HornSports Staff
HornSports.com
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- Oct 20, 2013
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The point on a brisket is typically the fattiest cut. Pitmasters often trim the point and select edges off a whole brisket and return them to the smoker.
Are burnt ends tough, chewy worthless cuts of meat, or are they a heavenly bites of smoky goodness? I suppose it depends on who you ask...
Rather than discard trimmings and fat, we chose to savor all the information that flows through the site. So, sit down and help yourself to some burnt ends.
***DO NOT FORWARD***
Let’s kick things off with the latest on Jaxon Shipley’s hamstring. To say that sourced opinions are varied doesn’t even begin to cover the situation. Since the info is highly variable depending on the source, we’ll give three bits to you and let you decide for yourself…
First, a teammate on Shipley’s injury, “He’s unreal, man. He works so hard. It won’t surprise me at all if he’s out there on Saturday.â€
Second is a medical professional (with knowledge of the injury) that thinks it might be much more serious than is being reported. Not only did this person think that Shipley shouldn’t play this weekend, they went so far as to say that they weren’t sure that he’d play against UCLA.
And just to make sure that your head is spinning, there’s a really reliable team source that said Shipley will, in fact, play this weekend against North Texas.
So there you have it. Decide for yourself which version you prefer…based on everything we’ve been told the guess here is that Shipley wants to play and thinks he can play through the injury. Whether or not he gets that opportunity is a different story and depends on how good the medical information above is.
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How about some hoops scoop?
Most St. Louis area high school coaches will tell you that Bradley Beal is the best prospect to ever come out of the area. If you’re not familiar with Beal, he was a one-and-done at UF and was All-SEC as a freshman. He currently plays for the Washington Wizards (3rd overall pick in 2012 NBA draft).
Enter, Jordan Barnett who is from St. Louis and plays on the same AAU team that Beal played on several years ago. Even though Beal is a shooting guard and Barnett is a small forward, there are some area coaches that are ready to pass the title on to Barnett.
Quite simply, area high school coaches are raving about Barnett. Evidently Barnett has continued to mature physically and has a terrific work ethic. The combination of those things has elevated the youngster to a level that some St. Louis folks are saying things like “best everâ€.
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For those of you unfamiliar with the Boyd brothers at Gilmer HS, a little backstory is in order….Kris Boyd, a 2015 DB prospect, is highly sought after and has his choice of colleges. It’s generally accepted that Boyd will pick a school from three finalists – Texas, A&M, and FSU.
Where Kris’ recruitment got interesting is a couple months ago when he declared that any school that also recruited his brother, DeMarco, would vault to the top of his list. DeMarco is a 2016 recruit at inside linebacker. After Kris’ declaration, FSU offered DeMarco and the ‘Noles shot up the list.
Texas has steadily been in touch with DeMarco, but has treated him like most other prospects in his class. That’s to say that they’re recruiting him, but attending to 2015 kids more earnestly. A solid source told HornSports that Texas has really increased the recruitment of DeMarco….....at running back.
DeMarco also plays RB at Gilmer and from what we’re told, UT is the only major school that’s talking to him about playing on offense. This one is far from over, but this could be a noteworthy turn in both brothers’ recruitments.
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While on the subject of 2016 recruits, we got an interesting bit from a high school coach that told us the Longhorn coaches were really picking up intensity in their recruitment of Plugerville HS Safety Louis Kelley.
Kelley is nationally considered a Top 25 prospect at his position and is already being recruited by all the in-state Big 12 schools and A&M. Defensive back is a position that is loaded with top tier recruits in Texas for 2016, so to learn that the Texas staff is going after Kelley with enthusiasm represents an interesting piece to what will surely be a complex puzzle.
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A team source talked pretty candidly about some of the differences between this year and Coach Brown’s final year. Among several notable comments, the most instructive thing discussed was how there’s no doubt that the current coaching staff will follow through with whatever they say they’re going to do.
Sometimes what’s not said is more telling than what is said…
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When the first 11 defenders take the field on Saturday evening, we’re expecting Dylan Haines to get the nod over Jason Hall. Starting is irrelevant though because we were assured that Hall will play and play a lot.
On Monday, Coach Strong commented that the coaching staff wanted a few more practice tapes of OL and S play, but our source was firm in his belief that Haines will get the starting nod.
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Fans debate about David Ash’s choice to continue to play football and risk further injury, but one of his teammates told us that Ash’s choice runs much deeper in the locker room, “Think about what that means to the team. Think about what he’s risking…if you know him, he’s not doing it for himself, man. He’s putting it on the line with us. That’s powerful. That’s motivating, right there.â€
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So much has been made of this team having a power running game, and according to a team source, fans are in for a taste on Saturday against North Texas, “The interior of the line – Sed [Flowers], Dom [Espinosa], and Perk [Kent Perkins] – there ain’t no way they gonna handle those three for four quarters. It’s about to get real.â€
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A lot has been made about how much the OL has improved because they’re going up against one of the best d-lines in the conference every day in practice. In fact the story has been such a focal point in the media that an offensive player told us that people are missing an important point, “That 2nd string line, man those guys can ball. When it’s 2’s against 2’s, the defensive line absolutely dominates.â€
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One final recruiting note – Darius Anderson, the DT from Missouri City (Hightower), is a 2016 recruit that has been leaning towards Austin for several months. Evidently the battle is picking up….UCLA and OU have both been showing Anderson lots of love lately.
There’s still plenty of time left in this one, but from a Houston source it sounds like Anderson’s pledge isn’t the sure thing that some fans are hoping.
