Readers reminded of Stoops’ bowl slump
The email brigade this week centers on my column about Bob Stoops’ bowl malaise. Let’s start with a great email.
David wrote, “I hated basic training in the Army back in 1972. Only a few years later and to this day, I can’t remember why. All I remember is the guys and the fun parts. In 1972, I didn’t think there were any fun parts. Odd how your mind works. Until I read your article, I had forgotten that we lost to WV. I didn’t even remember we played them. It is coming back to me though and I am feeling a little sick. Enough of that though. It looked to me that Bob was a little defensive in the video. Not a little….a lot. Was that your take? On the whole, I’ll bet most fans think Bob has done a GREAT job. It might not be a bad idea to tell him that once in a while. I don’t know about you, but I have worked for bosses that would never give you a compliment no matter what you did. For those bosses, I found my reward through my own knowledge of when I had done a good job. But, I guarantee, those jobs were a lot less enjoyable and when a more rewarding one came along, I jumped on them.”
Wonderful, wonderful dispatch. All kinds of nuggets in there. Loved the reference to basic training and how the mind works. The mind does do some wild things. Anyway, let me answer a few of those questions. Of course Stoops is a little defensive. He always is, and it’s one of his less-endearing traits. But most people get defensive. And yes, most fans do think Stoops does a great job, but I think he probably hears that plenty.
JC wrote, “I don’t believe for a second Bob isn’t constantly evaluating what he does as a coach. However he says he chooses to focus on the Big 12 and the wins. He probably should remember the wins and focus on the losses and figure out what needs to improve in order to win those games. They will not improve if they only think of the success stories.”
I think what Stoops says and what he does are two different things.
Craig wrote, “If I were Stoops I would also keep pointing out my success while trying to underplay my failures, i.e. BCS bowls. For whatever it’s worth, we are no longer going to travel to OU bowl games UNLESS it is for the national title. OU took the Mizzou game in San Antonio much more seriously than WV. That was obvious with stealing and everything else going on. I have a prediction for Big Game Bob. He better find something else to hang his hat on because I doubt OU will even make the Big 12 game this year. If they do, Mizzou will kick their butts. It is time Bob was held accountable.”
You know, that’s an interesting observation that I think is probably correct. OU DID take the Big 12 title game more seriously than it did the Fiesta Bowl. Now, I think West Virginia is better than Missouri, and maybe a LOT better. But still, the Sooners seemed on a mission in San Antonio and on a vacation in Phoenix.
Ken, an OU fan from Boise, wrote, “Good job with Bob in Stoops Uncut 2. It seems everyone was trying to avoid the 400-pound gorilla in the room until you spoke up. I noticed he started rocking back and forth and tightening his jaws when you brought up the losses in the Fiesta Bowls. It stings him alright. Hopefully his team can overcome some of the stupidity that has wrecked three of the four BCS bowl losses and get a win.”
I don’t see anything stupid. I think OU lost to better teams three times (LSU, USC and West Virginia). And as for Boise State, sometimes you catch lightning upside the head.
Jo, perhaps Stoops’ harshest critic among the crowd that writes me, surprisingly declined to pile on. Much. “Do you think that if OU would start winning its bowl games, the Big 12 would gain more stroke at the end of the year compared to the SEC? Stoops, when talking about his bowl problems, reminds me of guys I was in the service with. Went out with hookers all the time and always came back with the clap, get some penicillin and go right back, instead of curing the problem by staying away from the hookers. Bob doesn’t want to cure the problem, he just wants to protect his friends, same correlation. After some of those bowl performances, he and his coaching staff need something in the rear, alright, and not a needle, but a boot.”
Well, anytime anyone wants to write about the clap, they’ve got my interest. But the correlation doesn’t hold. Those soldiers knew what the problem was. Stoops has no idea. Stoops could easily solve his bowl problem by stop going to big bowls. But that’s no solution.
Not all the emails centered on OU football. Some were on the Women’s College World Series, and not all were complimentary. Of me. Luther wrote, “Your descriptive term in referring to the super athlete, Katie Burkhart, as a male horse was very offensive and inappropriate in describing her abilities. These are fine young lady athletes who deserve to be classified as outstanding participants in the great women’s sport of softball and not to be described in terms you are prone to use in praising the abilities of male football players. We who watched the World Series finalists admired Katie Burkhart’s magnificent talents.”
Maybe so. But mare just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
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