NEWSFLASH! Big 12 Football Kicks Off Tomorrow!!

That's right tomorrow, and every single one of the conference's teams will play! But, it'll take 3-days.

Yes, it's the annual Big 12 Football Media Days--this year's round table of interviews will be in Irving, TX, with the Big 12 Championship game at the new Cowboys Stadium in December. Now, I'm going to give you some "inside insight" to what'll happen over the next 3-days, and also give you some of my observations from past Big 12 Media Days I've staffed over the last 15-years.

First, here's the format: four teams will talk to print and electronic media each day. Tomorrow, it'll be Texas A&M, OSU, Nebraska and Iowa State. Tuesday, you'll see OU, Baylor, Missouri and Kansas. Then on Wednesday, it'll be Texas, Texas Tech, K-State and Colorado front and center. Each team will also bring three designated players to talk to us media types. They usually have one gigantic ballroom for all the scribes (the print guys--the REAL journalists, in my book), and then split the TV & radio guys up into 2-or-3 groups, with the radio guys along several tables with their gear set up for live broadcasts as well. And, once they start, they just wheel 'em, we ask 'em all kinds of questions about the upcoming season, what happened last season, and anything else we can think of, and then they wheel 'em out. The Big 12 also usually serves up some great food for lunch--we sports guys say we get great perks because they basically don't pay us any money to do what we do.

So, with that all said, here's some of my observations about various things over the years from Big 12 Football Media Days:

1) Best interview: Mike Leach, Texas Tech. Hands down--because you don't know what he's going to say next, and how he's going to say it. He'll be talking football, and all of a sudden you're getting an analogy from his days at Pepperdine's Law School--with a little Howard Stern thrown in. There's not one of us who doesn't look forward to Leach's time on the dais.

2) Worst interview: too many to pick from. Cliche after cliche, how many "you knows" can I count.. just too many to count. So, I won't.

3) The "Tony Robbins" Award: former Baylor head coach Kevin Steele. I believe it was in 2000, when he came in with this analogy of "all the parts of the car are in place here at Baylor University. The engine will be our lines--they're ready to burn things up. The spark plugs will be our skilled people. And, the transmission will be our will to win, which is greater than it's ever been here at Baylor. We're going to win a lot of ball-games with this car, which'll hit on all cylanders."--or something close to that. Well, there must have been some bad gas somewhere, as the Bears stumbled through a 2-9 season. And, the next year? No "car" analogy.

4) Most Brazen Prediction Award: former Baylor cornerback C.J. Wilson, 2005: When asked what the Bears' goal for the season was, he answered very matter of factly, "National Championship. National Championship. National Championship." It wasn't in the cards, C.J., but kudos for the stones to be thinking the right way. Go long or go home, as they say.

5) Closest to the Vest Interview Award: OU's Bob Stoops. He'll give you what you need, but that's about it. He's not going to let anybody get him to way what he doesn't want to say, and there have been folks that have tried.

6) Most Affable Guy In The Joint Award: UT's Mack Brown. Man, the stories he'll tell. "You know, Sally (his wife) and I were out on the boat one day.. ". You could be the biggest T-Sip hater in the world, but 10-minutes with Mack Brown will have him wearing a Bevo pin--he's that engaging and likeable. Which is probably one of the reasons he closes the deal on so many great recruiting classes each year.

7) The Mr. Intensity Award: OSU's Mike Gundy. And, that's not a knock. He's as gung-ho about his team as a head coach as he was an an All Big-12 QB with the Pokes in the late 80s. It's too bad he'll probably never live down the "I'm a man, I'm 40" thing. He's just passionate about his team and his players. And, it shows in his interviews. I'm going to put Colorado's Dan Hawkins in there as a close 2nd.

8) Dont' Fall Asleep On Me, Man! Award: KSU's Bill Snyder. He should be a hypnotist on the side--pretty monotone when answering questions, and he can be long winded. But my goodness, the man knows his football, and as far as I'm concerned, what he did at K-State back in the late 80s and early 90s--taking a program that, historically, was the worst record-wise in NCAA history and turning it into a powerhouse? Call him a miracle worker. But he can put you to sleep talking about it.

9) Mr. Articulate: KU's Mark Mangino. This guy not only knows his football, he knows how to tell you about it to where you understand it like he does, and then illustrates it. He's the same way talking about his players. If it weren't for Mike Leach's comments that sometimes come from foul groud out there in left field, I'd say Mangino was the best interview.

10) Sharp Dressed Men? Stoops always comes looking really clean and polished. Shirt, tie, suit. Very classy. Former Iowa State head coach Dan McCarney always came looking like he just stepped out of the CEO's office--the one he occupied. Those are the two that stand out. A lot of coaches and players wear polo-shirts with their team colors, which is fine. But they guys who dress sharp stand out.

And, I'll leave it that. But this should get your football whistle whetted, and good thing: the season's only about 5-weeks away, with fall drills scheduled to open here in the next couple of weeks.

I can't wait!!