While Roger and Todd have been keeping busy following the longhorns this week in and around the Phoenix area, I have tried to do my best to help out with the live aspects of the broadcasts.
We are in a place in the phoenix area called “paradise valley” The name trully says it all. Everywhere you turn, you are surrounded by beauty and wonder. Here at the camelback inn, we are surrounded by beautiful scenery. A fellow photojournalist mentioned to me just today that you can’t take a bad picture here. The Camelback Inn has been the backdrop for most of our liveshots here in Arizona with the pre bowl coverage, and while during the day, theres never a bad picture, At night, it gets extremely dark. This is where I come in.
hopefully my flip video is showing up above this line, if its not the check out our KXAN youtube channel for more.
Anyway, I hope that you have been able to enjoy our coverage, and stay tuned. Tomorrow is the game. Should be very exciting
laters,
Thomas
BTW,
Todd wanted me to let everyone know that even though Roger is currently leading the count with Flip videos, he is doing it with Todds camera.
It was a quiet day for the Longhorns in the Phoenix area. The team went through a light workout at Scottsdale Community College. Sunday will be the first time they will get a look inside University of Phoenix Stadium where they will play Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. On Saturday the Arizona Cardinals won their wildcard playoff game over Atlanta at the stadium.
We did head into downtown Scottsdale on Saturday evening for the Longhorns and Buckeyes battle of the bands. I ran into a man who puts the fan in fanatic, take a look.
On the final day that the Texas players can be interviewed before the Fiesta Bowl, senior cornerback Ryan Palmer was in rare form. Palmer is not shy around the cameras and has to work hard to not say anything that opponents could use as bulliten board material. But Friday wasn’t about Ohio State for Palmer, it was about Palmer. Hope you enjoy the video we shot.
Texas safety Blake Gideon spoke about the Texas Tech game for the first time on Friday in Scottsdale, Arizona. Gideon let a tipped pass slip through his hands on the play just before Graham Harrell hit Michael Crabtree to beat the Longhorns on November 1st. The true freshman from Leander said that he was over it just a few days after that game. He understands what comes along with being a defensive back, you’re going to make plays and you’re going to miss plays and you have to have a short memory.
Gideon ranks third on the team with 59 total tackles.
Texas junior linebacker Sergio Kindle was as elusive about his future at UT as he’s been with offensive lineman this season. Kindle would not hint one way of the other as to how he’s leaning when it comes to staying at Texas for his senior season or declaring for the NFL draft. Kindle is 2nd on the Texas team with nine sacks and 13 tackles for losses.
Kindle would not take the bait when asked if it made a difference on his decision that defensive coordinator will be back next year.
January 15th is the deadline for underclassman to declare for the draft.
I think they may be on to something with this whole “Valley of the sun” thing. Our fourth day in the Phoenix area and we are still waiting to see our first cloud. This is my 13th bowl game with Texas and it is by far the best week of weather I can remember.
Still strange to get used to playing way beyond New Years Day. Monday will be the latest game Texas has ever played. The 2006 national title game was on January 4th. This may also hurt travel for fans. I know several people that are having a tough time getting rid of tickets. Combine the late game day that coincides with the start of school and the tough financial times and that will almost certainly keep some fans back home. We noticed that at the Insight Bowl on Wednesday in Tempe. They tarped off about 20,000 seats at Sun Devil Stadium and it was still far from capacity for the Kansas win over Minnesota.
We got our last look at the Horns practicing on Thursday. After pads and a lot of hitting, they backed off a little, going in pads and shorts, of course the intensity was still there. From here on out its all closed workouts for the Horns.
Thanks to midnight curfew for the Longhorns here in Scottsdale it was a pretty quiet New Years Eve. Ryan Palmer said he heard fireworks but couldn’t see them from his hotel room. Defensive Coordinator Will Muschamp said he spent New Years Eve watching LSU and Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A bowl until he fell asleep during the Tigers 38-3 win over the Yellow Jackets.
Ohio State players got an extra hour, they had a 1AM curfew.
As for the wild KXAN crew, out like a light by 11:00 local time.
Ohio State running back Chris “Beanie” Wells drew a lot of attention at his meeting with the media this morning. Wells said that while he has not made a final decision on whether or not to come back for a senior season, he did say he wants to leave at the best back in Ohio State history. That would only seem possible if he did return for another year after injuries limited Wells to just nine regular season games, although he did run for 1136 yards and averaged 5.7 yards per carry in those games. Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo compares Wells to Giants running back Brandon Jacobs with his combination of size and speed. UT linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy figures Wells would have been a Heisman finalist if he had been healthy the entire season. Wells told us while he’s not 100 percent with nagging leg and toe injuries, he’s as healthy as he’s been all year.
Austin native Todd Reesing led Kansas to a 42-21 Insight Bowl win over Minnesota on Wednesday evening in Tempe, Arizona. The former Lake Travis Cavalier set a school record in the first half with 14 straight completions on his way to all four of his touchdown passes in the first 30 minutes. Reesing told me after the game that it was great to bounce back from that 35-7 home loss to Texas in November with a win over rival Missouri and then the bowl game against the Golden Gophers to end the season at 8-5. Kansas not only went to back to back bowls for the first time in school history, but won both of those bowls. Reesing was 27-35 for 313 yards to close out his junior season.
It was pretty obvious at this mornings UT workout in Scottsdale that they have turned up the intensity. Horns came out in full pads for their first physical practice in more than a week which lasted about two hours. Standing on the sidelines for the first 30 minutes of practice you really appreciate Colt McCoy’s accuracy, I never saw one of his passes hit the ground in the time I was able to watch. Ohio State All-American linebacker James Laurinaitis joked that he couldn’t build a video game quarterback that could complete passes at the rate Colt McCoy has this year (NCAA record 77%). By the way, listen to Laurinaitis and he sounds a lot like Michael Phelps, just can’t get Beijing out of my mind I guess.
Another perfect day in the desert
UT offensive players met with the media on Wednesday morning in Scottsdale. With reporters from Ohio and Arizona that don’t cover the team on a regular basis, the players had to once again convince them that they are happy to be at the Fiesta Bowl and are not dwelling on missing out on the national championship game. The question is valid, but it was as if some reporters wouldn’t stop the questions until they got the answer they wanted. Chris Ogbonnaya had a listen to question after question about how its human nature to be upset and don’t you think its unfair and do you want a playoff? The senior running back didn’t waiver on his answer that we’ve heard in Austin since December 7th. The Horns wanted to play for the title, but a couple of days after the announcement, it was all about the Fiesta Bowl and Ohio State.
Receiver Quan Cosby said that he roots for all Big 12 teams in bowl games, but when asked to say “I’m for Oklahoma”, Quan told the reporter, “I do live in Texas and do have to go back to Austin.”
