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Speaker 1: Twelve thirty two. It is a Matt Thomas show with Ross.

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We take this program until two o'clock. Coming up Saturday night,

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six o'clock TDECU Stadium. Are Cougar's Your cougars, America's Cougars

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are going to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders

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and for a few minutes on the hopefully excitening celebration

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that will happen on the campus. Eddie Nunez, Athletic Director

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of University of Houston, joining us here on the show, Eddie,

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good afternoon, just how we wanted it. Four and oh

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versus four and Oh ESPN six o'clock the national stage

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for two pretty good college football teams.

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Speaker 2: That's a great opportunity that's in front of us right

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now for us to continue to show America who the

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coops are. And so, no, you couldn't ask for anymore.

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This is a great setup for a great weekend.

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Speaker 1: Do you ever get any editorial say so in times

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of starts? I know when games are not on linear,

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when they're on the plus app, you get a little

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bit of an opportunity to kind of pick and choose.

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But did the league basically say we'll give you the

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time and you'll be ready to play it.

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Speaker 2: Only only only chance we ever have is typically before

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the season, if it's one of the networks reached out saying, hey, listen,

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we like to put you on this time. Would you

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be interested or would you want to stay where we

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have you? Where we have you? And so some of

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that plays out this time of year. No, when it

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comes to ESPN and Fox, we don't is whatever we

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are given that time slot, T and T is a

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little bit different. We're on TBS, T and T with

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that new partnership, we have a little bit of flexibility,

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but it's still not perfectly in our hands.

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Speaker 1: You know what, though, I'll take this six o'clock kickoff

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for sure. And look, we're going to hopefully have a

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lot of Houston fans there. Texas Tech fans are behind

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the fact they're going to be at this game. What's

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it been like talking with ithletic officials about all the

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Red Raiders that may be in the building on Saturday night?

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Speaker 2: We anticipated, We know that they have a strong following

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here in Houston, and some of our fans are our

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dual fans. We know that, and so we're gonna we're

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gonna see probably more Texas Tech fans than what typically

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travel for them here at our place. It's just a fact,

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and it's not because of any other reason, just because

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there's a strong fan base of theirs here, so we

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anticipate having more than a usual visiting team fan base

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that attends our games. But we're doing our part. This

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is this is all about what we can do for

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our experience for our fans. They'll be there and you know,

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we look forward to having them be in the venue,

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but we're looking at a sellout right now. Everything is

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is trending. Hopefully by today, if not first in the morning,

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everything will get to that point. So everything is moving

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in the right direction. I can't thank our fans enough

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to with their commitment to going out getting tickets. Our

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students are coming in droves, which has been phenomenal to

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see over the last several weeks at our home game.

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So right now we're excited where it's going and we're

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just trying to alleviate all the concerns and the congestions. Now,

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before the weekend, you had.

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Speaker 1: An opportunity to have Colorado in a few weeks ago,

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and look, the school is going through some construction things,

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so as people approach this game. What are some bits

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of advice you would give to anybody beyond the obligatory

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get there as early as you can.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I would tell you, tell them. We've been working

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with this. So what people need to understand is, as

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much as it is our event, we work with a

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lot of different agencies. When it comes to traffic, when

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it comes to parking, when it comes to security, a

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lot of that falls within the purview of University's police farming.

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We work with them, and that's part of this. For

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the last couple weeks, we've been working with them, working

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with the city, with Metro, trying to make sure we

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do everything we can to help the situation. The fact

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goes back to our infrastructure is what it is. We're

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not adding an express lane all the way to the interstate.

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If we could, heck, and we would have done that

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by now. So the couple things that I'll tell our

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fans is an any fan, buy your ticket for your

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parking pass, tickets or your parking pass, excuse me, buy

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them today, buy them tomorrow, try to get them beforehand

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on game day. Most of our lots, if not every

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one of them, will be just passes only, so we

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are trending right now to have every one of our

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typical parking lots that people would have the ability to

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buy game day parking to be sold out from a

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so we have other lots. So we urge everybody right

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now to buy those parking passes today. Try to get

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them in advance, understand the ins and outs of how

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to get to those lots if it's a different lot

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than you've been used to. And then the second part

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is simple. We always say come early. You're right, come early,

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But just like anything else, when you go to the airport,

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you know you got to come two hours before. That's

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the kind of standard people always tell you. But what

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does that mean for us? I tell my wife, I

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tell our fans. What would that mean? Well, come earlier

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than but you would typically would come. Why Because traffic

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is going to be a lot more challenging. We're going

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to expect the sold out crowd. Everybody wants to get

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here at the last minute and wanted to get into

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the stadium at the last minute. So you know, if

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you can get here a couple hours in advance, do so,

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come tailgate, Come enjoy the experience, because we're gonna have

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a lot of things happening in and around the stadium

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so people can have a great time. So again, don't

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don't come thirty minutes in advance because you usually come

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ten minutes and thinking thirty minutes will be better. Understand,

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give yourself as much time as possible. We are going

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to be doing everything. We can't help you get in

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the stadium. But it will be a challenging day just

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because this is a lot of people in a confined space,

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and we'll but we're going to make it work and

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we're going to make it the best experience we can.

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Speaker 1: A few more minutes here with Eddie Unia as a

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thoughtic director at the University of Houston. So the SEC

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recently at a went to this annual opponent's thing for

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a three or four year stretch. Look selfishly, and I

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have been a Cougar student alum for a long time.

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I didn't like Conference USA because so other myst didn't

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bring people. East Carolina didn't bring people when they were

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in the American I don't mind Better and tex Attack

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and TCU and all the regionals coming in. So if

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the more, the merrier for me at TDCU Stadium. But

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let me ask you about is there been any conversation

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about the Big Twelve going to this annual opponent format.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we're still all trying to figure out

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what those annual opponents would be, who best fits us.

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We're looking at it all sports, as we look at

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maximizing schedules for basketball and football. Really those two are

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the ones that you that people see them the most.

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We have to find some of those common opponents as

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people like to call them, and you know, just to

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say we're going to be playing everybody that's going to

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be around Robin. There's some good to that, but there's

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also we want our fan base to expect to see

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some teams consistently. And the other side of it is

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I don't want to go play some team and then

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never never have the opportunity to come host them here.

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So I was in the SEC when the first conversation

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started years ago, when Texas A and M and Missouri

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came in the league and everybody started figuring out, Okay,

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we got to we gotta have some opponents. Those conversations

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have been continual, They've been having them for years, and

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they've changed in the and they've adapted a little bit.

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So there there's there's there's a good reason for doing it.

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Does it change some of the dynamics of your fan

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base and seeing who comes in? Absolutely, we're we're having

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them in the Big twelve. I don't I would tell

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you today. There's no end insight as far as like

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we're gonna have something done by next month or something.

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I think it's just conversation that we need to have

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so that if and when the time comes, we're better,

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you know, informed, and better able to make decisions that

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are necessary.

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Speaker 1: Parlotte your run. Let's go back to last week Oregon State.

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Did you find a different spot to stand or sit?

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Maybe like mid fourth quarter? Because that was I'll be

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honest with you, Eddie, and I wanted to make the trip,

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but I had family obligations and I fell asleep and

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when I woke up, I was so happy because I

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had DVR ed, But my gosh, the team coming back

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the way that it did. And then I got to

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ask you too. On top of it, how is it

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landing at Hobby Airport eight fifteen the following morning.

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Speaker 2: So a couple of things first, So I'm not going

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to give you as much of leeway than our fan base.

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Fawnesty me come on. Now you got to stay awake

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and watch it through and through.

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Speaker 1: But I'm a fraud. I flat out a minute. And

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that's why I'm so excited. I'm going to Oklahoma State

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next week. The game is at eleven o'clock. I've been

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in bed by eight thirty. I'll be just fine.

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Speaker 2: But that's right now. Now we had I did. I

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did find a spot and it started. It came the

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fourth quarter. Like people know me sometimes, I find a

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spot and that spot worked. Dave, my senior deputy, walked

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up to me at at the end of the game

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and said overtime was moving to the other side of

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the field. He goes, hey, let's walk down to the

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other side. I said, not a chance, see you later.

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I'm staying right here. So needless to say, I'm not

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saying I had anything to do with it, but I

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liked we're all standing. It worked. I didn't move. And

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then coming home, God, it was such a hard flight.

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It was great that we won, but to know that

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you're basically landing at eight thirty in the morning and

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then by the time everybody gets home it's gonna be

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nine am, nine to fifteen in the morning. Nobody really

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sleeps great on a plane, so the four and a

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half hour flight back felt like an eternity. I might

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have slept maybe forty five minutes to an hour somehow

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on that plane, right, But it was. It was a

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tough Saturday, and my daughter's had homecoming dances, and so

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it wasn't I didn't have the chance to just PLoP

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down and say I'm gonna take a power nap. It

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was we got to keep going. I got events to

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go to with them, and so it didn't stop. It

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was great, but you and I will hopefully get to

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enjoy a better time next week when we come back

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from Oklahoma State and it's not you know, the next morning.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't mind these eleven o'clock kicks. I'll be

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brutally honest with you, but yeah, I can't. I can

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certainly imagine any of you going to your wife and saying, hey,

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I need to sleep all day, and she says, here,

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take this violin with us as we go watch our

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daughters of their dances. Was my guess, right, Well, the.

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Speaker 2: Best part was she's like, well, I'm going to go

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with one of my one of our boughters. You're going

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to go with the other and uh, I'll see you

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later on tonight. I'm thinking, well, what time does this

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thing over? That's ten o'clock eleven. I'm thinking, wow, I've

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been I needed so needless. When I went to bed,

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I was out, I cocked out. It was a long

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but it was a great day, hey, to come back

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from the way we did, and to win on the road.

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It's never it's never easy to win the road. You

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know this. So any w get especially on the road,

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is a great one.

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Speaker 1: Well, my family is divided. I've got a Texas Tech son.

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Myself is University of Houston grad. My wife is a

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Universe Houston grad. So I'll just tell you selfishly. I

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know this. The regional scheduling is not always in play.

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But if I can play texta Tech every year, whether

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it's in Lubbock or in Houston, I think it's gonna

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a great atmosphere on Saturday. And I hope a lot

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of folks get out there and like I said, get

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there early because you don't want to be stuck a

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kickoff still trying to find your parking spot.

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Speaker 2: It's going to be electric. It's gonna and but that's

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that's that's what makes the Big twelve so great. If

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we have these opportunities to play the Baylor's, the TCUs,

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the Text Tech. Why because we're all in the same

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state wall fighting for the same kids. And the reality

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is this is where you're gonna get the best football

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in this state, and so why not. Why not have

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these these electric games that people can see and our

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fan base is going to get energized. So again, I

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look forward to see everybody there. Come early, enjoy yourselves.

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Let's have a great time. Understand it. Please be patient

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with us. There's going to be a lot of people

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out there. We're gonna do everything we can to get

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you in and get you out of the stadium, hopefully

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after a great win.

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Speaker 1: Eddie, thanks for the visit. We'll see you on Saturday,

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and best of luck this week.

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Speaker 2: Sounds great, Have a great one.

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Speaker 1: Eddie Nunez, Vice President, inter College Athletics,