Most Important Texas Football Players this Spring with Eric Henry and Scottie Scheffler's dominance with Kevin Robbins

It's a Fire Me Up Friday with Cameron Parker. Cameron visits with Eric Henry to discuss the 10 most important players for Texas Football this spring. Plus, Kevin Robbins joins to talk about Scottie Scheffler's dominance and why he plays so well at The Masters. Craig Way and Keith Moreland join from the ballpark in Kentucky to preview the weekend series against the Wildcats.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome into today's program. I'm Cameron Parker filling in for
Craig Way. Glad to have you with us, and boy
do we have a fun show plan for you today.
First off, Craig Wegg in Lexington, Kentucky, as Texas Baseball
on the road at Kentucky Proud Park for an SEC
Conference series against the Kentucky Wildcats. The top rank long

(00:23):
Corns to the conference against the Wildcats. So Craig and
Keith Morland, his broadcast partner, getting ready for the three
game series. In fact, Craig and Keith will join us
top of the three o'clock hour, get their thoughts on
this series, get their thoughts on the Masters, and maybe
the cuisine in Lexington, Kentucky. So that's coming up as well.

(00:43):
It is Friday, it is round two of the Masters.
Scotty Scheffler your eight. We'll fire it up there to
ask Scotty Scheffler on the course two under right now
through six holes, as the former Longhorn looking to go
back to back at Augusta and win his third third

(01:06):
green jacket right now in a fantastic spot and as
he is just getting his round underway, in fact, just
fired an absolute dart on the sixth hole that par three,
stuck at it in nicely and close to make his
second birdie of the day. So he is currently two
back of Justin Rose, who is in the clubhouse with
a seventy one. The day has extended his lead to

(01:28):
one shot. He's got some serious guys chasing him, including
Ry McElroy, Rice in the Shambo, Corey Conners, and Scottie Schefferd.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
So all four of those guys at six under par.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Scotty on the front nine, Corey Connors making the turn
right now he's two under par, Bryson the Shambo currently
on the seventeenth hole, and Roy McElroy, who when I
signed off on the air yesterday was four under par.
And Rory was my pick to win the tournament this
year coming in, I thought he has been playing the
best golf out of any golfer right now in the world.

(02:03):
He won, He's won twice this season, including at the
Players Championship about a month ago, and it felt like
this was a new Rory mclroy and feel feeling great
as he made the turn. It got to what the
fourteenth hole, fifteenth hole in the fairway, hits his second
shot in the par five, still behind the green, and

(02:27):
what's funny is right before that saw Patrick Cantley hit
it in the water twice from where Roy was.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
I think Cantley made a triple bogee.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
But Roy's back there in command of his shot four
under par, and what happens. Ry McRoy chips on the green,
the ball rolls, rolls past the cup and down into
the tributary just in front of the fifteen green, ends
up making double bogie. Okay, two under par. Justin Rose
at seven under part were fine, you know he's still

(02:57):
top ten. Well, gets to the seventeenth pole in what
happens a very very very poor double bogie, ends up
making two double bogies in two of his last four
holes on the property, ends up shooting a seventy two,
and Roy McElroy ends up doing what he's done so
many times on a Thursday at the Masters, and that's

(03:20):
just shoot himself out of the competition. But has come
back today and is currently six under par. Rat right
now would be the lowest round on the property by
at least a shot. Just hit his t shot at
eighteen a little bit right, but through his round, made
one birdie on the front nine, Bertie on the second
hope has absolutely blistered the back nine, including Birdie's on

(03:43):
ten eleven, an ego on thirteen, and Folks, if you
haven't been watching the coverage today, I highly recommend either
you go to the Masters app or the Master's website
and it's, by the way, this is probably the best
app in all sports because you can go back and
watch every single shot from every golfer. You want to
see Nick doun Lap hit it left of left on
the third hole yesterday, you can do that. If you

(04:03):
want to see Roy McElroy, you can, and I encourage
you to watch his second shot from the pine shraw
on the thirteenth. Remember Phil Mickelson shot when he won
in twenty eleven wasn't as clutch as that, but I mean,
a fantastic shot from Rory ends up making eagle on thirteen.
Birdie's fifteen back to back pars and currently is on
the eighteenth hole looking to secure the low round of

(04:25):
the day and pull himself right back in this tournament.
Currently two back from Justin Rose. Scotty Scheffer, by the way,
just hit his t shot in seven and that is
right or right, so good start. There for Scotty, but
he's still under par right now. And then Bryce to
the shambo. Either your favorite golfer or the golfer you
hate the most, just made bogie on sixteen, so he

(04:45):
actually was one back of Justin Rose now on seventeen
where he made bogy yesterday but just stripped it down
the fairway. So a chance for Bryson maybe with a
wedge in hand, to get back to seven under par,
but he's two back from Justin Rose, who has finished
his day with a seventy one Rose your current leader,
Corey Connors, also at six under, and then at five

(05:06):
under par. You got Victor Hovlin and Shane Lowry, both
are four under on their round right now, both playing
the seventeenth and eighteenth hole. And then Matt McCarty sixty eight.
McCarty coming in this week, I had no idea who
he was, but making his Master's debut, a second Masters
or sorry Major championship start from Santa Clara University, the Scottsdale,

(05:27):
Arizona Natives, so that makes sense.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
That's a golf area there.

Speaker 1 (05:30):
So McCarty in with a sixty eight, he's five under
for the tournament, and then at four under par. You
have Rasmus Hoyguard ludefig Oberg, the Texas Tech golfer, who
is even on his days so far, and then Jason
Day the Aussies, two under on his round currently at
four hundred par through six holes. He's just getting starred.
And a couple other big names at three hundred par

(05:50):
including Sun jam Hideki Matsyama, Tommy Fleetwood, Sam Burns, Harris English,
Brian Harmon, in Terrellhattan. So a lot of low scores
right now, but if you're watching the coverage right now,
you're seeing the win really pick up in this back
nine in the afternoon will be very interesting, I believe.
My guess is it will be very tough to score
with the greens firm and up. We're seeing guys currently

(06:12):
some of these par threes come up about twenty thirty
yards short or long trying to gauge the win. So
we'll see how that impacts other names. Lookout for Colin
Moore Kalak currently one under par, Max Homer, Daniel Berger,
Matt Fwickzpatrick cam Smith, Justin Thomas Minwell, Lee, Jordan Spieth,
all currently even for the tournament at one over par.

(06:34):
Wyndham Clark, Aukshay, Batilla, Stepstraca. How about Bernhard Longer and
his last masters currently inside the cut line and Freddy
Couples as well. Fred Couples also at one over par.
If you haven't seen him hole out, I think it
was the seventeenth pole yesterday maybe sorry, fourteenth from one
hundred and ninety one yards out. Freddy Couples, by the way,
finished one shot ahead of Roy Maulcroy, the world's best

(06:56):
golfer in finesh twenty shots ahead of Nick Dunlap, who
won a PGA Tour yesterday.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
He is twenty one years old. That's why the game
of golf is so dang fun.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
Tom Kim at won over par, Matt mcnely at won
over par, Patrick Cantley two over, part John rom Back
inside the cut line at two over, Cam Young at
two over, Phil Micholson at two over the cut line
right now projected at two over par. Some big names
right now outside the cut line include Dustin Johnson, Jonathan Vegas.
His first Master's appearance in twenty eighteen, will Sala Tours

(07:26):
had him picked to my pull that one hurts, big shot,
Bob McIntyre at three over par. Sergio Garcia seventy six
today he is two shots behind the cut line. Do
not think he'll fit it in Brooks CapCo Wow seventy
five today he is also three shots over the cut line.
Maybe depending on the weather, the cut line may move
back to three over par, but I think Sergio and

(07:46):
Brooks Kepco will be going home this weekend. Adam Scott
as well. He finished with a five five over par
for the tournament. Billy Horsel a pick for a lot
of people, seventy seven yesterday. He's currently even on the
course through this front nine five over par. So some
names there to look out for, and we'll continue to
update you on Masters coverage. Okay, mentioned Craig White and

(08:08):
Keith Walling coming on. Have some other special guests lined
up up next. We're gonna have Eric Henry from Horns
two four seven. I'm gonna actually do a little fun
segment here. We're gonna we're gonna draft who we think
are the ten most important Texas football players this spring.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
That'll be coming up next.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
Kevin Robbins, golf author and professor of the University of Texas,
who just wrote this fantastic piece on Scotti Scheffler for
Texas Monthly dot Com.

Speaker 2 (08:32):
He will come on.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
He sat down with Scotti Scheffler a few months ago,
and I'm gonna ask Kevin about the mind inside of
Scottie Shefflin, get his thoughts on the masters as well.
And then David Johnston, Texas swimmer, two time national champion
in US Olympian He'll come on our show about four
o'clock as well. I'm gonna visit with David talk about
Bob Bowman. You know, Texas winning their sixteenth national championship

(08:56):
in men's swimming and diving. So any David's thoughts on
the transition from going from Eddie Reesta Bobo. I mean,
that's what like going from I don't know, uh, what's
the comparison Red Auerbach to Phil Jackson.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
I don't know the comparison is there.

Speaker 1 (09:08):
But he went from Eddie Rees, who he won a
national championship with in twenty twenty one, to Bob Bowman,
who has won back to back national champions with two
different teams. He wont to Arizona State last year, comes
to Texas and wins with Texas this first year, first
year Texas in the SEC is so going to get
David's thoughts on that transition, his year, and also his
experience in the US Olympics.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
David did compete in the Olympics.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
Last season, unfortunately contracted COVID as I think half the
half the athletes that were staying in Paris. But get
his thoughts on that, that experience and more and some
fun stories about hanging out with Leron, James, Kevin Durant,
Steph Crie, all that and more.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
So a real fun show for you. It is Friday.
What does that mean, guys, Friday inconceivable? That's right.

Speaker 1 (09:50):
We traveled to the more flaccid of the lower forty
eight states in reach for that low hanging through. That's
all coming up on the Today's show. I'm fired up.
I hope you are as well. We are just gating
rolling here on the Craig Way Show. Of course, you
can listen for free on the iHeartRadio app, and of
course you can join the show by texting the word
Texas to eight one five three zero followed by your message,

(10:10):
or leave us a talk back message on the free
iHeart radio app.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
We're just getting going.

Speaker 1 (10:16):
More to come here, including Eric Henry from Horns two
four seven up next, not in Lexting, thinking Kentucky in
the more warmer climate of Austin, Texas. Is my good
buddy Eric Henry from Horns two four to seven got
a tank top on looking swoll.

Speaker 2 (10:31):
What's up?

Speaker 3 (10:32):
Eric?

Speaker 2 (10:32):
How you doing?

Speaker 4 (10:34):
Cam? That's a coincidence, folks.

Speaker 5 (10:36):
We didn't plan that with Cam saying I'm in warmer
climate because we've got an ac issue going on in
my home and it is like eighty something degrees outside.

Speaker 4 (10:44):
Hence the tank top.

Speaker 5 (10:46):
That was not for the lovely audience watching on YouTube
at thirteen hundred on the YouTube channel camp.

Speaker 1 (10:51):
But they're not complaining, that's for sure, because the drafts
are good. I mean, but hopefully windows up. You got
the ac man on the way, we.

Speaker 5 (10:58):
Got windows, we got fan right here kicking. It's just
not you know, fully there. So hopefully by the at
the end of the day we'll be in good straights.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
I hope, So, I hope. So for your sake, at
least it's not August. Rather, you rather get this out
of the way done in April and not August. So
why did to come on the day and do something
a little bit different here? I wanted to talk about
this Texas spring football team. And also, let's let's do
a draft of the ten most important players we think
and we'll do it based off timing here and see
how long it takes us. Sure, i'll give you first dips,

(11:28):
but we'll draft in order who we think are the
most important players of the Texas football team this spring
heading into twenty twenty five twenty twenty six season.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
And Eric Henry take it away. Who's your first pick?

Speaker 4 (11:39):
All right?

Speaker 5 (11:40):
So you threw a little curveball at me because I
thought we were doing top ten players?

Speaker 4 (11:43):
So are we still doing ten each?

Speaker 1 (11:44):
Well, we'll see based on timing, but let's go with
t all right, Right, So I'll try to run through
quick cause I have ten.

Speaker 5 (11:49):
At number ten, I will go tray more. I'll try
to keep this real quick. I think he's due for
a breakout here. We obviously know the expectations. He came
in with last year from UTSA was the American let
It Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

Speaker 4 (12:02):
I think he's due, you know, Cam.

Speaker 5 (12:03):
I think we saw him progress later in the year
last year, and I think he's due.

Speaker 4 (12:06):
So that's my number ten person.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
Yeah, trade Moore last season. I'm trying to pull up
his sacks. Last year, I think he ended up with
six and a half six and a half and in
this season now, I think the linebacking corps in the
on the defense is probably the most experienced group on
the football field.

Speaker 5 (12:25):
That would be fair when you peer a Hill, Lafou
and then of course Brad Spence and more.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
Yeah, okay, give me your number nine most important player.
We got one down number number number nine.

Speaker 5 (12:36):
This may be a little low for some folks, but
Mookie Taff coming back to the forty acres. Love the
veteran experience he brings on the back end. Again, don't
have to labor the point too long on Michael Taff.
We know the value that he brings a Texas football culture,
leadership and a player who is looking to have that
Jade Baron like jump from being a later pick in
the NFL draft who possibly a Day win or.

Speaker 4 (12:57):
Day two pick.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
Did you see Taff just sticking at s this next season?

Speaker 5 (13:02):
Yeah, you know, it could be interesting if you want
to move him around a little bit, maybe try to
showcase some different skills. I st know that Taff, and
this is no disrespect on him. I don't know that
he has that same versatility. Excuse me that Jaddey Baron has.
Maybe you play him at Star a little bit, but
I think it's safety strictly for him.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
Okay, So ten tray more, nine for Michael taff two
defensive players off the board.

Speaker 2 (13:23):
Give me your eighth most important player this spring?

Speaker 3 (13:27):
All right?

Speaker 5 (13:27):
Number eight again, this one might be a little bit
of a shock, but Trey Wisner, Countravian Weisner. You know
Steve Starkegan's track record of having thousand yard rushers over
his head coaching career.

Speaker 4 (13:38):
We spoke with Contrayveon yesterday.

Speaker 5 (13:40):
He's looking to build on his kind of unexpected first
year as a starter. I remember CJ. Baxter, Jayden Blue,
Trey Wisner was supposed to be that third guy. Then
he steps up with the injuries and Jane Blues fumbling
issues as a thousand yard years.

Speaker 4 (13:52):
If he can build on that, I think that would
be crucial.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
It's a running back room that at the beginning of
last season we thought a lot of depth, and then
well everyone in the running back room got injured.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
So this season, he returned CJ.

Speaker 1 (14:03):
Baxter, you returned Christian Clark, You add in James Simon,
the freshman from Louisiana, who we heard we're gonna here
later on the show, Trey Wiser talk about him in
his mediability yesterday. We've heard a lot of good things
about Jay Simon, but of course it was Trey Wisner
who I think literally carried Texas to a factory over
A and M this past season. A one thousand year
old rusher and the one running back from last year

(14:25):
that actually played that will be returning to the team
this season with Jayden Blue no longer on the roster. Okay,
number seven for you.

Speaker 4 (14:32):
Number seven, I'm gonna try it again.

Speaker 5 (14:34):
Make this one pretty quick here in efficient Ryan Wingo,
I'll put it simply, cam everyone knows the name Jeremiah Smith,
everyone knows the name Ryan Williams. When it comes to
freshman Ryan Wingo got a little bit overshadowed. Here's the
fact of the matter. If you gave Ryan Wingo the
amount of targets that Jeremiah Smith and or Ryan Williams
had last year, his numbers would pair very similarly to

(14:55):
those two guys who are considered to be the cream
of the crop in terms of young receiver.

Speaker 4 (15:00):
So Ryan Wingo is number.

Speaker 1 (15:01):
Seven of the returning receivers from from last season, Wingo
had the most receiving yards four hundred and seventy two.
It's going to be a completely different receiver room for Texas.
But it also helps out because you know, Arch Manning
obviously worked a lot with Ryan Wingo this past season
as a freshman. The other part of this, too, Eric
is Wingo had Lasa Guye surgery I think in the

(15:21):
offseason correct, correct, Yes, So you know, usually as a
receiver you want to be able to see I think
that's kind of the first thing. So if that was
affecting Ryan Wingo, and based off what Steve Sarkisian said
during some questions about it, it does seem to have
impacted Wingo and obviously he got it taken care of
as soon as the season ended after the lost to
Ohio State. So if Wingo has, you know, better eye sight,

(15:44):
he has that chemistry with Arch Manning. And we've also
seen sark and his offense kind of use Wingo in
various ways, whether it's out of the backfield or also
just you know, your typical running routes is a wide receiver.
So I'm very blowsh on Ryan Winkle this next season
as well. No doubt, no number six for you, it's
going to.

Speaker 4 (16:01):
Stay in the receiver room.

Speaker 5 (16:02):
How about Demo DeAndre Moore Junior, someone who really assumed
that Jordan Whittington like role not just on the field,
but in the locker room, in his receiving room as
being the leader of that group. Right, a lot of
things that Steve Sarkijan likes to do offensively, some of
those things hinge upon having some.

Speaker 4 (16:20):
Receivers who can block specifically that slot receiver, right.

Speaker 5 (16:24):
And I think Demo is due for development his own
development as a receiver.

Speaker 4 (16:28):
So DeAndre Moore comes.

Speaker 1 (16:28):
At number six and both you know, wing Goo and
More and not participating in the spring, which which kind
of sucks for for Arch in the Texas offense. But
I think More's coming back is the most experienced, in
best better route runner in the receiver room.

Speaker 4 (16:42):
That'd be fair.

Speaker 5 (16:43):
Yeah, I think in terms of route runner, most experienced,
and I think just kind of you know, Ryan Wingo,
you know pixeen plays on the outside.

Speaker 4 (16:50):
You haven't necessarily necessarily seen him.

Speaker 5 (16:51):
Do some of the you know, those intangible little things
quote unquote little things that Jordan Whittington did when he
was here, and passed down to DeAndre.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
Moore six yards to the past season more seven touchdowns,
second most on the team, only behind Matthew Golden. Felt
like outside of Matthew Golden, Moore became Quinn's favorite target.
I think back to the Vanderbilt game when he had
that incredible catch on the sideline. I love DeAndre Moore.
I think he's going to have another fantastic season. Okay,
so more we go off the board. I think are

(17:20):
number five.

Speaker 4 (17:21):
Now, yep, and listen.

Speaker 5 (17:23):
I'm a big believer that football games are one in
the trenches, so we got to get some lineman in here.
DJ Campbell at number five, the most experienced offensive lineman
returning in terms of starts, of course, he have some
veterans and Cole and Connor Robinson who have played, but
in terms of starts, DJ Campbell most veteran there.

Speaker 4 (17:42):
He's a guy who I think.

Speaker 5 (17:43):
When you look at you know Cam Williams's jump or
development from last year. DJ Campbell I think is another
guy who kind of lines up a road greater, a
real presence on the right side of offensive line at guard.
That in my mind, is where you're gonna running the
football behind right and I think DJ Campbell certainly is
due for a huge jump as well.

Speaker 2 (18:01):
Who do you think will be next tim at right tackle?
I think it'll be Brandon Baker.

Speaker 4 (18:06):
Right now, I think the leader in the clubhouse is
Brandon Baker.

Speaker 5 (18:08):
We heard a lot of great things about Nick Brooks
right Trey Weisner shouted out Nick Brooks by name, but
I don't think you know, being this early in his
Texas football tenure, that'd be a tough ask.

Speaker 4 (18:18):
I think Brandon Baker's liked with the right time.

Speaker 1 (18:20):
We'll see early on which side of the defensive line
that start likes to run behind. But Campbell coming in
the most experienced as well. Number four, we're gonna stay
on the offensive line. Trevor Gooseby right left tackle. We
all know protecting the blind side of your quarterback. Got
to keep Arch manning upright. That's the big thing, right.
I don't care if granted Arch a tremendous athlete, we

(18:42):
all know what he can do.

Speaker 5 (18:43):
But for a first time starter, a guy with only
two stars underneath his belt, he needs to have a
solid offensive line.

Speaker 4 (18:49):
It all starts at left tackle. Trevor Gooseby, number.

Speaker 1 (18:51):
Four, taking the spot of Kelvin Banks, who would be
a first round draft pick both tackles. I mean, Nan
time fittive line is being replaced, but you're gonna have
a soft, more Possban Gooseby at left tackle. You might
have a sophomore even true freshman at right tackle. Something
to keep an eye out for. Okay, number three in
the final three picks for Eric Henry, all.

Speaker 5 (19:10):
Right, I'm gonna peer these two together because I went
two A and two B. Two B was Colin Simmons,
of course, hearing great things about the now sophomore Egge
Rusher that he has been a game wrecker. We saw
him be a game wrecker in his freshman season, but
you speak with players and he's taking his game to
the next levels being a game wrecker in practice and

(19:30):
of course, arguably depending on who you are, the best
or second best player on this defense. Linebacker Anthony Hill junior,
you talked about north of one hundred tackles, double.

Speaker 4 (19:42):
Digit tackles for loss.

Speaker 5 (19:43):
Would love to see him be a guy who can
be double digit tackle for loss and double digit sacks right,
maybe get a few interceptions in there. We've seen him,
you know, be a real ballhawk. Stepped up his game
from being just a guy who was running around making
plays and being a true linebacker. Right, if he can
take his game to the next level, be that all
around linebacker, I think that's huge.

Speaker 4 (20:02):
For Texas's defense. So to be Colin Simmons to a
Anthony Hill.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
Junior without a doubt, I think you're spot on there.
I think back to the Georgia game, the first Georgia
game in Austin, Jalen Walker and Dalen Everett, who I
thought I have to leave in that game. I thought, Okay,
those are the two best linebackers in the country, and
it's because of their ability to rush the passer and
get to Quinn yours in arch Manning. We already know
what Colin Simmons can do. He can do that, but

(20:26):
if he can take a next step like Jyllen Walker
and have a fantastic year, this Texas defense can be
absolutely scary in twenty twenty five and also takes some
pressure off the secondary. Okay, so Simmons and Anthony Hill
are gone. Who is your most important player for Texas football?
And I got a feeling it's not Trey Owens, no disrespect,

(20:47):
this is.

Speaker 5 (20:47):
Listen, no justice, But the Trey Owens, who certainly serves
a valuable role if he is going to be the
QB too. Because cam Real Quick Texas and Steve Sarkasan's tenure,
they have not had a quarterback finish the entire year
getting banged up, right, But knock on wood on, Ivy
would to knock.

Speaker 4 (21:02):
On here, number one.

Speaker 5 (21:03):
You already know what is number one in your heart's
number sixteen on your roster, arch Manning.

Speaker 4 (21:09):
Everything begins and ends with quarterback play. Arch Manning. I
think again, the thing with this team Cam is it's
there's a measure.

Speaker 5 (21:17):
Of youth, but you don't feel like it's youth that
you're like, all right, we don't know what we have
if everything falls into place. No, you feel real optimistic
about the youth on this football team, right because you've
seen glimpses of it with Trevor Gooseby getting a couple starts,
glimpses of it with arch Manning getting a couple starts.
So arch Manning, not necessarily if, but you expect him

(21:39):
to take the next step in his development, and it
might not be Week one of Ohio State.

Speaker 4 (21:44):
Right, that's a tough ask.

Speaker 5 (21:45):
But over fourteen fifteen games in a regular season and
possibly the SEC title game. I think arch Manning is
going to be one of the top two or three
quarterbacks in the SEC.

Speaker 2 (21:53):
So arche betting number one for you. A couple of
names you didn't get too.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
I want to get your thoughts on for ten most
important players, so we'll call these maybe honorable mentions. One
I had written down with CJ. Baxter, who did not
play last season. Of course, was injured throughout the season,
but remember after twenty twenty three he was the second
leading rusher behind Jonathan Brook six hundred and eighty yards,
five touchdowns, had a couple costly fumbles against Washington the

(22:17):
collastiontball playoff. But I think going into this past season
thought he was going to be the guy. Of course
gets injured. I think Texas really missed an in between
the tackles type runner and I think CJ. Baxscher will
fill that void. And I think a lot of Texas
fans may have forgotten about him. But I think with
Wisner and now CJ. Baxter returning, this could be a
really profitable one to two punch for Steve Sarkija, especially

(22:41):
with you know, a quarterback in arch Manning. I know
everyone's excited about Arts, but you know he does not
have the experience that a lot of starting quarterbacks have.

Speaker 2 (22:47):
So having a capable running back group will be huge.
And if c J.

Speaker 1 (22:50):
Baxter can be healthy, as start calls him C four,
I feel like CJ. Baxter can be a huge, huge
offensive player for Texas this next season him.

Speaker 4 (23:00):
I agree with you. You know when you look at CJ.

Speaker 5 (23:04):
And even Christian Clark too, right, and Steve kind of
alluded to it the other day. Modern medicine has guys
recovering faster than ever, but it's not normal to recover
from an achilles R. I remember in Achilles used to
be an injury that you could potentially end your career.

Speaker 4 (23:17):
Done with CJ. Baxter? Yeah, CJ. Baxs will come back
from the knee.

Speaker 5 (23:21):
I'm still taking that weight and see approach with him,
but I would agree with you right if CJ.

Speaker 4 (23:25):
We'll see where he is in fall.

Speaker 5 (23:27):
He's still talking about a kid who was a number
one overall recruit running back recruit in his class, a
dynamic runner.

Speaker 4 (23:32):
I think was poised to do big things last year
before the injuries.

Speaker 3 (23:34):
I agree.

Speaker 1 (23:35):
And then one other one for you here, chilling Gilbot.
He was someone that mckaman he plays a freshman, real
excited about him, but just dealt with various injuries.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
He played a little bit last season.

Speaker 1 (23:45):
I think some people were were using to transfer out,
But the second half of the year, I thought we
saw a lot more Gilbo on the field, and I
think he looked a lot more confident with PK. Of course,
new DB's coach with Joseph Gone so different staff. But
we heard Sart talk about him playing at cornerback this
season's upcoming season with him and Maddy Muhammad and then

(24:06):
Jelani McDonald. Of course, Kobe Black heard a lot of
good things about Warren Roberson. I think this cornerback groom
could be very good, but I think Gilbo will stand
out as a player that's going to have a very
good season. What do you think about Gilbol this year
in his role in the defense, because tax is going
to have to rely on somebody with mcouba and Johnny
Barron no longer on the team.

Speaker 5 (24:25):
Yeah, you talk about some of the shifting dynamics of
that secondary and rool course starts with the coaches.

Speaker 4 (24:30):
Mark Orfey coming in from Rutgers Dwayne A. Keene.

Speaker 5 (24:33):
Of course, coming back to the forty acres, I would
agree with you. It's funny, you know, well, I guess
I'll start with Jalen first, right, if he is truly
as Steve Starkejan said, going to make the shift to
outside corner. That's where it gets interesting to me, because
you know the value the star role has in PK system,
as they say, it kind of ties the front end
and back end together. The name that I had is

(24:55):
number eleven or just you know, kind of guy who
was honorable mention is Maddy Muhammad, And I think it's
kind of you know, you can flip a coin.

Speaker 4 (25:02):
Right whether it's Manny or Jalen Gilbert.

Speaker 5 (25:04):
Because both of those guys are going to have huge
responsibilities on the outside. The reason I went with many
is I think that again kind of playing into the
theme of notlessly boom.

Speaker 4 (25:13):
Or bus, but just waiting to see someone tap into
that potential.

Speaker 5 (25:17):
Manny Muhammad is a guy who you fell last year, okay,
coming off of his freshman year, got a lot of
playing time. Want to see where he went as a sophomore.
A little bit overshadowed by Jade Baron right. And of
course when you're playing opposite such a stud cornerback, you're
going to be the guy who is targeted so many
had you know, a couple personal it's not personal fouls,
a couple of pass interferences, you know, a couple of
defensive holdings. I think Manny's due for again, kind of

(25:41):
that breakout year where he kind of taps into his ceiling, right,
So I'm gonna win many over Gilbot.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
But again, I think it's a flip of a coin.
You can't go wrong either way. Last one for you,
and this is kind of a bonus round here. Who
is maybe a true freshman or transfer coming in that
you think is going to have a big impact coming
up this next season.

Speaker 4 (26:00):
I'm going to go with two transfers.

Speaker 5 (26:02):
The area that I didn't address, you know me, Like
I said, I think the wins and championships are built
in the interior. Didn't mention any interior defensive linemen. Here
are two transfers, right. Travis Shaw just wrote this. It's
up today on Horns twenty four to seven dot com.
Welcome to the forty acre series where I'm previewing and
kind of giving some insight into the five transfers who
are here in spring Shaw dealing with a knee injury.

(26:24):
Back to his time in North Carolina camp. You know,
five star recruit, number twelve overall recruit in the nation,
number one in the state of North Carolina, doesn't necessarily
work on his first two years had it, you know,
a little bit of off field incident. Was struggling with
his weight as well. Definitely had to mature a little bit.
If Kenny Baker, someone who is known for getting transfers,
getting the most out of guys who maybe have had

(26:45):
a couple stops and give them the tools to succeed.
If he can get the most out of him, I
think that'd be key. And also Colbrovar the other or
one of three defensive tackles. But Coldbrivard transferring in from
Purdue has all the makings of a classic run stuffer
six three three three fifty two is actually where he's
weighing in nineteen pounds heavier than where he was at Perdue.

(27:07):
But if he can fill that Bill Norton like role,
I think those two are huge for Texas.

Speaker 2 (27:11):
He's Eric Henry from Horns two four seven.

Speaker 1 (27:13):
Check out its work at Horns two four seven dot
com and follow him on Twitter at Eric c Henry Underscore.

Speaker 2 (27:19):
Eric, I hope your AC gets fixed next time I
talk to you.

Speaker 4 (27:23):
Cam always a player to hop on which you appreciate
you having me on my man.

Speaker 2 (27:26):
I've men We'll see you around.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
That's Eric Henry from Horns two four seven his top
ten most important players. I bet you can guess number one,
but go back and listen if you missed it. Two
through ten very important for Texas football in twenty twenty five.
Some new names to learn as Texas looks to return
to the College Football Playoff for their third straight season
under Steve Sarkesian. Okay, we're through the first two segments.

(27:50):
Up next, it's Friday, and it's an inconceivable time. That
means we travel to the more flaccid, the lower forty
eight states. First, we're gonna stop in Augusta, Origia before
traveling to Florida. That's up next here as The Craigway
Show continues Our one on this Fire Me Up Friday
on The Craigway Show. Cameron Parker with you on this
Fire Me Up Friday. Glad to have you with us,

(28:11):
whether you're listening on the Free iHeart radio app or
watching us on our YouTube live stream Glad to have
you in. Craig Way is currently in Lexington, Kentucky as
in Number two Texas Longhorge take on the Kentucky Wildcats
at Kentucky Browd Park and Craig Way and Keith Morlin
will have the call starting tonight five fifteen airtime. You

(28:33):
can hear on one O three to one FM, Austin's
eighty station of course always free on the iHeart radio app,
and right now both Craig and Keith joined me in. Guys,
I don't know if you listened to the first hour
of the show, but we've had white chocolate references, we've
had sexy chocolate references. So between you and Keith, which
one of you would be more likely to have the

(28:54):
white chocolate nickname and the other one that had the
sexy chocolate nickname.

Speaker 6 (28:58):
Well, I think both of us would be free easing
chocolate today. From where we stand in Lexing, Kentucky, let
me tell you it's forty eight degrees on the thermometer
here in Lexington under overcast skies. They had rained this morning.
The team was able to get into full workout last
night before some showers arrived, and then it rained off

(29:19):
and on overnight and had a good shower this morning.
It's forty eight degrees with the wind blowing steadily out
of the north at fifteen miles per hour. So the
wind chill right now, Cameron Parker here at Kentucky Proud
Park in Lexington is thirty eight degrees. That's the wind chill.
That's why it sounds like we're in a studio and
out at the ballpark. We have the windows closed right

(29:40):
now because it's because it's rather chilly and we're both
pretty bundled up, which brings us.

Speaker 7 (29:46):
To, Yeah, I got everything I brought with me on
and never my name Cameron would ever be associated with
anything sexy. So let's just start with those two.

Speaker 2 (29:56):
I don't know about that. I mean, come on, Keith, wea.

Speaker 3 (30:00):
Right, I trust me, So that that should answer your question.

Speaker 2 (30:04):
Well, let me ask you guys this.

Speaker 1 (30:06):
So Texas Baseball eleven to one, of course, tight to
top the SEC with Arkansas up the number two in
the standings under Jim Slaunschnegele his first season in Austin,
and then the big story has been the pitching currently
lead the conference with the lowest ERA three point zero
three and looking at last year they were almost at
five A four point nine to one e R. So
I want to ask you guys, what has been the

(30:28):
biggest difference allowing the Texas pitchers to lower this era,
Because when you think about it, they've had four different
pitching coaches in the last four years, a guy like
Luke Harrison's had a different coach come in every single year.
But something is clicking between Jim Slashnegele and Max Wiener.

Speaker 6 (30:44):
I'll start off and then I'll let Keith expound on it.
I think you start at the alpha and the omega,
the alpha being the guy who gets the ball tonight,
Jared Spencer with whether he's done, he's got a three
two oho RA and then they may go on the
opposite end of it, obviously is still and Valantis with
what he's done to close out games. In between, there
have been guys, both starters and relievers who have been

(31:07):
able to fill in the gaps and do that.

Speaker 2 (31:10):
And Keith one of the things is that at least.

Speaker 6 (31:12):
They've been able to get guys to fill in spots
when they needed to get some outs here and there.
Whether it's a you know, an Andre to Plantier or
Max Grubbs or whoever it might be. They've been able
to get some guys to come in in key situations
and get some outs. And then obviously in the third
starter who started as a reliever, rugariohas who we'll get

(31:36):
to start on Sunday.

Speaker 7 (31:37):
Yeah, guys, there's things that jump off the page at
meet that. I'm an old ball player. I'm not as
big an analyto as analyzing things as much doing, but
I do have one term that I always shoop, and
that's a number of base runners per inning.

Speaker 3 (31:52):
That's something I really look at.

Speaker 7 (31:53):
And when you add Texas as numbers that I was
doing that just as you guys were talking right there,
Xus has allowed three hundred and fifty three base runners
this season and two hundred and ten innings of work.
That's about one point six base runners for any between
hot walks, hit batters and hits. You turn around on
the other side, you look at Kentucky. They come in

(32:16):
in thirty games, They've allowed nearly five hundred and eight
total batters to reach first base or to reach base,
So that's less than one hundred and fifty base runners
that Kentucky has so pitching the good part of what's
going on in pitches. Not only have they limited the hits,
they've limited the opportunity for the opponents to score without

(32:36):
the benefit of a base hit.

Speaker 6 (32:38):
And having said all that, cam Texas is going to
take on a Kentucky team that, while is five and
seven in SEC play, has had the lead in all
twelve games in conference play and has lost its last
five conference games by a grand total of seven runs,
one run, one run, two runs, two runs in one run.

(33:00):
So they've been in ball games. During the ball game
the other night with Louisville, they'd lost a very similarity
to how Texas lost to Louisville, and in the season opener,
both teams were tied to to going in the next innings,
Kentucky scored in the top of the tent, just like
Texas did in that game at Arlington against Louisville, and
Louisville scored two in the bottom of the tent, just
like they did in Arlington. So it's a team that's
been very, very close. And talking with Darren Heddrick, their

(33:25):
play by play voice, he said all of the things
that went right last year when they had that fifteen
and oh run in SEC play all of those things,
you know, he said, it's the odds catching up to
you on some of the stuff that hasn't done.

Speaker 2 (33:38):
And of course they graduated some good players as well.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
I think it was Ethan Mendoza last week before the
Georgia series was asked about their midweek loss to Texas
State and they had dropped win early in the season
on Tuesday night, and Ethan was asked to that, like,
you know, help you guys prepare for a weekend like this,
you lose a non conference geame midweek, to make sure
you don't lose in the weekend. And I think Ethan said,
I don't even remember we played two weeks ago. Is

(34:02):
that kind of you know, maybe some up how this
baseball team is at mentally and why they've been able
to play so well every game in eleven to one,
Because I don't think a lot of people expected him
to be tied for first this deep into the SEC play.

Speaker 7 (34:14):
Well, I expected him to be pretty good. I mean,
this is be honest, as we started the season and
you weren't sure what's happening. Now to be eleven and
one is a surprise when you've had down two of
their best offensive players and two of the better offensive
players in the SEC. And when you lose the ranting
Big twelve player of the year and very well maybe
for the season. We don't know the numbers on that yet.

(34:36):
It's not my job to speculate on that. But on
the other side you got Adrian and then Max Belue.
Then on the other side you got a Rod which
should start off like a house on a fire, and
there's no question watching his approach, he's an outstanding offensive player.
And you know, to be eleven and one and lose
two cogs, and I'm talking about guys that are in
the meat of your order, you know, two, three, four, five,

(34:59):
it's hard to replace those guys that nixt man up mentality.
Sometimes it doesn't work. But Texas has done a great
job of overcome that. And a lot of it is
like Craig was talking about, it's been pitching there. It's
been the fact that they haven't had to go chase
a bunch of runs, they haven't had to have that
bigger couple innings to come back in a ball game
because the pitching has been so good.

Speaker 1 (35:20):
Yeah, I'm looking at this weekend with Georgia playing Arkansas
three game series and ath and the Bulldogs trying to
respond after being sweat But you know there's a chance,
Craig that if Texas takes care of business this weekend
in Lexington against a tough Wildcat team, they could be
atop the SEC conference. And we heard Jim's lost. It
will talk about how important it is for Texas to
get to that fifteen sixteen wins because likely you're a

(35:43):
top four team in the SEC, which means you have
the first two days off in the conference tournament, but
also a really good chance you're going to be hosting.

Speaker 6 (35:50):
A regional Yeah, everything spills into the next thing. It's
a trickle down for them. So sitting at eleven in
one and you look at what they still have to
come now. They still have some challenging series the next
tour at home a very good Auburn team, and then
Texas A and M.

Speaker 3 (36:06):
Seems to be waking up now.

Speaker 6 (36:08):
They've won three straight SEC games now, including that walk
off last night in ten innings over South Carolina. Will
continue to see how the Aggies do for the next
two weekends are Auburn and then Texas A and M,
and then many are already pointing to what could be
a big showdown series in Fayetteville against art Kansas, currently
the number one and number two teams in the country.
Now a lot can change between now and then, but

(36:28):
even then, after that, they have Florida at home on
Senior weekend and then they finish at Oklahoma. But if
they here, they are approaching basically the halfway point of
conference play. If they're able to get into I'll even
say eighteen conference wins at that point, because they've got
eleven right now. If you're talking at eighteen conference wins,

(36:52):
and who knows, maybe even more than yes, I think
you're in the top four in the SEC. And with
the new conference tournament format, the top four seeds get
a double by and they don't play until the quarter found.
Its just like the men's basketball tournament the women's basketball tournament.
Even if you finish in the top eight, you get
a first day by. But if you can get that,
if you get the double bye, you only need to

(37:12):
win three games. You only need three starting pitchers to
try to win that conference tournament. And even then, at
that point, Keith, you're you're in the conversation. First of all,
you're almost a lock to be a regional host at
that point, and then you're in the conversation to be
a national seed.

Speaker 7 (37:26):
Yeah, and it but it's so much different than the
guys adding Texas and Oklahoma this year just look at
the league has not had this type of separation. We
I mean, you got two teams eleven and one, and
this weekend you had a team that did not have
a conference win. You had another one that only got
two conference win and they're playing each other guy that
had two and a guy that had three. Now Aggie's

(37:49):
won last night, so they've improved on that sort. So
we've had we've got a real big swing. And I
went back this week, you know, just getting ready, I
went back to this point.

Speaker 3 (37:58):
Last year.

Speaker 7 (37:59):
You know, difference from first to last was only six games. Yeah,
it's a lot different. It's a third world country this year.

Speaker 4 (38:05):
It is.

Speaker 7 (38:05):
The conference is pretty spread out. It's more top heavy
than we've ever seen it. I guess it's the best
way to put it.

Speaker 6 (38:12):
Yeah, and tour that end, you brought up Oklahoma, and
Oklahoma started well enough and they have been struggling of late,
and they got swept at home by LSU last week
and then they got pounded at home by Dallas Baptists,
and they've got Vanderbilt at home this weekend, and it's
almost really critical for them to try to win that
series just to kind of get back into the middle
part of the pack and stay in the middle part
of the pack in conference play. But there's a big,

(38:34):
big series going on this weekend, and every series other
than Florida, Missouri A and M South Carolina and this
one is a head to head ranked matchup, all of
the other conference series are head to head matchups between
ranked teams. So yeah, it's a big series here. It's
a big series all around the league.

Speaker 1 (38:56):
Camp last thing for you, guys, Keith on Saturday, last
Saturday against Georgia, nineteen seventy five Texas Baseball team national
champions guys were honored on the field. I know you
had some family obligations to attend to afterwards, but what
did that weekend mean for you to be able to
be reunited with your teammates and for the team to
be honored last Saturday.

Speaker 7 (39:16):
Well, the twenty six guys that were on the roster,
and nineteen of them were able to attend. That was
really cool. Everybody is still with us. That's one of
the things that you always worry about. Now there's some
guys that have overcome a few things to still be
with us, including the first present company included. So but
it is such an honor to see those guys and

(39:38):
to be a part the first time people look at
the Dish and now it's a lot different ballpark than
it was when we first opened it in nineteen seventy five.

Speaker 3 (39:46):
But to be a part of a group that not
only opened up.

Speaker 7 (39:49):
What was the taj Mahal of college baseball at the time,
they were nothing like it anywhere else in the country,
and then to go on to win go you know,
fifty six and six and win a National chairampionship claimed
the first one ever for coach Cliff Goffs's and it
was a heck of an honor. It was great to
see all those guys back together, and it was interesting
we had all three of our starting pitchers all threw

(40:11):
strikes off the mound if you remember, on the and
the opening pitch. That's pretty cool that they could all
get it up there and it's seventy years old and
get it to home plate and throw strikes with it.

Speaker 6 (40:21):
Not bad and by the way, Cam, you contrasted to
this ballpark. This is a nice ballpark, This Kentucky prow
Park where they play nice ballpark.

Speaker 2 (40:30):
It's seven years old. Wow, that's it.

Speaker 6 (40:32):
It's a grand total of seventy. They used to play
a place called the Cliff over the old ballpark. But
this is seven years old and it is very fan friendly.
It's just the weather's not very friendly today. Hopefully it'll
be a little more friend Tomorrow and Sunday are supposed
to be better, even sunny, with temperatures in the mid
to upper fifties, maybe even up to sixty by Sunday.

(40:55):
But it's not going to be a real comfortable We
can climateto logically speak can put it that way.

Speaker 1 (41:00):
We all if you guys can stay warm, and if not,
maybe the Texas bats can heap.

Speaker 6 (41:04):
Up he hate you know what. You know what else
we did, Cam? We went to cookout today, ye lunch, first.

Speaker 2 (41:09):
Time, Keith, first time been there before.

Speaker 3 (41:11):
First time. Well, I've had pulled pork before. Trust me.

Speaker 7 (41:14):
I've worked with Craig Way for thirty years, so you
know that he's taking me to a lot of good barbecue.
So and I do like North Carolina what I call
North Carolina barbecue.

Speaker 3 (41:24):
So it was good.

Speaker 7 (41:25):
I had a great sandwich and I had a corny dog.
Believe it or not, I didn't know they had a
corny dog. Had to go back and order one. She
went back and ordered one.

Speaker 1 (41:33):
I had the slaw dog and it was it was
and a cheerwine obviously good for a soft drink. See now, Keith,
cookout tastes better even at three am. So if the
game goes long tonight, then you know where they go.

Speaker 7 (41:45):
Yeah, we found that out, and sometimes these games we
have no idea. That's the one thing about baseball. There
is no time clock. Well, yes there is. There's a
twenty second clock.

Speaker 6 (41:54):
We just hadn't figured day and got all that worked
out with a pitch clock. Yet otherwise it's it's it's
it's a very timeless game. Well, hey, looking forward to
tonight's call on the weekend as well. Thanks for stopping by, guys,
appreciate it. Thanks Cam, we'll see you on Monday.

Speaker 1 (42:07):
We'll see you all right, Craig Way and Keith Warn
Member airtime today five point fifteen pm on one of
three one Austin's eighty Station, Texas and Kentucky. More to
come here, hour number two of The Creig Way Show,
including Kevin Robbins, golf author and professor, stops by to
talk about Scottie Scheffler as mister Scheffler chases green jacket
number three. That's up next. You're on the Fire Me

(42:29):
Up Friday. You're listening on the free iHeartRadio app. Welcome
back to The Craig Way Show and the Voice of
the Longhorns Craig Way.

Speaker 2 (42:40):
Follow Craig on social media at Horn Voice. Well, if
you're like me, you've heard the Master's theme song a
million times this weekend or this week.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
As we're on day two the twenty twenty five Masters
Golf Tournament, Justin Rose shot lead over Bryce in the
Shambo and was trying to think of who we could
talk to, who could bring on the help talk golf
and can't think of anyone better than Kevin Robbins, golf
author and professor of the University of Texas at Austin.

Speaker 2 (43:14):
And Kevin so happy to have you on. Glad we
could do this, Thanks for stopping by.

Speaker 8 (43:19):
Happy Friday, Happy Masters Friday, Cameron.

Speaker 2 (43:22):
So, first off, let's get to Scotti Scheffer.

Speaker 1 (43:24):
You had a great piece in Texas Monthly dot Com
on the April cover issue twenty twenty five and encourage
everyone to check out. And it was a fantastic piece
in kind of uncovering Scotty Scheffler in his rise to
where he's at right now with the world's best golfers,
if not the best golfer. In trying to understand what
makes him such a good golfer. You could talk about

(43:46):
his power, his ball striking, but from visiting with him
a couple months ago, in trying to explain it in
the simple terms, which is probably hard to do, what
makes Scotty Scheffler so good.

Speaker 4 (44:02):
Well, the answer is everything there.

Speaker 8 (44:06):
Nobody does nobody, nobody has the the same level of
skill in every part of the game than he does.

Speaker 6 (44:14):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (44:15):
And a lot of it's physical, but a lot of
it's mental too. And uh, he's just even he.

Speaker 8 (44:24):
He expressed to me time and again that he doesn't
think about the future and he doesn't think about the past.

Speaker 1 (44:32):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (44:33):
Maybe you know, maybe that's not I that would be
impossible to not and he we know he dwells on
mistakes and failures. Uh.

Speaker 8 (44:44):
And it's the only human to to dream about the future.
But I think maybe he does a really good job
of staying in that middle and in that present moment
better than most of us can.

Speaker 6 (44:58):
Uh.

Speaker 8 (44:58):
It's what he's trained his mind to do, and I
think his mind probably was before he tried to do
this to stay in the presence so much, he had
the kind of mind that could do that.

Speaker 4 (45:13):
I just think, you know, he's unflappable, and.

Speaker 8 (45:16):
When you add the skill set that he has on
the golf course, when he's playing even his B level golf,
he's pretty unbeatable.

Speaker 1 (45:25):
What makes him play so well at Augusta He's currently
five under par for the tournament, sixty eight. Yesterday looked
unflappable in the first round, four bird, he's zero Bogie's
the type of golf you need to be able to
play to win at this tournament. He's trying to go
back to back. Only three other golfers have done that before.
He's in a good spot here. What is it about

(45:46):
his mentality and his game that sets up so well
for Augusta National?

Speaker 4 (45:50):
Well, Augusta National is a hard golf course.

Speaker 8 (45:54):
It's a golf course that separates the field, and I
think in that respect, Cameron, he's a lot like Jack
was in his prime, a lot like Tiger was in
his prime. They rise to the majors in ways that
ordinary players don't and can't. Scotty didn't tell me this,
We didn't talk about this, but I suspect if you

(46:17):
gave him truth serum, he would tell you that there
are four times a year when he really really cares,
and it would be the four majors, and this is
the first one. The fact that he's won two and
is defending this year, I think he wants I think
he wants a legacy.

Speaker 4 (46:35):
Again.

Speaker 8 (46:36):
This is another thing that he doesn't talk about legacy,
but I think he desires a legacy in the game
in the way that Tiger and Jack did. It's all
about the majors. It's all about these four weeks a year.

Speaker 1 (46:48):
There's a nugget in your article that I did not
know about when when Scotty was a freshman golf at
the University of Texas and upset with the golf shot,
ended up injuring himself. When you think of Scotty Chef
or that we know him now, we think about how
a stoic he is, But there was a time where
Scotty was you know, fighting his temper and his anger

(47:09):
in the latest season of Full Swing, which I thought
they did a good job of. Ted Scott when when
he first got the call from Scotty Cheffer to be
his caddy, he asked him point blankly about his anger
and Scotty said, somebody need to work gone. So it's
something that we haven't that we don't really see a
lot of now, but Scotty does and at times did
get really fired up on the golf course.

Speaker 8 (47:30):
We all fight it anybody who plays the game, and
no game will will rouse that kind of emotion out
of a person like golf will. He's a guy who
it has come simply to him since he was just
a little kid, just a skinny little kid in Dallas.

Speaker 4 (47:50):
Things came easily to him.

Speaker 8 (47:52):
And you know, think about that cameraon like what win
are you at your best and what comes simply to you?
And think about a dumb little mistake that arises, like
that's going to get you?

Speaker 4 (48:06):
And it got Scottie. It still does. He's way better
at it than he used to be.

Speaker 8 (48:11):
That incident you mentioned was at the Raws course at Mubbock,
Texas Tech and it just he snapped he had a
bad shot and he turned around he just like smacked
a tree and it was a mesquite tree and had thorns,
and like embedded a thorn in his hand so deeply
that he had to get surgery to remove it. And

(48:34):
there are other stories too from his past. And we've
seen it on TV even as early even as recently
as this year. I can't remember which tournament it was,
but we saw that, We saw that anger erupt again.
He's a lot better at mitigating it than he used
to be, and he can play through it in a

(48:54):
way that he didn't he wasn't able to do when
he was younger.

Speaker 4 (48:58):
But it still happens. It's all always going to happen.
And you know, we saw it in Tiger. We didn't
see it a lot in Nicholas.

Speaker 8 (49:04):
Nicholas has a different mind, but I think he's always
going to have to be on point about knowing where
his temper is.

Speaker 1 (49:16):
So comparing Scotty, who's had two green jackets chasing a third,
to someone like Rory McRoy, I mean Scotty and Roy
both were the two favorites coming in in this tournament.
Rory has had a lot more cracks at it and
has not been able to crack the code that is
Augusta National. He's been leading on the back nine, He's
been in the final group multiple times.

Speaker 2 (49:35):
And it's not a question about talent or skill.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
We know Rory is talented, but what is it about
this course that allows Scotty to play so well and
then a golfer like Rory McRoy, who might be the
best golfer of his generation, to struggle time after time
every year, even though everyone thinks he should win this tournament.

Speaker 8 (49:54):
I don't know that's golf, as they say, and I
know that sounds like a a way out of your
good question. But you know, golf is endlessly, endlessly complex,
and a little thing can happen that can destroy around.
I take you back to when Rory was I remember

(50:16):
how old he was, twenty two when he had a
lead at Augusta on the tenth teams, leading by four,
and he snap hooked a ball left over by the Cabins, and.

Speaker 4 (50:27):
That was the beginning of his undoing Rory. Rory also
is an.

Speaker 8 (50:33):
Emotional player, but we don't see him run hot. We
don't see anger as much as we see out of Scotty.
We see sullenness. I think I think Rory can get
down more deeply than Scotty can. I don't think Scotty
has the capacity to get as low as Rory does,

(50:56):
and I think that's what makes Rory lovable and relatable
to those of us who watch golf. I don't know
that the course suits Scotty Scheffler in any special way.
And that's simply because every course suits Scotty Scheffler every course.
He's long enough, he's really accurate with his driver, he

(51:18):
is absolutely splendid with his irons, his chipping and pitching,
his short game is magic. And when he putchs, and
this has been said many times, and I'm not the
first to say first to say it, but when he puts,
just has an average putting day, he's gonna beat everybody
by four.

Speaker 1 (51:37):
I think, as Jordan Steith was asked on Wednesday, what
is it about Augusta that suits Scotty Scheffler's game so well?
In Jordan' said, will every golf course suits Scotty Scheffer's
game so well? He's currently five hundred par in sixth place. Okay,
the course is firming up, Kevin, the wind is gusting.
I know you've been out to Augusta before. I want

(51:57):
to get your pick heading into the weekend, and do
you have a pick or a prediction on who you
think he's going to win the Masters this season? With
Justin Rose in front at eight under, the Shamble at
seven under, and a handful of other golfers at six
under in Chloe, Rory mcclroy.

Speaker 8 (52:12):
So I think Justin Rose is going to fade. He's
going to be a good story for a couple of days.
I don't think he I don't think he rises to it.
I think Bryson Deshambo is going to be somebody to
reckon with, and I think Rory McElroy is going to
be someone to reckon with. But I also like the
way Shane Lowry's playing right now. I like the way

(52:33):
Victor Hobland is playing right now, and Scotti Scheffler.

Speaker 1 (52:39):
Eighteen to last twenty Masters champions have been inside the
top ten after Thursday. The only two golfers to not
the win out of the top ten after Thursday was
Well Tiger Woods. So we'll see Kevin. Thanks so much
stopping by. I appreciate it. And it's so nice outside.
We got to get out to Muni at some point
in the next couple of weeks.

Speaker 4 (52:57):
I can be there in an hour, can you.

Speaker 1 (53:00):
I didn't have this radio show. I didn't have the show.
I would until next week. Thank you, Good to see you,
Good to see you.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
All right.

Speaker 1 (53:07):
Kevin Robbins, golf author and professor with the University of
Texas at Austin. Again check out his latest piece on
Texas Monthly dot Com. A fantastic feature on Scotti Scheffler.
All right, two and a half, an hour and a
half in today's show. Still more to come here on
the Craigway Show. Just getting rolling here on a fire
me up Friday, augusta National proving a little bit hard

(53:27):
to handle for some golfers, others not so much. Like
Rory mcclroy is sixty six on this Friday, now up
to T three Rice and the Shamba A sixty eight.
He's in solo, second in Justin Rose a seventy one,
following up with sixty five yesterday. He is currently your
clubhouse leader here on this Friday afternoon. The wind is

(53:48):
whipping at the Masters and we'll see how this back
nine plays. As the sun is out, the course is
firming up, and Amen, corner.

Speaker 2 (53:57):
Very busy right now.

Speaker 1 (53:58):
We'll see how this affects the leaderboard in the cut line.
Currently they projected cut at two over parts. It's top
fifty in ties and right now some big names outside
of it, some big names inside of it, with Corey
Connors in Terrell Hatton at six under par. They're currently
on the back nine. Scotty Scheffer back to five hundred

(54:18):
part after costly Boge currently one under on his round
as Scheffer's group is playing the ultra difficult eleventh hole
right now, and Scotty and Justin Thomas and Jose Luise Balister,
who we're going to see if he does he and
rays Creek this time around, hopefully not. But they're playing
about thirty yards shy of the green because of not

(54:40):
wanting to even get near rays Creek, but also because
of how the wind is affecting the golf ball right now.
So Scheffer three shots back out of Justin Rose and
also at four under par at Victor Hovlin and Rasmus
Hoyguard at T tenor remember eighteen to last twenty Masters

(55:01):
champions have been inside the top ten after the opening
round of the Masters, so that would include Bryce and
the Shambo. It would include Scotty Scheffler, would not include
Roy McRoy, who ended up at even parr after one
point being four under par, but two separate double bogies
brought him back to the earth. But a sixty six
for Roy mccroy taking advantage of the easier conditions in

(55:24):
the morning to put himself There's two shots off the
lead of Justin Rose. He would be the second the
last group off the off tomorrow if the scoring does
hold up, but a couple more par vibes one more
par vive for Corey Connors. S Drell Hatton still has
the entire back nine the play, as does Scotty Scheffler
and Jason Day. By the way, Jason Day now at

(55:46):
five under par, three under par for his round. The
Australian who's always played well, the twenty fifteen PGA champion,
has not one out of Augusta. He's certainly been in
contention before and trying to put himself up there in
the weekend. Ludvig Aberg Oberg whatever the Texas Tech Golfer,
three under par a seventy three for Oberg today, sitting

(56:09):
four shots back at Eki Matsuyama, a sixty eight today,
he's at three under par. Sanders Shoffley following up a
seventy three yesterday with a sixty nine the day to
put himself at two under par. He's right there with
Tommy Fleetwood as well. Patrick Reid twenty eighteen Masters Champion,
two under par for the tournament. He'll make the cut line.

(56:29):
Colin Morikawa at one under par, Justin Thomas one under par,
Max Homa, who has struggled this season, at seventy today.
He's inside the cut line at even par for the tournament.
Matt Sirkpatrick, Daniel Berger, Wyndam Clark, saw Hif Tagala, and
Jordan Speed all at Evan par spied by the way
uh one under on the round today, coming off a

(56:49):
bogie at the tenth pole after missing the green, left
a poor up and down would miss about a fifteen
footer for par. So he's on the eleventh green right now,
the than Tea rather which is playing super tough. Looking
at Scotti scheff Wer, He's gonna have about a ten
to fifteen foot putt to stay par.

Speaker 2 (57:07):
The save bar on the.

Speaker 1 (57:08):
Eleventh as they're now entering a men's corner the eleventh
twelfth and thirteenth hole on the cut.

Speaker 2 (57:14):
Line as well. We're inside the cut line rather.

Speaker 1 (57:16):
Phil Mickelson, by the way, currently two hunderd par for
his round, the three time Masters champion, trying to sneak
inside one over par for the tournament. Tom Kimmitt won
over par, John Rahm seventy one the day looks like
he'll be playing this weekend. And how about Bernhard Longer
currently two over par playing or sorry, two over par

(57:36):
for the tournament. Even on his round today it's his
last Masters he's trying to make the cut line, has
two more holes to go if he can finish even par.
Bernhard Longer, the Masters champion, multi Masters champion, could be
playing this weekend. Bred Couple's currently three over on his round.
He's on the fifteenth hole. He's right on that cut
line number alongside Keigan Bradley and Tony Fee now outside

(57:59):
the current projected cut, Dustin Johnson, Russell, Henley cam Smith
who currently is limping right now four over par through
fifteen holes. Smith had a seventy one yesterday but made
a double bogie on the eleventh hole after hitting his
second shot in the water. Again, it's that downhill lengthy
par four that Scottie Sheffer currently is playing on. So

(58:22):
Cam Smith to live golfer will be going home this weekend.
Perhaps Sergio Garcia four over par for the tournament a
seventy six today, Brooks Koepka a seventy five, Adam Scott
five over for the tournament.

Speaker 2 (58:34):
Those guys will be going home.

Speaker 1 (58:35):
Jonathan Vegas in his return to a gust of the
former Texas Longhorn golfer a seventy five, seventy five this week,
six over par, and Will Salad Torris a popular pick
including me a seventy four yesterday. He's currently four over
on the tournament, six over six over overall. It looks
like Will Salad Torris, unless he can maybe hole out

(58:56):
from the fairway of seventeen to eighteen for eagle, will
be going home this week. And Cam Young is seventy
nine the day and then a few other names down
the list. Angel Cabrera, a two time Masters champion. By
the way, remember he spends some time in prison for assault,
did not play for a couple of years. He was

(59:18):
in prison for thirty months actually for a domestic abuse case.
The fifty five year old Argentine who actually I believe
one last season, one last week on the Champions Tour
did miss the cut. He does have a lifetime exemption
because he is a Master's champion. Sorry two thousand and
nine it' said multi master champion.

Speaker 2 (59:38):
He won once.

Speaker 1 (59:38):
He lost to Adam Scott and the playoffical leaving twenty
eleven or twenty twelve of a cabrera a seventy nine
or sorry, a seventy five to eighty this week and
he's currently eleven over part and will miss the tournament.
Scottiechffer getting ready to put for par on the eleventh hole.
Currently he is currently three shots back from Justin Rose.
Trying to stay alive. Okay, real quick, before we he

(01:00:00):
hit the brake. I want to get to this John
Moran story. John Moran, Memphis Grizzlies guard, forward whatever. Two
years ago, it felt like Morent was going to be
the face of the league. I mean, he's such a
fun player for Murray State Super Athletic and of course
he had the off the court stuff. His dad, Tea Morant,
who's always sitting court side, who's always talking drash to

(01:00:22):
a referee or a player or whatever. Always kind of
in the news. Well of course, the stuff happened with
Moran and the gun violence. You know, he was fined
seventy five thousand dollars earlier this season for the gun gestures.
Remember he was suspended in twenty twenty three for twenty
five games because of several incidents involving firearms. Remember went

(01:00:45):
to a shopping mall and there was allegations that him
and his crew were attacking as a security guard because
of something to do with his mom.

Speaker 2 (01:00:54):
There was always stuff going on with Moran.

Speaker 1 (01:00:57):
Was suspended twenty five games twenty twenty three, twenty four season,
ended up getting injured. Last season, has not really been healthy,
and then this year comes back. He's been playing Okay,
his numbers are down, he's been in now the lineup.
Memphis ends up firing their head coach, Tyler Jenkins, who
I believe was the coach of the Year two three

(01:01:17):
years ago. I mean, Griffley's are a playoff team, but
obviously not playing the lovely thought they were well after
this gun gesture thing, you know, Muran gets fined seventy
five thousand dollars. Okay, we're past the point with Moran
where he's learned this lesson. He's already been suspended two times.
Now he's spend in twenty five games. He was suspended

(01:01:38):
eight games this season. He gets fined after mimicking a
gun shot twice in a game. After that, he drops
a new celebration bomb drop morat new celebrations out. Well,
he's gone from guns to hand grenades. After a five

(01:02:02):
or thirteen night and a loss the Timberwolves, Moran is
acting like he's pulling a pin out and tossing a
grenade to the arena. He's twice now, did it against
the Timberwolves and did it against the Miami Heat.

Speaker 2 (01:02:15):
I believe so it's twice now. He's twenty eight years old.

Speaker 1 (01:02:20):
And his quote on this, by the way, is that's
my celebration now until somebody else has a problem with it,
and I'll find another one twenty eight years old, possibly
the face of the league.

Speaker 2 (01:02:35):
And Moran just cannot get out of his way.

Speaker 1 (01:02:38):
That's exactly the reason why the Memphis Grizzlies are where
they're at right now. Instead of being a top team
in the NBA, instead of fighting for a top six spot,
they're in the playing game right now, battling with the Timberwolves.
Because John Moran is still acting like a child. He
cares more about a celebration than he does care about
winning basketball games. We'll be back to w or two

(01:03:00):
here on The Craigway Show.