Hook'em Horns in Baghdad!!

Coach Mack Brown is among several coaches touring the Middle East- Coaches tour 2009- seriously, that is what they are calling it. Mack has a blog set up on the UT site had looks like he has been regularly posting items on it- hmmm... wonder if he has a press person with him doing it? Sounds like he is writing it though. Some pics and I've pasted Mack's blog entries from when he was where Christian is below too for easy reading :) (And yes, that is Trevor's monkey in the picture too!!)

Entry #18 (June 2, 2009):We got up this a.m. about 5:00. I'm not sure why, but some of the coaches were saying it was because there was too much snoring in the room from the seven coaches. We are getting ready to fly to Kuwait in a few minutes. It is about a 45-minute flight on a C-17, which has become our favorite Air Force plane. We will then get back on the KC-135 we flew over here on for a two-hour flight to Africa. What an experience for me. The boy from Cookeville never thought he would be seeing the sunrise in Baghdad or stay at Saddam's Palace. The troops showed me a picture of a huge fish caught out of Saddam's lake. They said it once ate a duck struggling on the water. It would make Colt and Jordan jealous. It was not safe for us to go downtown where they said there are six million people. It is amazing with some of the poverty in this country and Saddam and his family lived such a lavish life inside the gates.

Entry #17 (June 1, 2009):We didn't eat at dinnertime because we had a 30-minute practice for the troops. It was a lot of fun to coach the guys. They were pumped and seemed to have fun. Hopefully we've helped give them a small break from their very difficult days. After the practice, we went back in the Field House at Camp Liberty and signed autographs and took pictures for another hour. The 1st Cavalry Band played 'Texas Fight' for us. After the session, we grabbed a sandwich and came back to the palace. So I'm sitting out on the back porch, over looking the beautiful lake in front of the palace. Saddam had some very nice places. The lake is full of fish but the water is contaminated. Lakes in Texas are better for fishing. Lots better! We will head down to Kuwait tomorrow morning, and catch a KC-135 down to Africa after a short stay in the airport. We will be back to work tomorrow afternoon. I think the flight is only a couple of hours. I think we have another game tomorrow night. We've been taking medicine for malaria for a week. Hope it works. I'm really enjoying seeing our troops and I've learned too much to report. At the same time, I will be excited to get back to America and especially Texas on Thursday night. I miss home, my family and friends, and our guys.

Entry #16 (June 1, 2009):We are just finishing another great day in Baghdad. We are tired because we got in at 3 a.m. last night, started at 6:30 a.m. and just walked in the door. The conditions are very tough. It is very hot and dusty. You feel dirty all the time, and the sand constantly blows in your nose, mouth and eyes. Your eyes start to burn, it is very hard to breathe, and you get a sore throat, but I haven't heard anyone gripe. Pretty amazing. I asked the General how they could keep that attitude, and he simply said because they wanted to be here - another great lesson for us in recruiting: take the guys who want to be at Texas. I will say our forces are fed very well. One soldier told me today that you have a choice in Iraq - you can either bench 300 pounds or weigh 300 pounds. He chose to bench 300. We met with a lot of the troops at Camp Victory and at Camp Liberty today. The extended meetings this a.m. were very informative in so many ways with the two Generals. We learned some great points about leadership, passion and family. At the end of the meeting, the General honored us with his coin. That is the highest recognition you can get from an officer. What a deal!

Entry #15 (June 1, 2009):Some people have questioned whether I should come on this trip and or why I would. I really don't think you can learn without forcing yourself in new settings and maybe even uncomfortable ones at times so you can continue to learn. Me coming here will force me to learn from new situations. The same is true with our incoming freshman class. Most of our 12 new freshmen showed up at school yesterday to start a new and exciting part of their lives. There is some anxiety for our family for me to be over here very much like the families that dropped their sons off in Austin yesterday. Sally greeted them in place of me yesterday, so please keep them in your prayers as well. Welcome new Longhorns! A few haven't shown up yet because they aren't out off high school yet. That is always tricky to start the first session of summer school.I would also like to say congrats our baseball team on two great wins from me and the troops. Twenty-five innings must have been something only to be overshadowed by the great comeback "Longhorn Style" against Army. I heard our fans all stayed and pulled us thru the BC Game, but let me say the soldiers aren't as happy about the win against Army. I'm ready to go back to work. Baghdad is a very interesting place. I'll check in later. Sometimes the phone doesn't get a signal, and it is also hard to find a place to keep the battery charged. I did get a great picture from a soldier today with a group of young Iraq children throwing the Hook Em sign up in the air. Go Horns.

Entry #14 (June 1, 2009):We awoke this a.m. at 6:30 and went back to work. We spent the first hour with General Odierno, who heads up all our forces in Iraq. At one time he headed up the forces at Fort Hood. It was a special visit. His son lost an arm in Iraq and is now at home doing well, and his daughter is a student at Texas Tech. He is a great leader and taught all of us a lot about leadership. The military offices are in the palace, which is very fitting. Since this a.m., we've spent all day with soldiers at Camp Victory and Camp Liberty. The day has once again been rewarding because the troops so appreciate us coming. You would be amazed at the influence from both San Antonio and Fort Hood. You would be proud of our Texans. We are just taking a short break at 5:40 p.m. before we go back to a couple more functions tonight. We are tired, but when you see the faces on the troops when you walk in, you once again realize they are working 12-hour days, and it is not about us. We are so spoiled that we can sleep when we get home.