Friday 28 February 2014

Archive: 2013 to Feb '14

February 12th 2014,
Spring practice will start start very soon. The Bears will begin February 28th, have 5 practices and then have Spring break and before continuing through to the Spring game on April 5th.
Its been cold again in Waco, down to 20 degrees fahrenheit at night time; makes for some interesting getting around on mopeds.

January 30th 2014,
the Baylor football team is in its offseason training period. The program's attention has also shifted towards signing day for the next class which will be the first week of february.
The new stadium is still progressing and an excellent new graphic has been released that gives a 3D perspective of what it will be like inside once completed. Check it out here. 

January 19th, 2013
Blake and Sean are back on campus and in the previous post there was a failure to mention how they had faired academically last semester. Blake is continuing his very good grades from UH and currently carrying a 3.68 gpa and Sean has started things off with a 3.42 gpa.
Such excellent results will keep them in good standing with the program and yield the full value of the scholarships they have earned.

January 3rd 2014,
The wonderful ride that has been the 2013 season for Baylor ended with a disappointing loss to Central Florida in the Fiesta Bowl. Baylor did not play its best game, 17 penalties made the game too easy for UCF who played very solidly in all facets and were never headed, finally winning 52-42.
Baylor were heavy favourites and only a few times throughout the game looked like the polished big play team they had been to win the Big 12. The program had its best season ever but will go away disheartened that it didn't finish better. 2014 however looks very bright and the program no doubt will use this loss to focus on the off season and preparation to defend its conference title and have a shot to go to one of the new College playoff top 4 slots.
Blake and Sean will be home in Australia until school starts on the 13th of January. Both have lost a lot of weight and strength during their first semester in the Baylor redshirt/ineligible transfer program and both are keen to gain back what they have lost. Like most programs, there is a big focus on volume, conditioning and psychological bonding at Baylor, particularly for those not eligible to play and redshirts; it taxes the players significantly. The workload should lessen in the spring semester.

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December 20th 2013,
Change of plans, Sean WILL now in fact be coming back for Xmas in Australia. It largely came down to the number of players needed on the scout team for the lead up to the game. It means the Muir family will be home for Xmas and also to celebrate Sean's birthday yesterday and older brother Clay's today.

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December 17th 2013,
there are exams on Monday and then the team will practice through to the end of the week. Blake will be returning home for xmas on Sunday but Sean will have to stay over xmas on campus and then straight into bowl game week. The team will go to the bowl game site in Arizona on Boxing Day and prepare for Central Florida. Blake is not allowed to go to the bowl venue under NCAA transfer rules so he will be home in Australia until school goes back the end of the first week in January.
This will be a strange experience in particular for Sean as not only will be away from home, he'll be away from his family for xmas.

December 12th 2013,
Whilst fans are making arrangements for the Fiesta bowl on New Year's Day, the Baylor players have final exams for this semester starting tomorrow.
We'll know early next week what day Blake and Sean will return home for a short period and what their schedules will be for the bowl game: Blake not being eligible to attend because of NCAA transfer rules.

December 8th 2013,
the impossible became possible today. With the help of an upset win by Oklahoma over Oklahoma State, the Baylor Bears knocked off the Texas Longhorns and became outright Big 12 champions and secured a berth to the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona on New Year's Day.
The day started with just the hope of trying to win a co-championship with OSU with a likely 8-1 conference record likely. By beating the Cowboys 33-24, the Oklahoma Sooners laid a great opportunity for the Baylor Bears and the Bears were up to it. 3-3 at the half in freezing conditions int he last ever game at Floyd Casey Stadium, the BEars powered in the 3rd quarter and rounded things out 30-10. The defense was stellar throughout and the team experienced its finest ever moment.
The Bears secured the invite to the Fiesta Bowl which will likely be against Central Florida Black Knights. UCF of the ACC are 11-1 like Baylor.

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December 3rd 2013,
the Baylor remain in an undetermined situation entering the last game of the regular season. Depending on the results of several other games, Baylor could find themselves in either the Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl or Cotton Bowl should they defeat Texas this week. The most important thing is that the team follows up its victory over TCU on saturday as the final game is played at Floyd Casey Stadium the home field of the Bears for 60 years.
Baylor are still #9 in the BCS and could rise a few spots in the final week.

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November 28th 2013,
Blake and Sean will spend Thanksgiving Day attending the Cowboys vs Raiders game at Cowboys Stadium.
The Bears have dropped to #9 in the BCS and need a few things to go their way to be able to get back in contention for the BIG 12 Championship and Fiesta Bowl. With Texas Christian University this week on the road and then the Texas Longhorns at home, the Bears need OSU to drop one of their games and go undefeated at the same time.
A sad day for the Bears program today as Head Coach Art Briles' older brother Edward 'Eddie' Briles passing away today. He had been in poor health for a short period. No doubt everyone at the Baylor Bears athletic department will be able to cheer him up and give him his privacy at this time. It will not effect the Bears preparation for TCU on saturday.

November 25th, 2013
It just wasn't Baylor's day against Oklahoma State on the road in Stillwater. The offense had a lot of trouble getting going, turned the ball over at key moments and had questionable play calling at times. The defense leaked points and the Cowboys were just plain better on the day.
It means that the Bears are now needing help to win the Big 12 and might be heading to the Cotton Bowl rather than the Fiesta Bowl or National Championship game. With 5 starters out, the Bears didn't have the same effectiveness that they had leading into the game and next week will again be on the road against TCU.


November 18th, 2013
Baylor will be ranked #3 or #4 in the BCS after disposing of the Texas Tech Red Raiders 63-34 at AT&T Stadium (aka 'Jerry World')

The annual game is always held at the neutral site and that permitted Blake and Sean to run the 2 hours on the team bus to the game.

The Red Raiders were up 14-0 before the Bears got into gear and took over every facet of the game. Now at 9-0, the Bears will play @ Oklahoma State next week in what shapes as the toughest test of the season. Win the game, and a Big 12 championship is almost secured, only TCU and Texas remain after that. By contrast, Hawaii is now 0-10 and essentially rank the same number of spots from the bottom of the 125 FBS teams that Baylor rank from the top.

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November 9th, 2013
It took a while to get going in the first quarter but the Baylor Bears triumphed handily over the Oklahoma Sooners 41-12 in the key Big 12 match up last night.
Blake and Sean were again on card carrying duties, holding up giant cards to obscure the coaches signals from behind and provide a proper backdrop for the on field players to see. With the addition of #2 Oregon losing, the Bears may move up to as high as #3 in the BCS after this week's games.

Next week, Baylor will play Texas Tech at Cowboys Stadium (neutral site).

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Novermber  8th, 2013
It seems like a long time since the last game, Thursday games always feel weird. Today the Baylor Bears take on the Oklahoma Sooners. Its billed as the first real test for the Bears this season having only the 81st ranked strength of schedule so far in D1 football. With a win, most of the detractors will be unable to say "Baylor hasn't played anyone yet." Oklahoma has the best defense in the Big 12 this year so far.
As he has done for all the home games this year, Blake is staying with the team at the hotel in Waco the night before. The food is a little better when staying at the hotel, even if he has to share a room instead of having his own at the apartment where Sean is by himself for the Wednesday night. No classes for the football players on Thursday and the whole town of Waco is a buzz with the potential for beating Oklahoma for only the 2nd time since being in the Big 12 together.

October 29th, 2013
Handsomely defeating Kansas 59-14, the Baylor Bears are now ranked #6 in the nation and will play #10 Oklahoma next thursday night. Should the Bears win, it would surely jump them ahead of either Oregon and Stanford who also play that evening.
The Oklahoma game will be at home at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco. This will be followed by a game at the neutral site Cowboy's Stadium, then on the road at Oklahoma state and TCU, then finishing at home to Texas. This is the meat of the schedule in the Big 12 with 4 of those team being ranked.

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October 21st, 2013
the BCS rankings were released for the first time today for the 2013 season and Baylor debuted at #8, the highest ranking ever for the football program.
The team destroyed Iowa State on saturday at home 71-7. The game was a part of Homecoming week, highlights can be seen below.
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October 13th 2013,
Baylor had quite a contest today at Kansas State, needing most of the 4th quarter before finally putting away the Wildcats.
Highlights can be seen below.

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Blake and Sean obviously were not on the travel squad. Blake as a transfer is prohibited by NCAA rule from traveling with the team to away games and Sean is redshirting. They are both taking 6 classes this semester which keeps them very busy (Blake took 4 per semester at Hawaii). It means they are getting a lot of school work done amongst their regular lifting, practice and film sessions.

Next week the Bears have their Homecoming game against Iowa State.

October 7th 2013,
Baylor were awesome in their 73-42 victory over West Virginia yesterday. Blake and Sean were recruited to a special role on the day..... holding up boards to obscure the offensive signals to the press box and anyone who might want to film them or record them.

Some notes from the game courtesy of SicEmSports.com
* Baylor's 864 yards of total offense is a Big 12 record passing West Virginia's 807 yards against Baylor Sept. 29, 2012.
* Baylor's 73 points is a Big 12 record for most points in a Big 12 head-to-head matchup.
* Baylor is the nation's only team whose offense has not had a 3-and-out all season.
* Baylor set a school record for points in a conference game (SWC or Big 12) and broke the school record for points in any game in the modern era (post-WWII).
* Baylor's 369 yards in the 1st quarter were the most by any team in a single quarter in the last 10 years.
* Baylor's 617 yards in the 1st half were the most by any team in the first half of a game in the last 10 years.
* With a school-record 864 yards of total offense in the game, the Bears have had at least 400 yards of total offense in 31 straight games dating back to Dec. 29, 2011 -- the 31-game streak is the nation's longest active streak (Texas A&M is next closest at 17 straight entering the day).
* Baylor had 400+ rushing yards for the 5th time in program history, and its 468 yards were the 3rd-most in BU history.
* Baylor topped 600 yards of total offense for the 24th time in program history (19 times in Briles era).
* Baylor topped 700 yards of total offense for the 3rd straight game and 5th time in program history.
* Baylor became the first FBS or FCS team to score 28+ points in the 1st quarter of four straight games during the BCS era (1996-present) -- the only previous team to score 28+ points in the 1st quarter four different times at any point during a season during the BCS era was Oklahoma in 2008.
* Baylor scored 28+ points in 7 of its first 14 quarters this season -- no other FBS team has scored 28+ points in more than 2 quarters this season.
* Baylor's 7 quarters with 28+ points this season equals the number of times the Bears scored 28+ points in a quarter in their 1,137 all-time games entering the year.

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October 1st 2013,
The Baylor Bears are ranked #16 in the nation after their week of and several teams above them losing games over the weekend. The most notable game was #11 Oklahoma State going down to this week's opponent West Virginia in a huge upset. It will be interesting to see which Mountaineer team comes to Waco; the team that was soundly shut out against Maryland 2 weeks ago or last week's upset maker.

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September 23rd 2013,
Baylor were victorious 70-7 over Louisiana-Monroe yesterday. It was another spectacular performance by the Bears, setting another record in total offense as well as scoring twice on defense. The Bears now look to be ranked #19 in multiple polls and will have a second bye week this week before playing West Virginia to start conference play.

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September 13th 2013,
Baylor have the bye this week but yesterday they featured on ESPN's 'All-Access' series.
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September 10th 2013,
Baylor was ruthless in their demolition of the University of Buffalo on saturday winning 70-13. The Bears offense racked up over 700 yards of offense.
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The Bears jumped up another spot in the AP poll to #22 and will have a bye week this week before taking on Louisiana-Monroe.
Blake and Sean have finally had their mopeds delivered and wont have to bug people for a ride around town any longer.
As what happens in Hawaii, and most likely every state, Blake and Sean get taxed quite heavily being out of state on their scholarship cheques. So while they are provided 16 meals a week there is no additional money to buy anything extra. They're going to have to live pretty frugally for a while.

September 4th 2013,
The Baylor Bears are now ranked #23 in the Associated Press poll jumping up from the unranked teams to open the season. Whatever concern there was about breaking in a new QB was answered with a resoundingly positive response from Bryce Petty's 312 yard 2TD performance.
Peni Tagive was active in the game, making a tackle on kickoff as well as lining up in the backfield on a few plays and at defensive end in the fourth quarter. It seems like he will be used as an experiment in several places on the team.
Blake and Sean's mum had an excellent visit and has returned to Australia, getting to watch the game from the stands and experience Waco for 10 days.

September 2nd 2013.
Baylor opened the 2013 season in style, handily taking care of FCS school Wofford, a team that has troubled SEC teams in the past but could not keep up with Baylor; both offense AND defense.
Below is a pic courtesy of journalist Brian Ethridge of Blake and Sean on the sideline.
 
 Next week Baylor will play the University of Buffalo at home. Highlights of the Wofford game below.

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August 30th, 2013.
Its a far cry from last year when Blake was heading to Los Angeles to play USC in the 2012 opener, but Blake was named Scout Team Player of the week as the Bears prepare for the Wofford Terriers.
Hawaii meanwhile prepare for the return game at home vs USC today.
Below is Sean at practice standing behind Coach Briles and defensive coordinator Coach Phil Bennett.
 


August 26th, 2013
Sean and Blake have their mother visiting this week, she hasn't been to Waco before and is getting a chance to experience what she has heard so much about.
School starts this week so things will get busier around the apartment complex. The team is preparing for the first game of the year versus Wofford on saturday. It will be a home game and the team wrapped up their fall camp with a scrimmage at Floyd Casey Stadium last week. The game will kick off 9.30am in Sydney on Sunday 1st September.

August 19th 2013,
A pretty comprehensive article on Blake, Sean and Peni in the Waco Tribune today.

This is Blake's 3rd Fall camp, its been a lot easier on the feet, and overall not having to sleep on fold out cots in Hawaii, instead sleeping in the apartments at Baylor, has been a nice upgrade. Blake weighed in at 304lb yesterday at the practice facility.

In this pic, Blake is standing behind Coach Clements and Coach Briles. Courtesy of the Baylor Athletics site.



August 17th 2013,
Baylor had its first 2 a day yesterday. Good in that it meant the early practice was in the morning (cooler, low 30's) instead of early afternoon (hotter, high 30's), but there being 2 practices is obviously makes for a tough day.

Blake has been getting some reps on the 2nd team at LT, a little surprising considering he's ineligible this season. As expected Sean is on the 3rd team and redshirting.

In the clip below you'll see Blake and Sean eating breakfast in the dining room. The clip details the daily rehab regime of team mate Troy Baker.

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August 12th 2013,
The first week is done with, the Baylor Bears have completed their initial practices in preparation for the opening game against Wofford on August 31st.

In the team pic that was taken on wednesday, you'll see Blake in #73 in the 4th row on the left, Sean in #74 in the 6th row in the middle and Peni in the top row of players in #59 even though it looks a bit like #55.
Yesterday the team had a scrimmage practice and 'Meet the Bears' fan day. Blake took some reps on the 2nd team at left tackle then all the reps on the 3rd team. A video recap of Day 5 can be seen here.

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Only being at the school for 1 week now, they have not had much time to really settle in amongst the start of practice. Today however they're going out to buy some transport for themselves (mopeds) so that they can get around campus and most importantly to and from the athletic department from their apartments which are about 1.5km away. Fair enough when the average daily temperature has been 37 degrees. At least half of practice is completed indoors however, a huge advantage over many other schools.

The standard of practice for Blake compared to Hawaii has largely been to do with the better quality of organization. Most things so far have just been that little bit better. In 2012, Hawaii tried to institute a speed of practice that was beyond the coaches' ability to install everything in a timely manner. At Baylor, everything is well organized, sensibly paced, clear and concise. The playing talent level isn't overwhelmingly noticeable, in the same window of talent, there are more players at the top and very few at the bottom of that window. Sean is adjusting well considering its his first time in practices of that speed and quality and the good thing is that considering that Blake is ineligible to take the field in 2013 and Sean will likely redshirt its a great time to adjust, learn and become comfortable with everything.

August 7th 2013,
The Bears have gone through their first 2 practices. A recap of opening day can be found here from the Waco Tribune.
Blake can be seen on the left in Coach Briles post practice address. Picture courtesy of Baylor Football twitter page.



August 5th 2013,
The boys are in Waco, have reported for camp and tomorrow will participate in the first practice of the Bears Fall Camp. The Baylor Athletics site is posting a daily report, below is the first edition.

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Blake and Sean have been given their playing numbers and are uploaded onto the 2013 roster.
Blake will be #73 and Sean #74. Photos will be added.

August 2nd, 2013
Benefits of a parent working for an airline, cheap travel and upgrades to business class. Down side; flying 'stand by'. So either Blake and Sean are already in the air or they're sitting at the airport waiting. Either way, we wont see them back here until after their bowl game, where ever that may be, possibly in January for a short period.




July 31st 2013,
Nothing left to do really. Blake and Sean have their visas now and have flights booked. Qantas flies direct Sydney to Dallas, about a 15 hour flight, they will arrive on Saturday, report for camp on Sunday and first practice is Monday.
The weather in Waco is its usual hot summer range. Days in the high 30's and nights only getting down to the low 20's. A bit of a contrast from winter in Sydney, although its been a warm winter this year.
On saturday Blake and Sean ran some 40's at the track and had some good results. 4.96 for Blake, same as last year but 4lbs heavier. His 10 yard time was quicker than 2012. Sean ran 5.32 which is his fastest weighing over 130kg.
Peni has settled in already, he's doing his school work and a lot of conditioning drills. Right now he is preparing as a linebacker.

Sean gets plenty of lay back in the snatch.

 Blake gets under a 150kg snatch (330lb)




July 24th 2013,
Blake and Sean are at the US consulate today getting their visas. Yesterday they maxed their 102.5kg (225lb) bench for reps test. Blake had 29, but we took 2 off for his hips coming up off then bench. Sean had 26. Both of those results were personal records.
They also PR'd their weighted pullups. 40kg for 1 rep and 20kg for 5 reps. Blake @ 141kg (310lb), Sean at 131kg (288lb).
On saturday they worked on their 10 and 20 yard sprints. Blake had 1.65 for 10 and 2.83 for 20. Sean had 1.75 for 10 and 2.98 for 20. 40's will be done next saturday.


July 20th 2013,
just to give an idea of all the little things that need doing for someone from Australia to be enrolled and eligible to play college football here is a list.

* Send final transcripts to school. (snail mail)
* Send final transcripts to eligibility center. (snail mail, these can be certified copies of originals)
* Send SAT/ACT scores to school. (done online for a fee)
* Send SAT/ACT to eligibility center. (online)
* Enroll with school academically. (online)
* Update amateurism declaration with eligibility center. (online)
* Make sure passport is current and valid.
* Receive scholarship papers from school (email)
* Receive I-20 application form (email)
* Fill in I-20 application form and have a sponsor's (relative) bank fill it in (says you have financial support in case of emergency. (snail mail)
* I-20 form is sent by the school, SEVIS number generated. (snail mail)
* Use SEVIS number to fill in DS-160 form and upload photo with US Travel Docs and pay a fee. (Online)
* Book a date online at closest embassy to file paperwork pay fee. (online)
* Make sure immunization records are up to date. Most state schools will have a mandatory meningitis vaccination and you cannot do anything on campus without it.
* Take I-20, DS-160 and passport to embassy. Processing takes a few days. I think 3. (in person).
* Fill in housing forms. (scan email)
* Organize student insurance. Mandatory for international students, costs around $700 a semester. Cannot start classes without it.(online)


July 19th 2013,
Peni departed for Waco 2 days ago, and today attended his first class there (summer session) and first practice. Blake and Sean get their visas next wednesday and found out where they will be staying on campus which will be some of the nice apartments that Blake saw on his recruiting trip.
Tomorrow Blake and Sean will be doing some timed runs at the track for 10, 20 and 40 yards as well as testing vertical jump for the first time in a very long time. On Monday they'll both be maxing their clean and jerk.
Below is a 'hype video' for Baylor's 2013 season, which is kind of ironic to put on this blog as these guys are about as low-hype as you will find.

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July 14th 2013,
The three Australian players headed to Baylor, trained together on saturday. Blake, Sean and Peni ran together yesterday at the field and did some drills.


Here is a pic of Blake snatching up to 140kg yesterday. One of the training goals for 2013 was a 150kg snatch which will be attempted in 2 weeks just before he leaves for camp. It will be hard, but it is an awesome goal for a football player who only gets a few months a year to train seriously and is coming off a shoulder surgery this year.
 



July 10th 2013,
Blake and Sean appeared on Ten News tonight in a story about their football careers and move to Baylor at the end of the month. The story can be watched on this link you might have to change browsers to view Channel Ten's online story archive.
 


July 8th 2013,
another heavy week of training this week, the 3rd last before leaving for Waco. Clean and Jerk today was 176kg for Blake, in 2 weeks he'll take 181kg. His Clean Pulls today were 200kg for doubles. Sean PR'd his cleans from the blocks for doubles.

Sean has to have his immunization updates on thursday and they both have to complete housing forms for staying on campus in the dorm rooms. Otherwise its just training for the last few weeks. Tomorrow will also involve hitting the blocking bags pretty hard and some conditioning work.
 
 

June 24th, 2013
Just waiting to receive back the last document so they can go to the embassy to get their visa. Meanwhile, we're into PR breaking territory for this lifting cycle. Blake broke his PR C&J from last year, now at 171kg. 4 more week's and 400lb will be on the bar. Sean PR'd his clean at 150kg and his bench for max reps.

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June 16th, 2013
Saturday's training ended with what has become common on saturdays. Alactic-Aerobic conditioning runs at the sandhills.
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June 14th, 2013
This week Blake and Sean have been training with Peni Tagive who is now in Sydney getting ready to leave for Waco in a few weeks.
Some video will be up soon. In the mean time here is some pics of Sean performing hurdle jumps with a 20kg weighted vest and doing some weighted pull ups. Being 131kg is not enough some times.

 
 



June 7th, 2013
Sean squatting last week.
 
 


June 6th, 2013
Blake and Sean have been finalizing their enrollments and getting visas organized. It appears likely that Sean will join the Baylor program at the same time as Blake; both of them will be there for Fall camp.

Baylor OL coach Randy Clements presented a speech at the COOL Clinic (Coaches Of Offensive Line) in Cincinnati a few weeks ago. On monday the DVD collection arrived of the whole clinic so Blake and Sean are making their way through watching and reviewing the DVD's.

Training has been progressing very well. Blake will PR his 5RM bench next week at 152.5kg and in 2 weeks will attempt to get his first 400lb jerk (182kg) from the rack. The same week he will PR his clean at 171kg. Blake is now 308lb.

Sean will attempt to PR his snatch at 120kg and make his highbar squat at 200kg for a double. He's also aiming for 25 reps on the bench at 225lb which would be a 3 rep PR.

May 30th, 2013
Preseason rankings are starting to come out. Baylor is ranked #17 by Sportingnews.com , Hawaii is ranked #105 by USA Today in their countdown.
Baylor released a nice video clip of their new uniforms this week.

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May 22nd, 2013
Blake and Sean participated in the Rode 2 Recovery charity fundraiser on sunday at Shire Speed and Strength.
The Rode 2 Recovery is a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility bike ride that takes place each year. The day included a deadlift demonstration and competition which Blake and Sean were a part of.
Also participating in the day were the head coaches of the South Sydney Rabbitohs Michael Macguire and St George Illawarra Dragons Steven Price.


 

May 8th, 2013
The Our Daily Bears site has some excellent information uploaded today on the new stadium that is being built at Baylor.

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May 5th, 2013
Blake will be heading back to Hawaii for a few days this week to take care of some loose ends. Sean will be staying in Sydney to continue training.

April 25th, 2013
Just a lot of hard training the last few weeks for Blake and Sean.
Here is Blake working up to a 200kg high bar squat for a triple today. The goal is 250kg for a double in July.

 

Neither Blake nor Sean wear hats very much. This new one was a little small but it just arrived, so Sean tried it on for size.
 Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays are the main lifting days. Tuesday and Saturday are sprint days. Tuesday and Wednesday are the agility and energy system sessions.

April 19th, 2013
The front page of today's paper in Sydney. The town of West is just outside of Baylor and this accident has rocked the community around Waco and Texas at large. Our best wishes go to those affected by the tragedy. The Baylor Athletics Department has organized a blood drive and no doubt this will be a part of the 2013 season as the community deals with what has happened.
 


April 15th, 2013
New training block for Sean. Weighed in at his heaviest ever 292lb last week. Blake is still ramping up his lifting numbers and is 304lb right now.
This week has been that strange week where their lifting numbers have been very similar as Blake heads back towards the numbers he had in the 2012 off season and Sean continues his consistent progress. Blake will over take Sean with the squatting numbers next week but it will be a few more weeks before he can out bench his younger brother again.

THIS PAGE WILL NOW SERVE AS A DIARY PAGE FOR BOTH BLAKE AND SEAN.


March 28th, 2013
Not much to report the last 2 weeks. An A in a paper on education for people with learning disabilities in case anyone was interested.
Baylor's 2013 schedule has been released. The opening game against Wofford was originally scheduled to be against SMU until earlier this year. SMU will still be the opponent for the opening game of 2014 at the new Baylor stadium.
Full schedule:
Aug. 31: Wofford
Sept. 7: Buffalo
Sept. 21: Louisiana-Monroe
Oct. 5: West Virginia
Oct. 12: at Kansas State
Oct. 19: Iowa State
Oct. 26: at Kansas
Nov. 7: Oklahoma
Nov. 16: vs. Texas Tech at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas
Nov. 23: at Oklahoma State
Nov. 30: at TCU
Dec. 7: Texas
Key games will be Oklahoma at home (2011 was the first victory for Baylor over Oklahoma), Texas Tech at Cowboys Stadium, then the 2 away games back to back at Oklahoma State and at TCU. Texas at home right now the Bears would be favoured for, Texas is in a slump and not having a good off season either.
The game at Kansas State will set the season up. Win that game and Baylor could go 7-0 very easily with the very soft start to the season. 7-0 would bring a strong sense of confidence which will be needed badly in what could be the toughest November schedule in the nation.


March  15th, 2013
Running, lifting, drills and swimming are all back to normal now in training. Over 300lb body weight for the first time this week since the start of Fall camp last year.
The NFL combine has been and gone and there were lots of stats to emulate from the results.
The Baylor football team has started spring practice.

March 2nd, 2013
It didn't take long to get back up to 295lb. The shoulder rehab phase is largely now turning into regular strength training with full mobility reached. Ballistic functions and non-controlled environment drills and exercises are being introduced conservatively.
The progressions now will be linear for a while.


February 21st, 2013
A good time now to make some long term lifting goals that this rehab period can bloom into.
A 400lb clean would have to be at the top of the list.
32 reps @ 225lb on the bench.
250kg Backsquat for a double, full depth, of course.
A sub 5 sec 40 yard dash at a bodyweight over 310lb.
A 150kg snatch might have to be next off season, we will see how the shoulder responds but cost/benefit may not fit the rehab direction for 2013.
This week benching and weighted overhead press was added, along with front squatting and running. In 2 weeks cleans will re-start, if all goes well some more ballistic overhead movements will be re-introduced lightly.
So far, so good on everything.

February 6th 2013
After the madness of yesterday, it was easy to overlook the rehab progress that Blake has made since his arthroscopy 4 weeks ago. Blake was light overhead pressing this week amongst other shoulder rehab in between making a lot of phone calls. Back squatting and some light clean grip and snatch grip pulls have been relatively easy to start up again.
The main goal is to be ahead of where Blake was at the finish of the spring semester in 2012 which should be easy enough training at home whilst taking online courses at UH through this semester.


February 5th, 2013
Those stories you read about where a recruit has to wade through the pros and cons of each school, new issues arrive at the last moment, and eventually a great result is reached; that was the last 3 days and especially magnified today.
Oregon State and Baylor were almost impossible to separate, and all the while, Blake and his family were dealing with the recruitment of brother Sean who had been dealing with recruitment changes due to staff firings at Hawaii and Idaho over the last 14 months, then having to rejoin the recruiting world so late in the piece it was near impossible to gain much traction. (Sean will have his own blog starting soon)
The Baylor coaches; Offensive Line coach Randy Clements and Head Coach Art Briles, really went the extra mile and have offered a greyshirt scholarship (maybe Fall 2013) to Sean, presenting the option of Blake and Sean playing together, living and studying, just as they had always dreamed of. An offer too good to refuse.
The Baylor coaches really went out on a limb, trusted their judgment and now have 2 awesome prospects for the OL position. Blake Muir, who will sit out his sophomore year under transfer rules and will arrive for Fall, and Sean Muir, a 6'2" 280lb freshman Center who will join the Baylor program in January 2014 or August 2013. Sean had offers at Texas State, East Illinois and Northern Colorado.
More details shortly..

February 2nd, 2013
Blake was named to the Mountain West Academic All-Conference Team along with fellow Aussie Scott Harding.
Conference link here.

UH Athletics link here.

February 1st, 2013
Tomorrow, Blake will return from recruiting trips to Georgia Tech, Baylor and Oregon State. He will then decide which school he is transferring to for 2013.

January 22nd, 2013
Blake will take recruiting trips to Georgia Tech and Baylor at the end of the week.
Both schools have presented very strong recruiting pushes so far. There maybe more trips scheduled in the next few days as more offers are considered.

January 18th, 2013
The last few days have been a blizzard of activity.
The transfer process has many bureaucratic tasks to fulfill. Student Affairs, Compliance, International Student office tasks to be completed and gathering transcripts has to be done; this all the while as contact is made with new coaching staffs.
So far the offers and attention have been excellent. 5 scholarship offers already, including schools in the Big 12 and ACC. Official visits are being organized for next week.
Hopefully more news in the next few days.
Blake's time at UH demonstrated his durability, consistency and tenacity. He played through pain and missed only 2 practices in his career and had to double up in 1st and 2nd team reps throughout the 2012 season when back ups were injured or sick. His consistency in doing this, despite losing so much weight in the process, shows his value as a team player.

January 14th, 2013
After much deliberation, Blake has decided to leave the Warrior Football program at the end of the 2013 Spring semester. After starting all 12 games as a Redshirt Freshman in 2012, he did not make this decision lightly.

Simply put, Blake was not happy at UH and has requested a release in order to discuss transferring with other schools; this search will start immediately.

2012 was not a good year for UH. It brought a new staff and a diametrically opposed way of running the program. More so than the wins and losses, Blake did not feel he could play his best football in 2013 with the way that the program was being run. Many team mates have left the UH football program because of unsavoury experiences in the 2012 season; things that Blake had to witness. It means that he will have to sit out a year if he transfers to another FBS school which is what he intends to do; even with that taken into account, Blake has decided to leave.

Blake exits his time at UH with a 3.84gpa and physically set several all-time testing records at the OL position; his name and picture are on the wall of the weight room. He attended every practice and meeting on time and did every task that was asked of him. In 2012, he was the top rated  offensive lineman in at least 5 of the 12 games. In 2 years there were only two practices where he was not a full participant, one to injury, one to sickness.
Blake's original reason for going to UH was based on coaching integrity, he originally chose the more expensive route of attending UH a semester early instead of immediately on scholarship at SMU. Coaching integrity will be what he will be looking for in his next school .

Blake wanted to make this statement about his decision....
'I acknowledge and thank the supporters of the UH football program and the state of Hawaii for the opportunity to be a UH Warrior. I have invested a great deal in the program over my time here, it saddens me that I feel that this move is necessary. I wish the UH program all the best for the future.'
 




January 10th, 2013
Blake had his arthroscopy today. The surgery was fine, but afterwards he had a lot of trouble getting his prescriptions for pain killers and anti-inflammatories. A lot of walking to find the right drug store and an arranged ride later, the recovery process now begins.
Blake's brother Sean will soon be starting his own diary blog. He'll be announcing soon which school he will be committing to in 2013.

January 7th, 2013
Blake leaves today to head back to Honolulu. When he arrived, he was the lightest he had been for  more than 2 1/2 years, 268lb; that's 38lb in weight lost since the beginning of Fall camp. He returns to school at 284lb. His gpa bumped up to 3.84.
He is scheduled to have an arthroscopy on his right shoulder on Wednesday to repair the small tear that he carried for the majority of the season. He will then start rehabbing immediately.
 


December 23rd, 2012
Blake has been back home for a week and has taken the time to try to recover some bodyweight that he lost over the season and through the last week where he was very sick for several days; missing his only practice for the year.
He is also waiting for online results from his exams. His current gpa is 3.82 and has two A's so far from finals. Blake will be home until the first week of January.

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