All Good Things ....

"All Good Things ..." was the name of the series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The sentiment of that phrase is how I feel about what I will be doing this evening - watching the series finale of The Wire.

The Wire is a show that takes place in Baltimore, and it explores the relationship between the gangs, the detectives, the dock workers, the politicians, the public school system, and the media. These relationships build in this order and each subsequent season adds an element, while continuing the previous storyline. So intricate, so complex. I'll drink that milkshake. Haar, sorry, I know I should not, but that clip makes me laugh.

And that's the thing - There are times in The Wire where there is violence, and I do not laugh. It is not so much the graphic nature, it is the taut reality of depictions of characters and situations that makes me so earnest when I watch the show.

I am not going to go on analyzing the The Wire, there are plenty of blogs out there that do that. Instead, I will mention the 5 characters I enjoy the most and why without spoiling anything.

1) Stringer Bell - His character is a twist on the noble-savage. Not so much a noble, but like a thinking thug. He is sharp, eloquent, and a leader, but he is ferocious and Machiavellian.

2) Omar Little - He is a like a twist on the concept of Robin Hood. He lives by a code, and that is what separates him from others on the street.

3) Det. Bunk Moreland - When he is sober, he is a fine detective, and along the way, you realize he is "an ethical S.O.B.".

4) Marlo Stanfield/Chris Paltrow - Win by any measure, they are like Grant and Sherman for the Union Army, they would be proponants of total war. They commit themselves 100% to their cause - gaining the streets of west Baltimore and securing access to the drug supply. These characters are so calculated, so thorough, and well, evil in our eyes, but in their world, well, "It is what it is" to borrow words from their lieutant enforceer, Snoop Pearson.

5) Augustus Haynes - I grew to really like his character and his priniciples.

I will definitley savor every last minute of this show that I have come to enjoy.

At least 30 Rock and Heroes will be back soon!

At some point in the future, I would like to discuss comics, heroes, and villains. Something for me to mull over in the coming weeks.

Next thoughts -

The next two teams to look at are Cal and Florida. This is especially interesting for me because the two head coaches, Jeff Tedford and Urban Meyer, respectively, are considered to be among the best in teaching and developing offensive principles.

Cal has an interesting season ahead of itself. The decision has been made that Kevin Riley, a sophomore, will be starting over the incumbent starter, Nate Longshore. Longshore has been oft-injured and hence, he has never quite lived up to the expectations that were placed upon him. Riley, on the the other hand, has had the most coveted position on the team when it comes to popularity with the fans - the backup QB.

Will Riley do well against legitimate teams with athletes on defense? Every defense he faces this season will not be of the caliber of Air Force's defense. Quite frankly, playing the Air Force football team would make a lot of teams and players appear much better than they really are. With that being said, Riley has had another off-season to work with the coaching staff and mature. He also has a talented set of wide receivers, but they are young, raw. It will take time, but cream will rise to the top.

Tedford has finally conceded control of his offensive play-calling this season to Frank Cignetti. I do not know much of this fellow, but the more Tedford can delegate, the more he can focus on the overall team direction. The lack of focus in this area and subsequent action was the reason for last season's disappointing performance.

The defense will attempt to utilize its surplus of linebackers and shield its depth on the defensive line by switching to a 3-4 defense. Essentially, the 3-4 uses 3 defensive lineman. The middle of the 3 is usually a very large human being who occupy a lot of space and offensive blockers. The 2 fellows on either side of this large human attempt to maintain "gap" responsibilities so as not to allow running lanes to form and keep the linebackers free of oncoming blockers. This defense is predicated on the ability of the outside linebackers being able to generate a pass rush [to hurry the quarterback into prematurely throwing the ball] and some coverage abilities. The two middle linebackers must maintain a solid middle of the defense.

The 3-4 is highly effective in defensing conventional offenses but is nightmare against the spread offense. I expect Cal to have some difficulty when a team is able to "spread" Cal's defense by placing linebackers in unfavorable match-ups against quicker wide receivers. The other fallout is that the running the ball through the middle of the defense is much, much easier once the defense is spread.

However, the 3-4 will allow Cal to generate more pass rush against conventional offenses (ie. USC). The lack of a real pass rush has been an issue for Cal whether it is through the innate talents of the defensive line or applying a blitz [sending a player to attack the quarterback or ball-handler but who is normally not assigned to "kill" the quarterback/ball-handler]. There will be some very deliciously evil schemes that will hopefully be employed to generate this sort of pressure on the passer.

I think Cal fans have a lot to look forward to. One thing I did not touch on were the running backs, but that is because they will be fine. There is talent back there and all of it will be on display. A strong running game is any quarterback's second best friend, after a good offensive line. Some friends are saying 2009 will be a year for Cal to make a run at the Pac 10 and possibly the national title, but I feel this can be that year with a great deal of progress. Arizona St. is not that good or at least by its initial ranking. USC will only go as far as Mark Sanchez can take them, and he is off to a rough start already. USC has not had a group of players take over the leadership mantle like they did earlier in the decade. Until then, they will be very good, but beatable.

If Cal can put things together, they should be at least the Pac 10 conference champion runner up. If they can put it together early. The big "If".

Florida - Urban Meyer has answered his critics soundly. Many argued that the spread could not be used against the SEC's athletic and quick defenses, yet, Meyer has a national championship. With that being said, I think Gator fans would love to be able to have a legitimate running threat in the backfield other than their quarterback, Tim Tebow, or their all-purpose player, Percy Harvin.

If Florida can develop and employ a legitimate running back, that offense will be really, really amazing to watch. The talent is there, someone just has to step up and take it. Chris Rainey, Emmanuel Moody, and Kestahn Moore, one of you will have to be the man. With Percy Harvin, Carl Moore, Riley Cooper, and Louis Murphy, the Gator wide-outs give Tebow large, fluid athletes to throw the ball to.

On defense, the Gators are known for a quick, athletic, attacking defense. Charlie Strong is still the defensive coordinator, I believe, and so, expect a very good SEC style defense. Look for Carlos Dunlap, the 6'6", 290-lbs, sophomore defensive end to wreak havoc on every offensive line he faces. The man is a beast. If you permit, he is a MEAST!

I believe Florida is a legitimate national championship contender. I think their game against Georgia will determine the complexion for the race to the national championship. And don't think that Florida has forgotten about Mark Richt and Georgia's antics from last season's game - there will be retribution.

The next post will be a change of pace; instead of writing about individual teams, I would like to focus on what exactly this "spread offense" is, who developed it, how it came about it, and what it indicates for the future of the innovation of the sport.

The NCAA 2008 Season: Initial Thoughts

Next Saturday, I will be sitting at the Blue Light in the Marina District watching college football, drinking beer, and eating a quesadilla or three. I'll get there at around 11-11:30am and stick around until 7pm accompanied by 2-3 friends. It should be great.

I love college football. I love smell of the grass, the electric feel of 90K people all rooting for a common cause, and the pageantry of the whole spectacle. I will never forget my first home game at The University of Texas at Austin. It was against Missouri, and there was so much rain, that it came down in horizontal sheets. It was awesome. Watching a home game at Texas was amazing; friends and I would start gearing up Thursday night for the game. Gearing up entailed finding out where the opposing team was staying in Austin and waiting for them when they returned to the hotel after the team dinner. He hollered, spoke smack, and basically exuded hate. It was beautiful. On gameday, the friends living the furthest away began to walk towards campus roughly 2-3 hours before the game. At each intersection, you are joined by more friends and other groups of Texas fans. It is like watching a seed crystal in a salt solution - soon there is a mass of people in burnt orange and white heading towards the campus singing the school song, jeering at opposing fans, and picking up tailgate food as they approach the stadium.

Ah, yes the memories.

Here, between the end of last season(~mid November 2007) and this past week, a $150 million renovation was completed. This renovation mainly consisted of building up the North Endzone to add seats and complete the horseshoe shape of the stadium. The seating capacity is well over 90K now (94,113 according to Wikipedia and Rivals.com), and it is just awesome looking!

Here is a picture of what the completed North Endzone looks like:

Here is an architect's model of what the completed renovations looks like:



With that being said, let's talk some shop. I am going to focus on the Longhorns today. The next post (tomorrow) will deal with Cal and Florida initially, and then throughout next week, I will examine some of the other teams I follow or are important to my friends.

Texas has the potential to be a great a team. The talent is there, albeit young and inexperienced. The biggest question marks are at flanker and safety. The Horns need Fr-RS WR (redshirt freshman wide receiver) Malcolm Williams to step up. I think he will, but it is more of a question of when. And to be honest, when needs to be now. In the first 75% of the summer camp, Williams was absolutely amazing receiving quite a lot of praise, but towards the end of camp, he has seemed to hit the wall. He must overcome it for the Horns to be potent on offense. Williams is 6'3", 225 lbs, and runs a 4.4 sec 40-yd dash. He is a specimen to say the least. There are other wide receivers, but Malcolm Williams is Texas' best shot at maintaining its legacy for the flanker wide receiver on the offense.

Running back is not as big a concern as some critics think it is; Texas will be fine. The talent is there, and the offensive (OL) is set to be in the top 5 in the nations for the next 4-5 years. There is that much talent present on the offensive line (I am not kidding) and critics will be surprised.

Again, the key to the offensive is how explosive the young wide receivers will be and Colt McCoy, the QB, must cut down his fumbles and interceptions.

As for the defensive, the two freshman safeties will be the key to the defense. Earl Thomas and Christian Scott are raw but with immense upside. Both players are natural hitters with good coverage abilities. But how fast will they be able to recognize audibles from the offense and align the secondary to properly defense the opposition? There a lot of bad things that will happen with two freshman safeties, but here's to hoping it will be an overall positive experience with the good outweighing the bad.

The defensive line is going to surprise people. In my opinion, Texas has the best stable at 2 or 3 deep at defensive end of anyone in the country, bar none. This will be tremendous when facing the spread offense that is now permeating throughout the college game and has taken the Big XII conference by storm. I will focus on the development of the spread offense and how to defense it in future posts. The short story is tackling, speed, and execution. Defensive tackle is a gaping question mark after the two starters. Texas cannot afford any injuries at the defensive tackle position. Linebackers? I think Sergio Kindle is going to show the nation why he was a blue chip 5* athlete, but again, the linebackers have incredible potential that has yet to be fully harnessed.

Will Muschamp, the new defensive coordinator and hopefully future coach in residence, is fully responsible for the linebackers to develop. The past 3 seasons or the entire Mack Brown tenure has been marred with wasted talent at the linebacker positions. Mack Brown's concept make sense, in the sense the game has been evolving towards hybrid safeties and immensely quick defensive lines. But gosh-darnnit, I would love seeing the Sergio Kindles destroy receivers of the middle of the defense. I think linebackers who can rush the passer and ones who can cover backs or receivers have a place in the current game. The days of the hulking, powerful linebacker are nearing and end, at least in the college game, and with that, the 3-4 defense is also becoming a bit of an outdated mode of defense against the spread offense. Sergio Kindle has an opportunity this season to show he is a new age linebacker. At 6'4", 240-lbs, 4.45 sec 40-yd, dash he certainly looks the part.

I hope he looks like Tarzan and plays like Tarzan, not Jane.

Mack Brown says for every freshman a team starts, you should expect a loss. That's great, experience and knowledge of the game does mean something. But then, how does one expect USC or Florida to have the success they have had recently? I like that Mack is allowing the most talented to play despite their experience level.

I see Texas as a 2 to 4 loss team, anywhere from 11-2 to 9-4. If this team is injury-riddled, make it 5 losses. If everything falls into place, Texas can be 12-1 or 13-1. But that is going to take luck to go with the execution needed to play that level of football.

If Texas can have a 10-12 win season, it will be its NCAA leading 8th 10-win season in a row, and Mack Brown's prediction of a national title run in 2009 will be validated.

What do I think, more specifically? I think Texas will go 10-3 or 11-2 . I really do feel optimistically about the season, a far cry from how I felt 2-3 weeks ago. I feel as though the young players will develop on plan, and Mack Brown's new fire and renewed determination to bring another title home will permeate over the team. People love to rail on Brown, but I think critics forget how good he really is. Look at the numbers, they do not lie. Yes, he needs a couple of more conference titles and another national championship to be considered truly great, but he is in the top set of coaches right now when looking at all factors considered (coaching, gameday decisions, ability to change program direction, recruiting, representative of the university, ability to relate to players, connections with the NFL, wins, titles) [top college coaches - Nick Saban, Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, Butch Davis, Bob Stoops, and Mack Brown].

Jim Grobe (Wake Forest), Paul Johnson (Ga. Tech), Jim Leavitt (USF), Greg Schiano (Rutgers), Jeff Tedford (Cal), Les Miles (LSU), Mark Richt (Georgia), and Rich Rodriquez (Michigan) still have a lot to prove, but there is a lot of future for them to do it in. Why is Les Miles on the list? Well, because he has proven to me he can win a national championship inspite of himself and with Nick Saban's players. Give Miles some time, he'll screw it up.

Texas needs to be undefeated going into the Red River Rivalry game with Mobilehoma, errr.., I mean Oklahoma. Oklahoma is a fielding a damn good team this year with quite a bit of talented experience. The stretch of 5 games in the month of October into the first week of November will show us what this Texas team is really capable of. It is a true gauntlet and no one can question Texas' schedule this year, with an armada of experienced quarterbacks they will face, 9 bowl teams, and well, just the normal hate they face anyways.

It is time for Texas to man up and win. Just win. I don't care anymore about these 10-win season streaks or anything. The talent is there. The coaching is there. The chemistry and team unity is finally back. Go win. Just f'in win. No more excuses. If you want to be the best, play like the best. First beat Oklahoma, beat the aggy, win the conference. That is by far the biggest smudge on Mack Brown's credentials - the lack of many conference championships. You still have time and an awful lot of talent - make it happen.

The luster from the 2005 national championship is still present, but it is slightly sullied from the past 2 season.

Just win.

I am excited. I am giddy. Hook'em Horns!

Tomorrow, I will overview Cal and Florida, which also feature two of the more innovative minds in offensive football.

What's in a name?

It is a question that defines the basis of many interactions. Instead of bringing up topics from Freakonomics and other pop-cultural analyses of the effect of a given name on a child, I would like to offer my thoughts on significant nicknames, specific to me, and their subsequent effect on me. Basically, it is a sort of tribute to close friends who had nicknames for me and the reason why I am using the name Thakman Jones.

My first nickname was "Bhai", which means brother. My sister still calls me that as well as permutations of that.

I would have to go back to 5th grade basketball for my second nickname - Rahulahoop or contracted to Hulahoop. There was a fellow on the team whose last name was "Koster" and we called him[His first name] "Rolla Koster". The best one, though, was a fellow with the surname Prosser, who we called "Food Processor" due to his propensity to always be eating something. To be honest, I really liked the name. It was the first time I felt I was part of a group and accepted. Mild hazing is to be expected after one moves from one place to another, and well, I endured my share for ~2 yrs until this day in the gym in P.E. class.

The next significant time point transpired in high school, perhaps 10th and 12th grade. In 10th grade, I made a friend who is one of the most dependable people and good friend thatI will know in this lifetime. The name was bestowed was "Hulra". It is a simple, effective syllabic juxtaposition and after 16 yrs, my good friend still leaves voicemails calling me by that name. 12th grade brings back one of my most bittersweet memories. That's when the nickname, "G$"came about, and that too is 14 years strong with friends back home. Neal Jameson was one of the most hard working and intelligent people I have ever met. He and I teamed up on our 12th grade AP English poetry project. To cut a story short, I basically found a certain type of consonance in a poem, and it was the last item required for our project. I brought it over to Neal, he looked at it and pronounced, "Gee, you're on the money! Heh, G$!" My middle initial is in fact "G", and hence this name was fun.

It also gave me a touch of "street cred" on the basketball courts of the crazy, rugged suburbs I grew up in. It is funny; it does not matter if you have a jumpshot, but if people call you G$, people tend guard you tighter and pay more attention to you. The only drawback of this nickname was this fact. Under the glaring spotlight, my jumpshot suffered and I need mine. to play effectively on the offensive side. Anyone who has met me in person will understand why a low post game near the hoop would not be my strong point. :)

I had known Neal for many years. When I found out ~3 yrs ago he had died, it really hurt. Too this day, when I hear G$, I think of the of doing school projects and playing basketball with Neal.; it is a tribute to Neal's wit and our friendship.

In college, well, it was "Hulio." The closest friends in undergrad all called me Hulio. Pretty self-explanatory. That is the name that brings back the worst memories, not because of the name, but rather the set of experiences accompanying that name. My friends from undergrad are tremendous people and great friends, but undergrad was a very trying time with some very hard experiences. When I hear Hulio, it helps me remember the significant events that pushed me onto the course I am now.

And this leads me to the present day and perhaps, the most elaborate name on the listas well as the shortest. Heh. "Thakman Jones" "RaRa", and "Hul".

The friend who calls me RaRa did it in response to my contracting the first the syllable of her name and repeating it. Hul comes from my good friend, who interestingly, at one point in time resembled Nicholas Cage in Con Air. My long haired friend's effect has been immense, as it is fairly common for me to be referred to as Hul.

Finally, some of you that are familiar with pro football know the dubious, Adam "Pacman"Jones. He is now a cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys, my favorite NFL team. Adam Jones has had numerous brushes with the law and expanding this topic would be an entertaining post in and of itself. A very good friend, noticed the rhyme with my last name and Adam Jones' name. And the ironic thing is that I am nothing like Pacman, so the absurdity is ripe for fun to be had! This friend has had my back many times, and well, there is a certain joy when this nickname comes up. It is just funny. And I just want to make it rain. :)

I made a mistake a week ago. In an effort to start acting more professional and more "grown up", I became fidgety with that name. That was wrong. And the reason, is quite simple and serves as a concluding statement for this post:

Nicknames in the context I am speaking of (versus bad nicknames, like nicknames that chip away at who you are) are bestowed by friends to friends. It is in effect a verbal time capsule. If someone throws out a Hulra in my direction or Thakman Jones at me 10 years down the road, it will bring a beaming smile to my face. These names represent memories I have had a chance to forge with my friends and most importantly, the name represents a unique bond with those people who hold me dear and care about me.

So this is Thakman Jones signing out. I hope this post has given you a little insight to why this name exists and why I am using it now!

Next post topic - Some thoughts on the upcoming NCAA college football season. Also, in upcoming posts, I will figure out a better color scheme, play with posting links/video/photos, and basically come up with a more visually robust text. Thanks for allowing me a couple posts to learn the interface/options/etc. and get my feet underneath me.

The Beginning ...

Where do you start a story? Unless you want to get into a discussion in postmodern film or writing, the beginning would be a satisfactory answer.

I have been meaning to get started for a while. For whatever reason, I had been putting it off until yesterday, I became compelled to. Once the inertia was overcome, I had to think of a title. The title would need to stand up to high standards that my friends have established in their blogs.

So I thought long and hard. What should it be? I love football. I love eating, perhaps to my detriment at times. And I am scientist; I love what I do.

And then, the first post. I think defining the parameters is an excellent route to choose.

10 Yards and Primordial Soup. "3 yards and a cloud of dust" refers to a saying by Coach Woody Hayes of The Ohio St. University and his philosophy of towards offensive football in the 1960s & 1970s. The game has changed quite a bit, but the basics remain the same. I love football because it is like LEGOS - the pieces are all the same, but you assemble them in various ways to come up with amazing concepts. Football is a game of basics, tried & true, but how you put them together- that's the fun. That's the awesome. I picked 10 because 10 yards is a first down and Vince Young's soon to be retired Texas jersey number. Yes, I am a Longhorn, but I love all of college football. Except Oklahoma and Texas A&M. You'll also read my sending "props" or "shouts" out to my friends' teams, like Cal, Michigan, Michigan St., Florida, The U or Miami, UConn, etc.

Haar.

"Primordial Soup" is said to be how life began in a pond or ocean as a result of the combination of chemicals from the atmosphere and some form of energy to make amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, which would then evolve into all the species. I am a scientist. I firmly believe in evolution. And I am spiritual.

Deal with that you proponents of intelligent design.

I am also going to take some time and write about ideas and new concepts in science because I firmly believe in the dissemination of accurate knowledge. And yes, I can speak with authority on concepts within my bailiwick. For those concepts outside my domain, it is pretty easy to find someone to consult with.

Primordial soup also has the word "Soup" in it. I love food. I'll also talk about recipes or restaurants or burritos or beer that I enjoy. Food is a form of expression and to eat amazing food is an opportunity to understand the divine.

Finally, I will also address interesting things that I just find cool. Like how do people choose names for their children? Why is my name Thakman Jones? What's a metabolism and why fat is important if you want to lose weight?

Haar.

Yes, Haar is my favorite word. And hopefully, soon it will be yours as well.