Can’t wait to see if being a $5 million coach gets Texas’ Mack Brown a pass on not doing a better job getting backup QB Garrett Gilbert ready in case Colt McCoy ever went down. Prior to being pressed into duty against Alabama, Gilbert had thrown only 26 passes. That’s pretty much inexcusable when you consider how many cupcakes Texas played, and how many opportunities there were to get Gilbert invaluable playing time in game situations. The obvious answer to why Gilbert wasn’t on the field more during the Longhorns’ first 13 games is that Brown went overboard to help McCoy build his Heisman Trophy resume. Urban Meyer did the same thing with Tim Tebow at Florida, so Mack is not the only one who shortchanged his team in the big picture. Still, he should take some heat for a decision that arguably cost Texas a national championship . . . Has any coach ever started a big game with two more boneheaded decisions than Alabama’s Nick Saban? First, with a team built around defense, he opted to take the ball after winning the coin flip, rather than deferring and getting the ball to start the second half. Football logic 101 says in a game where nerves are going to come into play early, put your defense on the field first. Saban compounded his foolishness with an idiotic fake punt call after the Tide went three and out. Texas intercepted and would probably have scored a touchdown if Colt McCoy hadn’t been hurt. Throw in how conservative Saban chose to play offensively in the second half, ultimately allowing Texas back in the game, and he’s fortunate he had good enough players to bail him out.
Alabama’s win over Texas, even if it was tainted by McCoy’ injury, should quiet those who try to make the ridiculous case the Big 12 should get mentioned in the same breath with the Southeastern Conference. The SEC won all three head-to-head bowl matchups — Ole Miss over Oklahoma State, Georgia in a romp over A&M; and Alabama over Texas. Three different SEC teams have now won the last four BCS titles. Big 12 teams, meanwhile, managed to go 4-4 in bowls, which is about par for the course for them . . . Three former Longhorns with area ties — Lamar football coach Ray Woodard, former Memorial running back Jamaal Charles and former TJ quarterback Todd Dodge were in the Rose Bowl Thursday night pulling for Texas. Dodge, though, must have had slightly mixed emotions, with one of his former quarterbacks at Southlake Carroll — Greg McElroy — taking snaps for Alabama. Charles was one of 26 of Texas’ current NFL players in attendance . . . No big surprise to hear that West Orange-Stark’s Earl Thomas is leaving Texas for the NFL draft after his sophomore season. Thomas is a great player who had a terrific season and probably couldn’t improve his draftability much by sticking around. Beyond that, there are the financial concerns for a family hard hit in Hurricane Ike. Don’t be surprised if Thomas winds up in Kansas City with Jamaal Charles. The Chiefs, because they foolishly cut Bernard Pollard, who went on to become a defensive star for the Houston Texans, are desperate at strong safety . . . If 34 bowl games wasn’t quite enough to fill you up, stick around. Next year, the Dallas Football Classic, to be played in the Cotton Bowl, jumps into the bottomless pit of bowl games. It will match the seventh-ranked team from the Big 12 against the sixth-ranked team from the Big 10. Sounds like it will be riveting confrontation.
Since this is being written before the Dallas-Philadelphia game Saturday night, it hopefully is going to be a moot point. Crazy as it seems, I was told at midweek by somebody who knows Jerry Jones a lot better than I do that Jethro’s probably going to fire Wade Phillips if the Cowboys lose. I find that hard to believe, given how much better off Dallas is than a year ago, how good Dallas’ defense under Wade’s direction has become, considering the fact he’s won the NFC East twice in three years, seeing that his overall record is second best in the NFL over the last three seasons and noting how this is clearly a team on the rise. At this point in time — no matter what happened Saturday night — Wade is the perfect coach for the Cowboys, and it’s way past time he got some respect for the job he’s done in a much tougher situation than most folks seem to understand . . . Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is ticked off at the NFL and I can’t say as I blame him. With its eye on taking care of NBC in prime time, the NFL scheduled Dallas-Philadelphia on Saturday night instead of Sunday afternoon. The last minute scheduling conflicted with the Mavs’ 8 p.m. game against the Utah Jazz and meant there were going to be thousands of no shows. “The NFL is turning into the ugly American when it comes to sports leagues,” said Cuban . . . The Houston Texans, who have to be the best team not in the playoffs, will be matched up against the NFC East next season. Dallas and the NY Giants come to Reliant Stadium, while the Texans go to Philly and Washington. It will be shocking if the Houston-Dallas game is not chosen for either Sunday or Monday night national exposure. Houston’s rugged home slate also includes San Diego, Cincinnati and the Kansas City Chiefs, in addition to division foes Indianapolis, Tennessee and Jacksonville . . .
Jamaal Charles’ record-breaking 259-yard outburst in Kansas City’s surprising win over Denver last Sunday earned him the ground portion of the FedEX Air & Ground NFL Player of the Week Award. Brett Favre was the air winner. Fed Ex made a $1,000 donation to the Safe Kids Coalition in Kansas City in Jamaal’s name and he’s now eligible for the Fed Ex Air and Ground Player of the Year Award to be announced Super Week . . . Charles’ 259-yard torching of Denver’s defense, by the way, was the eighth biggest rushing day in NFL history. It also helped him become the only player in NFL history to rush for over 1,100 yards in a season on less than 200 carries. He did it in 190. You may have read where Jamaal turned down KC coach Todd Haley’s offer to go back in the game late in the fourth quarter to take a shot a breaking Adrian Peterson’s all-time single game record of 296. I wish he’d been more selfish. The NFL is a cold-blooded business and to own the single game rushing record would have been contract leverage . . . Radio shock jock Howard Stern, not surprisingly, has thrust himself into the Tiger Woods bimbo parade. Stern, whose over the top humor now airs on Sirius Satellite Radio, is offering to stage a beauty contest for Woods’ mistresses. His plan is to have all who choose to participate, appear in swim suits, then answer questions about their sexual encounters with Tiger. Since the winner gets $100,000, you have to think there will be some takers. For the event to go forward, Stern’s requiring a minimum of three women who were linked to Woods in national tabloids.
Among the things I thought I’d never see is Lamar athletic director Billy Tubbs being welcomed to Lawrence, Kan., home of the Kansas Jayhawks, with open arms. When Billy’s Oklahoma teams were dominating the Big Eight Conference, he was easily the most hated man in Lawrence. It was a shared feeling with most of the other Big Eight cities. On Friday, Jan. 29, however, Tubbs will be paid a handsome fee by the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce to be guest speaker at its annual banquet. If I were Billy, I’d take along a food taster . . . From this vantage point, it appears that Lamar has put forth a very fair and reasonable offering on its season ticket packages for the restart of football in September. Rather than bludgeoning consumers with pricey personal seat licenses, which is pretty much standard operating practice for collegiate and professional operations, Lamar is requiring three-year Cardinal club donations of either $400 or $225 dollars in its premium seating areas. And it has sections priced as low as $60 for a six-game season ticket. With a 7 a.m. Jan. 23rd launch date on the season ticket sale, I can’t wait to see if all the people who talked the talk about LU football will actually walk the walk . . . Congratulations to Channel 12 and KLVI’s Dave Hofferth on doing his 900th Lamar basketball broadcast Saturday at Southeastern Louisiana. As someone who grew up on Missouri Tiger and St. Louis Hawks radio broadcasts, and has listened to many announcers with many styles do basketball, I have no qualms in saying Dave is one of the very best in the business. On top of that, he’s a really good guy. Lamar is blessed to have such a pro doing its games.
Sports editor Bob West can be e-mailed at rdwest@usa.net
