In the game of "Bucket List," Johnny Manziel is officially running up the score on all of us.

Over the weekend, the Texas A&M Heisman Trophy winning quarterback capped off a round at Pebble Beach with his parents by knocking in a birdie on 18 to break 80. About the only surprising thing about that is that he was with his parents and not Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.

So what's the best way to chase a round of golf at Pebble and a week in the sunny tranquility of the really nice parts of Southern California?

Well, how about a little batting practice at Petco Park?

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Courtesy Texas A&M Athletics

Texas A&M University announced on Wednesday that the board of regents had accepted a plan to renovate Kyle Field, home of the Aggies. The venerable stadium has been in need of a makeover for some time now. New stadiums around Division I college sports have the bells and whistles of pro stadiums including massive scoreboards, updated locker room facilities and luxury suites where pampered alumni can relax on bear skin rugs after bathing in the blood of virgins...or maybe they just eat catered barbecue; we can't be sure.

But, if we were all honest with one another, we would admit that this is as much to do with A&M's move to the SEC as anything. The Big 12 was a good conference, but the minute the Ags jumped to the SEC and had to compete with LSU, Alabama and others, good ol' Kyle Field just wasn't going to cut the mustard -- the kind they use on their pulled pork in the southeastern US of A.

And what predicated the move out of the Big 12 and out of a storied rivalry with the University of Texas was the Longhorn Network, UT's private sports channel that has been picked up by ones of cable networks and features 24-7 coverage of all things Longhorn. The content is riveting. Who knew that talk shows about the UT golf program or detailed discussion of women's tennis could be so captivating?

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A few months ago, former head coaching great Bill Parcells was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, slated to be inducted this summer. If you're looking for the reasons why, there are obviously plenty -- twice named NFL Coach of the Year, twice a Super Bowl winner, three times a Super Bowl participant, 172 wins with four different teams.

As regimented and orderly a coach as you'll find, Parcells sought that same level of commitment from his players, and no individual player is ever attached at the hip to a head coach more than his quarterback.

So it's no great surprise that Bill Parcells had a very specific set of criteria when it came to identifying the optimal quarterback prospects in the NFL Draft. As you will see, they are only partially grounded in on-the-field performance, and largely based around metrics that would indicate intelligence, commitment and maturity. No 40 times, no shuttle runs, no bench presses here.

You may have seen these before, but as a refresher, we will call these the "Parcells Rules." In order to be eligible for selection by Bill Parcells, a college quarterback must:

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Geno Smith will make it in the NFL, coach insists.

Driven largely by back-to-back classes flush with immediate impact players, expectations have changed for highly drafted rookie quarterbacks in the NFL.

Consider that two years ago, six of the top 35 picks were quarterbacks, and already three of them (oddly enough, the second three drafted -- Christian Ponder, Andy Dalton and Colin Kaepernick) have made playoff appearances and one (oddly enough again, the last of the six taken) has been to a Super Bowl.

Consider that last season, the top two picks in the 2012 draft (Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III) both went to 2011 doormats and turned them into playoff teams. Russell Wilson went from third round afterthought to playoff starter as well.

So when teams and draft experts look at the QB class of 2013, to say they are underwhelmed might be an understatement.

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Illustration by Monica Fuentes

Shocking news from the college football world today: Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel is "stepping away" from Twitter.

Financial analysts are divided as to whether Twitter will be able to withstand this defection and still somehow stay alive. College football fans are in a panic knowing they won't get the chance to watch Johnny Football embarrass himself on the Internet as only a BMOC Aggie can.

@JManziel2 has entertained fans and foes with tales of Cabo, Mardi Gras, and various NFL games -- key aspects, no doubt, of coach Kevin Sumlin's demanding recommended offseason workout program.

For now, though, we are left with this poignant, trenchant farewell message:

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Or, as Johnny Football calls it, Tuesday. (JUST KIDDING, Johnny Football lawyers.)

On Monday, I compared the Houston Texans in free agency to the Wheel of Fortune shopper that scooped a meager, one-letter-remaining puzzle for a few hundred bucks. That description would imply that the Texans are at least doing some shopping.

In reality, thus far, they've been more like the dude who lands on "BANKRUPT" or "LOSE A TURN" every spin. They're has been zero buzz coming from Kirby (at least there was until Bob McNair's private jet left this morning to go pick up Ed Reed). Actually, even worse, the thieves from other NFL teams are coming in and stealing the stuff the Texans already owned.

James Casey? Gone. Glover Quin? Signed with the Lions. Connor Barwin? Actual interest from numerous other teams.

So as we watch the free agency parade go by in Houston, there's only one place I can go that will sufficiently pick me up -- Johnny Manziel's Twitter feed!

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Thankfullly the West Virginia logo has just two letters.

Hey, look, before I get to my point here, let me first acknowledge that I understand when you're in a content-driven business like radio, television, or journalism, that mistakes are going to happen. We're all human, and with speed ruling the day over pinpoint accuracy in 2013, glitches like typos or mispronunciations can happen.

Hell, there will probably be at least three typos in this post alone between now and the time you finish reading. I get it.

That said, somebody responsible for graphics up at WSAZ in West Virginia had a really rough night earlier this weekend.

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"The media don't understand the pressures $42 million come with." -- Random sobbing professional athlete in the movie "Jerry Maguire"

They say the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Certainly, on a bad day, as we grind through life, it's easy to look at the lives of others, especially people that we perceive to be of privilege, and say to ourselves, "Well, what the hell does THAT guy have to worry about? Why is HE complaining?"

Admittedly, it's a tad presumptuous. Hell, even rich people and pop culture icons have problems (I think). Rolling our eyes at them when they complain is, if nothing else, a little mean.

So forgive me if I don't join in with the rest of you as you make the "wanking off" hand gesture in unison upon reading this tweet last night from Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel:

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Guns Up, cool Daddy-O.

The guys at Deadspin have gotten their hands on a piece of comedy gold -- a memo on how Texas Tech can make itself and its football coach, former Red Raider QB Kliff Kingsbury, into ultra-hip, highly cool icons that the kidz of today will flock to just so they can be hip and cool, too.

A tall order for a school based in Lubbock, you say? Then you are not Stephen Spiegelberg (Oh, that little "ge" is so, so important), owner of what is no doubt the hippest clothing store in the entire Panhandle, a place called Chrome.

The entire memo is well worth reading; it's written in that breathless know-it-all tone, flush with buzzwords, that "consultants" love to use.

We'll present some highlights in the form of a quiz. ("UA" is the athletic-gear company Under Armour.)

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Are the Cougars getting a new look? Again?

Photos have been leaking out for the past month or so of new helmets and uniforms for the University of Houston. As an alum, I'd like to offer up an opinion on the proposed new looks -- yes, looks, as in multiple looks. And my basic opinion is, enough already.

The Cougars just got new uniforms, helmets and logos last season. They also changed looks during the Kevin Sumlin era. During the Art Briles era, the Cougars added blue to the look. Rayner Noble's baseball team had about 60 different combinations of colors, including dark blue and dark gray.

I get that this is how college sports works nowadays. That when Nike says wear these uniforms, you wear these uniforms because Nike's handing out a bunch of cash. But would it really be such a bad thing to stick with one look for a couple of seasons?

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