Another reason why King of the Hill is my favorite show

Conference play begins Saturday as we take on Kansas State (who unfortunately kicked our ass last year). I hope they don't forget their power towels...

In other news, here's a story about a True Bad Ass...

Castro lives!

The Link

Or at least the guy in the Castro suit lives. My working theory is that we're on the third "Fidel Castro" at this point in time. In other words, I think they cast Latin American dictators the same way they cast Menudo...

...And isn't it interesting that he's quoting from a book by Alan Greenspan and wearing a Red, White, and Blue suit. Did your recent experiences with socialized medicine make you rethink your views on the free market, O Man in the Fidel Suit? Whether they did or not, I respectfully remind you to watch your step...

(In case you can't tell, I love taunting foreign dictators. It's a Nateblogg trademark. God bless the USA!)

iTunes Playlist: Rich Mullins

Ten years ago tonight, Rich Mullins, the ragamuffin musical artist, passed on into eternity. His music and lyrics were relentlessly well-crafted, and sprung from an attitude of complete honesty and humility before God.

Rich Mullins's music influenced me profoundly in two ways. First, his songs provided the soundtrack for my formative years in the Christian faith, and often expressed the deepest feelings of my heart better than I could myself. Also, he served as a gateway to the writings of Brennan Manning and G. K. Chesterton, which have been my philosophical guiding lights as I stumbled through my twenties.

Rich's music is a lot like Guinness - it takes time to develop a taste for, but when you do, you will love it like nothing else. As a simple introduction, I respectfully submit the following CD-length iTunes playlist. If this whets your appetite, I suggest you check out the Rich Mullins tribute website. Enjoy.

1) Teaching Awesome God (live) - A recording of Rich teaching his most well-known song for the first time. I like this version more than the album version.

2) Elijah - Rich's first solo hit, which takes on a eerie, haunting quality when one considers the sudden way he left our world.

3) If I Stand - A beautiful hymn of devotion, featuring a young Michael W. Smith on piano.

4) Bound to Come Some Trouble
5) The Love of God
6) My One Thing - A trilogy of songs that starts with the theme of assurance, goes on to the unconditional love of God, then ends by with the expression of a pure heart. My One Thing was the first song where Rich played the hammered dulcimer on an album.

7) Calling Out Your Name - Another hammered dulcimer piece that celebrates the wheatfields of the Midwest. Rich wrote it after riding his motorcycle across the Kansas plains. Probably my personal favourite of his.

8) Sometimes By Step - I love this song because the verses add context to a familiar chorus by addressing the theme of struggle on the Christian journey. Also features the hammered dulcimer.

9) Growing Young - A song of surrender that includes a confession from Chesterton - "We've sinned and grown old." Chesterton goes on to muse that our Heavenly Father may be younger in heart than we are, and therefore does not share our cynicism. An astounding (and encouraging) thought...

10) The Color Green
11) Hold Me Jesus
12) Creed
13) Peace - This series of songs comes from Rich's finest album, A Liturgy, A Legacy and a Ragamuffin Band. The album is a corraboration of several talented Christian musicians playing Appalachian-style instruments. The egoless fellowship of the Ragamuffin Band and high caliber of songwriting combine to make this album great. These four songs follow the form of a Liturgy, comprising a classic praise song, a confession, a declaration of faith, and a communion blessing, respectively.

14) Land of My Sojourn - An eloquent rumination on our mixed legacy as Christians and Americans from the album mentioned above.

15) Eli's Song - Rich's last hammered dulcimer song, recorded on the Brother's Keeper album, and dedicated to the newly born daughter of one of the Ragamuffins.

16) Hard to Get - A few days before Rich died in a car crash, he recorded nine songs for an upcoming album into a boombox. The recording was salvaged and released as part of The Jesus Record. This song captures the haunting, rough yet ethereal nature of Rich's final recording.

17) Nothing is Beyond You - Recorded posthumously for The Jesus Record, this hymn features Amy Grant on vocals.

18) That Where I Am - This track deftly combines the raw boombox recording with the studio recording, and is a fitting valedictory song on The Jesus Record.

19) None are Stronger - Rich ended every concert by getting the crowd to sing the Doxology, then quietly walking offstage before they finished. This was typical of a humble nature that sought to give glory to the God who loved him. I believe that this song, never recorded in a studio, offers a glimpse into that humble nature.


Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above the heav'nly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
Amen.

In the interest of equal time...

Here's some other College Football entrance videos, which are secretly the biggest gold mine of unintentional comedy on God's green earth...

The Arizona State Sun Devils. - I guess it makes sense that the Devil wears Nikes...

Not an entrance video, but you have to love Texas Tech's Mike Leach doing the Lubbock Weather. Seriously, this is worth 5 minutes of your time...

The Aggie video may have borrowed some stock footage from Nazi Germany...

The Gold Standard - The Texas Minotaur Video

Don't Forget to Bring Your Power Towel!

Uh, oh. It looks like Kansas State has a new tradition. Apparently, he's been taking guitar lessons from a Real American. I think we're screwed.

In other news, I'm thinking I'm going to support Fred Dalton Thompson in 2008. Why? Well, see below...



If he's good enough for Cowboy Troy, he's good enough for me.

Every Longhorn Game I've Ever Attended

I decided to figure out the record of the Texas Longhorns in every game I've ever attended (as I procrastinated on my Law Class reading), and I thought I'd post the results below. Of note:

1) I've attended at least one Longhorn home game for 24 seasons running as of Saturday.

2) The first decade was not kind - we lost to the Aggies 10 of 11 years during a time when most of my classmates were Aggies. It has been well documented that the Aggies were cheating their asses off this entire anomalous time, but it didn't make it any easier. My love for the Horns blossomed and my resolve hardened during these difficult years.

3) The Longhorns started a nice run in the same year I entered college. We had the best backfield in the nation with James Brown, Shon Mitchell, Ricky Williams, and Priest Holmes, and won the last Southwest Conference Championship in 1995 and the first Big 12 Championship in 1996, pulling a colossal upset over defending national champion Nebraska in the latter.

4) 1997 was notable for the 66-3 beating that an 0-2 UCLA team put on us at home, and for us losing to a Baylor team that the Baylor coach described as "the worst team in America." Thankfully, this brought us Mack Brown, who convinced Ricky Williams to stay for his senior year. Ricky broke the NCAA rushing record on a touchdown run against Texas A&M, and won the Heisman in a landslide.

5) The last decade under Mack Brown has had its share of success and heartbreaks - the five-year losing streak to Oklahoma (maybe the worst experience of all) and the Simms-Applewhite controversy that resolved itself in a stomach punch loss to Colorado that cost Texas a spot in the National Championship in 2002. Little did we know that redemption lay ahead...

6) ...in the person of Vince Young, the burnt orange version of George Washington, Gandhi, Moses, and Aragorn all rolled into one. Once he found his groove, he simply refused to let his team lose. The 2005 team may have been the best ever to play college football. If I type any more, I may start tearing up...

So without further ado...

Overall record: 71-26
Mack Brown Era: 53-11
John Mackovic Era: 13-7
David McWilliams Era: 4-6
Fred Akers Era: 1-2

Top 5 games I've attended:
1) Texas 25, Ohio State 22, 2005
2) Texas 38, Michigan 37, 2005 Rose Bowl
3) Texas 26, Texas A&M 24, 1998
4) Texas 56, Oklahoma State 35, 2004 (Texas was down 35-7 just before halftime)
5) Texas 24, Nebraska 20, 1999

A few great games I missed:
1) Texas 45, Houston 24, 1990
2) Texas 17, Virginia 16, 1995
3) Texas 31, Rice 30, 1989
4) Texas 28, Texas A&M 27, 1990

Most Gut-Wrenching Losses I've attended:
1) Colorado 39, Texas 37, Big 12 Championship, 2001
2) Oklahoma 63, Texas 14, 2000
3) Texas A&M 12, Texas 7, 2006
4) UCLA 66, Texas 3, 1997 (and it could have been worse)
5) Oklahoma 14, Texas 3, 2001 (Mack didn't put in Major.)
6) Baylor 50, Texas 7, 1989
7) Notre Dame 27, Texas 24, 1996 (We blew the game at the end.)

Year-by-Year Results:

2007
Coach: Mack Brown
Season: 1-0-0
Sept. 1 (#4) Arkansas State W 21-13 Recap | Box

2006
Coach: Mack Brown
Season: 10-3-0
Sept. 2 (#2) North Texas W 56-7 Recap | Box
Sept. 9 (#2) #1 Ohio State L 7-24 Recap | Box
Sept. 16 (#8) vs. Rice W 52-7 Recap | Box
Sept. 23 (#7) Iowa State W 37-14 Recap | Box
Sept. 30 (#7) Sam Houston State W 56-3 Recap | Box
Oct. 14 (#6) Baylor W 63-31 Recap | Box
Nov. 4 (#4) Oklahoma State W 36-10 Recap | Box
Nov. 24 (#11) Texas A&M L 7-12 Recap | Box
Dec. 30 (#18) vs. Iowa W 26-24# Recap | Box
# - Alamo Bowl

2005
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Coach: Mack Brown
Season: 13-0-0
Big 12: 8-0-0
Final Ranking: 1st AP; 1st USA Today/ESPN
Sept. 3 (#2) Louisiana-Lafayette W 60-3 Recap | Box
Sept. 10 (#2) @ #4 Ohio State W 25-22 Recap | Box
Sept. 17 (#2) Rice W 51-10 Recap | Box
Oct. 15 (#2) #24 Colorado W 42-17 Recap | Box
Nov. 12 (#2) Kansas W 66-14 Recap | Box
Nov. 25 (#2) @ Texas A&M W 40-29 Recap | Box
Dec. 3 (#2) Colorado W 70-3* Recap | Box
* - Big 12 Championship

2004
Coach: Mack Brown
Season: 11-1-0 (Won the Rose Bowl)
Sept. 4 (#7) North Texas W 65-0 Recap | Box
Sept. 25 (#5) Rice W 35-13 Recap | Box
Oct. 2 (#5) Baylor W 44-14 Recap | Box
Nov. 6 (#6) #19 Oklahoma State W 56-35 Recap | Box
Nov. 26 (#5) #22 Texas A&M W 26-13 Recap | Box
Jan. 1 (#6) vs. #12 Michigan W 38-37# Recap | Box
# - Rose Bowl

2003
Coach: Mack Brown
Season: 10-3-0
Aug. 31 (#5) New Mexico State W 66-7 Recap | Box
Sept. 13 (#6) Arkansas L 28-38 Recap | Box
Sept. 27 (#13) Tulane W 63-18 Recap | Box
Oct. 4 (#13) #16 Kansas State W 24-20 Recap | Box
Nov. 1 (#16) #12 Nebraska W 31-7 Recap | Box
Nov. 15 (#6) Texas Tech W 43-40 Recap | Box

2002
Coach: Mack Brown
Season: 11-2-0
Aug. 31 (#3) North Texas W 27-0 Recap | Box
Sept. 21 (#3) Houston W 41-11 Recap | Box
Oct. 5 (#2) Oklahoma State W 17-15 Recap | Box
Oct. 26 (#7) #17 Iowa State W 21-10 Recap | Box
Nov. 9 (#4) Baylor W 41-0 Recap | Box
Nov. 16 (#4) @ Texas Tech L 38-42 Recap | Box
Nov. 29 (#10) Texas A&M W 50-20 Recap | Box
Jan. 1 (#9) vs. LSU W 35-20# Recap | Box
# - Cotton Bowl

2001
Coach: Mack Brown
Season: 11-2-0
Sept. 1 (#5) New Mexico State W 41-7 Recap | Box
Sept. 8 (#4) North Carolina W 44-14 Recap | Box
Sept. 29 (#5) Texas Tech W 42-7 Recap | Box
Oct. 6 (#5) vs. #3 Oklahoma L 3-14 Recap | Box
Nov. 10 (#5) Kansas W 59-0 Recap | Box
Nov. 23 (#5) @ Texas A&M W 21-7 Recap | Box
Dec. 1 (#3) #9 Colorado L 37-39* Recap | Box

2000
Coach: Mack Brown
Season: 9-3
Sept. 9 (#6) La.-Lafayette W 52-10 Box
Sept. 23 (#15) Houston W 48-0 Box
Sept. 30 (#13) Oklahoma State W 42-7 Box
Oct. 7 (#11) vs. #10 Oklahoma L 14-63 Box
Oct. 21 Missouri W 46-12 Box
Oct. 28 (#22) Baylor W 48-14 Box
Nov. 24 (#12) #22 Texas A&M W 43-17 Box

1999
Coach: Mack Brown
Season: 9-5
Aug. 28 (#17) N. Carolina St. L 20-23 Box
Sept. 4 Stanford W 69-17 Box
Sept. 18 Rice W 18-13 Box
Oct. 2 (#15) #13 Kansas State L 17-35 Box
Oct. 23 (#18) #3 Nebraska W 24-20 Box
Nov. 13 (#10) Texas Tech W 58-7 Box
Nov. 26 (#7) @ #24 Texas A&M L 16-20 Box
Dec. 4 (#12) vs. #3 Nebraska L 6-22% Box
% - Big 12 Championship

1998
Coach: Mack Brown
Season: 9-3 (Ricky Williams wins Heisman)
Sept. 5 New Mexico State W 66-36 Box
Oct. 3 Iowa State W 54-33 Box
Nov. 7 (#20) Oklahoma State W 37-34 Box
Nov. 27 #6 Texas A&M W 26-24 Box
Jan. 1 (#20) vs. #25 Miss. St. W 38-11# Box
# - Cotton Bowl

1997
Coach: John Mackovic
Season: 4-7
Sept. 6 (#12) Rutgers W 48-14 Box
Sept. 13 (#11) UCLA L 3-66 Box
Oct. 11 vs. Oklahoma W 27-24 Box
Oct. 25 Colorado L 30-47 Box
Nov. 8 Texas Tech L 10-24 Box

1996
Coach: John Mackovic
Season: 8-5
Big 12: 6-2 (1st) (First Year of Big 12)
Aug. 31 (#8) Missouri W 40-10 Box
Sept. 7 (#8) New Mexico State W 41-7 Box
Sept. 21 (#6) #9 Notre Dame L 24-27 Box
Oct. 5 (#23) Oklahoma State W 71-14 Box
Nov. 2 Baylor W 28-23 Box
Nov. 29 Texas A&M W 51-15 Box
Jan. 1 (#20) vs. #7 Penn State L 15-38# Box
# - Fiesta Bowl

1995
Coach: John Mackovic
Season: 10-2-1
SWC: 7-0 (1st) (Last Southwest Conference Title)
Sept. 16 (#15) Pittsburgh W 38-27 Box
Oct. 7 (#20) Rice W 37-13 Box
Nov. 4 (#13) #23 Texas Tech W 48-7 Box
Nov. 18 (#10) TCU W 27-19 Box
Nov. 23 (#9) Baylor W 21-13 Box

1994
Coach: John Mackovic
Season: 8-4
Nov. 5 #11 Texas A&M L 10-34 Box

1993
Coach: John Mackovic
Season: 5-5-1
Oct. 2 Rice W 55-38

1992
Coach: John Mackovic
Season: 6-5-0
Sept. 5 (#25) #21 Mississippi St. L 10-28

1991
Coach: David McWilliams
Season: 5-6-0
Oct. 5 Rice W 28-7

1990
Coach: David McWilliams
Season: 10-2-0
Oct. 20 (#19) Arkansas W 49-17

1989
Coach: David McWilliams
Season: 5-6-0
Sept. 30 Penn State L 12-16
Nov. 4 (#22) Texas Tech L 17-24
Nov. 25 Baylor L 7-50

1988
Coach: David McWilliams
Season: 4-7-0
Sept. 17 New Mexico W 47-0
Oct. 15 #17 Arkansas L 24-27
Nov. 5 Houston L 15-66
Nov. 24 Texas A&M L 24-28

1987
Coach: David McWilliams
Season: 7-5-0
Nov. 21 Baylor W 34-16

1986
Coach: Fred Akers
Season: 5-6-0
Oct. 18 #14 Arkansas L 14-21

1985
Coach: Fred Akers
Season: 8-4-0
Nov. 16 TCU W 20-0

1984
Coach: Fred Akers
Season: 7-4-1
Dec. 1 (#13) Texas A&M L 12-37

She's going to Appalachian State...

...and she did quite well on her mulligan on the Today Show. I like her.

So lay off, America!

A good week for Appalachian State

First, they learned that YouTube sensation Miss South Carolina will be attending this fall. I wonder if she'll major in Geography?

Then, the Mountaineers pull off the biggest upset in U.S. American college football history, beating Michigan in front of 110,000 (now) stunned and angry fans at the Big House. They blocked two field goals in the last two minutes of their 34-32 win. Thankfully, the same thing didn't happen to a downright mediocre Texas team last night...