Oct. 9 may seem like a regular day to you, unless you have a birthday or anniversary or birthday or someone in your family who celebrates one.
This fall day, though, has significance for the RJB. It was Saturday, Oct. 9, 1993 when the RJB took this young lady from Arkansas out on a date. We met a young professionals event on the Thursday before. For some reason, she agreed to the offer. What was she Thinking?
On that night, we went to go see The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. ("I didn't kill my wife!" "I don't care!) Afterwards, we went out for dinner. Now, it’s 24 years later (married for 22 in August) and it’s a moment that’s defined lives and created others.
Some of you know the RJB is a huge Sinatra fan. At our wedding reception, the RJB arranged with the emcee a chance to serenade her in front of the crowd. We knew and still know every Sinatra trademark piece because we never tire of listening to him.
With that in mind, we chose this version of this favorite. Naturally, it has a Las Vegas tie to it. Sinatra performed this at the now gone-for-good Sands.
****
It’s back to work this week with something to look forward to on Saturday…a game. It’s a road tilt in Stillwater, OK against No. 14 Oklahoma State.
From all accounts, last week wasn’t the time for the players and coaches to dial it back, rest up and try to just make sure health was the priority. Well, health is always the priority. But the Bears didn’t back off at all.
The workouts were full contact. They were hard. They were grinding. They continued despite what happened over the weekend when the roof caved in and the apparent mutiny was quashed.
Really, the word about the workouts didn’t surprise me. If you’re doing the Oklahoma drill in pregame warmups, why would you take a moment off? The building of a culture is endless.
This program has had a chance in every game it has played. It’s been in a position to win or tie. The Bears couldn’t get it done.
If you’re doing the math, Baylor (0-5) is not eliminated from postseason contention. Now, it’s quite the longshot that this team can win six out of its last seven in order to become bowl eligible. That would mean the Bears are going to have find six wins between Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Texas, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas Tech and TCU to do that.
Yep, I know what you’re thinking. Playing at Oklahoma State has been a nightmare (but remember the Bears won there in 2015 for the first time since 1939 and have won the last three meetings). West Virginia has traditionally struggled in Waco. Baylor has to break a mini two-game losing streak to Texas. Texas Tech looks like it’s far better than what many thought the Red Raiders would look like. All of the sudden, Iowa State doesn’t produce the confidence of a win after the Cyclones won at Oklahoma this past Friday. TCU’s Top 10 ranking speaks for itself.
Kansas would give great optimism. However, that game is in Lawrence, KS. But if you’re Matt Rhule, you play the season straight up from the way it looked in the Sept. 2 season opener to where it is now. And whenever Baylor becomes ineligible for a bowl, nothing should change.
The goal is for this thing to at least continue to look better and be more efficient as it closes in November and then ends the Friday after Thanksgiving. There is something to be said for taking some momentum into the offseason.
There are still some questions that need to be answered before this team heads north of the Red River.
>Are we ever going to see grad transfer QB Anu Solomon again? The official word is that he remains in concussion protocol. Solomon’s health is more important here than anything else. But if there’s any chance he could play again – he’s been out for the last four weeks – you would think we would be getting closer to that absolute.
>What has offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon learned about his personnel and making sure he plays to their strengths? He’s taken quite a bit of heat about the way he has called games or put players in positions to succeed. It's fair criticism. It hasn’t been a smooth ride. Maybe the last two weeks gave him some perspective that he had not considered. Since Charlie Brewer has played, perhaps Nixon has come up with a design on how and when to use him. You might as well keep feeding him more plays and situations since you want him to become acclimated to the college game. Coaches learn too.
>Will the real running game please stand up? It’s always going to be about this offensive line and its ability to block for it. But JaMycal Hasty (knee) is expected to return. It’s also not clear if Terence Williams will play in Stillwater, OK. Rhule will probably update both this week. If they do, then it becomes how much Hasty can tolerate and how cautious will the coaching staff be in using. If Williams plays, then it becomes a matter of his taking this second chance and making the most of it. He should appreciate the fact he was gone and now he still gets to put the pads on.
>What’s the kicking game going to look like? Punter Drew Galitz is done with a knee injury. Connor Martin has settled in as the place-kicker. But he now he could be doing a little bit of both between that and punter. Walk-on Peter Webster is going to figure into this. It was a pretty important week for him last week. This week is even bigger.
>Will the Baylor safeties ever figure it out? This is the position on the field that’s beyond messy. It hasn’t covered well. It has blown numerous assignments. There’s been little support for the defensive backs. I’m not suggesting they have had an epiphany. They just need to be credible because they haven’t even done that.
>Lastly, what’s the mood of this team? I wrote last Tuesday the only way to know that if the events of last week meant something would be shown beyond the wins and losses. You can pick up on body language, attention to detail and communication. That not only goes for the players. That goes for the coaches and how they work with them.
****
Recruiting is about turning over a lot of rocks and seeing what’s out there. That’s what this Baylor staff appears to be doing.
If there has been shift in its approach toward JUCOs with the offer to Arizona Western CC defensive end Azur Kamara, that’s fine. Whether it’s been a softening of a stance or current evaluation of what’s on the roster and what’s coming in demonstrates that this team needs to get better up front is about making adjustments.
Players can make coaches look smart or dumb. That much is certain. And as we have watched with this defensive front, it’s decent but it’s not great.
We’ll dig into this more as we go along here. The hmmm here is that this offer is the 17th that Kamara has received. For a JUCO who is expected to graduate in December – he will have three years to play two – this is very late. This is a rushed recruitment. You can be sure that some of these offers have fallen off. Still, a good number of December JUCOs take their official visits in the summer before they graduate. And the earliest Baylor could even get him on campus would be Nov. 18 for Iowa State. Arizona Western plays on Saturdays and finishes its season on Nov. 11.
We’ll let you know.
****
Other thoughts…
>October never fails to deliver the best. You have the MLB playoffs under way. The height of football is reaches a fever pitch. You publisher, a noted baseball follower, will take the MLB playoffs. Monday is delicious with all four Division Series games playing starting at noon.
>Hopefully, we’re done with hurricane season. Nate blew up and blew through the Gulf Coast so quickly. It doesn’t appear that not much major damage occurred. It’s been a tough hurricane season for sure.
>It’s been a week since the tragedy in my former hometown of Las Vegas. Obviously, on Monday I checked in with my older brother. Everybody was fine. Nobody attended the concert. The Mandalay Bay is an exquisite hotel. It’s the high rent district. Been in many times. Had lunch in there a couple of times with my wife and my late father. Of course, I’ve been gone from that city for many years. But I still feel a bit numb because I can see everything as it was.
>The line of the weekend came from the high school play the Mrs. and I attended. It was based on how Peter Pan became Peter Pan. So anyway, one of the lead characters was describing something and then used the metaphor, “As clean as the lines in a Christian school play.’’ You could only imagine how the room broke out in laughter and lasted for about a minute. No one could hear a word and no one really cared. Funny moment. And it wasn’t a big deal that I was missing some college football.
****
Now, a look at other Baylor sports
>Baylor cross country posted a third-place finish on the women's side at the Aggieland Open in College Station, Texas Friday evening.
The women's team was led by Kasey Kinzel who finished ninth with a time of 19:38.3 on the 5,000-meter course. Also running for Baylor were Megan Rule (20:00.5 -- 13th), Isabella Lackner (21:05.3 -- 32nd), Payton Czupil (21:21.8 -- 36th) and Micaela Freeman (21:57.7 -- 41st).
The men's team had three runners race in the 5,000m course, led by Seth Brown in 19th place with a time of 16:13.7. Matt Henderson finished 25th with a time of 16:26.4, and Sean McCullough ran 17:22.1 to finish 53rd
The Bears split for the first time this season as the women's team travels to the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational next Friday in Madison, Wis., while the men's squad competes in Pre-Nationals in Louisville, Ky. next Saturday
>Baylor men’s golf returns to action at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate, which runs Monday through Tuesday in Vestavia Hills, Ala. The two-day, 54-hole tournament will be played on the par-70, 7,209-yard course at Old Overton Club.
>No. 5 Baylor equestrian (1-1, 0-1) could not overcome the home arena advantage, dropping the Big 12 opener with No. 4 Oklahoma State (1-0, 1-0), 14-4, on Saturday at Totusek Arena.
>After going through an extended scoring drought of more than 225 minutes, when the lid finally came off the net, Baylor soccer exploded for two first-half goals and shut out Texas Tech, 3-0, Friday night at Betty Lou Mays Field.
The Bears (8-3-2, 2-2-1), surpassing their scoring total from the previous four conference games combined, got header goals from Camryn Wendlandt and Previous Akanyirige in the first half and then finished it off when Julie James scored off a rebound from Aline De Lima's penalty kick.
Baylor goes back on the road to face Kansas State (6-6-1, 1-3-0) at 7 p.m. next Friday in Manhattan, Kan., and then Kansas (6-6-2, 1-2-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, in Lawrence.
>Led by nine kills apiece from Aniah Philo and freshman Yossiana Pressley, the Bears (15-4, 5-1) completely throttled the visiting West Virginia Mountaineers, 25-20, 25-18, 25-12, in their second straight sweep and ninth consecutive win at home. The sweep followed arguably the best win of the season, a sweep at No. 18 Iowa State.
The Bears go back on the road to face Kansas State (9-9, 2-3) at 7 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 14, in Manhattan.
Let’s make it a great week!
This fall day, though, has significance for the RJB. It was Saturday, Oct. 9, 1993 when the RJB took this young lady from Arkansas out on a date. We met a young professionals event on the Thursday before. For some reason, she agreed to the offer. What was she Thinking?
On that night, we went to go see The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. ("I didn't kill my wife!" "I don't care!) Afterwards, we went out for dinner. Now, it’s 24 years later (married for 22 in August) and it’s a moment that’s defined lives and created others.
Some of you know the RJB is a huge Sinatra fan. At our wedding reception, the RJB arranged with the emcee a chance to serenade her in front of the crowd. We knew and still know every Sinatra trademark piece because we never tire of listening to him.
With that in mind, we chose this version of this favorite. Naturally, it has a Las Vegas tie to it. Sinatra performed this at the now gone-for-good Sands.
****
It’s back to work this week with something to look forward to on Saturday…a game. It’s a road tilt in Stillwater, OK against No. 14 Oklahoma State.
From all accounts, last week wasn’t the time for the players and coaches to dial it back, rest up and try to just make sure health was the priority. Well, health is always the priority. But the Bears didn’t back off at all.
The workouts were full contact. They were hard. They were grinding. They continued despite what happened over the weekend when the roof caved in and the apparent mutiny was quashed.
Really, the word about the workouts didn’t surprise me. If you’re doing the Oklahoma drill in pregame warmups, why would you take a moment off? The building of a culture is endless.
This program has had a chance in every game it has played. It’s been in a position to win or tie. The Bears couldn’t get it done.
If you’re doing the math, Baylor (0-5) is not eliminated from postseason contention. Now, it’s quite the longshot that this team can win six out of its last seven in order to become bowl eligible. That would mean the Bears are going to have find six wins between Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Texas, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas Tech and TCU to do that.
Yep, I know what you’re thinking. Playing at Oklahoma State has been a nightmare (but remember the Bears won there in 2015 for the first time since 1939 and have won the last three meetings). West Virginia has traditionally struggled in Waco. Baylor has to break a mini two-game losing streak to Texas. Texas Tech looks like it’s far better than what many thought the Red Raiders would look like. All of the sudden, Iowa State doesn’t produce the confidence of a win after the Cyclones won at Oklahoma this past Friday. TCU’s Top 10 ranking speaks for itself.
Kansas would give great optimism. However, that game is in Lawrence, KS. But if you’re Matt Rhule, you play the season straight up from the way it looked in the Sept. 2 season opener to where it is now. And whenever Baylor becomes ineligible for a bowl, nothing should change.
The goal is for this thing to at least continue to look better and be more efficient as it closes in November and then ends the Friday after Thanksgiving. There is something to be said for taking some momentum into the offseason.
There are still some questions that need to be answered before this team heads north of the Red River.
>Are we ever going to see grad transfer QB Anu Solomon again? The official word is that he remains in concussion protocol. Solomon’s health is more important here than anything else. But if there’s any chance he could play again – he’s been out for the last four weeks – you would think we would be getting closer to that absolute.
>What has offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon learned about his personnel and making sure he plays to their strengths? He’s taken quite a bit of heat about the way he has called games or put players in positions to succeed. It's fair criticism. It hasn’t been a smooth ride. Maybe the last two weeks gave him some perspective that he had not considered. Since Charlie Brewer has played, perhaps Nixon has come up with a design on how and when to use him. You might as well keep feeding him more plays and situations since you want him to become acclimated to the college game. Coaches learn too.
>Will the real running game please stand up? It’s always going to be about this offensive line and its ability to block for it. But JaMycal Hasty (knee) is expected to return. It’s also not clear if Terence Williams will play in Stillwater, OK. Rhule will probably update both this week. If they do, then it becomes how much Hasty can tolerate and how cautious will the coaching staff be in using. If Williams plays, then it becomes a matter of his taking this second chance and making the most of it. He should appreciate the fact he was gone and now he still gets to put the pads on.
>What’s the kicking game going to look like? Punter Drew Galitz is done with a knee injury. Connor Martin has settled in as the place-kicker. But he now he could be doing a little bit of both between that and punter. Walk-on Peter Webster is going to figure into this. It was a pretty important week for him last week. This week is even bigger.
>Will the Baylor safeties ever figure it out? This is the position on the field that’s beyond messy. It hasn’t covered well. It has blown numerous assignments. There’s been little support for the defensive backs. I’m not suggesting they have had an epiphany. They just need to be credible because they haven’t even done that.
>Lastly, what’s the mood of this team? I wrote last Tuesday the only way to know that if the events of last week meant something would be shown beyond the wins and losses. You can pick up on body language, attention to detail and communication. That not only goes for the players. That goes for the coaches and how they work with them.
****
Recruiting is about turning over a lot of rocks and seeing what’s out there. That’s what this Baylor staff appears to be doing.
If there has been shift in its approach toward JUCOs with the offer to Arizona Western CC defensive end Azur Kamara, that’s fine. Whether it’s been a softening of a stance or current evaluation of what’s on the roster and what’s coming in demonstrates that this team needs to get better up front is about making adjustments.
Players can make coaches look smart or dumb. That much is certain. And as we have watched with this defensive front, it’s decent but it’s not great.
We’ll dig into this more as we go along here. The hmmm here is that this offer is the 17th that Kamara has received. For a JUCO who is expected to graduate in December – he will have three years to play two – this is very late. This is a rushed recruitment. You can be sure that some of these offers have fallen off. Still, a good number of December JUCOs take their official visits in the summer before they graduate. And the earliest Baylor could even get him on campus would be Nov. 18 for Iowa State. Arizona Western plays on Saturdays and finishes its season on Nov. 11.
We’ll let you know.
****
Other thoughts…
>October never fails to deliver the best. You have the MLB playoffs under way. The height of football is reaches a fever pitch. You publisher, a noted baseball follower, will take the MLB playoffs. Monday is delicious with all four Division Series games playing starting at noon.
>Hopefully, we’re done with hurricane season. Nate blew up and blew through the Gulf Coast so quickly. It doesn’t appear that not much major damage occurred. It’s been a tough hurricane season for sure.
>It’s been a week since the tragedy in my former hometown of Las Vegas. Obviously, on Monday I checked in with my older brother. Everybody was fine. Nobody attended the concert. The Mandalay Bay is an exquisite hotel. It’s the high rent district. Been in many times. Had lunch in there a couple of times with my wife and my late father. Of course, I’ve been gone from that city for many years. But I still feel a bit numb because I can see everything as it was.
>The line of the weekend came from the high school play the Mrs. and I attended. It was based on how Peter Pan became Peter Pan. So anyway, one of the lead characters was describing something and then used the metaphor, “As clean as the lines in a Christian school play.’’ You could only imagine how the room broke out in laughter and lasted for about a minute. No one could hear a word and no one really cared. Funny moment. And it wasn’t a big deal that I was missing some college football.
****
Now, a look at other Baylor sports
>Baylor cross country posted a third-place finish on the women's side at the Aggieland Open in College Station, Texas Friday evening.
The women's team was led by Kasey Kinzel who finished ninth with a time of 19:38.3 on the 5,000-meter course. Also running for Baylor were Megan Rule (20:00.5 -- 13th), Isabella Lackner (21:05.3 -- 32nd), Payton Czupil (21:21.8 -- 36th) and Micaela Freeman (21:57.7 -- 41st).
The men's team had three runners race in the 5,000m course, led by Seth Brown in 19th place with a time of 16:13.7. Matt Henderson finished 25th with a time of 16:26.4, and Sean McCullough ran 17:22.1 to finish 53rd
The Bears split for the first time this season as the women's team travels to the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational next Friday in Madison, Wis., while the men's squad competes in Pre-Nationals in Louisville, Ky. next Saturday
>Baylor men’s golf returns to action at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate, which runs Monday through Tuesday in Vestavia Hills, Ala. The two-day, 54-hole tournament will be played on the par-70, 7,209-yard course at Old Overton Club.
>No. 5 Baylor equestrian (1-1, 0-1) could not overcome the home arena advantage, dropping the Big 12 opener with No. 4 Oklahoma State (1-0, 1-0), 14-4, on Saturday at Totusek Arena.
>After going through an extended scoring drought of more than 225 minutes, when the lid finally came off the net, Baylor soccer exploded for two first-half goals and shut out Texas Tech, 3-0, Friday night at Betty Lou Mays Field.
The Bears (8-3-2, 2-2-1), surpassing their scoring total from the previous four conference games combined, got header goals from Camryn Wendlandt and Previous Akanyirige in the first half and then finished it off when Julie James scored off a rebound from Aline De Lima's penalty kick.
Baylor goes back on the road to face Kansas State (6-6-1, 1-3-0) at 7 p.m. next Friday in Manhattan, Kan., and then Kansas (6-6-2, 1-2-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, in Lawrence.
>Led by nine kills apiece from Aniah Philo and freshman Yossiana Pressley, the Bears (15-4, 5-1) completely throttled the visiting West Virginia Mountaineers, 25-20, 25-18, 25-12, in their second straight sweep and ninth consecutive win at home. The sweep followed arguably the best win of the season, a sweep at No. 18 Iowa State.
The Bears go back on the road to face Kansas State (9-9, 2-3) at 7 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 14, in Manhattan.
Let’s make it a great week!
