In Schaub I trust.... kind of.

I really need more hours in a day.

This morning I actually had a really interesting conversation with my father about the whole Matt Schaub situation. For those of you that are not from around Houston, you're probably unaware that a group of Texans fans went into the Texans fan store at Reliant Stadium, Purchased a Schaub jersey, marched it into the parking lot, and set it on fire. 

SET. IT. ON. FIRE.

So, let's review.

Week 1 San Diego- Terrible First half by the team as a whole, At halftime JJ Watt threatens to turn the entire team into Wattkabobs (pure speculation), defense plays shut down ball, Matt Schaub pieces together a pretty decent second half, Brian Cushing has a pick 6 that saves the day and Randy Bullock wins it on a field goal. Not pretty, but a win. (Also, we play awful on national TV)

Week 2 Tennessee- This game is always special to me because, hello, we're playing the team that decided Houston wasn't good enough for them. Now, I would like to tell you that the only Titans fan I tolerate spent the entire week before complaining about how awful this team was, AND THEY FORCED US INTO OVERTIME. We almost did not have an Overtime because of a pick 6 thrown by Schaub, who did later lead us onto the game winning drive thanks to some brilliance by DeAndre Hopkins. Also, I was asking for Randy Bullocks head after this game.

Week 3 Baltimore- We looked good! Came out strong. Motivated. Pick 6..and complete momentum shift. I can't comment on the second half of this game because I was in a car headed back from Lubbock, but the score about says it all. Just awful.

Week 4 Seattle- Yesterday. Oh, yesterday. Our offense clicked in the first half. We scored 20 points on a defense that had only allowed 27 points in 3 weeks. I had a friend tell me I should be loving Matt Schaub, I know better though. Our defense looked spectacular. Then after halftime...Cush gets a concussion. JJ has his face busted open. And Matt Schaub, who cannot get any offense going, throws yet another Pick 6. We lose in overtime. 

I understand the old saying, "One play doesn't lose a game." Yeah? Well it can damn sure win one. And that pick 6 was a dagger, and one of two interceptions in the game.

So, if you're keeping count, Matt has thrown 3 pick 6's in the past 9 quarters. (We're starting this melt down from the 4th quarter against the Titans.) Do you know how many touchdowns our defense has allowed in that same time span?

THREE.

So back to the jersey burning. My dad thinks this is entirely the wrong idea. If Kubiak believes in him, so should we. The last thing we need is for our quarterback to have ZERO confidence. That's not going to get us anywhere. Besides we don't want to be like those awful fans in that city about 4 hours North of us, do we? 

I can't honestly sit here and say I believe in him. I can't say he doesn't frustrate me, and I can't say that I believe he's the guy that's going to take us to the Super Bowl. (And trust me. I want that more than anything.) I was the loudest proponent of the "Suck for Luck" campaign and I'd give me left kidney to have him here now, but I love my team. And I trust my coach. He's made a lot of moves that made me scratch my head and have me smiling now. And after the last few drafts, I may ask Rick Smith to be the Godfather to my children. (Not anytime soon, mom. Don't you worry!)

So I'm pleading Texans fans, let's try a new approach. YES, let's be upset. Let's express that yesterday's loss was inexcusable and that our offense has to get better, but let's cheer them along that way. Burning jersey's in the stadium parking lots makes me feel like we're on par with Dallas Cowboys fans... and I know we're so much better than that. 

Our coaches know we have to get better. Our players know we have to get better. We've all got the same goal...but lets show the rest of the NFL why we're the best fans in the league.

So for now, In Schaub I trust... kind of.

xoxo

P.S. HAPPY NHL OPENING NIGHT EVE ALL OF YOU HOCKEY FANS. I'M SO PUMPED.

It's been a bad weekend for my football teams.

If there is one thing I love about weekends, it's sleeping in.

If there's one thing I hate about college football, It's 11 AM kickoffs.

Seriously though, at what point in time did someone think that it would be a good idea to set college football games before noon. My brain barely functions before noon. So imagine my displeasure at having to wake up for that 3 hours Oklahoma State tried to pass off as a game...

It's like our Offensive Coordinator had COMPLETELY forgotten how to run our offense. I would like to think we run what I, and probably only I, call a balanced spread offense. I know at the heart of our identity, we do in fact run a spread offense (throw, throw, and throw some more.) We run things at a very quick pace and rely on that fast tempo to disrupt defenses sometimes. 

I should at this point mention that the very man who brought this very dangerous offense to OSU was none other than Dana Holgorsen. Former OSU OC, current WVU Head Coach. I got quite a few chuckles at how upset he was getting when the offense he brought to our school was catching his new defense so far off guard. Shouldn't you, of all people, know this plan?

Anywho, the thing that I think has made us so successful is that we've also had a very good ground game. Just when you're starting to figure out what we're doing through the air, BOOM, explosive running back right up the middle. Now you don't know what to cover. It's been effective. VERY effective. Until Saturday. What did we do? Run, run, run some more, run again, oh wait we're on the 1/2 yard line, THROW. SERIOUSLY. I wish I was kidding. Also, as an OSU fan, I'm realizing just how spoiled I was by Dan Bailey and Quinn Sharp...please come back. Our kicker missed a less than 25 yd field goal, while just two hours later I watched Georgia's kicker nail a 55 yarder right down the middle. 

I'm bitter. SO bitter.

Then today, after staying up much too late laughing with some of my favorites, the Texans happened.

There's something that one of my friends dad said that always stuck with me. Partially because his son was an offensive lineman, and partially because it's so true. 

"If I'm noticing the offensive line, they're doing something wrong."

Is it fair? Not entirely. Is it accurate? Absolutely. How many times when you see Arian Foster make an explosive play up the middle do you say, "Geeze, that was GREAT blocking by the left tackle." Chances are...less than 1%. That's why you always hear about Quarterbacks feeding their entire offensive lines every week. Because if they do their job, the qb is able to do his without issue.

I was spoiled in 2011. The OSU offensive line was monstrous. Brandon Weeden had all day to throw in the pocket. A thing of beauty. So imagine my discontent when I see how many licks Schaub takes.

Now, I personally believe that Schaub is hyper aware of incoming pressure, ( a drastic 180 from David Carr, who apparently is completely blind in his peripheral vision), and after a chat with a friend I also believe his foot is not, and may never be, 100%. All I'm saying that if I were an opposing defensive coordinator you could bet that I would be blitzing every single down.

I'm not throwing in the towel yet. Our defense still looks spectacular, and our offensive line went above and beyond in the first half today... but something has got to get better.That second half was enough to make any Texans fan cry.

I don't really like Schaub, but I disagree with the fans asking to cut him and start Keenum. (You guys are aware that there is a guy in between them on the Depth Chart who...I dont know...HAS WON AN NFL PLAYOFF GAME FOR US.) But something has got to change.

I'll analyze more on the Texans tomorrow. Including how I would not want to be 49ers offense next week because what I saw in the post game interviews was a VERY ANGRY JJ Watt. (The stitches definitely add to the stud factor btw.) 

xoxo

Exit Sandman

My family has been encouraging me to take my endless sports related jabber and put it into a blog (I assume so that I will have an outlet for the millions of things that run through my mind other than their ears) and tonight, I’ve decided to bite the bullet. I feel inspired at the moment and I would like to share my thoughts with y’all. And if you know me at all, the title of this blog absolutely makes sense.

There are two very important things you must understand off the bat. 1. I cry once in a blue moon. I mean that. I’m not a big crier. I never have been. My father claims that I lack empathy and I’ve had more than one person question if I was a robot. 2. As I write this, there are tears in my eyes.

There certainly have been things happening in the sports world today. Although not overly eventful, they are happening. None of them compare to what took place tonight though. Let’s rewind to earlier this week. On a very eventful Sunday, One on which I spent 8 hours in the car and relied on the wonderful world of twitter to provide me with updates, the most monumental sports related news was not a play on the field. Sure there was an ever entertaining goalie fight, (Did Bernier spend all of his time in LA in south Compton or what?! Seriously…), to my Texans looking like they had never been taught that First downs on our side of the 50 yard line were actually a good thing, and two actually fantastic NFL games, however on Sunday the most important thing that happened was the hanging of a second #42 on the wall of retired numbers in Yankee Stadium. The greatest closer of all time was given an hour long ceremony to celebrate a prolific career with one of the most storied programs in baseball. 

To understand how important Sunday was to me let me back track a little. While I really do love all sports (I tolerate soccer.) Baseball is my first love. It’s the high school boyfriend of sports for me. While I expressed my interest in playing baseball at a young age, my parents tried to steer me towards the less dangerous, and more boring, road of softball. (Sorry softball girls! Just wasn't my cup of tea.) “A girl doesn't aim extra hard to brush you off the plate like a boy would if you were the only girl playing in a boys league,” my parents reasoned. However, I wanted to be the first female pitcher in the MLB and I wanted to wear Navy pinstripes. I fell in love with Derek Jeter and in turn, the entire Yankees roster. This included an ever growing affection for Mariano Rivera. I’ve never known a Yankees roster that didn’t include Mo and I can’t think of a classier person to be the last active player to wear Jackie’s number. I can be ANYWHERE and hear the intro to “Enter Sandman” and immediately think of Mo. He’s had so many great career moments but I find that most of my personal favorites come from other teams honoring him as he played in their ballparks for the last time this season. That’s right. A man who played his entire career on a team that other teams LOVE to hate, is so highly respected that other teams would have ceremonies honoring him in their own home ballparks. Truly speaks volumes. My by-far favorite moment in his career comes from this season at Fenway Park. As soon as Girardi made the call to the bullpen and Enter Sandman came over the speakers, the entire stadium stood and gave him a standing ovation. This is outstanding for two reasons. These two teams have the greatest rivalry in baseball (and Boston fans are not known for warm hospitality of opposing teams) and Mo entering the game means that you’re losing, and there’s not a real good chance of you leaving with a win. It’s kind of his thing...

So tonight, when for the last time ever, the greatest closer of all time took the mound at Yankee Stadium, a little piece of my heart broke. It was a wonderful thing to see the crowd truly honor him, and see Pettite and Jeter, two of my all-time favorite Yankees, come out to pull him off the mound. It was amazing to see the emotion he expressed and all the embraces from his teammates and the standing ovation from the Rays dugout. The Yankees finish their season with a three game series in my hometown of Houston, but I honestly hope Rivera is not pitched here. I want to see him go out on his home field... but I do hope to see a bunch of “thank you, Mo” signs in the stands. Mainly because given the opportunity, it’s what I would say to him. Thank you for showing us exactly what a DOMINANT cutter looks like, for the ease in my stomach every time you took the mound to save a game that we  were going to come out with a win, and for never shying away from thanking Jesus for everything you’ve been blessed with. Even though my allegiances have switched over the years, the one thing I have always enjoyed is watching you pitch. I’ve been lucky enough to never know baseball without you, and it will certainly be strange watching someone else step into the closing role for the Yankees. While I’m sure that batters are breathing a sigh of relief, you will be so missed.

Thank you for the memories.

Exit Sandman.