Texas vs. Michigan
Dickies Arena, Fort Worth
Monday, March 30, 2026

Earlier in the day, I was taking care of things around the house—picking up, doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen, and mopping the floor. I booted up Judas Priest’s Stained Class and Hell Bent for Leather while I meandered around completing these chores. Both albums were released in 1978, in February and November respectively. This marked the beginning of an incredible three-album studio run—a feat that was difficult to achieve then and even more so now.

Subliminally, there may have been a hint of 1980 releases lingering in my mind. My first selection once inside the arena was Judas Priest’s British Steel. It remains held in high regard alongside other classic releases from 1980.

As odd as it sounds, “Breaking the Law” is my least favorite track on the album. I am not entirely sure why. Perhaps one too many references to the song on Beavis and Butt-Head sealed its fate for me. Still, I can say with my metal heart that I will never tire of “You Don’t Have to Be Old to Be Wise,” “Metal Gods,” “Living After Midnight,” “The Rage,” and “Steeler,” which remains one of my favorite Priest songs to this day.

Now a question worth pondering: if Judas Priest had not written “Metal Gods,” would vocalist Rob Halford have been anointed with the prestigious title of The Metal God?

As for the album as a whole, it ranks among my Top Two. The other is Def Leppard’s High ’n’ Dry, released in 1981—another outstanding year for hard rock and metal. Which album sits at the top depends entirely on my mood at the moment.

Something worth mentioning is the number of Judas Priest songs that later became band names. A few that immediately come to mind are Exciter, Sinner, Running Wild, Steeler, and Hellion. These are simply the ones on my radar; there are lesser-known examples as well. Tyrant and Genocide—a Japanese metal band—also fall into this category. Just a bit of heavy metal trivia.

As anticipated, the University of Texas secured its position in the Final Four. From the Fort Worth region, the Longhorns and the UConn Huskies will head to Phoenix.

Even though I am not a Longhorns fan, I expected Texas to win its Elite 8 bracket and advance. What I did not anticipate was the level of destruction Texas delivered to Michigan. The final score was 77–41—a thirty-six-point margin—though at one point the gap reached forty points. That was not merely a dominant performance; it was complete annihilation.

On the other side of the bracket, UCLA and South Carolina also advanced, setting the Final Four matchups.

The winners of UCLA vs. Texas and South Carolina vs. UConn will be decided on Friday, April 3, with the national championship scheduled for Sunday, April 5.

One point worth noting: all No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four. Previous occurrences include 2018, 2015, 2012, and 1989.

I can see Texas defeating UCLA and advancing to the championship game, and from there I could see the Longhorns winning it all, whether facing UConn or South Carolina. The dream matchup for me would be UConn vs. Texas, even though both teams emerged from the Fort Worth bracket.

With all this said, it should be noted that although UConn is undefeated, Texas also completed an undefeated championship season in 1986. Sports fans love symmetry and historical parallels, and I can envision a similar storyline unfolding—the Texas Longhorns winning the NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship forty years later, in 2026. I do not anticipate a blowout, just a hard-earned victory.

Once back in the media room, I wanted something with a heavier hard rock edge. With British Steel already on my mind earlier in the day, I turned to my other Top Two candidate, Def Leppard’s High ’n’ Dry. There are countless standouts, but “Let It Go,” “Another Hit and Run,” “You Got Me Runnin’,” and “Lady Strange” are my personal picks.

When Pyromania, the follow-up to High ’n’ Dry, was climbing the charts, “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” experienced a resurgence on FM radio. The best part was the musical continuity into the instrumental “Switch 625.”

It almost feels wrong to listen to “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” by itself. There is an unwritten listening rule that its flow must continue directly into “Switch 625.”

What a remarkable hard rock album, produced by Robert John “Mutt” Lange. This was hardly a one-time lightning-in-a-bottle moment—Lange was also responsible for Highway to Hell, Back in Black, Foreigner 4, Pyromania, and Heartbeat City, among many other massive-selling albums of that era.

I wanted to continue along the path of 1981 hard rock classics. Having listened to Sabbath earlier with Heaven and Hell, it felt natural to continue with Mob Rules.

The expanded edition of Mob Rules includes a live recording from the band’s 1981 Hammersmith performance. This was what I inadvertently selected instead of the studio version, as both appear in my iTunes library with the same cover art.

I did not make it all the way through, tapping out during the fourteen-minute version of “Heaven and Hell.” At that point, Tony Iommi’s extended guitar solo began to feel somewhat monotonous. Coincidentally, I finished my postgame photographic duties at nearly the same moment.

I bid farewell to fellow photographers who were packing up, leaving, or still working. I hope to see many of them again in mid-April when Dickies Arena hosts the 2026 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships on April 16 and April 18, with practice day scheduled for April 17.

Practice day is a special event for students in the Fort Worth ISD. Schools that achieve literacy reading goals are invited to watch the four qualifying teams practice. The students’ excitement—and often stunned expressions—make the day especially rewarding.

Between now and then, I may cover some baseball and tennis, but I am especially looking forward to shows I am already approved for or may soon be approved to cover. FC Dallas vs. St. Louis City SC is already on my schedule several days before the gymnastics championships.