Oklahoma 65, Texas Tech 21

Boy, talk about painful to watch...last night's complete drubbing of Tech by Oklahoma was even more painful than watching the recent Dallas Cowboy losses. OU amassed over 600 yards of total offense and completely dominated both lines.

Although the Red Raiders still have a chance at winning the Big 12 South to face Missouri for the Big 12 Championship, they have to beat Baylor next week and hope that OSU can beat OU in Stillwater. Stranger things have happened...

Although few expected the total annihilation of Tech's offense, OU's win should not have come as a complete shock. Optimists like me hoped Tech had improved over last year's team, which beat OU in Lubbock. Here are some things to consider:

• Last year, Sam Bradford was knocked out of the game early and his backup didn't perform well.


• Mike Leach was OU's offensive coordinator under Stoops in 1999, so Stoops is very familiar with Leach's offense.


• Stoops had two weeks to prepare defensively for Tech. Leach did as well, but I think he and his defensive coordinator underestimated Oklahoma


• Don't forget the revenge factor. Last year's OU loss in Lubbock knocked them out of BCS Championship contention.

We have to remember that Tech only has one loss, as do Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, and other powerhouse teams in BCS contention. Although they realistically have no shot at a BCS Championship, they will wind up in a nice bowl game. This was the year they had to make their push for the BCS Championship though, as Graham Harrell is a Senior and his backup - Taylor Potts, will only be a Sophomore next year.

Now, I can only hope for a good matchup in this year's Alamo Bowl. I got my tickets in the mail this week, so I'm stoked. Right now, they are projecting Iowa (Big 10) vs Oklahoma State (Big 12). That would be a great matchup. Regardless of who plays, I will be wearing my Texas Tech colors at the game!

On a side note, I read in today's paper that OHS lost to Arlington last night, so Permian is Odessa's only hope for a state football championship this year.

WOW

It's barely into the third quarter and OU is absolutely SPANKING Tech 52-7. This was most unexpected by most of the country as well as the TV analysts. I can only hope Tech can do a gut check and make the rest of the game respectable.

ONE STEP CLOSER

With apologies to my family who has Odessa High ties, Mojo is one step closer to the State 5A High School Championship! The beat the crap out of Burleson last night and will face a DFW team tba next week in Texas Stadium.

I for one am glad to see Permian's rise to the elite ranks again; it's been a long time coming! I have many fond memories of attending Permian playoff games at Ratliff Stadium with my then brother in law, Manuel Valles Jr.

Most of the games were played in the blistering cold, so we would tank up on alcohol before the game, drink hot chocolate during the game, then run to the car at halftime to drink more alcohol...good times!

I'm not sure if OHS won their game this afternoon in Abilene, I couldn't find the results online. I hope they did. Now, I am settling in for the Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma game tonight. I can't wait!

GUNS UP! GO TECH! BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF OU!

THE BATCYCLE

No, actually it's David's newest velomobile. He and Mom will be coming to San Antonio on their way to Houston to pick it up after having it shipped from the Netherlands after David's last visit there. I haven't seen it in real life, but I think the picture looks pretty neat. His Alleweder reminds me of those old silver bullet travel trailers from the 50's.

If you've never seen one, they are actually very cool. As many of you know, David builds velomobiles at his shop in Midland. We are looking forward to their visit next week!

RACKING UP THE MILES

Since I bought my cycle computer in August, I've ridden over 200 miles! I know my roadie friends out there may scoff at the thought of so few miles ridden since August, but I've done this on trails alone!

Riding once or twice a week since August, that averages out to a nice ride every week. My Marin East Peak is still performing like a champ and I'm enjoying every minute on the bike! I can't wait until next week when I'm on vacation. I hope to ride three or more times if possible!

GRAHAM HARRELL

This email was forwarded to me by one of my friends in Lubbock. I found it interesting with today's ME, ME, ME, attitude in the sports world, there is still hope. Here goes:

Ok, so you're in your early 20's, your team is #2 in the country looking at a National Championship run, you're THE BIGGEST star in the entire town, you are the leading front-runner for the Heisman Trophy, you've beaten the "then" #1 team in the nation and rival school one week, followed by beating another top ten team the next week, you have a chance at being the #1 team in the country when the BCS rankings come out tonight........

You're a college kid, big man on campus, king of a college town, SO what do you do those Saturday nights after those HUGE wins? Go out, celebrate til 4am and then sleep all day Sunday, right?

NOT GRAHAM HARRELL, last week he was at our church Sunday morning helping the youth with a fundraiser luncheon. This week (today) he was at church again talking to a 5th grade Sunday school class about making good choices. Last year, after LOSING on the road in Austin to the rival UT and getting in at 4am, he just went home and slept and felt sorry for himself, right?

NOPE, he was back at church a few hours later helping with the youth group. Do you realize what kind of influence a potential Heisman Trophy winner can have on a group of high school kids at a church? He's got my vote! Errrr, if I had one!

I'm sure this guy has a world of temptation at his fingertips, yet seems to have his priorities in line. I'm sure he's not perfect, but he's definitely inspires me to keep my priorities right regardless of what's going on in my life.

I have a friend whose cousin plays baseball at Tech and is Harrell's roommate....According to him, what you see is EXACTLY what you get. Great kid, solid values.With all the bad stories you hear, I thought this type of story might also need to be put out there.

REMEMBER THE WIND CHILL

Temperatures are finally starting to cool significantly for South Texas. This morning, it was 40 degrees when I went to ride OP Schnabel Park. I planned everything out. I had a long sleeved undershirt, thick socks, my regular riding shorts (as long as my upper body is warm, my legs don't bother me), and my new Pearl Izumi riding gloves.

When I arrived at the trail head, the sun was shining brilliantly. "I couldn't have picked a better day to ride", I thought to myself. After a quick stop at the men's room, I headed out for the trail. Despite all my preparations, I forgot to allow for two things - shade and wind chill.

Although I was wearing a long sleeve undershirt, tooling along at 6 or 7 mph creates a certain degree of wind chill and it was cutting through me! Crap! I was worried I might have to cut my ride short due to frozen extremities. Fortunately, my body soon warmed up and the cold was not a factor.

After the initial 2.5 mile loop I ride for warm up, I was ready to head down to the Leon Creek bottom for the main trails. I headed down the main trail and came to the portion I first tackled 3 weeks ago when I last rode OP. I negotiated that part with no problem and headed for another downhill that I like to ride.

As I approached the other downhill section, I noticed it had been bulldozed over and virtually decimated. The city of San Antonio is working on expanding our parks and walking trails. One of their current projects is building a series of cement walking paths along the bottom of Leon Creek from Bandera Road to connect with Baumgardner Park a couple of miles north of OP Schnabel.

Although I applaud the city for their efforts and desire to make San Antonio leaner, they are really screwing up the trails at OP. The series of trails was hard enough to navigate as it was; now it's worse. Just when I learned my way around, the trails will stop abruptly, interrupted by this concrete expanse of a walking trail. Then you have to search for where the trail picks up again to resume your ride.

Once everything is finished, I'm sure it will be great. If they wind up butchering much of the existing trail system, I just won't ride OP as often. It will be a shame if that happens. Until then, I'll do the best I can with what is still there.

I had a great workout this morning, riding over 13 miles in 2 hours and 15 minutes. I worked out at the gym twice this week and it seemed to help my overall stamina during my ride today. I am really stoked about Thanksgiving Week, as I am on vacation and plan to ride several times that week. Not only that, but we will have a house full of guests for the holiday and we are both looking forward to that.

RANT

I know that I can be hard to please, and I know many times my expectations are too high, but is it too much to ask that my damn newspaper be delivered on time?

I am a morning person. I look forward to sitting down at the kitchen table with a fresh cup of coffee and the newspaper to start my day. I'm not asking much. That's my quiet time before Mel and the dogs get up; before the day's chores need to be done; it's MY time.

This morning I woke up about 6:45 and went outside to get the paper. I looked in the yard, on the sidewalk, the driveway, I even got on all fours to look under our trucks; NOTHING. Resigned to reading Mel's latest issue of Glamour while I sat on the throne, I was not pleased.

Oh well, I thought, I can have my second cup of joe while reading the State High School playoff scores, to see whether Permian and Crane survived the first round (OHS plays this afternoon). NOPE; still no paper to be found.

By now I was pissed. I went to the local paper's website to email their customer service department. Try to find ANY business' complaint department online; I challenge you. You have to almost try every link at the bottom of their website page.

Finally I found the correct link and described my issue. Now it is almost 8:30 and still no paper. Although I consider myself PC literate, I still prefer to have a real newspaper in my hands. Besides, the power cord to my PC is not long enough to reach the bathroom. I know I could always get a laptop to address that issue, but then there's the problem of it overheating and burning your thighs. I'm sure you have a vivid mental image now; sorry about that.

Any way, it just reminds you of life's simple pleasures. A cool morning breeze, the sound of birds chirping, the sun shining on your cheeks, AND MY DAMN NEWSPAPER DELIVERED WHEN I NEED IT!

There. I'm done. FOR NOW!

BACK ON THE HORSE

so to speak....

I didn't ride last weekend. I really don't know why, but I got up early last Sunday and followed my regular pre-ride routine. Then something in me said, "Don't go". My hips had been hurting my the night before and continued that morning, but normally I would take a couple of Ibuprofen and hit the trails. Maybe the time change had something to do with it; I don't know. Either way, I didn't ride and I was MISERABLE this past week.

I've found that even if I don't push myself to my physical limit, as long as I ride weekly, it helps keep my stress levels under control and I generally have a more positive outlook on everything. Not this week.

Eager to atone for my poor choice, I was stoked about riding this morning. I decided to go to Madrone trail to get in a good workout. The morning was beautiful, but a bit chilly, so I dressed in layers with a Under Armor undershirt with an Under Armor top layer.

My gears have been acting up a bit, continuing to shift erratically, but I found a set of gears that didn't complain much and I was underway. I was a bit apprehensive because there were around five cars/trucks in the parking lot so I was worried that the trails would be crowded. Fortunately that wasn't the case. I did see a handful of riders throughout the first section of the trail, but nothing unbearable.

I did have some neagtive effects from not riding last week, as my stamina was diminished somewhat, but I just took breaks as needed and didn't let it bother me. I did have to walk some sections of the trail, but that happens every time I ride there. It's worth it for the downhills! I attacked almost all of the downhill ledges and drops, getting chicken on only three. I'll conquer them at some point, as it is a mental challenge that I have to work though.

Madrone is really a pretty, scenic trail, although Canyon Lake's water level is so low, it looks a bit sad. The trails make up for it though. I like having a few trails to pick from depending on my riding mood. If I want to hit some climbing, rock gardens, ledges, and other technical sections, I go to Madrone. If I want a long ride where I can build some speed, with a few technical sections, I go to OP Schnabel. If I just want something close where I can get in a long ride with little technical sections, I run over to McAllster Park. If I really want to challenge myself, I head out to Government Canyon for a hike/bike day out.

I am very fortunate to live near trails within a reasonable drive, that let me experience so much varied terrain; I love it! Oh yeah, I almost forgot....

GUNS UP! GO TECH! BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF OU!