What Are Coach Sark's Longhorns Getting Wrong that Jimbo Fisher's Aggies Get Right?
WHITT’S END: 11.12.21
Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …
*Either the Texas Longhorns suffer from a lack of depth, inept halftime adjustments or both. Something has to explain their drastic drop-off in the second half of games.
In their last five, Hook ’Em has been outscored by a combined 112-36. Meanwhile, Texas A&M lost its starting quarterback (Haynes King) to injury in the season opener and is still managing a successful season at 7-2 with a win over Alabama and a fast-track at a big bowl.
While Steve Sarkisian has sunk Texas to ugly depths, Jimbo Fisher is suddenly 16-3 the last two seasons.
*Fine, I give up. (Spoiler alert: I never really give up.) I’ve questioned several of Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy’s zany gambles, but his most nonsensical ploy yet was allowing Dak Prescott to play in the final quarter of a 30-0 blowout against the Broncos last Sunday.
We’re all too familiar with McCarthy’s analytics algorithm being out of whack, but this one defies even irrational logic. Risk? Prescott, who was nursing a balky calf, could have aggravated the injury and – like teammate Michael Gallup – missed as many as seven games. Reward? He threw two late, meaningless touchdowns to Malik Turner to dress up the final score as deceptively competitive. Keep Dak in ultra-conservative bubble wrap for two weeks only to unleash him 110 percent in what amounted to 15 minutes of preseason football?
You go figure. Because I can’t.
*I'm an adult. So I'm not too offended by assistant coach Bo Davis' profane bus-ride rant directed at literally a bunch of kids.
But ...
Calling kids "m-----------rs'' probably isn't the best way to recruit the sons of actual mothers.
And inviting kids to jump into the very inviting transfer portal probably isn't the best way to keep the recruits you've got.
*We are all Nikola Jokic. Especially fans of the Dallas Mavericks. The reigning NBA MVP delivered a glorious cheap-shot body blast to Markieff Morris that was oh-so-satisfying because – in case you forgot – the Morris brothers are the biggest twin thugs in all of professional sports. Remember when Marcus accidentally-on-purpose stepped on Luka Doncic’s already-injured ankle in the 2020 playoffs? It’s not a coincidence that his brother spews the same venom. If you can’t beat ’em, hurt ’em. As in, this week Markieff – as the 11th man on a team that trailed by 17 points in garbage time – launched himself knee- and elbow-first into Jokic at midcourt and then tried to walk away as if nothing happened.
Jokic deliciously retaliated, sending Markieff sprawling. I’m only jealous the Mavs don’t have a player who would do this.
*I know his team lost 100 games, but how is Texas Rangers’ outfielder Adolis Garcia not even a finalist for AL Rookie of the Year? Furthermore, how can a player win The Sporting News’ award and not be among the top three for the same award voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America?
Are we watching the same games, fellas?
Garcia had he most productive rookie season in Rangers’ history, and became just the eighth MLB player with at least 30 homers, 80 RBI and 10 stolen bases. Not in the top three of his league? Balderdash! (Do people still say balderdash? Well, they should.)
*Not sure how to make that little r with the circle around it to notate that an idea is mine via registered trademark, but here it is … The “Hearring”. It’s a hearing aid, but in the form of earring jewelry. Clips not in your lobe, but in the middle of your ear near the opening. Fashion meets function. Alert me when my Hearring royalties are ready.
*Prescott. Gallup. Now Randy Gregory. I don’t think calf injuries are contagious, but at this point you gotta wonder. With the Cowboys’ leading pass-rusher headed to a three-week stay on Injured Reserve, good to know that DeMarcus Lawrence will be back by Thanksgiving. Still, would be nice to have Von Miller as insurance, no?
*Don’t care which way you lean politically, you’ve got to be happy with the government’s new infrastructure legislation. Texas will receive $35 billion over the next five years for things like roads, bridges, ports and even rural Internet. That’s right, rural. So those that live deep in the country will now have faster broadband with which to criticize the current administration that made their lives more efficient. And the $1 trillion deal is already paid for, through a tax hike on this country’s wealthiest 10 percent.
Now, can we finish the catastrophe of a project on I-35 in Oak Cliff and clean up the mess – that’s been there since mid-May – at the once-chic Plano intersection of Legacy-Parkwood? Oh, and is there ever going to be a way to travel through Austin with some level of convenience?
Thanks in advance.
*Longhorns. And fast. Texas basketball season is here. I know we all thought this about Sark, but now we are going to say it about coach Chris Beard's program: The good stuff is coming. And fast.
*Psst. Want some free money? Here’s your formula: Find an NFL game in which the previous week one team covered the point-spread and the other didn’t, and bet on the team that didn’t. As successful as it is simple. The system is a ridiculous 39-14-1, including 10-0 the last two weeks. The Falcons covered against the Saints last Sunday; the Cowboys didn’t against the Broncos. You know what to do.
*Still can't wrap my head around TCU seriously considering Deion Sanders to replace Gary Patterson as its football coach. (My thoughts on the fraud formerly known as "Prime Time" are well-chronicled.)
Former Boise State coach Chris Peterson? Iowa State's Matt Campbell? Wade Phillips? Santa Claus? Your drunk uncle? Anybody but Deion.
*Cowboys-Broncos drew a 26.7 TV rating in DFW. The Stars-Canucks game earned a 0.3.
*Hot.
*Not.
*Jokic is the first NBA MVP to be suspended since the Mavs’ Dirk Nowitzki was punished one game for a backhanded swipe to the mug of Matt Harpring in 2008. Don’t clearly remember that incident, but I’m certain Harpring deserved it.
*Don’t sweat the Cowboys’ upset loss to Denver. Sh-t happens. Several teams have suffered embarrassing blowout losses in November en route to the Super Bowl. Including, yep, the 2020 Buccaneers.
*Trying to grasp the concept of Warstic, a new Deep Ellum sporting goods store(?) backed by former Ranger Ian Kinsler and The White Stripes’ Jack White. So, they sell sports “sticks” – baseball bats, lacrosse sticks, fishing rods, etc. But also baseball gloves. There’s a coffee house, called DBLHAWK Coffee. (Why not Warstic Coffee?) Oh, and it’s also a small music venue. According to the company’s website, Warstic’s creed is “It’s not the weapon, it’s the warrior.” Yeah, but aren’t they selling the “weapon”? And where’d the “k” go at the end of “Warstic”? I have failed miserably trying to grasp the concept.
*Saw a guy at the gym this week with a huge QR code on the front of his T-shirt. Scan it and up pops his virtual business card. Genius!
*Paul Rudd is the sexiest man alive? GTFOH.
*If Cowboys’ VP Stephen Jones gets his wish, the NFL Competition Committee will re-visit the peculiar rule that allows a blocked punt to result in a first down … for the kicking team.
*Zero desire to see King Richard, the new movie about Serena and Venus’ pops. Why? Because, um, we already watched his life story. Live.
This isn’t like the tale of Jim Thorpe or Jesse Owens, void of video and social media and thorough storytelling and an accurate chronicling of life. I’d be interested in a Richard Williams documentary with unique, archival footage from the family. But Will Smith portraying a guy we had a front-row seat to watch play himself? Hard pass.
It’d be like getting excited about who’s gonna play Jerry Jones in the movie? Jerry Jones, that’s who. The movie has been showing since 1989.
*Come to Texas, they say. “Cost of living”, they say. Well … Dallas residents pay higher rent/mortgage and more expensive car notes than most cities in the U.S. The average DFW resident shells out $2,103 in monthly bills.
*Just when you think the NFL needs a bunch of tweaking, CeeDee Lamb is fined $20,000 for an untucked jersey while Aaron Rodgers is fined only $14,000 for breaking COVID protocols and putting countless humans at risk of being infected with a contagious disease that’s killed more than five million worldwide. You’re right, it needs a bunch of tweaking.
*This Weekend? Saturday let’s do some volunteer work at White Rock Lake with Big Brothers Big Sisters lil’ bro Ja. Sunday let’s watch Cowboys-Falcons. As always, don’t be a stranger.