Spit Blood

Rainy, Frowny-Face Weekend

2012-02-18T17:26:00.004-06:00

Like many of you, I was really hoping that the TCU baseball and basketball teams would give us reason to cheer and create some positive press for the school...that the media would no doubt ignore because it isn't sensational enough to continue eroding their already almost non-existent integrity.

Last night, Jim Schlossnagle and the Horned Frog baseball team dropped their season opener to Ole Miss, 7-4. The good news was that the game was played in front of 5,912 fans- the second-biggest crowd in school history that, according to Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Mark Cohen's twitter feed, included 1,958 current students. The bad news was that the TCU defense was far out-performed by the Rebels in the field, leading to a deficit that even some promising rallies in the final innings could not overcome. Any thought of coming back to win the series was shot when today's game was canceled after having initially been postponed due to the steady rain that's been falling all day. The two teams will play one game tomorrow at 1:00pm, giving the Frogs a chance to earn a split.

Jim Christian and the TCU men's basketball team were looking to build on Tuesday's win over #11 UNLV when they took on Boise State on the road this afternoon. Senior Craig Williams had 21 points and 10 points and was a major factor in the Frogs coming back from a 7-point deficit to take the lead with just over a minute left, but his missed free throw with just 6 ticks left was the opportunity the Broncos needed for a last-second, 65-64 victory over TCU. The loss drops the Frogs to 15-11 overall and 5-5 in conference play, with another road game coming up against Air Force on Wednesday. The Falcons pulled off an upset of their own today, taking down #16 San Diego State, 58-56, so winning in Colorado Springs will not be easy.

No doubt, more good times are ahead for TCU. Sometimes our generation likes instant gratification, though, so it would've been nice to see things picking back up this weekend. Nothing an entire ice-cream cake from Baskin-Robbins can't fix, though- right, WWHD?

Spit Blood Predictions: Opening Weekend at Lupton

2012-02-17T12:46:00.001-06:00

I hate to sound like an ingrate for the recent rain we've had, but does Mother Nature really need to mess up the first three home games of the new baseball season? Then again- I don't have a yard and, like Jack Donaghy, I'm not a farmer- so what do I really care? I'm excited for baseball, and I don't want to wait another day.

With the arrival of baseball season, we welcome back our old Friday afternoon fluff content- Spit Blood predictions. It's your chance to show us that you can see into the future, with the added bonus that success might translate into semi-regular guest appearances on the Montel Williams Show. He's still alive, right?

So let's hear it- give me your predictions, in the comments section, on the following:

-How the Frogs will fare in the 3-game set with the Rebels.

-How cooperative Mother Nature will be over the weekend (I'm kind of sweating whether or not they'll play tonight).

-The weekend MVPs at the plate, in the field and on the mound.

-How freshman slugger Kevin Cron will do in his first collegiate action. Personally, I think the kid is going to be a star and a future fan-favorite. He'll be the mammoth first baseman wearing jersey #00 (according to his facebook page, "It isn't double zero....it's double ohhhhhhhh man I just hit a ball into the parking lot!").

-The final score of tomorrow night's TCU-Boise State basketball game on what I can only assume is a hideous blue court.

-The high-scorer in that game.

-And a wild-card. The Mavs visit the Knicks at Madison Square Garden Sunday afternoon. What will Jeremy Lin's line be against the defending champs, and what will the final score be? If you're going to reply with something like "I don't watch the NBA", go back to killerfrogs with the rest of the grumpy old men.

Pictorial Illustration of the Investigation

2012-02-17T10:14:00.005-06:00

Narcotics Task Force Head Boss Chief: Go bust the Zetas, we need to infiltrate their organization at the highest levels

Narcotics Taskforce Deputies: Gotcha boss

At least one of these lovely ladies has bummed Adderall at the library during finals.....or been involved in a hand-to-hand drug deal involving controlled substances in a drug free zone, right?

Morning Dump

2012-02-17T08:39:00.002-06:00

Baseball:

Sophomore pitchers hope to deliver for TCU Star-Telegram

TCU-Ole Miss preview gofrogs.com

The non-issue "issue" TCU is having to deal with:

High School coaches voice support for TCU football program Star-Telegram

Bud Kennedy tells it like it is Star-Telegram

Galloway: TCU rejected taking the easy way out Star-Telegram

Highland Park family weighing options after son mistakenly linked to TCU busts by mistake Dallas Morning News

Experts praise TCU's crisis management Star-Telegram

So maybe those TCU football player drug test failure estimates were a bit off Houston Press

TCU-Ole Miss Preview

2012-02-16T15:34:00.009-06:00

As has been the case for years now, the TCU baseball team is not slowly wading into the season- they are jumping right in to a heavily front-loaded non-conference schedule that will test this young team right from the get-go. This weekend, the #15 Horned Frogs play host to the #22 Rebels from Ole Miss in what should be a fun series over at Lupton.

The pitching match up for tomorrow night's opener between two highly-regarded sophomores is garnering some national attention from Baseball America. Andrew Mitchell, who went 6-1 with a 2.84 ERA in 22 appearances last year before impressing scouts during his turn with Team USA this summer, takes the hill for the Frogs. Opposing him will be Bobby Wahl, who had a 4.80 ERA for the Rebels last year in 18 appearances- mostly out of the bullpen. Don't let that ERA or his 0-2 collegiate record fool you, though- he really got going in the Cape Cod league last summer when his fastball was reaching 97 and he streamlined his off-speed repertoire.

Mother Nature may have other plans for Friday, though- weather.com is currently listing a 70% chance of rain that evening. That could mess with the planned-upon pitching rotations, which would call for sophomore Stefan Crichton for TCU on Saturday against Ole Miss senior R.J. Hively and freshman Brandon Finnegan (a Fort Worth native) for the Frogs on Sunday against Rebel sophomore Mike Mayers.

The Frogs' batting order will likely rely on the remaining Omaha holdovers, at least in the early part of the season. Corner outfielders Jason Coats and Brance Rivera both returned for their senior seasons and will make up the meat of the order along with junior catcher Josh Elander. On again/off again phenom Kyle Von Tungeln will start in center field this year, and fellow junior Davy Wright is expected to start at third base until Jantzen Witte returns from his off-season injury.

Three newcomers will be in the lineup, headlined by the power-hitting, 6'5" 260lb freshman first baseman Kevin Cron. Keaton Jones, a freshman from Laguna Beach, California, will start at short and hopefully combine on a lot of double plays with San Jacinto JC transfer Josh Gonzales (originally from Pearland), who will be playing second. Senior Zac Jordan and sophomore lefty Brett Johnson are the most likely candidates to DH.

Likewise, the Rebels will be working in some freshmen- mostly in the outfield- into their lineup. They do return their leading hitter from last year, though- junior shortstop Alex Yarbrough, originally from just up the road in Allen, who hit .350 last year with 7 home runs and 38 RBIs. The other main guy to keep an eye on is senior first baseman Matt Snyder, who led the Rebels with 9 home runs last year while batting .301 and driving in 39 runs.

If you can't make it out to Lupton this weekend, there are- as usual- plenty of other options for you to keep up with this series. Chuck Lamendola returns as the underrated play-by-play announcer, and you can hear his call of the game either on 88.7 FM locally or via www.ktcu.net worldwide. In a pinch, you could even call 682-233-6382 to listen to KTCU live on your phone. If you're into the twitter thing, you can usually get good updates from Stefan Stevenson of the Star-Telegram by following @FollowtheFrogs or the offical TCU baseball feed by following @TCU_Baseball. There's also apparently a live video stream on gofrogs.com.

Thanks to our readers for pointing out that there's an awesome new TCU Baseball video for the 2012 season. As always, a great job by our friends at Red Productions:

Slight overreaction?

2012-02-16T12:37:00.005-06:00

The TCU football player's daily diet, if you believe most of what the media said yesterday

I know I said I wasn't going to post on this anymore, but I just can't resist this. A day after the media portrayed the TCU football program as Hamsterdam and Gary Patterson as Bunny Colvin, the results of the surprise drug test they dropped on the players on February 1st have been released.

How many do you think failed it? 82 was the popular number on twitter, facebook, message boards and that "reputable" media outlets were purporting to be fact. Some out there even speculated that it was even higher than that, and with substances running the gamut from harmless weed all the way up to cocaine and LSD.

What was the final tally, you ask?

5.

Five.

1,2,3,4 FIVE.

Out of 91. And those five (who you would have to assume would include the four arrested) only tested positive for marijuana. So 5.5% of the TCU football program, which was dragged through the mud yesterday as a lawless renegade program where drugs ran rampant, has a rate of marijuana use about 1/6th the national average for college students and 1/4th the national average for college athletes.

It was nice of news outlets like the Dallas Morning News and WFAA to actually pay attention to TCU yesterday. I wonder if they'll pounce on this story like a bunch of rapid wolves, too?

Morning Dump

2012-02-16T08:20:00.003-06:00

"That whole thing":

15 TCU students among 18 arrested in drug bust Star-Telegram

On TCU campus, week of joy turns to shock and dismay Star-Telegram

Galloway: Frogs' pristine image stained Star-Telegram

FWPD issued arrest warrant for wrong man in TCU drug case Star-Telegram

TCU takes swift action ESPN

If you're expecting to come to Spit Blood over the coming days and weeks to find us dwelling on this thing, you're going to be disappointed. Barring any new developments, we'll leave that to the rest of the Metroplex media that barely acknowledges positive news regarding TCU yet can't get enough of this case. Not that we're hiding from it, but what's done is done and it's time for the team to deal with this...in-house. We trust the leadership and integrity of the TCU administration and especially Coach Patterson and his football staff to deal with this in the correct manner.

Basketball:

Ventress' 25 not enough for TCU women Star-Telegram

Lady Frogs drop nail-biter to UNLV, 55-54 gofrogs.com

Other Sports:

Chris Del Conte's Notes on a Scorecard gofrogs.com

TCU men's swimming team breaks multiple school records gofrogs.com

Schlossnagle talks TCU-Ole Miss

2012-02-15T16:35:00.002-06:00

Coach Schloss talks about his young team's offseason preparation, the Ole Miss Rebels and what to expect from the series this weekend.

Then as a bonus, Jason Coats talks about his decision to return to TCU for his senior season and some of his favorite memories during his time in Fort Worth.

Patterson speaks

2012-02-15T12:07:00.005-06:00

Well, the events of this morning have been a pretty swift kick to the crotch of every Frog fan out there, but I'm glad to see that the TCU administration- including Coach Patterson- aren't avoiding the issue. Below are GP's statements to the media about the arrests:

Patterson comments to the Star-Telegram

Patterson & Del Conte's comments to gofrogs.com

I've got some good news AND bad news...

2012-02-15T11:13:00.002-06:00

As you've probably all heard, there was a MAJOR drug bust at TCU this morning that resulted in 17 arrests, including 4 football players. There was RAMPANT speculation that the list included one La Manga, but the official names have been released and he was not on them. The ones who were, though, are going to sting a little - Tanner Brock, Ty Horn, Devin Johnson and DJ Yendrey. It's still unclear at this point just how involved these guys were, but they have been removed from the football roster on gofrogs.com and are reportedly expelled. At spitblood we try and stay out of the rumor mongering game so we didn't want to post on this until things were official. Sadly, this situation is probably going to get a lot worse before it gets better, but word on the street is that this particular situation was getting so bad that it cost us potential recruits, so good riddance to all of those guys if they were fucking dumb and arrogant enough to get busted in a six month drug sting.

lyle and I are both out of our offices the rest of the morning, so if there is any more news, please contribute in the comments.

Marinated 2012 Schedule Thoughts.

2012-02-15T10:17:00.000-06:00

Now that you all have had a 24 hour cycle to offer up your thoughts on the first annual TCU Big 12 Football schedule, here are my own COMPLETELY NON-CONTROVERSIAL and CONFLICT FREE opinions on the matter.

Another opening week bye? HATE THIS HACKER/scheduler CRAP! You're really going to make us wait to kick off the most anticipated regular season in TCU history? DIE!!! Sure, last time we had to grudgingly sit out the first weekend we never lost a game and made it to a BCS bowl, but you'd have hoped for a little more mercy in year one of the Big 12. Our only other bye week comes late in the season before the UT game in late November. Looks like our first run through the Big 12 is going to be the ultimate test of our team depth.
Opening with Kansas. This is basically one notch up from opening with Grambling State, except it's on the road. The positives of the situation are that, as the state of affairs at Kansas are currently pretty abysmal and even if Charlie Weis is able to work some sort of miracle in Lawrence, it ain't happenin' in week one. This is much preferred to the initially leaked schedule which had up opening at Oklahoma State, even taking into account their depletion on offense. Also, this will be the only Big 12 intra-Conference game on that weekend - and the first of the season- which means all your attention are belong to us. Giving TCU a solo-showcase to kick off their Big 12 membership in a nearly can't lose game? The Big 12, everybody! They really like us!
The back half of September. Not so friendly as Virginia rolls into town September 22 and the Frogs travel to ever-tricky SMU the following weekend. You've probably forgotten, but Virginia, after knocking off the barnacles left over from the Al Groh era, rallied under Mike London and made their final game against Virginia Tech this past year count as a defacto divisional championship. Yeah, they got their clocks cleaned, but for a program that has almost always been an afterthought in the ACC, that marks a significant improvement. I haven't studied their roster one iota to judge the dropoff, but it's fair to believe they won't be as easy of an out as they were during the Frogs' trip to Charlottesville. And then, of course, SMU brings with it its own set of issues and, even in a year like this one where TCU ultimately had the more successful season, you can't count out the June Jones and his frustrating Ponies. TCU SHOULD enter the second month of the season 4-0 and 1-0 in the Conference, but it's not entirely impossible to see 3-1 in our future. 2-2 is just a tragic thought and I won't even go to there.
Hate Week, lite. When the first clearly incorrect version of the TCU schedule leaked, the football gods had us playing SMU, Baylor and Tech in consecutive weeks. At least for me, the anticipation of this caused long-lasting damage to my aorta and I went ahead and picked up a defibrillator at CVS for the occasion. Fortunately the schedule makers tossed in a nice Iowa State treat to break up the tension, but even though CVS has a generous return policy, with Baylor and Tech still going back to back I'm not so sure I'm ready to get my money back. Given, Baylor SHOULD take at least a half-giant step back this year without Griffin, and Tech is breaking in its second DC in as many years and, despite Tuberville's recruiting prowess can't seem to get their shit together, so neither of those games should be as treacherous as they could be. That said, hate does strange things to football teams and tossing those two at us back to back will be a very, very significant test for these Frogs in year 1. As fate would have it, the outcome of both games could largely fall at the feet of our Big 12 two-steppin' partner, the West Virginia Mountaineers. Baylor travels to Morgantown to kick off Big 12 play, albeit with an off week sandwiched between that one and TCU's trip down I-35 and Tech gets them at home the week immediately before traveling to FW. If the Mountaineers can wear down both teams with their sped up, high flying attack, this would bode well for the Frogs in both matchups. Tech also plays OU immediately before WVU thus furthering the inherent truth that even God hates Lubbock, TX and wishes its dwellers no happiness of any kind. He's a just God, but at least he has his priorities in order.
Lopsided schedule. Take a look at it. It almost PERFECTLY lines up with how the Big 12 will be projected to finish this year, sans TCU, but in reverse order. In order of schedule, reverse order of finish: Kansas, ISU, Baylor, Tech, OSU, WVU, KSU, UT and OU. Other than perhaps flipping ISU and Baylor/Tech, and perhaps WVU/KSU its eerie. On the one hand this is nice because it allows the Frogs to ease into the upgraded competition the Big 12 will bring and allow our team to improve at a steady rate. On the other, you're getting UT and OU at one should be the peaks of their respective seasons, albeit we'll be peaking as well. If you had to pick your poison you'd probably want to flip a few games and toss a bye week in there, but even the most optimistic among us never thought it was going to be a cakewalk.
Tech the day after my birthday. It's a personal one, but holy crap this will be the least enjoyable birthday celebration ever. Or the drunkest. Or both. Yeah, probably both.
Greatest Post-Thanksgiving Stretch ever. Going back through the schedules, here is who we have played AFTER Thanksgiving in the past decade, excluding bowls: Memphis, SMU, Tulane, Air Force, SDSU, UNM twice and UNLV. This year it's Texas and Oklahoma. Oh. My. Goodness. Lyle pointed out the initial confusion yesterday - the UT game is listed as being on the Saturday following Thanksgiving when all signs have pointed to it being ON Thanksgiving. My thinking on the matter is that, since they were releasing a mass schedule, they simply listed the games on a weekly basis for ease of dispersal since the majority will fall on Saturday and then will announce the weekday games later. I feel pretty confident that this game will be on Thanksgiving night as originally announced. But if playing Texas and OU back to back is going to give you nightmares between now and then, take two things into consideration: One, TCU has a bye week between Kansas State coming to FW and the trip to Austin, so that's plenty of time to prepare for what should be the most anticipated regular season TCU game in many of our lifetimes. Yes, Texas gets a bye week also, but shhhhhh. The second is, if this game is moved to Thanksgiving night, that gives the Frogs a couple of extra days to rest and prepare for the season finale against OU. And while you may say, "2 days, shmoo days," as another LATER MOUNTAIN WEST, THANKS FOR THE LACK OF MEMORIES reminder, whereas you usually had to negate an added day off for travel in the MWC, all the Frogs will lose here is a one hour plane ride. So it really will be like two full days off. However, perhaps the most interesting thing about the OU game is the one right before it for the Sooners: Bedlam against OSU, their traditional season ender. Yes, OU has a better team and, hellbent on revenge for this year's beatdown, should roll the Pokes, but, like any big rivalry game, emotions run high and the comedown can be draining. Of course, TCU will be equally drained after Texas, but at least the Sooners won't be playing with a full deck, either.
Did the SMU Rivalry officially die with this release? Look, I'll always hate SMU. I'll hate them a lot. I'll hate them until they die. But, looking at this schedule, where do they fall on the "MUST SEE" list? If you had to pick 5 games to see this season, and five games only, would they crack the list? For instance, I received a wedding invitation this weekend for a friend from high school that falls on the day of the SMU game, and I didn't bat an eye giving my "yes" reply. Let's rank the games, shall we? Tier 1, in order: UT, OU, Tech. These will never leave that rotation, whether because of history, prestige or simply hate. Tier 1.5: Baylor, although they get Tier 1 status this year for the revenge factor and will really be on a rotating basis between one and two. Tier 2, in order: West Virginia, Oklahoma State, SMU, Kansas State and Virginia. Tier 3, in order: Kansas, but only because of where it falls on the schedule, and Iowa State. Tier one billion: Grambling State. So, that's DEFINITELY 5 games I'm more interested in than SMU, more like 6 and possibly 7 or 8. Yes, depending on the expectations when Kansas State and Virginia come to town, it's entirely possible that SMU gets 9th priority on my list. And I'm not sure when or why that ever changes. No chance they ever jump UT, OU, Tech or Baylor. Those games will be untouchable on the hateicipation scale And West Virginia will likely always be competitive and a threat for the Conference title. OSU and Kansas State are minor, but only compared to those top 5, and neither team looks like they're turning into Kansas anytime soon. But that's not even including the Kansas State hate generated from Rivalsgate a few years ago, plus the fact that GP will always have that one circled, being his alma mater and all. So you might even elevate that one above OSU. And in the future our non-con schedule includes LSU and Arkansas. So, uh, yeah Ponies, even when we go 9-1 against you for the next decade, you can keep the Skillet because we never really wanted it anyway.

I've run out of time on this post for now as I have a plane to catch, but seeing as how I'm going to Vegas I'll tie this up with a related story. The initial O/U for TCU wins this season is set at 9.5, with the oddsmakers putting the over at even odds and sticking 20 points of juice on the under (for the non-gambler, this means they expect us to win fewer than 10 games and therefore make you pay extra for the privilege of betting that way). So with that said, I'm tempted to call the season 9-3 and be done with it, seeing as how Vegas is typically correct in such matters. But let's take a closer look:

Grambling State - in the bag
SMU - Two years in a row? Sarah Palin has better odds at a follow up tryst with Glen Rice than SMU has at winning this game.
Virginia - One of the trickier games on the schedule. Can't get caught looking ahead to Big 12 play.
Kansas - Weis probably shouldn't even leave the pregame meal, and the Kansas kitchen staff should probably bring out the old Mangino feedbags.
Iowa State - tricky tricky tricky, especially given the timing, but getting them in FW shifts the odds in our favor.
Baylor - schedule sets up well for them with the bye week, but no Griffin=no Baylor.
Tech - I'm going to seriously hate this game SOOOOOOOO much, but Tech under Tuberville just isn't the same. They're clearly good for at least one, "SERIOUSLY!?!?" upset a year, but I don't think it happens in FW.
Oklahoma State - At Boone's place, which isn't going to be easy. The initial reaction is that they'll be breaking in a new offense, but keep in mind this game will be at mid-season when they'll have been able to work out all the kinks. Plus, hidden behind Weeden to Blackmon was a sneaky good defense holding things together. Mike Gundy is one of the most underrated coaches in the country. I'm calling it for TCU, but I don't love it.
WVU - I have way more fear about this one than you guys, mainly because of our secondary play this year. If those guys don't step up, it could look a lot like the Baylor game from this year with TCU being forced to play catch up. Being in Morgantown doesn't help matters either. A hesitant win.
Kansas State - Again, tough timing on the schedule, and it's possible we get caught looking ahead to Texas. KSU will always be better than you think they are.
UT - We probably won't talk about this game between now and then or anything. I can't get into it yet.
OU - I'm... so... scared.

Ok, so I'm going to cop out and not call the wins and losses yet. That said, if manage to make it through September 4-0, I think 9-3 is a given and 10-2 is even more likely. We have a great team and are positioned about as well as you can be for this move, but so many things can happen during the season to throw things off the rails. It's not going to be a Mountain West cakewalk. Regardless, I couldn't be more excited for this thing to start. If only we didn't have that week 1 bye...

Hey now, TCU Hoops!

2012-02-15T08:36:00.002-06:00

Looking back on it, I'm glad that I put UNLV on upset alert yesterday- but I should've just gone ahead and called my shot. The Frogs, led by Las Vegas native Hank Thorns' 32-point virtuoso performance, played like a team possessed coming back from down 18 to win by 5 in OT. While the lion's share of the heroics can be attributed to the aforementioned senior guard, Jim Christian got solid contributions from his entire roster as he bagged his biggest victory in his four years in Fort Worth.

Before last night, we were banking on the win against Virginia way back in November to buoy the Frogs' RPI enough to sneak them into some kind of postseason tournament. While a win over the Cavs is still a nice feather in the cap, UNLV was ranked #11 in the polls and had an RPI of #9 coming into Daniel-Meyer. Beating the Rebels instantly improved the Frogs' own RPI from #108 to #99, and the victory will continue to benefit TCU all season because I don't think UNLV will just be folding up shop after this.

This victory meant so much more than a few computer points as the Frogs chase a postseason berth this year, though. There have been so few bright spots for TCU men's basketball over the past decade, and fan apathy continued to grow even in this promising season. By all accounts, last night's smallish crowd was among the most lively and enthusiastic in recent memory. To become a perennially contending program, especially in the Big 12 starting next year, fans are going to have to show up in both quantity and quality for every game. Perhaps the drama of last night will help plant the seed of excitement surrounding TCU hoops.

With the win, the Frogs are now 15-10 on the season- giving them their largest win total since Jim Christian took over in 2008. Their next two games- Saturday against Boise and next Wednesday against Air Force- are against the current cellar-dwellers of the conference. They are both on the road, though, which has presented its own challenges for the Frogs this year.

For those of you that were entertaining your ladies at the Olive Garden last night, here are the highlights:

Morning Dump

2012-02-15T08:19:00.003-06:00

Basketball:

Thorns scores 32 as Frogs pull off stunner over #11 UNLV Star-Telegram

TCU stuns #11 UNLV in overtime, 102-97 gofrogs.com

Rebels blow 18-point lead, lose in overtime Las Vegas Review-Journal

Lady Frogs taking on Lady Rebels in Vegas tonight at 9:00pm gofrogs.com

Football:

Galloway: Big 12 schedule shows TCU is ready for prime time Star-Telegram

TCU schedule analysis Star-Telegram

Big 12 schedule analysis Dave Campbell's Texas Football

2012 TCU Football schedule released gofrogs.com

Football Alumni:

Jerry Hughes switching to outside linebacker Rotoworld

Kevin Brown a candidate for offensive coordinator at UTSA San Antonio Express-News

TCU's Big 12 schedule out

2012-02-14T10:10:00.006-06:00

The Big 12 has released it's official conference schedule for 2012, and TCU's looks like this:

Sept 15: @ Kansas

Oct 6: Iowa State

Oct 13: @ Baylor

Oct 20: Texas Tech

Oct 27: @ Oklahoma State

Nov 3: @ West Virginia

Nov 10: Kansas State

Nov 24: @ Texas

Dec 1: Oklahoma

This is in addition to TCU's scheduled non-conference games:

Sept 8: Grambling State

Sept 22: Virginia

Sept 29: @ SMU

A few other quick thoughts:

-We had heard for a long time that TCU @ Texas would be on Thanksgiving Day. This seems to indicate that it would be on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. Maybe we'll get some clarification on that later?

-Hosting OU on championship weekend? Holy big game atmosphere, Batman!

-Playing three conference road games in four weeks from mid-October to early-November is going to be tough. But we knew what we were getting ourselves into, right?

-Texas/OU is on October 13th...the same weekend as ACL. Add in TCU-Baylor in the same time-frame, and you've got an answer to the rhetorical question of "How could you possibly make I-35 any worse?"

-Giggity giggity giggity, Big 12!

Happy made-up holiday

2012-02-14T08:44:00.003-06:00

I'm sure you are all thrilled that today is February 14th. The day when you get to fight through all of the unwashed masses to buy a card or flowers or make dinner reservations...just so your girlfriend or wife won't be judged by her friends for having a cheap (or more accurately: logical) boyfriend or husband. I know, I know- maybe I'm just cynical. Or cheap. Or maybe you're just brainwashed.

Anyway- for those of you that are single or just completely have the upper hand in your relationship, you've got a chance to watch the Frogs build on their second-biggest win of the year (Saturday's 75-71 triumph over NCAA bubble-occupier Colorado State) with what would easily be the biggest win in the Jim Christian era as they host #11 UNLV tonight at Daniel-Meyer.

I know what you're thinking- there's no way the Frogs can beat UNLV tonight. And you've got good reason to think that, after the Runnin' Rebels disposed of TCU by 23 in Las Vegas last month. Well, flash back to this week eight years ago. The 2004 Frogs, who were 9-12 at the time, hosted #10 Louisville on February 17th. No one expected TCU to even stay close with the Cardinals. And what happened? TCU throttled Rick Pitino's team 71-46 and the fans (including myself) stormed the court.

Surely this year's UNLV squad won't come in overlooking the Frogs, right? If you read the Star-Telegram's write-up of the game this morning, you probably saw that Rebels' coach Dave Rice mistakenly referred to TCU's home court as "Moody Coliseum". Yeah, I'd say they are toootally focused on the Frogs following their emotional 65-63 home win over #14 San Diego State at home on Saturday that helped them grab a share of first-place in the MWC.

I'm not calling for the upset, I'm just saying UNLV might get caught a little off-guard if the Frogs come with their A-game tonight and a couple extra thousand rowdy Frog fans get the DMC rockin' a bit.

Morning Dump

2012-02-14T08:33:00.002-06:00

Basketball:

TCU men host #11 UNLV tonight at 6:30pm gofrogs.com

Frogs could use some fan support Star-Telegram

TCU-UNLV preview CBS Sports

UNLV will try to play with urgency at TCU Las Vegas Sun

Baseball:

Elander adds to preseason honors gofrogs.com

Ole Miss sets rotation, lineup for series at TCU Jackson Clarion Ledger

Chance to heckle Craig James tonight

2012-02-13T15:55:00.003-06:00

If you're like me and want to get a direct answer about whether or not CRAIG JAMES KILLED FIVE HOOKERS WHILE AT SMU, want to get an ironic signature in your copy of "Swing Your Sword" or just want to heckle our least-favorite professional college football player turned talentless media member/helicopter Dad turned politician, tonight may be your chance.

As part of his quest to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison in the U.S. Senate, Craig will be speaking at an event for the Dallas County Young Republicans. The event is from 6:00-9:00pm this evening at The Londoner, which is located at 2909 Thomas Avenue in Uptown Dallas.

I can't make it- but if anyone out there can, we'd love to hear about drawing him offsides with a well-worded question about any or all of his personal scandals. A youtube video that we could post on here would be best, but even just a short anecdote would be worth a few chuckles. I'm looking at you, WWHD...

Baseball Stuff!

2012-02-13T13:42:00.003-06:00

In completely non-shocking news that you may have missed over the weekend, the TCU baseball team was unanimously picked to win their seventh consecutive MWC regular season title- a prediction that, if fulfilled, would give the Frogs a clean sweep of their years in the conference.

Their season starts this Friday with a weekend series against Ole Miss, and senior Brance Rivera- who was selected as preseason All-MWC along with fellow senior Jason Coats, juniors Josh Elander and Jantzen Witte and sophomore Andrew Mitchell- is the first player to be featured in an exciting new interactive series. "Twitter Chatter" will be a Q&A session held via the official TCU Baseball twitter feed, every Monday prior to a home weekend series. It starts today at 2:00pm.

To get your questions in or just to read the questions and Brance's answers, check it out:

@TCU_Baseball

Morning Dump

2012-02-13T09:28:00.003-06:00

Basketball:

TCU hangs on to beat Colorado State on Saturday, 75-71 gofrogs.com

Lady Frogs' rally falls short at Colorado State on Saturday gofrogs.com

Big 12 stuff:

TCU, WVU basketball not an even trade for A&M, Missouri Austin American-Statesman

Big 12 football rightfully excited about Horned Frogs, Mountaineers Austin American-Statesman

Other Sports:

TCU Rifle beats UTEP, wins 29th straight gofrogs.com

Daily Discussion: [Redacted] College Rivalries.

2012-02-10T12:31:00.003-06:00

Rivalries are the lifeblood of sport. Rivalries are why you hate someone you have never even met just because they wear a different shirt than you do and its TOTALLY logical. Rivalries are why we look at the TCU schedule, see that we play SMU, Tech and Baylor in succession, and stock up on blood pressure medicine like hibernating bears. Rivalries, and the hate derived therein, are why the 49ers and the Raiders are no longer able to play each other in a pre-season matchup, because their fans might literally murder one another.

But I think - and we are all certainly biased - that NCAA rivalries are the best that there are. You can love your NBA or NFL team, but you're never truly part of it like you are your college team. Embracing a pro sports team knows no loyalty as proximity only sometimes plays a role - just look at the rooting interests of one LeBron James. But when you choose a college team, you choose that team for the rest of your life. Seemingly normal families have holidays weekends ruined because of an Auburn-Alabama game. There probably aren't many doing the same over Lakers/Clippers.

And when you think of the great college rivalries, what immediately comes to mind? HATE. Auburn/Alabama: HATE! UT/OU: HATE! Kansas/Missouri? Probably doesn't spring to mind, but it should because Mizzou fans openly celebrate their ancestors murdering the shit out of a bunch of Kansasans back in the 1800s as a basis for the rivalry. A rivalry emphasizing real life events related to the murdering of citizens in said rival's town? That's some good hate right there.

But even the most "storied" rivalries can have their warts. Take what's going on between Urban Meyer and Brady Hoke at Michigan and Ohio State. Both men BLEED their school's colors-Hoke because he played for the Wolverines and Meyer because he grew up in the region and was a T shirt fan. So you would expect them to be a little more passionate about the "Michigan Man" bullshit and whatever it is to be a true Buckeye than your average mercenary head man. So what do they do, what big, bold statements do they make? Brady Hoke only refers to OSU as "ohio" and Meyer only refers to Michigan as "that school up north." That's it, that's their answer, that's their version of hate. And that pretty much kills that rivalry's significance for me. That's all you got, guys? No stereotypes? No hate speech? We're REALLY supposed to believe not mentioning either school by name is supposed to serve some kind of a big statement?

So this got me to thinking, and I realized that, while probably the most notable, these two are by no means the only offenders. Heck, in our own region we have A&M and their refusal to call Texas by anything other than tu. WE REVERSED YOUR ORDER AND REFUSE TO CAPITALIZE IT, BUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRNNNNNNNN!!!! SMU folks, hardly alone in this particular strategy, actually have license plates reading "TCUWHO" and have sunk to the low point of printing up "TCU SUCKS" shirts for wide distribution. That is, when they aren't putting said money up their nose. Heck, some folks at Texas Tech claim that they have a statue of a horse on their campus, the direction of which causes its ass to face College Station which, if true, probably takes the prize as lamest insult of all time.

In other words, for every Auburn/Alabama tree-killin' hate fest, there's a dog worshipper waiting in the wings ready to zing you with some abbreviation transposin'.

So your discussion question is: What are the gayest college rivalries and traditions you can think of for us to poop on? Merry Friday.

We are SOOOO Famous

2012-02-10T09:42:00.002-06:00

If you're looking for a modest post from Spitblood about our subtle mention from the greatness that is The Ticket, then stop reading now. Seriously, stop.

So, for those P1's that already know, which is the better, more intelligent majority of our readers, we got a little on air shout-out from the greatness that is Corby Davidson and The Ticket on Wednesday night. If you don't know why, then you didn't read Lyle's post that consisted of the hilarity that was Corby Davidson and ex-frog Malcolm Williams doing repro man. Again- listen to that or quit reading now.

So why am I bragging about little ole Spitblood posting something from the little ole Marconi award winning radio station 1310 The Ticket? Well, didn't I just answer my own question there? Plain and simple- award winners look out for award winners. They may win big time Marconi's (who the fuck is that? Sounds super gay to me.) and we may just win Fort Worth Weekly's Best Blog on the Planet, but we are pretty much one in the same.

I mean, yeah, a radio shout out isn't really that bad, but it's not the end of the world. It's pretty much like the 10th time that TCU's own (but OU loving) Corby Davidson has mention Spitblood and our greatness on air. You may also see him and his goofy Gene Simmons hairdo (recently buzzed) in our photos holding a GP koozie. Yeah, he tailgates with us sometimes. So do Chris Del Conte, former All-American's Jerry Hughes, Wayne Daniels, and World Series champ and 6+ ERA Red Sox "ace" John Lackey, but who's bragging (I am)? But I digress...

Ok, to the point meow. So yes, we were all thrilled about the Hard Line's mention of Spitblood. We deserve it considering how much $$$ I've spent watching Mike Rhyner sing "Refugee" for Petty Theft. So yeah, we really appreciated it, but that wasn't the end of it. Out of the goodness of my heart (haha), I tweeted at our old friend Corby Davidson in an effort to earn him more followers and said...

"@corbydavidson enjoyed the on-air shout out last night. Glad we could help make you more famous. #egg"

Like I said before, that was just a good faith effort on our part to get Corby, who is marginally metroplex-famous (not Spitblood famous, but getting there) a few dozen more followers. So Corby was nice enough to respond in kind and say...

"@spitbloodtcu god bless you spitblood. Vag"

Seriously, listen to the Repro-Man post or you will be so incredibly lost by this post. It involves an ex-frog. LISTEN!

Moral of the story: You know you've arrived when the most listened to radio show in the great southwest (at least from 3-7) gives you not only a radio shout out, but a twitter back and forth. I'm also just really happy that we could help out a struggling radio personality like Corby Davidson get a little bit of attention. I mean, did you hear the old geezer and NYC personality Mike Francesa treat him like a stepchild that should've been aborted? Seriously readers, the poor guy only makes $37.5K (allegedly), so maybe we should quit with the Purple People Seater's campaign and just have a "Buy Corby a TCU Ticket" campaign. Seems more noble to me, and maybe we'll get another radio mention for it...

Morning Dump

2012-02-10T07:55:00.002-06:00

Football:

TCU spring football practice begins feb. 25 Star-Telegram

Offseason spotlight: TCU Horned Frogs ESPN

He's ready to grow Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Basketball:

TCU heads to Colorado State for pivotal showdown GoFrogs.com

Looks like WVU is a go

2012-02-09T10:01:00.002-06:00

The question of whether or not West Virginia will be joining the Big 12 in time for the 2012-2013 school year appears to have been answered, as Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports is reporting that the Mountaineers and Big East officials are close to a settlement that would allow WVU to pay an exit fee of $20 million in order to leave immediately.

If this comes to pass- and it certainly looks like it will- it would leave the Big East with just seven football-playing members for next year. There is a possibility that the league could get one of its confirmed future members (SMU, Houston, Central Florida, Memphis, or Navy) to bolt from their current conference immediately to fill the gap. Then again, you may see Big East teams getting very creative with their 2012 schedules, such as the suggest concept of Rutgers and Syracuse playing each other twice next year.

Sounds pretty weird, doesn't it? But not my chair, not my problem...right?

Morning Dump

2012-02-09T09:38:00.004-06:00

Football:

How will TCU handle its jump to the Big 12? ESPN Blog Debate

LT Workout App now available PR Web

Basketball:

SMU slips past TCU at the finish Star-Telegram

Frogs come up short in Dallas, 68-62 gofrogs.com

Other Sports:

TCU freshman Julien Brun on Hogan Award watch list Star-Telegram

Chris Del Conte's Notes on a Scorecard gofrogs.com

Is THIS TCU's 2012 Schedule?

2012-02-08T15:50:00.003-06:00

MY SOURCES HAVE bynomeans CONFIRMED that this is TCU's 2012 schedule. Peruse it and offer your thoughts in the comments after I indulge a few of my own:

9-1 @ Oklahoma St.
9-8 Grambling
9-15 open
9-22 Virginia
9-29 @ SMU
10-6 Texas Tech
10-13 @ Baylor
10-20 Iowa St.
10-27 @ W Virginia
11-3 Oklahoma
11-10 Kansas St.
11-17 open
11-22 @ Texas (Thanksgiving)
11-29 @ Kansas

Opening with OSU? Whoo boy, welcome to the Big 12!
The bye week before Texas is a nice bonus, although I'd presume they have one as well
Late October-mid November should be fun with a game in Morgantown followed by the OU/KSU back to backs. Again, welcome to the Big 12!
Ending the season with Kansas will fill the annual UNLV/UNM easy season ender we've become accustomed to.
SMU, Tech and Baylor in back to back to back weeks? HATE! HATE! HATE! I seriously might combust.

Daily Discussion: More Conference Shuffling

2012-02-08T10:30:00.004-06:00

Memphis football: BCS worthy, apparently

While it appears the TCU's new landing spot in the Big 12 is stable (at least for now), the conference realignment drama that has plagued us for going on two years continues this week. With West Virginia on the way out and just about all of the legacy members looking for their own escape, the Big East this week went out and watered down their football conference even more by plucking Memphis away from Conference USA. While this move doesn't directly affect the Frogs, the continued shifts in conference affiliation may have an effect on future scheduling strategies and postseason structure in a number of sports.

But Memphis to the Big East doesn't appear that it'll be the final aftershock in this elongated seismic event. Immediately following the Tigers' departure, CUSA reached out to Temple to gauge the Owls' interest in leaving the MAC...which was their landing spot after being kicked to the curb by the Big East a few years back. The circle of life. Then again, there are the persistent rumors that CUSA and the Mountain West could dissolve and form a brand-new, more than likely awkwardly-named conference.

So who do you think will be the next undeserving football program to be tapped with the magic BCS wand? Or will that even matter in three years? How do you see these mid-level conferences shaping up once all of the shuffling is finished. Or will it ever be finished?

Morning Dump

2012-02-08T09:27:00.004-06:00

Basketball:

TCU, SMU can see better days ahead Star-Telegram

Frogs conclude non-conference schedule at SMU tonight gofrogs.com

SMU-TCU preview SMU Daily Campus

Repro-Man meets Malcolm Williams

2012-02-07T11:47:00.002-06:00

If you like TCU football and The Ticket, which probably applies to a good chunk of our meager readership, you'll probably enjoy this conversation between Repro-Man and Malcolm Williams.

Fair warning, though- Corby and him talk about their common interest in the Sooners. Gross.

Repro-Man with Malcolm Williams

Belated

2012-02-07T11:23:00.002-06:00

Conference stuff:

Neinas: Big 12 may help WVU pay Big East exit fees CBS Sports

Boise State won't replace WVU in Big East in 2012 ESPN

Football:

Frogs #15 in revised way-too-early Top 25 ESPN

David Ubben puts TCU at #5 in the Big 12 power rankings ESPN

Basketball:

SMU hosts TCU Wednesday night at 7:00pm smumustangs.com

Baseball:

Diamond Club Luncheon set for February 16th gofrogs.com

No BYU, No Problem for MWC Hoops

2012-02-06T10:45:00.002-06:00

Amateur analysts, like myself, looked to the 2011-2012 Mountain West basketball season and declared that it would be a "down" year for the league. After all, BYU was leaving and many of the other power programs of the conference were losing star players to either the draft or graduation. With just under five weeks until Selection Sunday, though, the MWC looks like it could get five of its eight teams into the NCAA Tournament.

In his latest bracketology, ESPN's Joe Lunardi has three MWC teams in his current NCAA field: UNLV as a #3 seed, San Diego State as a #5 seed and New Mexico as a #11 seed. But he also has Colorado State and Wyoming as part of his "first four out", which means that five weeks is more than adequate time for them to beef up their tournament resumes in order to make the big dance.

Among the teams that will make up the Big 12 when the Frogs make the jump to that conference, five are currently part of Lunardi's projected field: Baylor and Kansas #2 seeds, West Virginia as an #8 seed, Iowa State as a #9 seed and Kansas State as a #10 seed. Texas is also amongst the "first four out", so the Big 12 could add another.

Additionally, UTA is projected to be a #16 seed, playing Kentucky in the first round. That would give the Mavericks two NCAA Tournament appearances in the past five seasons to go along with their brand-new arena. Just food for thought...

Morning Dump

2012-02-06T09:42:00.002-06:00

Football:

Grand Prairie family watched Super Bowl son NBC-5

The 2012 Big 12 Recruiting All-Name Team ESPN

Tennis:

TCU men beat Alabama on the road, 4-3 gofrogs.com

Super Bowl Sunday Dump

2012-02-05T07:44:00.001-06:00

Basketball:

TCU men can't keep up with #17 San Diego State Star-Telegram

Frogs lose to Aztecs on the road, 83-73 gofrogs.com

Second half surge carries TCU women to victory Star-Telegram.com

Lady Frogs dominate SDSU, 58-39 gofrogs.com

Baseball:

TCU Baseball varsity storms back, tops alumni squad Star-Telegram

Frogs defeat alumni, 8-6 gofrogs.com

Football Alumni:

Marcus Cannon talks about playing in the Super Bowl ESPN Boston

TCU's Malcolm Williams took circuitous route to Indianapolis Star-Telegram

Andy Dalton finishes 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting Cincinnati Enquirer

Dalton wants more responsibility in 2012 ESPN

Golf:

Freshman helps Frogs finish 6th in Hawaii gofrogs.com

A Glimmer of Postseason Hope

2012-02-03T13:19:00.003-06:00

When we last took a look at TCU's postseason chances a few weeks ago, they had an RPI of #134 and it looked as if they were squarely on the bubble...of making one of the minor, sub-NIT postseason tournaments. By keeping their heads above water with a 3-3 start to the conference season, though, the Frogs have significantly improved their outlook.

In Joe Lunardi's latest bracketology, the last four teams projected to make the NCAA field are Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Washington and the previously mentioned Colorado State. Those four schools have an average RPI of 60.7, which we'll round up to 61 to serve as our estimated cut-off for a ticket to the Big Dance. That would make #93 the estimated cut-off to be part of the 32-team NIT field and #133 the cut-off to make it into either the 24-team CIT or the 16-team CBI.

So far in the MWC schedule, the Frogs have protected their home court with wins against Wyoming, Air Force and Boise State and took NCAA Tournament hopeful Colorado State to overtime on the road. That has pushed their overall record to 13-8 and helped them improve their RPI 37 spots to #97. So as you can see, TCU is looking pretty good to make it into a minor tournament right now, and would be considered an NIT bubble team. Sad as it may be to say it, but that is pretty exciting to a long-time TCU hoops fan.

The rest of the way won't be easy for Jim Christian's squad, though. Five of their final nine regular-season games are on the road, including the four most winnable of them (Boise, Air Force, Wyoming & next Wednesday at SMU) as well as tomorrow night's chance to upset #17 San Diego State. The Aztecs dodged a bullet last time out when Boise missed a potential game-winning three at the buzzer, which could be good news or bad news. Are the Frogs catching SDSU at a lull in their season, or are they going to be going up against a suddenly re-focused and angry Aztec squad?

Dalton on Cowherd

2012-02-03T12:07:00.003-06:00

Not a big Cowherd fan in general, but AD was on this morning. Give it a listen here.

Morning Dump

2012-02-03T09:44:00.002-06:00

Football:

A look back at TCU's 2011 recruiting class Dallas Morning News

Train eyes on Marcus Cannon Boston Herald

Patriots' Marcus Cannon feels blessed to be alive Star-Telegram

Former TCU DB Williams may play in Super Bowl Fox Sports Southwest

Golf:

TCU climbs leader board in Hawaii GoFrogs.com

Tennis:

Frogs ready for road weekend in SEC country GoFrogs.com

Big 12 Drama

2012-02-02T12:17:00.004-06:00

Most of the football-related news yesterday centered around recruiting, but two other off-field developments may have helped give some shape to the still-nebulous 2012 version of the Big 12.

The Big 12 office released its full 2012 football schedule yesterday...although we, the public, don't get to see it just yet. The league met it's February 1st deadline to send the schedule to their TV partners, and did so with a full slate that includes new members TCU and West Virginia. So what's the hold up, you ask? That would be the legal dispute between WVU and the Big East that's currently playing out in court rooms in two different states. We still don't know if the Mountaineers will be officially joining the conference for next season, so until that is decided the schedule can't be set in stone and released to the public.

On that front, though, was court decision that some of you law dogs may need to help the rest of us fully understand. Judge Russell Clawges of Monongalia County, West Virginia, refused to stay a lawsuit filed by WVU against the Big East that would've held up proceedings until the conference's own countersuit against WVU was heard in a Rhode Island court. What this means, if I've learned anything from the courtroom scenes on Law & Order and The Wire, is that the issue of whether or not the Mountaineers will be a part of the Big 12 in 2012 will be resolved sooner than we had at one time thought because the West Virginia court is willing to act a lot quicker than the one in Rhode Island.

And even while the league isn't totally certain exactly what it will look like next fall, they continue to keep their eye on possible further expansion in the future. As Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports explains, the total number of eventual member schools is still up in the air. Interim commissioner Chuck Neinas would prefer to stay at ten, but his time at the wheel will be over soon. If the next person in charge wants to expand beyond ten, Louisville seems like the natural next target- with schools like BYU and Cincinnati also possibly being considered.

Morning Dump

2012-02-02T09:38:00.005-06:00

Recruiting:

TCU 2012 recruiting class Star-Telegram

Four Horned Frogs get a head start for spring drills Star-Telegram

TCU's blue chips stack up pretty well against Big 12 brethren Star-Telegram

Depth, replenishing lines priorities for TCU class Star-Telegram

Patterson discusses nationally ranked signing class GoFrogs.com

TCU announces 23 football signees GoFrogs.com

TCU's Gary Patterson puts recruits in position to succeed ESPN

Late push has TCU no.24 in ESPN rankings ESPN

Fate shined on two Arlington Martin signees ESPN

TCU bulks up front lines for Big 12 AP

Basketball:

TCU men stave off Wyoming behind unlikely 3-pointer Star-Telegram

Alumni:

The hungriest man at the Super Bowl Guelph Mercury

Athletic Department:

Notes on a scorecard GoFrogs.com

Scherer and Crespo pegged scholar athletes for January GoFrogs.com

Get Your Name on the Stadium

2012-02-02T07:58:00.003-06:00

Well, maybe not 'on the stadium' per say, but right out side. Those who get Spitblood incorporated into their brick will be heavily rewarded with a koozie of our choosing. Remember that for every $100 you give to the Frog Club, you get 1 priority point, which could bring our cumulative Spitblood group ranking to at least 4 points.

Watch the Press Conference LIVE

2012-02-01T13:26:00.003-06:00

At 2:00pm, Coach Patterson will hold a press conference to discuss the Horned Frogs' 2012 recruiting class. By now, you've read what we have to say about these kids and likely what Rivals, Scout, Dave Campbell's Texas Football and more have to say about them. Now it's time to find out what GP thinks, although he's usually fairly reticent to heap too much praise on the newest crop of "Paper Tigers".

Watch it LIVE at 2:00pm by clicking HERE.

Brief signing day break

2012-02-01T12:11:00.003-06:00

Not to take anything away from signing day, but the baseball team is out with their 2012 preview video. Check it out below.

Now back to obsessing over high school students. Don't worry, it's perfectly acceptable this time of year.

Frogs grabbing talent left & right

2012-02-01T11:11:00.004-06:00

On top of the 23 guys in the recruiting class of 2012, there are three more guys to keep your eye on in the next couple of years of Horned Frog football. One is a greyshirt commit, which means he signed an LOI this morning but won't join the team until January. The other two are preferred walk-ons, who will pay their own way to attend TCU (at least starting out) while playing football:

Josh Carraway: 6'3" 225lb defensive end from Flower Mound Marcus (pictured above)

-Carraway signed to receive a football scholarship from TCU this morning, but he will be grey-shirting...which means that he will defer his enrollment until January and be a true freshmen in the 2013 season. A bit undersized for a defensive linemen, the extra time will allow him to bulk up a little to prepare for the college game. Don't let that 225 fool you, though- this kid can play. Who was the last undersized defensive end to come from the Lewisville-Flower Mound school district to TCU? That'd be Stansley Maponga. And who was the last defensive end as light as Carraway to come to TCU? That'd be Jerry Hughes. Check him out HERE.

Michael Mann: 5'10" 165lb wide receiver from Aledo

-Mann, who will walk on a TCU, just captured his third consecutive state championship with Aledo- so he knows a thing or two about winning football games. In his three years on varsity, Mann caught 143 passes for 2,307 yards and 23 TDs. He follows in the footsteps of guys like Jared Kessler, Ryan Christian, John Koontz and Danny Heiss that have gone the preferred walk-on route to play ball at TCU. Check him out HERE.

Buck Jones: 6'4" 235lb tight end/defensive end from Matthews, North Carolina

-To be honest, I don't know a whole lot about Jones. But any kid that looks like Spike from "Little Giants" that wants to come play football at TCU for free is alright in my book. In his senior year at Weddington High, Jones racked up 101 tackles and 6 sacks. If he ends up as a defensive end, he'll be looking to follow in the footsteps of guys like Ross Forrest, Jon Koontz and Andrew Calovich to earn themselves playing time with the scholarship players. If he goes the tight end route, I think we all are still in awe of how Robert Deck was able to transform himself from a walk-on tight end to starting right tackle on a conference championship team. Check out Buck in action HERE.

There will undoubtedly be scores more walk-ons joining these guys in suiting up for the Frogs next year, but on signing day I figured you'd all like to know a little bit about just a few more guys that will hopefully be wearing a Big 12 championship ring before they earn their degrees at TCU.

LOIs trickling in

2012-02-01T10:40:00.006-06:00

No need to wait until this afternoon's press conference to find out which kids have turned their verbal commitments into binding, written agreements to play football at TCU. Mark Cohen, the athletic department's director of media relations, is keeping us up to date via his twitter feed.

Confirmed as officially signed by TCU:

-LaDarius Anthony
-Austin Aune
-Gerren Ballard
-Josh Carraway (will greyshirt...post on him coming later today)
-BJ Catalon
-Chad Childs
-Aviante Collins
-Keivon Gamble
-Griffin Gilbert
-Deante' Gray
-Devonte Fields
-AJ Hilliard
-Joey Hunt
-Zach Jackson
-Derrick Kindred
-Terrell Lathan
-Kolby Listenbee
-Tyler Matthews
-James McFarland
-Jordan Moore
-Jaden Oberkrom
-Ethan Perry
-Halapoulivaati Vaitai

...which means we're still waiting on official confirmation for:

-Ricky Collins

I'll try to keep this updated for those of you that don't do the whole twitter thing.

Merry Football Christmas

2012-02-01T08:36:00.004-06:00

Fax machines all over the country are working overtime today as letters of intent roll in from high schools to colleges from coast to coast. It's National Signing Day for football, when every college football fan gets to see who will officially be joining their favorite program for the next 4-5 years. The Frogs have certainly had a busy final week, and have had FOUR players commit to them in the final 24 hours. They are:

Jordan Moore: 6'3" 210lb safety from Lithonia, Georgia

-Even the TCU recruiting experts thought Moore to be a longshot to sign with the Frogs. He's big, fast, and hits like a locomotive. That's why he had offers from schools like Ohio State, USC, Florida, Penn State, Michigan State, and on and on. Last night, he picked TCU over Auburn live on TV in Georgia during the post game of the Hawks-Raptors game on FSN. Check out his highlight video HERE.

Aviante Collins: 6'6" 310lb offensive tackle from Fort Bend Willowridge (Houston area)

-There was a time when TCU offensive linemen weren't as big as Collins is when they were 5th-year seniors. He's definitely got the size to play in the college game (and beyond), and has been called one of the most underrated recruits in the state by some recruiting services. He was committed to Houston until earlier this week, but ultimately decided to come to TCU- where his Dad was a track star. Check out his highlights HERE.

Derrick Kindred: 5'10" 185lb defensive back/running back from San Antonio Wagner

-This is prototypical TCU recruiting. Kindred is the only two-star (according to Rivals) recruit in the class, and was not even on the radar of most people who follow Frogs' recruiting until he committed yesterday. In my experience, these are sometimes the kids who end up shining most brightly once they put on the purple & white (Tank Carder, anyone?)- so keep your eye on Kindred. He played both linebacker and running back for the Thunderbirds, rushing for over 1,600 yards this fall. Check out his highlights HERE.

Terrell Lathan: 6'5" 260lb defensive end from West Monroe, Louisiana

-This one is a pure Signing Day surprise. Lathan committed to Louisiana Tech just days ago, but has (according to the twitterverse) signed his LOI with TCU this morning. He joins West Monroe teammate James McFarland in this year's class, giving the Horned Frogs THREE defensive linemen from the same high school- you'll remember that Chuck Hunter also came to Fort Worth from West Monroe. He also had offers from Arkansas and Mississippi State. I couldn't find a highlight tape of him, sorry.

These four guys join the following guys that we expect to officially sign with the Frogs today:

-LaDarius Anthony: 6'0" 190lb RB from Kilgore
-Austin Aune: 6'2" 185lb QB from Argyle
-Gerren Ballard: 6'5" 250lb TE from Whitewright
-BJ Catalon: 5'8" 190lb RB from Houston Westside*
-Chad Childs: 6'5" 280lb OL from La Grange
-Ricky Collins: 6'0" 185lb WR from Kilgore JC
-Keivon Gamble: 5'10" 190lb CB from Trinity Valley CC*
-Griffin Gilbert: 6'5" 215lb TE from Austin Lake Travis
-Deante' Gray: 5'10" 180lb WR from Houston Westside
-AJ Hilliard: 6'2" 215lb LB from Klein Oak
-Joey Hunt: 6'2" 285lb DT from El Campo
-Zach Jackson: 6'0" 185lb S from Snellville, Georgia
-Kolby Listenbee: 6'0" 170lb athlete from Arlington Bowie*
-Devonte Fields: 6'4" 240lb DE from Arlington Martin
-Tyler Matthews: 6'3" 215lb QB from McPherson, Kansas*
-James McFarland: 6'3" 240lb DE from West Monroe, Louisiana
-Jaden Oberkrom: 6'3" 170lb K from Arlington Martin
-Ethan Perry: 6'4" 220lb P from Smithson Valley
-Halapoulivaati Vaitai: 6'6" 265lb OL from Haltom City

*- these guys are already enrolled at TCU and will be part of spring practice.

Signing Day Dump

2012-02-01T08:01:00.009-06:00

Signing Day:

GoFrogs has launched a Signing Day page that among other things will broadcast GP's press conference

Early treat

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href='http://www.foxsportssouth.com/pages/video?videoid=d5f6e461-1c6d-4a67-977d-be4b94318aa8&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;src=v5:embed::' target='_new' title='Jordan Moore Commitment Announcement' &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Video: Jordan Moore Commitment Announcement&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Schedule (that I know)

9:00 AM - Colin Blake
9:00 AM - Joshua Stanford

10:20 AM - Thomas Johnson ESPNU
2:00 PM - Official Gary Patterson News Conference KTCU-gofrogs.com
3:20 PM - Gary Patterson interview ESPNU
3:35 PM - Gary Patterson interview CBSSports.com

Four-star Georgia safety uses TV broadcast to spurn SEC, chooses TCU Star-Telegram

College recruiters mine gold at Arlington Martin Star-Telegram

For every signing day hit there are dozens of misses Star-Telegram

Football:

Big 12 sends 2012 football schedule to TV partners will release to public 'in near future' Star-Telegram

Big 12 has big, long-term, decision looming regarding expansion CBS Sports

Marcus Cannon doesn't let cancer tackle NFL dream NBC-DFW

Basketball:

TCU's winning streak on line at Wyoming Star-Telegram

Uniforms:

From a new Frog's twitter

Coach P showin me a new jersey color and the rings pic.twitter.com/o3aSeDpz

Meet the Future Frogs: Deante' Gray

2012-01-31T12:56:00.000-06:00

The last week or so in the TCU recruiting world hasn't necessarily been a fantastic place. Stars like Ed Pope and Daje Johnson that were committed to TCU were plucked away, leaving some pessimistic fans (wait- we have those???) talking about how the sky is falling. Not only do the Frogs still have a great class without those guys- they actually went out and did some thievery of their own. Deante' Gray, a 5'10" 180lb wide receiver from the Houston area, decided that TCU would be a better place to play football and go to college than Stanford when he switched his commitment on Sunday.

Gray is the second player in this class from Houston's Westside High (you'll notice that's BJ Catalon blocking for Gray in the picture above) and fourth in the past decade or so- you'll remember that Marcus Jackson and Alonzo Adams also came from that school. And with scholarship offers from Stanford, Vanderbilt and Rice (amongst MANY others), you know he's a very smart kid. But I'm guessing you're more interested in what he can do on the field.

Prior to last season, Dave Campbell's Texas Football named Gray one of the Top 20 wide receivers in Texas and Rivals named him one of the Top 100 receivers in the nation. In his final two years at Westside, he was a bit of a do-everything player- playing offense, defense and returning both punts and kicks. All together, he totaled over 1,800 yards in those two seasons. If that number isn't all that eye-popping, remember that Catalon ran for over 2,200 yards and 30 TDs last year- so it's not like the rest of their offense even had much of a chance to rack up stats!

I couldn't find a free highlight tape of Gray's on youtube, but the main thing to remember about him is S-P-E-E-D. Various recruiting sources have him listed as either a 4.4 or a 4.5 forty guy- and according to my hasty research, he's run as fast as 10.46 in the 100m. I know most of you aren't track guys, but let me translate that for you: get this kid the ball with some space, and he'll give you six.

Meet the Future Frogs: Halapoulivaati Vaitai

2012-01-31T10:12:00.001-06:00

Two years ago, the Frogs went into Haltom City to recruit a highly-touted lineman but ended up losing out when defensive end Reggie Wilson chose Texas. This year they appeared to lose out again, when offensive tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai chose Texas Tech instead of the Frogs. Just before Christmas, though, Vaitai had a change of heart and became the second offensive lineman to join the Frogs' recruiting class of 2012.

"Big V" as he's known, goes about 6'6" 265lb currently. When you see his frame, though, you'll realize that he has the potential to put on a whole lot more weight. The folks at Dave Campbell's Texas Football saw this, too, and listed him as a 2nd Team Super Team offensive lineman in their summer 2011 magazine. He's also been named by Rivals as the 40th-best offensive tackle prospect in the country and the 46th-best overall recruit in Texas. Besides TCU and Tech, he had scholarship offers from plenty of schools in the Pac 12, Big 12, SEC, Big Ten and Big East.

As much fun as it is to see TCU go into the San Antonio or Houston areas, other parts of Texas, or states as far away as Georgia for recruits, it's great to see them grabbing a top-notch prospect like Vaitai right here in Tarrant County. As the fanbase continues to grow, it will be in places like Haltom City, Euless, Arlington and Mansfield where local high school stars have gone on to do well at TCU. We're looking forward to seeing Big V in purple, but for the time being here's a free preview of the skills he offers:

Morning Dump

2012-01-31T09:16:00.002-06:00

Football:

TCU needs talent to compete in Big 12 Fox Sports

LB Peters weighs SEC, TCU ESPN

Ricebird named to national football team El Campo Leader

Local players discuss college choices News Star

Basketball:

TCU hits the road to face Wyoming Wednesday GoFrogs.com

Meet the Future Frogs: Chad Childs

2012-01-30T09:54:00.000-06:00

Since it began forming about this time last year, TCU's 2012 recruiting class has been shaping up as one of the school's finest ever. One key area was lacking for a while, though- through the first 14 commitments in the class, not one of them was an offensive linemen. That changed on December 8th, however, when the Frogs received a commitment from La Grange offensive tackle Chad Childs.

At 6'5" 280lbs, Childs is certainly already big enough for the college game. But he's also quite a versatile athlete, having played both ways during his entire four years starting on La Grange's varsity. He was a tight end for the first two years, and still runs a 4.9 forty. As a senior this past fall, he was named 3A All-State by TheOldCoach.com.

Rivals gave Childs three stars, but they also don't have a highlight tape for him so I'm not sure how they evaluated him. He was offered a scholarship by a number of schools- including Texas Tech, Missouri and Oregon State. But following in the footsteps of other Leopards-turned-Horned Frogs Tye Gunn and Maurice Bouldwin proved to be too much to turn down.

Morning Dump

2012-01-30T09:48:00.003-06:00

Volatile Recruiting Weekend:

Gray switches commitment to TCU ESPN (No, not that Gray)

TCU commit Pope switches pledge to A&M ESPN

Johnson switches commitment from TCU to UT Austin American-Statesmeh

Riflery:

TCU improves to 8-0 on the year after beating West Virginia gofrogs.com

Long Sunday Afternoon Dump

2012-01-29T13:17:00.004-06:00

Men's Basketball:

Frogs crumble late under turnovers, missed free throws Star-Telegram

TCU drops 71-54 decision to New Mexico gofrogs.com

The headline from the Star-Telegram says it all, really. Winning a conference game on the road is tough, but it's damn near impossible when you turn the ball over 17 times and miss 9 free throws. I don't know if any of us expected the Frogs to go into The Pit and win, but it only adds to the frustration when they clearly lost this game way more so than the Lobos won it. While Wednesday is a big day for the football program with the letters of intent coming through GP's fax machine, it's also a big day for the basketball team- a very winnable measuring-stick game against Wyoming takes place that night at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

Women's Basketball:

Improving TCU women win third straight in conference Star-Telegram

Lady Frogs take down New Mexico, 63-56 gofrogs.com

It's been a tough year for the TCU women's basketball team, as a nasty injury bug led to a lackluster start out of the gate . The young squad seems to be finding their stride, though, and are now 4-2 in conference play riding this three-game winning streak. Three of their next four games are on the road, though, which will provide a whole new slew of tests.

Meet the Future Frogs: Gerren Ballard

2012-01-27T14:27:00.003-06:00

One of the more intriguing prospects in TCU's recruiting class of 2012 is Gerren Ballard, a massive tight end from tiny Whitewright, Texas. Part of that mystery is because of the uncertainty that always surrounds a top-level athlete from the lower levels of Texas high school football, and part because of what TCU's presence in Whitewright may mean in the near future.

What we do know about Ballard is that he's big- real big. And fast- real fast for his size. Anytime you've got a kid who ran run a 4.6 forty in a 6'6" 250lb frame, you've got to be excited about his potential. Ballard starred at tight end for Whitewright, and is listed at that position in just about any recruiting publication you can find- but you have to wonder if defensive end or even offensive tackle will be his true calling once he's in Fort Worth. I couldn't find a free highlight tape of his on youtube, but those of you that have watched his video through your purplemenace subscriptions know that he moves extremely well for his size. He's not all that hyped (although he did get three stars from Rivals), but I could see a number of positional coaches at TCU waging a passionate bout of tug of war with him once he's on campus.

The other intriguing part of Ballard's commitment is his relationship to one of TCU's (and likely every other school in the nation) top targets for next year's class- Tyrone Swoopes. The 6'5" 220lb quarterback from Whitewright (and Sheryl Swoopes' nephew) has already been awarded five stars from Rivals, and is the leading candidate to be the most sought-after recruit in all of Texas for next year. The internet rumor mill maintains that the kid loves TCU, which is substantiated to some degree by the fact that his facebook profile photo is of him wearing a Frogs jersey during a visit to Amon G. Carter Stadium. You'd have to think that having one of his high school teammates already on campus would be enticing for him.

Who ever would've thought that a town of less than 2,000 in Fannin County would be such a major talent pipeline for TCU? If you're looking to thank someone for creating a legacy that would produce interest in the program from such talented athletes as Ballard and Swoopes, look no further than William Jackson, a 2003 graduate of Whitewright that went on to become a four-year starter at fullback for the Frogs.

Daily Discussion: Big 12 Expansion

2012-01-27T10:19:00.002-06:00

The inevitable part about jumping into an unstable conference, as the Frogs have now done for about the 1,000th time, is that expansion rumors are never really going to go away. While the biggest questions about the Big 12 might currently be about when West Virginia will actually join (we hear this year) and when the 2012 football schedule will come out (very soon, supposedly), you still have to wonder if, when and how the league will get back to as many members as it's name would indicate.

A report from our very own Fort Worth Star-Telegram earlier this week indicated that Louisville and BYU may very well be targets for the 11th and 12th spots. What would you think about adding the Cardinals and Cougars- good move, bad move?

Let's say you're the Big 12 commissioner. What schools would you go after? What schools do you think are reasonable targets? Or do you think the league should even expand at all?

Morning Dump

2012-01-27T09:01:00.003-06:00

Football:

Maponga receives honors from Dave Campbells College Football GoFrogs.com

In Big 12 predictions, TCU should be first or second Dallas Morning News

Curry gets TCU offer, set for visit ESPN

Daje Johnson "90 percent" he'll switch ESPN

Tennis:

Weather forecast forces change in TCU's weekend schedule GoFrogs.com

Athletic Department:

TCU earns 41 fall academic All-MW selections GoFrogs.com

Meet the Future Frogs: AJ Hilliard

2012-01-26T15:24:00.002-06:00

Once the 2011 squad hit the practice field at the end of the summer, the TCU coaching staff took a break from recruiting. That's actually probably not true at all, but they did take a few months off from procuring any commitments from future Horned Frogs. That hiatus ended in late November, when AJ Hilliard became the 15th member of TCU's 2012 recruiting class.

Hilliard is a 6'2" 215lb linebacker from Klein Oak, which is just north of Houston for those of you not familiar with the area. He totaled 101 tackles along with 4 sacks and 2 interceptions his junior year, which was good enough to earn him three stars from Rivals. They also listed him as the 21st-best outside linebacker in the country and the 72nd-best overall recruit in Texas.

A player with Hilliard's size, speed (he runs a 4.6 forty) and versatility (he has a 30-inch vertical leap) is going to garner a lot of attention from college recruiters. He received scholarship offers from coast to coast, deciding at first to commit to the University of Arizona. But he always had TCU in his mind as his college destination, so when he was offered he accepted almost immediately back in November.

I couldn't find his highlight film on youtube, so those of you that don't have a subscription to purplemenace will just have to trust me: this kid is a prototypical TCU linebacker. He's fast, hits hard and has a great knack for getting to the ball carrier. He also wore #46 in high school, so you know he's ready to fit right into the somewhat unorthodox numbering system that Horned Frog linebackers have adhered to under Patterson.

Live Chat w/ Del Conte @ 3:00pm

2012-01-26T13:53:00.002-06:00

He once caught a fish THIS big

TCU Athletic Director Chris Del Conte is hosting a live chat on gofrogs.com at 3:00pm today. He's usually answers most of the questions fairly evasively, but there are always still a few informative nuggets to take out of the whole thing. As usual, you'll win some sort of super-special prize if you can get him to mention Spitbloodtcu.com. Use the link below to enter the live chat at 3:00pm, or you can submit your questions right now:

Chris Del Conte Live Chat

Basketball Team Tounament Bound!

2012-01-26T10:24:00.003-06:00

Adrick McKinney bein' all basketball lookin'.

pic via Star-Telegram

Well, at least Mountain West Tournament bound, but last night was one step closer to finishing in the upper tier of the Conference and sneaking into one of the various post-season tournaments.

In a performance similar to the comeback win over Boise this past weekend, the Frogs fell behind early, fought back and held on by the skin of their teeth/defense and pulled out 59-56 win over Air Force. As a friendly reminder, the members of the Air Force team play basketball as a secondary endeavor, so I'm not sure what we should make of this exactly. Also in the, "not sure what to make of it" category, the game was essentially over with 2:58 remaining, as neither team scored over the remainder of the game from that point. On the one hand, yaaaaay defense! On the other hands, sad face offense! But, with this team, you finish the job however you can, and a win will always be considered a win.

Leading the charge for the Frogs was the once dominant, more recently quiet, JR Cadot with an all around performance. He was second on the team with 13 points and first with 7 board, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocked shots. Not a bad day at the office. Cadot opened up the season with a string of strong performances and quickly earned the reputation of being, if not our best, at least our most aggressive player, and he showed what he's capable of last night. Also showing what he's capable of was Hank Thorns who tossed in 22 points to go along with that measly 1 assist. I used to argue that Thorns should work more on being a distributor at the point, but the recent results suggest otherwise. As a team, the Frogs out rebounded, out-assisted, out-blocked, out-stole and pretty much out-everything'd the Falcons.

And now, some humbling facts.

With the W, TCU doubled their Conference win total from last year with 2, eclipsed their overall win total with 12 and won Consecutive Conference games for the first time in THREE seasons. The year was 2009, the future was brighter after the Dark Days and Zvonko Buljan was being given free college tuition, room and board to play college basketball. The Frogs would go 14-17 that year and get knocked out in the first round of the Conference Tourney. Call me crazy, but I think they do a little bit better this year, at least record wise. Seriously, you can call me crazy, I don't mind.

Next up for TCU is a date with the New Mexico Lobos this Saturday in Methbuquerque. The Lobos have an identical 2-2 Conference record, so you could frame this as a PIVOTAL Conference placing matchup, but you'd be kind of a dumbass if you did so. Besides that, New Mexico has only lost to San Diego State and UNLV, two teams that are not only the class of the MWC, but of college basketball overall. Their resume is a just a tad bit more impressive. Regardless, if you're dicking around Saturday at 5:00 in the afternoon, turn on the Mountain and give it a look.

Maybe it's a Big Ten thing?

2012-01-26T10:06:00.004-06:00

A sexual deviant with THAT facial hair? You don't say...

More than a year removed from the Rose Bowl victory, you might think that it's a little excessive to still be piling on Wisconsin. Then again, those people were just TERRIBLE. Up until now, I thought the only thing Big Ten folks all had in common was their horrifically-overrated football teams and the fact that even their women could probably make a decent living as a shopping mall Santa. Turns out that at Wisconsin, much like Penn State, employees of the athletic department like to use their position of power to put their hands on younger males' junk.

The guy you see above in John Chadima, who until very recently was a Senior Associate Athletic Director at Wisconsin. The night before this year's Rose Bowl (which you'll remember, the Badgers lost to Oregon when overly-angry coach Brett Bielema forgot how long a second was), Chadima hosted a party at his Los Angeles hotel. At the party, Chadima used university funds to buy alcohol- including for under-aged kids. As everyone was leaving, he asked one male UW student-worker to stay behind and have a drink with him. He then proceeded to stick his hands down the kids' pants and, after being told not to do so, told the kid he could have him fired from his job.

You do have to give credit to the Wisconsin administration for at least swiftly acting on this, forcing Chadima out of his job very quickly after the incident. But after all of the bullshit we received from Badger fans before and after our little ol' private school beat their big, bad Big Ten champs, they deserve to have their athletic department dragged through the mud over this a little bit.

Morning Dump

2012-01-26T09:25:00.002-06:00

Basketball:

TCU men hold off Air Force Star-Telegram

Strong second half propels TCU to comfortable 66-44 victory GoFrogs.com

Tennis:

Frogs take down Islanders to open 2012 season, 5-2 GoFrogs.com

Athletic Department:

Notes on a scorecard GoFrogs.com

Big 12 expansion meeting yields 'nothing eminent' Star-Telegram

TCU Baseball 2012: What should we expect?

2012-01-25T10:52:00.003-06:00

TCU baseball has been pretty rewarding for us over the past few years. We win every conference championship, we've hosted Regionals, we've bitch-slapped Texas in Austin then dogpiled on their longhorn, and of course, we went to Omaha and made a pretty deep run before running into 2 top-5 MLB draft pick pitchers.

And then last year happened...

Now let's not act like last year was a complete disaster. We still won the conference (a feat that will obviously become much tougher entering the Big 12 for the 2013 campaign) and we hosted a regional, but it seemed like last year wasn't meant to be from the get go despite our incredibly lofty preseason rankings. I tried to hold onto hope for as long as I could, but the writing was on the wall early on with the loss of stud closer Kaleb Merck to Tommy John surgery before the season even began. Then seeing Matt Purke's opening night start last only 4 innings (I think) with a fastball in the mid-80's was a concern- a concern that went from being a blister to a dead arm over the course of the next few months. Then there were a rash of injuries during the season as well, from CF Aaron Schultz, to Steven Maxwell, a #3 starter who would've been an ace at 95% of the teams across the country. Kyle Winkler carried the pitching staff, along with a slew of young, talented arms, but I think we all finally knew the season was more or less officially over when Wink pulled himself in the first inning of his start in the Fort Worth Regional.

So coming off an injury-riddled, error filled baseball season in 2011, what can we expect from our preseason #15 squad this year? I think there are more unanswered questions about this group than any I can remember in recent memory for the Frogs, so let's just get right into them (keep in mind, these opinions are my own and could be wayyyy far off from what really happens):

At #15, are we overrated or underrated?

It's hard to tell, honestly. We certainly have the talent on this roster to be considered underrated, but will that talent perform up to expectations? I think Matt Purke and the 2010 squad proved that experience might not matter as much in football or even basketball, so maybe having a young team won't be a negative. There's still plenty of veteran leadership, especially offensively, with a loaded front end of the lineup consisting of Jason Coats, Brance Rivera, Josh Elander, and Jantzen Witte (more on him later). The question is whether talented youngsters like freshman Kevin Cron and sophomore Brett Johnson can produce, and will junior Kyle Von Tungeln finally emerge into the player we've expected him to be after ending last year on a hot streak?

The pitching staff is young as well, but they gained a lot of valuable innings with all the injuries last year. Hopefully some more young arms emerge this season to do the kind of great work that freshmen Andrew Mitchell, Stefan Crichton, and Nick Frey did last year. Getting Kaleb Merck back to secure the back end of the bullpen should be a major boon to the staff as well, because as we all know, that was a major cause for concern last season, at least until Crichton stepped admirably into that role. Which brings me to my next point...

With Merck back as closer, what do we do with Stefan Crichton?

I think we move Crichton back into a starting role. He made a few starts there before becoming the closer at the end of the year last year, so maybe he becomes our Saturday starter with Mitchell going Friday nights. A lot of this depends on how the talented freshmen arms we have coming in look leading up to the season. I hear rumblings that RS Freshman Trey Teakell has looked sharp, and Nick Frey, who saw a lot of innings towards then end of last season, also has to be a candidate for a weekend spot. I won't speculate too much on the freshmen arms that we have due to lack of knowledge and having not seen them pitch yet, but I'm sure some will emerge. However, I think for this team to be successful deep into the 2012 season, Crichton and his filthy low-90's sinker have to be in the starting rotation somewhere. I'll save my breath and not even try to speculate any further on who emerges from this freshmen heavy staff as players, but I'm sure there will be a few.

Is Andrew Mitchell a legit #1 starter?

Look at last year for your answer- 6-1, 2.84 era, 73 K's in 76 innings with a .197 opponents batting average. I'd say with pretty good certainty on this one that your answer is yes. Is he Matt Purke from 2010? Most likely not, and we might never see that again, but he does have a mid-90's fastball with some pretty knee-buckling offspeed pitches. I'm pretty excited to see what kind of season this talented sophomore can put together as the focal point of our pitching staff.

Will Kaleb Merck be 100% and return to 2010 form?

I'm not sure the exact date, but I believe Merck had Tommy John surgery sometime around September, 2010, so that means when the season gets going towards the end of February it will have been almost 18 months since his surgery. I'm sure we will ease him back into things to start the season, but hopefully by the time conference rolls around he will be back in full swing and as effective as before. Of course, asking him to duplicate his 2010 numbers (1.47 era, 30.2 IP, 23 K's) will probably be asking too much, but if we get anywhere near that kind of production from his freshly built arm I'd say the back end of our bullpen is certainly secure. Steven Maxwell had Tommy John surgery a few years back and he came back better than ever. I don't see any reason why Merck can't do the same.

Who replaces third baseman Jantzen Witte while he recovers from hip surgery?

Witte, who has been our starting 3b for us for pretty much 2 full years now, will miss 8-10 weeks after having surgery to repair a torn hip labrum. While I thought hip surgery was strictly reserved for old men, this is certainly bad news. He is expected to miss the first 16-20 games of the season. His .331 average was third on the team, and he also led the team with 84 hits and 21 doubles. His 45 RBI were good for second on the team as well, so I don't have to tell you how big of a bat we are missing from the lineup. Third base is arguably the hardest position on the field to play defensively as well, and losing a mainstay at that spot for a good chunk of the season scares me.

Honestly, I don't have a good answer for you here just like I can't go in depth on what freshmen will emerge in the pitching rotation. There are so many unknowns with so many young players. Some candidates are veteran utility man Davey Wright, who I've seen fill in around the middle infield, but I don't recall him playing much at third. Can baseball ginger Brett Johnson, who played a lot of 1b last year, slide into the hot corner for a while and play 3rd and let our star recruit Kevin Cron (who is a ridiculously massive 6'5, 260, so I don't see him at 3rd)? Can one of the newcomers like JUCO transfer Josh Gonzales or freshmen Michael Resnick, Trevin Sonnier, Keaton Jones, or Derek O'Dell fill in there? Honestly, I have no clue. Or could we move senior OF and leadoff hitter Brance Rivera back to that spot? Pretty sure he's seen some time there during his career at TCU.

Who replaces Taylor Featherston at Shortstop and Jerome Pena at Second?

Taylor Featherston, while a great hitter for TCU for 3 years, had his struggles in the field. Jerome Pena didn't duplicate the great offensive season he had during our CWS run, but I think he might have been another Frog battling injuries throughout last season. Just like the question about Witte, I don't have a good answer for you, but let's assume that two of the above listed players move into the 2 open middle infield spots. I'd say Josh Gonzales finds a spot somewhere for sure, because why else would you bring in a JUCO transfer? I doubt he sits. I think you can rule out Johnson, Rivera, and of course Cron for middle infield, so that leaves freshmen Resnick, Sonnier, Jones, and O'Dell to fill the other open spot. For what it's worth, O'Dell was 2 time All-State as well as a Max Preps All-American and was drafted in the 42nd round by the Red Sox, so he comes in pretty highly touted, so maybe he has a leg up on the competition?

So those are my own questions about the upcoming 2012 baseball season, and I obviously did this post in part to try and answer my own questions. If anyone out there has any better information than me please feel free to share, as most TCU baseball fans are pretty in the dark at this point in time since baseball news isn't that easily accessible. Also, if you have any other questions, the comments section is a great spot for those too.

Hey, at least I've turned attention away from "Daje's of Our Lives"...

An Alternate Reason for Daje Johnson's Visit to Austin.

2012-01-25T08:59:00.004-06:00

This pic would work a lot better if I could photoshop...

When it comes to Daje Johnson continuing his flirtations with UT despite reaffirming his commitment to TCU, I'm just going to go ahead and say it: BIG FUCKING DEAL!!!! Remember Jonathan Gray? He's the best running back in the country. He chose UT over TCU. And there was NOWHERE near the amount of "the sky is falling!" "run for your lives!" "everybody's gonna die!" talk that we've seen about this particular situation. I realize that was mostly because we never expected to land him in the first place, but still, he might be the piece that gets UT back to being a Conference contender. And we let it slide without much hand-wringing. Ah, to be young and naive again... Let's be honest with ourselves. Daje is going to be good at college football. Daje is probably going to be VERY good at college football. But if Daje ultimately chooses to go to Austin, we're not going to turn into SMU, which you'd think is a legitimate threat considering how rough some of you are taking the news.

I know it has been said by various others in the commentary and postings, but seriously team, let's put things in perspective. I hate UT as much as any of you and probably moreso than most, but holy hell! If I was good at sports when I was 18 and ole butterteeth invited me down for a weekend to sell me on 6th street and a stadjium with 105,000 screaming fans and girls and national exposure... all hate aside, I'm taking him up on the offer. And I wasn't even from the Austin area. So we should pull the kid's scholarship as a power move on account of him exhibiting the behavior of any 18 year old in the same situation? Girl PLEASE. The notion that we should pull it because, "We don't want kids that want to go to UT," is the most ludicrous thing I have ever had to put in writing in my life, and I one time wrote a sonnet based on ordering a McRib for a creative writing class. First of all, I'd take literally ANY recruit in UT's wheelhouse, as would most every other school in the country. And second, if we stop recruiting kids because they have UT on their list, then you'd have to kick probably 75% of the kids off of our team and field a squad entirely composed of intramural players. Is that what you want? You all sound like the same entitled asshole UT fans you're simultaneously abhorring. If that's your game, fine, but go do it at Killerfrogs. We don't need that bullshit here.

But beyond that, I think everyone is missing three KEY issues here. One is that UT has yet to offer him a scholarship. True, if Daje makes his scheduled visit this weekend, it's LIKELY UT does offer, and if they do it is also likely he will accept because those cats aren't exactly in the business of getting left at the altar. Another thing is that Patterson is going to personally sit across from Daje tomorrow afternoon sometime and put the final touches on his sales pitch. Looking folksy, back-slappin' Mack Brown in the eye and telling him thanks but no thanks is one thing, but doing the same to Patterson? With him putting the full-on hard sell with a quivering smile that is barely concealing the rage you know lies beneath? I'm sometimes nervous to even be in the same room as GP when he's in a good mood, and he has no clue who I am. I would hate to see the alternative. Good luck with that.

But the third, and perhaps the most important factor of all is this: Daje has now verbally committed to TCU twice, once months ago, and another this week. Now, I'm the first to say that soft verbal commitments are complete bullshit and should be done away with, but for the sake of this post, let's go against the grain and take him at his word. Isn't it entirely possible that, after practically bending over, spreading his cheeks and telling UT to take him now or lose him forever, he's kind of soured on the Horns a bit for ignoring him? Perhaps he views the fact that they aren't offering him a visit until the very last second before signing day as the slap in the face it is? Surely he understands that, by withholding a scholarship offer until the 11th hour, the Longhorns were exhausting all options for a more desirable recruit before doling out an offer to him. So what if going to Austin this weekend is just a ploy by Daje, an act of revenge? What if knowing that, presuming he makes it to campus this weekend, UT is going to make him an offer, Daje wants to turn them down face to face? See that shit eating grin slide off Mack's face? Watch Bryan Harsin's expression turn from smug glee to, "Holy shit, I thought once I left Boise this would never happen again?" Watch Manny Diaz' hair gel melt from his perfectly manicured coif and cover his head like candlewax? Perhaps give Mack's furniture the, "fuck yo couch!" treatment popularized by the Murphy brother who didn't wear a fat suit, dress like a woman and become responsible for Tyler Perry's success?

Eh, who am I kidding? He's totally going to UT. EVERYBODY PANIC!

Morning Dump

2012-01-25T08:27:00.003-06:00

Football:

Patterson to have in home with Daje Johnson Star-Telegram

Basketball:

TCU men try to pull even in MWC vs. Air Force Star-Telegram

TCU women hope to start road winning streak Star-Telegram

Baseball Frogs open at #15

2012-01-24T15:22:00.002-06:00

The preseason Top 25 poll from Baseball America came out today, and TCU opens up as the #15 team in the country. Taking a quick glance at the schedule, and you realize that the Frogs' first two weekend series are against fellow Top 25 teams: they host #22 Ole Miss on February 17-19 and travel out west to play #25 Cal State Fullerton on February 24-26.

If you're the kind of fan that likes to get ahead of themselves, the Frogs are one of three teams ranked currently that'll be in the Big 12 next year- along with #13 Texas and #18 Oklahoma. And if you're the nostalgic type, they are one of five Southwest Conference teams ranked- beyond Texas and TCU, the SWC would have Arkansas at #4, Rice at #6 and Texas A&M at #7.

With the season opener just a little more than three weeks away, you can expect to see more and more baseball posts here on Spit Blood as we get you ready for what is hopefully a redemption season for the Frogs. If you're in the mood for some more baseball content right now, check out these photos from the teams' promotional video shoot.

Meet the Future Frogs: Ricky Collins

2012-01-24T12:37:00.002-06:00

Moving on with our profiling of all of the incoming recruits, today we take a look at wide receiver Ricky Collins. At 6'0" and 185lbs, Collins boasts 4.4 speed that has made him a feared threat both in the passing game and as a possible kick- and punt-returner. He's one of two JUCO recruits in this year's class- and much like Keivon Gamble, he's a guy that was originally committed to SMU out of high school.

As a senior at Tyler John Tyler in 2009, Collins caught 43 passes for 1,059 yards and 13 touchdowns while averaging about 20 yards on kickoff returns. He earned All-District honors in District 11-5A and All-East Texas honors from piney woods guru David Smoak. Frogs' co-offensive coordinator took a long look at him, but TCU never offered and Collins eventually signed with SMU. He's later admitted that if TCU had offered him then, he would've signed with them instead of the Mustangs. Here's June Jones talking about Collins on Signing Day 2010:

Collins never made it to SMU's campus, though, and enrolled at Kilgore Junior College to play for two years while getting his academics in order. After catching 24 passes for 492 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman in 2010, the TCU coaching staff had seen enough and finally offered him a scholarship- which he accepted in late July of last year.

As a sophomore at Kilgore this fall, Collins hauled in 46 passes for 574 yards and six touchdowns, leading Rivals to award him three stars and rank him as the 33rd-best overall JUCO recruit in the country. He will enroll at TCU in May to take classes and work out with the team over the summer.

Daily Discussion: Daje Johnson

2012-01-24T09:24:00.002-06:00

I didn't think there would ever be a recruit that would stir up casual fans quite like Johnathan Gray. When the record-setting tailback from Aledo put the Frogs in his top three before publicly choosing Texas, he became the center of attention to the extent that girls were talking about recruiting. GIRLS!

But over the past week, I've been getting countless texts and emails from folks that I never really knew had a vested interest in this area of the college football world. The topic: Daje Johnson. While he doesn't quite have the numbers or the Dave Campbell's Texas Football cover story like Gray, he does have the explosive athleticism and similar sky-high upside that have caused an increasingly-public tug of war between fans and coaching staffs in Fort Worth and Austin.

After committing to TCU last March, Daje has been the subject of rumors that he'd switch his commitment to a number of different schools. To his credit, he's squashed most of those rumors. The one that has stuck around, though, has been the burnt-orange team in his backyard....Texas. There were a lot of whispers of him switching his commitment on a scheduled visit to the Austin campus this weekend, but a tweet from the Pflugerville Hendrickson star last night seemed to negate that with a simple & direct "STAYING WITH TCU".

Obviously, that rubbed UT the wrong way. And why wouldn't it? When you're used to getting everything you want, you're going to act a little petulant when the little bitty school up the way in Fort Worth gets something you covet. Longhorn offensive coaches Bryan Harsin and Major Applewhite have apparently told Daje that he'd be making a big mistake to go to TCU, and the new rumor out this morning is that he's been persuaded to still make his official visit to UT this weekend after all.

Clearly, no one is going to know where Daje is going for sure until his signature is on a national letter of intent on Signing Day. That's just the nature of how college football recruiting goes sometimes, but it also sets up today's daily discussion...

If he ends up succumbing to the last-minute effort by Texas to get him to switch, how bitter would you be? And how much of that negativity would be directed toward him specifically, as opposed to just being pissed that your UT friends would once again have a bit of recruiting scoreboard on you? While it's certainly frustrating for us as fans to be uncertain of a future watching and cheering for an athlete as dynamic as Daje, how much can you really blame an 18 year-old kid for having a tough time making such an important decision?

Morning Dump

2012-01-24T08:55:00.003-06:00

Football:

Daje Johnson sticking with TCU ESPN

Another accolade for Dalton Star-Telegram

Cannon and Williams to represent TCU in the Super Bowl Star-Telegram

Baseball:

Nine baseball games to be televised this season GoFrogs.com

2012 baseball promotional schedule GoFrogs.com

Meet the Future Frogs: James McFarland

2012-01-23T16:30:00.002-06:00

The second of the two future Horned Frogs to give TCU their verbal commitment this weekend was actually a re-commitment. James McFarland, a high school teammate of Chucky Hunter's from West Monroe, Louisiana, had actually committed to TCU last spring. But he eventually backed off of it, opening his recruiting process back up and taking a hard look at Arkansas and Boise State before confirming his initial decision this weekend.

At 6'3" 240lbs and with a 4.6 forty time, McFarland looks like either a linebacker or a defensive end at the next level. He's certainly bigger than most of the linebackers that TCU has had in the past decade, but many people think a few extra lbs on the Frogs' LBs might not be such a bad thing once Big 12 play starts this fall. I'm just some blogger- but when I watch his video, I see a defensive end.

Rivals has McFarland as a three-star linebacker, ranking him as the 36th-best outside linebacker recruit in the nation and the 16th-best overall recruit coming out of Louisiana. He doesn't have a free highlight tape on youtube, at least that I can find- so those of you that are too cheap for a subscription to purplemenace will just have to trust me on this one.

Meet the Future Frogs: Zach Jackson

2012-01-23T11:32:00.003-06:00

I was completely away from the internet this weekend, so I noticed when I got back and checked in on Spit Blood that there was some trepidation about the Frogs losing momentum in recruiting with just over a week left until National Signing Day. The TCU staff got two impressive commitments over the weekend, though- the first of which was Zach Jackson, 6'0" 185 lb safety from Snellville, Georgia.

Jackson played a little bit of everything at Snellville's Brookwood High School, helping them win a Georgia state championship his junior season. He has stated in interviews, though, that he feels his strengths are in pass coverage and hitting ability- so he'd like to use his 4.4 speed to play safety in college. Knowing how the TCU coaching staff loves to stockpile athleticism in the defensive secondary, I'm sure they were glad to hear that.

Despite multiple offers from SEC and ACC schools much closer to home, Jackson originally committed to Illinois. If you follow Big Ten football closely, as I'm sure most of you do not, you would know that the Illini have had quite of bit of coaching turnover lately. That's why, when Jackson was offered a scholarship by Patterson himself on his official visit to TCU's campus this weekend, he didn't hesitate to make the switch.

Sometimes these out of state kids can be a bit of a mystery- just because we here (or at least myself) don't have the same knowledge about individual programs outside of Texas and haven't had a chance to see the kid play or read much about them. Watch his highlight tape, though, and you'll get the sense that he can play:

Morning Dump

2012-01-23T09:24:00.003-06:00

Dalton headed to Pro Bowl GoFrogs.com

Moore favors two after TCU visit ESPN

Cannon, Pats bound for Super Bowl Odessa American

Shock Linwood to Baylor...

2012-01-20T14:06:00.002-06:00

Per his twitter feed. I guess he fell in love with the Waco scenery and plethora of pale, chubby virgins patrolling the campus. Mark this under who gives a shit. If we lose Daje I'll be bummed, but I'm not gonna get too butt-hurt about losing the next Donald Massey.

Okay, so maybe I'm in a little bit of a sour mood...

Meet the Future Frogs: Jaden Oberkram

2012-01-20T12:33:00.000-06:00

I don't think I have to tell you that the place-kicking job at TCU is open now that a certain #37 has exhausted his eligibility. The TCU coaching staff addressed this anticipated opening and went out to recruit a kicker. They held a special camp for kickers and punters last June, and a week later had a commitment from Arlington Martin's Jaden Oberkram.

Like Ethan Perry, the incoming Frog punter, Oberkram is not a small guy. At 6'3", he's one of the taller place-kickers you'll see. He's got a big leg, too- having once hit a 54-yard field goal in a playoff game and having connected from 60+ on occasion in practice. That leg strength will pay off on kick offs, an area of the game that TCU has struggled at for years.

I had a hard time tracking down Oberkrom's official stats, and there were some whispers of him being benched for part of this last fall because of a disagreement with his coaches. I don't want to speculate any further on that issue, but wanted to acknowledge that it is out there. Either way, judge for yourself by watching him in action:

Daily Discussion: Super Bowl Possibilities

2012-01-20T10:02:00.000-06:00

Most of our readers are Cowboys, Texans, Bengals or Saints fans- with probably another good chunk of folks that don't care for the NFL at all. So there aren't a whole lot of us with a dog still in the NFL playoff hunt. But since there are just three meaningful football games left until September, I think it's worth a daily discussion to try to decide which two teams we'd like to see facing each other in Indianapolis in two weeks. Let's take a look at the possible match ups:

Patriots vs. Giants: Classic Super Bowl rematch
-I'm not sure which of these teams I dislike more. If the East Coast of the United States is good for one thing, it's annoying sports fans. And shitty weather. And stupid-sounding accents. And faux-intellectuals. All that being said, the last time these two teams squared off in the Super Bowl, it was one of the most exciting games I've ever watched.

Ravens vs. Giants: Meh Super Bowl rematch
-Casual football fans probably don't remember that the Ravens have won a Super Bowl, and even some die-hards probably don't remember their boring 34-7 win over the Kerry Collins-led Giants back in January of 2001. It's one of those very random-feeling championship match ups that you'd never expect to repeat itself- you know, like Mavs vs. Heat. I wouldn't say I'm necessarily rooting for this scenario, but I might like to make some Brother Mouzone references it if does end up being Bodymore vs. New York.

Patriots vs. 49ers: Guaranteed Ring for a Frog
-The national media will play this game up as the Team of the '80s vs. the Team of the '00s, but that'll be a different story from how it's played up amongst TCU fans. Last year, former Frog Marshall Newhouse won a Super Bowl ring in his rookie season when the Packers defeated the Steelers at Jerruh World. It'll happen again if the Super Bowl ends up being New England against San Francisco, as Marcus Cannon and Malcolm Williams are Patriots rookies and Colin Jones is in his first year as a pro with the 49ers.

Ravens vs. 49ers: The Harbaugh Bowl
-Those of you that are only children probably aren't rooting for this match up, but the rest of us have to be at least a little bit intrigued at the prospect of two siblings facing each other on the biggest stage in all of sports. And you know with two guys as intense and competitive as head coaches John and Jim Harbaugh, they will pull out all the stops to beat each other. Then again, with Tim Tebow out of the playoffs, Sportscenter needs another story to beat us over the head with and fill 85% of their air time with. By the time this one kicked off, we might be so tired of the brother vs. brother angle that we'd want both teams to lose.

Since it's Friday and you're not doing any real work at the office today, you ought to have plenty of time to share your thoughts in the comments section. Which of these do you want to see, and why?

Morning Dump

2012-01-20T09:10:00.003-06:00

Football:

Big 12 recruiting capsules San Antonio Express

Basketball:

Horned Frogs return to the hardwood Saturday at Boise State GoFrogs.com

Baseball:

Third annual women's baseball clinic set for Feb. 9 GoFrogs.com

Meet the Future Frogs: Rashodrick Linwood

2012-01-19T10:57:00.003-06:00

After a brief quiet period this past spring in which they received no commitments, the TCU coaching staff got back to adding to the recruiting class of 2012 in June when they received the pledge from Rashodrick Linwood, a 5'9" 180 lb running back from East Texas.

"Shock" Linwood was a bit of a do-everything player for quite a while at 2A Linden-Kildare, having amassed over 1,000 total yards and 16 TDs as a sophomore in 2009. As a junior, he eclipsed the 1,500-total yard plateau and scored 20 TDs. That was enough to earn him a place in Dave Campbell's Texas Football's Texas Top 300, a three-star evaluation from Rivals and a scholarship offer from TCU and Baylor amongst others.

As a senior last fall, Linwood rushed for 2,103 yards and 25 TDs while lining up mostly at quarterback for the Tigers- also throwing for 729 yards and 5 TDs. His efforts were rewarded with 2nd Team 2A All-State honors from the Associated Press. It's not entirely clear what position he'll play once he gets to Fort Worth, but as you can see from his junior year highlights, he's got plenty of athleticism to go around:

Morning Dump

2012-01-19T10:14:00.003-06:00

Football:

Former Mansfield Legacy receiver transfers to TCU Star-Telegram

The Big 12's offseason to-do list for 2012 ESPN

Basketball:

UNLV's fast start too much for TCU men Star-Telegram

Playing Vegas a tough ticket for TCU guard Star-Telegram

Athletic Department:

Notes on a scorecard GoFrogs.com

Stay Positive: A TCU Basketball Saga.

2012-01-19T09:15:00.002-06:00

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeah, so about that whole "staying positive about every loss" posts thing... I forgot to mention it doesn't really apply to 23 point losses. No one expected TCU to win. Heck, no one expected TCU to keep it all that close. But covering a gaping 19 point spread would've been an accomplishment, right? And there's just something about the 100 point barrier that makes a loss feel that much heavier. PERSONAL ANECDOTE TIME! I can remember, back in my glory days of JV Basketball, a game in which my team inexplicably navigated our way to the Championship game of some tournament and got blasted 97 to something that wasn't anywhere close to 97, like maybe 40. The team in question hit the 97 point mark with probably 2-3 minutes to go, then spent the rest of the game firing off 3's in hopes of hitting triple digits. When the clock hit 0:0 and they didn't, even though we got our asses absolutely handed to us, there was some sort of small victory we all felt with not giving up 100. Guess TCU can't claim that one. And when you start talking about your NCAA Division 1 team in terms of your JV Basketball team getting beat by 60 points nearly 15 years ago, you officially have no hope of post season success and it's time to end your post. Let's just forget this game and post ever happened.

Meet the Future Frogs: (maybe?) Daje Johnson

2012-01-18T16:44:00.000-06:00

Just about every year, TCU will lose one of their prized recruits who change their mind about spending their college years in Fort Worth. Some of them do it quietly, others after publicly flirting with other schools for months. Then there are kids who like the attention other schools heap on them after they make a commitment and continue to visit other schools and hear their sales pitches without any real intention of switching. Right now, the folks that follow TCU recruiting are trying to decide into which of these categories Daje Johnson fits.

Johnson, a 5'10" 185lb athlete from Pflugerville's Hendrickson High, isn't one of those kids who is listed as an "athlete" because he doesn't have a true position. Instead, he's listed as such because he runs a 4.34 forty and appears to be moving in fast-forward compared to his teammates and opponents. At the beginning of his recruiting process, he was thought of mostly as a prospect to play cornerback in college. Dave Campbell's Texas Football listed him as a 3rd Team Super Team defensive back prior to his senior season.

But then he exploded this past fall- rushing for 2,178 yards and 26 TDs and catching 28 passes for 496 yards and 6 more scores. Oh, and he returned a punt for a touchdown too. On one hand, that's a lot of potential offensive production to leave on the table. On the other, that's the kind of athletic ability that just screams 1st round money if it's lined up on defense. Either way, the folks at Rivals love him- they gave him four stars and ranked him as the 29th-best overall recruit in Texas.

Back to the point I was trying to get to in the first paragraph, though- if there is one kid I'm afraid may decommit from TCU before Signing Day, it's Johnson. He took an official visit to Cal in December, and has been rumored to be in talks with just about every school in the Big 12. Now comes word, via the twitter feed of Orangebloods.com's Jason Suchomel that Johnson will be taking an official visit to Texas. Texas generally doesn't invite kids for a visit unless they plan on offering, and they don't usually offer a scholarship until they know that it'll be accepted.

If he does end up opting for the stomach-acid orange instead of purple, I've got no hard feelings for him. For a kid who grew up in the Austin area, I could understand if he had dreamed of playing for the Longhorns and I'd wish him the best in his time at UT. Sure, I'd boo him lustily when he was on the field against the Frogs, but I think TCU would be just fine without him.

All that being said, I sure hope he sees the light and decides that playing for TCU is his top priority:

Reminder: Basketball in Action Tonight.

2012-01-18T15:55:00.002-06:00

Just a reminder that the Frogs are in action tonight against UNLV at 9:30PM on the mtn. Typically in this space we'll have at least a moderately lucid preview, but since the Frogs enter the game as a 19 point underdog, I didn't really want to waste the keystrokes. Regardless, I like Hank Thorns' attitude, via the S-T.

"We just need to buckle down on defense and keep guys out of the paint," TCU guard Hank Thorns said. "I think we need a [late 1980s] Detroit Pistons-type attitude; we can't come out with smiles. We need to come out with a chip on our shoulder and take everything personal."

Uhh, THIS, anyone:

Rough Start for the Hooker Killer

2012-01-18T12:59:00.004-06:00

Our old friend and Jack the Ripper impersonator Craig James isn't off to a very good start in his campaign to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison in the US Senate. According to the Houston Chronicle, the former SMU employee is polling at just 4%. Four percent? That's almost an entire point for every prostitute he murdered during his college days!

I'm joking, of course. I don't think the fact* that CRAIG JAMES KILLED FIVE HOOKERS WHILE AT SMU has anything to do with his polling numbers. According to the Chronicle, he is struggling because "he's largely unknown and unpopular amongst those that do know him." Then again, perhaps they were unusually popular hookers who held an inordinate amount of political sway? Nah, it's probably just because he's a douche bag.

If you're like me and want to get Craig to sign your copy of Swing Your Sword, you might want to become acquainted with the events page on his campaign website. He's got an event in Plano on February 4th, and is only charging $100/head to attend.

*- I use the term "fact" here fairly liberally as there has been, to this point, no evidential proof that CRAIG JAMES KILLED FIVE HOOKERS WHILE AT SMU. It may be beneficial to open up a line of dialogue in the comments section to state our thoughts on whether or not is is true that CRAIG JAMES KILLED FIVE HOOKERS WHILE AT SMU.

Daily Discussion: WVU in 2012?

2012-01-18T09:43:00.003-06:00

It's been funny to hear fans of our new-found Big 12 rivals complain that it's late January and the football schedule hasn't come out yet. After all, in the MWC we were used to having to wait until March or even early April for the football schedule every year.

We're pretty sure now that TCU will be taking aggy's spot in the home/away rotation, meaning the Frogs will face Oklahoma, Kansas State, Iowa State and Texas Tech at home while traveling to Texas, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Kansas. The hold up in making any of this official is the precarious situation of West Virginia, who still does not know whether or not they'll be allowed to join the Big 12 next year. Read more about their scenario here and here. If they do end up joining at the same time as TCU, the prevailing thought is that the Frogs would venture up to Morgantown this fall.

So what do you think? Will the Mountaineers be able to muscle their way past the Big East lawyers in time to join the Big 12 this year? Or will rising senior Geno Smith torch that league for one more year before they make the switch?

Oh, and as a completely-unrelated bonus item for this post- I know you all hate Wisconsin, so here's a funny video of some drunk female Packers fan crying about their loss to the Giants.

Morning Dump

2012-01-18T09:07:00.003-06:00

Basketball:

Frogs head to Vegas with chip on their shoulder Star-Telegram

TCU faces #14 UNLV on the road tonight gofrogs.com

TCU at UNLV preview CBS Sports

UNLV's Marshall uses negative tweets as motivation Las Vegas Sun

TCU women look to continue offensive outburst vs. UNLV Star-Telegram

Lady Frogs host UNLV tonight at 6:30pm gofrogs.com

Maybe Dallas Isn't So Bad After All?

2012-01-17T14:54:00.002-06:00

The Dallas Morning News has taken its lumps over the years, from this site and others, and deservedly so. Besides being the only local newspaper to charge for their content, they still hang their hat glorified hockey columnist Tim Cowlishaw's insight and employed Jean Jacques Taylor for many, many years before ESPNDallas was stupid enough to pluck him away. They're also RAVENOUS sack riders of UT and the Big 12 and, until recently, you'd never have known that a perennial Top 25 program resided within their readership. So when I saw that they had published their BOLD predictions for TCU's 2012 season, I got ready to do some serious eye-rollin'. However, perhaps due to our newly minted status into the Big 12 boys club, I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.

You can flip through the full thing HERE, but so we aren't foolish enough to give them the pageviews, here is the list:

TCU will beat OU next season. I like this prediction, although I think it depends strongly on where in the schedule that game happens to fall. Having it at Amon G guarantees a rollicking crowd, but I like our chances if it falls in late October/early November rather than September-early October. The Sooners will be returning QB Landry Jones, as well bring Mike Stoops back into the fold at DC to shore up those issues, and will likely be the pre-season favorite to win the league. I think we should all temper our Conference Champions in Year One aspirations a bit, but if that is to happen, this game will be uber important in that fight.
Gary Patterson will be the Big 12 Coach of the Year. If Patterson can come in and have a double digit win year the award is his to lose simply because the Big 12 elitists don't think he can keep the train rolling in year one. His main competition will likely be WVU Coach Dana Holgerson, as the Mountaineers expect to have a breakout year, as well as Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder who returns QB/Superflous letter enthusiast Collin Klein. OSU Coach Mike Gundy won the award this year.
Casey Pachall will rewrite the TCU record book. Well, he almost did it this year, so that's not exactly a CrAzY prediction or anything. Plus, having Josh Boyce, Brandon Carter, David Porter, Cam White and the still unseen LaDarius Brown to run under his passes, Pachall is surely due more than a few "BOMBS AWAY!" type days. Say what you will about the defenses he faced in the MWC, but have you watched Big 12 football lately? Pachall piled up the numbers he did despite more or less being a game manager post-Boise as the OC shifted the focus to our ground game. He won't have many of those types of games next year.
TCU will set a single season attendance record. Well, duh.
Stansly Maponga will lead the Big 12 in sacks. The least generic prediction of all, this one could very well happen. Last year, Sean Porter of aggy led the Conference with 9.5; Maponga had 9. Of the top 3 sack leaders in the Conference last year, two played for aggy and will therefore be out of the running, and the third was a Senior from Oklahoma. It would appear the closest competition will come from fellow Junior Jackson Jeffcoat from UT who had 8. This will certainly be a fun race to follow along with.
TCU will win a share of the Big 12 title. See? They really aren't so bad, are they?

So has the DMN really trimmed the fat - or had the fat trimmed for them by ESPNDallas - to the point that they actually have good, level headed writers? Or is it just that the sports guys are so relieved they have a Big 12 program in their own backyard, and therefore can stop pretending that SMU is in any way relevant, they feel the need to over compensate? I don't know, but at least I won't have to cringe every single time I see Cowlishaw's face on Around the Horn.

Meet the Future Frogs: Griffin Gilbert

2012-01-17T13:00:00.000-06:00

The first weekend of March 2011 was pretty eventful for TCU. While the baseball team was busy sweeping past Texas Tech out in Lubbock, the football team was busy adding future offensive firepower with commitments from running back LaDarius Anthony, quarterback Austin Aune and finally wide receiver/tight end Griffin Gilbert.

Casual fans might recognize Gilbert, the massive 6'5" target out of the Austin area, as the younger brother of Garrett Gilbert, former UT and soon-to-be SMU quarterback. But other than the fact that they both wore jersey #7 (Griffin switched to that number for his senior year) while contributing to Lake Travis' unprecedented five consecutive state championships and that both were named to the Dave Campbell's Texas Football Super Team in their respective senior seasons, they really don't have a whole lot more in common as far as football is concerned.

Griffin has been a pass-catcher since the beginning of his varsity career, hauling in more than 160 passes for over 2,600 yards and totaling 35 touchdowns over three years. As he's gotten older, he's learned how to use his 6'5" frame and his elite ability to adapt to the ball while it's in the air to become a living head ache for opposing defensive coordinators. As dangerous of a threat as he was as a pass-catching option, he was equally (if not more) dangerous because of the attention heaped on him that allowed teammates to get open.

Rivals has Gilbert scored as a four-star tight end, and lists him as 10th-best at that position in the country and the 36th-best overall recruit coming out of the Lone Star State. Despite a scholarship offer from the Longhorns (as well as one from Clemson, where former LT head coach Chad Morris is the offensive coordinator), Gilbert stuck to his initial commitment to TCU. He was recruited by Trey Haverty, who will now be the wide receivers coach- leading to more speculation that he may end up lining up out wide. Watch his highlights and judge for yourself:

Daily Discussion: Daniel-Meyer Coliseum

2012-01-17T10:04:00.006-06:00

Stefan Stevenson of the Star-Telegram had an article this morning that drew attention to the disparity between Daniel-Meyer Coliseum and the basketball facilities of the Big 12. You can read the whole thing by clicking here. There's nothing earth-shattering in the article: if you've been inside the DMC any time in the last couple of decades, you already knew it was below par for the MWC...much less our new conference home.

With the renovations to Amon G. Carter within months of completion and already entirely paid for, the next massive project has to be Daniel-Meyer. But (at least to my knowledge) plans for an upgrade of the 50 year-old facility have not taken shape as of yet, which leads us to today's daily discussion questions.

If you were in charge of bringing TCU's basketball home into the 21st century, what would those plans look like? Would you renovate the facility and add seats and luxury suites? Would you tear it down and build a completely new arena in its place? Or would you look for another site?

PS- if you're wondering what that baseball diamond is doing in the picture above where the football and basketball practice facilities are now, that is actually the old TCU Baseball Diamond- which predated Lupton Stadium. And I use the term "old" loosely, because believe or not our baseball program used that as their home field until 2001.

Morning Dump

2012-01-17T10:04:00.003-06:00

Daniel-Meyer puts TCU at a disadvantage in Big 12 Star-Telegram

Big 12 gives TCU new recruiting opportunity Rivals

Stay Positive: A TCU Basketball Saga.

2012-01-16T11:30:00.003-06:00

To bridge the gap between the month long completed football season and the dawning of what will hopefully be a more rewarding year on the diamond, we're going to introduce a new segment to SpitBlood. We're going to call it "Stay Positive: A TCU Basketball Saga" and it will go as such: TCU Basketball is going to lose games. TCU Basketball is going to lose quite a few games. But, based on Saturday's moderately gritty performance, other than against the top of the MWC, they shouldn't be absolutely run off the floor in any game this season. I say "shouldn't" because I lack the confidence required to say with any certainty that they won't, but it's a start. So after each loss - and with a game against a pissed off UNLV team coming up on Wednesday, expect another one of these suckers first thing Thursday - I want to take a brief look at the positive takeaways even though the final score wasn't in the Frogs favor. The idea is to generate hope and build fan support as the season rolls on. And if they manage to win a game or two? Well, I'm not exactly used to writing about THOSE types of games, so it'll be back to the drawing board!

Today's Episode: Colorado State 95, TCU 89 (2OT).

Despite an heroic rally- coming back from 12 points down late in the second half to force OT on two CLUTCH free throws from Amric Fields- the Frogs fell by six to the Rams to open the final year of MWC play. It was the team's 12th consecutive road loss in Conferece, a streak that looks to continue Tuesday in Las Vegas. After forcing double OT on a driving lay in by Fields, the TCU D got a teency bit slappy in the last five, surrendering nine free throws that made up the difference. It wasn't the prettiest performance by TCU - they shot WAY too many threes, going 12-31 on the night, turned the ball over 18 times for 27 points, were out rebounded 42-32 by one of the few teams in the country worse than they are in that category and allowed the Rams to shoot 55% from the floor- but it wasn't all bad.

For one, the play of Amric Fields - my no brainer bright spot of the first half season, for the 4 of you who read it - surely turned the heads of even the most detached of TCU fans who may have followed along on their iPhones. Despite coming off the bench, he finished with 36 minutes, scored 20 points on 67% combined shooting, and iced all five of his free throws. But it was his clutch play to keep the Frogs alive that really stood out. As mentioned, he was the reason the Frogs had a chance in either extra period in the first place, and his layup at the end of OT #1 was one of the biggest shots of the season.

However, I'd argue that his free throws to end the fourth were bigger. TCU has never been a great free throw shooting team, and only ranks 102nd in the category right now at 71.4%. This is an increase from the roughly 67% mark they shot last year, but still probably doesn't strike fear into the hearts of opponents. Saturday should make opposing teams think twice before simply hacking away and making TCU win that way, if it comes down to it. As a team, TCU shot 85% (17-20) for the evening, a pace no team in the country can hope to replicate, let along TCU, but a positive development considering past struggles. I honestly believe TCU will be involved in close games like this one more often than the alternative this season. A high free throw shooting percentage can be the difference between a win and loss in those types of games. This will definitely be an area to keep an eye on.

A tough mindset also played a key role Saturday as, without it, TCU doesn't fight back as a team to score the final 11 points and give Fields a chance to extend the game in the first place. This is part of the reason why they were run off the floor so often in years past. Hank Thorns came up huge when it mattered, tossing in 10 of his team high 21 points during the last 6 minutes of the second half. Garlon Green grabbed a couple of clutch rebounds, and was the only other Frog in double figures with 14 points. Still, TCU is going to need a lot more from him going forward if they hope to win some games. Same goes for JR Cadot, who only scored 8 points and played limited minutes due to foul trouble. I suppose you can get your "glass half full" on here and look at it from the perspective that the Frogs led in double OT despite a lack of significant contributions from two key players, but I'm not sure I'm THAT much of a homer.

Regardless, it was a hard fought game and gives me at least a semblance of hope for the future. Not necessarily "pilot episode of Homeland" style hope, but maybe "Angry Boys totally sucks but I'll give Chris Lilley rope to hang himself with because I owe him for Summer Heights High and what else am I gonna do at 9PM on Sunday night?" hope. A victory Wednesday would be among the more shocking in recent TCU Basketball history, but if the Frogs can at least make it moderately competitive, we all owe it to them to come back for at least a few more helpings.

Meet the Future Frogs: Austin Aune

2012-01-16T10:05:00.000-06:00

One of the most under-the-radar members of TCU's 2012 recruiting class is Austin Aune, a 6'2" 185lb quarterback from just up the road in Argyle. He turned a solid junior campaign (2,484 yards passing, 24 TDs to just 9 INTs) into an early scholarship offer from TCU, which he accepted back on March 4th of last year.

The folks at Rivals do not seem to be all that impressed with Aune, giving him just three stars and not included him in any of their QB or state of Texas rankings. Maybe they should take a look at his senior season. He threw for 3,411 yards as a senior this fall, leading the Eagles all the way to the state championship game. He tossed 33 touchdowns and had just 9 interceptions again. He also ran for 538 yards and 9 touchdowns on the ground. He played valiantly in the title game at Cowboys Stadium, nearly leading a last-minute, game-winning drive despite playing with a temperature of 104.

An all-around athlete, Aune is also expected to play baseball at TCU. Because of this, he's drawn numerous comparisons to Chad Huffman. While it's got to be quite an honor to be compared to Huffman, it seems as if some people are overlooking Aune as a candidate to be the "quarterback of the future" at TCU. Those people conveniently forget that Huffman, had he not left to pursue pro baseball, would've been the starting QB in 2007. Aune will have quite a bit of competition for the job once Pachall departs the program, but I think he has just as good a chance as any of the others. Check out his highlight video:

Long Sunday Afternoon Dump

2012-01-15T13:29:00.005-06:00

Men's Basketball:

TCU men can't cash in on late rally in double OT Star-Telegram

Frogs fall to CSU in double overtime, 95-89 gofrogs.com

I really hate that the current state of TCU basketball allows us to celebrate moral victories, but that's really how I'd describe last night's loss in Fort Collins. The Frogs were behind for most of the second half, but were able to come back to force not one but TWO overtimes, all the while showing they were better conditioned to the altitude than the Rams. Amric Fields had a season-high 20 points to continue his strong play of late, and Garlon Green brought down 12 rebounds. I'm glad to see someone hitting the boards, as 6'8" post men Craig Williams (3) and Adrick McKinney (0) were not getting the job done in that department.

Women's Basketball:

Shots fall for TCU women against Colorado State Star-Telegram

Lady Frogs take down CSU, 79-71 gofrogs.com

It's been a rough start to 2012 for Coach Mittie's squad, so it was nice to see them break into the win column for the first time since New Year's Eve and for the first time in the MWC slate. At 8-9 overall, it doesn't look like the Lady Frogs will be making another run to the NCAA Tournament this year. But it's also good to see them not just folding up shop because of a few key injuries. Senior Antoinette Thompson and true freshman Natalie Ventress combined for six three-pointers and 40 of the team's 79 total points.

Football:

TCU football will soon find answer for Big 12 question Star Telegram (Randy Galloway)

Why TCU bet big on football D Magazine

It's pretty refreshing to see the Frogs garnering attention from the Metroplex media outside of the completely mailed-in game stories that made up the entirety of their press coverage for so long. Galloway and the rest of the snarky columnists at the Star-Telegram used to turn their noses up at TCU, but he and Gil Lebreton have really come around on the Frogs...leaving only the talent-challenged Engels in the "I'll write about TCU if my editors tell me to, but I'll be sure to do it in a way to let the readers know that I feel like I'm above covering college sports" department. If you haven't read that D Magazine article yet, it's a good look at how the TCU administration has done such an outstanding job of putting the Frogs' athletic programs- and the university as a whole- in a position to succeed.

Football Alumni:

49ers special teamers comes through with big plays Sacramento Bee

Cowboys miss on TCU safety Colin Jones ESPN Dallas

Imagine Andy Dalton after a real offseason Cincinnati Enquirer

I'm not so sure it was as much the Cowboys "missing" on Jones as much as it was the Bridgeport product dodging a bullet by not being drafted by the complete trainwreck of an NFL franchise currently wearing stars on their helmets. Jones' fumble recovery helped the 49ers extend their second-half lead over the Saints on the way to victory yesterday. Coupled with the Patriots (and former Frogs Marcus Cannon and Malcolm Williams) completely dismantling the Broncos, there are already three TCU alums that will be playing in the conference championship round next weekend. That number could grow to five if the Packers (with Marshall Newhouse and Herb Taylor) beat the Giants later this afternoon.

Other:

TCU student Kendall Morris to compete for Miss America title Daily Skiff

I don't have any commentary, but I do have a photo:

Meet the Future Frogs: LaDarius Anthony

2012-01-13T13:45:00.000-06:00

Joining BJ Catalon in the replenishment of the TCU running back corps will be LaDarius Anthony, a 6'0" 190lb tailback from Kilgore. He was the third member of this recruiting class, having switched his commitment from Baylor to TCU way back on March 3rd of last year. I'm sure that our East Texas readers that have enjoyed watching Matthew Tucker tote the rock the past few years will be glad to see another 903 ball carrier coming to Fort Worth just before #29 graduates.

Anthony has been on the recruiting radar for quite a while, after he rushed for over 1,500 yards and 24 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2009. He followed that up with another 1,000+ yard season as a junior, and was named one of the 25 best running backs in the state by Dave Campbell's Texas Football prior to his senior year. He must be toward the front of those 25, because Rivals (who awarded him three stars) also named him the 40th-best running back in the nation.

This fall, Anthony missed the first few games of the season but came back with a vengeance- rushing for over 1,200 yards and 20 touchdowns while leading the Bulldogs all the way to the state quarterfinals. That earned him Offensive MVP honors in District 14-4A. For a brief glimpse at what you can expect to see out of him when he gets to TCU, watch this:

Second Season Begins Tomorrow.

2012-01-13T11:38:00.000-06:00

More of the foreground, less of the background.

With a thorough pasting of something called UT-Pan American to the tune of 88-58, TCU completed a 10-5 run through their non-con slate this week. Those ten wins included big, by our standards at least, wins over Virginia, Texas Tech, Houston and Lamar with the only truly "bad" loss being that yack-fest against USC, although I bet Christian would LOVE to have the second half against Tulsa back. It's the first time since 2004-2005 that the Frogs made it into double digit wins before Conference play began and they're only one win off of last year's blistering 11 win regular season pace. Hopefully non-coincidentally, 04/05 is the year the Frogs made it to the third round of the NIT, their last trip to the post season of any kind. That team was visibly more talented and well-oriented than this one, so I won't get ahead of myself, but as the UVA game showed, this is a team that's capable of competing on a given night and a second straight 1 win Conference season shouldn't be in the cards. Note, I said SHOULDN'T, not WON'T.

The Frogs officially close out non-con play February 8th at SMU, but tomorrow marks the start of their final year of MWC play when they travel to Fort Collins to face the surprising Rams. CSU has gotten off to an 11-4 start and is frequently mentioned in just about any Bracketology report you're sure to run across. Led by guards Dorian Green and Wes Eikmeier, the Rams have taken out current Pac 12 leader Colorado and gave Duke a game before fading down the stretch. Fortunately, the Rams aren't a big team, only grabbing 30 rebounds per game on average, but they're 11th in the country in field goal percentage which doesn't bode well for a Frogs team that isn't always on point defensively when it counts. The Frogs lead the series 10-9 and will look to make the overall record out of reach by the time the Rams come to town next month.

When you're a team like TCU I suppose every win is of the "must" variety, but considering the Frogs next game on the slate is at #12 UNLV next Wednesday, it'd be VERY good for them to steal this one. It won't be easy, but if this is truly a team built for a post season invite, they will have to win games like tomorrow's. Catch it at 7:00PM on the mtn. Dont' get sucked in by Tebow time running concurrent. SPOILER ALERT: The magic has run out.

Switching gears though, for the four of you who may have kept up with TCU basketball this season, at least on the surface, what have been the brightest, and not so bright, spots for you over the first half of the season?

Other than the unexpected win over a good Virginia team and JR Cadot playing like a mad man those first few weeks, I'd have to say having Amric Fields start to look like the next-level caliber player we've been hearing about has been the brightest. At least when he's not in foul trouble. For the year he's averaging a not-so-eye-popping 9.8 points per game, but he's only getting about 20 minutes a night, partially due to said foul trouble. He's gotten a little more time post-Christmas and has made the most of it, putting up 18 in a win against Rice and 14 against Pan American despite only playing 15 minutes in the latter. He doesn't grab as many rebounds as you'd like for a 6'10" player but hey, I don't think they exactly teach that at TCU anyway. Fields has scored in double figures in nine games this season; they've won eight of them. This isn't a coincidence. Fields will be one of, if not THE, most important players for this team if they have any chance of competing for a post season spot. He'll be one to keep an eye on. Honorable Mention: Kyan Anderson.

As for my not-so-bright spot, the easy answer is the curious situation surrounding Ryan Rhoomes' eligibility. As with all things TCU basketball, Alex Apple at Menace is presumably your best bet for up to date information on Rhoomes, but unlike Killer Frogs I'm not going to outright lift his paid commentary and make it my own. All I can say with any certainty is that Rhoomes is enrolled at TCU, so take that for what it's worth. The hope is Ryan gets his academic house in order in time to be the big body difference maker the Frogs SEVERELY need, but that comes with a caveat: cohesiveness. Anyone close to the basketball program will readily admit that this is one of the most cohesive TCU basketball teams they have seen in quite some time and that's a major reason for their moderate success. How will Rhoomes affect this? Will he fit right in? Will he be able to learn the schemes quick enough to have an impact? I know nothing of his character, so don't take this is a slam because I genuinely have no idea, but how will a high profile recruit like Rhoomes handle riding the bench to start his college career, as he likely will? Also, the other major elephant in the room is that Rhoomes came to TCU from the New York area at least partially based on our entry into the Big East. How will he feel now that that arrangement is toast? Things to think about. Let's just hope he's not the basketball Dwight Smith. Honorable Mention: Connell Crossland, although I do not know why I had high expectations to be honest.

Yours after the jump.

Bad News

2012-01-13T09:13:00.005-06:00

The young TCU baseball team just got a bit younger, at least for the first part of the season. Junior third baseman Jantzen Witte, who was third on the team with a .331 batting average a year ago, is out 8-10 weeks after hip surgery.

He ought to be back by mid- to late March, in plenty of time to contribute to what is hopefully the Frogs' 7th consecutive regular-season MWC title and another deep postseason run. But TCU's schedule is fairly front-loaded, and Witte will be out for at least the three-game sets against Ole Miss, Cal State-Fullerton, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech and the mid-week games against Baylor and Texas State.

It's not totally clear yet who will take over the hot corner in Witte's absence, but a quick glance at the 2012 roster (which is 64% freshmen or sophomores) gives one the impression that it'll be someone with not a whole lot of experience.

Morning Dump

2012-01-13T09:05:00.003-06:00

Football:

TCU announces Glasgow's return as safeties coach gofrogs.com

Frogs' coaching shuffle now official Star-Telegram

Baseball:

Diamond Club luncheon set for January 19th gofrogs.com

Golf:

TCU alum JJ Killeen shoots a first-round 68 (-2) in his PGA Debut ESPN

UVA @ Duke tonight and why you should care

2012-01-12T17:24:00.004-06:00

The Cameron Crazies have probably found Mike Scott's facebook page by now

As TCU fans, most of the big time college basketball games on ESPN are of little significance to us, unless you happen to have money on one of them. That's not the case tonight, though, as the 17th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers visit Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on the 6th-ranked Duke Blue Devils on ESPN at 8:00pm. That's because UVA might be TCU's ticket to postseason basketball.

Now, when I say "postseason basketball", don't misconstrue my words by thinking that I'm putting the Frogs on the NCAA bubble. They're a long way from that right now, but could (with a strong showing in their upcoming conference schedule) land a spot in the NIT or the lesser-known CIT or CBI. Before you turn your nose on those events, remember that it's been seven very long years since TCU has played any kind of postseason basketball beyond the conference tournament. Just like when SMU football fans went crazy about a Hawaii Bowl berth two years ago, TCU fans should be very appreciative of any invitation extended to our hoops team.

According to Joe Lunardi's latest NCAA Tournament Bracketology, the last four teams in the Big Dance are Florida State, Notre Dame, Arizona and Northern Iowa. Those four have an average RPI ranking of 56.75, which we'll round up to 57 for simplicity's sake. Using 57 as the estimated RPI cut-off for an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament and remembering that there are 72 total spots in the ancillary tournaments (32 in the NIT, 24 in the CIT and 16 in the CBI), the estimated cut-off for any postseason berth is 129. TCU currently has an RPI of #134, so it'd be a close call if the season were to end right now.

Back to why tonight's game is important- Virginia, at 14-1 on the season, has an RPI ranking of #39 and are currently projected as a #5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. That one loss, you'll remember, was to little ol' TCU way back on November 18th in the Virgin Islands. Jim Christian's squad is 10-5 currently, and their next-best victory after UVA is their 77-72 home win over Lamar, who currently has an RPI of #96. So as you can see, the win over the Cavaliers is far and away the most attractive line on the Frogs' postseason resume. A road win over Duke would be a major boon to Virginia, but that benefit would definitely trickle down to TCU.

I know this is all a HUGE stretch, but I am looking forward to having some kind of rooting interest in a big-time basketball game without having to have a financial stake in the outcome. Hopefully some day it won't have to be so convoluted, but if I've learned anything from Dr. Leo Marvin, it's to understand the importance of setting small, reasonable goals.

Never Forget.

2012-01-12T16:30:00.000-06:00

We told you so.

I don't exactly remember when the whole "Craig James Killed Five Hookers While at SMU" thing became entrenched in the blogosphere and really took on a life of its own. I remember HOW it started - a simple amendment to James' wikipedia page discovered by EDSBS got it started - but not necessarily the exact moment when you couldn't think of James without immediately eulogizing those five poor, poor souls who gave their lives to satisfy James' carnal lust. My best guess, though? The moment James officially announced that he was running for Congress, which immediately ratcheted "Craig James Killed Five Hookers While at SMU" up the Google search pecking order and into the hearts and minds of America's James hating youth.

But while I more or less assumed the mania would die for a time after the initial madness as it did before, it actually seems to have gained steam as evidenced by this campaign contribution. Now, I realize the inherent irony of slandering James while at the same time giving him money, but in this case I'll make an exception. I'm not suggesting we should all go out and give money to James because clearly that would be counter-productive to the cause, but we've been kind of slacking in our mentioning that Craig James did, indeed, Kill Five Hookers While at SMU. Because, when Craig James Killed Five Hookers While at SMU, Craig James can't have really expected to have gotten away with Killing Five Hookers While at SMU, can he? After all, the slaying of Five Hookers By Craig James While at SMU, even in the wacky 80's, was never legal and when He, Craig James, Killed Five Hookers While at SMU he should have never expected to get away with Killing Five Hookers While at SMU. Who am I talking about killing Five Hookers While at SMU? Why Craig James, of course. The same Craig James who Killed Five Hookers while at SMU.

Craig James...

Hookers...

Killed...

You get the idea. Do your bidding.

Meet the Future Frogs: Joey Hunt

2012-01-12T12:05:00.000-06:00

The very first player to commit to being part of TCU's Recruiting Class of 2012 was Joey Hunt, a 6'3" 285lb defensive tackle from down in El Campo. He gave Coach Patterson his pledge on January 30th of last year, even before the 2011 class had put ink to paper on their own letters of intent.

Before last season started, Dave Campbell's Texas Football named Hunt one of the Top 30 defensive linemen in the state, as well as the preseason Defensive MVP for District 23-4A. He didn't disappoint, racking up 21 tackles for loss in the Ricebirds' ten ballgames. During that time, he picked up scholarship offers from Texas Tech, Stanford, Rice, Houston and others- but stuck to his word of wanting to become a Horned Frog.

I've heard some talk that Hunt may be looked at on the other side of the ball, assumably as a guard- but he looks like a D-tackle to me. Judge for yourself:

Morning Dump.

2012-01-12T09:11:00.002-06:00

BasketFrogs:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ap-201201110576.tal.recap

http://gofrogs.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/011112aaa.html

http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/01/11/3653740/frogs-get-conference-tuneup-in.html

http://gofrogs.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/011112aac.html

http://gofrogs.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/011112aab.html

Stadjium:

Are you rich? Do you like club seats? TOO BAD! http://www.tcu360.com/sports/2012/01/14201.tcu-athletics-sell-out-club-seats

Belated Daily Discussion Question.

2012-01-11T13:42:00.003-06:00

Sorry to be late to the ball with this, but now that the TCU seating summit has officially laid out how things are going to operate from here on out, what are your thoughts? We won't completely rehash it here - read THIS if you missed out - but the bottom lines are these:

TCU has the cheapest tickets in the Big 12 All good seats require a donation, but it is tax deductible, so in reality most tickets are cheaper than this past season. (Section V Equivalent Tickets cost exactly the same as they did one year ago, including the required donation).
The days of a mob like Section V are likely over A) because Sec V no longer exists and B) because since the entire stadjium is being reseated, priority points are going to divide the haves and have nots. How does this make you feel? Also, once the Finch comes through on his Dump t shirts promise, I think we need to design Spitblood Section V Memorial ones. Just a thought.
With the best seats available being on the West side, and since Sec V is deceased, do you dare make the move into the shade of Geriatricville?

Spit Blood

Rainy, Frowny-Face Weekend

Spit Blood Predictions: Opening Weekend at Lupton

Top Questions for Spring Practice: #7

Pictorial Illustration of the Investigation

Morning Dump

TCU-Ole Miss Preview

Slight overreaction?

Top Questions for Spring Practice: #8

Morning Dump

Schlossnagle talks TCU-Ole Miss

Patterson speaks

I've got some good news AND bad news...

Marinated 2012 Schedule Thoughts.

Hey now, TCU Hoops!

Morning Dump

Top Questions for Spring Practice: #9

TCU's Big 12 schedule out

Happy made-up holiday

Morning Dump

Chance to heckle Craig James tonight

Baseball Stuff!

Top Questions for Spring Practice: #10

Morning Dump

Daily Discussion: [Redacted] College Rivalries.

We are SOOOO Famous

Morning Dump

Looks like WVU is a go

Morning Dump

Is THIS TCU's 2012 Schedule?

Daily Discussion: More Conference Shuffling

Morning Dump

Repro-Man meets Malcolm Williams

Belated

No BYU, No Problem for MWC Hoops

Morning Dump

Super Bowl Sunday Dump

A Glimmer of Postseason Hope

Dalton on Cowherd

Morning Dump

Big 12 Drama

Morning Dump

Get Your Name on the Stadium

Watch the Press Conference LIVE

Brief signing day break

Frogs grabbing talent left & right

LOIs trickling in

Merry Football Christmas

Signing Day Dump

Meet the Future Frogs: Deante' Gray

Meet the Future Frogs: Halapoulivaati Vaitai

Morning Dump

Meet the Future Frogs: Chad Childs

Morning Dump

Long Sunday Afternoon Dump

Meet the Future Frogs: Gerren Ballard

Daily Discussion: Big 12 Expansion

Morning Dump

Meet the Future Frogs: AJ Hilliard

Live Chat w/ Del Conte @ 3:00pm

Basketball Team Tounament Bound!

Maybe it's a Big Ten thing?

Morning Dump

TCU Baseball 2012: What should we expect?

An Alternate Reason for Daje Johnson's Visit to Austin.

Morning Dump

Baseball Frogs open at #15

Meet the Future Frogs: Ricky Collins

Daily Discussion: Daje Johnson

Morning Dump

Meet the Future Frogs: James McFarland

Meet the Future Frogs: Zach Jackson

Morning Dump

Shock Linwood to Baylor...

Meet the Future Frogs: Jaden Oberkram

Daily Discussion: Super Bowl Possibilities

Morning Dump

Meet the Future Frogs: Rashodrick Linwood

Morning Dump

Stay Positive: A TCU Basketball Saga.