Hornography: Seeing Sines
By Kahron Spearman, Fri., Jan. 15, 2016
While the undefeated Lady Horns continue to mow down the competition, the men are looking wavy. First, in the terrible loss 58-57 to TCU – a squad they should've handled – the Horns lost sight, playing flat and down to the Horned Frogs. Having fallen to 9-6, the Horns were in danger of falling behind in Big 12 play. Then, as young teams do, they ramped up for No. 17 Iowa State, for a strong 94-91 OT win. So, which team are they? A downplaying group of players, or the aggressive and "connected" team? It's easy to look ahead to West Virginia (likely moving into the top 10) and current No. 1 Kansas (moving down after their WVU loss). But first – a Saturday showdown with Oklahoma State (Jan. 16).
The Brownian Dynamic
The 10th anniversary of the 2005 national championship team passed recently, which culminated in a rehashing/replaying of the game on the Longhorn Network. The sit-down included former players like Vince Young (who had the performance of the century that night) and former tight end and LHN analyst David Thomas, and former head coach Mack Brown. It was a feel-good moment for all involved – players, coach, and fans watching – reliving arguably the greatest game in college football history.
However, it was a fascinating sight: Mack Brown sitting on a couch, at the Longhorn Network. To be fair, that national championship was duly earned. At the same time, doesn't his looming presence put his successor, Charlie Strong, in an interesting predicament? Here you have a former coach – who didn't exactly leave behind the treasure trove of talent he himself had received upon taking over from predecessor John Mackovic – concurrently occupying the same spaces as Strong.
It's made a complete autopsy of Brown's time at Texas nearly impossible to fully consider – being that he's an ESPN employee. Save a few local articles, he's never been taken to task for what he left behind, a treatment most outgoing coaches of Brown's magnitude normally receive. Now, it's as if Brown's problems magically converted into Strong's. It's peculiar to say the least.
