Wow, Would "Miss the Boat" Make You Less Angry?

My initial post on Mack and DeLoss possibly 'dropping the ball' seemed to really rile some people up. I don't know if is left over imagery from sideline incident in the Holiday Bowl or if some bitter Cowboy fans can't get the Super Bowl flushing interception out of their mind, but it really pissed some people off. Would 'Miss the Boat' make you less angry?

I certainly don't think that Mack and DeLoss are sitting around twiddling their thumbs and not doing something that they should be doing, but I think there is an opportunity that they are missing out on. Florida, Tennessee, and Michigan seem to be taking advantage of this. They are on the first ship out of port. There will be another one and I hope The University of Texas hops aboard.

After some rooting around I think I've arrived at the following reasons for the lack of Longhorn players:

1. Construction - The use of DKR as Team Texas's home stadium, or for a game, is apparently still on the table. The construction this year was an issue in the original talks and DKR just wasn't available. If all the home games end up in DKR in the future, or if even just one game a year is played there, you may see more interest from former horns that want to run through the tunnel a few more times.

2. Graduation Rates - Lets face it. Texas' graduation rates suck. A lot of this has to do with the success we've had recently and the NFL's thirst for our talent. We've sent a large number of players to the league over the last three years and many of those guys haven't finished their degrees yet. On the other side, Texas seems to have a problem graduating its football athletes. Hopefully the new position created for Ken Rucker will help with this.

3. Financial Incentive - Texas may not see the diversion of cash to a third party as a good idea. If the AAFL is successful and can increase/justify the financial incentive to the Longhorn Foundation, we may get some more direct involvement from Texas. The AAFL currently offers a 12.5% kick back on ticket sales through a foundation. If the Longhorn foundation were to help Team Texas sell out Rice Stadium you might be looking at a $1 million dollar incentive for the foundation, but you'd be draining $7.5 dollars of buying power out of the pockets of their biggest customers. Florida and Tennessee are taking advantage of this deal currently. Their stadiums are larger then Rice's so maybe they reached a better threshold. Lets face it. UT isn't strapped for cash.

I am disappointed in that there is only one Longhorn on the protected player list. I'm hoping to see more Texas guys get their info in for the supplemental draft on February 16th. If the league is successful I think we'll see more Horns in 2009.