T-mac vs. Kobe

Just to get the NBA season going, here is a poll about one of the most debated topics in Houston. Feel free to leave comments about your vote!

Who would you want to build your franchise around?
	Kobe
	T-mac
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Who would you want to guard the oppositions best perimeter player?
	Kobe
	T-mac
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Who would want to take the last shot?
	kobe
	T-mac
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Who has the most upside?
	Kobe
	T-mac
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Who do you want taking free throws at the end of a game?
	Kobe
	T-mac
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Who is the most prolific scorer?
	Kobe
	T-mac
Free polls from Pollhost.com

December 12th: The Final Show for the Semester

Hey everyone!

Thanks for listening all semester long. Thanks to Dan "the man, the true voice of the south" for being a great co-host. We wish him the best now that he is going into the real world, g'luck Dan! Please leave comments about Dan and your memories about him!

Listen to Dan's Farewell segments...here is the breakdown
part 1: fall 2002 until spring 2004
part 2: fall 2004 until spring 2005 with special guest Dan's Dad
part 3: fall 2005 until now

Betters Note: Listen to the Bowl Parlay segment to find out about our picks for the bowl season...guaranteed winners!

Shan and I will be back next semester for more of the Roundup and I will put up more information about show timings. Thanks once again and enjoy the Show and the awesome youtube pick of the week, Kobe style.

Come back to the Blog for my take on the NBA, NFL and college football...

The BIG December 5th show!!

What up peepz!
This is the second to last show of the semester! We talked about the BCS and I introduced my playoff system that would allow 16 teams to get in. Next week will be the final show and in it we will have Dan's Farewell show!

If you are not in the Facebook group (The Tuesday Morning Longhorn Roundup) please join it! If you are in it, invite more people! We need to get 1,000 members in before the last show so we can make Shan dress up like a girl! Thanks everyone!! Enjoy the show and Dan's YouTube pick of the week!

The Post Thanksgiving Show

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break! The show is up and Dan's YouTube is right by it. Here are some pictures from my Thanksgiving night adventure at BestBuy in Dallas, Texas. Thank you to Steve for taking and e-mailing me the pictures.

November 21st Show with Ian

November 21st Thanksgiving Show!

Our dear friend Ian Harris from Simply Sports with Ian Harris joined us this week to give his thoughts on everything and tell us about the powerful movie, "We Are Marshall"...We also had the big Celebrating Life Through Sports segment this week that discussed the movie and what we are thankful for. Enjoy!

Nov. 14th show

Here is the big November 14th show!



Dan's YouTube pick of the week:

The Show Before the Horns lost to the Wildcats

Due to technical difficulties, the Texas Football and College football segments did not record. Here is what you missed on the show:
• Dan now has a man crush on Colt McCoy
• Limas Sweed is three touchdowns away from setting the all-time UT record for receiving touchdowns in a season
• Texas took care of Oklahoma State and Raheel’s pick was right, UT would dominate.
• Kansas State is NOT going to pull the upset.
• UT has a shot at getting into the title game if a bunch of teams fall
• A&M freaking lost to OU and now messes up its ranking
• Raheel says the Horns win by 35+
• Shan says about the same thing
• Dan says the Horn run all over the Wildcats




Dan’s YouTube pick


Shan’s YouTube Pick: Russell Peters standup special “Out Sourced”

Raheel’s pick:

Halloween Show

October 31st show

We did not get to finish the whole show because we ran out of time. We will make up for it by doing more NBA preview next week and double the S.E.X. Enjoy this week's show and please join the facebook group!

October 24th Show

Oct. 17th Show

October 17th Tuesday Morning Longhorn Roundup

Dan's YouTube Video of the Week:

Favre to Freeman

Raheel's Lock of the week: Texas to cover -6 against Nebraska.

Come to the Women's Volleyball game on Wednesday against No. 1 Nebraska.

Dan's YouTube Video of the week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAlgil_iyyc


Preview of next week's show:

• Recap of UT vs. Baylor...Did Raheel's lock hold up?
• the NFL Zone Coverage
• S.E.X---for all your pop culture news and notes
• Classical Poetry Renditions by the gang
• NBA Talk
  
• Much more

Awards from the show

Since we did not get time to do the awards on the Tuesday Morning Longhorn Roundup, here they are.

Raheel

Ashlees: Houston Rockets fan for believing that Bonzi will get them to the NBA Finals

Wilmers: Colt McCoy because he is the greatest QB in the history of Texas football

Dan

Ashlees: Burch High School in West Virginia for giving up 658 rushing yards to a 5'8 white running back

Wilmers: Jevan Snead for proving by his stellar performance against SHSU that he is a better QB than Colt McCoy


Shawn
Ashlees: Florida Marlins organization for firing Joe Girardi
Wilmers: Rex Grossman!



The show is underneath on the Podcast player...Enjoy it!

The Tuesday Morning Longhorn Roundup

THE TUESDAY MORNING LONGHORN ROUNDUP NOW AT KING OF SPORTS.

Pardon the Raheel Ramzanali is now the exclusive home for the Tuesday Morning Longhorn Roundup with Raheel and Dan. You will be able to find the podcast for my show on the blog every day. You can subscribe to the blog by going to www.odeo.com and searching "Tuesday Morning Longhorn Roundup." Subscribe to the feed and enjoy!

The show air lives every Tuesday from 9-11 a.m. at www.kvrx.org. The Tuesday Morning Longhorn Roundup blends a unique look at sports with life. We talk about anything and everything.

I will still write in the blog but it will serve as the home for the show and the podcast player. Enjoy the show and blog.

The Best Week EVER (for football)

Football is king in Texas. Football is really king in Texas when you have the start of high school football, a No. 1 versus No.2 and the start of gamblers united, I mean the NFL. This is upcoming week is one that I am going to tell my kids about. This will rank up there with me scoring a date with Jessica Alba. In addition to this, the WNBA season will finally be over this week! I love women’s sports as much as the next guy but its time for the WNBA to take a one-year hiatus. Goodbye Lisa Leslie, hello Lisa Guererro. This week can be described in one word. As Johnny Drama would say, VICTORYYYYYYYY!. Here is why I am excited about this week.

1. Monday: Florida State v Miami…Nothing like facing your hated rival in the first week. Rumor has it that Miami will get most of its players out on parole for the game. Football ranking: 4 out of 10.

2. Thursday: Opening week for the Connally Cougars. For those of you who are not familiar with the Connally Cougars, they are my team. I am doing play-by-play for the Cougars on Kmacsports.com. No other high school sport is as exciting as football in Texas. I will be part of a team that made it to the state semi-finals. I get a chance to follow a team and call them my own. I will go through the ups and downs with the players. I will make bias calls half way through the season. I am going to enjoy seeing high school players make strides to achieving their goals. What better way to start the weekend than my first ever play-by-play call for the Cougars. If you would like to listen to the play-by-play, log onto Kmacsports.com around 6:45 p.m. Football ranking: 7 out of 10

3. Thursday: the first game of the NFL season. The Dolphins take on the Steelers. The Steelers will start their championship defense without Ben “What’s a helmet” Rothlisberger. How will Daunte Culpepper fair against the stingy Steelers defense? Will Chris Chambers have a Steve Smith like year? Will Bill Cowher get a chin reduction? All this and more on Thursday night! Football ranking: 5 out of 10

4. Friday: Every high school team in Texas will have played at least one game. Football Ranking: 4 out of 10.
5. Saturday: Texas v THE Ohio State University…ESPN Gameday, Mack Brown, Bevo, Colt McCoy, Ramonce Taylor (oh wait that’s right), Troy “Poor man’s Vince Young” Smith and Woody Paige. This game alone is worthy enough to make this week the best football week ever. No.1 vs. No.2…one team’s National Championship hopes will be put to rest and the other will have the pressure to win out. The monkey is not on Mack’s back anymore, it has jumped to Jim Tressel. How will Texas handle the new OSU explosive offense? Will ESPN finally stop covering USC and focus on the biggest game of the year? Will ESPN give this game five good minutes on SportsCenter or will they need permission from Notre Dame to do that? This game is going to be amazing. It is going to live up to the hype. UT will extend its winning streak to 22 when its all said and done. Troy Smith will come back to Earth and take a back seat to Brady Quinn like everyone in the nation. Ted Ginn Jr. will be on his way to becoming the next Maurice Clarett. Football Ranking: 10 out of 10

6. OPENING DAY IN THE NFL! Gamblers from all over the world will miss more games than the USA did shots in the FIBA championships. Opening week in the NFL means that Chris Berman gets to do real work and that ESPN will stop talking about Notre Dame. This is the Sunday where you can finally see a game that is for real. No more pre-season or scrimmages. No more seeing 4^th string players. Opening week brings us one week closer to seeing David Carr being benched. I finally get to see my Texans go out and win a game against the Eagles. The curse of T.O. starts this season for McNabb. McNabb will never make the playoffs again. Football Ranking: 10 out of 10.
   

I will be updating the blog after every football moment to let yall know my thoughts about everything. VICTORYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

Three Reasons Why I Think USA Basketball Is Not Ready

Team USA made it into the round of 16 today by beating Slovenia 114 to 95, but the score was much closer than this. This same team beat Puerto Rico by 11 points and blew out a weak Chinese team that has horrible guard play by a final score of 121-90.

So why am I suggesting that Team USA is not ready to win the World Championships? Because unlike every other person who thinks this team is built for success, I think this team is another glorified All-Star Team that is not ready to win.

Before I start the list, you have to understand the tendencies of international rules basketball. The elite teams have good guards who can penetrate and shoot the three pointer. Big guys in FIBA basketball are not as important as they are in the NBAÂ…Ask Tim Duncan about that. The team with the most experience is probably going to beat a team with less experience 90 percent of the timeÂ…Ask the USA when they faced Argentina in the Olympics. Here is the list.

1. Lebron, Wade and Melo: Coach K has made these three the centerpiece of Team USA for the next decade or so but right now, they are not ready. These three are the future for everything NBA, marketing, playing, sales, etc. What Coach K failed to recognize is that these three players are horrible defenders. If you have been watching the games, the Big 3 have not been able to guard any of the mediocre guards. Players like Beno Udrih and Carlos Arroyo were getting into the lane quicker than a new celebrity into Paris Hilton. In addition to that, the Big 3 have been good in the half-court but when they play a tougher defense like Spain or Argentina, they will have to trust their jump shot more than trying to over power a defender with their athleticism. Eventually these three will become good defenders but right now they are one of the reasons why Team USA is not ready.
2. Role Players: Coach K put a premium on role players going into the “training camp” but now I only see three legit role players, Shane Battier, Kirk Heinrich and Chris Paul. Antwan Jamison has not been playing enough in close situations to count as a role player. Joe Johnson at times has looked like the best player. Look at the other rosters for elite teams in the tournament, most of them have one superstar and four role players who can flourish at anytime. When you have up to four superstars on the floor at the same time, no coaching will stop their instincts of taking over. When four players want to take over at the same time in a close game, that team is not going to win. The perfect starting lineup would have included both Shane Battier and Bruce Bowen, LeBron, Wade and Dwight Howard. In my opinion, the reason why Coach K cut Bruce Bown for the World Games is because he did not score enough points.
   
3. Experience: By experience, I mean on the court with each other and with the FIBA rules. The FIBA game is much different from the NBA. Its on a court that features a shorter three-point line, the officials allow rough play, unlike the NBA where a whistle is blown every five seconds, and a big guy is not effective unless he plays like Dirk or Pau Gasol. After watching the first three games, the USA has not been able to guard anyone or use their set plays. The USA really gets going when the other team makes costly turnovers and the USA runs out for a dunk. When the USA faces a team like Argentina, their team defense will be exploited more than anything.

This USA team has a lot of potential but right now the team is in the baby stages of something big. This concept of keeping guys around for every summer is going to backfire on Team USA. I will not be surprised if a prominent player drops out because he wants to stay fresh for the NBA season. Remember, at the end of the day, the players get their checks from the NBA.

The days of the Dream Team are long gone. When the Dream Team dominated in 1992 and 1996, other teams were afraid of them. I have heard stories where opposing players would go up to the Dream Team and ask for autographs before the games. When you have a team that consisted of MJ, Magic and Bird, that team CAN meet up a day before the tournament and win. Those players were good defenders and had another level to the game that Lebron, Melo and Wade have not achieved just yet. Yes, Wade dominated the NBA Finals, but tell that to Manu Ginobli, a player who also dominated the NBA Finals the year his team won. So far, Puerto Rico and Slovenia gave USA their biggest test because they have good guard play. If these teams did not make bad turnovers in the second and third quarter, they would have won the game. When the USA faces the elite teams that do not make costly turnovers, they are going to be in a for a rude awakening.

Thoughts on Everything

· ASTROS

o The Astros just lost another one but don’t worry! The Astros went 4 for 9 in their latest home stand and now head to the road for 11 games against Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. This is the big road trip the Astros need to dominate if they want to become contenders for the Wild Card and the NL Central.

o After this road trip, the schedule gets incredibly hard for the Astros. They start the month against the Mets, get a little Cardinals and throw in some Phillies to top it off. Oh and if the Reds are still in the Wild Card hunt, they also get a three game set against them. Time to make a move now!

· Texans

o The Texans looked good in their first pre-season game but I still need to see them against other teams’ first team defense before I can jump on the bandwagon.

o After covering weeks of training camp, I have found some guys I like to root for. Please join me as I root for these guys

§ Antwan Peek: Talking to Peek, I have concluded that he is the nicest 250lb man. Peek is coming off a sub par season and is ready to become a monster on defense. He has been working his tail off in the off-season and has said all the right things for a player who is ready to have a break out season.

§ Morlon Greenwood: This linebacker lead the Texans last year in tackles with 112 and also added 2 sacks and 2 fumbles. He is a humble player who plays with an edge. Greenwood is ready to show that he can flourish in the 4-3 defense.

§ Ephraim Salaam: You probably have not heard of him because he is an O-line man. These guys don’t get attention because well, they don’t make big plays since they don’t get the ball. Salaam is a great person to talk to and brings experience to much scrutinized O-Line. Salaam has worked with Coach Kubiak before so he knows the system that will help the Texans win some more games.

· Longhorns Football

o Ranked no.1 going into the season…as I told my friend Ian Harris, host of “Simply Sports” (Simplysportstalk.com), Vince Young brings a lot to this team. Here is the exact quote of what I told him.

§ Vince Young is so good that his residue from last season is going to take UT back to the promise land. Vince is a GOD! God's dont need to know how to spell or add, just win games.

o Hook Em!

X- FREAKING GAMES!!!

I am a fan of the X-games. No clever introduction for this entry, I love the X-games. I stayed up every night this week to watch almost every event. I count down the days of my summer until the X-games start. I watched the first X-games when I was about 10 years old. After watching, I went out and bought a skateboard. I never mastered the board because of my fear of breaking bones against concrete. Because of my love of the X-games, I want to give some quick thoughts on the X-games.

Amazing Athletes

Allen Iverson is a warrior. He goes in against men twice his size and keeps playing every night. The athletes in the X-games make Allen Iverson and Bret Favre look like T-mac. These athletes risk LIFE every time they attempt a jump. For example, right now I’m watching the Skateboard big air. Sorry, BIG AIR! These skateboarders are taking off a ramp that is six floors up at an almost 90-degree angle. After they take off, they do some insane trick over a gap that is about 60 feet wide. Wait, there is more. After you land, you go up on another ramp and fly about 25 feet without any safety nets. These athletes are brave. These guys define superb athletes. They play hurt, change their sport and do it for the love of the sport.

If the Big Air example did not convince you that these guys are athletes, maybe this one will. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iFrKpR6QOA) Travis Pastrana landed the first double back flip in the history of the motocross best trick competition. If you have not seen a motocross bike, look at the picture. The bikes weight between 200 and 250 pounds. Pastrana, and every other rider, go 30 feet in the air with a 200 pound bike over them or under them. One wrong move and that bike can land on them or they can fly off the bike onto concrete hard dirt. Look at this picture; I know its going to send chills down your back.

Sure, these guys aren’t competing against a defense or a blitz package, but they are against other riders and death.

Growth of the Game
I’m not going to pull up TV ratings or anything like that to talk about this point. When the X-games first started back in 1995, most people thought it would fail. ESPN took a bold risk of putting the sport on mainstream cable even though most consider it illegal and for punks. Even though ESPN has grown to a powerful media conglomerate that can support any type of programming it wants, it does not have to support the X-games. Any business will pull the plug on something that will not make them money. The X-games has grown into the premier extreme sports competition in the world. During the first X-games I remember only a few events were on TV. Now, every event is on and ESPN has even started to put some on pay-per-view. Yes, people are willing to pay to watch the X-games.

The X-games started to become accepted in mainstream media when Tony Hawk landed the first ever 900 during the skateboard best trick competition. After that, ESPN held the games in major cities but never the home of extreme sports, LA. When the X-games went to LA in 2003, the ratings were off the charts for ESPN. I was in LA a few days before the X-games started in 2003. I have never seen so many people excited about a sport that should have been dead by now.

Athletes and Drugs

Extreme sports athletes have a stereotype surrounding them that all of them are dopeheads. I mean yes, you have to be high on something to do some of the crazy things they do but in reality they are not all crackheads. Here is a test for you doubters. NAME FIVE EXTREME ATHLETES WHO HAVE BEEN IN TROUBLE WITH THE LAW FOR DRUGS. GO! GIVE UP? Now, name five NBA players. How about five NFL players? I bet you can name more than five for both sports. I’m sure some of those athletes light up a joint once in a while, just like athltes in every other league, but at least they aren’t stupid about it. I can’t name one extreme sports athlete who was an addict or pulled a Damon Stoudemire. Drugs in sports is as common as an NBA player having more than four unknown kids on each coast.

I love watching these athletes pull amazing tricks even though it could mean the end of their career or life. I respect extreme sports athletes. I respect ESPN for staying with the X-games and helping it become the monster that it is today. Only 364 days until the X-games kicks off again.

Vince Young, a Solution for Every Situation

Brad Lidge messed up another 9^th inning last night against the Reds as the Astros lost 8-4. This got me thinking, should the Astros trade Lidge and bring in another hitter or pitcher, or should they simply look to trade for another piece?

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Astros should trade Brad Lidge, Morgan Ensberg, Troy Patton, Matt Albers and Tim Purpura for Vince Young. Yes Vince Young. He will solve every problem for the struggling Astros. He will provide clutch hitting and clutch pitching. He will run out every routine grounder and make doubles into triples with his blazing speed. He is the second coming of, sorry, he is the FIRST coming of Vince Young in the MLB. The Astros do not even have to field 9 guys anymore, Vince can play pitcher and center field. Vince Young is the solution for all problems.

Yesterday, the Titans signed Vince to a five year, sixth year optional, about $58 million deal with $26.5 million guaranteed. The Titans gave Vince first pick money as the No. 3 pick. Beat that Reggie Bush. Vince is the solution for the Titans future.

The Knicks should trade Stephon Marbury, Jalen Rose, Steve Francis, Isiah Thomas, Nate “24 attempts” Robinson and three up and coming concession stand workers to the Titans for Vince Young. All Vince needs is Channing Frye on his team to win the NBA Title. I would hate to be any player trying to guard Vince Young. I can see it now, 4^th quarter, the Knicks are down by 2 with five seconds left and Vince has the ball. You know its going in. It’s going in, all the way to an undefeated season.

President Bush is having some problems with, well everything. Instead of keeping “One Shot” Dick around, President Bush needs to appoint Vince as his new Vice President. His approval ratings will go from crap to 98%, plus minus two percent for people voting in California and Oklahoma. Vince will solve all the issues that are driving this world to war.

Vince: Come on yall, we don’t need to do this. Why don’t yall come back to Auuuuuustin and we can kick it with my boy Sleeeem Thugggg.

(translation for those who are not familiar with Vince talk: Hello respected delegates, we must solve these pressing issues that are driving the world to insanity. How about we take the next flight out to the city of Austin, Texas and solve these problems over dinner with my friend Slim Thug. We will have a delightful time and shall succeed in solving all of our differences. )

World Wide Diplomats: We agree, that sounds riveting.

(translation: holla)

Vince is the solution to all the world wide problems. World hunger you say? Well that $58 million can buy a lot of double cheeseburgers.

Al-Qaida called for a holy war against Israel yesterday, I say we put Al-Qaida and Israel on one team and let them fight Vince. I mean, if the greatest NCAA football team of all time could not catch Vince, do you think a bunch of guys with guns could?

Over the last few weeks, California has been going through some energy crisis. The state of California should trade the City of San Diego, the MTV show Laguna Beach, the Fox show The O.C. and the cast of Beverly Hills 90210 to the Titans for Vince Young. Just strap all the power lines onto Young and his energy will power your whole state.

Vince Young really is the solution for everything. The other day I could not find my car keys so I thought to myself, what would Vince do? I decided to run to work and along the way, I broke through every car that tried to hit me.

If you are reading this column and thinking, “wow this guy is such a Vince homer”, then you are right. I am not going to lie; I will always be a Vince homer. I watched the guy over come a lot of obstacles, on and off the football field, since he came to UT. If Vince really were given any of the positions listed above, I would not count him out of helping that organization succeeding in whatever they need to. If every person who has a chance to make a difference in the world had an outlook like Vince, the world would be a better place. That outlook is the do whatever it takes to win by preparing and working your ass off to achieve the ultimate goal but at the same time keep a humble head on your shoulder that allows you to enjoy the little things in life outlook. Even if Vince is a total bust in the NFL, which he won’t be, he will always be the solution to everything.

Reggie Bush= spoiled kid

If you have not heard, the second pick of the NFL draft, Reggie Bush might hold out and sit the season for the New Orleans Saints. This is by far the most stupid move any rookie can pull. I think Reggie Bush is overrated as it is, so with him holding out I get the impression that he thinks he is too good for the game. Throughout the draft process, Bush was showing a lot of signs that he is excited to play in the NFL and for the city of Houston. When Houston pulled a fast one on him, and what looks like the right move from a financial and burden stand point, Bush lost all of his leverage. Bush wants No.1 pick money at the No. 2 spot. How does that work?

I am one of those guys that support hold outs for veterans because the NFL game can end your career in one snap. I support veterans who are trying to get a lot of money up front with their signing bonus because nothing is guaranteed in the NFL. When a rookie, who has not taken a snap yet, starts holding out, I just want the player to be kicked out of the NFL forever. Do not give me this crap that Bush is trying to make his money. Bush will get his MONEY. IF he has a good season, he can try to work a new contract out, but it probably will not work. If it ever comes out that Bush is holding out for one or two million more, he will officially join my list of players whom I hate.

Bush is a spoiled athlete that has always been the big man on campus. He received endorsement deals from companies before the Saints drafted him. Those deals are worth more than five million dollars. Let me write that out, 5,000,000! If Bush sits out the season, he will go down as one of the biggest idiots of all time. Hey Bush, get your ass out on the field and show why you are an overrated player. I predicted that Bush would get hurt nine games into the season. I guess I was wrong, he won’t even play a game.