Hornets beaten behind the arc
Sometimes it’s hard to dissect a basketball game. If you watched the Hornets-Spurs Game 7, you would think San Antonio won on the boards. The Spurs seemed to get a ton of offensive rebounds and not allow the Hornets any. Yet at game’s end, the Spurs had 13 offensive boards, the Hornets 11.
Or maybe you would glance at the point totals and figure that the Hornet stars just didn’t produce. David West had 20 points and Chris Paul 18, but that’s a solid performance. Not a championship performance, but solid. Yet Tony Parker had just 17 points and Tim Duncan 16 for San Antonio. Yes, Manu Ginobili had 26 points for the Spurs, but made just 6 of 19 shots.
And San Antonio had an edge at the foul line — 19 of 21 to New Orleans’ 12 of 17 — but several of those Spur foul shots came in the final minute, when the Hornets were futilely trying to catch up.
But the difference in this game was clear. The Spurs won this game on 3-pointers. San Antonio made 12 of 28, which is big-time shooting; that’s 36 points on 28 shots. The Hornets made 4 of 17 3-pointers.
And here’s the even bigger difference. The Spurs got a huge boost off the bench. Michael Finley was 2-of-2; Robert Horry 2-of-4; Ime Udoka was 2-of-5. That’s 6-of-11 3-pointers off the bench. The Hornet bench made only six field goals total, all by Jannero Pargo.
San Antonio had the stronger bench in Game 7. That’s why the Spurs will keep playing.
Emails, some wise, some not
Great week of emails. NBA team name. Baseball’s lack of joy. OU football. All kinds of cool topics. Let’s start with the renaming of the Sonics.
Matt wrote, “I’m writing to ask what is wrong with being an Okie? Lately, the Oklahoman has been … polling people about the name for the (NBA) team. I believe the two teams we have left (Outlaws & Thunder) do not represent Oklahoma much. The best name for a team in Oklahoma is simply Okies. The name wasn’t considered in the tournament, which I do not understand. How is being called an Okie a bad thing? I am proud to be an Okie. In today’s paper, there is a title (headline) about women’s softball that reads ‘Okies give Hogs big lift.’ So about a week ago, it was a bad thing to be an Okie. Now it’s OK. I just don’t understand.”
Well, The Grapes of Wrath might shed a little light. Oklahomans of a certain age have no affinity for the term Okies. Dewey Bartlett’s campaign in the 1960s lessened the sting of the term, but still. Two things: 1. No reason to alienate a big chunk of your potential base. And 2. Oklahoma City Okies is the goofiest name I’ve ever heard.
That wasn’t the only vote for Okies I received. Jim in Konawa wrote, “Those names Thunder & Outlaws could be anyone’s name. The one thing we are and are damn proud of it (although I am a native Texan) is OKIES. Think of it, everyone nationwide would know Okies, a totally unique identity. Yankees, Packers, Okies. Good one-name company. That name is derogatory to no true Okie. The marketing would be phenomenal.”
Yankees, Packers, Okies? How about Yankees, Packers, Laughingstocks? Yankees, Packers, Gooberheads? Besides, look at it this way. True Okies are the ones who left the state. Sort of the opposite of the Sonics.
The whole notion of relocation doesn’t set well with Tim from
Now do you get a sense of what the NBA has been dealing with lo these many years? This dispatch misses the mark almost everywhere, beginning with the kids. If you want to talk about kids, explain why kids with the Seahawks and the Mariners need the Sonics? As for Oklahoma City waiting for a franchise, the NBA has 30 teams; 13 have moved cities. And nothing against the Sonics or their fans, but this is one of the great franchises and fan bases in the league? One title and three finals in 41 years? Neglect and apathy from the city? I’ve only got one thing to say: Shed no tears for Seattle.
Edgar detected hijinks in the name-the-team contest. “Call in whatever markers at hand. Can see the deck is being stacked for Barons. Who did the half-ass effort on the T-Birds jersey. Don’t think the heart was in it. Barons. Please. Oilmen currently share equal status with the guy stealing elderly ladies’ purses. Do you really want to remind people it cost $50 to fill up the Bronco? Frankly didn’t see for quite some time how Baron was apt. Dictionary definition No. 1: low ranking member of the British peerage. Perfect. Lying oil baron, robber baron. There will be plenty of derogatory spinoffs, don’t you know. Thunder is OK, a bit cliche’, not as obvious as Twisters, but Thunder around these parts is the hated Wichita Thunder. They got the market. Seatle’s hockey team is the Thunderbirds. They can accuse OKC stealing the moniker as well.
T-Birds! T-Birds! T-Birds!
On to baseball and its lack of joy. Budd wrote, “Good piece on baseball players screaming about professionalism. Particularly when so many of our newly or recently anointed millionaire heroes got there on steroids and other goodies. There’ll never be a ‘House that Barry Bonds built.’ And Babe Ruth trained on beer. DiMaggio, and later Mickey Mantle wet their depression at the big curved bar in Toots Shor’s. I know because I enjoyed a few tastes there, too.”
Once in New York City, a group of us went walking around, looking for Toots Shor’s. We never found it and ended up having lunch at a deli. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Sharon wrote, “I thoroughly enjoyed your article (on baseball’s lack of fun). I have to admit I don’t always agree with you, but I certainly do on this one. If some of these guys had been one of our sons several years ago back in the little league days I would have told them to just get over it, you do your job and get on with the game!”
Next time you’re at the ballpark, tell them anyway.
Bill wrote, “Your comments about baseball becoming the new No Fun League reminded me of an exchange with Willie Stargell that Tony Dungy described in his book, When Tony was with the Steelers, the team shared Three Rivers Stadium with the Pirates. He’d schedule off-season workouts (for) when the baseball players arrived for games. The carefree environment of baseball contrasted so much with the serious attitude in football locker rooms that Tony mentioned the difference. Stargell flashed a big smile and said that in all the years he’d played, the umpire always began each contest with two words: Play ball. Never once had he said ‘Work ball.’ From top to bottom, professional and collegiate, baseball would do well to hear what Mr. Stargell observed and shared three decades ago.”
Here’s what’s nutty. Football teams seems so serious all the time, except during games, when some of them can act absolutely silly. Baseball teams can be so carefree, except during the games, when they act like they’re at the Paris Peace Talks.
An Episcopalian reverend wrote, “You are my sports writer of choice at the Oklahoman. That being said, I thought you went too far this morning comparing the negative attitudes toward celebration & fun in baseball with the church, her monks & the passion of clergy. You lumped us in with Spock, iceman and androids. Come to our church sometime. We’re really not a lame as you think.”
No wisenheimer response here. I apologize. I apologize. I apologize. I didn’t know a reference to monastery monks was indicting all Anglicans, but let me repeat. I apologize. I would like to attend an Episcopal service. Which reminds me of a story. The only time I remember being at an Episcopal service was in 1985, for the funeral of Harold Belknap, who was my publisher at the Norman Transcript. We went to the funeral as a grop from the newsroom, and a city-side reporter led the group as we got to the church. He cut across the grass, which I remember thinking was probably not too cool at a funeral. Anyway, we’re sitting in the sanctuary, the funeral is going on, and I smell something foul. I look down, and my shoe is ringed with dog poop. I had stepped in it cutting across the grass. So the Episcopals really didn’t get my full attention.
Ed, who loves history, wrote, “Where are Casey Stengel and Jimmy Piersall when we need ‘em? And Dizzy Dean.”
Rube Waddell is my favorite. Some old-time baseball guys swear he used to chase fire engines.
Proving that hard-core OU football fans never sleep, Mike wants to know, “Does OU have a shot at the lockdown corner Gabe Lynn and how do you think OU’s defense will do this year?”
Easiest questions of the week. And your answers: 1. Who the heck is Gabe Lynn? 2. Fine. Just fine.
Frank wrote, “Could (Kid) Nichol be a good fit at Tulsa? A great number of their QBs have had good NFL exposure. And if he really felt comfortable in Norman, why not TU?”
Let me put my Sherlock Holmes hat on. Kid Nichol is from Michigan. He leaves OU because too many quarterbacks in front of him. He’s a run-pass guy. Michigan U. has hired a new coach, Rich Rodriguez, who likes to use a dual-threat quarterback and has slim pickings in Ann Arbor. Can anyone say hail to the victors?
Jo, who dogs Bob Stoops like Jean Valjean, wrote about OU quarterbacks. “The opinion is out there by lots of people that (Jason) White coming back for his sixth year set the whole quarterback rotation back at least a year, plus Stoops had another Thompson in Nichols, only Thompson stayed. But in reality, he was a square peg in a round hole, Chuck’s offense, like Nichol was in Wilson’s offense. Thompson would probably have fit well in the West Virginia offense. Why does he recruit quarterbacks that even a blind man could see, doesn’t fit his offense? How did Switzer go through all those seasons with little to no quarterback controversy, and Stoops has had nothing but turmoil at that position, with people leaving, getting money under the table, falling out of pick-ups etc. How were Switzer’s quarterbacks able to be tackled 10 to 15 times a game andBradford gets tackled one time and is out for a game and a half?”
The guy from Seattle made more sense than this. If this is the best ammunition you’ve got against Stoops, the guy is bulletproof. Let me get this straight, a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback RETURNING is a bad thing? Paul Thompson, who had some mobility but very little running ability, would have been a better jockey than a West Virginia quarterback. OU doesn’t recruit QBs to fit its offense? OU recruits offenses to fit its quarterbacks? Switzer didn’t have quarterback controversy? Blevins-Lott. Phelps-Shepard. Holieway-Thompson. No quarterback ever left? The Sooners had Troy Aikman and let him go. And finally, Sudden Sam Bradford was injured not while being tackled, but while making a tackle.
Commenting on my belief that high school players should be allowed to turn pro, Bob wrote, “I normally of course agree with you, but I like the mandated year in college ball and would like to see it extended, honestly. It hurts no one and helps a number of people. If you go straight from high school, where does it end? Can a kid go pro after his sophomore year in high school? How long before agents start messing with that game if we are not careful?”
Where does it end? How about the U.S. constitution? And agents started messing with high school kids about 20 years ago.
Boyd wrote, “Could Billy Ball be back? Ford sounds like Tubbs reincarnated.”
If Travis Ford is the next Billy Tubbs, Mike Holder is a genius.
Mike, not Holder, wrote in with a bright idea. “On a recent trip for work in England I was able to watch an interesting thing. They were having the finals for the local/national rugby clubs. From what I could figure out, the Rugby teams from the top division down to the bottom were involved in a playoff. The bottom team in the top division would be moved to the lower division the next year. The top team from the lower division would move up. They actually had a match to see which team would go to whatever division. Kind of the play-in match the NCAA does for the basketball tourney. This might make an interesting debate for NCAA football. Let’s say Appalachian State gets to move up to Division I. Now the bottom of the barrel Division I team, Baylor, Buffalo, etc has to move down out of their conference to play in the vacated spot.”
This reminds me of a good scene from the Cosby show. Early in the series, Theo was just a goofy 13-year-old. He was slacking off in school, and his dad got on him pretty good. So Theo gave an impassioned speech about he was his own person, just because his sisters excelled academically didn’t mean he would, too, and that he wished his dad could love him just for who he was. One of those speeches a real kid never would say, but the live studio audience thinks is supposed to be really touching, so it breaks out into applause. After the applause quieted down, Cosby says in a very soft voice, “Son…” Then his voice started gaining volume. “THAT’S THE DUMBEST THING I’VE EVER HEARD.”
Forget Thunder; how OKC Sonics?
The Thunder won our name-the-team contest for the NBA franchise, but how about this name: Oklahoma City Sonics.
We have presumed that Clay Bennett wants a fresh start for his franchise, but don’t discount the team remaining with its name of 41 years when it moves to OKC, now or in 2010. It comes down to a couple of distinct possibilities:
1. Bennett and Co. might not come up with a name better than Sonics. Thunder certainly doesn’t match it. Bennett doesn’t want a singular nickname (who can blame him?) and he’s not crazy about my idea, Thunderbirds. I don’t know of a name he likes. It’s possible all suggestions will fall short of Sonics, and if so, Bennett might say, heck, just keep them the Sonics.
2. The Sonics name will be or already is part of negotiations with the city of Seattle. Bennett could leave the Sonic name in Seattle as part of a tradeoff for considerations on lease relief. That’s what the Browns did when they left Cleveland for Baltimore. But the key word is negotiate. If you make the name part of the negotiations, you’ve got to be willing to pull it off the table. In other words, if you’re willing to leave the name for the right price, you’ve got to be willing to take it if you don’t get the right price.
I know that the Cleveland/Baltimore story has been given great reviews. How the Cleveland Browns became the Baltimore Ravens, and the expansion Cleveland Browns were formed a few years later and given the history of the old Browns.
As a fan, I understand. As an historian, I say that plan stinks. Remember the old Seinfeld episode where J. Peterman buys Kramer’s life stories? All those crazy things that happened to Kramer? No, he’s told. Those didn’t happen. They happened to Peterman. Same argument is tried with the Ravens and the old Browns.
But truth is truth. The original Cleveland Browns and the Ravens are the same franchise. The newly-named Browns just confuse the issue.
SuperSonics, or Sonics for that matter, is a fine name for Oklahoma City. From the Sonic Corporate headquarters to OKC’s SuperSonic boom tests in the mid-1960s, Sonics is a solid fit. Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers are names that don’t pass the common-sense test and are accepted because they’re so long-standing. OKC Sonics would face no such probationary period.
Will Bennett keep the Sonics name? I think he will negotiate. I also think he will be willing to pack it on the moving trucks.
Big Brown 1-to-9?
The Preakness always is the most riveting Triple Crown race, because it’s the only race among the three that always matters.
The sad truth about horse racing is that the sport in the mainstream-American landscape has been reduced to these three races, which ultimately come down to a race for the elusive Triple Crown.
Which makes the Kentucky Derby virtually irrelevant. Some horse has to win. It’s not a horse anyone cares about except for the human-interest stories told the week or two before the Derby. It’s not a horse any of us ever heard of until the Derby coverage. About all we have to go on are the horses’ names.
So some horse wins the Derby, and then the intrigue starts. Can that same horse win the Preakness? That makes the Preakness always more interesting than the Derby. Because in the Preakness, you can cheer for, or against, a Triple Crown opportunity.
That also makes the Belmont Stakes often irrelevant. If the Derby winner doesn’t win the Preakness, the Belmont becomes two-plus minutes of who-cares. If the Derby winner does win the Preakness, then the Belmont owns the title of most fascinating horse race of the season.
But today might challenge that theory. Big Brown is a 1-to-9 favorite in the Preakness. That’s the crazies odds I’ve ever seen. That means you bet $9 to win back $1 extra. Those odds have to start climbing, just for pure math purposes.
Which means the Preakness today can’t lose. It’s either going to have a horse that sets up a Triple Crown chance, or it’s going to have one of the biggest upsets in history.
Webb runs streak to nine
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ Brandon Webb did it again Thursdsay night. He won, his ninth victory in nine starts this season, and the bid for 30 wins continues.
I know, like I wrote last week, it’s just mid-May. But you can’t win 30 without a great start, and if Webb keeps winning, it’s going to make August and September interesting.
Let’s do the math again. Webb has nine wins through 41 Arizona games. That’s on pace for 35.6 wins. Of course, Webb won’t pitch again until next week sometime. After he sits for four days, that pace drops to 32.4. And if he doesn’t win then, the next time he takes the hill, his pace will be 29.4.
Now do you see why I’m talking about 30 wins in May? Because that’s the only month in which you can talk about it. This is an impossible feat. Pitching every fifth game, Webb has to win literally every time out just to stay ahead of the posse. If he wins his next start, Webb’s pace will be 35.2. So his pace drops a little EVEN IF HE WINS.
We talked last week about how rare is the 30-win club. Denny McLain went 31-4 in 1968, but before that, Dizzy Dean in 1934 was the last 30-game winner. Here’s a great list. The biggest win totals since 1934.
31: Denny McLain, 1968
29: Hal Newhouser, 1944
28: Dizzy Dean, 1935
28: Robin Roberts, 1952
27: Steve Carlton, 1972
27: Bob Feller, 1940
27: Sandy Koufax, 1966
27: Don Newcombe, 1956
27: Dizzy Trout, 1944
27: Bucky Walters, 1939
27: Bob Welch, 1990
26: Bob Feller, 1946
26: Carl Hubbell, 1936
26: Sandy Koufax, 1965
26: Juan Marichal, 1968
26: Hal Newhouser, 1946
Look at that list. Since 1934, pitchers have reached at least 26 wins only 16 times. Of those 16 seasons, half came before 1947. In the last 60 years, we’ve had just eight 26-win seasons. Just one since 1972, which was 36 years ago. Bob Welch’s 27 wins in 1990 stand out like George Foster’s 52 home runs in 1977.
So here’s the truth about Brandon Webb. If the guy reaches 25 wins, it’s an historic. Not just a great season. An epic season.
Where’s Aikman?
If you’re wondering why Troy Aikman is not in the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, the answer is clear. Aikman hasn’t cleared his schedule for an induction.
The Hall of Fame has a policy — sound, I would say — that you must be present to be inducted, unless you have the very valid excuse that you’re no longer alive.
Aikman has been voted in for several years now but so far has not agreed to attend the August ceremony, even though the date is flexible and would be set around Aikman’s schedule. August is a busy NFL month, with televised exhibitions, but it’s not that busy.
The Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame apparently is not that important to Aikman. Which is fine. It’s his right to set priorities. But it’s too bad. Oklahoma obviously remains a special place to Aikman; Aikman’s End Zone, the special fun center at Oklahoma City’s Children’s Hospital, is a testimony to Aikman’s devotion to his home state. Hopefully, that devotion some day will extend to the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
More Bedlam
The expanded Bedlam baseball idea is a fine one. Especially Sunny Golloway’s. The OU coach wants to play two extra games against Oklahoma State next season; neither would count in the conference standings. OSU coach Frank Anderson prefers just one extra Bedlam game.
Golloway’s idea is more preferable, for this reason. It would give both schools a Bedlam home game each year. The three-game series format — Friday night in Tulsa, Saturday and Sunday at Bricktown — has worked well and is a great promotional tool for college baseball. But it doesn’t do what both schools need most. Entice fans to campus.
Pack the stands at Reynolds Stadium and Mitchell Park, and who knows what kind of new fans both schools might develop. Businesses have been using such marketing for years; do anything you can to get customers through your doors, then maybe you’ve got a chance to keep them.
College baseball has been one of the losers in the sports explosion over thel last 20 years, which includes a women’s sports bonanza, increased interest in college basketball and now the NBA. And we haven’t brought up the television and youth sports phenomenons. Something has to be squeezed out, and one of those sports in Oklahoma has been college baseball.
The sport truly shines only during Bedlam and Big 12 Tournament week. Two extra Bedlam games would change that.
True colors
Our man Darnell Mayberry wrote an interesting story today about the possible team colors of Oklahoma City’s NBA franchise, focusing on black and gold. True gold, which would be all right.
Not my favorite color combination, but not bad. The best color combo in sports is red and black. Texas Tech style. Love that look. It’s even marginally politically correct in Oklahoma, since it covers both sides of Bedlam, though not equally, since in the last 15 years or so OSU has adopted orange as its more dominant color over black.
Young designer Kasey Moody, the amateur who penned the smoking-hot “Barons” uniform that graced our April 14 cover, said his first choice was red and silver, and that just shows the kid has good sense. Red and silver is a fantastic color combo, too. Very, very striking.
Of course, orange could work well in the NBA. Very well. Many people like the southwestern motif for OKC’s NBA franchise, and orange, with various mingles of blue, red and yellow, would definitely shout Oklahoma.
Sometimes, simple is better. The Celtics’ green and white is classic, stylish and unmistakable. Blue and white has fallen out of favor in the major-league sports, but that could be a classic look, too. Or better yet, blue and silver. No Bedlam ties there. Blue and black, I’m not so big on. It’s been done too many times.
Truth is, there are a hundred color combinations that could work. Even combos you wouldn’t think of. Red and green. Blue and orange. Red and purple. Red and copper (think Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
It’s fun to think about. And just as long as the colors are designed to augment the new ThunderBirds nickname, I’m cool with it.
The Kid hits the road
Kid Nichol has left the OU football program, and for those who say it was a wise decision, I counter with this. Would you rather be the starting quarterback for two years at a Cincinnati or three years at a Western Michigan, or be the starting quarterback at OU for one season?
Of course, there’s no assurances that any of those options are in Nichol’s future. He’ll have a hard time starting in Division I-A, because most everyone has a hard time starting at QB in Division I-A. It’s not an easy club to crack.
But if Nichol can find the right fit, he can play. Heck, maybe he’ll be the Michigan quarterback. New Wolverine coach Rich Rodriguez has scrapped the offense that has been turning out an assembly line of NFL quarterbacks and needs some run-pass guys.
But Nichol also had a very good chance to quarterback the Sooners some day. Yes, it might have been just for one year, Nichol’s season season, after Sam Bradford’s departure. And yes, Landry Jones and who knows who else would have been scratching for playing time, too.
But here’s why the Kid would have been the heir apparent to Bradford. Bob Stoops always gives the nod to the more experienced quarterback. Anytime there’s a sliver of debate over the QB, Stoops picks the most-known commodity.
The only possible exception was in 2002, when Stoops chose Jason White over Nate Hybl; Hybl had a slight edge in playing experience and was a year older, having started his college career at Georgia during White’s senior year at Tuttle High School. But Stoops’ decision was based mostly, I believe, on what he saw during the 2001 season, when both White and Hybl played.
Think about it. When Josh Heupel arrived, there was no decision to be made. But after that, the coaches started earning their checks.
2001: Stoops picked Hybl over White in a very tight race. Like I said, Hybl was slightly more experienced.
2003: White over Brent Rawls. Easy to laugh at this one now, but in spring 2003, anyone who watched the two scrimmage would take Rawls in a heartbeat. Of course, Rawls was a knucklehead, the coaches knew it and went with the more trusty hand in White.
2005: Paul Thompson over Rhett Bomar. A fourth-year junior over a redshirt sophomore. Tall Paul’s debut was a disaster, and Stoops made a switch in Game 2, but he initially gave Thompson the chance to win the job.
2006: Thompson over Joey Halzle. When Rhett Bomar was summarily dismissed from the squad, Stoops summoned Thompson back from receiver duty over the new juco transfer. Thompson was the ultimate experience pick; a bird in the hand was Stoops’ belief.
2007: Bradford over Halzle and Nichol. This one goes against the theory a little, but Bradford and Halzle both arrived on campus in 2006. Halzle’s experience edge, discounting junior college which I think Stoops does, was minimal.
2007 Texas Tech: When Bradford went down with a concussion after making like Ray Nitschke, Stoops turned to Halzle over Nichol. Again, experience over potential.
I don’t know if Kid Nichol ever would have been the OU quarterback. But after Bradford’s departure, Stoops would have given Nichol every chance, including at least one start, to claim the job.
So the question is really up to Nichol. Two or three years as a starting quarterback at a Mid-American Conference school, or one year leading the Sooners.
Horses, nicknames and heartwarming stories
Another round of reader emails, and I guess I’m going soft. I’ve had a run of heartwarming columns this week — the interesting relationship between people and their horses in the wake of the Kentucky Derby tragedy, Sam Aubrey’s death and the story of Hartshorne baseball coach Justin James, whose 4-year-old son, Caden, is fighting cancer. But some people still want to talk about the NBA.
Tyler wrote, “I just finished a semester at OU and got home. I don’t read the paper while at school, but I read it this morning and saw the ‘name the Sonics’ contest. I think we should focus on names that don’t have a negative connotation from a national perspective. This would eliminate any twister/tornado or oil related names. Energy is a terrible idea; it sounds like a WNBA team. I think we would better off naming them something generic and that no other professional team is called (Foxes, herd, rattlers).”
Don’t read the paper while at school? And they dare to call it higher education? Anyway, what’s wrong with oil-related names? The way I see it, we need more oil production in the U.S., not less. But all in all, it sounds like my beloved Thunderbirds meets your criteria.
Mark wrote, “My son came up with this idea for a NBA name a couple of months ago: NightHawks. It is in the state song. ‘Every night we sit alone and talk, and watch our hawk making lazy circles in the sky.”
Well, not to be picky, but it’s not actually “our” hawk. It’s “a” hawk. NightHawks? Not my favorite, but it beats Energy. And I don’t know what this has to do with anything, but I’m pretty sure that in two seasons in
On the Hartshorne column, Jan wrote, “Sending you my appreciation for a WONDERFUL article about our Justin, his family and our baseball team! I have read it twice and have now lost all my makeup from the tears. The pictures were great, the headline was great and the space was perfect. The administrators and staff have all voiced their excitement over the article; the school was all abuzz this morning when the papers arrived! Again, thanks so much for the positive recognition for our little part of the state.”
You don’t get too many higher compliments than messing up a woman’s makeup, and she’s happy about it.
Dale from Okmulgee wrote, “The story you wrote on Justin James and his family was a wonderful piece. Justin was one year younger than I (at Hartshorne) and quarterbacked our state semifinalist team as a junior and was a leader even then. The James family, and this includes his parents, grandparents, siblings, and probably others I don’t know, are some of the finest people you could ever possibly get the privilege to know. So just know, this article touched a lot of people who have been thinking and praying and hoping for good news about Caden. Thank you so much for writing it. So, from one Hartshorne boy to, who I would probably say is now an ‘honorary Hartshorne boy,’ thank you.”
You know, I’ve been called worse than honorary Hartshorne boy.
Joe, from Pete’s Place in Krebs, also weighed in: “Nice column today. That guy (James) is a good guy. As I am sure you are aware, a lot of the coaches we entrust children with are not of the greatest character. This guy is solid from what I have been told.”
Let me tell you what gets my attention. Pete’s Place. One of my two favorite restaurants in the world. I’ve got to blog about that place soon. I haven’t been in a year or two; it’s been far too long.
Now, on the death of former OSU basketball coach Sam Aubrey, Kristin wrote, “I just read your article about Mr. Aubrey and wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed it. My dad also is a member of the greatest generation, and he and Mr. Aubrey were in the same ROTC class at OSU in 1943. They have had reunions almost very year, and this year was their 65th. I have taken my dad to several, and Mr. Aubrey was able to make most of them. He was a wonderful gentleman. My dad lost his right leg in the
It’s always good to remember that giants still walk among us.
On the death of Eight Belles, Ed wrote, “I want to say thanks for the way you have reported on the filly that had to be euthanized. While some media have treated the story in what I would consider a rather callous manner, you and The Oklahoman have treated it as the tragedy it is and reported on it in a very professional manner. One local TV station immediately after the Derby in reporting on the race referred to the filly as being ‘destroyed.’ I realize that this term used to be popular but is seldom used any longer in most areas.”
Well, I learned a lesson. I wouldn’t have thought that “destroyed” would be considered a poor choice of word.
A different Ed wrote, “I’m still a dog guy, but I enjoyed your column about horses. My cowboy cousin who lives near Dumas, Texas, once said to me, ‘A horse ain’t very smart, but he knows where them oats are.’ I’ve never had a horse. Had lots of dogs, though, and they’ll lick my face and love me if I had a bad day at the office or OU just lost to
I’m a dog guy myself. When it comes to horses, I’m like B.J. on M*A*S*H. I stepped in some manure once, which puts me in charge.
Danny wrote, “I have four horses and my wife loves them all. I think you did a great job on this story. The relationship between animals and humans never ceases to amaze me.”
Actually, the relationship between humans and humans never ceases to amaze me.
Well, I’m going to have to takeShannon’s word for it. I don’t know anything about horse breeding.
And as promised, some NBA talk. Jack from Seattle wrote, “Good article on why we should keep fighting to save our team. As a teenager living in
Let me get this straight. You never go to the Sonics, and when you do you certainly don’t pay. But it’s an injustice that they’re going to leave? You know what I’m starting to think? The Sonics are going to go ga-ga over the way they’ll be treated in
I do feel sorry for true Sonic fans who are losing their team. And Oklahomans, we need to watch the smacktalk.
R.J. chimed in on the NBA: “You and I are the same age and I like how you think and write (a lot like I do and would). I’ll be shocked if this shows up in print but here goes. I think the NBA is rigged in favor of the Lakers. I am so sick of hearing and reading about them. Had to suffer through all the years of Kareem and Earvin, etc. Then it was Shaq and Kobe. How did Jerry West just happen to pull off all those deals? He was a genius, right? Did he get dumb real fast when he went to
Well, not to be picky, but Jerry West did an unbelievable job at Memphis. Got the Grizzlies to the playoffs a couple of times. I don’t really believe in conspiracies. If I did, I wouldn’t follow the NBA. I’d treat it the way I treat boxing. Who cares?
Finally, some good old-fashioned football talk. Joe, a frequent critic of Bob Stoops, asks, “Surely I misheard, or misunderstood, that ANOTHER quarterback is leaving the Bob Stoops administration. Poor Bob has never understood that you can’t backstock quarterbacks like linemen. Surely, after going on 10 years and $5 million, he would have figured it out. His track record with quarterbacks only exceeds his running back record — Felix Jones, Tashard Choice, etc., to name a few. Will Stoops go down in the history of OU football annals as being the greatest coach that never had a clue, or what.
I would say what.
