Thoughts and Takeaways from Texas' series loss to Stanford

[joeywa]

Their closer was pretty special. Is that who you are referring to?

That’s one for sure. 

 

[joeywa]

I’m not trying to be argumentative, and I know before I type this out that it will sound pessimistic.  I appreciate your optimistic view of things, and I once shared them with you.  The bottom line is this, something is really wrong with the University of Texas’ athletic department.  That’s a broad statement and I have my theories with more specifics, but stay with me for just a moment.  I would submit to you that UT athletics has an order of importance as follows:

1. Football
   
2. Men’s Basketball
   
3. Baseball
   
4. Woman’s Basketball
   
5. Volleyball
   

We could quibble on this, but take a look at the top 3.  Texas, which likes to think of itself as a blueblood with so many advantages:  Facilities, Money, Location, Great City…. Is a mediocre team in a bad power 5 conference, in each of the 3 most important athletic programs.  I could make a case that in my lifetime (I’m 51 years old) Football and Baseball (based on performance for the last 4 years) is in the worst shape it has ever been in.  Basketball is a close second, only being slightly eclipsed by 4 years with Bob Wetlich – and even that is questionable because he shared a conference championship in basketball.  Remember what I said, I am going by “performance on the field / court of play” and not gaging other indicators.  Since 2009, we have heard the same excuses or sunny opposition for bad performance on the field / court of play:

• We are young
  
• We have had injuries
  
• We are recruiting well and brighter days are right on the horizon
  

The problem is we never get “experienced,” all teams have injuries, and this great recruiting never materializes into actually putting a good product on the field / court of play.  Honestly, I think we as a fan base have been patient enough.

Please don’t take away my “fan card” status because of this post.  I know it is negative, etc…. but I’m just getting really tired of the three bullet points above!  If we are this blue-blood program with all the advantages, I’d really like to see a conference championship in one of the big three sports…. Heck, right now I’d settle for a meaningful game after the halfway point in a season. 

Rant over, I’m out, and yes, I still love my Horns!!

I feel your pain. College sports is cyclical and unfortunately we have been in a down cycle. I am not much younger than you and I distinctly recall waiting for the USA Today Top 25 rankings to come out in football when I was a student at UT. If Texas was in “Others receiving votes” it was cause for celebration.

Spending time on message boards with some of the most outspoken parts of the Texas fan base has led me to the theory that a small faction of our fan base is extremely entitled. That’s not a bad thing, but it does cause quite a bit of angst when all three “big” sports are not doing as well as these fans expect. Are the expectations unreasonable?  Sure, at times. But it manifests itself drastically when expectations are not met in the three most-viewed sports. It’s visible. It stings. You’re tired of hearing “y’all suck” from other fans at work, church, the pub, fishing, wherever. I get it. I truly do. The tide will turn. When you turnover all 3 coaches in a span of what, 5 years(?) things take time. 

Strong was a disaster. Shaka has been meh. Augie stayed too long and Pierce is brand new. I personally will wait to see on pierce but I believe he’s the right guy to turn baseball around. I also believe Herman is the guy for football. 

Like I said, patience is desired. Whether fans are willing to give a little more remains to be seen. 

Bottom line, until UT begins winning and winning consistently in any of the 3 sports, there will be unrest. 

 

[Bear19]

A .266  batting average , #122 in the country, is awful. 

 

[dillohorn]

A .266  batting average , #122 in the country, is awful. 

Damn.

 

[Royal 60]

Double Damn