Emails on OU-TCU & The Mick
OU’s victory over TCU and the Sooners’ ascension to the No. 1 ranking is on the minds of readers in this week’s emails, along with other topics, including Mickey Mantle.
Randall is worried about OU’s poor kickoff coverage. “As James Carville would say, ‘it’s the kicker, stupid.’ Our poor coverage has always been when the kick is short and our players are not far enough downfield yet to converge on the returner. It will make a difference someday, and you can’t get better with weak kicking distance. We need to have open tryouts for ex-soccer players to find a strong kicker. Yeah, I know, in the big scheme of football and life this is no big deal.”
It will be a big deal if Alabama runs back a kickoff against OU in the Big Bowl.
Chuck is on the bash-the-offensive-coordinator-bandwagon. “Regarding the Sooners vs. TCU, was the problem with our run game poor performance on the part of the offensive line, good defense on the part of TCU, bad running on the part of the backs or all of the above? Kevin Wilson seems to playcall with the attitude of don’t lose once you get ahead as opposed to mixing up the play calling to show a little imagination. What’s your take?”
Sometimes this stuff is funny and sometimes it’s sad. I’m voting for sad this time. OU just scored 35 points on one of the best defenses in the nation, won 35-10, threw for 411 yards and three TDs over 55 yards. TCU stacked the line and didn’t want OU to run, so the Sooners made the Frogs pay elsewhere, and in the second half OU milked clock to ice the game. And what some fans take out of that performance is that Kevin Wilson is a bum.
John wrote, “You’ve mentioned in a couple articles on how this year’s Sooners remind you of the ‘03 Sooners. I remember that year how they racked up all those points and looked really great only to have their butt kicked in the Big 12 championship game. I hope this team is better. Until the season is totally over, I’m going to hold off on how ‘great’ this team is, unlike a lot of Sooner fans USC looks like the team.”
Turns out, John should have held off on how great USC is.
Randy wrote, “I have been waiting five years for this. When the AP poll comes out and OU is No. 1 this week, it will break a tie that has lasted since the 2003 season. OU will move ahead of Notre Dame as the school voted No. 1 in the AP poll for the most times in the history of the poll. OU and Notre Dame are currently tied. Since 1936, both schools have been voted No. 1 in 95 AP polls. Ohio State is a close third at 93 times. In fact, the top 10 schools voted No. 1 the most times in history looks the typical list of the all time great college football programs: OU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, USC, Nebraska, Miami, Florida State, Texas, Michigan and Alabama. OU fans can now chant ‘We’re No. 1 No. 1′ to go along with the chant of ‘we’re No. 1.’”
You know what’s most impressive about that list? Miami. The Hurricanes have been serious about football half as long as everyone else, yet there they are, on the list.
Bill liked my Mickey Mantle story. “It brought back some fond memories. My first real memories of Mickey came during the ‘57 World Series when the Yankees and Milwaukee Braves played. It was then that I first learned that Mickey was an Oklahoma boy and followed him as close as a kid raised in the pine trees and rocks of southeastern Oklahoma could. We could only get one TV station, and that was not all the time. It hurt my soul to listen to the boos that Mick had to endure in New York. But New York was Mickey’s town and he did forgive and the fans eventually accepted him as one of their own. I have wondered, however, how much more he could have done before an appreciative audience and good legs. Just look how much he accomplished in the absence of both.”
Yes, the Yankee fans booed Mantle for much of the ’50s, which was not their finest hour. Think about it for a minute. How more blessed could a baseball fan be than to be a Yankee fan in the ’50s?
Brent also wrote about Mantle: “I grew up watching Mickey and the Yankees play every Saturday afternoon on our black & white television. It was the highlight of my week each and every week. It’s easy to understand why Mickey means so much to me. But I have a-17 year-old son who loves Mickey, too, and he never saw him play. How can this be? How can a 17-year-old of today have a picture of Mickey in his bedroom and wear a Mantle jersey to school? How can a sports figure endear himself to youngsters that never saw him play? I can’t explain it, but I’m sure glad he picked Mickey rather than one of the gangster athletes of today’s era.”
The further an athlete is removed from his era, the less his faults are remembered. That’s probably not a bad thing.
Andy wrote about my list of families that had placed three brothers in the NFL. “Am I remiss in memory? Didn’t all three of the Selmons play in the NFL?”
Actually, no. Lucious did not.
Dale didn’t appreciate my Mick Cornett/Sarah Palin column. “I usually really like your nostalgic stories and am always interested in your human interest stories, but today, you crossed a line that too many people in the media, all forms, are crossing far too often. Politics and sports do not mix. As a friend of mine likes to say, they are a spectacularly bad combination. I know many sports figures have gone into politics and that’s all well and fine. But we don’t read the sports section to hear political views. As far as I can tell, Mayor Mick, as you have dubbed him, has about as much business on the bottom of the presidential ticket as that rapture-ready, tongue-speaking moonbat Palin has. And you know how much business that is? NONE! Hell, Mayor Mick runs about as big a city as Caribou Barbie has a state, so why not him? Look, you are a very talented writer, but please leave the politics in that section of the paper. I beg you!”
Here’s the problem with politics and the people who find it interesting. They take themselves way too seriously. I didn’t write a political column. I wrote a humorous column. If it wasn’t funny, fine. But get off your high horse. And if you don’t want Sarah Palin elected, you’d better quit saying anything about her, because you’re only making yourself look like a moron.
Eric asks, “Why does the Thunder website stink? You almost can’t read content or easily access roster. Is there any way to contact the web designer?
I think you just did.
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Berry, are you really the web master/designer of the Thunder website? If so let the team now that their new uniforms are blah blah blah bland. Suggest to them that they get a real designer for next years uniforms.
SAR