Archive for October, 2008
A sudsy interview with Bo Pelini
Tennessee football coach Phil Fulmer called me earlier this summer, after I requested an interview about Millwood’s Gerald Jones. Fulmer called me back, but it was while I was doing some radio, and I never reached Fulmer back.
That taught me a good lesson. Anytime I get a chance at a college football coach on the phone, I better take it.
Which is why Wednesday morning, I placed my cell phone just outside my glass shower, where I could see who was calling while I was getting ready for work.
I had requested an interview with Pelini last week, and the extremely-efficient Nebraska media relations department called back and said that Pelini said just call him. We got to know each other during Pelini’s year at Oklahoma in 2004, though not well, but I appreciated his openness. Not too many college coaches give out their cell numbers.
Anyway, I called Pelini on Monday evening and left a message. He didn’t call back then or all day Tuesday. So I called NU publicist Keith Mann again and left a message on Wednesday morning.
Then I put my phone in place and hopped in the shower. And sure enough, the phone rang. I was covered in soap but thought, what if that is Keith, with instructions on when I can talk to Pelini? So I grabbed a towel, reached for the phone and said hello.
It was Pelini. Which is how I came to interview the coach of the Cornhuskers while sitting buck naked in the middle of my bathroom floor. I asked Pelini to wait a second while I grabbed my notebook — I didn’t tell him I also was going to wipe the soap out of my eyes.
Easily one of the strangest interviews I’ve ever conducted, and it was all on me. Not on Pelini.
We had a good conversation. I hope you enjoyed my column this morning about Pelini. It might never have come off if I had first rinsed off.
OU-Miami headed for October?
The OU-Miami football game scheduled for Sept. 12 has to move, as The Oklahoman told you a few days ago after the Miami Herald reported the conflict between the Hurricanes and baseball’s Florida Marlins. Both are scheduled to play in Dolphins Stadium that day.
The Marlins have priority over Miami U., so the ‘Canes have to scram in their new home. Miami U. is playing in Dolphins Stadium this season after decades of playing at the Orange Bowl.
Anyway, the most likely date of rescheduling is Oct. 3. Miami AD Kirby Hocutt, a former assistant athletic director at OU, told the Miami Herald his school might have to move a scheduled Oct. 3 game against Central Florida to make way for the Sooners.
OU has not set its non-conference schedule for 2009, but the Sooners do not play a Big 12 game on Oct. 3. In fact, OU doesn’t even play Texas the next week. The Sooners historically have played Texas the second Saturday in October, and the few times that changed, it moved to the first Saturday of October. But in 2009, OU-Texas is Oct. 17, which would be the earliest calendar meeting in the series since playing on Oct. 17, 1931.
OU athletic director Joe Castiglione jokingly suggested a few options for the dilemma, including moving the game to Norman (the Hurricanes already came to Owen Field for the first game of the contract), moving the game to Tampa or Orlando (fat chance; Miami needs this game for its season-ticket base) and moving the game to the historic Orange Bowl (no chance, the venerable stadium was torn down).
A baseball-football doubleheader apparently isn’t being considered, although the Sooners have been involved one before. In 1985, OU played Minnesota at the Metrodome on a Saturday night. The Twins played a baseball game that day at noon.
One benefit to moving the game: Oct. 3 is out of the heart of hurricane system. Sept. 12 is right in the middle.
Thunder: sometimes ignored, sometimes not
Driving home from the Thunder opener Wednesday night, I listened to ESPN radio. It focused on the World Series, of course, but also gave extensive NBA roundups.
The Thunder-Milwaukee game was not high on the list. In fact, less was said about OKC-Milwaukee than any other game. It was the last score given, and only the score was given.
ESPN’s SportsCenter, after the Laker-Clipper game, was more kind to Oklahoma City’s history-making night. The Thunder-Bucks game wasn’t the first NBA news of the show, but the OKC debut was spotlighted fairly early, by former Tulsa sportscaster John Anderson, who referred to Oklahoma’s great status in college football this season but also noted the state’s hoops heritage, listing names from Tisdale to Iba. Then ESPN showed highlights of the Thunder, which was sporting since there were very few.
And earlier Wednesday, perhaps the national benefit of having an NBA franchise was displayed. On ESPN radio, Mike Tirico and Michele Tafoya chatted in early afternoon, and Tafoya wondered about the Thunder nickname, saying it seemed to fit better in Seattle, and Tirico said not necessarily, that more rain doesn’t mean more thunder. And their show’s producer came on and said he had a source in Oklahoma weather that said Oklahoma clearly had more thunderstorms than Seattle.
The whole thing was pretty silly, but on the other hand, for about three or four minutes, the most powerful sports medium in America talked about Oklahoma City for no good reason. That kind of advertising can’t hurt.
Fascination on the NFL sideline
The NFL sidelines are fascinating places. Writers go down to the field for the last few minutes of the game so that we can get to the locker rooms.
Most of the time, the most amazing sensations are the physicality. How hard those guys hit. How hard they run, how fast the ball zips on a pass, how much effort is required to make two yards or hold a team to two yards.
But Sunday was different. I don’t know why. But it was. I stood just to the left, facing the field, of the Tampa Bay Buccaneer bench, and saw all kinds of theatrics I’d never seen before. I’m sure they happen all the time in NFL games, but for some reason, they were right in front of me Sunday.
Tampa Bay was driving, down 13-9 in the final two minutes, and the drama was building with a couple of first downs.
And I saw a leader’s actions up close and personal. The rest of the Bucs were inside the designated team area, which I think is between the 35-yard lines.
But no chalk line could contain 35-year-old linebacker Derrick Brooks. In his 14th NFL season, all with Tampa Bay, Brooks likely is headed to the Hall of Fame. He’s so old, he played college football at Florida State with Brad Johnson, the ancient journeyman quarterback who sort of led Dallas to victory Sunday.
Anyway, while Brooks’ valiant defensive teammates rested, Brooks paced the sideline and wore many hats. He was cheerleader, going out on the field, pumping up his offensive teammates during stoppages in play. He was part basketball coach, staying in the ear of the line judge about any call that might be pertinent. Heck, Brooks stood by the chain crew and gave them an earful; what you can say to the guy holding the first-down marker, I don’t know, but Brooks was saying it.
Then came an interesting play. Tight end Jerramy Stevens caught a pass and was knocked out of bounds at the 20-yard line. Tampa Bay huddled, came to the line of scrimmage and the whistle blew. The referee announced the play was under review.
I had no idea what could be under review. Maybe Stevens juggled the ball — the play was on the far sideline — but it certainly didn’t look like it.
The referee came right by me as the security personnel lined up the yellow tape to give him sanctuary. Then I learned that sometimes the confusion you feel as a fan or as a writer is also felt by the combatants. Buc coach Jon Gruden came over and accosted an official while the play was under review. He had one question. “WHAT are you reviewing?”
Gruden didn’t know, either. Turns out the ref was reviewing the spot of the ball; it had been marked at the 20, but review pushed it back to the 22.
Derrick Brooks was livid and told the refs why. “We gave up our formation.” And he was right. The officiating crew didn’t call for a replay until after Tampa Bay had lined up; whether the delay was because Dallas’ sideline demanded it or it just occurred to the crew, I can’t say.
But that was a perfect example of the game within the game. Formations and tendencies are at the foundation of football. Information is power. Dallas had a sliver of an idea what Tampa Bay wanted to do.
Of course, there was no certainty that the Bucs would do the same thing on 2nd-and-9, but Brooks wanted every official to know the disadvantage they had created for the Bucs.
And in truth, the Bucs stopped there. Jeff Garcia threw incomplete on second down, he threw to Ike Hilliard for four yards on 3rd-and-9 and his desperation fourth-down pass while scrambling fell incomplete.
Ballgame over. But an old warrior, who had done all he could do while he was on the field, also had done all he could while he stood on the sidelines with helmet in hand.
I learned a little about football from Derrick Brooks on Sunday. A little about football and a lot about leadership and supporting your teammates even when it appears there’s nothing you can do.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 9: Digging deeper into defensive doldrums
On Saturday, Tim Beckman’s defense gave up a touchdown on 50 percent of the times it took the field. Brent Venables’ defense gave up a touchdown 29.4 percent of its stands at Kansas State.
Yet in the eyes of fans, Beckman is a hero and Venables is a bum. Beckman’s Oklahoma State Cowboys lost 28-24 at top-ranked Texas; Venables’ Oklahoma Sooners routed Kansas State 58-35.
All kinds of things to consider. Texas’ offense is worlds better than Kansas State’s. OU’s defense does have some unsightly holes.
But anyone who demands Venables’ head because OU allowed 35 points and 478 passing yards is a football lightweight.
You’ve got to look far past raw stats like points and yards to determine how successful a defense is performing.
For instance, Venables’ status against Texas was no higher than it was against Kansas State. The Longhorns beat OU 45-35.
But look at the game. Texas ran back a kickoff for a touchdown. UT had the ball 11 times; it scored four touchdowns and kicked three field goals. Counting field goals as a half touchdown, that means Texas scored 51/2 TD-equivalents in 11 possessions.
That’s 50 percent. The same percentage as Texas scored on OSU.
The OSU-Texas game was more structured, more ball-controlled by both teams. Texas had 11 possessions against OU and only eight against OSU.
Which takes us to Saturday. Kansas State had 17 possessions against Oklahoma. Seventeen! I’ve never heard of a team with 17 possessions.
In those 17 possessions, K-State had five touchdowns, one missed field goal, four punts, five turnovers and two fourth-down failures.
Venables’ defense stopped the Wildcats 12 times. But when the game lasts forever, and teams score quickly when they score, the numbers inflate.
Here are more interesting numbers. Missouri’s scoring percentage against OSU was 27 percent. That’s right. OSU’s defensive productivity in that 28-23 victory over the Tigers was about the same as OU’s defensive productivity in that embarrassing score in Manhattan. Granted, Mizzou is better offensively than Kansas State.
But do you see how a game’s flow changes the parameters? If an offense uses clock, then the defense has to make fewer stands and looks better in the raw data. That’s been Texas Tech’s curse for years; the Red Raiders either score quickly or punt quickly or turn it over quickly on offense. Their defense takes the field a bunch of times.
Since we’ve gone this far, I’ll go ahead and give you the numbers for OSU, OU and Texas this year. Remember, field goals count as half, touchdowns as a whole. These are the percentages of the defense getting off the field without giving up a score.
Oklahoma State: Washington State 18%, Houston 46%, Missouri State 19%, Troy 35%, Texas A&M 31%, Missouri 27%, Baylor 10% and Texas 50%. Texas was OSU’s least productive defense of the season, which is as it should be, since Texas is the best offense OSU has faced.
Oklahoma: Chattanooga 0%, Cincinnati 23%, Washington 17%, TCU 10%, Baylor 23%, Texas 50%, Kansas 30%, Kansas State 29%.
Texas: Florida Atlantic 12%, UTEP 17%, Rice 15%, Arkansas 5%, Colorado 15%, OU 38%, Missouri 41%, OSU 44%.
All kinds of factors have to be taken into consideration. Where the game is played. Short fields, set up by turnovers or special teams. Field conditions, though so far weather hasn’t been a factor for anyone. Late scores, when the game is out of hand and nobody really cares.
But these numbers are interesting. Look at Texas’ numbers, and what jumps out is that OSU’s offense was more productive than OU’s offense against UT.
Again, I’m not saying OU’s defense doesn’t need patching. But make any defense take the field 17 times, and don’t expect a 42-10 final.
DIGNITARIES IN THE PRESSBOX
The Royal-Memorial Stadium pressbox was full of dignitaries Saturday. Bob Griese, in the ABC booth. Darrell Royal, who strolled through with wife Edith. Boone Pickens, who I’m sure you’ve heard of.
But the best part of pregame was a visit from Brad Henry and Burns Hargis.
The Tulsa World’s Dave Sittler and I were the only guys on press row some two hours before the game. Other writers were off somewhere.
Anyway, we look up, and there’s the governor and First Lady. Henry stopped and chatted with Sittler - the governor is a big sports fan; I’ll be he reads the World sports, too - as Hargis leaned over the back row of chairs to say hello to me.
The OSU president is a people person deluxe. You might know him from FlashPoint, that political show he did with Mike Turpen. I never watched it; I’d rather dig ditches than watch political shows. But I’ve gotten to know Hargis on OSU trips, and he’s a thoroughly charming man. You can see how he could galvanize OSU.
Later, I asked Hargis, a former banker, to give me a beginner’s lesson on hedge funds and the stock market and all that mess. He attempted to, and I learned a little, but truthfully, it’s a mess beyond my comprehension.
Gov. Henry moved on down to me next, and I introduced myself to Kim Henry, a move Sittler forgot to make because the man is not much of a smoothie. We chatted about the stadium, which is awesome in architecture, and how big this game was.
The Henrys are big sports fans. The governor admits to being a huge OU fan, but he’s jumped on board the Cowboys, too, and not just this year. He was at the Independence Bowl two years ago and has been at other big OSU games.
The Henrys were dressed in orange, and here’s what I like about him every time I’ve been around him, including his office for an extended interview, and what I liked about her on Saturday.
They seem like regular people. There are worse things in life.
TEN BIGGEST LOSERS OF THE WEEK
10. Arizona State: It’s official. Year 2 of Dennis Erickson is a total disaster. The Sun Devils lost at home to California 54-20 and fell to 2-5. Now they have to go to Oregon State. ASU hasn’t played the Washington-Washington State axis that assures two victories, but still, things looked so much more promising after a Holiday Bowl season in 2007.
9. Hal Mumme: The New Mexico State offensive mastermind can produce some big highs but also some tremendous lows. The Aggies already have three wins and seemed ready to turn a corner in the WAC. Then they lost 20-14 at Idaho, which hadn’t beaten a Division I-A team since October 2006. New Mexico State was held to just 330 total yards.
8. Sunflower State football: With two top-10 teams visiting Kansas soil, the locals went splat. OU broke out of a 28-28 tie with Kansas State to roll 58-35, and Texas Tech broke away from a 14-14 tie with Kansas to win 63-21.
7. Illinois: Ron Zook’s Illini played in the Rose Bowl last season and played Missouri tough in the season opener. But Illinois has returned to mediocrity. It lost at stumbling Wisconsin 27-17 to fall to 4-4.
6. Big Ten replay official: Michigan was given a touchdown by the replay official, who overturned a correct call on the field. Michigan’s Brandon Minor hit the pylon. The NCAA rule book clearly states the pylon is out of bounds, a standard that escaped the replay booth.
5. Northwestern: Not too many weeks ago, the Wildcats seemed a threat to be unbeaten when they played Ohio State on Nov. 8. And Northwestern still was 6-1 going to Indiana on Saturday. Then the Hoosiers, who frankly rival Washington State as the worst teams in the BCS leagues, pinned a 21-19 loss on Northwestern.
4. Joe Tiller: The venerable Purdue coach has done a solid job. The Boilermakers have been to 15 bowls all-time; Tiller has coached Purdue to 10 of them, in his 11 years. But this is his last year, and there will be no bowl. Purdue lost at home 17-6 to Minnesota. The Boilermakers are 2-6 and still play at Michigan State and Iowa.
3. Big East: West Virginia saved its conference from total embarrassment. The Mountaineers popped Auburn 34-17, scoring the final 31 points. But the other three Big East teams that had a chance to make noise fell and fell hard. Cincinnati lost 40-16 to Connecticut, Rutgers stunned Pittsburgh 54-34 and South Florida lost to Louisville 24-20. Now the Big East has just one ranked team, No. 24 South Florida.
2. Big 12 pass defense: Of the week’s six top passing totals, five came against Big 12 defenses. OU gave up 478 yards to Kansas State’s Josh Freeman, OSU gave up 391 yards to Texas’ Colt McCoy, Kansas gave up 386 yards to Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell, Iowa State gave up 381 yards to Texas A&M’s Jerrod Johnson and A&M gave up 371 yards to Iowa state’s Austen Arnaud.
1. Tyrone Willingham: Bad enough that Willingham’s Washington Huskies were rolled 33-7 by the school, Notre Dame, that fired Willingham. Two days later, UW joined the firing-squad list, forcing out Willingham, effective the end of the season.
THE SEARCH FOR BARBEQUE
I traveled to Austin with one of our OSU writers, Andrea Cohen, and videographer Damon Fontenot. I call Cohen “Miss Saigon” since she took a previously-booked trip to Vietnam about two weeks after she joined us in November 2006.
Anyway, Miss Saigon, a child of San Diego and a graduate of Northwestern, said she wanted some Texas barbeque. Never had any.
I said, no problem. Our man Jake Trotter once worked in Austin and suggested Louis Mueller, a supposedly-legendary place in the small town of Taylor, northeast of Austin. We were staying in Georgetown, anyway, so that worked well.
About 7 p.m. Friday, we headed out for Louis Mueller. Took us about 30 minutes to get to Taylor, which is the hometown of Austin American-Statesman columnist Kirk Bohles, so I thought that was another good reason to go. Check out Kirk’s home ground.
Taylor looks like a town about the size of Pauls Valley, only a little more rundown. A good long stretch of an Americana Main Street, but most of it boarded up.
Louis Mueller sits on one of the two main drags, but we drove down the street and didn’t see it. So we doubled back.
This time we saw it, an old place — the best kind for barbeque — in a storefront. There weren’t many cars parked anywhere, so that had me concerned. A light was on and a door was open, so in we went.
Turns out, we had walked into Peanut Lounge, a bar that was setting up for what obviously they hoped was a big night but wasn’t yet off the ground. Louis Mueller was next door, dark and shut.
Turns out Louis Mueller is open at lunch and they stay open until they sell all their meat, which usually is 1 p.m. This was information supplied to us by Peanut, the guy who runs the bar. It would have been nice to have this info from Jake Trotter, but that’s the life of a travel adventurer.
So here we were, in the sticks of Texas, with no prospects for barbeque. I tried to call Kirk Bohles, but he was at a football game and didn’t hear my call.
So we drove back to the city and ate a Chuy’s, a Texas Mexican chain. I’d never been there, so it was all right to go. I don’t mind eating at chains if we don’t have them in Oklahoma, which is why my first vote is always for Fuddrucker’s. Anyway, Chuy’s was OK.
Late Saturday night, driving back to Dallas after the OSU-Texas game, we searched for a barbeque joint. Stopped in Belton and Temple, looking for some late-night magic to satisfy Miss Saigon’s quest.
Didn’t happen. We settled for BJ’s, about 11 p.m. The search for barbeque continues.
REALITY RANKINGS
College football rankings, based not on what we think teams will do, but what they have done. The rankings are starting to look more like the polls. The top 15, with their toughest game remaining:
15. TCU: at Utah on Nov. 6
14. Florida State: Florida on Nov. 29
13. Oregon: at Oregon State on Nov. 29
12. Boise State: at Nevada on Nov. 22
11. Ohio State: at Illinois on Nov. 15
10. Utah: TCU on Nov. 6
9. Oklahoma State: at Texas Tech on Nov. 8
8. Oklahoma: at Oklahoma State on Nov. 29
7. Texas Tech: at Oklahoma on Nov. 22
6. Florida: Georgia in Jacksonville this Saturday
5. Georgia: Florida in Jacksonville this Saturday
4. Southern Cal: Notre Dame on Nov. 29
3. Alabama: at LSU on Nov. 8
2. Texas: at Texas Tech this Saturday
1. Penn State: at Iowa on Nov. 8
TRAFFIC IN … DALLAS?
Strange weekend. I went to Austin, which has the world’s worst traffic with the possible exception of Houston and Chicago, and I found a traffic jam in Dallas. In the middle of the night.We avoided traffic in Austin. We headed to the stadium early enough that we missed game-day traffic. Drove right to a campus garage. And we worked so late, all the traffic was gone around campus, so we just hit moderate stuff leaving Austin.
We got back to Dallas around 2 a.m., and Damon, the videographer, was driving. He somehow took a wrong turn as we approached downtown and landed on I-30. So we swung around to U.S. 75, Central Expressway, and took the first exit, which put us on Main Street in downtown, headed back to I-35.
And we landed smack dab in the club scene rush hour. I guess the clubs have to close at 2 a.m. - I don’t know, but sure seems like everyone was out on the street, waiting for valeted cars - and there were people everywhere. Bumper to bumper traffic. We went about three blocks in 20 minutes.
So my travel advice for the week, in addition to not taking dining suggestions from Jake Trotter: Go the game early in Austin and stay away from downtown Dallas after midnight Saturday.
TEN BIGGEST WINNERS OF THE WEEK
10. Al Groh: Virginia’s remarkable turnaround continues. The Cavs were 1-3 in September with a 35-point loss at Connecticut and a 28-point loss at Duke. Since then, Virginia has won four straight and leads the ACC’s Coastal Division.
9. David Cutcliffe: Duke continued a remarkable surge with a 10-7 win at Vanderbilt. The long-woeful Blue Devils are 4-3; they probably won’t make a bowl, but they’ve become competitive under Cutcliffe. Just what Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer needed; Cutcliffe, a crowd favorite for the Vols job, gets a big win in the Volunteer State.
8. Knowshon Moreno: Just when you think no tailback will make it to New York among the Heisman finalists, Moreno rushed 163 yards on 21 carries as Georgia whipped LSU 52-38. Moreno could keep Oklahoma State’s Kendall Hunter off the all-American lists.
7. West Virginia: For all the criticism of lovable new coach Bill Stewart, know this. The Mountaineers likely headed back to the BCS. West Virginia whacked Auburn 34-17; the Mountaineers remain the only team unbeaten in Big East play and figure to win the downtrodden league.
6. Colt McCoy: Go ahead and give the Heisman to the Texas quarterback. Another phenomenal performance, this time against Oklahoma State, despite a fumble and interception. McCoy completed 38 of 45 passes, making him 95 of 112 the past three Saturdays, against OU, Missouri and OSU.
5. ACC’s faded powers: Florida State and Miami have fallen far in stature, but Saturday, they revived hopes that they could win the ACC. Florida State beat Virginia Tech 30-20 in Tallahassee, and Miami beat Wake Forest 16-10 in Miami. Now the wild, wild ACC has only four teams with winning league records: Florida State, Virginia and Maryland at 3-1, and 3-2 Georgia Tech.
4. Julio Jones: The Alabama freshman flanker almost came OU but decided to stay in-state. Who knew that decision would place him higher in the 2008 national championship race? Jones had six catches for 103 yards as Bama beat Tennessee 29-9, giving the Crimson Tide its first back-to-back victories over the Vols since 1991-92.
3. Tulsa: The unbeaten Golden Hurricane got two prizes on Saturday - a No. 19 national ranking and the college football spotlight, an ESPN Sunday night game against Central Florida with no NFL to compete against. TU responded, turning a 19-14 halftime deficit into a 42-19 victory that keeps Tulsa’s BCS hopes alive.
2. Houston Nutt: The SEC West is an incestuous place. Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville once led Ole Miss. Alabama’s Nick Saban once coached LSU. And Ole Miss’ Houston Nutt coached Arkansas as recently as last November. The Razorbacks ran off Nutt, and Saturday, Nutt returned in glory. His Rebels beat Arkansas 23-21, which means this: 4-4 Mississippi is likely going to a bowl and 3-5 Arkansas almost surely isn’t.
1. Penn State: I don’t think the Nittany Lions are the best team in America, and if Penn State wins out and makes it to the Big Bowl, I predict a 46-10 loss, no matter the opponent. But winning 13-6 at Ohio State was impressive.
LAST WORD
The game of the coming week is Texas at Texas Tech, and few people have a perspective like Dallas Cowboy receiver Roy Williams, who played at Texas but whose brother, Lloyd Hill, played at Tech. They grew up in Odessa, south of Lubbock.What will happen at Lubbock?
“It won’t be 56-3 like it would be in Austin,” Williams said. “The referees seem to go blind in Lubbock.”
Emails in on OU-KSU, OSU-Texas & Jerry Jones
OU troubles and OSU thrills and Jerry Jones meddling and why the World Series doesn’t get any respect. It’s a loaded sports calendar, and the emails reflect it. Let’s start with the Sooners.
Shlomo wrote, “Hang half a hundred in the first half and the smile oughtta last the rest of the week, right? So how come I feel hung over? The defense may have been on the field for 84 plays, but they were like a sieve in the first half. Miss a tackle here, fail to wrap up there, be a step slow in coverage, fail to pick up on your own blitz, and you’ll give up megayards even to KSU. With TT and OSU looming, one would think that now is the time, as the song says, “…to apply some brake real soon, or they’re gonna scrape us up with a stick and a spoon.”
There seems to be some acceptance on Shlomo’s part, which I think is always therapeutic.
Andy wrote, “What’s the attitude down at OU? Offense is ridiculous good. Special teams aren’t, and as for the defense, went from Big Game Bob to Big Play Bob, both on O and D. K-State completely whipped OU on offense, totally outcoached from that standpoint. Entertaining game though.
Here’s the problem with modern-age football. A team can win by 23 points on the road against a team that’s not a dog and still look bad. If OU had won this game 31-8, everyone would feel a lot better.
Ron wrote about the Sooners and Cowboys: “It’s hard to say a game in which we score 58 points and win by 23 was painful to watch, but it was. I still like OU to win out. OSU looked good and probably could’ve won the game if they would’ve kept handing off to Hunter when they had the ball with five minutes to go. However, step back and set the Kool-Aid cups down. They ALWAYS play Texas tough and lose a close one. And I don’t care if Texas is No. 1. This Texas team is not as good as the Vince Young teams, and OSU is better than they were then. Texas will lose and might lose twice.
This, my friends, is the ultimate example of hope.
Jo: “After watching both OU and OSU today, would a fair assessment of the games be that OSU was better prepared, better coached and considering what returning starters OSU had, a better team at this point?
I don’t know enough about coaching and preparation to pass myself as an expert. But I think it’s clear that right now, OSU has the better team.
Drew: “I’m a huge OSU fan, so this season is great. Problem is I’ve been an OSU fan long enough to know that the wheels fall off at some point and they fall off all together and usually on a very sharp turn. OSU could just as easily lose to Iowa State as they could beat Texas or Oklahoma. The Cowboys are very inconsistent and they have been that way for the last 27 years of my life.”
Hey, the anti-OSU crowd has enough of that negativity. No reason to stir it up yourself. I think this OSU team is different. This team has shown NO inconsistencies. Just solid play at both Mizzou and Texas.
Bobby wrote, “I love reading your blog, particularly the week’s winners and losers and the news about where you ate that weekend. I am wondering: If somehow Texas, OSU and OU all end up with one loss, who wins the tiebreaker?”
Great question, which still is relevant, even though OU and OSU can’t each end up at 7-1. Texas, Tech and either OU or OSU could. And the answer is, in a three-way tie at 7-1 in which each team is 1-1 against the others, the tie-breaker is the ranking in the BCS. That’s right, BCS.
Price is upset by a football rule. “A rule in football that DRIVES ME CRAZY is the quarterback throwing away the ball just before a defensive player can tackle him. Is the quarterback still in the pocket or not? Did the pass reach the line of scrimmage or not? Was there a receiver in the area or not? Or the quarterback throws the ball 10 yards out of bounds and no penalty. If the quarterback was NOT throwing it away, regardless if a receiver was 15 yards near the pass, this should be a penalty just for being that bad quarterback. Of course, they are all throwing the ball away! A defensive player makes a fantastic play, beating his blocker and running down the quarterback, only to have the quarterback basically make a move that is a do-over.”
The rule is in place to protect quarterbacks. Seriously, 25 percent of the rules in the NFL are designed to get a quarterback safely through a season. Colleges generally copy the NFL rules. Anything that keeps Tony Romo and Eli Manning and Sam Bradford and Zac Robinson playing is OK by me.
Larry, a noted Texas Tech fan and sarcasm king, wrote, “We’re recruiting kickers out of the stands. We do what we have to since we can’t recruit real football players. Most of our team came to school on rodeo scholarship. Coach Leach discovered our quarterback, Harold Graham, roping calves. Figured if he could sling a lasso he ought to be able to sling a pigskin.”
The best kickers come out of the stands. Scholarship kickers will get you fired.
Some readers cheered my column about Jerry Jones. Daisy wrote, “Whee, Rah! Rah! Bully for you and all that cheery stuff. Thank you. Someone other than my 80- year- old eyes finally noticed and wrote about the fact that JJ hires coaches and won’t let them coach. That also seems to cut down on the number of Cowboy fans Gee! Wouldn’t you think he would catch on? I am so happy that someone finally made a public speech about the fact.”
I wish everyone on Earth could receive a “Rah! Rah!” once a day.
Gene wrote, “Berry, I have disagreed with some of your articles in the past, but your take on Jerry Jones is right on the money. If I had his email address, I would send your article to him.”
Oh, no need of that. I’m sure he’s a subscriber.
Bob also chimed in on Jones: “Amen Berry! Only one point - you’re two years too late!”
Some would say 14 years too late.
John wrote, “I read you comments about the Cowboys. After starting off pretty well, Dallas kind of just quit playing, it seemed. Actually they more like collapsed in a heap. Yes, they went through the motions, but no snap existed in the play with a few individual exceptions. I have been a fan from the beginning, including the quarterback rotation days. I even agree with the evaluation of the ego with skin stretched over it, Jerry Jones. One thing you left out was that while Jerry the boss may not always be right, he always is the boss. Sad but true. He is the one that makes the final decisions. Occasionally that can spell disaster as in now. I guess we can only hope that Jerry will get bored and bow out of the coaching role. Stranger things have happened.”
I don’t see it. I think Jerry Jones is Al Davis, only in his right mind. Which won’t last forever.
Dan was among the readers distressed over the drop in status for the World Series. “I was born in 1950, so I remember listening to Bill Mazeroski’s walkoff home run in 1960 on the transistor radio I had sneaked into my fifth-grade classroom. The nun would have beaten me silly if she’d caught me. Now our last two Daily Oklahomans have NOTHING about the World Series on the front page. Not even at the bottom. Really sad. A sign of the times I guess, but I don’t like it.”
Well, we did have the World Series on the front page. We ran a photo and a reference to the story inside. Things change. In the 1950s, the sport that most rivaled baseball was boxing. Compared the ring, baseball still thrives.
Alan agreed: “Pretty disappointing to see The Oklahoman’s coverage, or lack thereof, of the World Series. Page 9? I guess it’s just there to fill space.”
Have you ever stopped to think about people’s preoccupation with where things are placed in the paper? When it’s OU or OSU, or high schools, and you compare with each other, it’s sort of understandable. But baseball? Why are people offended if baseball goes on Page 9 instead of Page 1? The truth is, more people in Oklahoma care about Sherri Coale’s new haircut than who won the Phillie-Ray game the night before.
Watch out for OSU in 2009
It’s Sunday morning, and I’m still marveling at the OSU-Texas game. Outstanding game. I’ll bet it’s one of the best 25 games I’ve ever covered, and I’ve covered probably 700.
I mentioned this earlier in the year, but it’s even more apparent now. The Cowboys were cursed by unfortunate timing. In 2008, OSU has produced an excellent team with a tough Big 12 schedule. Next year, the schedule softens, so watch out for the Cowboys.
OSU’s Big 12 road games are Missouri, Texas, Tech and Colorado. OSU’s home games are A&M, Baylor, Iowa State and OU. This OSU team is good enough to beat A&M, Baylor and Iowa State on the road. Put Missouri, Texas, Tech and Colorado in Stillwater, and I like OSU’s chances of winning all four. The Cowboys would have won that game yesterday if it was in Stillwater.
So if the home/road schedule flipped, OSU would be 7-0 going to Norman. I like the Sooners in that matchup, but that still leaves the Cowboys 7-1 in the Big 12 and at the very least tied for first.
OSU still could finish 7-1, but it won’t be easy, at Tech and home against the Sooners.
A Saturday set up for college football fans
Most autumn Saturdays, it’s great to have my job. Today included. I’m in Austin for college football’s game of the day, unless you’re a Big Ten activist. OSU-Texas promises to be entertaining and interesting. We’ll see if it’s dramatic and/or historic.
But there’s a downside to this job, if you’re a college football fan. You don’t get to sit on your couch for 14 hours of great football.
We don’t get days like this much in September, but we do in October, and today is set up perfectly for football fans in Oklahoma.
At 11:30 a.m., you can watch the Sooners play at Kansas State on Fox Sports Net; road games are always compelling. And the Texas Tech-at-Kansas game kicks off 30 minutes earlier on ESPN, so you’ve got a fascinating matchup to catch between commercials.
At 2:30 p.m. is OSU-Texas on ABC, and your flip-over alternative is Georgia at LSU on CBS.
Around 6 p.m., go grab some dinner, then be back home by 6:45 p.m. for Alabama at Tennessee on ESPN. Then at 7 p.m. is Penn State at Ohio State on ABC, and you can watch both games with inspired remote control duty.
Finally, late-night college football. USC at Arizona at 9:15 p.m. on Fox Sports.
I didn’t even count all the other games, the two Big Ten matchups at 11 a.m. on ESPN and ESPN2. The Colorado-Missouri game on Fox Sports at 5:45 p.m. Notre Dame-Washington on ESPN2. Florida-Kentucky on KSBI at 11:30. Some more I’ve probably overlooked.
But check out those marquee games. Seven games involving 10 national-title contenders, all spaced out so you never have more than two at a time.
I don’t know if this is the most compelling menu of college football games ever for a Saturday, but I think it’s got to be in the discussion.
I’m glad I’m in Austin. But I wish I was on my couch, too.
Crazy week nearing an end
This was one of the crazier weeks ever around The Oklahoman sports department. Typical October week, except history kept dissecting everything we did.
It was like Oklahoma City itself, which once was served by highways 66 and 77, then all of a sudden — Boomtown! — here came Interstates 40, 35 and 44.
I know those freeways weren’t built overnight, and the events that came calling this week weren’t built overnight, but they blossomed at almost the same time:
1. The Thunder nears its opener, next week at the Ford Center. That means this Sunday comes our special preview section, appropriately named “Boomtown.” The writers had to have their stories turned in last week, but the editors and page designers had to work into this week producing this section. Plus we all are in the midst of planning next week for the historic opener against Milwaukee.
2. OSU-Texas has turned into college football’s game of the week. The Cowboys’ ascension, No. 6 in AP this week, prompted us to produce the special four-page preview in Friday’s Oklahoman. We called it Red River II; I nominated “Red River, Too” because I thought captured the spirit that this OSU-Texas game rivals some of the great OU-Texas matchups in terms of national importance. But the best name I heard was “Orange Bowl.” I think I’ll steal that for my Sunday column on the OSU-Texas game. Anyway, the extra coverage on the Cowboys added to the week’s demands, though it was well worth it.
3. Finally, we had Big 12 basketball media days this week in Oklahoma City. That’s two days of wall-to-wall work for some writers and two extra pages of coverage in the sports section, increasing the work load for everyone back in the office. The winner was readers. The Thursday Oklahoman sports section was one of the best I can recall, and I assume Friday’s is equally outstanding, I just haven’t read it yet.
So think about that. For only the second time, Big 12 basketball came to Oklahoma City to kick off its season (it comes to OKC next March for the tournament). For the first time in at least 20 years, OSU is front and center on college football’s game of the week. And for the first time ever, we are days away from Oklahoma City’s NBA debut as a permanent franchise (even if you want to count the Hornets, it’s just the third time).
And by the way, the fourth-ranked Sooners still are out there making news, with Sam Bradford and the BCS.
A convergence of history, all within the span of a few days. I hope The Oklahoman was equal to the task. I believe we were.
Best Oklahomans in World Series play
The World Series has begun with minimal Oklahoma presence. But Okies have a proud World Series history. Baseball historian Gary Sloan of Mustang offered this top 10 list of the best Oklahomans in World Series history:
10. Brad Penny (Broken Arrow): Won two games and had a 2.19 ERA for Marlins in 2003 Series.
9. Darrell Porter (Oklahoma City): 1982 Series MVP, when he hit a homer, drive in five runs and batted .286 for St. Louis.
8. Wilcy Moore (Hollis): Yankee reliever pitched 16 Series innings in 1927 and 1932, allowing just one earned run winning two games and saving another.
7. Joe Carter (Oklahoma City): Ended 1993 Series with a home run that won it for Toronto. In two Series, Carter hit four homers and drove in 11 runs.
6. Carl Hubbell (Meeker): Won two games for Giants in 1933 Series, with zero earned runs allowed in 20 innings. Overall Series record: 4-2, with a 1.79 ERA.
5. Johnny Bench (Binger): Dominated 1976 World Series with two homers, .533 average and six RBIs. Played in four Series with Reds and had five homers and 14 RBIs.
4. Pepper Martin (Temple): Star of 1931 World Series with 12 hits; tied with Paul Molitor for highest career Series batting average, .418, among players with at least 50 plate appearances.
3. Harry Breechen (Ada): The Cat won three games in 1946 for the Cardinals. Still holds the career Series record for ERA (0.83) among pitchers with at least 30 innings. Career Series record: 4-1.
2. Mickey Mantle (Commerce): Played in 12 World Series with the Yanks, 1951-64; won seven and holds the following records: 42 runs, 123 total bases, 18 homers, 40 RBIs, 43 walks and 26 extra-base hits.
1. Allie Reynolds (Oklahoma City, OSU): Maybe the greatest World Series pitcher ever; 7-2 record, with a 2.79 ERA, two shutouts and four saves for the Yankees, 1947-53. Only Mariano Rivera has equaled Reynolds’ 11 wins-plus-saves in World Series play.
