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Vince Young, College Graduate

Posted by    |    May 17th, 2013 at 10:25 am

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Friday is a big day for Vince Young as he becomes the first member of his family to graduate from college.

The roller coaster ride that Young has been on since leading Texas to the National Championship hits a high spot as family and friends watch him officially awarded his degree in Youth and Community Studies.

For all of the drama (and missteps) his NFL career has encompassed, Young today takes a significant positive step in his life.

The ceremony is more than just a symbol of the classroom work he put in, it is also an example of the maturation of the man. Young told cbssports.com that he wasn’t sure how many family and friends would be on campus, but that number would include his father, who has been out of the picture for almost all of his life.

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Post-Spring 2013 Football Preview: New Mexico State

Posted by    |    May 14th, 2013 at 2:35 pm

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First up: we’ve got Aggies!

Bedecked in maroon-ish (alright, crimson) and white, hailing from a desolate locale known primarily for missile testing, populated mainly by scorpions and the lovable mutants in The Hills Have Eyes franchise, prone to in-state mockery. Yep, sounds like Aggies. Though their university president favors Western bolo ties over bow ties. I like the way you rock that so unapologetically, Carruthers.

Bill Connelly of SB Nation and Football Outsiders fame does yeoman’s work in breaking down Mutant Atomic Aggy. Similarly, USA Today also penned a good article previewing the Aggie’s chances. Both previews are well worth your time.

Connelly calls New Mexico State “the worst job in FBS football” and, ever the contrarian, I immediately drew a blank in trying to debate that claim, finally offering a half-hearted mental reply of “Err, maybe, Idaho? Or one of the MAC schools, but which one I can’t remember? Wait, Louisiana-Monroe was good last year, right?”

OK, you win.

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How Kenny Vaccaro Won Over The New Orleans Saint Scouts & Coaches

Posted by    |    May 14th, 2013 at 12:12 pm

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A great article from the Times-Picayune’s Mike Triplett about Kenny Vaccaro earning his spot atop the Saint draft board, and winning over the Saint’s scouts and coaching staff, despite the doubts imposed by last year’s shoddy team defensive performance.

Of course, they might have just read Nickel’s piece back in December on Barking Carnival, sent him an honorarium, and saved themselves the air fare. They did their due diligence and came to a lot of the same conclusions.

By the time the Saints actually drafted Vaccaro with the 15th overall pick in last month’s NFL draft, they had official reports from seven different sources in their file on him – from Reiprish, Baugh and Lucas, from the National Football Scouting service that the Saints and 20 other NFL teams use, from secondary coach Wesley McGriff, from assistant secondary coach Andre Curtis and from defensive coordinator Rob Ryan – plus the opinions of Loomis and Payton, among others.

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Texas Longhorns Football: 2013 Season Trailer

Posted by    |    May 14th, 2013 at 9:44 am

Hook ‘em.

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Jimmy Blacklock: Longhorn Basketball Trailblazer

Posted by    |    May 10th, 2013 at 1:34 pm

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Scipio’s insightful reverie into his childhood experience with the Harlem Globetrotters sent me back in time as well.

As I mentioned in his post, my childhood experience with the Globetrotters was in the Old Palmer Auditorium here in Austin.

My interest piqued, I did a little research and discovered that the Globetrotters are coming back to Austin — but not to the Erwin Center. They will be in town for a week holding youth basketball camps at various sites and a former Longhorn will be here with them.

Jimmy Blacklock was named the Globetrotters coach in 2011. Blacklock had joined the Globetrotters as a player after his career at Texas and has been identified with the organization ever since. And while it’s been 40 years since he wore the orange & white uniform, his legacy is still a part of Texas Basketball.

Last fall I wrote about Darrell Royal’s relationship with Julius Whittier and how they helped change the face of UT football. The process in basketball was basically along the same timeline.

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