Rest In Peace, Slingin' Sammy Baugh

Not many people these days know about Sammy Baugh, and that is a shame. He is most certainly the greatest NFL player of all time, but if you asked 100 NFL fans for the best NFL player ever, a majority wouldn't name him.

The sad thing is, if I didn't have the ties to TCU that I do (go Frogs) I'm not sure that I would know who he was either. Everyone knows of Babe Ruth, who revitalized baseball's offense by utilizing the homerun, but not nearly as many people know about Baugh, and he did the same thing for football by utilizing the forward pass. He pretty much made football into the game we know and love today and doesn't get near the credit he deserves for it.

In a time when the number of forward passes averaged about three per NFL game, he averaged about 7 completions per game. He still owns the Redskins record for most touchdown passes and he played 60 years ago.

But not only does he hold those distinctions as a quarterback, he also played on defense. At the same time. In fact, twice in his career he threw 4 touchdowns in a game in which he also caught 4 interceptions. To this day he is still third on the Redskins all time interception list, as in making interceptions, not throwing them.

Not only did he excel on offense and defense, but he was also a star punter. In fact, he still holds the NFL record for best punting average in a season. Still! No one has ever had a better punting season, and that was his third job on the team!

He was a member of the inaugural NFL Hall of Fame class, he led the Redskins to two NFL Championships (and played in 3 more), and he led the 1935 TCU Horned Frogs to one of only two National Championships (so far).

Oddly enough, his nickname of Slingin' wasn't given because of his propensity to throw the football when no one else did, but because of the velocity with which he threw a baseball, because he was also a star short stop and 3rd baseman for the TCU baseball team.

I wish that the NFL had done a better job of teaching their fans about this amazing athlete, because in all actuality, he should be to the NFL what Babe Ruth is to the MLB.

Rest in peace, Sammy, and may you play all three phases of the great game in the sky.

Go Frogs.

Why OU Deserves to be Ahead of Texas

Many of my friends are UT fans, so they won't enjoy this post (if they even read it), but I thought I'd put it up anyway.

First of all, let me say I'm approaching this completely in a non-biased fashion. In fact, if I had to choose which of the three teams is my favorite it would be hands down Texas, but that doesn't change the facts, and they clearly state that OU should be ahead of UT and deserved to win the Big 12 Championship and deserve a chance to play for the National Championship.


Yes, we know. Texas beat Oklahoma. 45-35. Fine. Too bad that argument means absolutely nothing in this case. It isn't just between Texas and Oklahoma. It isn't a 2 way tie. Head to head means absolutely nothing. If it did, Tech would be ranked ahead of OU, it's that simple.

It isn't a 2 way tie at the top of the Big 12, it is a 3 way tie. Ignore the fact that the BCS erased Tech's chances when OU blew them out, the fact remains that they are just as legitimate a Big 12 Champ as either Texas or Oklahoma on the surface of it. They beat Texas. They can make the same argument that Texas is making against OU. "But we beat you! Head to head!"

Texas Tech beat Texas. Head to head. They should therefore be ranked ahead of Texas. After all, they have identical records, conference and overall. But you don't hear Tech making any complaints.

Because they realize that it is a 3 way tie at the top and while they beat Texas by 6 they lost to OU by 44 points. 44 points. In a 3 way tie, it seems to me point differential should be the difference. Match up the three teams in how they played against each other and OU comes out on top big. Texas won one by 10, lost one by 6 (+4), Texas Tech won one by 6, lost one by 44 (-38), OU won one by 44, lost one by 10 (+34). This is a fair and logical tie-breaker that makes more sense then the arbitrary one used by the Big 12 (BCS standings), one that is actually decided on the field.

That being said, the BCS got it right, primarily because of the computers which rewarded OU for playing a much tougher schedule. Out of conference, OU played two teams that finished in the top 15. OU beat #13 Cincinnati 52-26 and #11 TCU 35-10. They also scheduled Washington on the road (which when the game was scheduled was far more daunting then it is now). The only cupcake coming into the season on their non-conference schedule was Chattanooga. Texas on the other hand had perennial cupcakes Rice and Florida Atlantic on their schedule. They also had UTEP (no TCU) and Arkansas, which, again at least coming in looked like it might be a tough game.

You can't know at the beginning of a season what the schedule will look like at the end in terms of strength, but you can help yourself out a little bit by playing teams a little tougher then Rice and Florida Atlantic. As it is, OU is 4-1 against teams in the top 15 of the BCS standings this season, Texas is only 2-1 (so, I might add is Texas Tech, and remember, they beat Texas, head to head.)

Like I said, if I'm biased in any way it would be towards Texas, but the facts are the facts and they say that OU is the team that deserved to be declared the champion. Texas could have beaten Tech and made it all a moot point.

Or we could have a playoff and decide this the way it should be decided, on the field, then even Tech would still be alive to make their case, but, alas, that's another post.