• Home
  • popular
  • EVENTS
  • submit-new-event
  • CHARITY GUIDE
  • Children
  • Education
  • Health
  • Veterans
  • Social Services
  • Arts + Culture
  • Animals
  • LGBTQ
  • New Charity
  • TRENDING NEWS
  • News
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Home + Design
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Innovation
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • subscribe
  • about
  • series
  • Embracing Your Inner Cowboy
  • Green Living
  • Summer Fun
  • Real Estate Confidential
  • RX In the City
  • State of the Arts
  • Fall For Fashion
  • Cai's Odyssey
  • Comforts of Home
  • Good Eats
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2010
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2
  • Good Eats 2
  • HMNS Pirates
  • The Future of Houston
  • We Heart Hou 2
  • Music Inspires
  • True Grit
  • Hoops City
  • Green Living 2011
  • Cruizin for a Cure
  • Summer Fun 2011
  • Just Beat It
  • Real Estate 2011
  • Shelby on the Seine
  • Rx in the City 2011
  • Entrepreneur Video Series
  • Going Wild Zoo
  • State of the Arts 2011
  • Fall for Fashion 2011
  • Elaine Turner 2011
  • Comforts of Home 2011
  • King Tut
  • Chevy Girls
  • Good Eats 2011
  • Ready to Jingle
  • Houston at 175
  • The Love Month
  • Clifford on The Catwalk Htx
  • Let's Go Rodeo 2012
  • King's Harbor
  • FotoFest 2012
  • City Centre
  • Hidden Houston
  • Green Living 2012
  • Summer Fun 2012
  • Bookmark
  • 1987: The year that changed Houston
  • Best of Everything 2012
  • Real Estate 2012
  • Rx in the City 2012
  • Lost Pines Road Trip Houston
  • London Dreams
  • State of the Arts 2012
  • HTX Fall For Fashion 2012
  • HTX Good Eats 2012
  • HTX Contemporary Arts 2012
  • HCC 2012
  • Dine to Donate
  • Tasting Room
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • Charming Charlie
  • Asia Society
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2012
  • HTX Mistletoe on the go
  • HTX Sun and Ski
  • HTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • HTX New Beginnings
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013
  • Zadok Sparkle into Spring
  • HTX Let's Go Rodeo 2013
  • HCC Passion for Fashion
  • BCAF 2013
  • HTX Best of 2013
  • HTX City Centre 2013
  • HTX Real Estate 2013
  • HTX France 2013
  • Driving in Style
  • HTX Island Time
  • HTX Super Season 2013
  • HTX Music Scene 2013
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013 2
  • HTX Baker Institute
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • Mothers Day Gift Guide 2021 Houston
  • Staying Ahead of the Game
  • Wrangler Houston
  • First-time Homebuyers Guide Houston 2021
  • Visit Frisco Houston
  • promoted
  • eventdetail
  • Greystar Novel River Oaks
  • Thirdhome Go Houston
  • Dogfish Head Houston
  • LovBe Houston
  • Claire St Amant podcast Houston
  • The Listing Firm Houston
  • South Padre Houston
  • NextGen Real Estate Houston
  • Pioneer Houston
  • Collaborative for Children
  • Decorum
  • Bold Rock Cider
  • Nasher Houston
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2021
  • CityNorth
  • Urban Office
  • Villa Cotton
  • Luck Springs Houston
  • EightyTwo
  • Rectanglo.com
  • Silver Eagle Karbach
  • Mirador Group
  • Nirmanz
  • Bandera Houston
  • Milan Laser
  • Lafayette Travel
  • Highland Park Village Houston
  • Proximo Spirits
  • Douglas Elliman Harris Benson
  • Original ChopShop
  • Bordeaux Houston
  • Strike Marketing
  • Rice Village Gift Guide 2021
  • Downtown District
  • Broadstone Memorial Park
  • Gift Guide
  • Music Lane
  • Blue Circle Foods
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2022
  • True Rest
  • Lone Star Sports
  • Silver Eagle Hard Soda
  • Modelo recipes
  • Modelo Fighting Spirit
  • Athletic Brewing
  • Rodeo Houston
  • Silver Eagle Bud Light Next
  • Waco CVB
  • EnerGenie
  • HLSR Wine Committee
  • All Hands
  • El Paso
  • Avenida Houston
  • Visit Lubbock Houston
  • JW Marriott San Antonio
  • Silver Eagle Tupps
  • Space Center Houston
  • Central Market Houston
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Travel Texas Houston
  • Alliantgroup
  • Golf Live
  • DC Partners
  • Under the Influencer
  • Blossom Hotel
  • San Marcos Houston
  • Photo Essay: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
  • We Heart Hou
  • Walker House
  • HTX Good Eats 2013
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2013
  • HTX Culture Motive
  • HTX Auto Awards
  • HTX Ski Magic
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2014
  • HTX Texas Traveler
  • HTX Cifford on the Catwalk 2014
  • HTX United Way 2014
  • HTX Up to Speed
  • HTX Rodeo 2014
  • HTX City Centre 2014
  • HTX Dos Equis
  • HTX Tastemakers 2014
  • HTX Reliant
  • HTX Houston Symphony
  • HTX Trailblazers
  • HTX_RealEstateConfidential_2014
  • HTX_IW_Marks_FashionSeries
  • HTX_Green_Street
  • Dating 101
  • HTX_Clifford_on_the_Catwalk_2014
  • FIVE CultureMap 5th Birthday Bash
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2014 TEST
  • HTX Texans
  • Bergner and Johnson
  • HTX Good Eats 2014
  • United Way 2014-15_Single Promoted Articles
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Houston
  • Where to Eat Houston
  • Copious Row Single Promoted Articles
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2014
  • htx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Zadok Swiss Watches
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2015
  • HTX Charity Challenge 2015
  • United Way Helpline Promoted Article
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Fusion Academy Promoted Article
  • Clifford on the Catwalk Fall 2015
  • United Way Book Power Promoted Article
  • Jameson HTX
  • Primavera 2015
  • Promenade Place
  • Hotel Galvez
  • Tremont House
  • HTX Tastemakers 2015
  • HTX Digital Graffiti/Alys Beach
  • MD Anderson Breast Cancer Promoted Article
  • HTX RealEstateConfidential 2015
  • HTX Vargos on the Lake
  • Omni Hotel HTX
  • Undies for Everyone
  • Reliant Bright Ideas Houston
  • 2015 Houston Stylemaker
  • HTX Renewable You
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • HTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Kyrie Massage
  • Red Bull Flying Bach
  • Hotze Health and Wellness
  • ReadFest 2015
  • Alzheimer's Promoted Article
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Professional Skin Treatments by NuMe Express

    Beyond the Boxscore

    LSU breathes uneasy: Les Miles has a Kevin Sumlin problem as Texas A&M provesit's a future power

    Chris Baldwin
    Oct 21, 2012 | 6:04 am
    • Johnny Manziel found it's not as easy to be Johnny Football against LSU.
      Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
    • Kevin Sumlin

    The Mad Hatter will never let on. Any self-respecting poker player knows that you never reveal a tell, never admit to any weakness. And few coaches gamble as well as LSU's eccentric, grass-eating, Les Miles.

    So Miles pretends everything is fine after his Tigers escape Kyle Field with a 24-19 victory over Texas A&M.

    He calls 19-year-old Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel "gutsy" and "tough." Which is true enough, but it also deflects attention from the fact that Miles is out coached on his Saturday in College Station. If not for Manziel playing like a first-year starter, if not for four Texas A&M turnovers overall, if not for a freshman kicker who goes as erratic as Lindsay Lohan, Texas A&M walks away with a Tiger pelt.

    Instead, it's a loss. But it's also a sign of the power to come.

     

      Texas A&M is already as physical as any team in the SEC. The Aggies are not losing games because they're being pushed around. 

    You can forget all those notions of Texas A&M struggling for years in the SEC. In year one, Kevin Sumlin's program has shown it's more than capable of standing up to the heavyweights of the toughest college football conference in the land.

    On a day when Steve Spurrier gets absolutely obliterated by a Florida squad that could only beat Sumlin's team by three, a day when Tennessee loses for the 11th time in its last 12 conference games, the Aggies show that the new kids on the block are the ones who are on their way to being able to knock the block off the SEC's bullies.

    If you're screaming same old Aggies because Manziel and Co. lost a 12-0 lead in a 103-second span at the end of the first half, you're missing the bigger picture. Texas A&M is already as physical as any team in the SEC. The Aggies are not losing games because they're being pushed around. They're delivering plenty of punishment — you can bet that LSU will remember its trip to College Station in bruises just like Florida did before it.

    The notion that Sumlin will not be able to take the offensive wizardry that worked so well at the University of Houston and translate it into the land where Top 10 teams roam is also proving to be false. It may sound wrong to praise the offensive scheme considering Texas A&M (5-2) scored 17 and 19 points in its two losses to Top 6 teams.

    But Saturday's numbers don't lie. Sumlin's offense racks up 10 more first downs (28 to 18), a 103 more yards (416 to 313) and gets off 21 more plays (taking a whopping 94 snaps) than LSU's. In many ways, Texas A&M's offense dictates the pace of the game.

    It just cannot win it with Manziel at this stage in his development, with Johnny Football underthrowing an open Uzoma Nwachukwu in the end zone on third down inside the LSU's 15-yard line after Trey Williams' jolting, 76-yard fourth-quarter kickoff return.

    Miles will claim something of a defensive victory, reasoning in his halftime TV interview that "it takes a little time against their offense to get your feet on the ground and understand."

     

      Sumlin's offense racks up 10 more first downs (28 to 18), a 103 more yards (416 to 313) and gets off 21 more plays (taking a whopping 94 snaps) than LSU's. 

    But just wait until the Aggies have more time in Sumlin's offense. League, scheme or personnel regardless, if Sumlin's proven one thing, it's that he can coach offense.

    Against non-Top 10 teams? The Aggies are averaging 53 points per game, a number that should seem familiar to University of Houston fans who watched Sumlin's superb schemes torment on a smaller stage.

    In a conference like the SEC, where 56-53 and 56-50 wins are not in the cards, where defense is actually played, Sumlin's offensive creativity may end up meaning even more in the long run.

    LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger (11 of 29 for 97 yards) certainly could use a little more help from Miles and his staff.

    And you can bet seeing Manziel put the ball in the air 56 times while the Aggies still ran 38 times (only six less than LSU) causes the Matt Hatter plenty of indigestion.

    Who's intimidating who?

     Lost Opportunity

    The game is right there for Texas A&M's taking. Williams rips off that 76-yard kick return after the Aggies defense holds up in the red zone again.

    First-and-10 at LSU's 16-yard line. Down by five points. The clock inside eight minutes.

     

      You can forget all those notions of Texas A&M struggling for years in the SEC. 

    Manziel and Sumlin couldn't have asked for anything more. Three plays later . . . Taylor Bertolet is pushing a 33-yard field goal far right as the boos come raining down.

    "We just didn't make enough plays offensively," Sumlin says in his postgame radio interview.

    The chances to make the plays are there though. LSU cannot push Texas A&M around. One of the SEC's elite of the elites — a program that has played in the BCS Championship Game twice in the last five years — needs to sweat almost every second against the Aggies in their SEC Year One.

    With Sumlin and Manziel and all those fanatics who clog the roads to College Station (the fifth-largest crowd in A&M history shows for LSU), this is clearly a program on the rise. A program guaranteed to build buzz.

    Can you really say that with absolute certainty about Miles and the Tigers anymore? About South Carolina with a 67-year-old Spurrier having just watched his last, best chance at the national championship get blown right out the door? At Texas, where a non-Robert Griffin III Baylor team can now put up 50 points in Austin?

    Sometimes, it's good to be new thing. Even on a lost day.

    unspecified
    news/sports
    CULTUREMAP EMAILS ARE AWESOME
    Get Houston intel delivered daily.

    in this corner

    Premier Japanese women's wrestling league performs in Houston this weekend

    Jef Rouner
    Jul 9, 2025 | 12:30 pm
    Two Japanese women wrestlers compete in a ring. One is stomping in the other with both feet.
    Photo courtesy of Tokyo Joshi
    Hard-hitting women's wrestling for two nights in Houston

    For the first time ever, one of Japan's premier women's wrestling promotions, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, will be touring Texas, with a two-night stay in Houston this week.

    "Bringing TJPW to Texas reflects Tokyo Story’s broader strategy," said a TJPW spokesperson via email. "As a Japan-inspired toy and event company, we see major Southwest cities — especially in Texas — as prime for the growth of Asian pop culture. Houston, Dallas, and others are becoming more diverse, culturally curious, and open to new entertainment formats. This isn’t a one-off stop — it’s part of a long-term push to bring Japan’s creativity to cities with eager audiences. And we are making TJPW Live an annual event!"

    The events happen on Thursday, July 10 and Friday, July 11 at POST Houston (401 Franklin). Tickets are available at TokyoStoryUSA.com.

    TJPW split off from DDT Wrestling in 2012 as a sister promotion (or "league") that ran alongside its male counterpart before becoming its own entity in 2015. In that time, they've launched the career of international superstars like Yuka Sakazaki and Mina Shirakawa (both currently signed to All Elite Wrestling in America), as well as hosting non-Japanese guest grapplers like Thunder Rosa.

    The fighting is excellent and often brutal, but TJPW is also known for its playfulness. Matches embrace anime-like absurdity, such as having a wrestler work in a giant panda mascot costume. The promoters are hoping to one day partner with Texas truck stop icon Buc-ee's for a more mascot shenanigans. Many of the women also perform in J-pop girl groups on of their wrestling duties.

    On Night 1, strike specialist Miyu Yamashita will take on Maki Itoh, known for her flamboyant style and high risk maneuvers. Night 2 will feature much of the local guest talent, such as Houston's own Kaylia Capri (Reality of Wrestling) vs Yuki Arai in a singles bout, and Austin's Vert Vixen teaming with reigning TJPW tag champ Hyper Misao. Other Texans slated to appear ar Maya World, Alejandra Quintanilla, and Billie Starkz.

    The last decade has seen a marked rise in the quality and prestige of women's wrestling in America, with WWE hosting all-women Royal Rumbles and stars like Rhea Ripley and "Timeless" Toni Storm becoming household names. Most major promotions now feature robust line-ups of Japanese women wrestlers, with some like Asuka and Iyo Sky becoming world champions.

    For Japan, women's wrestling has a more consistent history of legitimacy going back decades, and the talent pool there is vast. TJPW branching out into Texas tours gives them a chance to showcase their wrestlers in the land that spawned legends like The Undertaker, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and the Von Erich Family.

    "The response has been overwhelmingly positive," said the TJPW spokesperson. "Many who had never experienced joshi (women’s) wrestling before are discovering how entertaining, emotional, and uniquely captivating it is. Since announcing the Texas shows, we’ve received a flood of enthusiastic messages — not just from wrestling fans, but from people drawn to the theatricality, comedy, and creativity of TJPW. We've also heard from fans in other states asking us to bring the tour to their cities."

    news/sports
    Loading...