I was bummed to hear from longtime OB member Ray Donley that COVID-19 led to the close of the WYLD GALLERY brick and mortar in downtown Austin. If you never stopped in, you missed out. However, I was pleased to hear, and then see, Ray’s vibrant gallery of fine Native American art has expanded online, and this week’s column is brought to you by WYLD GALLERY. And if anyone lives in the Austin area and would like to see some of the paintings in person, Ray would be happy to try to work that out or even bring them to you. E-mail or PM me and I’ll connect you with Ray.
WYLD GALLERY is a gallery featuring traditional and contemporary fine art by Native American Artists. The gallery is the part-time retirement gig for Ray Donley, an Austin attorney who has been a lurker on OB since 2002. Ray has been collecting Native American art since the 1980s. He has made friends with a number of Oklahoma Native American Artists, and enjoys ribbing them for their fanatical support of a football team that honors the land thieves who took their land.
You’ll find many affordable options including some as cheap as $50. Seriously. See for yourself at the bottom of this column. That’s an outstanding deal, especially considering many of these artists have been featured at some of the top Native American galleries in the world.
Contemporary Native American paintings are bold, bright, and never boring. And they will look great on the walls of your office or home. Many of the artists in the gallery have pieces in the permanent collections of museums, including the Smithsonian.
Please check out these unique, vibrant paintings at www.WYLD.GALLERY. Treat yourself to some cool art to add some character to your house/office or snag that unique Christmas gift you’re always looking for.
Alright, the writing…
1) A weird NSD1...
I promised myself Tuesday afternoon, while scanning the Inside the 40 Acres forum, this would be a positive column featuring some National Signing Day 1 thoughts. And dammit, I tried to avoid being Scrooge. I failed.
Even after glasses of Pennsylvania Dutch later that night, I failed. I failed because I couldn’t shake a damning image the forum created. Less than 24 hours before NSD1, there wasn’t a single non-pinned thread about anything related to NSD1. Not. A. Single. One. And that sucks. Later, there was one about the very thing I’m going to write.
Make no mistake, the Longhorns have already or will soon sign some really, really good high school football players today. For many of them, today is one of life’s highlights, especially to this point. That’s really freaking cool. Imagine putting pen to paper to officially become a Longhorn football player. Heck, that’s probably what many of you dreamed of once upon a time.
Ja’Tavion Sanders is a freak athlete who is likely to make an immediate impact. Byron Murphy is an underrated wrecking ball that reminds me some of watching Andrew Billings in high school. Jaden Alexis, whose father played in the NFL, has big-time speed and looks to be a big-time playmaker. Jonathon Brooks has what feels like 4,967 playoff rushing yards and is carrying his high school deep into the state playoffs. Both the defensive back and linebacker classes are deep, versatile, and talented. You should be excited by all the future Longhorns officially joining the program.
But as much as I want to light a Christmas-scented candle, turn on some bright Christmas lights and tell you all is well just enjoy the holiday cheer, I can’t lie. Frankly, I know it would be insulting your intelligence, which is something I can’t say Texas athletics currently understands after this weekend. Everything about the past week, including a botched statement from an athletics director who hadn’t commented publicly on football for well over a month, adds up to this mess.
As the trips to the NCAA Transfer Portal, opt outs, and whiffs on priority recruits pile up, what is supposed to be a day of hope, excitement, and a positive distraction from any on-field struggles is clouded by as much apathy as I’ve ever seen. That’s a bummer for the incoming players and fans. And it’s also something that’s been building for months because of repeated leadership missteps on and off the field.
Meanwhile, those in charge can’t even deliver public statements about the program correctly. If they can hear and receive messages, I wonder if they genuinely think this is going to change, and if they’re done seriously considering the future of Texas Football, a future influenced most for years by recruiting classes. Because if they are, I suspect they’re in for a very long 12 months.
Today, they’ll watch Texas A&M and Oklahoma, also the heavy favorite to sign Camar Wheaton, compete for at least two in-state five-star prospects and sign the types of recruiting classes widening the gap between them and the Longhorns. If you’re going to make any, uhh, festive gestures at the LHN broadcast, just make sure there isn’t a camera on you.
2) Ja’Tavion Sanders…
If you want to know what a nationally elite prospect and man amongst boys looks like, Ja’Tavion Sanders is that dude. Take a look:
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