian tool for reaping the harvest. Reckon we need a fauci - that Italiano scalpel - to dissect Corona V. What say you?</p>
<p id="vmT0KF"><strong>Dr. Fauci</strong>: Yes, it’s been a very challenging year all around the world and we must work together to slow the spread.</p>
<p id="pRF7kH"><strong>McConaughey</strong>: I get it, man. It’s a viscous virus. Stic-ky. Creepin’ into our psyches and our blood aqueducts. Car-di-o-vas-cu-lar, k?</p>
<p id="H5LFnq"><strong>Dr. Fauci</strong>: Well, yes, that’s certainly one way of lookin-</p>
<p id="dWAaHz"><strong>McConaughey</strong>: Tell you what I dig about you, Doctor Fowch. You’ve got an energy. A vitality, k? A get-up-and-go ethos that says, “It’s 3-and-15, amigos, and the football is your greased hopes and dreams.” Who’s gonna make a play?</p>
<p id="wYGwqJ"><strong>Dr. Fauci</strong>: Well, it’s an honor to serve in this capacity, I just wish it was under different circumstances.</p>
<p id="ieoHHo"><strong>McConaughey</strong>: Lemme tell you something, Healer Numero Uno. The cosmos chooses <em>us. </em>Think I set out to be a minister? Clergy? Nah, man. I was fixin’ to film <em>Failure to Launch Dos</em> with Terry Bradshaw. But the Man Upstairs <em>[does a double hook ‘em to the sky]</em> had other plans. There was a calling that required that I heed accordingly. You were ordained for this moment. You’re our viral shaman. Heed the call.</p>
<p id="t2Lt9u"><strong>Dr. Fauci</strong>: Yes, well I did study and train for many years specifically for instances such as these.</p>
<p id="G78AuM"><strong>McConaughey</strong>: Bingo bongo.</p>
<p id="dm3wBl"><strong>Dr. Fauci</strong>: And I’m hopeful that if we take the proper precautions we can make our way through this pandemic.</p>
<p id="Q55hKM"><strong>McConaughey</strong>: Yes, bueno, let’s wade into the pool of circumspections. I’m going to hit you with a little rapid fire. Fuego rápido, k?</p>
<p id="6VVVDS"><strong>Dr. Fauci</strong>: <em>[smiles nervously]</em> I’m ready.</p>
<p id="zZBB6L"><strong>McConaughey</strong>: Masks - ceremonial, tribal, metaphorical... what say you?</p>
<p id="YUnyoo"><strong>Dr. Fauci</strong>: Well, I think I’ve been clear for months that masks are an essential tool for thwarting the spread of COVID-19.</p>
<p id="dtqOEp"><strong>McConaughey</strong>: Hmm interesting. Not what I expected. Onward. Let’s talk fiestas. How many people is too many, and how few is not enough?</p>
<p id="O1ulmk"><strong>Dr. Fauci</strong>: I recommend that people limit their social gatherings as much as possible.</p>
<p id="Xvdaqp"><strong>McConaughey</strong>: Noted. MOC Taco Fiesta for one, thanks for comin.’ Let’s powwow about peace pipes. My neighbor Skeeter says the peace pipe is medicinal and kills Coronita V. Do you endorse?</p>
<p id="XfYS4h"><strong>Dr. Fauci</strong>: I am not aware of any studies that suggest smoking from a pipe is an effective treatment for this virus.</p>
<p id="A4OhBW"><strong>McConaughey</strong>: Gonna pencil that in as a <em>maybe.</em> Guac or queso?</p>
<p id="BqKatY"><strong>Dr. Fauci</strong>: <em>[confused] </em>Well, avocados are quite healthy, so sometimes I’ll eat it as a side with my boiled chicken breast.</p>
<p id="5oZiEv"><strong>McConaughey</strong>: Ahh a pollo man. I see you, Fowch dog<em> [laughs mischievously]. </em>Tell you this, Healer Fauci. I’ve felt this virus. This pesky pathogen. I’ve listened to it, too. Lessons to be learned from this microorganism. [begins swirling both index fingers] As much wreckage as been brought, I feel the connections [webs fingers together, laughs to self]. Ultimately it’s one big symphony with you on the fiddle and me slappin’ those bongo skins.</p>
<p id="r5Q3ss"><strong>Dr. Fauci</strong>: Are those instruments in a traditional symphony?</p>
<p id="k3GYV8"><strong>McConaughey</strong>: Exactly! That’s just it - the paradigm has shifted. The worthy adversary aims to be the maestro, but it’s incumbent upon us to play a new tune. A new mel-o-dy. I say we embrace it.</p>
<p id="Mo6Rf9"><strong>Dr. Fauci</strong>: I sure do admire your positivity.</p>
<p id="K6bOLb"><strong>McConaughey</strong>: You’re an oak, Doc. I’m just tryin’ to keep you hydrated. Flu-id-i-ty.</p>
<p id="JolnRH"><strong>Dr. Fauci</strong>: This has been informative. Thank you so much for being an advocate for our efforts.</p>
<p id="VWy4sG"><strong>McConaughey</strong>: It’s a pilgrimage, Tony, and I need a prescription. The vaccine is you, me, a cooler of crispy cold ones, and some smoked cabrito. Let’s feast.</p>
<p id="JAD6Hi"><em>fin.</em></p>
<p id="J9LiBJ"> </p>
<p id="JMfeAN"></p>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2020/8/12/21364734/dr-anthony-fauci-and-matthew-mcconaughey-discuss-coronavirusJimmy Gardner2020-08-10T13:41:57-05:002020-08-10T13:41:57-05:00How could it have worked?
<figure>
<img alt="NCAA Football: Big Ten Championship-Ohio State vs Wisconsin" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lLkp0HlOLtr9e9aS9SznEhbSlis=/0x0:5472x3648/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67182742/usa_today_13765913.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="2FbFfZ">If I think back to June, that’s when I began to know in my guts that this wasn’t going to work.</p>
<p id="xjj5vN">How could it work? I’m not being a smart ass - I genuinely want to know how we could have had college football in 2020.</p>
<p id="hti2O5">College football might be the biggest enterprise on earth without anyone really in charge.</p>
<p id="4MoBMj">The NCAA? The NCAA is a feckless piece of motel art in an Indianapolis Ramada that happens to run a rigged card game every March.</p>
<p id="EvG2R4">University presidents? You know, the tweedy academics that have about a trillion stakeholders ranging from the billionaire benefactor to the liberal arts professor that believes pumpkin sex should be taught to children. Spoiler, said professor also hates the shit out of football.</p>
<p id="ExXY13">These presidents are well-compensated for the torture they must endure from sitting in endless committee meetings because as we all know - if you want a clear, efficient, bold decision, you put together a committee.</p>
<p id="OFrEdF">How could we expect these hyper-risk-averse bureaucrats to figure this out?</p>
<p id="WYsUvp">What about the conference commissioners? Ah, well they work for the tweedy academics, you see. A commissioner’s chief responsibility is strangling every last nickel out of a TV contract and saying “amateurism” and “student-athlete” with earnestness and sincerity. Harder than it looks.</p>
<p id="w5l8tO">When things are clipping along in non-pandemic life, one could argue that ESPN is the closest thing college football has to a boss. They have the pursestrings and the eyeballs, so the commissioners, presidents, and ADs bow before the World Wide Leader for the privilege. Thank God they don’t have to pay the pesky labor.</p>
<p id="lJAI6N">What’s often so lovable about this sport is just how disorganized and decentralized it is. There are 130 FBS programs. LSU built a locker room that cost more than the annual operating budget of most MAC programs.</p>
<p id="taXAHe">Texas is technically playing the same sport as Western Kentucky. Oregon is playing the same sport as Louisiana Monroe.</p>
<p id="ck1oEk">Contrast all of this with the NFL. The NFL’s power is centralized. You have Goodell, who is an extremely well-paid whipping boy for 32 owners - of which, only like four actually have power. For the NFL to take place this fall (and it will), it will simply take Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft, a tweet from Trump, and a couple other billionaire carcasses to deem it so.</p>
<p id="iBM0jU">Then there is the college football labor. Yes, the serfs. They’ve been unpaid (officially) since the sport’s inception, but they’re finally wisening up to how much cash is in the cartel and they’re finding their voice and microphones. What they still do <em>not </em>have is a collective voice. Full transparency - I’m anti-union in a free market society, but LOL at any of the aforementioned about this sport being a marketplace. This whole mess has revealed that the players need collective representation. Ideally, it’d be from attorneys that are former college athletes, but I digress.</p>
<p id="FzNmFs">All of this is fractured and fragmented. Who could possibly glue this shattered crystal football back together in six weeks?</p>
<p id="6EQEC7">I hope I’m wrong. I have opinions on corona V that could be described as unconventional. Ultimately, I think students should be on campus and college football should be played. I hope there’s a hail mary (heh), because I love this sport with all my heart. Maybe things will get sorted out in the 11th hour. </p>
<p id="Uxc9lv">Because if conference realignment taught us anything, sometimes the interests of conference commissioners ($), university presidents (branding [$]), athletic departments ($), ESPN ($$$$), student athletes (love of game, ticket out of tough situation, education, et al), and clinically insane fans in the south and midwest... well, they align, and we get to watch the finest, fucked up sport that was ever created.</p>
<p id="FuV4FE">Gig ‘em.</p>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2020/8/10/21362187/how-could-it-have-workedJimmy Gardner2020-05-13T11:01:27-05:002020-05-13T11:01:27-05:00Play the Game
<figure>
<img alt="Dante Hall" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hpGtK2FhEHlrMPHn4tO-cBP4ECU=/0x0:3072x2048/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66791971/298037.jpg.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p id="XHkbFz">QUARANTINE DAY 1,000,012 — TexAgs published a piece this week entitled <a href="https://texags.com/s/36159/hot-air-pests-and-fatigue-10-reasons-texas-am-doesnt-need-to-play-texas">10 Reasons Texas A&M doesn’t need to play Texas</a>. No time for dilly dallying... we dive in:</p>
<blockquote><p id="07yjuN">Once again that time has arrived when hot air gusts, annoying pests emerge and fatigue quickly sets in.</p></blockquote>
<p id="iGzP7s">But enough about sports journos.</p>
<blockquote><p id="NL4ubW">We are, of course, referring to the Texas Longhorns’ annual summer attempt to pressure Texas A&M into renewing the football series that ended in 2012 — at the Longhorns’ behest.</p></blockquote>
<p id="FPVO6g">And the behest of players, coaches, former players, fans of A&M, fans of UT, fans of college football, and people who prefer joy over TexAgs groupthink.</p>
<blockquote><p id="EeFhyV">This year, the hot air and pests came early in the form of self-serving, sophomoric and contradictory statements from Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte on the tired, old subject of renewing the Texas A&M-Texas football series. He referenced several college football rivalries and said not playing those games makes no sense.</p></blockquote>
<p id="RgP9Lz">Freud suggested that humans project their feelings to defend their own egos. Self-serving, sophomoric, and contradictory... it works. By the by, have you ever heard Chancellor John Sharp speak?</p>
<p id="FfrzpV">Oh, and there is only one way for that “tired, old subject” to go away.</p>
<blockquote>
<p id="hNuj6Q">Makes no sense? Kind of like one college football program starting its own television network or demanding conference-generated revenue should not be evenly distributed among teams in that conference?</p>
<p id="CYaixj">That makes about as much sense as a 10-team conference calling itself the Big 12.</p>
</blockquote>
<p id="n9GGqM">Or a conference called the Big Ten having 14 teams. Or a league called the Southeastern Conference having schools in Texas and Missouri.</p>
<blockquote><p id="hDVST4">Further, Del Conte said: “My goal is to play anyone that’s won a national championship in the modern era as part of our non-conference schedule.”That was interpreted nationally as a shot at A&M, which we all know has not won a national title since 1939.</p></blockquote>
<p id="rD6G5n">Agreed. That quote was moronic. I said as much on Twitter.</p>
<div id="ajAXto">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">In the last decade, Texas is 57-55 against Power 5 teams. <a href="https://t.co/43nM6APN4t">https://t.co/43nM6APN4t</a></p>— Jimmy G (@jimmygards) <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmygards/status/1257755327384227848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2020</a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div>
<blockquote><p id="dFgi0E">That’s fine. A&M continues to focus on the future rather than the past.</p></blockquote>
<p id="b0uPSs">Yes. Aggies are known for not focusing on the past. </p>
<blockquote><p id="Jqun0x">But if Del Conte is taking shots at A&M through the media, why is he also whining about A&M’s disinterest in playing Texas?</p></blockquote>
<p id="UN8oWy">Because when you hate a rival sometimes you might want to play them in American collegiate football.</p>
<blockquote>
<p id="jrutHe">Texas is like that unbalanced significant other from a past toxic relationship. You put up with their high-maintenance, selfish drama for way too long and then finally leave.</p>
<p id="Pyr0MQ">The psycho ex eventually begs you to come back. But you realize it’s not hard to make a list of at least 10 reasons not to go back.</p>
</blockquote>
<p id="lH7OlE">If football opponents are lovers then we need to file domestic violence charges based on the events that transpired in Baton Rouge over Thanksgiving 2019.</p>
<blockquote><p id="RMxL2K"><strong>10) Texas ended the series:</strong> When A&M moved to the Southeastern Conference in 2012, then-Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds said: “They left. They’re the ones that decided not to play us.” That’s simply not true. A&M wanted the series to continue. That would’ve been possible, too. Florida faces Florida State. Georgia faces Georgia Tech. Kentucky faces Louisville. South Carolina faces Clemson. The series could’ve continued despite A&M’s move; Texas didn’t want to play the Aggies.</p></blockquote>
<p id="KZFyfx">This rivalry is so much bigger than any one man. Especially DeLoss Dodds.</p>
<blockquote><p id="4Xb8pL"><strong>9) Don’t let Texas set terms:</strong> Dodds also went on to say: “We get to decide when we’ll play again.” Why? Why would Texas think it gets to decide? That demonstrated Texas felt it still had the ability to assert control over A&M. No thanks.</p></blockquote>
<p id="EMJ9cl">Yep. They’re smug, peacocking assholes. That’s why we should call their bluff and say “anytime, anywhere.”</p>
<blockquote><p id="MGHw7c"><strong>8) Texas encouraged Big 12 teams not to schedule A&M: </strong>Following A&M’s move, DeLoss reportedly encouraged other Big 12 athletic programs not to schedule Texas A&M in any sport. That in itself is sufficient reason not to schedule Texas.</p></blockquote>
<p id="xeFRJX">We’ve played them in a handful of non-football sports already. Reason seems insufficient.</p>
<blockquote><p id="lJgWcd"><strong>7) Don’t be manipulated: </strong>Unaccustomed to not getting what it wants, Texas has attempted to pressure A&M through media. That includes many reporters with ties to Texas, Texas officials, fans and other media accusing A&M of “ducking” Texas while conveniently overlooking the fact that A&M has scheduled much more successful programs like Clemson and Notre Dame. A&M should not bow to Texas’ strong-arm tactics.</p></blockquote>
<p id="qjL3oy">Today I read “don’t be manipulated” on <a href="https://texags.com/forums/16">TexAgs.com</a>.</p>
<p id="qbdjlW">Both programs <em>are </em>ducking each other. The A&M-Texas rivalry is full of petty, arrogant, vain, condescending individuals with comically outsized views of self. It’s a mask to cover the deep, deep fear of losing and having to eat a gigantic shit sandwich.</p>
<p id="Bak3rO">Losing is never fun, but there is no shit sandwich for UT or A&M if you lose to Notre Dame or Clemson. They’re not rivalry match-ups. Most Aggies might only loosely know a few Alabama grads. But every Aggie knows dozens of Longhorns. We work with them. We have them in our families. Hell, some of us are married to them. The personal stakes are higher in rivalries that span generations.</p>
<blockquote>
<p id="HTuOTi"><strong>6) A&M should set its own scheduling philosophy: </strong>A&M’s policy is to schedule one Power 5 opponent every season. That’s quite common. Every team in the SEC West Division has the same approach. In fact, that’s what Texas does. True, A&M plays four non-conference games, but A&M shouldn’t be expected to change its philosophy to satisfy Texas.</p>
<p id="62R1fL">Scheduling different opponents allows Aggies to travel. Texas A&M made the trip to Clemson just last year.</p>
</blockquote>
<p id="TMWjLQ">A&M also had 2019 home games against Texas State, Lamar, and the Fiesta Longhorns of UTSA. 2018? Northwestern State, UL-Monroe, and UAB.</p>
<p id="vO3g9C">Future opponents include Abilene Christian, North Texas, Kent State, New Mexico, Prairie View A&M, Sam Houston, UMass, McNeese, Bowling Green, New Mexico State, and Tarleton State.</p>
<p id="TriHk7">This isn’t an either/or. Drop one of the multiple annual trash games and play a historic rival. </p>
<blockquote><p id="OZ0dga"><strong>5) Better road trips: </strong>Except for the traffic and vagrants, Austin is a fun city. Aggies can go there any time they want. Scheduling different Power 5 opponents allows Aggies to visit other towns and stadiums. A&M has played at Clemson and UCLA. In upcoming seasons, A&M will travel to Colorado, Miami, Notre Dame and Arizona State. Here’s hoping teams like Wisconsin, Penn State and Washington appear on A&M’s future schedules. Maryland would be good, too. Even Texas fans would agree Maryland is a tough opponent.</p></blockquote>
<p id="OT0cKY">Got ‘em, O!</p>
<p id="YZoLrN">Again, not an either/or scenario. Did you know that USC, UCLA, and Notre Dame have <em>never </em>played an FCS program? There’s nothing noble about kicking the shit out of A&M system schools.</p>
<blockquote>
<p id="qpFRIq"><strong>4) Better opponents: </strong>Frankly, A&M is scheduling better Power 5 opponents than Texas. Since 2012 when A&M left for the SEC, the majority of A&M’s Power 5 non-conference opponents are more successful than Texas.</p>
<p id="MHjico">The Longhorns are 58-45 since 2012 (a 56.3 win percentage). In the same span, Clemson is 101-12 (89.3 percent), Notre Dame is 76-27 (73.7 percent), Miami is 62-40 (60.7 percent), Arizona State is 61-43 (58.6 percent). Even UCLA (54-48, 52.9 percent) is at least comparable.</p>
</blockquote>
<p id="mUBG4Z">SUCK ON THAT ONE, HORNS. OWNED.</p>
<p id="dTFH3y">Not embarrassing the Horns in Austin with Johnny Manziel remains one of the most painful opportunity costs IMHO. </p>
<blockquote><p id="oviNrO">That proves the “A&M is ducking Texas” narrative is completely asinine.</p></blockquote>
<p id="QxZAtY">Both schools are terrified and are hiding behind losses to powerful non-rivals to show how tuff they are.</p>
<p id="Y2ZYk2">That’s why the game should be played. That’s college football.</p>
<blockquote><p id="o6DZen"><strong>3) National brand: </strong>A&M is looking to expand its national brand. Therefore, scheduling nationwide makes perfect sense. It seems to be helping in recruiting. A&M’s 2020 recruiting class had 14 players from out of state. The Aggies already have four out of state commitments in <a href="https://texags.com/football-recruiting/commits">their 2021 class</a>.</p></blockquote>
<p id="SRfj1S">My cousins in New York and Boston were so jacked up to hear that Texas A&M scheduled Tarleton State.</p>
<p id="zwafZU">If we’re just throwing shit at the wall, perhaps Texas and Texas A&M playing each other might keep some recruits in the state. College football in Texas needs a serious jolt. Seven kids from Texas were selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Zero went to A&M or UT.</p>
<blockquote><p id="05iUC6"><strong>2) A&M doesn’t need to play Texas: </strong>A&M plays LSU, Alabama and Auburn every year. In some seasons they play the likes of Georgia, Florida and Tennessee from the SEC East. Unlike Texas, whose schedule as it stands typically features one marquee home game every other year since the OU game is in Dallas, there is no shortage of marquee games on A&M’s schedule or high-profile opponents coming to Kyle Field.</p></blockquote>
<p id="479wSR">Neither program “needs” anything. Money is of no object to either and it clearly doesn’t translate to wins anyway. If Texas goes 12-0 or 11-1 with their schedule, they’ll go to the Playoff. Same goes for A&M. </p>
<blockquote><p id="I5VaS1"><strong>1) Texas wants it so bad: </strong>No more explanation is necessary.</p></blockquote>
<p id="REjFwa">Then imagine kicking the ever living shit out of them. Beating a rival must be what heroin feels like.</p>
<p id="Wgqk3B">Football is fun. Let’s have some fun. Gig ‘em.</p>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2020/5/13/21256485/play-the-gameJimmy Gardner2018-12-20T16:05:29-06:002018-12-20T16:05:29-06:00Minister McConaughey will shepherd the culture for Texas Basketball
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vFaWq5Vt2jWUcj7GqCaOHsxkiOE=/37x0:712x450/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62719138/a___McConaughey.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p id="pULDWT">AUSTIN — this week, University of Texas regents gave the greenlight for a new campus basketball arena.</p>
<p id="uyc5Bk">Who gives a shit, right? Wait. Wait a minute - hang on. [swats away dank haze] [squints]</p>
<p id="XnOsNt">Well I’ll be goddammed...</p>
<div id="uxyKzN">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Texas regents give their blessing to plans for new campus basketball arena. Also, Matthew McConaughey will be the arena's "Minister of Culture." Seriously. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hookem?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#hookem</a></p>— Jim Vertuno (@JimVertuno) <a href="https://twitter.com/JimVertuno/status/1075850279961182208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2018</a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div>
<p id="o4xWDC">I couldn’t be more on board with this move. </p>
<p id="9p1htu">From the Texas official news release: Austin-based Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey will act as the “Minister of Culture” at the venue, ensuring that Longhorn and Austin cultures are front and center and helping create a fan experience unlike any other.”</p>
<p id="NHtacN">Gang, if McConaughey is the Minister, then I am the sagely prophet that foretold his coming...</p>
<div id="3fMZuf">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">"This wood floor, kemosabes? A forest. That orange pelota over there? Former swine, man. Life. Energy. This monk to my left? Vi-tal-i-ty" <a href="https://t.co/lbGw5pkM6a">pic.twitter.com/lbGw5pkM6a</a></p>— Jimmy G (@jimmygards) <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmygards/status/921018905153458176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2017</a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div>
<p id="D5RB7Y">What follows are actual excerpts from the press conference in Austin:</p>
<p id="foVcay"><strong>MINISTER MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY</strong>: Alright alright and namaste. Name is Minister McConaughey and I bow to the divine that resides in each of you. </p>
<p id="ZlE9Wx">Basketball. It’s akin to the ancient Aztecan game Ullamaliztli. Unlike <em>U-lla-mal-iz-li</em>, basketball is played atop an oaken lectern. A mesa built from the timber of the Tree of Life. And there are fewer blood sacrifices.</p>
<p id="MAmxc4"><em>[chuckles to self]</em></p>
<p id="iWZlAx">I’ve been summoned by the Pharisees of the Forty Acres to shepherd this collective. My chak-ra was subpoenaed to breathe life into the spirits - the empty jars of clay.</p>
<p id="IxAq0E"><em>[begins impromtu yoga Chaturanga]</em></p>
<p id="ELE6fQ"><em>[smirks coyly at the press corps]</em></p>
<p id="vAZiOt">Y’all mustn’t be bashful, now. Entre, fair scribes. Study at the hem of my garment. <em>[motions towards his board shorts].</em></p>
<p id="nRPMdU">You - yes, my son?</p>
<p id="JDEe7w"><strong>Kirk Bohls, Austin American Statesmen</strong>: uh, Minister McConaughey, what does a “Minister of Culture” do for a basketball program?</p>
<p id="IFCbYJ"><strong>MINISTER MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY</strong>: Great question, Kurt. My, my - life’s riddles <em>[pensively sips Wild Turkey from a leather canteen]. </em>Lemme clue you wordsmiths in on somethin’. I didn’t choose the ministry. I was merely a soul pilgrim traversing Indonesia with my burro Rusty when the Forty Acres found me a scant four hours ago. Was preparing to make <em>How to Lose a Guy in 11 Days </em>with Kate Hudson and Harry Winkler.</p>
<p id="7dpDIq">And culture? Brother, we’re liv-in it, mk? I’m talking spatial relations. Instagram. Goat tacos on East Sixth. The Romans and their wily aq-ue-ducts. It’s universal. Po-ke-mon-Go, k? It’s all in the culture cylinder riding that centrifugal force in your soul. And that’s what it’s all about. Rhythms. MEMES. The MySpace adobe at South by Southwest. Apple’s new temple coming to Austin. Onward.</p>
<p id="yTO4wf"><strong>Mike Finger, San Antonio Express News</strong>: Minister, what will be the first orders of business in your new calling?</p>
<p id="BD6TIZ"><em>[McConaughey closes eyes for 7 minutes, then smiles]</em></p>
<p id="K0PXHC"><strong>MINISTER MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY</strong>: Ah the mighty Finger. Yahweh’s touch. I’ll relay onto you a little advice that was passed on to me by Steve Zahn when we were filming <em>Sahara. </em>Professor Zahn said, “Matthew, there is only one truth in this land and it’s rugs. Both exotic and female, but mostly the exotically female.” Changed my life. </p>
<p id="OcAc13">This whole new basketball spiritual yurt will be covered in meditative rugs. I’ve got a guy in Marrakesh. There will be no seats in this <em>gimnasio</em>. Nah nah. Spiritual spectators will sit upon Moroccan rugs during services - excuse me - “games.”</p>
<p id="4GjET3">Bongos and hackysacks will most certainly be available should the spirits awaken just so.</p>
<p id="ua1BfX">Ya’ll understand that that big pot of airport gumbo called the Erwin Center is gone, right? Sayonara. We’re delivering authenticity. I’m talking about those band nerds over there noodling with the Chi Omegas. Vitality. This is what Johnny Lennon was preaching.</p>
<p id="Bo4DzL">But the cycle doesn’t collapse on itself there, nah nah. I reckon them Baylor Bap-teests might be alarmed when they see the medicinal herb dispensaries around our new enclave. Shucks, I was just 12 years old when I was huntin’ squirrels in East Texas with my kin when a robed shaman emerged from the thicket and taught me how to rip a bong load. The spirit moves in sneaky ways, kemosabes. Treasure thee.</p>
<p id="jdwb0Z">Back to your query, yes the culture is paramount. How does a team achieve Nirvana if their innards are ensconced in Bumble? In FORT-nite, hmm? Culture is hoisted upon organic hummus, sticky canbibas, and <em>Moutain Jam</em> off <em>Eat a Peach</em> by the Allman Hermanos.</p>
<p id="luCU1S">This temple won’t just be where our centurions place a orange orb through a peach basket. Nah nah now is the time for this meta force to blossom from the cocoon and birth into a Mecca for the holiest of entertainers. I’m talking Art Garfunkel. Phish cover bands. Drum-circles <em>[motions both hands in circles]. </em>The Indigo Girls. Fastball. ABBA. Carrot Top. Let ‘em all come shower us with their melodies and limericks.</p>
<p id="KSoSUi">Did I address your inquisition, Fingerling?</p>
<p id="tZJ4Mb">Now. If you’ll excuse me. I will conclude today’s sermon in the Sweat Lodge over yonder sponsored by Nike. Vamonos.</p>
<p id="C4INqQ"><strong>Geoff Ketchum, [insert here]:</strong> Does that mean we’re going to Pluckers?</p>
<p id="yXAk4s"><em>fin.</em></p>
<p id="5Pvrl4"></p>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2018/12/20/18150667/minister-mcconaughey-will-shepherd-the-culture-for-texas-basketballJimmy Gardner2018-11-06T17:09:44-06:002018-11-06T17:09:44-06:00INTO THE ANNALS OF HISTORY: what can 2007 Alabama teach us today?
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yKydqRfTQi_dXwKaNk3lYeGuq1s=/0x0:3888x2592/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62212991/1___monroe_bama.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p id="hdq7zT">I get it.</p>
<p id="QRtChT">No, really, I do. You had hope coming into the 2018 season, didn’t you? An expensive, slick-talkin’, championship-winnin’ fella named Coach Jimbo left a modern day blue blooded program to come to College Station. How could you not be hopeful?</p>
<p id="NsBqmc">And yet, here we are again - it’s the first week of November and the Texas Aggies are looking for lipstick to slather on what’s shaping up to be another pig of a season. We <strong>might</strong> not make the College Football Playoff this season.</p>
<p id="Wfp6Sd">The gild is off the lily. There are question marks all over the depth chart - chief among them - quarterback, offensive line, and secondary.</p>
<p id="SJKjKa">I don’t need to belabor you with stats. They don’t make a whole lot of sense anyway. The defense can’t turnover a sheet of paper. Kellen Mond gets sacked in the face more than a passed out fraternity pledge. The defense frequently turns 3rd and long into a red carpet for the opponent. It’s maddening.</p>
<p id="EBQ3hY">It’s also Year 1 of a new coach tasked with building a championship culture at a program that’s never really had one. In the toughest division in the toughest league in America.</p>
<p id="nIx8Ng">Where’s a man to find perspective in these weeds? Perhaps - just maybe - there is something to be learned from the first season Nicholas Lou Saban was in Tuscaloosa.</p>
<p id="3zPusM"><em>A disclaimer before you flex in the ‘mments</em> - this is NOT a comparison of the history of Alabama football and Texas A&M football. It’s also not a comparison of Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher. What it <em>IS </em>is a dose of perspective when you’re trying to evaluate a football program during Year 1 of a new coaching regime.</p>
<h1 id="YPMsgu">Alabama Football | 2007</h1>
<h2 id="3PYj2J">Preseason</h2>
<p id="NT5J9r">Miami Dolphins Head Coach Nick Saban was hired by Alabama after Rich Rodriguez turned down the Tide to stay at West Virginia. See? I told you history was fucking cool.</p>
<p id="iuqDnN">Saban replaced Mike Shula who was in hot water for the olde “improper benefits” and for not being Bear Bryant. Mostly the latter.</p>
<p id="tscafO">The Tide were coming off a season where they lost to all their rivals - LSU, Tennessee, and Auburn - and the Independence Bowl to Oklahoma State. Thanks, interim coach Joe Kines!</p>
<h2 id="asEKOH">The Season</h2>
<h3 id="n6u0SS">Game 1: vs. Western Carolina</h3>
<p id="tzVTCT"><strong>Tide Record</strong>: 0-0</p>
<p id="Q4yQ9Z"><strong>Tide Ranking</strong>: NR</p>
<p id="o2DmAx"><strong>Result</strong>: W 52-6</p>
<p id="2DuRPj"><strong>Fun Fact</strong>: Redshirt freshman (and my arch nemesis) Greg McElroy had his first career touchdown pass in mop-up duty.</p>
<h3 id="dqjqlE">Game 2: at Vanderbilt</h3>
<p id="NLwKz0"><strong>Tide Record</strong>: 1-0</p>
<p id="I9IcFN"><strong>Tide Ranking</strong>: NR</p>
<p id="kuNZlA"><strong>Result</strong>: W 24-10</p>
<p id="u9DRma"><strong>Fun Fact</strong>: starting in front of Greg McElroy this season was dreamboat game manager John Parker Wilson.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="AllState Sugar Bowl - Utah v Alabama" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nBYLiaYjJmItrqG-D43hxnm84Pk=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13398137/84161923.jpg.jpg">
<cite>Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images</cite>
</figure>
<h3 id="NFxu6t">Game 3: vs. No. 16 Arkansas</h3>
<p id="lwft9Z"><strong>Tide Record</strong>: 2-0</p>
<p id="7dI66W"><strong>Tide Ranking</strong>: NR</p>
<p id="vyVa7P"><strong>Result</strong>: W 41-38</p>
<p id="ZDrv4R"><strong>Fun Fact</strong>: Here are some of the names that played in this game - D.J. Hall, Glen Coffee, Casey Dick, Darren McFadden, Peyton Hillis... Bama won this game with a TD pass with only 8 seconds remaining. Oh, and Houston Nutt was coaching the Pigs.</p>
<h3 id="O1Jp3O">Game 4: vs. No. 22 Georgia</h3>
<p id="D22HnC"><strong>Tide Record</strong>: 3-0</p>
<p id="AQW7C0"><strong>Tide Ranking</strong>: 16</p>
<p id="PbbeYg"><strong>Result</strong>: L 23-26, OT</p>
<p id="Sr1Wft"><strong>Fun Fact</strong>: Dallas Highland Parker Matthew Stafford and running back Knowshon Moreno led the Dawgs to an OT win in Tuscaloosa.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UH8sosCktW2WyxeOUFcTGGaV3r0=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13398555/alabama_georgia_photo_2007.jpg">
</figure>
<h3 id="OQLHvf">Game 5: vs. Florida State (in Jacksonville? ok)</h3>
<p id="2vEaGx"><strong>Tide Record</strong>: 3-1</p>
<p id="U2evMf"><strong>Tide Ranking</strong>: 22</p>
<p id="B7RuvB"><strong>Result</strong>: L 14-21</p>
<p id="QaTn6j"><strong>Fun Fact</strong>: This was Alabama’s first neutral site game in over 20 years. Since 2007, they’ve played in over 500 neutral site games.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DGOFu-SZiugst5wsW71A4ZAHmpo=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13398563/1___a_program.jpg">
</figure>
<h3 id="3UBzeS">Game 6: vs. Houston</h3>
<p id="CGfeLl"><strong>Tide Record</strong>: 3-2</p>
<p id="gmIaDO"><strong>Tide Ranking</strong>: NR</p>
<p id="yzmMhQ"><strong>Result</strong>: W 30-24</p>
<p id="QDTiXf"><strong>Fun Fact</strong>: Art Briles coaching Houston! ZOINKS. And Case Keenum at QB.</p>
<h3 id="Xifl5X">Game 7: at Ole Miss</h3>
<p id="XDmZRZ"><strong>Tide Record</strong>: 4-2</p>
<p id="Q8239F"><strong>Tide Ranking</strong>: NR</p>
<p id="eH6ZI7"><strong>Result</strong>: W 27-24</p>
<p id="pvYEVF"><strong>Fun Fact</strong>: The win took Alabama’s record over Ole Miss to 41-9-2. Holy shit.</p>
<h3 id="Ym5ALl">Game 8: vs. No. 20 Tennessee</h3>
<p id="Fjfr1D"><strong>Tide Record</strong>: 5-2</p>
<p id="MoQMny"><strong>Tide Ranking</strong>: NR</p>
<p id="LLoPbo"><strong>Result</strong>: W 41-17</p>
<p id="PO4UZF"><strong>Fun Fact</strong>: Saban called an onside kick to start the game. Alabama recovered.</p>
<h3 id="LU6SRF">Game 9: vs. No. 3 LSU</h3>
<p id="E2PuE0"><strong>Tide Record</strong>: 6-2</p>
<p id="s9T5E6"><strong>Tide Ranking</strong>: 17</p>
<p id="JKi6YA"><strong>Result</strong>: L 34-41</p>
<p id="rD2VT3"><strong>Fun Fact</strong>: Saban coached this one against a bunch of guys he had recruited to LSU.</p>
<h3 id="0RW28h">Game 10: at Mississippi State</h3>
<p id="7L1CxK"><strong>Tide Record</strong>: 6-3</p>
<p id="JcM8Xr"><strong>Tide Ranking</strong>: 21</p>
<p id="JJ179j"><strong>Result</strong>: L 12-17</p>
<p id="BF2WzO"><strong>Fun Fact</strong>: Aggies aren’t the only ones to lose dry, ho-hum games in Starkville in November</p>
<h3 id="Ck3yT9">Game 11: vs. Louisiana Monroe</h3>
<p id="pZTJMB"><strong>Tide Record</strong>: 6-4</p>
<p id="v665BT"><strong>Tide Ranking</strong>: NR</p>
<p id="q1Bz5r"><strong>Result</strong>: L 14-21</p>
<p id="ljRAHA"><strong>Fun Fact</strong>: Alabama didn’t score in the second half. This is an actual quote from Saban - swear to God - </p>
<blockquote><p id="A6erAJ">“Changes in history usually occur after some kind of catastrophic event. It may be 9/11, which sort of changed the spirit of America relative to a catastrophic event. Pearl Harbor got us ready for World War II, or whatever, and that was a catastrophic event. And I don’t think anyone in this room would have bet that we could lose back-to-back games to Mississippi State or ULM, no disrespect to either one of those teams.”</p></blockquote>
<p id="p8c40Z">Holy shit. Oh, and Alabama turned the ball over four times and forced exactly zero.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8HMezBB5bmm0x5uPuX2gwnoCgaA=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13398587/1_ulm_rolled.jpg">
</figure>
<h3 id="d3CcL0">Game 12: at No. 25 Auburn</h3>
<p id="p6LE6b"><strong>Tide Record</strong>: 6-5</p>
<p id="WlcBZr"><strong>Tide Ranking</strong>: NR</p>
<p id="wFJLLo"><strong>Result</strong>: L 10-17</p>
<p id="OKzAAl"><strong>Fun Fact</strong>: This was Alabama’s sixth straight loss to Auburn.</p>
<h3 id="IfiUXX">Independence Bowl: vs. Colorado</h3>
<p id="rvrB0r"><strong>Tide Record</strong>: 6-6</p>
<p id="aj8MRz"><strong>Tide Ranking</strong>: NR</p>
<p id="rXmDIV"><strong>Result</strong>: W 30-24 </p>
<h2 id="LfREyz">Season Takeaways</h2>
<p id="rP9jbb">Seriously - really try to put yourselves in the shoes of a Tide fan in November 2007. Look how shitty that month was! 0-4! Thank you, OC Major Applewhite.</p>
<ul>
<li id="ZE9lTD">Averaged 12 points per game over the final three regular season games - check</li>
<li id="oi01CE">Lost to a Sun Belt Louisiana directional at home - check</li>
<li id="W5aZyd">Turned in a turd against a bitter rival - check</li>
</ul>
<p id="LANHaC">Tide fans had to be enraged! There was no benefit of hindsight. There was exactly NO evidence that things were going to get better. They were 15 years removed from their last national championship - a lifetime for Alabama Football.</p>
<h2 id="R1tGNH">What Happened Next</h2>
<p id="aBLbjV">You know what happened. Nick Saban was building something. He recruited his ass off. Hell no, the outcome of the 2007 was not what anyone wanted, but he wasn’t just building the culture of a <em>team. </em>He was building the culture of a <em>program</em> that valued discipline, pride, precision, and toughness that would endure even as blue chip after blue chip recruit cycled through eligibility in Tuscaloosa.</p>
<p id="JTbskf">Alabama won the SEC West in 2008. They lost to Tim Tebow’s Gators in the SEC Championship and then lost to Kyle Whittingham’s Utah Utes in the Sugar Bowl. Still below standard in Alabama.</p>
<p id="7aPsBf">In Year 3, 2009, Alabama won their first of five national championships under Nick Saban.</p>
<h2 id="wABRng">What We Can Learn</h2>
<p id="5QUWXY">I’m not suggesting that Jimbo Fisher is going to replicate this success at Texas A&M. We all know he’s going to win <em>six</em> national championships after all.</p>
<p id="rFALgV">What we can learn is that the on-field results early in a transition might not be very reflective of what is being built.</p>
<p id="7tGPeP">We can learn that sometimes to build something, you have to tear a lot down. Bad habits, entitlement, soft mentalities.</p>
<p id="cEEBMw">We can learn from Saban’s scorching hot (and alarmingly tone-deaf) quote that champions are psychotic. They’re laser-focused and they stomp on throats. They hate losing far more than they take joy from winning.</p>
<p id="Sya1FV">***</p>
<p id="PC9rwy">I’m still buying what Jimbo’s selling after two maddening road performances. Why? Because he’s been to the top of the mountain. He knows how to breakdown the insidious bad habits woven into the culture of a program. He’s going to recruit excellent football players that love to compete and love football. He knows how to identify that kind of talent. And thank God, because the state of Texas produces a lot of excellent football players that don’t love to compete and don’t love football.</p>
<p id="c6CLVN">I get why you’re pissed after the last two performances. Don’t let the rage distract you from what might be ahead.</p>
<p id="GudRht">Here’s to protecting the Hate Barn over the next three weeks which will help us build toward a bowl win which will help us build for a tougher, better 2019 which will help us compete for trips to Atlanta in 2020 and beyond.</p>
<p id="OHMnyH">I’m looking forward to it.</p>
<p id="oNICeO">Beat the hell outta Ole Miss.</p>
<p id="JBoomE">Gig ‘em.</p>
<p id="h0Rtyp"></p>
<p id="YySChn"></p>
<p id="S1N0kn"></p>
<p id="r3hhdn"></p>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2018/11/6/18069012/into-the-annals-of-history-what-can-2007-alabama-teach-us-todayJimmy Gardner2018-08-22T09:11:46-05:002018-08-22T09:11:46-05:00Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks articulates the Texas A&M transfer dilemma
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0Q9k6uo76Ifn3_ZesfigBX1dhC4=/84x0:677x395/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60979927/1_Nicks.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<h1 id="CQs7Lw">DREAMS</h1>
<h3 id="4Vt6F2">By Fleetwood Mac</h3>
<div id="RWUR30"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 75.0019%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mrZRURcb1cM?rel=0" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no"></iframe></div></div>
<p id="gFlx8W"><em>Now here you go again, you say</em></p>
<p id="XdOTBq"><em>You want your freedom</em></p>
<p id="CLUNuL"><em>Well who am I to keep you down</em></p>
<p id="SIuhDz"><em>It’s only right that you should</em></p>
<p id="18SOer"><em>Play the way you feel it</em></p>
<p id="EL5fsK"><em>But listen carefully to the sound</em></p>
<p id="R8eT2z"><em>Of your lonely lawyer</em></p>
<p id="rV5ahk"><em>Like a heartbeat drives you mad</em></p>
<p id="CmYf3G"><em>In the stillness of remembering what you had</em></p>
<p id="Akelbe"><em>And what you lost, and what you had, and what you lost</em></p>
<p id="mxZD5x"><em>Thunder only happens when it’s raining</em></p>
<p id="Ya3KSQ"><em>Players only love you when they’re playing</em></p>
<p id="PbeBwz"><em>Say linebackers they will come and they will go</em></p>
<p id="FaqGit"><em>When the rain washes you clean, you’ll know, you’ll know</em></p>
<p id="u9l0Jz"><em>Now here I go again, I see the soft footballers</em></p>
<p id="w9kIZX"><em>I keep my visions to myself, it’s only me</em></p>
<p id="8X8ZFy"><em>Who wants to wrap around your dreams and,</em></p>
<p id="Q3up1y"><em>Have you any dreams you’d like to sell?</em></p>
<p id="6HCd9q"><em>Dreams of Atlanta trips,</em></p>
<p id="qMNFvb"><em>Like a heartbeat, drives you mad</em></p>
<p id="AxQb7V"><em>In the stillness of remembering, what you had,</em></p>
<p id="KTuAh2"><em>And what you lost and what you had and what you lost</em></p>
<p id="NCb67I"><em>Thunder only happens when it’s raining</em></p>
<p id="aQLPsr"><em>Players only love you when they’re playing</em></p>
<p id="c1STLJ"><em>Linebackers, they will come and they will go</em></p>
<p id="93wEPp"><em>When the rain washes you clean, you’ll know</em></p>
<p id="Q5OFaW"><em>Thunder only happens when it’s raining</em></p>
<p id="hxHH0B"><em>Players only love you when they’re playing</em></p>
<p id="7GIeIp"><em>Say, linebackers, they will come and they will go</em></p>
<p id="ldG9hR"><em>When the rain washes you clean, you’ll know</em></p>
<p id="YV7KHU"><em>You’ll know, you will know, you’ll know</em></p>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2018/8/22/17768300/fleetwood-macs-stevie-nicks-articulates-the-texas-a-m-transfer-dilemmaJimmy Gardner2018-08-17T12:11:56-05:002018-08-17T12:11:56-05:00Matthew McConaughey Visits Texas Football
<figure>
<img alt="91st Rose Bowl Game" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7YEg_CRkci08xEwrMjmEDLs5wiI=/0x0:3000x2000/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60892701/51907620.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="jO2tG6">AUSTIN — The University of Texas football program welcomed alumnus and <em>Professor</em> Matthew McConaughey to practice this week to help the team prepare for the upcoming season.</p>
<div id="eVKfVz">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Matthew McConaughey shared his thoughts on Texas Football this morning. <a href="https://twitter.com/McConaughey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@McConaughey</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ThisIsTexas?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ThisIsTexas</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HookEm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HookEm</a> <a href="https://t.co/lVe5gzJouj">pic.twitter.com/lVe5gzJouj</a></p>— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/TexasFootball/status/1030186333115953158?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2018</a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div>
<p id="ZZEDmX">The <em>very</em> wealthy program that has averaged six losses per year over the last eight seasons could use a little encouragement so they brought in America’s greatest pitchman. Good Bull Hunting had exclusive access to the entirety of the motivational sesh.</p>
<p id="jl8CG4">What follows are direct quotes from the man himself. It’s helpful for you to read the quotes aloud in your cubicle in your slowest, East-Texas-Piney-Woods-kinda-high drawwwl.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4PteBNqzXeBDaO4DcBxy7R3TD00=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/12185121/McConaughey.jpg">
</figure>
<p id="jwIgXF"><strong>MM</strong>: Buenos dias kemosabes. Sure appreciate you guerrilla pupils inviting me into your abode. Your dom-i-cile. Your <em>bones.</em></p>
<p id="XHg5lk">This blue pelota we call earth is just a fence post in the cosmos. I visit y’all today after a six week pilgrimage of cleansing in the Nepalese montañas [<em>makes wavy motion with hands representing mountains</em>]. It’s what my sherpa, Tej, - which means bright and ra-di-ant - would call a YA-tra [<em>laughs mischievously to self</em>].</p>
<p id="wPxQy6">Lemme key you cats in on a lil something Tej taught me - we are pack animals, k? The lone wolf might get the sweet nectar, but it will cost him his soul. You and me? The <em>pack</em>? Brother, we get to feast on cabrito and jam-ba-lay-a when the day is done because we sojourned forth together.</p>
<p id="F4OuWq">Know thyself, wolf pack. Mind. Body. Spirit. It’s a cycle.</p>
<p id="1qIujg">[<em>pauses for 25 seconds</em>]</p>
<p id="fw7JBY">Say, moonface - fire me that orb.</p>
<p id="kCQNF8">[<em>walk-on quarterback throws McConaughey a football</em>]</p>
<p id="PwOdwS">This is it, caballeros. This Brazilian nut we call a foot-ball is the cycle. This cycle was once a pig. That pig did not know his des-tin-y was to be a ball. Coulda been a sausage in your breakfast taco. Coulda been a root vegetable. E-qui-nim-i-ty would have that little piggy be the football, gentlemen. What’s your cycle? What’s the shaman of your soul leading you toward?</p>
<p id="4Pt8I1">Now check this out - I was recently in a [<em>begins to whisper</em>] potion shop. A voodoo lair. I inhaled the potions. Listened to them too. [<em>winks at Tom Herman</em>] The potion of life is where our True North must point. Checks and balances. A dab of that potion on your chakras enriches the pack. Feed the pack, hombres. Feed it.</p>
<p id="8KNYus">Told y’all earlier it’s time for Texas Foot-ball to turn the page. Here’s the riddle though - the book is a scroll. It must be unwound [<em>flutters hands like a bird</em>]. How are you going to unwind your soul on the desolate road to tran-quil-i-ty and Lawr-ence Kan-sas, pardners?</p>
<p id="FizGEd">Unwind.</p>
<p id="XnDpRA">Any questions?</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/L6_4q052aVhXDw-qzmPXP0xJKa4=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/12194797/Breckyn.jpg">
</figure>
<p id="qJUKTG"><strong>MM</strong>: Yes, Sampson? Unwind thyself onto me.</p>
<p id="4I7qpr"><strong>Breckyn Hager</strong>: It’s Breckyn, sir.</p>
<p id="70PiI4"><strong>MM</strong>: Onward, Brenda.</p>
<p id="Ul744L"><strong>Breckyn</strong>: .... uh, ok... How do we prepare for Maryland?</p>
<p id="Bp38Sf"><strong>MM</strong>: [<em>looks pensively at the HVAC system for a moment</em>] Heh heh the turtle. Much to be learned from a turtle. I lived among a nest of turtles after filming <em>Sahara</em>. Wise animals. Slow, but astute.</p>
<p id="nKQ9od">Listen here, Breckenridge. A turtle is a creature but it’s also a verb. And so are you. Are you going to dissect the turtle or are you going to win by surrender?</p>
<p id="XbpSKO">A turtle is a worthy adversary. It will lead you forth to the river of carnal truths.</p>
<p id="tTBmeD">Onward, kemosabes. In you I see a mirror reflecting another mirror. Let it cut to the bone. </p>
<p id="rm5V2M">Hook ‘em.</p>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2018/8/17/17715160/matthew-mcconaughey-visits-texas-footballJimmy Gardner2018-07-26T11:42:11-05:002018-07-26T11:42:11-05:00Daily Bull 7.26.18 - Ags play in 5 weeks
<figure>
<img alt="Alabama v USC" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9eSfHQhWre3QH4244LWalKGQux0=/0x0:5184x3456/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60514637/599796620.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Let’s look at the schedule.</p> <p id="ePggOb">Your Fighting Texas Aggies open the 2018 season five weeks from today.</p>
<p id="gknHZy">It’s hotter than shit down here in Texas, but the sweet reprieve of football is finally in sight.</p>
<p id="OxvETB">Now that we can see the start of the best time of the year, I thought we could talk shop and crack wise about the 2018 schedule. I am not going to do anything hacky or tired like predict the record, or worse - throw out INDUSTRY CRYSTAL BALL score predictions for each game. Nah nah you guys. I am going to break these games into buckets that will ultimately categorize what Jimbo Year 1 might look like.</p>
<h2 id="atEEUR">BIG games but not necessarily the most IMPORTANT games</h2>
<h3 id="FUD2o0">vs. Clemson | Kyle Field | Saturday, September 8</h3>
<h3 id="XdQmi2">at Alabama | Bryant-Denny Stadium | Saturday, September 22</h3>
<p id="tqQQ8K"><strong>Significance: </strong>welcome to Aggieland, Jimbo. Your first Power 5 game is against one of the best programs of the last 10 years. Your second? Oh, it’s on the road against the best coach in college football history and his modern dynasty.</p>
<p id="5EzlJX"><strong>What would win(s) mean? </strong>Expectations from our rabid (and a lil entitled) fan base will inexplicably get even higher.</p>
<p id="FnPl0c"><strong>What would loss(es) mean?</strong> Barring blowouts, taking Ls here is nothing catastrophic. The Ags will be 7-13 point dogs in both games. Look for grit and effort.</p>
<h2 id="Ysmdyi">Mindless deposits into the Bowl Eligibility account</h2>
<h3 id="468kyp">vs. Northwestern State | Kyle Field | Thursday, August 30</h3>
<h3 id="claT5p">vs. Louisiana Monroe | Kyle Field | Saturday, September 15</h3>
<h3 id="rXows3">vs. Kentucky | Kyle Field | Saturday, October 6</h3>
<h3 id="alv5bV">vs. UAB | Kyle Field | Saturday, November 17</h3>
<p id="jcNTuR"><strong>Significance: </strong>Very little. This batch should get Jimbo 50-66% of the way toward a bowl game in Year 1. Make the Hate Barn Hateful Again #MHBHA</p>
<p id="3K3trK"><strong>What would win(s) mean?</strong> See above. Hopefully depth gets to develop and our starters get to rest.</p>
<p id="IedIcT"><strong>What would loss(es) mean?</strong> A shitload of overreaction from fans and pundits. A cruel confrontation with reality that we are, in fact, in rebuild mode. Probably a kick in the nuts for recruiting.</p>
<h2 id="VUcbKU">The early swing games</h2>
<h3 id="b2KfSh">vs. Arkansas | AT&T Stadium | Saturday, September 29</h3>
<h3 id="hCZjA0">at South Carolina | Williams-Brice Stadium | Saturday, October 13</h3>
<p id="OsylRX"><strong>Significance: </strong>I can see you getting out your pen - your <em>ink </em>- ready to chalk Arky up as a W. Don’t. Recent history suggests this game will be close - like more overtime-close. This represents a huge game for Chad Morris in <em>his</em> Year 1 - recruiting, against his alma mater, etc. </p>
<p id="72ZJ5H">Also, A&M is coming into this game seven days after a roadie to Tuscaloosa. How will the team be emotionally and physically? It has the makings of a huge letdown spot.</p>
<p id="HmOuJH">Two weeks later, the Ags are back on the road to play a Carolina program that is quietly building something strong.</p>
<p id="qEkOx7"><strong>What would win(s) mean?</strong> Survival. Taking care of business in the SEC. You don’t get pizza parties for beating the Pigs and the Cocks.</p>
<p id="KLW19m"><strong>What would loss(es) mean?</strong> The very plausible scenario takes shape that has A&M under .500 in the middle of October.</p>
<h2 id="lSCN0A">The “are y’all still soft?” gauntlet</h2>
<h3 id="epRKa2">at Mississippi State | Davis-Wade Stadium | Saturday, October 27</h3>
<h3 id="yrs0bO">at Auburn | Jordan-Hare Stadium | Saturday, November 3</h3>
<h3 id="eBwitb">vs. Ole Miss | Kyle Field | Saturday, November 10</h3>
<p id="q15BY6"><strong>Significance:</strong> Gut Check time. These three games are certainly not big on a national scale, but I believe they are enormous for the program. These games will show us very clearly if there has been a cultural shift with Texas A&M football. Each of these games is winnable. Each opponent <em>should</em> make the upperclassmen’s blood boil based on previous year’s outcomes.</p>
<p id="YnSVKd">The 2016 game in Starkville was, in many ways, the beginning of the end for Sumlin. The team of swag and talk got kicked in the teeth and run out of town by a very average Mississippi State squad. This should have people fucking pissed.</p>
<p id="H31oM1">The Alabama and Clemson games are the hot tickets, but you will know if a foundation is being established based on how this A&M team competes against the Mississippi schools. If the Ags play angry and physical, they can win both games by 2+ touchdowns. The talent disparity is there.</p>
<p id="NDK7JC"><strong>What would win(s) mean?</strong> The Ags are positioning themselves for an 8-10 win season with a promising trajectory and a solid bowl bid.</p>
<p id="6Egwce"><strong>What would loss(es) mean?</strong> Quite simply, that the rebuild is going to require Fisher getting his guys. A&M has no business worrying about Alabama, LSU, and Auburn if it can’t take care of the state of Mississippi.</p>
<h2 id="NjUe0F">Thanksgiving Feast or Famine</h2>
<h3 id="of8Wyl">vs. LSU | Kyle Field | Saturday, November 24</h3>
<p id="4UwOrR"><strong>Significance: </strong>it’s time. This is not a good LSU team and it’s being coached by a lovable man who has no business being in his current job. In truly bizarre fashion, A&M has severely hampered LSU by <em>losing </em>to them in recent years. Humans are emotional in many ways to their own detriment - cajuns particularly! By losing to LSU, A&M kept Les Miles at LSU longer than he should have been. By losing to LSU, A&M gifted one of the best jobs in the country to interim coach Ed Orgeron.</p>
<p id="kuEiPq">It’s way past time that A&M started winning against LSU.</p>
<p id="0iV1d7"><strong>What would a win mean?</strong> A big ol’ Tiger off the back. Some momentum, for once, heading into bowl season.</p>
<p id="TGPpLj"><strong>What would a loss mean?</strong> See above. A soft football program has more soul searching to do. Kyle Field remains a far too easy place to play for road teams.</p>
<p id="2YaDGr"></p>
<p id="gO2XFP">How do you like dem buckets?</p>
<p id="uYhoUK">Gig ‘em.</p>
<p id="fP1EDc"></p>
https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2018/7/26/17616550/daily-bull-7-26-18-ags-play-in-5-weeksJimmy Gardner