Some things you need to know about Texans and Texas teams involved in sports: • • • • • • • 1. TCU fans display banner saying< Winner Plays TCU at title game< In Texas, they tell it like it is. So, it comes as little surprise that some enterprising TCU fans secured front-row seats to display a banner saying Winner Plays TCU during the so-called College Football Playoff National Championship at Jerrys Place. ... Ohio State won the game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington rather impressively, beating Oregon 42-20. The Buckeyes were nursing a 21-20 lead before Ezekiel Elliott scored from the nine with 38 seconds left in the third quarter. ... He scored twice more in the fourth quarter, the final touchdown coming with 28 seconds left in the game -- trash time in TCUs final two wins. The Horned Frogs were ranked No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings coming into the selection committee’s final rankings. They dropped from No. 3 all the way to No. 6 despite beating Iowa State 55-3 to clinch a share of the Big 12 title and improve to 11-1. ... Relagated to the Peach Bowl, the Horned Frogs destroyed No. 9 Ole Miss 42-3. Plenty of people thought TCU or Baylor should have had the Buckeyes spot. ... A final The Associated Press football poll ranks Ohio State, Oregon second and TCU third. Alabama is No. 4 and Florida State is tied with Michigan State tied Florida State for fifth. The Horned Frogs, who were left out of the playoff but beat Mississippi 42-3 in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, were ranked ahead of No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Florida State. The Tide and Seminoles lost playoff semifinals. Baylor was seventh. ... This will go down as one of the great stories in college football history, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said. Elliott, a sophomore, was the offensive MVP and ran for 246 yards on a career-high 36 carries. ... Cardale Jones, who took over in the Michigan game for the injured J.T. Barrett (Wichita Falls Rider HS) passed for 242 yards and a touchdown and ran for score in his third career start. ... • • • • • • • 2. Brooklyns Garnett uses head, nets ejection< You cant accuse Brooklyns Kevin Garnett of not using his head. ... Garnett was ejected in the first quarter after head-butting Houstons Dwight Howard in the face and throwing the ball at him. Howard received a technical foul after appearing to punch or slap Garnett in the neck. ... In the real game, James Harden scored 30 points as the Rockets beat the slumping Brooklyn Nets 113-99. Houston has won four in a row, all by double digits, and blew away a Nets team that had held its previous eight opponents under 100 points, the longest streak in the NBA this season. ... Howard had a quiet night otherwise, finishing with eight points and five rebounds, but the Rockets didnt need much in the middle while dominating from the outside with 16 3-pointers in 40 attempts. ... • • • • • • • 3. Baylor advances to third in womens cage poll< Baylor moved into third -- the place previously occupied by Texas -- in The Associated Press Womens basketball poll. ... The Lady Bears trail only South Carolina, which received 28 first-place votes and UConn, which got the other seven first-place votes. The Lady Longhorns slipped into a fourth-place tie with Louisville. Texas A&M dropped from ninth to 11th. ... • • • • • • • 4. Aggies effort strips Kentucky of unanimous selection< After being forced into two overtimes in a 70-64 win over Texas A&M, Kentucky is no longer a unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press Mens basketball poll. ... The Wildcats got 63 first-place votes and No. 2 Virginia got the other two. With two losses, Texas slipped from 10th to 20th, just two steps ahead of Baylor. ... • • • • • • • 5. President honors Spurs during White House visit< President Barack Obama praised the San Antonio Spurs sportsmanship in the 2014 NBA champions visit to the White House. He praised the Spurs as a great metaphor for what America should be all about. ... The President said the Spurs have become the United Nations of basketball teams because of the teams diversity. He says it shows how basketball has become an international sport. ... Obama singled the team out for hiring WNBA star Becky Hammon last year. Shes the first full-time, paid female assistant on an NBA coaching staff. Obama praised the Spurs for their public service efforts on literacy and community development. ... San Antonio defeated the Miami Heat last year to win their fifth NBA championship. ... • • • • • • • 6. Cowboys seeking to retain staff< Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said the club will not grant anyone permission to speak or interview with an interested club over the next three days unless its for a head coaching position. ... There is a three day period here where we will not grant anyone permission to talk to anyone unless it’s to become a head coach, Jones said. Well be trying to sign our guys. My priority is to sign our staff. ... Head coach Jason Garrett tops the priority list. Jones stated publicly in December that he thought it was in the best interest of the team for Garrett to return. Garrett has consistently deflected questions publicly about a new contract but has let it be known that he wants to return. ... Offensive coordinator Bill Callahan, passing game coordinator Scott Linehan and defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli are also under expiring contracts. Oakland reportedly has an interest in talking to Linehan, and Marinelli’s strong ties with Tampa Bay coach Lovie Smith has led to speculation that the Bucs could have an interest in luring him away from the Cowboys. ... I don’t want to comment on that, Jones said of interest in Marinelli. Our goal is to keep everyone together. Eight teams have expressed an interest in Callahan, a source said. ... • • • • • • • 7. Four Cowboys, Watt selected All-Pro< Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas (West Orange-Stark HS and UT) and Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt were named to the Professional Football Writers of America All-NFL team for a third straight season. ... Four Dallas Cowboys were named to the team -- all on offense. That list includes DeMarco Murray, the NFL’s leading rusher, wide receiver Dez Bryant (Lufkin HS an Oklahoma State), center Travis Frederick and tackle Tyron Smith. ... Outside linebacker Von Miller (DeSoto HS and Texas A&M) of the Denver Broncos was also selected. ... • • • • • • • 8. FYI: This blog features Texas teams and athletes with Texas connections. It is compiled by retired newspaper journalist Bob Sonderegger (anglebob61@yahoo) who covered most of the teams mentioned. Your comments or additions are welcome.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 11:15:31 +0000
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