Last Week’s Game

Seth: I honestly have been looking forward to you previewing your favorite Group of 5 team, the TCU Horned Frogs, but before we get to that, let’s tackle last week’s game.

I’d love to know your general thoughts on the game and also, I want to discuss the quarterback conundrum one more time. I mentioned after the game that it appears that Kingsbury is pretty frustrated at the offense and the fact that it goes into prolonged ruts through the game. I think the problem is that the other quarterbacks are just too far away to help this year. Is this sorta your assessment or do you have a different read on teh situation?

Travis: It’s hard to imagine any of the backup QB’s being able to step on replicate the success, although sometimes fleeting, that Shimonek has had this year. And yes, there are those frustrating stretches in the game where the offense seems to sputter (usually after a successful defensive series) but I think by now it’s just something Tech fans are going to have to live with. Kingsbury has to win one of the next two games to have a chance to save his job, and I think he’s decided his best chance of doing that is with Nic.

I’m a little worried about how he’ll play Saturday against TCU’s salty defense. You know they’ve been studying his tendency to scramble out of the pocket to his right at the first sign of trouble, so I’m sure there are gonna be two or three purple dudes there waiting for him every single time.

Suburban Gangsters

Seth: It was Claire’s first big game as a junior and maybe as a focal point of her team. How did she do in her first bit of action thus far this year? I also hear that Cash is starting to earn some hardware.

Oh, and this weekend is my big soccer weekend with Yoyo. I believe you are a veteran of weekends away with your kids on sporting events. Any advice for a newbie like myself?

Travis: It was a big step up for her going from sixth man last year to team captain this year, and I think that pressure got to her a little in the first few games so she struggled quite a bit. But, she’s settled in now and has put together a string of really strong games, which absolutely thrills me.

And yes, Cash has been upset because we haven’t signed him up for soccer yet so he can win trophies too. He tells us about it after every game and it came to a head last Saturday night when Cade had an end of season party and got a trophy. You could see the rage in Cash’s eyes, and sure enough, he came over to our table and let us have it. So we decided as a family to get him his own trophy for being such a supportive brother and man, he absolutely loved it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so happy.

Cash has been frustrated because he’s always in a gym watching his brother and sister play basketball and getting trophies, and he doesn’t have any. So tonight, they presented him with his own trophy & medal as the MVP little brother. pic.twitter.com/OxaS8q1CIP

— Travis Hale (@LubbockElitist) November 15, 2017

My advice to you on your first travel weekend is to enjoy every second of it. I used to be one of those dads that didn’t really want to give up my weekends for things like that, but now I live for it. If you embrace it, you’ll absolutely fall in love with the life. And the best thing is YoYo will pick up on that, and he’ll enjoy it even more.

This Week’s Game

Travis: So in my ongoing refusal to acknowledge TCU as a legitimate member of the Big 12, I will not be commenting on the upcoming game. With that in mind, do you have any thoughts you’d like to share?

Seth: TCU will be a significant challenge for the offense because their defense is lights out. They have been all year and hopefully/maybe Oklahoma helped show some of those flaws to the Texas Tech coaches. I worry that TCU will do the same thing they did to Mahomes last year and I don’t know that Shimonek can handle it. Shimonek is going to have to have an Arizona State like game for Texas Tech to have a shot.

The Best Thing Ever

Seth: I was looking for something new for my sandwiches recently (keep in mind, I do all of the grocery shopping so this should make perfect sense) and bought a bottle fo Whataburger’s Creamy Pepper Sauce to see if I could kick my sammie-do’s up a notch and yes, yes, I did. The weird thing is that the WCPS has a very short expiration date, so you better be ready to put this on everything. And yes, I think this is not the most healthy thing for you, so I won’t be buying this all of the time, but it’s been a really nice change of pace.

Travis: Both of us consider ourselves to be men that appreciate a good sunflower seed. I’ve been pleased with the expanded choices of late, particularly the BIGS brand and their various flavors. Recently though I’ve started chewing the GIANTS Kettle brand. The seeds have a slight sweetness (like kettle corn) but not so much that it covers up the nuttiness. I can finish off a bag between San Antonio and Dallas, easy.

Random Top Five

Travis: Top 5 cities you’ve ever visited in person?
Mine:
1. San Francisco. Just the best.
2. New York. No further explanation necessary.
3. Des Moines. Such a nice town and Iowans are such good people.
4. Minneapolis. Similar to Des Moines, but.you really get a Nordic feel in the twin cities, if that makes sense.
5. Seattle. When the sun is out it’s a breathtakingly beautiful city with water all around.

Seth:

1. San Diego / Encinitas, California. Southern California is really pretty incredible. I’m not one that just loves the ocean, but there was something about the the sun, the surf, that cold water that was really terrific.
2. Taos, New Mexico. It is in this weirdly placed area where the city is on on a bluff at the foot of the mountains and just an hour away is the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Red River.
3. Killarney, Ireland. Dublin is nice, very nice, but Killarney is the base for the Killarney National Park and you’re within a short train ride to some of the more beautiful cliffs in Dingle.
4. Sydney, Australia. (I still need to tell my story about my high school girlfriend from Australia, but that’s for another day.) Things just look different and smell different in Australia. The trees and everything else just looks different and it’s pretty amazing.
5. Amsterdam, Netherlands. I was there for a weekend and I didn’t partake, if you know what I mean (have never done and didn’t seen any reason to start in a foreign city) and it’s really a terrific city. The canals are pretty terrific and the two major museums are absolutely incredible, Rijksmuseam and the Van Gogh Museum. I walked a ton there and thought it was just fantastic.

Game Predictions

Travis: Game prediction: No comment.

Seth: I wrote earlier this morning that I thought it was a game that could flip one way or the other and I can see a 24-21 game, with TCU’s kicker hurt, who knows what happens, but maybe that field goal is on Texas Tech’s side. With the way the season has gone, I’m taking TCU, but I think it’s close.