I Never Said It Was Bad...

So yesterday the social media sphere in my neck of the woods almost suffered a major melt down. Everyone was facebooking, retweeting, hashtagging, and whatever-elsing, rumors that former Texas Tech QB and general all around super stud Kilff Kingsbury was returning home.

This got on my nerves to no end.

Until I hear it come out of someone’s mouth with some pull... Think AD Hocutt or the Hancellor himself, I'm not buying it. But as usual I have a few thoughts on the situation.

Let me just say that I have never felt more out of place, and at the same time right at home as I have shooting on the sidelines of the Tech football games. I could feel the men of the gridiron media arena look at me with a curious look, thinking to themselves what is a woman doing here?

Well, this woman has always wanted to get into sports broadcast. When I initially went to college my idea of a dream job was to be a photo journalist for SI. And I'm not talking about shooting women's tennis matches, the LPGA or even the WNBA when it was in existence. I wanted to shoot college football and I'm talking all of it National Championships, bowl games, all of it. I am even passionate about watching the sport.

The hardest part of standing on the sidelines in any game is keeping your mouth shut when you are there in a media capacity. So being that crazy girl who wears the same game day clothes to bring her team a little luck, and who screams at the TV over a bad call that the refs made, I don't exaggerate when I say that my heart sings during college football season.

Now I watch all types of games from every conference, if the match up is there for a good game I watch it.

 I don't care if it is a high scoring game with big pass plays and miraculous God only knows how a team pulled that off wins.

I still swear that the best game I have ever watched was the 2011 SEC match up between LSU and Alabama the first time (the BCS game was a joke). They were #1 and #2 in the BCS rankings. It was a great game because of this (and this is where lots of people loose their argument with me, because they think this game was pitiful because of it) it all came down to the special teams.

Most people hate games like that. I loved it… Ate it up…. The ground game was there on both sides. The pass plays were there, and more importantly the defense was there.

So it all came down to who had the better kicker. I wanted Bama to win, because of my uncle. But I also saw the type of football that my dad watched for. That perfect culmination of things that makes your heart pound with adrenaline and takes you on a emotional roller coaster ride unlike any other.

Now with all that said...

Kliff Kingsbury has returned to Texas Tech to be the head coach and I have stated in prior posts that I would lead the chants of "you my dear are a moron" (I said dear that takes the sting out right?)...

I will admit that this might not be fair. I mean I would assume that and Academic All- American would be anything but.

I am glad that Tech hired a coach that finally unified the fan base.

There is nothing more discouraging to a fan than the fans who cling on to a prior administration and refuse to move on and embrace the beautiful change that could happen if you just let it.

There have been a few other comments that I have come across that I would like to address, just because I think they show ignorance and I think its funny. And I am actually going to point out the POSITIVE things that this could mean for Tech football.

Yeah I never said that hiring Kingsbury would be a bad thing for Tech. I just said this might not be the best career move for Kingsbury. Let's seriously think about this. Leaving a freshman Heisman winner, who set records in lots of ways and will be eligible to win again; plus leave a team that was making waves in the SEC first year in?... See where I'm going with this (and yeah I know sophmore slump, Saban will have film on him, blah, blah, blah). Kingsbury could have rode that out and written his own ticket any where. And I do mean anywhere.

But hey what do I know? I'm a chick complete with double D's so I can't have an opinion on a completely male dominate sport right?

Wrong.

I want to start with this gem of a comment. So long Tuberville now its time for some real football... Ha! *eye roll*...

Leave it to the unrefined and Big 12 centered palette to think that "real football" consists of big scores and big pass plays with no defense to speak of.

This is one thing that I hope that Kingsbury doesn't revert back too. I really liked having a ranked defense through a chunk of a season. A well rounded football program can not only pass, but has the ability to run a ground game.

This is where Doege lost me a lot this season. He was comfortable in the pocket and when he was on God help you. But due to bad knees he wasn't able to really scramble the way he needed too and you could tell it, by watching him run. And OU showed the nation what happens when you cover passing routes when you take on Tech. Can we say big win?

However I tip my hat to Tuberville for honoring commitments that Leach made to this kid.

Here is another gem that I came across. This one makes me shake my head... Now we can say that we have a piece of the Heisman. Oye vey!

Seriously? Did you just try to lay partial claim to something that Tech Athletics had nothing to do with? Did you seriously just put out there that you think that by hiring on Kingsbury that automatically entitles us to a "piece"...

Your misguided notions make me want to high five you... in the face... with a chair. And it also makes me lose a little faith in humanity.

Let me first say that whoever made that comment... I'll stop there.

There are a couple of things wrong with this. This plays into why I think Kingsbury's move was a little short sided (so bare with me). Kliff didn't win the Heisman. The kid he was coaching Manziel did.

Do I think that Kliff had a little something to do with that? I would be just as dumb as the above mentioned ignoramus (which I'm not) if I said no. I think that what Kingsbury was able to cultivate in a Freshman was amazing and astounding.

I watched at the beginning of the season and not just after Manziel and the Aggies beat Alabama. I watched because I was curious about how a Texas team would preform in the big bad SEC. Manziel was good at the start, he was definitely green when it came to performing on a collegiate stage, but he had the chops to begin with. I remember having this conversation with a Aggie friend of mine, "To bad they aren't seriously looking at Manziel as Heisman potential... kids got some skills."

However some things happened after this Manziel started calming down and working sand lot football (which is fun to watch and gets a lot of chatter going, which helped Manziel with that Heisman win).

The heart involved in that type of play is something that coaches no matter how good you are you can't teach kids... Sorry you just can't.

This kid figured out the longer he's able to shag the defense the more opportunity opens up. I think Kingsbury taught him to look for the options. I also think that Kingsbury taught him some things that contributed to a big season for Manziel that culminated in a Heisman trophy win. But that calm-no-sweating- it-collected-ness that Manziel had on the field can't be taught. It just can't its mentality folks. Don't believe me, let me refer you to the Potts era at Tech. One bad pass play, you should have just pulled the kid, because mentally he was done. And every team we played knew that. Rattle Potts and we can add one to the W column.

Now with all that said here is where Tech was smart to move when they did. Thanks to Heisman Trophy winner Manziel... Tech hiring on the coach that he worked with, our ranked recruiting class might not be so quick to jump ship; which happens when the coach who recruited them jumps ship.

I honestly think that Tech moving on Kingsbury the way they did was brilliant and lets be honest Hance didn't fight it, because of that little ole trophy (thus proving me right)... Kingsbury has officially made a name for himself.

So Kliff if you're reading this (listen to me being all self-aware thinking that some big HC is reading this) here are my hopes for you in the coming years at Tech.

I hope that you are able to build on a program that has had mediocre results at best. I hope that you are as brilliant as I think you are at working plays. I hope that you are able to recruit a team that Tech desperately needs, and that's a team with a defense. I hope that you are able to keep the fans unified. And more importantly I hope that the fans don't turn on you if you lose or have a bad season, because you are one of our own.

But more importantly I hope that you don't take this team back to what I like to call the dark days of the every play is the hail mary pass play. I wish you the best of luck and hope for great things to be born out of this transition.

I can't wait to see you on the gridiron.

So to your health, the health of your team, and may the football gods smile upon you...

And Wreck 'Em Tech!