Progressive, philosophical, psychedelic, experimental and filled with an outlook that differed than most rock bands of their era, Pink Floyd captured a sound and audience that has run for generations.
Formed in the 1965, the British band went through several changes and actually was formed three different times before finally disbanding in 2014. While Robert Plant of Led Zepplin is probably one of the most recognized front men in that era of music, Roger Waters carved his own niche and ran lead vocal on two of the most successful albums in history, “The Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall”.
The first was released in 1973. The second in 1979. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame began inducting artists in 1986. For whatever reason, it took 10 years before Pink Floyd was honored.
So the RJB wouldn’t call itself a huge fan of the group. But you respect the game and the player. This is the RJB’s personal favorite.
****
The great news about last week is that Baylor’s 2020 recruiting class finally found the that first surge of commitments.
There’s a defender in Klein linebacker Will Garner. There’s an offensive lineman in Colleyville Heritage’s Gavin Byers. There’s a skill player Lamar Consolidated running back Taye McWilliams.
So now you can breathe a sigh of relief that will be some members of the 2020 class. I know I had mentioned that Baylor went two months between commitments during 2018 (March-May). Honestly, I kind of thought it wouldn’t start until after the Spring Game on April 13.
But as we know, there are no rules to when it is the right time and when it’s not the right time to collect commitments and get players moving in the right direction so a commitment will come shortly.
Pssst….recruiting is weird.
But what can we deduce from this trio? Well, it goes back to what I said about what I believe is Matt Rhule’s philosophy in recruiting.
He wants to collect a team full of worker bees who are going to put their heads down and grind. There will always be egos. Yet commitment to team over personal goals will always be what supersedes all. And I really think Rhule needs a certain kind of player in his program to make it work and create a culture that sustains over time. And if you’re wondering if it will pass with the superstar player, we’ve already seen that it can with Jalen Hurd.
Remember his recruiting history and then his story at Tennessee. Hurd was at Baylor for two years. Played for one. But when he did play, he at least portrayed someone who bought into the environment. Remember, he drove out to Baylor on a whim and then never left.
And then process the two actions that showed the buy in.
>While he came to Baylor to groom himself to be a wide receiver, Hurd was willing to play some running back to help the team win.
>When Baylor was playing Texas Tech in November to try and clinch bowl eligibility, he played through a knee injury and tried to help the program get to December. The injury happened early in the game. It cost him the bowl game, the senior bowl and going through a full NFL Combine.
But given where he was and what he was trying to do for his future, he put those needs aside when he could have easily shut it down.
When you see the wave of top players skipping bowls so they can prepare for the draft (Houston’s Ed Oliver comes to mind), I find that to be a total cop out and letting the needs of one outweigh the needs of many.
You just pulled the ultimate jack wagon move of walking out on your team (and I’m not interested in the argument of the bowl game doesn’t mean anything if it’s not playing to the national title or the New Year’s 6).
Had he not been hurt, I have no doubt that Hurd would have played in the Texas Bowl.
When it’s right in the locker room, it’s usually going to be right on the field. Whenever Baylor starts to really put itself in position to land Rivals 250 type of players (Tulsa Washington WR Javian Hester comes to mind), it’s going to be with the understanding that they truly accept what Rhule and his staff are requiring.
You have probably read enough of the stories from commits/recruits who talk about how family oriented the program is. Now, every program bills itself that way. It should.
But when you hear the accounts of them talking to all of the coaches rather than dealing with one or how their view of Baylor’s family environment has more substance than others, then you can appreciate there is something different.
Every program has its unique approach to recruiting. Whatever it takes to win is the goal. And I would dare say that if a high 4 star or 5 star recruit took it to the next level with Baylor with an official visit and deciding between Baylor and somebody else (I know I know Tommy Bush), Baylor’s coaches would want to land him as long as they believe he could be a willing participant.
Until that happens, let the worker bee approach continue.
****
With Baylor’s pro day on Tuesday, the biggest storyline is what Hurd will actually be able to do.
It will be about a month since the combine concluded. In Indianapolis, Hurd did the bench press, was measured and the interviews. But that was it. All of the skills were bypassed to give his knee more time recover so he will be able to give those a go Tuesday at the Allison Indoor Practice Facility.
Hurd will have had four months (give or take a week) to come back from the knee injury. Should he be ready do the 40, cone drill, broad jump, vertical and shuttles, I would temper the expectations that he would blow those in attendance off the charts with his times or distances.
When you’re coming back from a joint injury, it’s a process. For the NFL teams that are there, those scouts and executives will likely want to know if he can do them without any restrictions. The times and distances will come. They just want to know if he is on the right path to being healthy.
And if he is showing that, then you should hear reports surface about him going to visit NFL franchises. Personally, this is put up or shut up time for Hurd in the sense that he has to be able to deliver something. Now, NFL teams have used draft picks on players who were dealing with major injuries. See the Cowboys taking Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith in the 2nd round in 2016. Smith had a pretty bad knee injury. He tore two knee ligaments.
We can all agree Smith and Hurd are freak talents. But Smith’s position was defined. Hurd’s position is new and teams want to see if he’s worth the risk, even if it’s a Day 3 selection (5th-7th rounds). It’s go time for him.
As for the others:
OL Blake Blackmar
P Drew Galitz
OL Patrick Lawrence
DL Ira Lewis
QB Jalan McClendon
DE Greg Roberts
DB Derrek Thomas
DB Verkedric Vaughns
I think they are in a position where they have to catch at least one organization’s eye in order to sign a free agent contract or get an invite to a camp for a look. They only get one chance to make a first impression. Maybe one could develop into a late round draft pick.
****
There really isn’t much to add about the Lady Bears trying to return to the Final Four. I wasn’t kidding when I said they would beat Iowa by 20 points on Monday (6:00 p.m./ESPN).
Kim Mulkey’s team just plays defense at a higher level than anyone remaining in the field. That’s not an accident. This group gets it that that’s what it takes to win.
South Carolina never had a chance Saturday.
I expect Baylor to win the national title. It’s going to have to take a once-in-a-lifetime performance by somebody along with Baylor helping out to make it happen. Now, it’s the NCAA tournament and weird things happen. And they have been happening to Baylor in recent years.
This is different.
If Oregon – that’s who Baylor would face in the Final Four should it get there – UConn, Notre Dame/Stanford are going to unseat Baylor, it would be one of the biggest upsets in women’s college basketball.
However, this is the 7-year itch. This program won titles in 2005 and 2012. It is 2019 and….
****
Speaking of Final Fours, I do enjoy the story lines of programs making their debuts and those returning after a long absence.
We had four exceptional regional finals between Texas-Tech-Gonzaga, Virginia-Purdue, Auburn-Kentucky and Michigan State-Duke. All four decided in the final seconds or in overtime. All decided by six points or less. Those games saved what was a pretty meh tournament.
So the newbies are Texas Tech and Auburn. Virginia is returning the first time since 1984. And then Michigan State is making its 10th appearance.
We’re going to either have a first-time national champion (Virginia has never won it) or Michigan State winning it for the first time since 2000 and it’s third overall.
An interesting weekend at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis awaits.
****
Now, a look at other Baylor sports…
>Baylor (15-17, 2-5) split its doubleheader at Kansas (13-21, 2-1) on Sunday. It won the opener, 3-2, but dropped the nightcap, 7-1. That was preceded by a 2-0 loss to Texas – they were no-hit – aearlier in the week. Baylor is back in action at Getterman Stadium as the Lady Bears host SFA at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
>Top-seeded and No. 4 Baylor equestrian (9-4) edged host and No. 3 Oklahoma State to claim its fourth Big 12 title in program history Saturday at Totusek Arena in Stillwater, Ok. Baylor also beat TCU.
The top-seeded Bears went 2-0 over the weekend and ultimately won the tiebreaker score of 4,408 to 4,012.8 after being tied 10-10 after the meet. It's the second title in three seasons but the first under second-year head coach Casie Maxwell. Baylor awaits its seeding in the NCEA National Championships, held April 17-20 at the Extraco Events Center in Waco.
>The No. 30 Oklahoma women's tennis team (14-5, 4-2) secured a 7-0 win against Baylor (6-17, 1-4) on Sunday afternoon in Norman. The team also lost to Oklahoma State, 7-0. Baylor faces Texas Tech on April 4 at noon (CT) in Lubbock.
>Baylor women's golf finished tied for eighth place with a 54-hole total of 29-over-par 893 in the 2019 Evans Derby Experience. The Bears carded 15-over 299 in Monday's final round at Saugahatchee Country Club in Opelika, Al.
Baylor has one more regular season tournament before beginning postseason play. The Bears are scheduled to play the Bruzzy Challenge, which runs April 1-2 at Lantana Golf Club in Lantana, Texas. BU then heads to the 2019 Big 12 Championship, held April 14-16 at Golf Club of Oklahoma in Broken Arrow, Ok.
>Baylor took home the victory in the women's 4x800-meter relay to highlight the final day at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays Saturday at Mike A. Myers Stadium & Soccer Field.The Bears' 4x800 team of Alison Andrews-Paul, Leti De Souza, Morgan Stewart and Aaliyah Miller clocked a time of 8:41.66 to win the race and enter the Baylor all-time performances list in the No. 8 spot.
Baylor is back in action Saturday, April 6, as the Bears head to College Station for the Reveille Invitational.
>No. 6 Baylor men's tennis (18-3, 1-1 Big 12) couldn't hold on to an early lead in its 4-3 loss to No. 4 Texas (19-2, 2-0 Big 12) Sunday afternoon at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin. Baylor beat TCU on Friday, 5-2. Baylor returns home to close out its regular season home schedule. The Bears face No. 17 Oklahoma Friday at 6 p.m. for Hounds at the Hurd. Then, BU hosts Senior Day against No. 27 Oklahoma State next Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Hurd Tennis Center.
Let’s make it a great week!
Formed in the 1965, the British band went through several changes and actually was formed three different times before finally disbanding in 2014. While Robert Plant of Led Zepplin is probably one of the most recognized front men in that era of music, Roger Waters carved his own niche and ran lead vocal on two of the most successful albums in history, “The Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall”.
The first was released in 1973. The second in 1979. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame began inducting artists in 1986. For whatever reason, it took 10 years before Pink Floyd was honored.
So the RJB wouldn’t call itself a huge fan of the group. But you respect the game and the player. This is the RJB’s personal favorite.
****
The great news about last week is that Baylor’s 2020 recruiting class finally found the that first surge of commitments.
There’s a defender in Klein linebacker Will Garner. There’s an offensive lineman in Colleyville Heritage’s Gavin Byers. There’s a skill player Lamar Consolidated running back Taye McWilliams.
So now you can breathe a sigh of relief that will be some members of the 2020 class. I know I had mentioned that Baylor went two months between commitments during 2018 (March-May). Honestly, I kind of thought it wouldn’t start until after the Spring Game on April 13.
But as we know, there are no rules to when it is the right time and when it’s not the right time to collect commitments and get players moving in the right direction so a commitment will come shortly.
Pssst….recruiting is weird.
But what can we deduce from this trio? Well, it goes back to what I said about what I believe is Matt Rhule’s philosophy in recruiting.
He wants to collect a team full of worker bees who are going to put their heads down and grind. There will always be egos. Yet commitment to team over personal goals will always be what supersedes all. And I really think Rhule needs a certain kind of player in his program to make it work and create a culture that sustains over time. And if you’re wondering if it will pass with the superstar player, we’ve already seen that it can with Jalen Hurd.
Remember his recruiting history and then his story at Tennessee. Hurd was at Baylor for two years. Played for one. But when he did play, he at least portrayed someone who bought into the environment. Remember, he drove out to Baylor on a whim and then never left.
And then process the two actions that showed the buy in.
>While he came to Baylor to groom himself to be a wide receiver, Hurd was willing to play some running back to help the team win.
>When Baylor was playing Texas Tech in November to try and clinch bowl eligibility, he played through a knee injury and tried to help the program get to December. The injury happened early in the game. It cost him the bowl game, the senior bowl and going through a full NFL Combine.
But given where he was and what he was trying to do for his future, he put those needs aside when he could have easily shut it down.
When you see the wave of top players skipping bowls so they can prepare for the draft (Houston’s Ed Oliver comes to mind), I find that to be a total cop out and letting the needs of one outweigh the needs of many.
You just pulled the ultimate jack wagon move of walking out on your team (and I’m not interested in the argument of the bowl game doesn’t mean anything if it’s not playing to the national title or the New Year’s 6).
Had he not been hurt, I have no doubt that Hurd would have played in the Texas Bowl.
When it’s right in the locker room, it’s usually going to be right on the field. Whenever Baylor starts to really put itself in position to land Rivals 250 type of players (Tulsa Washington WR Javian Hester comes to mind), it’s going to be with the understanding that they truly accept what Rhule and his staff are requiring.
You have probably read enough of the stories from commits/recruits who talk about how family oriented the program is. Now, every program bills itself that way. It should.
But when you hear the accounts of them talking to all of the coaches rather than dealing with one or how their view of Baylor’s family environment has more substance than others, then you can appreciate there is something different.
Every program has its unique approach to recruiting. Whatever it takes to win is the goal. And I would dare say that if a high 4 star or 5 star recruit took it to the next level with Baylor with an official visit and deciding between Baylor and somebody else (I know I know Tommy Bush), Baylor’s coaches would want to land him as long as they believe he could be a willing participant.
Until that happens, let the worker bee approach continue.
****
With Baylor’s pro day on Tuesday, the biggest storyline is what Hurd will actually be able to do.
It will be about a month since the combine concluded. In Indianapolis, Hurd did the bench press, was measured and the interviews. But that was it. All of the skills were bypassed to give his knee more time recover so he will be able to give those a go Tuesday at the Allison Indoor Practice Facility.
Hurd will have had four months (give or take a week) to come back from the knee injury. Should he be ready do the 40, cone drill, broad jump, vertical and shuttles, I would temper the expectations that he would blow those in attendance off the charts with his times or distances.
When you’re coming back from a joint injury, it’s a process. For the NFL teams that are there, those scouts and executives will likely want to know if he can do them without any restrictions. The times and distances will come. They just want to know if he is on the right path to being healthy.
And if he is showing that, then you should hear reports surface about him going to visit NFL franchises. Personally, this is put up or shut up time for Hurd in the sense that he has to be able to deliver something. Now, NFL teams have used draft picks on players who were dealing with major injuries. See the Cowboys taking Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith in the 2nd round in 2016. Smith had a pretty bad knee injury. He tore two knee ligaments.
We can all agree Smith and Hurd are freak talents. But Smith’s position was defined. Hurd’s position is new and teams want to see if he’s worth the risk, even if it’s a Day 3 selection (5th-7th rounds). It’s go time for him.
As for the others:
OL Blake Blackmar
P Drew Galitz
OL Patrick Lawrence
DL Ira Lewis
QB Jalan McClendon
DE Greg Roberts
DB Derrek Thomas
DB Verkedric Vaughns
I think they are in a position where they have to catch at least one organization’s eye in order to sign a free agent contract or get an invite to a camp for a look. They only get one chance to make a first impression. Maybe one could develop into a late round draft pick.
****
There really isn’t much to add about the Lady Bears trying to return to the Final Four. I wasn’t kidding when I said they would beat Iowa by 20 points on Monday (6:00 p.m./ESPN).
Kim Mulkey’s team just plays defense at a higher level than anyone remaining in the field. That’s not an accident. This group gets it that that’s what it takes to win.
South Carolina never had a chance Saturday.
I expect Baylor to win the national title. It’s going to have to take a once-in-a-lifetime performance by somebody along with Baylor helping out to make it happen. Now, it’s the NCAA tournament and weird things happen. And they have been happening to Baylor in recent years.
This is different.
If Oregon – that’s who Baylor would face in the Final Four should it get there – UConn, Notre Dame/Stanford are going to unseat Baylor, it would be one of the biggest upsets in women’s college basketball.
However, this is the 7-year itch. This program won titles in 2005 and 2012. It is 2019 and….
****
Speaking of Final Fours, I do enjoy the story lines of programs making their debuts and those returning after a long absence.
We had four exceptional regional finals between Texas-Tech-Gonzaga, Virginia-Purdue, Auburn-Kentucky and Michigan State-Duke. All four decided in the final seconds or in overtime. All decided by six points or less. Those games saved what was a pretty meh tournament.
So the newbies are Texas Tech and Auburn. Virginia is returning the first time since 1984. And then Michigan State is making its 10th appearance.
We’re going to either have a first-time national champion (Virginia has never won it) or Michigan State winning it for the first time since 2000 and it’s third overall.
An interesting weekend at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis awaits.
****
Now, a look at other Baylor sports…
>Baylor (15-17, 2-5) split its doubleheader at Kansas (13-21, 2-1) on Sunday. It won the opener, 3-2, but dropped the nightcap, 7-1. That was preceded by a 2-0 loss to Texas – they were no-hit – aearlier in the week. Baylor is back in action at Getterman Stadium as the Lady Bears host SFA at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
>Top-seeded and No. 4 Baylor equestrian (9-4) edged host and No. 3 Oklahoma State to claim its fourth Big 12 title in program history Saturday at Totusek Arena in Stillwater, Ok. Baylor also beat TCU.
The top-seeded Bears went 2-0 over the weekend and ultimately won the tiebreaker score of 4,408 to 4,012.8 after being tied 10-10 after the meet. It's the second title in three seasons but the first under second-year head coach Casie Maxwell. Baylor awaits its seeding in the NCEA National Championships, held April 17-20 at the Extraco Events Center in Waco.
>The No. 30 Oklahoma women's tennis team (14-5, 4-2) secured a 7-0 win against Baylor (6-17, 1-4) on Sunday afternoon in Norman. The team also lost to Oklahoma State, 7-0. Baylor faces Texas Tech on April 4 at noon (CT) in Lubbock.
>Baylor women's golf finished tied for eighth place with a 54-hole total of 29-over-par 893 in the 2019 Evans Derby Experience. The Bears carded 15-over 299 in Monday's final round at Saugahatchee Country Club in Opelika, Al.
Baylor has one more regular season tournament before beginning postseason play. The Bears are scheduled to play the Bruzzy Challenge, which runs April 1-2 at Lantana Golf Club in Lantana, Texas. BU then heads to the 2019 Big 12 Championship, held April 14-16 at Golf Club of Oklahoma in Broken Arrow, Ok.
>Baylor took home the victory in the women's 4x800-meter relay to highlight the final day at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays Saturday at Mike A. Myers Stadium & Soccer Field.The Bears' 4x800 team of Alison Andrews-Paul, Leti De Souza, Morgan Stewart and Aaliyah Miller clocked a time of 8:41.66 to win the race and enter the Baylor all-time performances list in the No. 8 spot.
Baylor is back in action Saturday, April 6, as the Bears head to College Station for the Reveille Invitational.
>No. 6 Baylor men's tennis (18-3, 1-1 Big 12) couldn't hold on to an early lead in its 4-3 loss to No. 4 Texas (19-2, 2-0 Big 12) Sunday afternoon at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin. Baylor beat TCU on Friday, 5-2. Baylor returns home to close out its regular season home schedule. The Bears face No. 17 Oklahoma Friday at 6 p.m. for Hounds at the Hurd. Then, BU hosts Senior Day against No. 27 Oklahoma State next Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Hurd Tennis Center.
Let’s make it a great week!
