No sense in hiding what that box next to my awkward mug already tells you. I’m a Big 12 transplant. I grew up watching Danny Wuerffel and Steve Spurrier terrorize Peyton Manning and the rest of the SEC.
But since my migration to Big 12 country five years ago, I’ve been accused by those who grew up alongside me of being a traitor Big 12 apologist. I guess that’s what happens when you insist a defensive lineman deserves the Heisman.
Maybe I am. That’s for others to sort out. But I suppose my newest gig won’t do much to change their minds.
From Ames to Austin and Boulder to Lubbock, I’ll spend my time chronicling -- and hopefully providing some insight into -- the goings-on of the Big 12.
Over the past few seasons, I’ve had the privilege of seeing some great moments inside one of America’s most competitive conferences.
I’ll never forget Vince Young slipping inside the pylon on fourth-and-5 for the title. I watched Kansas and Missouri light up the scoreboard for four hours on a freezing November Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium just for a chance to call themselves No. 1. And if my time in Oklahoma is any indication, I think the Sooners forgive Billy Sims for eliminating any confusion about the school that’s produced two of the conference’s three Heisman winners in the past decade.
Now, blogging those events -- and the stories and work that lead up to them -- is my job, and I can’t wait to get an even closer look at the moments we can’t wait to remember.
Will Nebraska return to its perch as a perennial national title contender? Will Baylor’s Robert Griffin do his best Vince Young impression and threaten the South’s traditional powers? Can Kansas recapture the magic of the 2007 season with a Husker at the helm? Will another pair of promising Red River quarterbacks put on a show in Dallas like their predecessors did annually?
I’m looking forward to finding out, and I hope you’ll join me here. Communication is a exchange of ideas, and this blog is no different. Feel free to contact me with questions and comments, and there’s a pretty good chance it could appear (or influence what appears) in this space.