Brought to you in part by Tall Pine Resort in Red River, New Mexico. Just up the road from town, you’ll find yourself going back in time with cabins, a private lake and of course, a river running through it. If this sounds like the laid-back lifestyle you’re looking for here at the end of Summer, give Terri and Lance a holler. Tell them Raiderland sent you!
Welcome back to The Saturday Column With No Name. Which is false because that’s the name of the column now… It happens like that. Here’s a few quick thoughts from Raiderland.
- Texas Tech officials announced Friday that the enrollment figure for the Fall has gone over 45K. A new record. I had to double-check, but my Freshman year in 1988 the enrollment was just above 24,000. That seemed huge at the time. . . Go back about 15 or 20 years ago and we remember Chancellor Kent Hance saying his goal was to get Tech to 40K enrollment. It sounded crazy at the time and we said so. The question we ask now is simple. Can Texas Tech get Too Big? Can it lose its identity and core mission if it grows too large? How big is too big for a University to maintain a semblance of culture that all graduates can relate to? Or, does it matter any more. . . Is it growth for growth’s sake? The more students, the more money, and just… more. Don’t get us wrong here… we aren’t upset that Texas Tech is a popular destination for students from West Texas and beyond. We are genuinely curious though about your thoughts and perspective. Today, West Texas State ( We’ll never call it WTAMU) has more in common with the Texas Tech I attended that the current version of Texas Tech today. Growth. Progress. Hopefully. Fire away in the comments below or on our Social Media feeds and let us know what you’re thinking about Texas Tech going over 45K students.
https://x.com/KAMCNews/status/2090853283938062400 - Write it down. Texas Tech’s Will Hammond is the best QB in college that most folks around the country are sleeping on. The idea Texas Tech needs to bring in FSU cast-off Thomas Castellanos to be “better” is laughable. Might be a great guy… don’t know. but we do know he’s a turnover machine. Exactly what you don’t want a back-up QB to be. If anything happens to Hammond, you want a game-manager who lets the players around him shine and then you rely on the defense. You don’t want a guy who takes chances. Here’s a great breakdown from our friend Paul Stone on Castellanos.
- In an era where corporate glitz and glamour and big dollar events have seemingly taken over college sports, it’s great to see one enduring tradition continue on in West Texas. The Lubbock Knights Of Columbus Kick-Off Night is coming up next Saturday. It’s burgers and beers and football and coaches talking and bands and cheerleaders and fun. It’s almost hokey in this current era. And that’s why we’re glad it continues. We need more organic things like this around college sports. 65 years strong, Tech Knight is a lot of fun. You never know who might show up! If you’re around, it just might revive a little passion and purity for college football for ya!
Hyatt
Thanks for dropping by on a Saturday. Be sure and subscribe to our social media platforms, all FREE. Twitter/X, YouTube and Facebook! Fire away with your thoughts and comments, share with your friends who need more Raiderland in their lives and we’ll see y’all in the morning with our 5 Things We Know On A Sunday column.
