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No Warren, No Problem (Kind Of A Problem) · Talkin' Tech

0:39
SPEAKER_06: Welcome in, everybody, to the Talk and Tech Podcast, powered by the Nation, part of the Nation Podcast Network.
0:44
SPEAKER_06: I'm your host, Steven Rodriguez.
0:45
SPEAKER_06: My co-host, Tristan McGonagall, is here.
0:47
SPEAKER_06: Tristan, what is up, my friend?
0:49
SPEAKER_05: Steven, all I know is the last game we watched, we won.
0:52
SPEAKER_05: And I think that's all that matters when we're discussing this podcast.
0:55
SPEAKER_05: Uh, would you agree?
0:57
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, no, I mean, I think we actively avoid recording after losses.
1:01
SPEAKER_05: Uh yeah, we're real excited to hop on the mic after an L.
1:05
SPEAKER_06: It's not a coincidence.
1:06
SPEAKER_06: I mean, it's a you know, whatever.
1:08
SPEAKER_06: It is what it is.
1:09
SPEAKER_06: We're coming off a dub against TCU.
1:12
SPEAKER_06: Men's basketball, uh, without Warren Washington, pulls it out against the Horn Frogs.
1:17
SPEAKER_06: Um, funny, kind of funny that we pulled off an impossible win against TCU.
1:23
SPEAKER_06: Pretty funny.
1:24
SPEAKER_06: Kind of funny.
1:25
SPEAKER_06: They were also without their big their starting big guy.
1:28
SPEAKER_06: But it doesn't matter.
1:29
SPEAKER_06: It affects us more, okay?
1:30
SPEAKER_06: That's what the story is.
1:31
SPEAKER_06: It affects us more.
1:32
SPEAKER_06: We won 82, 81.
1:34
SPEAKER_06: But before we talk about TCU, let's just touch on Iowa State real quick because since we last recorded, we just talk about it.
1:41
SPEAKER_06: It was a good effort, you know, whatever.
1:42
SPEAKER_06: Right, fine, fine, fine.
1:44
SPEAKER_06: Texas Tech lost to number 10 Iowa State, who is now, I believe, number six Iowa State, 82 to 74 names.
1:52
SPEAKER_06: Again, no war in Washington after the injury he suffered against Kansas.
1:56
SPEAKER_06: Um, overall frustrating game, but you played a really, really good Iowa State team at Hilton.
2:03
SPEAKER_06: They're undefeated at Hilton for a reason.
2:05
SPEAKER_06: Um, and you just couldn't quite get it together.
2:08
SPEAKER_06: It was a it's a disappointing performance from Pop Isaacs.
2:11
SPEAKER_06: He was two of 11 from the field, oh of seven from three, five turnovers.
2:15
SPEAKER_06: Uh you were really feeling the blowback on the tech team after the Iowa State game.
2:22
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I mean, it's it's kind of one of those wake-up calls.
2:26
SPEAKER_05: You know, we keep shooting up into this uh cloud nine mentality that this basketball team has keep launching us to uh for good reason.
2:34
SPEAKER_05: I mean, this this basketball team gives you so many reasons to believe.
2:37
SPEAKER_05: But this is just kind of like a reality check like, hey, you know, whenever you're not a complete team, you're probably not gonna win really hard games.
2:46
SPEAKER_05: Um, unfortunately, that's how sports go.
2:48
SPEAKER_05: I hate that.
2:49
SPEAKER_05: I wish Tech Tech could win no matter what shape the team is in, but unfortunately, that's not the world we live in.
2:55
SPEAKER_05: And the Cyclones are uh just were a foe that could not be overcome that night, even though the boys put up a good effort.
3:01
SPEAKER_06: I will give them credit.
3:02
SPEAKER_06: Towards the end of the game, they made it at least a little scary for Iowa State.
3:06
SPEAKER_06: Um, I think they got within six at one point, but you know, it just wasn't in the cards.
3:10
SPEAKER_06: I mean, this team, we've talked about it all year long, it is severely the ceiling is severely lowered without Warren Washington on the floor.
3:19
SPEAKER_06: It just is.
3:20
SPEAKER_06: He's he's the most irreplaceable part of this team.
3:23
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, you can squeeze out some dubs like we did against TCU, but I mean, he limits what this team is capable of when he's not playing.
3:33
SPEAKER_05: Would you say that this sport is reliant on really tall guys?
3:37
SPEAKER_05: Is this new information?
3:39
SPEAKER_06: Really good tall guys.
3:41
SPEAKER_06: Really good tall guys, I will say.
3:43
SPEAKER_06: Uh, just uh on both ends of the floor.
3:46
SPEAKER_06: I mean, he's you can't replace the pick and roll lob threat that Warren Washington is on the offensive side, and then you can't replace his defensive effort in the paint and just absolutely terrifying guys, meeting them at the rim, blocking their shot.
4:02
SPEAKER_06: It's it's irreplaceable.
4:03
SPEAKER_06: And and this is no, this is nothing against Robert Jennings, nothing against Kyron Lindsay, but uh you don't have another seven-footer, and so yeah, you're gonna suffer in games uh against really good teams like Iowa State.
4:14
SPEAKER_05: Well, President Washington is one of the most respected generals in American history for a reason, so all these just can't be overlooked, you know, with that tactical input.
4:23
SPEAKER_06: Absolutely.
4:24
SPEAKER_06: But after the loss at Ames, we went back.
4:28
SPEAKER_06: We went back to the great city of Lovic, Texas, hosting the stupid purple frogs.
4:35
SPEAKER_06: I'm so sick of TCU.
4:37
SPEAKER_06: Why?
4:38
SPEAKER_06: What's the issue?
4:39
SPEAKER_06: I don't like them.
4:40
SPEAKER_06: I just don't like I don't like anything about them.
4:42
SPEAKER_06: I don't like anything about them.
4:43
SPEAKER_06: I don't like their colors, I don't like their faces, I don't like that Micah PV went four for four from three in the first matchup.
4:50
SPEAKER_06: I don't like Jamie Dixon, I don't like Jerry Patterson, who's now a famous Baylor Bear.
4:56
SPEAKER_06: But I don't like TCU.
5:00
SPEAKER_05: I I I know I don't know what it is about TCU and basketball and oh I generally every sport.
5:05
SPEAKER_05: I feel like it's just we always meet on the court and think weird things are gonna happen or the field, whatever.
5:11
SPEAKER_05: It's gonna be a tight game generally, and it's gonna be just wacky.
5:16
SPEAKER_05: And one side's gonna be very unhappy about it.
5:19
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, one side was very unhappy about it.
5:22
SPEAKER_06: Luckily, that side was not us after the 82-81 win on Tuesday night.
5:27
SPEAKER_06: Again, no Warren Washington.
5:29
SPEAKER_06: And I first and foremost, any game that this team wins in the Big 12 without Warren Washington is a massive win.
5:39
SPEAKER_06: Like, just fantastic.
5:42
SPEAKER_06: I mean, it's such a big plus to be able to grind out with a bunch of guards that didn't even shoot well in this game.
5:48
SPEAKER_06: You shot 27% from three as as a team, Pop Isaac's 0 of five, Chance McMillan, one of four.
5:56
SPEAKER_06: Those guys have just not found any sort of rhythm from behind the arc.
6:00
SPEAKER_06: Uh, you got out rebounded by 13, 49 to 36, and you still won the basketball game.
6:07
SPEAKER_06: How Grant McCastlin.
6:10
SPEAKER_06: Grant McCasslin is how.
6:12
SPEAKER_06: Um, getting his team ready, just next man up mentality.
6:16
SPEAKER_06: Kyron, you got to give him credit because he came off the bench, finished the game, probably played the last 13 minutes straight.
6:23
SPEAKER_06: He was clearly gassed at the end, but made some huge plays.
6:27
SPEAKER_06: I mean, he was a spark of the comeback.
6:29
SPEAKER_06: TCU went up, I think 6959 at one point in the second half, with maybe like seven minutes, six minutes left.
6:37
SPEAKER_06: And tech went on an 8-0 run.
6:39
SPEAKER_06: A lot of that was led by Kyron Lindsay, getting a couple buckets, getting up a lot, getting rebounds.
6:45
SPEAKER_06: Um, so obviously you had guys step up, but just a huge, really good team victory.
6:53
SPEAKER_05: It's it's funny looking at the the win probability.
6:56
SPEAKER_05: It was looking like TCU is at something like shoot seven, eighty percent win probability at the end of the game, but we somehow managed to scrape in and win this thing.
7:07
SPEAKER_05: And obviously, Steven, you know what I'm gonna say here.
7:11
SPEAKER_05: You said Grant McCasslin, but you know how else was responsible for this dub?
7:15
SPEAKER_04: Who's that?
7:16
SPEAKER_05: The crowd, Steven.
7:17
SPEAKER_05: Yes, yes, always getting props from the talking heads, always getting props on the social medias for good reason.
7:25
SPEAKER_05: Seeing Lovett come out and support these guys, even when things aren't looking very uh favorable outcome-wise for our guys when it comes to the squad makeup right now.
7:36
SPEAKER_05: They still came out, got loud.
7:38
SPEAKER_05: I mean, you have to when you're a ranked team, that's just sad if you don't, but shoot, man.
7:42
SPEAKER_05: I don't care if they came on the court afterwards, it wasn't really a court squat storm, whatever.
7:46
SPEAKER_05: But uh, I I just another fantastic showing from the fans.
7:50
SPEAKER_05: Our fans are seriously world class.
7:53
SPEAKER_05: I love it.
7:54
SPEAKER_06: I believe, according to Nathan Geis with the Lubbock Avalanche Journal, that was the fourth sellout of conference play so far for Texas Tech.
8:03
SPEAKER_06: With guess who's coming to town next?
8:06
SPEAKER_05: Ooh, the university.
8:10
SPEAKER_05: I'm sorry, you're saying you're being a little more respectful.
8:13
SPEAKER_06: The University of Dipshits.
8:17
SPEAKER_06: Thank you, thank you.
8:19
SPEAKER_06: The Texas Longhorns are the next opponent coming to the USA.
8:23
SPEAKER_06: Clearly, that will be the fifth sellout, and I believe that is a record.
8:27
SPEAKER_06: Um, I could be wrong, but I mean, regardless, the fan support has been incredible.
8:36
SPEAKER_06: Roddy Terry.
8:38
SPEAKER_06: I uh well, okay, his likability factor has gone down ever since he had his whole little spiel about the Hordons.
8:44
SPEAKER_06: That's true.
8:44
SPEAKER_06: So that's true.
8:45
SPEAKER_06: So, but prior to that, he was a very likable guy.
8:48
SPEAKER_06: Uh, now I'm just fine with kicking his ass, just like every Longhorn coach before him.
8:54
SPEAKER_05: He's gonna have a like letter of notice in every fan's mailbox about the horns down and how legal action will be taken due to the words spoken and the hands shown towards this team.
9:09
SPEAKER_06: Police will be on site, and if they see one horns down, they're taking them out.
9:16
SPEAKER_05: The Hub City police better shred any sort of complaints that comes to the office regarding that, as they should.
9:24
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
9:26
SPEAKER_06: Exciting, exciting, looking forward to that one.
9:29
SPEAKER_06: But um, I think just a couple more points on the TCU game.
9:33
SPEAKER_06: Your guard play.
9:36
SPEAKER_06: So Pop Isaacs has gotten a brutal, brutal beatdown from our own fan base over the last several games on Twitter and uh several other social medias because he hasn't shot the ball well.
9:49
SPEAKER_06: And quite frankly, before TCU, he hasn't really played well.
9:52
SPEAKER_06: His last good game was against Cincinnati.
9:55
SPEAKER_06: Um, he's turned the ball over, he's you know, really struggled.
9:59
SPEAKER_06: Uh, he's out of control at times, he's throwing.
10:02
SPEAKER_06: I mean, it's just it's and then mixed on top of he can't hit a shot to save his life.
10:07
SPEAKER_06: So the fan base was really kind of taking a turn on him.
10:11
SPEAKER_06: Um, and then the last 10 minutes of the TCU game happened where he was just fantastic.
10:18
SPEAKER_06: He showed exactly why you don't bench one of your best players.
10:24
SPEAKER_06: So many people, so many stupid, stupid people were calling for Pop Isaacs to get benched, and it's just clearly people that don't know ball.
10:34
SPEAKER_05: Steven, you're Mr.
10:35
SPEAKER_05: Ball knower in the sport of basketball.
10:38
SPEAKER_05: Do you just keep your star out there until they shoot their way out of it or work their way out of it?
10:44
SPEAKER_06: Well, generally speaking.
10:46
SPEAKER_06: People are mistaking Pop Isaacs for just a shooter.
10:50
SPEAKER_06: He's not just a shooter, he's not just a guy, like Kerwin Walton's a shooter.
10:54
SPEAKER_06: You know, like if Kerwin's not shooting well, you know, he's been pretty good on the defensive end of the floor, but like it it's just not a major plus for you if you're not knocking down your shots.
11:03
SPEAKER_06: Pop Isaacs does so many things outside of his shooting that benefit this team that he showed in those last 10 minutes.
11:11
SPEAKER_06: I mean, he was nine of ten from the free throw line this game.
11:14
SPEAKER_06: He had six defensive rebounds, he had four assists, two steals.
11:17
SPEAKER_06: I mean, he does a little bit of everything to really help your team, and he made just some extremely smart plays.
11:23
SPEAKER_06: The the points that ultimately tied it, I think, with I think it was 71-71.
11:30
SPEAKER_06: Darien Williams got a fast break dunk.
11:32
SPEAKER_06: Pop Isaacs was the guy who led the way down the floor, made a terrific pass around the TCU defender for the easy dunk that tied it up, and the crowd went nuts.
11:40
SPEAKER_06: So um, you don't bench Pop Isaacs.
11:43
SPEAKER_06: That's yeah, basically what I'm saying.
11:45
SPEAKER_05: No, I I I think I agree with that, sir.
11:48
SPEAKER_05: Um, there's a whole lot of social media swirlings around this game.
11:52
SPEAKER_05: I think this was one of the most contested, hotly contested games I've seen on Twitter, Tex Tech wise, um, in recent memory.
12:01
SPEAKER_05: I really can't recall a last time when the fans were so contentious with each other uh over the basketball game.
12:08
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, there's a lot.
12:09
SPEAKER_06: I mean, I've I have a lot of I have a lot of thoughts on social media presence within Texas Tech, um, especially for basketball.
12:17
SPEAKER_06: So we had our guy, friend of the pod, Norren Sodiase, go on Twitter after the game, uh, sent some pretty harsh, harsh tweets uh towards the team, basically saying, you know, they these guys don't deserve to win this game.
12:32
SPEAKER_06: Why are you not getting back on defense?
12:34
SPEAKER_06: You're not gonna be successful in March with the way that we're playing.
12:37
SPEAKER_06: And he kept it up even after we won.
12:40
SPEAKER_06: And he got some blowback.
12:41
SPEAKER_06: This is the first time ever I think Norrence has gotten blowback on social media is because normally he's a very positive dude, hype up guy, you know.
12:49
SPEAKER_06: When Texas Tech is winning, it's just LFG, let's go.
12:52
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, uh, but this time it was a little different.
12:54
SPEAKER_06: And I think I don't know what were your thoughts on on kind of the blowback that Norren's got.
13:01
SPEAKER_05: I think it's unfounded.
13:03
SPEAKER_05: Um, I think what it what I think the reason why the blowback is is immediately either unexpectedly intense or just a shock in general is because I don't think we ever expect uh we I think we have this image of a guy who's just a cheerleader for the team rather than a true ball knower who absolutely understands the game better than anybody tweeting at him.
13:30
SPEAKER_05: Um, and I think any criticism driven towards Nor and Sodiase's comments uh the in in the sense that he did them in some with some sort of malice is completely unfounded.
13:45
SPEAKER_05: Because at the end of the day, the only reason why he is being critical is because he understands how the sport works, like he understands how college basketball works, he understands how Texas Tech basketball wins, and he's just analyzing the game, and any one of his insights is just a um we could do better, and I know we can do better, we've done better, and he loves his program more than any of us could even match because of the blood, sweat, and tears he's literally poured into the program.
14:20
SPEAKER_05: So I think every guy is absolutely allowed to have his opinion, especially whenever he literally played on the team, especially under his most under some of some of our most successful years.
14:29
SPEAKER_05: So that's kind of my initial reaction.
14:31
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I mean, the crazy part is everything he said was right.
14:36
SPEAKER_06: He didn't say one thing that was wrong.
14:38
SPEAKER_06: I don't think if you asked any of these fans, now this Texas Tech team deserves credit for winning that game without one of their biggest pieces.
14:46
SPEAKER_06: Nobody is denying that, but they were they have been really, really poor at rebounding pretty much the entire year.
14:54
SPEAKER_06: Defensively, they were not getting back against TCU in time.
14:58
SPEAKER_06: They were giving up a lot of easy buckets, they gave up a very crucial offensive rebound at the very end of the game.
15:04
SPEAKER_06: Uh, put back for TCU to, I mean, they could have they missed a free throw, it was a three-point game.
15:09
SPEAKER_06: We get the rebound, we go up by multiple possessions.
15:12
SPEAKER_06: Instead, they get a clear offensive rebound, put it right back up.
15:15
SPEAKER_06: It's a one-point game.
15:16
SPEAKER_06: Um, nothing that Norton said was wrong.
15:19
SPEAKER_06: You need defense, you need hustle, you need rebounding to go far in this tournament.
15:24
SPEAKER_06: And really, there's no excuses.
15:26
SPEAKER_06: Like, yeah, you're down your biggest, your biggest player, your best rebounder, your best shot blocker, but you got to find a way, man.
15:34
SPEAKER_06: And this is coming from a dude who brought a team to the championship game, helped bring a team to the championship game.
15:42
SPEAKER_06: And what is what was his main focus?
15:44
SPEAKER_06: Defense, hustle, rebounding.
15:47
SPEAKER_06: So, of course, he's gonna call those things out.
15:49
SPEAKER_06: I mean, there should have been no reaction to what he's saying.
15:53
SPEAKER_06: Everybody should just not that everything Norren says is gold, right?
15:57
SPEAKER_06: Which majority of it is, but I mean, you just have to trust this guy and know that he's been through these battles before and he kind of knows what the hell he's talking about.
16:06
SPEAKER_05: I think an extra layer to this as well is you're not just talking about a guy who was just who just stepped on campus as a NBA prospect star.
16:15
SPEAKER_05: You're talking about a guy who developed at Texas Tech.
16:18
SPEAKER_05: So he's not he understands the struggle of uh becoming better as you go.
16:24
SPEAKER_05: So I think he's just pointing out that there are improvements to be made to be made, especially with the group that you know has has some some of them having a few years ahead of them.
16:35
SPEAKER_05: So I think that this guy has really been through it all with tech and is absolutely allowed to put his piece out there.
16:41
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I mean, the other part of this, so the I've never understood this aspect of it with Texas Tech fans, especially, and it could happen with other fan bases.
16:54
SPEAKER_06: I don't I don't know because I'm not involved with other fan bases on Twitter, but the pedestal that we sometimes put players' parents on on Twitter and on the stupid social media apps, the very involved parents, the pedestal that we put these people on is a little insane to me.
17:14
SPEAKER_06: So, I mean, this all kind of started and got a little hotter today was when Pop Isaac's dad Rick, who we're a big fan of, we're a big fan of Rick Isaacs and his wacky Twitter account with wacky uh statements and complaining about whoever.
17:28
SPEAKER_06: Um, but he kind of called out Norren's.
17:30
SPEAKER_06: I mean, he was he basically said, uh, alumni on this platform constantly bitching about this team and its parts.
17:37
SPEAKER_06: My guys across the USA can't believe the chirping game after game after game.
17:42
SPEAKER_06: You don't think parents of recruits see this?
17:44
SPEAKER_06: It's just flat ignorant.
17:46
SPEAKER_06: One former player said kids don't deserve the W.
17:49
SPEAKER_06: Clearly, he was talking about Norrence because Norren's tweeted out.
17:52
SPEAKER_06: He tweeted out, these guys don't deserve to win.
17:54
SPEAKER_06: Um, Norrence responded with some pretty good items.
17:59
SPEAKER_06: I'll let you go to that tweet and and read it.
18:01
SPEAKER_06: But the the thing is over involved parents on social media for these players get put on this pedestal that is very much it kind of irks me a little bit, you know.
18:16
SPEAKER_05: Can you explain why?
18:18
SPEAKER_06: I'm just like parents of players have an innate bias towards their child, which they should which they should.
18:27
SPEAKER_06: It's uh it's their child, they're always going to root for that child before they root for whatever school that child is playing for.
18:34
SPEAKER_06: It's always gonna happen.
18:35
SPEAKER_06: And then we have the other side of it with fans that are going to root for their school first and foremost.
18:42
SPEAKER_06: But when those kids get criticized, when Pop Isaac is having a poor stretch and shoot not shooting well, and players are calling for him to get benched.
18:52
SPEAKER_06: Uh parents are going to say something about that because they're talking about their kid.
18:56
SPEAKER_06: So I'm not necessarily blaming the parent for saying something on social media, it's just how people can't understand or think it's a horrible thing that the parents are calling out the fans.
19:09
SPEAKER_06: I just don't get the whole dynamic.
19:11
SPEAKER_06: Like, I think it's super weird how they're put on this weird pedestal.
19:14
SPEAKER_06: It happened all the time with Terrence Shannon's mom, and it always irked me on social media.
19:20
SPEAKER_06: Everybody was like, Oh my gosh, she's a queen, she can do no wrong, but she's there for TJ.
19:25
SPEAKER_06: And then when TJ left, everybody like was like, Oh, she's the best.
19:30
SPEAKER_06: It's like, no, she's rooting for her child.
19:32
SPEAKER_06: This is weird that you guys are like idolizing these people.
19:37
SPEAKER_05: Uh okay, um, I totally get where you're coming from, but I I think I think here's the reason why fans kind of become glued to these parents is one, the parents an extension of the player, and the player's an extension of the school, so it's just fans kind of supporting all aspects of anything remotely connected to the school, and it's really easy to connect to human beings because human beings talk back to you, you know, they're they're living people.
20:04
SPEAKER_05: Um two, I think the reason why we seem to be so focused on some of these parents is because parents being this active on social media is actually quite rare.
20:18
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I can't recall for pretty much every player that's ever come through tech toch in any sport.
20:24
SPEAKER_05: I could maybe do on the count on just one hand.
20:26
SPEAKER_05: How many times parents have actually been a force on the social media platform?
20:31
SPEAKER_05: So I think that's another thing, is because they kind of they kind of take on the celebrity uh as a secondhand effect from their child.
20:38
SPEAKER_05: And because a lot of times these parents are doing more more talking on social media than their their kid ever is.
20:43
SPEAKER_05: So I think that's maybe why, because we're kind of looking for that absence of the the uh the player actually doing it themselves.
20:50
SPEAKER_05: Um, because at the end of the day, um I'd like to think if I was a parent of one of these children, and you know, we're pretty active on Twitter, but how I probably would not acknowledge anything on Twitter about my kid besides praise.
21:06
SPEAKER_05: You know, I don't think I would I think I would just flat out just move past any of the criticisms because it just what good does it do to bring any attention to that anyway?
21:13
SPEAKER_05: It's just gonna make you upset, it's gonna make your kid upset.
21:15
SPEAKER_05: So that's the internet arguments are dumb.
21:18
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I mean, it's a good idea if you're a parent to just stay off social media, quite honestly.
21:23
SPEAKER_06: Like, I think that's ideal.
21:25
SPEAKER_06: I mean, and uh another part of this that just made me upset was was during that Rick Isaacs tweet, he was saying, You don't think parents of recruits see this?
21:33
SPEAKER_06: That pissed me off.
21:35
SPEAKER_06: I was like, What I was like, come on, man, you're really like you're bringing up a former player criticizing a team that has a lot of potential, giving them really positive.
21:46
SPEAKER_06: I mean, it's it's positive feedback.
21:48
SPEAKER_06: Like he said it multiple times loves this, love this team.
21:52
SPEAKER_06: I think this team can go really far.
21:54
SPEAKER_06: And he's calling out like parents of recruits saying that a Norantoniase tweet is gonna like.
22:00
SPEAKER_06: Potentially damage the kids recruiting to Texas Tech.
22:03
SPEAKER_06: Like, come on, man.
22:04
SPEAKER_06: Stop it.
22:05
SPEAKER_06: That's weak.
22:06
SPEAKER_06: That's weak.
22:06
SPEAKER_06: I don't deny that some parents and some high school kids really take social media way too seriously.
22:12
SPEAKER_06: That's a problem in of itself.
22:14
SPEAKER_06: But like to try to bring the guy down by saying you're damaging recruiting is just absolutely ridiculous.
22:22
SPEAKER_05: Norrence is not ruining our chances with anybody.
22:25
SPEAKER_05: If anything, he's only going to help our chances with landing kids because he's a he's a role model alumni.
22:30
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, absolutely.
22:32
SPEAKER_06: So that I mean, I was just a little peeved off by that.
22:35
SPEAKER_06: Uh, and I clearly I don't understand the praise that these parents get.
22:39
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I feel it, man.
22:41
SPEAKER_05: Social media is a weird animal.
22:42
SPEAKER_05: We can never look at it like it's just a normal interaction because it just exacerbates literally any normal human conversation in any in every sense.
22:52
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, people take these dumb apps way too seriously.
22:55
SPEAKER_06: Yep.
22:56
SPEAKER_06: Uh whatever.
22:57
SPEAKER_06: Whatever.
22:57
SPEAKER_06: We won.
22:58
SPEAKER_06: We won the four game.
22:59
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, dude.
23:00
SPEAKER_06: Big time.
23:01
SPEAKER_06: 85.
23:03
SPEAKER_06: 8 and 5 in the Big 12.
23:05
SPEAKER_06: Did you think at this point in the year, if you told the first year of Grandma Caslin, Texas Tech would be tied for third with Kansas and Baylor in the Big 12 right now after 13 games?
23:19
SPEAKER_05: Dude, before the year started, we were always like, hey, if we're running in the middle of the pack, I'm happy.
23:23
SPEAKER_05: That was pretty much what the echo was.
23:25
SPEAKER_05: So no, dude, it's it's unreal.
23:27
SPEAKER_05: And we just kicked TCU town a peg, too, because now they're not in that same realm as us, they're a game behind now.
23:33
SPEAKER_05: Um, but dude, it's been such a wild year.
23:36
SPEAKER_05: And can I don't hate me for this?
23:38
SPEAKER_05: Can I give a quick hat tip towards the Houston Cooks year one coming in and just slashing around and making noise?
23:48
SPEAKER_06: I think a lot of us knew that Houston was going to be good.
23:52
SPEAKER_06: Um they've come in and just absolutely like taken it.
23:57
SPEAKER_06: They, I mean, they're running away with it.
24:00
SPEAKER_05: We we we we said they're gonna be good, but I think we all had this sort of thing in our mind where like, oh well, yeah, they're really good, but wait till they meet the grind of a Big 12 schedule.
24:10
SPEAKER_05: Not that it's not immensely harder for them now, but they're still it's it's they're doing fine.
24:18
SPEAKER_05: More than fine.
24:20
SPEAKER_06: They've won nine of their last 10 in the Big 12 grind, by the way.
24:24
SPEAKER_06: Uh yeah, um can I I did this with football season?
24:29
SPEAKER_06: Can I talk about Texas Tech's chances at winning the Big 12?
24:34
SPEAKER_06: Oh my god, you did this?
24:36
SPEAKER_06: I didn't do the whole thing, but I did look at this.
24:41
SPEAKER_06: So right now, Houston is leading the league 10 and 3, first place.
24:46
SPEAKER_06: Iowa State is number two at 9 and 4, they're a game back from Houston, and then it's Kansas Baylor, Texas Tech tied, two games back from Houston, one game back from Iowa State.
24:55
SPEAKER_06: So what you need here, clearly, you need Houston to lose twice, and you need Iowa State to lose once, and you need to win out, okay?
25:04
SPEAKER_06: That's it.
25:05
SPEAKER_06: That's simple.
25:06
SPEAKER_06: That's simple.
25:08
SPEAKER_06: But the more I looked at it, the more I looked at these five teams and their end of the season and what's more likely.
25:15
SPEAKER_06: To me, Iowa State has the best chance at winning a share of the Big 12, even over Houston.
25:22
SPEAKER_06: Iowa State's schedule down the stretch is cake.
25:26
SPEAKER_06: Like West Virginia, Oklahoma at UCF, BYU at Hilton, and then finish off in Manhattan against Kansas State, who is absolutely sputtered the last several weeks.
25:38
SPEAKER_06: So Iowa State I clearly should win out.
25:42
SPEAKER_06: And like, I don't think that's even I don't think there's a remote chance Iowa State doesn't win out.
25:49
SPEAKER_05: I thought we were gonna win the Big 12.
25:51
SPEAKER_05: I thought we were winning out.
25:52
SPEAKER_06: Now, listen here, they just have to drop one of those, just one of the next five.
25:57
SPEAKER_06: I think they're just a chance.
26:00
SPEAKER_06: That's it.
26:00
SPEAKER_06: We just have to win them all.
26:01
SPEAKER_06: It's easy, it's very easy.
26:03
SPEAKER_06: Houston, Houston has to win, has to lose two.
26:07
SPEAKER_06: They go two Waco this Saturday.
26:10
SPEAKER_06: There's a chance right there.
26:12
SPEAKER_06: Then they have Cincinnati at home.
26:14
SPEAKER_06: That's gonna be a dub.
26:15
SPEAKER_06: Although Cincinnati knows Houston, they played Houston for years now.
26:20
SPEAKER_06: I'm just saying, they kind of got a little thing going.
26:24
SPEAKER_06: Then they have two straight road games.
26:26
SPEAKER_06: One is in in Norman against Oklahoma, who is a decent team, they're not a slouch.
26:32
SPEAKER_06: Then they go two UCF.
26:34
SPEAKER_06: Okay, probably a win for Houston.
26:37
SPEAKER_06: But then they play Kansas in Houston for the last game of the season.
26:42
SPEAKER_06: So you think about it, they lose in Waco, and then they lose to Kansas at the last game of the season.
26:47
SPEAKER_06: That's two L's right there, and that's very it could happen.
26:51
SPEAKER_05: So you're you're very much this is this was supposed to be like a wow, Tex Tech's gonna do it all, but this really just sounds like Iowa State's gonna win the Big 12.
26:59
SPEAKER_06: And it's a lot of that, but you think about the two teams that we're tied with Kansas and Baylor.
27:05
SPEAKER_06: Kansas is back end right here.
27:08
SPEAKER_06: They have UT in Allen Fieldhouse.
27:10
SPEAKER_06: That's a win.
27:11
SPEAKER_06: You have BYU in Allen Fieldhouse.
27:13
SPEAKER_06: I don't know, BYU's a little frisky, they shoot the three-ball well.
27:16
SPEAKER_06: Kansas doesn't defend the three-ball well.
27:18
SPEAKER_06: Who knows?
27:19
SPEAKER_06: Then they go to Baylor again, Waco.
27:22
SPEAKER_06: Then rivalry game against Kansas State.
27:25
SPEAKER_06: Kansas State beat them the first round, and then they go to Houston.
27:29
SPEAKER_06: So Kansas, tough stretch.
27:33
SPEAKER_05: We're cool with them losing every game.
27:35
SPEAKER_06: I'm absolutely cool with Kansas, just absolutely blowing it and losing out.
27:39
SPEAKER_06: Uh Baylor, the toughest stretch of anybody down the stretch.
27:44
SPEAKER_06: Houston.
27:45
SPEAKER_06: Good lord.
27:46
SPEAKER_06: They play Houston, they go to Fort Worth to play TCU, they have Kansas uh in Waco, they have UT in Waco, and then they go to Lubbock and finish off the season.
27:59
SPEAKER_06: So Baylor, I don't know.
28:02
SPEAKER_06: That's a stretch.
28:03
SPEAKER_06: We just need them to beat Houston and Iowa State.
28:06
SPEAKER_06: That's all we need.
28:07
SPEAKER_06: That's all we need here.
28:08
SPEAKER_06: Oh, they don't play Iowa State.
28:10
SPEAKER_06: We need them to beat Houston and Kansas.
28:11
SPEAKER_06: That's what we need.
28:12
SPEAKER_06: And then Texas Tech just simply needs to win out.
28:15
SPEAKER_05: I I think the simplicity of just winning out is what really is selling me here, Steven.
28:22
SPEAKER_05: I think that's something Texas Tech can and should do.
28:26
SPEAKER_06: Here's your last five games of the year for Texas Tech.
28:28
SPEAKER_06: Going to UCF this Saturday.
28:31
SPEAKER_06: Let's get that bread.
28:33
SPEAKER_06: You host the stupid Longhorns in Lubbock after that.
28:36
SPEAKER_06: We're not losing that game.
28:38
SPEAKER_06: You go to Morgantown to play a 9-17 West Virginia team.
28:45
SPEAKER_06: Then you go to Stillwater to play an 11-14 Oklahoma State team, and then you finish off at home against Baylor.
28:54
SPEAKER_05: Are any of those teams clawing tooth and nail to make to make March Madness?
28:59
SPEAKER_05: No way, right?
28:59
SPEAKER_05: No way UCF West Virginia and Ogloba State are vying for March Madness.
29:03
SPEAKER_06: No, they're they're all out at this point, but Texas is still fighting.
29:07
SPEAKER_06: Texas is still fighting for a spot.
29:08
SPEAKER_06: Right.
29:09
SPEAKER_06: Um, you know, Baylor's gonna make it, but you know, they're still they have the same Big 12 record that you do.
29:15
SPEAKER_06: So, you know, they're working for seeding, it's gonna matter.
29:19
SPEAKER_06: And uh, I don't know.
29:20
SPEAKER_06: I just think of of those top five teams, Iowa State probably has the easiest schedule, and then you have the second easiest schedule as Texas Tech.
29:28
SPEAKER_05: You are stealing from your company with all this time you put in.
29:31
SPEAKER_05: The most math you ever done in your life, by the way, of doing these scenarios.
29:35
SPEAKER_06: I don't think the chance is very high, all of this to say.
29:40
SPEAKER_06: I don't think the chance is very high, but it's still possible.
29:43
SPEAKER_06: We just need Iowa State to slip up here, Houston blow a couple.
29:48
SPEAKER_06: We need what we really need here is UCF to go on a tear.
29:51
SPEAKER_06: Yes, except us.
29:53
SPEAKER_06: We need except for us after this Saturday.
29:58
SPEAKER_06: UCF win out, baby.
30:00
SPEAKER_06: Go beat everybody.
30:01
SPEAKER_06: Go nuts, go nuts, please.
30:05
SPEAKER_06: UCF.
30:07
SPEAKER_06: Oh, UCF's got tech, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Houston, TCU.
30:13
SPEAKER_06: Tough.
30:17
SPEAKER_05: Hey, they've already had a season and it's better than it should have been.
30:20
SPEAKER_06: So it's true, it's true.
30:22
SPEAKER_06: I mean, they were like the consensus, you're gonna be last.
30:25
SPEAKER_06: And they are winning a single game.
30:27
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah.
30:27
SPEAKER_06: They're doing all they won, they beat Kansas.
30:30
SPEAKER_06: How about you?
30:31
SPEAKER_06: UCF.
30:32
SPEAKER_06: All right, man.
30:33
SPEAKER_06: Anything else basketball related?
30:35
SPEAKER_05: I think that'll do it.
30:36
SPEAKER_05: And the more I can't believe you said it's not looking great for us.
30:40
SPEAKER_05: So I you know, you know, recruits hear this.
30:42
SPEAKER_05: You should be ashamed of yourself.
30:45
SPEAKER_06: I'm sorry, Rick Isaacs.
30:48
SPEAKER_06: Deeply apologize.
30:49
SPEAKER_06: Thank you.
30:49
SPEAKER_06: Um timer.
30:54
SPEAKER_06: All timer.
30:55
SPEAKER_06: All right, man.
30:56
SPEAKER_06: You want to talk about this.
30:57
SPEAKER_06: Uh, this was brought up, I think, today or yesterday.
31:00
SPEAKER_06: Uh, college football playoff.
31:03
SPEAKER_06: It's been solidified, man.
31:04
SPEAKER_06: A little bit of a new format with the Pac-12 dissolving.
31:08
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
31:08
SPEAKER_06: Kind of kind of run us through this.
31:10
SPEAKER_05: So uh, I'm sure many of you all over seen it.
31:12
SPEAKER_05: So it looks like the new college football playoff is going to be five automatic qualifiers, meaning conference champions, and then the rest being open slots.
31:21
SPEAKER_05: Uh, Steven, I'm not gonna lie to you.
31:23
SPEAKER_05: I think this is the ideal outcome.
31:26
SPEAKER_05: I think this is as good as it was going to get.
31:30
SPEAKER_05: Um, and I'm pretty happy with it.
31:32
SPEAKER_05: I think having the force, having four slots secured for the power conferences plus a G5 champion is perfect for this uh playoff format.
31:42
SPEAKER_05: Uh, because I think that way you keep everybody very engaged with that medium.
31:47
SPEAKER_05: Though I think as a fans, we put too much stock in the playoffs.
31:52
SPEAKER_05: But uh I think this, I really do think this is the best outcome, especially if we look at the other options that could have came into play.
31:59
SPEAKER_05: Apparently, there was legitimate discussions about giving the SEC and Big Ten four automatic qualifier slots, which is obviously outrageous.
32:12
SPEAKER_05: And I'm glad that was shot.
32:14
SPEAKER_06: That's four per conference, four each, yes.
32:17
SPEAKER_06: Yikes.
32:18
SPEAKER_05: That which is obviously outrageous, and honestly, I I understand that they're trying to do a full break between themselves and everybody else, but at the end of the day, I I I honestly don't know what that even does for ratings, you know, because it's just like here's all these rematches again, you know.
32:39
SPEAKER_05: And um maybe I'm just being naive, and maybe obviously the casual and like and the casual football fan acts much differently than us and those listening to this podcast.
32:49
SPEAKER_05: But I I am very glad with the quick the the format that it went with.
32:53
SPEAKER_05: Um, not that I I care that much about the playoff, I just care about the the health of the sport, and obviously much of the health of the sport is connected to this.
33:01
SPEAKER_05: So I I'm I'm very pleased with it.
33:03
SPEAKER_05: What do you think?
33:05
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I mean, not really much has changed.
33:07
SPEAKER_06: It's still a 12-team format.
33:09
SPEAKER_06: It's uh it reduced from six automatic bids to the highest ranked conference champions to five automatic bids, uh, with obviously with the pack 12 just going bye-bye.
33:21
SPEAKER_06: Um it's it's a good I mean, it's a good idea.
33:24
SPEAKER_06: It would have been ridiculous to keep the six uh with the pack two, so you're automatically gonna keep Washington State or Oregon State.
33:31
SPEAKER_06: That would have been ridiculous.
33:33
SPEAKER_06: Maybe, maybe not, though.
33:34
SPEAKER_05: It could have been, you know, uh the American champion and the Mount West champion, which would be kind of fun.
33:40
SPEAKER_05: That'd be kind of fun.
33:41
SPEAKER_06: I mean, I think we all realize it's about the four existing power conferences plus another, yeah, you know, American or Mountain West or whoever uh ends up kind of breaking away a Cincinnati from the past or a UCF from the past, right?
33:55
SPEAKER_06: You know, those type of teams, which is great.
33:57
SPEAKER_06: I love that they included that extra auto bit because it really keeps more teams in the running and it gives more teams just a shot or a chance, uh, you know, to do the investment longer.
34:09
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
34:09
SPEAKER_05: Not to cut you off.
34:10
SPEAKER_05: Sorry.
34:11
SPEAKER_06: No, no, no, no.
34:11
SPEAKER_06: I mean, that that's exactly what I was about to say.
34:14
SPEAKER_06: I mean, it's just like with with all these fan bases, you know, the top 30 teams, you know, the Texas fans, the Alabama fans, the Michigan fans, that's just such it's a big part of the college football fandom, but there's such a bigger area that you're missing when you're not including the other teams, when you're not including or even giving them a chance at potentially having a magical season.
34:42
SPEAKER_06: Like if you're just automatically taking that away, it's brutal, it makes the sport worse.
34:48
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, exactly.
34:48
SPEAKER_05: You you need teams to believe.
34:50
SPEAKER_05: And I I hate the argument that the G5 champions just gonna get blown out.
34:55
SPEAKER_05: Um, because let's just even say that you know, nine times out of ten they do.
35:01
SPEAKER_05: What about that one out of ten, baby?
35:04
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, what about that one out of ten game that people will be talking about for forever?
35:09
SPEAKER_05: You know, that just this miracle game.
35:12
SPEAKER_05: Because that the miracle is what most of us run on.
35:16
SPEAKER_05: Um, because you know, people I think people overestimate the amounts of fans that blue bloods, like you just said, make up proportionally to the rest of the of the whole sport.
35:26
SPEAKER_05: So most people run on the miracle season, like Texas Tech fans, we run on the miracle season, we do at the end of the day.
35:34
SPEAKER_05: Um, whenever it comes to like reaching that level, obviously we have standards of how many wins we expect every year, but for that sort of season, it's a miracle at the no matter how you how you cut it, whenever you look at our history.
35:45
SPEAKER_05: So that is so fun.
35:48
SPEAKER_05: And I think uh giving these arbitrary concessions to lesser competition and quotation marks is just fun, good, and at the end of the day, it doesn't take away from the top powerhouse teams because they're still gonna get those extra bids no matter what.
36:06
SPEAKER_06: This is why the NCAA tournament is the best event in college sports, and arguably just American sports in general.
36:14
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I mean, it's honestly March Madness is up there with the Olympics and the freaking World Cup.
36:19
SPEAKER_06: Like it just is, it's so much fun because it involves so many people, it brings so many people into the fold, and even team even fans that aren't fans of the teams in it, they bring it in.
36:32
SPEAKER_06: It's the NCA tournament is 50 times better than the college football playoff.
36:37
SPEAKER_06: Oh, for sure.
36:38
SPEAKER_06: I love the I love college football.
36:40
SPEAKER_06: I love watching the playoff, I love watching my team, everything of that nature.
36:45
SPEAKER_06: But this involving more programs and more fans from around the country, hitting different sort of regions of all sorts around the United States.
36:54
SPEAKER_06: That's what makes college sports so fun.
36:56
SPEAKER_06: And and that's uh that's why it's so much better.
36:59
SPEAKER_06: But yeah, I I love the auto bids here with the five different auto bids for the highest ranked conference champions, really solidifying that conference championships matter because they do.
37:10
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, no, absolutely, and give them the buys, of course, as well, uh, for the for the top ones.
37:14
SPEAKER_05: So, and I I just another note here.
37:17
SPEAKER_05: Uh, the the only pushback I've seen are the people that just want to do away with automatic bids and just have the top 12 teams in it, and that seems to be coming from a portion of fans within the realm of what we were discussing before.
37:33
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, the ones that truly want it to be the SEC and Big Ten invitational.
37:40
SPEAKER_05: And I just don't, I I I just think obviously they put all these blinders to how lame that is.
37:47
SPEAKER_05: Because you know why I think fans of teams in those conferences act a certain way, is because they like the idea of this exclusivity club that we're in it, you're not.
37:58
SPEAKER_05: And I really think that's a huge part of it because most of the time, most discussions with UT and OU fans is comes down to them wanting to shit on the Big 12 at this point, just to shit on it, just for the fun of shitting on it, of we're we're out, you're in, kind of thing, isn't it?
38:14
SPEAKER_05: So I'm so glad that cool heads prevailed and that we have a playoff that we can hopefully hold on to for at least a good while of everybody believing there's a chance they can go there.
38:28
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I mean, we'll see.
38:30
SPEAKER_06: I think it's really important for uh the Big 12 to get a contender here uh in the coming years.
38:37
SPEAKER_06: Like, I I don't know, I don't really care.
38:38
SPEAKER_06: I mean, I do care who it is, I don't want to see TCU or Baylor do it, um, or Houston or somebody for some reason if Houston somehow comes out of nowhere.
38:47
SPEAKER_06: Whoa, I wouldn't even be mad, be like, okay.
38:49
SPEAKER_06: I'd be like, I'm all right, Coops.
38:51
SPEAKER_06: Uh I deeply, deeply hope it's Texas Tech.
38:55
SPEAKER_06: Um, but uh whoever, I mean, if I see even Utah at this point go and take over and just roll through and somehow win a national championship and give that credit to the Big 12.
39:08
SPEAKER_06: I mean, that's so important at this stage of where we are in college football because there's still more realignment to come.
39:14
SPEAKER_06: There's potentially, I mean, the SEC and Big Ten are just getting closer and closer to breaking away completely from the NCAA and doing their own thing.
39:22
SPEAKER_06: So while we have this, get as much leverage as you can to remain relevant in the Big 12.
39:29
SPEAKER_06: Um, but yeah, I I mean I'm I'm a fan of this new format.
39:32
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, me too.
39:33
SPEAKER_05: I mean, and the only thing there is I I think we need to we to we get so caught up in the not being left behind thing, but we need to just take a step back and understand that we are actually very lucky.
39:44
SPEAKER_05: We are actually a very lucky fan base.
39:46
SPEAKER_05: Like we are still very much in the discussion of the power for.
39:50
SPEAKER_05: If anything, we are the number three conference.
39:53
SPEAKER_05: So I I I just I I do think we need to remain stay away from the doom and gloom there.
39:58
SPEAKER_05: And uh, because a lot of G5 fan bases are really shitting their pants right now, and it's because it's it's rough out there.
40:04
SPEAKER_05: And I really I honest to God feel for them because I mean, like you said earlier, man, how fun is it to have Texas Tech go to Laramie, Wyoming, even though you lose, there's just such a fun connection, like that shit rules, dude.
40:16
SPEAKER_05: So yeah, and I digress.
40:19
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, um, the last part of this, I think, to bring up Notre Dame not up for consideration for a top five seed because they are not in a conference.
40:29
SPEAKER_06: I love this, it's fantastic.
40:32
SPEAKER_06: Uh, they will never get a bye unless they join a conference.
40:35
SPEAKER_05: That is so the Big Ten bullying Notre Dame into joining.
40:39
SPEAKER_05: That's that's 1000% what that is.
40:42
SPEAKER_08: It is, but that's fine.
40:43
SPEAKER_05: I hate that.
40:44
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I'm fine with it.
40:46
SPEAKER_05: I'm I'm I it's funny in the sense that Notre Dame is getting picked on because it's just a fun team to for the to laugh at, and you know, because they're one of the big dogs.
40:54
SPEAKER_05: But uh at the same time, everyone picks on Notre Dame for being independent, but at the end of the day, they represent what college football used to be.
41:04
SPEAKER_05: They really do, you know, where it wasn't about conferences, it was just about playing games, and that's what they still do, you know.
41:13
SPEAKER_06: Listen, I've always wanted them to join a conference.
41:16
SPEAKER_06: I just think I conferences, when done right, are the way to do college football.
41:21
SPEAKER_06: They are.
41:21
SPEAKER_06: I because I agree because you develop regional rivalries, that's what it's always supposed to be have been about.
41:27
SPEAKER_06: Unfortunately, schools got selfish and money got way too involved, TV networks got way too involved, and we're in the position that we are now, which is a significantly worse product in my eyes than what it was 20 years ago.
41:40
SPEAKER_05: Yes, yeah, yes, conferences are good for scheduling.
41:42
SPEAKER_05: But Steven, I feel like we've arrived at a position where conferences are like just are an enormous part of an athletic program's identity now.
41:52
SPEAKER_05: Like way more so than the East.
41:55
SPEAKER_06: Well, and that's be that's because of the TV networks.
41:58
SPEAKER_06: That's I mean, it it it's not the conference, like it's not conference pride, that's always been a thing.
42:03
SPEAKER_06: You know, you're gonna tout up why your conference is better.
42:06
SPEAKER_06: That's always been a constant conversation, but it's just because some conferences make more money that we've gotten to this point, and that's unfortunate.
42:16
SPEAKER_05: Do you but I I I I I get that, but do you think Texas Tech being a Southwest conference team was central to its identity, like LSU being an SEC team or AM being an SEC team now, in a sense?
42:32
SPEAKER_05: Do you think those are equal in importance to those programs?
42:38
SPEAKER_06: No, I don't think so.
42:42
SPEAKER_05: Like, but I'm just saying, I'm just saying, like, how it's be I feel like that importance has grown significantly.
42:47
SPEAKER_06: Oh, it has because you now have bragging rights of we make more money than you, yeah, you know, and so it's uh no, I like I think the sport is better when you're playing your rivals that have existed for hundreds of years and you're not going to hundreds or whatever, uh, a hundred years, uh whatever.
43:06
SPEAKER_06: I just think it's better the way it was, and I'm always gonna stand by that.
43:10
SPEAKER_05: No, I I'm 100% with you, man.
43:12
SPEAKER_05: Um, it's funny, it's a I'm sure a lot of older listeners could be able to get it painted to us more accurately, but it's funny as young men like us who are in our 20s and have really only experienced college football through the lens of a hyper TV focused sports, reminisce for a time we never experienced.
43:32
SPEAKER_05: So I do sometimes wonder if we are just pining for a golden air era that may uh may or may not have really existed.
43:40
SPEAKER_05: Maybe this is just how college sports always were, and it was just always a dirty game of how can I screw over my competition next, you know, and I don't mean on the field.
43:52
SPEAKER_06: You're getting too philosophical for me right now.
43:54
SPEAKER_06: Uh no, I think we're experiencing right now because we're not gonna play UT.
44:00
SPEAKER_06: Anymore.
44:00
SPEAKER_06: You know, we're not going to play Oklahoma anymore.
44:03
SPEAKER_06: And those were two games that we really love to play because we really wanted to win those games.
44:07
SPEAKER_06: And without them, it's it's worse.
44:10
SPEAKER_06: No matter what way you twist it, it stinks that we're not going to have that rivalry game like we want.
44:15
SPEAKER_06: But absolutely not, you know, we're still going to have our games that we love to play.
44:20
SPEAKER_06: We're still going to play TCU.
44:21
SPEAKER_06: We're still going to play Baylor.
44:22
SPEAKER_06: We're still going to play Oklahoma State.
44:23
SPEAKER_06: You know, those are going to be great, fun games.
44:25
SPEAKER_06: We're not going to stop being fans, but it's just going to be significantly worse.
44:31
SPEAKER_06: Like it was worse when AM and UT weren't playing or whatever.
44:34
SPEAKER_06: You know?
44:35
SPEAKER_06: So it it's just it's stupid.
44:38
SPEAKER_05: It's not significantly worse.
44:39
SPEAKER_05: It's just there's there's not there's just not games as emotionally charged as those games will be which makes it worse.
44:48
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I I I get it.
44:49
SPEAKER_05: I get what you're saying.
44:50
SPEAKER_05: I do.
44:51
SPEAKER_05: Um yeah.
44:51
SPEAKER_05: But yeah, no, it just blows ass.
44:53
SPEAKER_05: That's that's the conclusion of that.
44:55
SPEAKER_05: So we were all over the place with a college football playoff.
44:58
SPEAKER_06: We like the we will we like the new playoff format.
45:00
SPEAKER_06: We just were college football's going, of course.
45:05
SPEAKER_06: Um anything else.
45:08
SPEAKER_05: No, I I I would like to humiliate you tier and a m in in in this hypothetical playoff, though.
45:14
SPEAKER_05: Man, that would be Chef's kiss.
45:17
SPEAKER_06: Let's just let's just make the playoff.
45:19
SPEAKER_06: Um Mac McClung.
45:23
SPEAKER_06: How about you?
45:24
SPEAKER_06: Two-time slam dunk contest champion.
45:28
SPEAKER_06: Um listen, the the NBA All-Star Weekend sucks.
45:31
SPEAKER_06: It sucks.
45:32
SPEAKER_06: It it's it's I thought you loved that shit.
45:34
SPEAKER_06: Oh, no.
45:36
SPEAKER_06: I used to love that shit.
45:37
SPEAKER_06: It sucked for a long time.
45:38
SPEAKER_06: Um what's wrong with it now?
45:41
SPEAKER_06: Everything's still like the all-star game is pointless, nobody does anything.
45:44
SPEAKER_06: It's just a it's just a bunch of guys shooting half-court shots uh and scoring 200 points because they don't want to get hurt and they don't want to try anything, nobody's playing defense.
45:54
SPEAKER_06: Uh, the skills challenge was an absolute joke.
45:58
SPEAKER_06: Like, I loved the they used to have this old competition, it was called the shooting stars challenge, and they would get a retired play, they would pick in like like uh teams.
46:08
SPEAKER_06: So think like the Spurs, the Rockets, the Mavericks.
46:12
SPEAKER_06: They would get a retired old player, a current player, and then the WNBA player from that city, and they would participate in like a shooting challenge, and it's great, it was awesome, it was so much fun.
46:25
SPEAKER_06: Everybody was competing, it was really fun.
46:28
SPEAKER_06: They got rid of that one.
46:29
SPEAKER_06: Now they just have this stupid skills challenge, which is basically throw the ball in a hoop that's eight foot wide, uh, dribble around three cones and make a layup.
46:39
SPEAKER_06: That's basically it.
46:40
SPEAKER_06: And you're telling NBA players to go and try hard in that.
46:43
SPEAKER_06: Like go dog fetch.
46:46
SPEAKER_06: It was brutal.
46:47
SPEAKER_06: I mean, the three-point challenge is what it is, it's fun.
46:49
SPEAKER_06: I mean, these guys are, you know, you have some of the best shooters ever playing right now.
46:54
SPEAKER_06: Um, I thought the Steph Curry Sabrina Ionescu thing was fun.
46:58
SPEAKER_06: It was uh, I don't know if you see you probably didn't see it, but they got Sabrina Ionescu, who's a WNBA player, to do a three-point challenge against Steph Curry.
47:07
SPEAKER_06: And Steph won, but it was really fun.
47:09
SPEAKER_06: It you know, raised a lot of money, it brought a lot of eyes.
47:12
SPEAKER_06: That was cool.
47:13
SPEAKER_06: And then the dunk contest.
47:15
SPEAKER_06: And listen, we're big fans of Mac McClung here.
47:18
SPEAKER_06: He's he's awesome, he put on a pretty good show, but the broadcast was so brutal that it just was it was like they had Kenny Smith and Reggie Miller and Kevin Harlan, who normally are really great at this stuff, but every time like Mac McClung brought out Shaq, jumped over Shaq, and did a crazy like like reverse dunk, and everybody's like, and Kenny and Reggie are like, yeah, it's like a it's like a 48.
47:47
SPEAKER_06: And we're like, what?
47:49
SPEAKER_06: He just jumped over Shaq, like show a little enthusiasm, show a little like uh you know, that's what will get us hyped.
47:56
SPEAKER_06: Instead, you're just like, eh, you know, it is pretty good.
47:59
SPEAKER_06: We saw that a couple years ago, it is pretty good.
48:01
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, they're tired of doing it, you know.
48:04
SPEAKER_05: I mean this dog and pony show.
48:06
SPEAKER_06: There's been arguments that all the dunks have been done, and it's like, you know, you can't get excited about it.
48:11
SPEAKER_06: But people said that, you know, a few years ago before the Zach Levine, Aaron Gordon dunk contest that everybody went crazy for.
48:19
SPEAKER_06: And then Mac McClung last year, I think got a lot of like hype going towards it because you're seeing this crazy white guy, former YouTube sensation, go up and do all these crazy dunks.
48:29
SPEAKER_06: But um, no, I don't know.
48:31
SPEAKER_06: I just think NBA All-Star Weekend is just a bust.
48:34
SPEAKER_05: Long story short, Mac McClung is still the dunk champion, all right.
48:39
SPEAKER_06: Two time, two-time dunk champion.
48:41
SPEAKER_06: White boy can jump.
48:42
SPEAKER_06: Texas Tech Red Raider, by the way.
48:44
SPEAKER_05: Where'd he go to school?
48:47
SPEAKER_06: Uh well, he went to a stupid school at first and then he transferred to Texas Tech.
48:52
SPEAKER_06: So he's a Texas Tech Red Raider.
48:53
SPEAKER_05: Texas Tech Lubbock?
48:56
SPEAKER_06: That one?
48:56
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I don't think it was Texas Tech uh.
48:59
SPEAKER_05: Fredericksburg.
49:00
SPEAKER_06: Fredericks.
49:01
SPEAKER_06: Is there a Fredericksburg?
49:02
SPEAKER_05: Yes, there's a location in Fredericksburg and Waco and uh Spain and Spain.
49:10
SPEAKER_05: Yes, I don't think he went to satellite campuses.
49:13
SPEAKER_06: I don't I don't think he went to Spain.
49:15
SPEAKER_06: Uh no, shout out Mac McClung.
49:17
SPEAKER_06: You rule absolutely um moving on before we get to song of the week.
49:23
SPEAKER_06: We'll mention baseball.
49:24
SPEAKER_06: Um up and down starts up and down starts of the year, three and two.
49:29
SPEAKER_06: They just uh they lost to Tennessee to start off the year.
49:32
SPEAKER_06: Tennessee, I think, was ranked number six to uh in the preseason.
49:37
SPEAKER_06: Uh then they win.
49:38
SPEAKER_06: Number nine when we played them.
49:39
SPEAKER_06: Then they beat Nebraska, then they beat Oregon, then they beat UTA.
49:44
SPEAKER_06: They went on a three-game win streak and then kind of got curb stomped against uh the Oregon State Beavers today.
49:50
SPEAKER_05: So curb stomp's a strong word.
49:52
SPEAKER_05: It was four to ten.
49:53
SPEAKER_05: It's not like they shut us out, dude.
49:55
SPEAKER_06: It was like eight to nothing at one point.
49:57
SPEAKER_05: Like they beat eight to nothing at the end, was it?
50:02
SPEAKER_06: It's a midweek game.
50:04
SPEAKER_06: I you know, you're not playing your best pitching, so whatever.
50:07
SPEAKER_06: Oregon State's awesome, Tennessee's awesome.
50:10
SPEAKER_06: So really tough challenges to start off the year for for Tadlock and Co.
50:14
SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
50:15
SPEAKER_05: It shouldn't really be an indication.
50:16
SPEAKER_05: I mean, we have a winning record against solid programs.
50:19
SPEAKER_05: So the only thing you should be taking away is it's the beginning of the season and we're all we're doing all right, you know, and we'll we'll definitely pick up speed.
50:25
SPEAKER_05: Um, and you know, we're we always have our eyes on the postseason.
50:28
SPEAKER_05: So I there this is not gonna change.
50:32
SPEAKER_06: You saw some good from what I followed.
50:34
SPEAKER_06: I didn't watch any of the games because of the stupid flow baseball subscription.
50:37
SPEAKER_06: So, you know, I couldn't.
50:39
SPEAKER_06: I if I was in DFW, I probably could have attended the games, but unfortunately I'm not.
50:44
SPEAKER_06: And uh, whatever.
50:45
SPEAKER_06: It is flow baseball sucks.
50:49
SPEAKER_05: I am not giving flow baseball a dime.
50:51
SPEAKER_06: So no, I refuse to pay 30 bucks for stupid flow baseball subscription.
50:59
SPEAKER_05: My wife would divorce me if she saw that on the card.
51:04
SPEAKER_06: What the f is flow baseball?
51:09
SPEAKER_06: So you don't even like baseball that much.
51:11
SPEAKER_06: I'm like, I know.
51:13
SPEAKER_06: I had to.
51:16
SPEAKER_06: Oh, all right, man.
51:18
SPEAKER_06: You want to end it off here with a song of the week.
51:20
SPEAKER_06: I do, dude.
51:21
SPEAKER_06: Hey man, look, you and I are weird.
51:25
SPEAKER_05: We're we're so weird.
51:28
SPEAKER_05: It's a cover.
51:30
SPEAKER_05: I I feel like just anytime we see a cover, we think it's better than it might actually be.
51:36
SPEAKER_05: But I just love covers, especially cross-genre covers.
51:40
SPEAKER_05: So I'm gonna in this, I've never seen this before.
51:44
SPEAKER_05: John Mayer cover.
51:46
SPEAKER_05: So John Mayer's being covered, and it's one of his deeper cuts.
51:49
SPEAKER_05: It's not like a very popular song either.
51:51
SPEAKER_05: It's gonna be Perfectly Lonely by Parker McCollum.
51:57
SPEAKER_07: Wow.
51:57
SPEAKER_05: So I I really dig it.
51:59
SPEAKER_05: I think Parker does an excellent job of delivering uh Mayer's uh you know vibe while kind of putting a country twist on it, which you don't have to lean too far with John Mayer because he's already so bluesy, so you don't have to add that much to really put a country uh kick to it.
52:15
SPEAKER_05: But yeah, I'm gonna go with perfectly lonely Parker McCollum, a John Mayer cover.
52:19
SPEAKER_05: I freaking love John Mayer.
52:20
SPEAKER_05: I really like Parker, so this is a good blend.
52:23
SPEAKER_08: Perfectly lonely, yeah.
52:28
SPEAKER_08: Because I don't belong to anyone.
52:35
SPEAKER_06: Very nice, very nice.
52:37
SPEAKER_06: I'm not sure like I love John Mayer too.
52:39
SPEAKER_06: I'm not familiar with that song off the top of my head.
52:41
SPEAKER_05: It's an old, it's from an old album.
52:43
SPEAKER_05: It's it's like at least uh it's from the uh battle studies album.
52:47
SPEAKER_05: So it's it's like well over 10 years old.
52:49
SPEAKER_06: I hope Parker nailed the breathiness of John Mayer.
52:53
SPEAKER_06: Uh no, excited to listen to that one.
52:55
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, like you said, I mean he's he's kind of mixed genres, like he's had a little bit of country, like yeah, a little bit of folkiness to some of those, uh, some of those albums.
53:04
SPEAKER_06: So excited to listen to that one.
53:06
SPEAKER_06: Mine's a little weird too, not gonna lie to you.
53:08
SPEAKER_06: Uh, my song of the week.
53:10
SPEAKER_06: So this is a band that was very hot for like a very short time.
53:16
SPEAKER_06: Like they had some really good songs to start off, and I was going down uh down the rabbit hole a little bit of some 2010s country and came across the band parry.
53:28
SPEAKER_06: Yes, so the band parry, uh fantastic first album.
53:34
SPEAKER_06: Yes, so they went they went really weird.
53:38
SPEAKER_06: Like I went kind of a deep dive.
53:40
SPEAKER_06: They like went to like alternative, they really went super weird.
53:45
SPEAKER_06: But that first couple albums that they put out were really, really good.
53:50
SPEAKER_05: Yes, no, absolutely best of 2010s, yeah.
53:53
SPEAKER_05: One of the best.
53:54
SPEAKER_06: So my song of the week is going to be the band Perry Walk Me Down the Middle.
53:59
SPEAKER_06: It's a very romantic song, it's very it's just fun to listen to.
54:03
SPEAKER_06: Like it's got some it's got some beat to it.
54:06
SPEAKER_06: We're digging it.
54:07
SPEAKER_06: I love her voice, her country voice is really, really good.
54:10
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, and I don't understand any reason why uh they switched up like they did.
54:15
SPEAKER_06: But obviously, they're known for If I Die Young and Better Dig Two and some of those others, but I'm gonna give you walk me down the middle.
54:41
SPEAKER_05: All their country stuff is amazing, like legit, and it's legitimately country music too.
54:46
SPEAKER_05: Like it was so fresh on the radio, even though it was so neo-traditional as they like to call that sort of thing.
54:52
SPEAKER_05: Um, but you know, art musicians can be weird because they hate some not uh I'm not gonna say all of them, but some of them hate being pinned into a corner of a genre.
55:00
SPEAKER_05: So they're like, no, I'm gonna show you.
55:01
SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna go do this.
55:02
SPEAKER_05: I'm not I'm not just a country singer.
55:05
SPEAKER_05: Make some worse watch box.
55:07
SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna go make way worse shit that is like way, way more crowded than country music is.
55:12
SPEAKER_06: So they call that, I think they call that the Zach Brown effect.
55:16
SPEAKER_05: Oh my god.
55:17
SPEAKER_05: Well, thank thankfully for him, he had enough goodwill to just pop right back.
55:20
SPEAKER_06: Um their first stuff was so good and they ruined it.
55:25
SPEAKER_05: I know, I know.
55:26
SPEAKER_05: But um the the the lead singer, uh, I'm blinking on her first name, Perry, uh, is starting her own solo country career, and it's uh it's really good so far.
55:34
SPEAKER_05: They have like the sequel to If I Die Young, she made a sequel to it, it's good.
55:38
SPEAKER_05: Um, and yeah, so she's kind of she's kind of on a roll right now.
55:41
SPEAKER_06: Very nice.
55:42
SPEAKER_06: Glad to hear that.
55:43
SPEAKER_06: So, yeah, wanted to give a little throwback for the people to listen to.
55:46
SPEAKER_06: Um, anything else before we close it out here?
55:49
SPEAKER_05: Nah, dude.
55:50
SPEAKER_05: I I really got a pee.
55:51
SPEAKER_05: So I I'm ready to I'm ready to wrap it up.
55:53
SPEAKER_06: All right, well, we'll wrap it up here.
55:56
SPEAKER_06: Uh you can follow both me and Tristan on Twitter.
55:58
SPEAKER_06: Tristan's at Tristy Mick.
55:59
SPEAKER_06: I'm at L underscore S underscore Rodriguez.
56:01
SPEAKER_06: Follow the pod on Twitter and Instagram at talking tech pod, songs week playlist, Spotify, Apple Music.
56:08
SPEAKER_06: We appreciate all you guys listening.
56:09
SPEAKER_06: Always Wrecom Tech.
56:11
SPEAKER_03: Wreck them tech.
56:12
SPEAKER_03: Uh wow.
56:14
SPEAKER_03: First of all, uh got a lot of respect for Steven and Tristan.
56:19
SPEAKER_03: Uh their program, tough guys, just uh a lot of fun.
56:23
SPEAKER_03: This is wild.
56:25
SPEAKER_02: When I walked in and I knew this would be an awesome podcast, and these guys have been tremendous.
56:33
SPEAKER_02: I love you, and I can't wait for this journey.
56:35
SPEAKER_02: I would like to thank uh Steven and Tristan.
56:38
SPEAKER_04: This is incredible.
56:40
SPEAKER_04: These guys have a passion and a love for this school.