Category Archives: Texas Sports

And You Thought the Texans had Quarterback Issues?

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The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that University of Louisville graduate transfer quarterback Kyle Bolin might be considering the University of Texas as a possible landing spot.  Bolin started 5 games in 2015 before giving way to 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson in the final game of the regular season.  After Jackson threw for 4 touchdowns against Texas A&M in the Music City Bowl, Bolin became a pine-rider for the 2016 season.  As a graduate transfer, Bolin would be immediately eligible to play for the Horns.  After a lackluster season featuring respectable play from highly touted freshman QB Shane Buechele (21 TDs, 11 INTs, 2958 yards and 60.4% completion rate), new head coach Tom Herman could be looking for something more.  Would he find it in Bolin?  He was a second-stringer – albeit to the Heisman Trophy winner, but he was still not a starter in his senior year.   Look for Bolin to more likely land at Northern Illinois where he probably walks into the starter’s job.

No Mo’ Romo (cont.)

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ESPN is reporting that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo will retire and take up a career in broadcasting.  This means that all of Houston can let out a collective sigh of relief (or cry of agony as the case may be).  Red for one is glad that the Texans will not fall for the trap of signing a tired, old Tony Romo to be their starting QB for what would likely be 3 games before he goes down for the season.   The idea that TR was the answer to the Texans’ quarterback problem always struck Red as ludicrous.  Romo had a track record of near abject failure in the playoffs and to think that would change in Houston was a pipedream.

Dallas is expected to designate Romo as a post-June 1 release, softening the blow against the Cowboys’ cap this season. Instead of counting $24.7 million in 2017, Romo would count $10.7 million this year and $8.9 million in 2018. The Cowboys would gain $14 million in cap space, but it would not become available until June 2. But after Tuesday, Romo will no longer be with the Cowboys.

Romo’s decision came down to his health, sources close to the situation told ESPN. Romo, who turns 37 on April 21, believes his family and his health are paramount at this time in his life. He was limited to playing in just parts of five games over the past two seasons because of collarbone and back injuries, and he suffered a compression fracture in his back last August that led to him ultimately giving way to Dak Prescott.

The upside for Red is that Romo is rumored to replace addled and incoherent Phil Simms in the booth next to overrated and annoying Jim Nantz.   Nothing would make Red happier than TR having to put up with prima donna Nantz and his smarminess on 18 weekends next season.

Saints Showing Interest in Johnny Football?

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NBC Sports is reporting that New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton is possibly interested in signing disgraced former Texas A&M and Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel as a backup to Drew Brees.

In New Orleans, Manziel would have no chance of earning a starting job, but he could earn a spot as a backup to Brees, where he’d learn from a veteran quarterback and perhaps get himself ready to be a starter some day.

Still, talking to Manziel and actually signing him are two very different things. If the Saints were convinced that Manziel was ready to put his personal problems behind him and contribute to a team, they could have signed him already, and they haven’t done so.

Johnny Football, New Orleans, Bourbon Street, Drive-Through Liquor Stores, Bars open until 4 a.m.   –  What could possibly go wrong?

No Mo’ Romo

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ESPN is reporting that the Dallas Cowboys (meaning Jerry Jones) will release veteran quarterback Tony Romo on Thursday.  The move will save the Cowboys some money against the 2017 salary cap although they will still take a major hit for a quarterback that has played in a handful of games over the last two seasons.  Red does not pretend to understand the intricacies of the NFL’s salary cap rules, but apparently if Romo is a June 1 designation (whatever the hell that means), the  Cowboys would take a $10.7 million hit on the 2017 cap and $8.9 million on the 2018 cap.   If released without the designation, the Cowboys will save $5.1 million against the salary cap but will carry $19.6 million in dead money (again whatever that means) for 2017.

Romo who was undrafted signed as a free agent with the Cowboys in 2003, but did not see the field until the 2006 season when he replaced Drew Bledsoe at halftime of the Giants game.  He never again left the field that season and led the Cowboys to a 9-7 record and a playoff spot.  His most infamous moment came in his first playoff game (against the Seahawks) when he botched the snap on a field goal attempt that would have secured the Cowboys first playoff win in almost a decade.  Red still remembers laughing uncontrollably for several minutes.

Romo finishes his career with the Cowboys with a record 78-49 as a starter.  His 34,183 passing yards and 248 touchdown passes are the most in team history.  Romo holds team records for most 300-yard passing games (46), multiple touchdown pass games (79) and consecutive games with a touchdown pass (38). He also holds the Cowboys records for most yards in a season (4,903 yards in 2012)  and in a game (506 against the Broncos in 2013), and the NFL record with a touchdown pass in 41 straight road games.

All of that is well and good, but Romo was 2-4 in the playoffs and never played in a conference championship game.  Thus, by Cowboys standards, he was a miserable failure as a quarterback.  Red dearly hopes that the Texans do not fall for a 37 year-old often injured quarterback with a track record of playoff failure.

We Still Have Brock Osweiler to Kick Around

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Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler continues to be the poster boy (perhaps whipping boy would be a better description) for bad decisions at that position by NFL teams.  Sporting News disses the prospects for Tampa Bay backup quarterback and free agent Mike Glennon by claiming that he would be a worse deal for any team than even the much-maligned Osweiler.  Red for his part thinks the book is still out on the Tall Texan.  BO performed decently when the pressure was on in the last game of the season and in the playoffs.  Playing behind a makeshift line and without several of his best receivers, Osweiler’s numbers in those games were not terrible – merely low mediocre.  Even the playoff game against the Patriots was still within reach in the 4th quarter despite terrible special teams and lackluster (other than forcing 3 TO’s) defensive play.  Yes, BO threw up some INT’s during desperation time, but the Texans were not out of it until the defense gave up 10 points in the 4th quarter.  Still, SN piles on in its argument that Glennon is a toxic commodity – or at least an overpriced one.

Move over, Brock Osweiler. Mike Glennon is about to get a lot more fool’s gold in NFL free agency than you did.  File Glennon as the latest unlikely young veteran poster boy of the league’s most quarterback-needy teams. At 6-6, 225, he isn’t as big or tall as Osweiler, but he might be a bigger bust for whoever signs him, even at a little less the price.

A general recent rule is whatever the Texans do at quarterback, don’t follow. Houston got tired of going the Fitzpatrick-Hoyer route in consecutive seasons, so it panicked and tried to solve QB long-term with Osweiler. That was an extremely expensive backfire.

KBME – Are You Missing Charlie Pallilo Yet?

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The Houston Chronicle Reports that since Charlie Pallilo was fired, his replacement radio gasbag, Josh  Innes, has stunk it up ratings-wise.  Since Innes’ debut on October 10, KBME AM-790  has lost almost two-thirds of Pallilo’s audience from late September, falling to a 0.9 percent share of men 25-54 from 3-7 p.m.  For the few of you actually listening to Innes’ show, the station has moved him to 2-6 p.m.   Out of purely prurient interest, Red has tuned in on occasion – only to quickly change channels when JI introduces something like his “That Bitch is Crazy” segment.  Red will tune into Fox & Friends if he wants to get his daily does of utterly infantile nonsense.

Meanwhile, despite continuing to look, there have been no confirmed Charlie Pallilo sightings.  Let Red know if you hear otherwise.

Rodriguez and Bagwell into Baseball Hall of Fame

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The Baseball Writer’s  Association has selected Ivan Rodriguez, Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines for the Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2017.

Pudge Rodriguez leads the class as a first ballot HOFer even though he barely got in with 76% of the vote.  PR deserves the honor.  For about a decade, Red’s view was that if he was building a team, Pudge would be the first player taken.  He is the greatest catcher ever by any metric.  In his 21 seasons, PR hit 311 home runs, drove in 1332 runs, scored 1354 runs, had 2844 hits and sported a .296 batting average. Throw in 14 appearances in the All Star game, 13 Golden Gloves, the 1999 MVP award and the fact that he played the most difficult and demanding position in all of sport and you have to wonder – who didn’t vote for this guy?

Tim Raines, who has long been touted by the sabermetrics crowd received 86% of the vote in his 10th and final year of eligibility.  Raines’ stat line is not as impressive as PR’s, but Red will defer to the experts on TR.  He never hit 20 home runs in a season and only once topped 70 RBI’s.  His 808 stolen bases are impressive, but Red thinks that Raines owes his new HOF status to a vigorous internet campaign.

Red will not make any friends here, but he really doesn’t think Jeff Bagwell is among the 220 or so greatest baseball players of all time.  Okay he has a better stat line than either PR or TR, but his greatest years were almost certainly tainted.  Never thought of as a great fielder, he played a relatively easy position and never earned a Golden Glove or Silver Slugger award.  He does have 4 All Star appearances and the MVP award from the strike shortened 1994 season in his favor. But having watched a lot of JB over the years, Red has a hard time seeing him in Cooperstown – but there he will be.

Lance Zierlein Attempts to Bolster Josh Innes

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Out of strictly morbid curiosity, Red has listened to Josh Innes on KBME 790 a couple of times since he replaced the immortal Charlie Pallilo.  And may Red just say, it’s pretty sad.  But yesterday may have been the rock bottom.  Lance (of many entertaining voices but otherwise useless) Zierlein was basically interviewing JI in an attempt to deflect the massive amount of criticism coming his way from Pallilo fans.  The basic thrust 0f LZ’s attempt was to protest that the listeners were out of bounds in calling for Innes to be fired because that was going after the man’s livelihood.  This was mixed in with apparently blatant lies from Innes about his departure from Philadelphia.  JI was making it sound like he left Philly voluntarily because he had left Houston, gone and conquered the East Coast and was disenchanted with Philadelphia and really wanted to come back to Houston.  Somehow he left out the part about getting fired for his racist shenanigans and sagging ratings.  Anyhow, LZ was more than willing to carry the water for Innes in crying foul about listeners who can’t stand Innes and are abandoning KBME in droves after CP’s abrut firing.  Listen here Lance Baby, the listeners have every right to call for Innes’ or anyone else’s head.  It’s a tough world out there and if you and JI can’t handle, try actually working for a living like most of your listeners.

Missing Charlie Pallilo Yet?

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The answer seems to be “Yes.”  And dissatisfaction with his replacement, the racist ass-clown Josh Innes, is growing.  A reader writes:

Innes has spent the first couple of days on air trashing his previous employer as well as mocking Charlie. What kind of classless ass talks crap to the guy that they replaced? I have never heard that behavior on radio before. And of course he immediately went to racial crap. Playing Sanford & Sons over black callers, saying that they were going to call it the “black phone” and that it would be sponsored by Frenchy’s fried chicken. That’s not funny or outrageous, it’s straight up racist. 

Red is putting the over/under on Innes at 6 months and going short.  Any takers?

Why Was Josh Innes Hired?

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The justifiable angst over the firing of Charlie Pallilo from his Drive Home slot on KBME AM 790 has also given rise to the question of exactly why was roundly disliked provocateur and obvious racist Josh Innes hired to replace him?  Innes’ departure from KILT was less than amicable and his short tenure at Philadelphia’s WIP was marked by ugly controversy over racist remarks and his general churlishness.  According to several sources,  was suspended earlier this year for calling a white Eagles’ player a “house negro.”  He was fired in August after racist mocking of fake racist caller on Mike Missanelli’s show on FM 97.5 – another Philadelphia sports talk station.   Innes is also known for his intemperance – having engaged in “feuds” with other sports talk radio morons including one incident that boiled over at an Eagles practice in 2015 – and his rudeness and mocking of callers.  Some have suggested that the racist incidents were merely the excuse used by management to get rid of Innes.  The suggestion is that he was  not liked by anyone at WIP and everyone was glad to see him go.  Add to that the fact that Innes was getting crushed by Missanelli – his  major competition in Philly.  Missanelli dominated Innes in audience share in the key men’s 25-54 demographic beating him by more than 3 points in recent ratings.   As one source put it, , “in some ways it will be a shame if he got fired for racial comments as opposed to the reality of sucking and getting bad ratings. Because now Innes will be able to play the martyr role.”

As for the rumor that fellow radio racist bloviator Michael Berry had input into bringing Innes back to Houston, it is just speculation for now.  But birds of feather as they say . . .