Archive for November, 2008
Bedlam before the storm
A few random Bedlam leftovers before we start the wait for the BCS announcement:
1. The biggest plays of the game, I thought, were these: DeMarco Murray’s kickoff return, which gave OU an easy touchdown drive after OSU drew within 37-44, and Keenan Clayton’s first-down sack of Zac Robinson after OU took a 51-41 lead.
OU’s offense, for all its success, still wasn’t gashing the Cowboys easily. Sammy B. was having to work for everything he got, unlike last week against Tech, and the kickoff return gave the Sooners a little breather. Clayton’s sack eventually forced a punt, the first defensive stop by either team since the first quarter.
2. Someone made a great point late in the game. Mike Gundy should have onside-kicked after Perrish Cox’s kickoff return for a touchdown made it 44-41.
And you know what? That’s a good idea. Truth is, OSU might have been better off onsiding after every second-half TD. Whenever Gundy realized that the Cowboys weren’t going to stop the Sooners — maybe he never realized it; he doesn’t watch half the game — a better plan was to steal a possession. What did field position matter? The Sooners were scoring anyway. Of course, like I said, OSU’s defense at least made OU work for it. OU faced 18 third downs Saturday night; that’s a huge number.
3. The 2-point conversion return by Frank Alexander was a momentum swing. OSU had a chance for a 21-21 tie; instead it was 23-19 OU and the Cowboys never again had the ball with the chance to tie or take the lead.
That being said, what an awful rule. Stupid, silly. Sounds like it was made up by fourth-graders playing on a sandlot. How did rulemakers ever allow that one to pass?
4. I don’t know which team has the better tight end. I might take Brandon Pettigrew; better blocker and doesn’t drop near as many balls as Jermaine Gresham does. But I know which team better uses its tight end. Gresham must have had 12 passes thrown his way. I think Pettigrew had two thrown to him.
5. Chris Brown is rising up the list of Bedlam heroes. In three Bedlam games, all as a backup, Brown has 248 yards rushing without a 100-yard game. You know how hard that statistical feat is?
6. For most of the game, Zac Robinson was the best player on the field. In the fourth quarter, Sam Bradford was the best player.
Emails: The people have spoken; Tramel is an idiot
The emails are in, and let’s just say the BCS dominates play, particularly my theory that while OU has the stronger resume’ than Texas, Texas has the strongest three-way tie argument because the Longhorns didn’t get a home game within the triangle of OU, Texas and Texas Tech..
Jason wrote, “Your argument regarding the triangle is just flat ridiculous. I realize that the same amount of fans fill the stadium in the Cotton Bowl, and the stadium is closer to Norman than Austin, but to say that it’s a neutral field is a farce. It’s almost as ludicrous as saying that playing LSU in the Sugar Bowl or playing Miami in the Orange Bowl or playing USC in the Rose Bowl provides a neutral playing field. The simple fact is that the game is played in an environment built for Texans. No Oklahoman would travel to the Texas State Fair if it weren’t for the game. Going to the game itself is almost like being on the campus of UT, as they probably outnumber OU fans at least 4-1. No matter how you stack it, in the event of a 3-way tie, OU should get the nod over UT.”
See, here’s the problem in society. When people can’t see the other argument in a non-win debate, all civility breaks down. To declare that “no matter how you stack it” OU should get the nod? Please. As for the Cotton Bowl environment built for Texans, what does that mean? We’re breathing Texas air? Big Tex intimidates Okies? So what if no Oklahoman would go to the fair if it weren’t for the game? They do play the game, and OU revels in the tradition because of its neutrality, and to now claim it’s not neutral just proves you’re grasping at straws. Which you don’t have to do. OU has a very strong argument as well.
Jeff wrote, “I agree that Texas might still have a slight edge in the Big 12 Championship race. However, if the Sooners go up to Stillwater and win handily, I’m not sure things are that clear anymore. Remember: Oklahoma State played Texas close in Austin. If the Sooners end the year by winning two marquee games on the national stage, the Longhorns have little room to complain if the Sooners are sent to Kansas City. Question: Do you think that Texas’ shameless, somewhat pathetic lobbying (signs at the A&M game, a flyover at Bedlam) will have much effect? Do you think it might even backfire and annoy some of the East Coast voters?”
I think it won’t affect the coaches, who generally live in a cocoon. I think it will affect the bad Harris voters and not affect the good Harris voters. Which might not be good news for OU.
Randall wrote, “I struggle with the OU loss to Texas because of the loss of Ryan Reynolds. OU was not the same team defensively after Reynold left the game. So to try to make something out of the fact that Texas beat OU at a neutral location, I struggle to place any stock in that. Had Reynolds not gotten injured, Texas would have been one-dimensional. The location of the field would not have mattered. OU would have won easily. I place this loss in the same category as I do the Tech loss last year in Lubbock. If Bradford doesn’t get hurt, it’s an OU victory.”
And had Colt McCoy played like Todd Dodge, OU would have won. Talking about injuries is an losers excuse. Quarterback, maybe. Linebacker, no way. If you don’t have a decent backup linebacker, that’s no one’s fault but your own. To bring up injuries hurts OU’s cause; the Sooners have a solid case. Emphasize the solid case. Don’t make excuses.
Todd wrote, “One thing your missing in your logic: a solid road win. Among the triange teams, none of them will have won a tough game on the road. UT played Missouri and OSU at home and lost to Tech. OU’s loss was a neutral field with a hurt Murray and a bunch of bad calls/KO returns that was the difference. If (a big if) OU wins at Stillwater, then they will be really the only Big 12 team with a good road win outside of OSU winning at Missouri. The reason to jump UT is simple. The fans want and deserve the best national championship game they can get. They need the two best teams to play. Anything less and you get the blowouts of recent memory. Voters have to vote who they think is the best THAT WEEK in time. Period.”
First of all, no they don’t have to vote that way. They can vote who they think is the best THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. And the tough road win was not missing from my argument. I wrote that OU would have the better BCS resume’ with a win, and that win is a big part of it. But when you start bringing up bad calls and kickoff coverage as some sort of excuse for losing, again, you hurt the Sooner cause. That’s really saying you don’t have much to stand on.
Richard wrote, “In a three-way tie, we are trying to send the best team. If it was OU and just UT and not Tech, that’s one thing. You can say OU should have taken care of business in the Red River. Well, UT shouldn’t have dropped that key interception late. It is not fair for either team. OU is clearly the stronger team and should be rewarded if they handle OSU and not squeak by. If OU throttles OSU, who came within four points of UT in Austin, they prove themselves worthy of the best of the three and should go. The BCS is a way of allowing season long factors to help determine the best team. By the same token, according to your reasoning of only head to head, what if Texas had played Tech before us and now was beating the other Big 12 teams barely because of injuries to Orapko and Shipley, ala English/Reynolds? That is why head to head doesn’t always work.”
Head to head always works. If there’s a tie, like this, then you move on. But head to head always works. And who says OU is clearly the stronger team? How do we know that? The teams played, and Texas was better that day.
Richie wrote, “In this season’s games between the three teams, Oklahoma led in 104 minutes, 13 seconds. Texas Tech led for 53 minutes, 9 seconds. Texas led for 9 minutes, 6 seconds.
So what? This isn’t NASCAR. You don’t get any credit for leading laps.
Kevin wrote, “I think your arbitrary ‘confines of the triangle’ analysis is not conducive to Big 12 South football. First, Oklahoma has a tough road game this weekend. Can you really argue that beating the Cowboys in Stillwater is not an incredibly tough task? If OU wins with style, they will have won their tough road game unlike the Longhorns and Raiders. Granted, Texas lost on the last play, but the Cowboys played them tough in Austin.”
Why does everyone keep saying I’m not counting the OSU game. I wrote it straight: OU has the better body of work, with a win. But if you’re a voter, looking for a way to break the three-way tie, looking at the home/road/neutral question is very valid.
Marc, a Texas fan, wrote, “OU just played a top 10 team for the first time this season. Texas played three top-10 teams and the No. 11 team in a row. I’ll take that any time over Cincy and TCU that play in weak conferences. Bottom line, head to head should decide if records are the same.
If head to head decides it and records are the same, then Tech goes over Texas. Glad we got that settled.
Tom wrote, “Only in college football could the BCS be used in the formula for the tiebreaker. Your idea that the BCS looks at the full body of work is suspect. How can Sagarin and Wolfe have Texas Tech in front of OU after a 65-21 shelling? The coaches don’t watch other games, some don’t vote, they have crazy biased votes. Who really knows who votes in the Harris poll? Personally, I believe that if Texas gets left out, we may move to a playoff pretty quick because of their political clout. If OU gets left out, it will be poor Sooners.
More paranoia about Texas’ political clout. Man, that gets old. Anyway, OU got no margin of victory credit for the rout of Tech. Same as winning 7-6. In the real Sagarin ratings, OU is No. 2 and Tech No. 4.
Onder wrote, “Are you serious? I know writers must be opinionated and raze up the people, but not right now, Berry. Use some judgement in your job setting. How can you possibly use head-to-head if the Big 12 tiebreaker system itself skipped it in the process? Are you trying to override the tiebreaker system to slant towards your arguement? Berry, please put the liquor down when you are writing articles. Please grow up a little.”
Grow up and say your team deserves to be in the title game. Is that what you mean?
Greg wrote, “Let’s not forget that if OU beats OSU on Saturday, OU would have done something that none of the other two teams in question had done. Beat a highly-ranked conference foe on the road (same one that UT very nearly lost to at home). In a final game of the season primetime match-up no less.”
No one is forgetting that. Winning at Stillwater is what likely will push OU ahead of Texas, which is what I pointed out about four weeks ago.
Thomas wrote, “I totally disagree with the definition of a ‘neutral field’ for the annual Oklahoma-Texas game. Arkansas is a ‘neutral field.’ Missouri is a ‘neutral field.’ Playing a game which is half-way between Norman and Austin and still in Texas does NOT make it a neutral field. How about a neutral field somewhere in Oklahoma?”
OK. So tell me how the Cotton Bowl is tilted in Texas’ favor. The OU team hotel sets off the fire alarm on Friday night? The cops don’t create a path for the OU team bus? No hot water in the locker room? Tell me exactly how the Cotton Bowl isn’t neutral. No one does, because they can’t. Truth is, OU has the slight edge in the Cotton Bowl, because OU has the south end, with the tunnel, where the teams enter and exit.
Roy wrote, “Inside-out triangle analysis brilliantly insightful. And better irony than UT arguing head-to-head score.”
Does my heart good to know some people can think rationally.
Lou wrote, “Dallas is just as neutral as OKC would be! Do the preachings of E.Z. Million mean nothing to you? Why shouldn’t the team conqueroring the tougher non-conference schedule be rewarded with the conference championship game if all else is equal?
The truth is out. The preachings of E.Z. Million mean nothing to me. When you’ve trotted out E.Z. as your prime witness, your case is in trouble.
John wrote, “Get the hell out of Oklahoma! You are a disgrace to the state!”
What? And leave the land that I love to the crazies? I don’t think so.
Patton wrote, “Come on, Berry. Lets find a way to make Oklahoma the pick and put that out, just in case some voters read your paper. Looks like you like Texas.”
I certainly hope some voters read the paper. We want them informed. But your email is priceless, because it’s so honest. It’s what everyone else is saying but without so much clarity. Figure out an argument for OU, then declare that the best way to break the tie.
Cody wrote, “Anywhere but home is away.”
So that means Texas had two road games in the triangle.
Bill wrote, “Did you consider who had the most impressive win in the triangle? Or that OU was handling Texas before Reynolds went out? There are more than one way to skin a triangle.”
And yes, impressiveness of victory is one way. Crying about injuries is not.
Terry wrote, “A road win in Stillwater should count for OU. That won’t be easy, if it happens. UT lost on the road, Tech lost on the road, our game with Texas was a neutral site — advantage neither side. So, the biggest road win and biggest challenge for OU will come at Stillwater (since the Texas game). Why should OU be punished if it shows it can win in Stillwater? OSU’s only losses have been on the road to UT and Tech. It wasn’t that long ago that OSU was in the top 10. Maybe we should be giving OSU more credit for their losses under the consideration of losses on the road. That is Texas’ argument! I know it comes down to the triangle. But playing in Dallas is not a home game for OU. Yes, the stands are split, but it doesn’t create the atmosphere that existed last night in Norman. That crowd was intimidating.”
You wrote about the great atmosphere. Texas didn’t have that against OU or Tech. The OSU game will count for something. There is no right or wrong answer. But if OU gets left out, it has no one to blame but itself. It’s not bias. It’s not the system. OU had its chance and didn’t get it done.
Bob is the reader of the week. He’s the only person who admitted he was wrong about OU’s defense. “I have to eat crow about Bobby Jack Wright. At least for this last game. I was at the game and I’ve been going to the games since 1966 and I’ve never seen a crowd like that. We have had loud crowds before but never for a whole game that was a blowout. The music helps motivate also. The rap music that they played and everyone in the stadium started to jump and raise the roof was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen at a game. Back to Wright. It has been a long time since I’ve seen a pass defense like that. It was perfect.”
OK. Bob has faced the truth. Now what about the rest of you?
David wrote, “Wow! OK, that defensive performance against Tech was awesome! Venables did a great job against a really good team. Hope it can continue through the rest of the season! The offense was pretty darned impressive too. I was glad to see them play with a fire and enthusiasm which I haven’t seen in a long time.”
Now we’re building up some love for Venables.
Jim wrote, “Do you agree that OU’s defense made a lot of money for Venable last week. He has to be a leading candidate for a head coach now. I was a doubter, but he really had them playing at their best.”
Hey, there’s another one. But yes, Venables I think moved up a lot on the coaching carousel.
Wayne wrote, “I normally do not have much to say. I am a retired school teacher. But I must say Sam Bradford is the best quarterback ever from the state of Oklahoma. I compare him to Troy Aikman of UCLA. Austin Box is certainly gaining in recognition from this game. He stuffed them in the middle. His first game, he was just a little out of line. The throws over the middle were just a little out of his reach, but not know. The defensive line played great, (McCoy) was outstanding and the offensive line was superb. That, as you well know, opens up the running game. DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown had a field day. Our receivers (Johnson and Iglesias) definitely went out in style. THE BEST OKLAHOMA TEAM EVER.
Sorry, I can’t buy it. The best OU teams ever didn’t wilt in the fourth quarter against Texas. The best OU teams ever stood toe-to-toe with the toughest foes and prevailed.
Shannon had four thoughts: “1. I am excited about the OU men’s team this year as I have seen Capel do much with little. 2. I cannot get excited about the OU women’s team this year as I have seen Coale do less with much. 3. If I’m Sam Bradford, I am 80-100% sure I am leaving after this year. The 20% in question will be determined by Trent Williams’ decision to stay or leave. 4. If I am a Texas Tech fan and I don’t go to the title game, I am frustrated. If I am an OU fan and I don’t go to the title game, I am frustrated. If I am a Texas fan and I don’t go to the title game, I am mad. Maybe that tells us what we need to know.”
Careful, there. Someone will tell you to leave the state.
Jan asked “whether or not the season-ticket policy established this year by OSU is for all games, or just Bedlam? If it’s the latter, how is that acceptable? I’m having a hard time understanding why everyone is so apathetic about something so unreasonable. I kept thinking it would be questioned in the media, but it simply is reported. Perhaps you can explain to me why it is honorable and OK.”
Because it’s a simple business decision. Supply and demand. OSU needs to improve its season-ticket base. The only hammer it has is the Bedlam ticket. Want to see Bedlam? Buy a season ticket. You don’t have to like it, but you have to admit this. It’s worked.
Carl also is upset with the policy. “The state of Oklahoma should have the costs of the empty seats deducted from that IDIOT HOLDER’S salary. Holder even has most of the OSU fans about this. Maybe next year, they will only be to put 30,000 average at each game. One thing about it, the OU-OSU game next year will have 88,000 plus in attendance, something Holder could only dream about.”
Actually, a lot of OSU fans I talk to aren’t upset by it. They think it’s sound strategy. Give Holder credit for this much: He told everyone what was coming, and he stuck to it.
Enough college football. Let’s talk about the NBA. Some readers inquired why I occasionally refer to the Thunder as the Boomers. Jason wrote, “I wanted to let you know that you are, in my opinion, turning off OSU fans in the process. I am guessing that one of the things you local media war lords want to do is generate excitement about the teams, but your nickname will have the opposite effect. If that nickname were to stick, OSU fans, who are currently pumped due to Mason and Lucas on the team, would become weaned off due to the obvious OU connection. I am an OSU fan, but not a rabid, Sooner hating OSU fan. So if Boomers hits me the wrong way, it will do more for the typical OSU fan.”
Doesn’t sound like you’re a rabid Thunder fan, either. Lucas was cut weeks ago. Anyway, generally speaking, OSU fans wake up looking for ways to be offended. I guess a little history lesson is necessary. Boomers are the sworn enemies of Sooners. OU fans have adopted Boomer Sooner as a slogan because of their silly fight song. But Stillwater was the Boomer capital. Payne County is named for David Payne, the leader of the Boomer movement. Boomers are a big part of our state heritage. It’s a fine secondary nickname for the Thunder.
Bill wrote, “I am making an assumption that this is some reference to Boomer Sooner or the like. Now, I have lived in OKC long enough to know that OU sports are king and everything else takes a back seat. If Oklahoma City wants to be a big-league city, it needs help to create an identity separate from OU. If, however, you are merely using the term to describe the team as young, the appearance of an OU reference still exists.”
Actually, Bill, neither is correct. Any team with a singular nickname needs a sidekick, and Boomers is perfect. Thunder booms, and Boomers are part of Oklahoma history.
Doug, an ex-Sonic fan, wrote from Seattle and wasn’t rude. Imagine that. “Losing is a very hard thing to get used to. You never do. Anger builds, resentment grows, depression sets in and gloom settles down over the whole damn town. We have it here to a degree and quantity that has never before existed. Sonics: Gone. Final year they were the second-worst team in the NBA. Mariners: Worst record in series of losing years: 61-101. Team salary $117M. Second worst team in baseball. Seahawks: 2-9 and will lose to the Cowboys. UW football: 0-11 and will lose to Cal next week. Worst year/worst team since we began football in 1890. Worst team in the whole nation. You got a long way to go, brother, to match this. I hope you never do.”
Wow. The Thunder at 1-17 doesn’t seem so bad all of a sudden.
Olympic judging, college football style
Here’s what this weekend’s OU-Texas drama reminds me of: Olympic gymnastics.
You’ve seen the gymnastics judging, its provincialism and its quirkiness, and how a few people watching the same thing can see things so differently.
Same with this Big 12 South Division mess. But here’s one last advantage for the Sooners: they get last bats.
In the Olympics, you always want to go later. The higher scores come late. The early performers are oft forgotten.
So while Texas had the stage to itself Thursday night, dismantling a thoroughly embarrassing Texas A&M team, the Sooners arrive Saturday night for the marquee time slot, in Stillwater against a stout Oklahoma State.
Several things to consider:
1. Texas’ media campaign, some of it originating from within the UT athletic department and some of it not, will sway some voters. It also could backfire on some voters. The kid with the Facebook deal? Some voters will move the Sooners ahead of Texas on principle alone after that ESPN interview. And while some daffy voters might need to be reminded that Texas beat OU 45-35, more serious voters might be offended that they’re being treated like goofballs (not that poll voters deserve anything else) and etch 39-33 on their palms.
2. Texas was hurt by A&M’s lack of competitiveness. If the Aggies had shown up all year, then the Longhorns smacked them like this, people would be impressed. But A&M has been a lay-down team. The Aggies lost to Baylor. The Aggies lost at home to Kansas State. The Aggies lost at home to Arkansas State.
3. OU’s best friend in the world right now is Oklahoma State. The Cowboys have done the Sooners a huge favor by being so good this season. Of course, that could backfire. If OSU beats OU, then all this campaigning and all this talking is for naught. But if the Sooners win by any margin, it’s a solid victory because of OSU’s prowess, and if the Sooners win in dominating fashion, it likely will end all discussion. Coming off the Texas Tech slaughter, the Sooners will look like the nation’s best team if they go to Stillwater and do anything close to the same thing.
Lose early and win late always has been the college football blueprint, and that includes this weekend. The Sooners get last bats to impress the pollsters, and suddenly, Bob Stoops is happy that Bedlam has returned to a Thanksgiving weekend staple.
A game ball for the Pride
Bob Stoops symbolically presented a game ball to the fans after OU’s 65-21 rout of Texas Tech last Saturday. Barry Switzer never did that, so far as I know, but he did something similar. Switzer presented a game ball to the Pride of Oklahoma after OU’s 21-20 Bedlam victory in 1983.
Here’s the inside story, courtesy of David Renner, one of my 1979 Norman High School classmates and a six-year member of the OU marching band.
Renner says Gene Thrailkill, the venerable director of the Pride, a band leader affectionately called “Coach” by two generations of Sooner musicians, was ejected from Lewis Field because he didn’t have a field pass. Then as now, OSU’s stadium had a high, white wall surrounding the field. In order to direct the band, Thrailkill stood on an aluminum ladder that sat on the artificial turf out of bounds. At some point in the game, which wasn’t going well for the Sooners, security personnel said no pass, no stay.
That was the game, remember, in which OSU took a 20-3 lead. “On his way out,” Renner said of Thrailkill, “he told someone, I’m not sure who, to ‘keep playing Boomer Sooner and don’t stop until we take the lead.’ So we did. Nonstop. For most of the second half.” Then came the Sooners’ great rally. Eighteen points in the final 11 minutes to win 21-20.
Switzer was so impressed and so thankful, he paid a visit the next Monday to the Pride and presented the band a ball inscribed with the date, the score and the words: “The Day the Pride Won.”
Of course, OU couldn’t afford to give every saxophonist and drummer a separate game ball, so the university did the next best thing. It gave each band member a 5×7 glossy photograph of that game ball.
Renner thought of those days after the Tech game. He even had an idea. Take a photo of the game ball Stoops symbolically presented to the fans and post it on the OU website for downloading.
It was a solid olive branch by Stoops, who earlier in the week offended some Sooner fans by saying they weren’t as loud as some crowds. It’s a gesture some won’t forget. David Renner certainly hasn’t forgotten what Barry Switzer did 25 years ago.
Another view of Stoops & fans
A friend of mine read my blog yesterday about Bob Stoops’ relationship with the fans, and how I thought Stoops’ message was clear, that the fans were outsiders. He had a different take, courtesy of his wife. Maybe Stoops’ message meant that the fans are actually insiders.
Follow along. Stoops spoke starkly to the fans last week. Called them out. Challenged their manhood (lumping all fans into the masculine mode). My friend’s wife figures that’s the way he treats his players, too. You think Stoops doesn’t coddle players in practice? You think Stoops doesn’t challenge their manhood? Perhaps Stoops was just coaching up the fans, the way he does his players.
I think it’s an interesting theory. One huge difference, of course. Stoops deals with his players in private, then talks about them in public. By definition, all of Stoops’ coaching of fans is in the public forum. So it’s a little bit of apples and oranges.
But the coaching-the-fans theory is absolutely fitting. That’s exactly what Stoops was doing. Motivating his constituency to perform the way he wanted the fans to perform. And you saw the results.
College Football Week 13: Legacies & Legacy Trail
PLACES IN THE HEART
Saturday night clearly was one of the strangest games in Owen Field history. A late-November showdown that was both an elimination game for the national championship and the Heisman Trophy that was upstaged by another plot.
Bob Stoops’ call-out of his own fans was Storyline A.
OU fans were juiced, no doubt about that, which they would have been anyway. But Stoops’ matter-of-fact statement that Sooner fans were inferior to Florida’s, at least in terms of volume, resonated, pro or con, with everyone in crimson.
They either admitted Stoops was right and vowed to make him change his opinion about them, or they were hacked off that their coach would throw them under the bus. Neither side was wrong. You feel how you feel.
Either way, they came to the game ready to be scream their lungs out.
It was a brilliant move by Stoops. With a simple statement, he turned up the heat on Texas Tech’s offense. The stadium was loud, the stadium was energetic, the stadium was alive.
But the ploy came at a cost to Stoops. The message was well-received; alas, the total message. Which included this truth: the fans are outsiders. The fans aren’t part of the amazing Sooner success story.
I don’t believe that. I don’t know if Stoops believes it. But that’s the message he sent.
Stoops’ coaches never got disrespected by their boss. Stoops’ players never get disrespected, unless it’s something so obvious it’s not up for debate (Mark Bradley in the Orange Bowl).
But the fans found out their status. They already knew they weren’t on the inside, but Stoops let them know they were expendable. Under the bus they went.
Stoops humbly tried to make amends after the game. A game ball for the fans. The bowing to the crowd after the game. Those were legitimate gestures. I promise you, bowing to the crowd wasn’t a natural move for Stoops. I think it helped patch up things.
But as I chatted with fans surrounding Owen Field after the game, one theme was prevalent. “How’d we do?” “How was the crowd?” The unspoken question was this: Does he like us now? Not with Toby Keith attitude, but with Sally Field attitude. “You like me, you really like me.”
The cost to both sides was this: A place in the heart. Sooner Nation already knew that Stoops didn’t hold the fans dear; that was reinforced earlier in the week. And though OU fans love Stoops’ championships and his attitude and his persona, they also will close up a little of their heart and not get so close to the man who is willing to sacrifice them.
TEN BIGGEST WINNERS OF THE WEEK
10. Ball State: The unbeaten Cardinals get back-to-back games in the spotlight. First, last Tuesday, a 31-24 victory over Central Michigan in an ESPN2 game. Now, this Tuesday on ESPN2, Ball State plays yet another Mid-American Conference showdown, against 9-2 Western Michigan.
9. Pat White: The West Virginia quarterback, the hero of the Fiesta Bowl rout of OU last January, has not had a sterling senior year. But his 200 rushing yards against Louisville gave White an NCAA-quarterback record 4,292 rushing yards, breaking Brad Smith’s record of 4,289, set at Missouri.
8. Clemson: The Tigers upset Virginia 13-3 to get within one victory of bowl eligibility. Clemson is 6-5, but since two of its victories came against I-AA teams, it must go 7-5 to reach a bowl. South Carolina is next.
7. Turner Gill: Buffalo beat Bowling Green 40-34 in two overtimes to give the Bulls a 7-4 record and make Gill a hot candidate. Two straight quality seasons by Buffalo, which had been one of the nation’s worst programs.
6. Kansas State fans: Hope has been restored in Manhattan with the hiring of Bill Snyder. The Miracle Man might be out of magic, but fans can dream, and hope was fast fading on the Flint Hills.
5. Houston Nutt: I don’t know what went wrong at Arkansas, but this I know. The Hogs are 4-7 and mostly stink. Meanwhile, Nutt’s new team, Ole Miss, has beaten the last two national champions, Florida and now LSU, on the road, and is 7-4 and perhaps Cotton Bowl bound.
4. Justin Kahut: Sometimes when you make a big blunder, you spend the rest of your life seeking redemption. Just ask Brent Parker. Kahut had to wait only a few minutes. The Oregon State kicker missed a tying-extra point with 3:58 left against Arizona. But the Beavers got the ball back, and Kahut kicked a 24-yard field goal as time expired to keep Oregon State in the Rose Bowl driver’s seat.
3. Washington State: In what surely was the last game we’ll ever see matching 10-loss teams, Wazuu beat Washington 16-13 in double-overtime, keeping the Huskies winless and giving Washington State fans a victory they’ll revel in for the next 50 years.
2. Utah: The Utes sealed a BCS bowl berth with a 48-24 rout of arch-rival Brigham Young, and what mid-major ever deserved it more. Utah beat top-20 teams BYU and TCU, plus Pac-10 leader Oregon State. And don’t forget the win at Michigan to open the season. Sure, the Wolverines stink now, but Michigan didn’t know it stunk back in September.
1. Sam Bradford: The Oklahoma quarterback moved to the top of the Heisman Trophy lists and his team moved into BCS title game contention with a 65-21 smackdown of Texas Tech. Bradford’s numbers were video-game high again: 14 of 19, 304 yards, four touchdowns.
LEGACY TRAIL
Saturday, my usual parking spaces along the railroad tracks just north of Eufaula Street in Norman were taken. So I parked along Eufaula, a half block east of the tracks. Which means I walked along Legacy Trail. I recommend it highly to anyone who lives or has interest in Norman.
Legacy Trail includes is a series of six plazas between Gray Street and Duffy Street which take visitors from the period before the Land Run through statehood, formation of OU, the Depression and both world wars up to the present.
Informational plaques and sculptures highlight the plazas, including three-dimensional maps of Norman in 1907, the OU campus as it looked in 1942, a bronze miniature Stearman biplane, a statue and tribute to actor James Garner and a clock that once graced the exterior of the First National Bank in early day Norman.
It was a fun walk. Next year, I’ll walk on the east side of the tracks to get to Owen Field and live a little of old Norman.
REALITY RANKINGS
Rankings based not on what anyone thinks a team will do or should do, but on what they have done:
1. Alabama: Last man standing.
2. Florida: SEC not as good at the top as the Big 12, but much, much better at the bottom.
3. Texas: Probably won’t hold off OU.
4. Penn State: Regular season over; Nittanys will only fall the rest of the season.
5. Oklahoma: Probably rises to No. 2 with a win in Stillwater.
6. USC: How do you stay under the radar in LA?
7. Texas Tech: Guy in the pressbox Saturday night asked me, “Do you think anyone remembers Frazier-Foreman?” I said, “I don’t know, but I’ll bet they remember Tyson-Spinks.”
8. Georgia: Call me crazy, but I still think Georgia is a quality team.
9. Utah: You’ve got to hand it to the Utes, they’ve been impressive.
10. Ohio State: Call me crazy, but I don’t think Ohio State is a quality team. But the results say put them here.
11. Boise State: Isn’t it about time we got serious about getting Boise in the Pac-10? Or at least the Mountain West?
12. Oklahoma State: Picked a bad year to have a great team.
13. Oregon State: I’m pulling for a USC-Penn State Rose Bowl. Sorry, I’ve seen Penn State-Oregon State.
14. Oregon: Quacky season. Oregon State-Oregon has Rose Bowl implications, yet Washington State-Washington was the more compelling game.
15. Boston College: If Boston College wins the ACC, which it very well might, I promise a one-year moratorium on saying anything bad about the Big East.
CLEANUP BRIGADE
I drove down Lindsey Street after midnight, just south of the stadium, and marveled at the mess. The tent city looked like Woodstock after the music had stopped. Trash everywhere. Beer bottles. Paper products flying around. Not a soul in sight.
I drove back down Jenkins Avenue early Sunday morning, before 7:30 a.m., and at the intersection of Jenkins and Lindsey, I again marveled. The mess was gone.
Amazing. In a few simple hours, the cleanup crew had dispatched all the ugly trash, and campus was looking semi-normal again.
I don’t know who cleans up college campuses after the carnage of game day, but I salute your work. Impressive. Very impressive.
TEN BIGGEST LOSERS OF THE WEKE
10. Cal Poly: The I-AA Mustangs had a chance to beat Wisconsin but missed three extra points, including one in overtime that allowed Wisconsin to survive 36-35.
9. Wake Forest: The Deacons have been the ACC’s Atlantic Division front-runners since beating Florida State in September. But with a chance to take command of the division, Wake lost 24-21 to Boston College, which was playing with backup quarterback Dominique Davis.
8. Ron Zook: The Illinois coach was in the Rose Bowl last January. Now he’ll have December and January off. His Illini lost 27-10 at Northwestern to finish out a 5-7 season.
7. North Carolina: The Tar Heels were the ACC darlings after reaching 7-2 on Nov. 8. But now they’ve lost two straight, including an ugly 41-10 home loss to North Carolina State, which allows the Wolfpack to declare itself state champs. N.C. State is 4-0 vs. North Carolina teams; 1-6 against everyone outside Tobacco Road.
6. Vanderbilt: I’m pulling for the Commodores, but watching them is painful. Vandy lost 20-10 at home to Tennessee, and in about another quarter century will have another chance to beat the cross-state Volunteers.
5. Minnesota: Here’s what’s screwy about the BCS. When November arrived, the Gophers were in BCS contention. A BCS rep told me so. They were 7-1 and had beaten Northern Illinois (by four), Bowling Green, Montana State (by 12), Florida Atlantic, Indiana (16-7), Illinois (27-20) and Purdue (17-6). Since then, Minnesota is 0-4, with three home losses. The Gophers lost 55-0 at home to Iowa, two weeks after losing 29-6 at home to Michigan. This is one bad team, and it’s going to a decent bowl. Hope it’s not the Alama. The Big 12 team will win 88-6.
4. Maryland: The Terrapins were in the ACC title hunt, then got rolled at home 37-3 by Florida State. The 7-4 Terps are among the nation’s most unpredictable teams.
3. Charlie Weis: This just in, after Syracuse beat Notre Dame 24-23. If you’re looking for a coach, Irish, Tyrone Willingham is available.
2. Ex-OU offensive coordinators: First, Mike Leach gets smoked 65-21 at Owen Field. Then OU closes the BCS gap and appears poised to pass Mack Brown and Texas. Finally, Chuck Long gets fired after three years at San Diego State, despite upsetting UNLV on Saturday. At least Galen Hall and Penn State nailed down a Rose Bowl bid.
1. Boise State: The Broncos won 41-34 at Nevada and are poised to go unbeaten again, provided they beat Fresno State. But Utah’s win over BYU probably keeps Boise State from a BCS berth. Which is too bad. An OU-Boise State or Texas-Boise State Fiesta Bowl would be grand fun.
EATING IN BRICKTOWN
I had dinner Friday night at Spaghetti Warehouse in Bricktown. Bought some Thunder-Hornet tickets and took my wife. We had a good time, except watching the Thunder was frustrating. That’s one bad basketball team.
But the night was fun. I let my wife pick wherever she wanted to eat, and she chose Spaghetti Warehouse, which as any regular reader knows, has a soft spot in my heart. The original Bricktown restaurant isn’t as crowded as it used to be; I remember the days of the hour-long wait for a table when the whole city was enamored with the novel idea of going downtown to eat, thanks to Spaghetti Warehouse’s plunge into a fledgling entertainment district.
Now, we’ve got - at last count - 23 restaurants in Bricktown, plus nine clubs and five hotels, none of which were here 20 years ago.
Now we’ve got carriages and rickshaws and all kinds of contraptions patrolling Bricktown streets, plus a ballteam just beyond the railroad tracks that is at least listed in the NBA standings, if not passable for NBA quality.
Quite a change. I had the spaghetti and meatballs at the original Bricktown eatery and was thankful for where I live.
Computer Rising: Every little bit helps
I’m no expert on the BCS. I don’t know enough to even be dangerous. But after studying the rankings, and getting email pointers from some of my wise readers, I think OU could be in decent shape.
Here’s one reason why. Two computer rankings — Wolfe and Sagarin — still have Texas Tech ahead of OU. I don’t know how that is possible; I think it’s goofy, considering the non-conference schedules, but that’s beside the point.
What is possible is this. Seems to me OU surely would jump Tech in both of those computers, if the Sooners beat OSU at Stillwater. Tech hosts Baylor.
Huge, huge difference in finishing games. Road game against an excellent team, home game against 4-7 Baylor.
It doesn’t take much to swing the tide in the computers. The computers aren’t compiled on a weighted scale. The polls are; in other words, if you’re No. 3 but barely behind No. 2, as Texas is in the Harris Poll, that’s almost as good as vice versa.
But in the computers, point totals aren’t a factor. You’re either No. 2 or No. 3.
Texas is No. 2 at .960, which means the ‘Horns have 96 percent of a perfect score. The Sooners have 90 percent. If every computer ranks you No. 3, you’re at .920. If every computer has you second, you’re at .960.
So gain a little on Texas, leapfrog Tech, and the Sooners have closed the gap.
The human polls will still determine the bulk of the decision, and both OU and Texas could use some voters jumping to their sides.
But the computers will have a say, too.
OU: Beware needing to dominate
Not long after the BCS rankings came out Sunday, the script was set. The Sooners, barely behind Texas — .921-.913 — in the BCS, need an impressive victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday in Stillwater.
Well, yes, that would probably do it. Rout the Cowboys anything close to the way the Sooners whacked Texas Tech (65-21 Saturday night), and OU probably would jump ahead of the Longhorns.
But two things to remember, OU fans, before deciding where to eat on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City.
1. Beating the Cowboys, much less beating them bad, has been a tough assignment for the Sooners. Yes, OU has a five-game Bedlam winning streak, but the last two trips to Stillwater have gone down to the wire for OU. Jason Ricks’ 48-yard field goal sailed just wide in 2004, allowing the Sooners to escape 38-35. And in 2006, a last-ditch pass sailed just out of D’Juan Woods’ reach in the end zone, and OU won 27-21.
2. The times the Sooners went into a game thinking win big and impress the voters, they hit icebergs.
The 1977 Sooners went into the Orange Bowl against Arkansas knowing No. 1-ranked Texas had been clock-cleaned by Notre Dame. OU thought a big win over the heavily-underdog Razorbacks could produce a national title. And maybe it would have. We’ll never know, since the domination went the other way, 31-6 Arkansas.
The 1984 Sooners went to the Orange Bowl hoping an impressive victory over Washington could lift them over undefeated Brigham Young, which already had completed its season. The Huskies ran wild, won 28-17 and even the Schooner got a penalty.
Herman Edwards said it best. You play to win the game, and you don’t play to win by 20, or 40, or 44.
The Sooners can’t dwell on the BCS. They have to dwell on stopping Zac Robinson and Kendall Hunter and Dez Bryant and Brandon Pettigrew. They have to remember that their phenomenal offensive explosion didn’t come from will, but from preparation.
Worry about the BCS on Saturday, and you might not have to worry about it on Sunday.
Emails on OU-Tech, Stoops, OSU & Thunder
We’ve moved the emails to Saturday. Hope that doesn’t rock anybody’s world. But we’ve got plenty to respond to today, from OU-Tech, to Bob Stoops calling out the fans, to the BCS, to P.J. Carlesimo’s firing. Let’s get started, with the game of the year.
James wrote, “I am getting pumped up for the game. As long as we don’t have a stupid defensive game plan, I think OU crushes TT. The media is really worrying and hacking me off, though. It seems they have already decided that if there is a three-way tie between OU, TT, and UT, that UT deserves to be ranked higher because of the head-to-head victory over OU. The facts are, OU barely lost to UT, they were leading the entire game until the last eighth of the game. UT scored over half its points when Reynolds was lost for the game, currently his replacement is playing well. UT benefiting from bad late-hit calls, a controversial INT getting ruled an incompletion and KO return TD that had two clips not called. A lot of national media (several ESPN guys, ABC, Fox) keep saying UT dominated OU which is just a lie.”
How’s this for a deal. The fan base that gripes the least about officiating gets their team in KC? No team ever won more fair and square than Texas against OU. The better team that day won, and if that puts the Longhorns in the Big 12 title, so be it.
Michael wrote, “I am OU alum and also a huge stat person. You state OU has kept opponents inside the 30 yard line 58 times out of 87 kickoffs. We know three (actually four) of the 87 have been returned for TDs. What is the breakdown of the other 26 kickoffs? How many kickoffs have been returned to our side of the field?”
Sorry, Michael. I misplaced where I wrote out that research. But it wasn’t a big number. Two or three kickoffs have been returned past midfield but not been touchdowns.
Kalip also wrote about kicking: “Maybe the real answer to OU’s kick problems should be addressed the same way Mike Leach addressed his kicking problems. Find someone out of the stands that can kick the ball into the end zone. The problem is, if you kick the ball to the 10- or 5-yard line it has to be returned, thus exposing OU’s lousy kick coverage. Most teams probably don’t have that good of kick coverage teams because a deep kick can hide a lot of problems. I’ve watch our kicker struggle to get the ball to the end zone even with the wind this year, which is just embarrassing. I understand this is a student athlete, but lets lay the blame where it needs to be. If your quarterback couldn’t throw a 15 yard out route wouldn’t you find one who could?”
Well, a big-legged kicker would help, but there’s tons of teams that kick it to the 5-yard line, then don’t allow a TD. And this isn’t the von Schamann days of 1977. Balls kicked off from the 30 don’t reach the end zone all that often. Touchbacks are more rare than ever before.
Marine wrote, “The key to (OU) winning this game is pressure on Harrell. You must get in his face every down. I don’t think OU can do that, not enough defenders. Tech 48-35.”
I recommend a little face-guarding on Sam Bradford, too, if Tech wants to win.
David wrote, “The wife and I are booked for the Texas Tech game (air, rental car and hotel). If I had known when I booked the air travel that the temperature was going to be cccccccold Saturday, I might not have made them. I remember standing atop the south end zone for the OU Nebraska game back when Nebraska scored on a late takeaway from Keith Jackson and returned it for a TD. OU won, and the game was great, but it was really cold and windy. Wish I were watching from a warm suite like I hope you are.”
Weather is overrated. Wear an overcoat.
OK. Enough about the game. Let’s talk fans. Jeremy wrote, “I have been ruminating on an idea for awhile that you might be so inclined to write about one day. It’s about crowd noise. Bob’s presser yesterday reminded me of it. I realize that Bob may have used these comments as ‘motivation,’ but I have heard these comments before. Here are some points that might be worthy of discussion: 1. Most stadiums that people think of that are loud have canopies or sound reflecting structures (Oregon, Alabama, Florida, etc.). OU’s stadium does not have either of these this. 2. The crowd has no idea how loud it is being. One’s definition of loud is very subjective. I sit in the north end zone and think that I am loud, but I know that when the opposition is on the 5-yard line in the south end zone, I don’t really think I am helping by being loud. When I sat in the student section I thought I was loud. When I have had the occasion to sit in 50-yard line seats, I could hear the students being loud and the north end zone being loud, but again I thought we were relatively loud. 3. Owen Field has no mechanism to provide feedback to the crowd about its impact on the game. In summary, I do not think that the fans are the only source of the ‘problem’ of less noise for opponents. I think that whomever is in charge of coordinating game day at OU, past/future architectural decisions have just as much impact on the noise. The power of coordination is amazing, and in my opinion the onus of that coordination falls upon those who run the stadium, not an individual fan who starts an “OU,OU,OU,OU” chant.”
But isn’t it a lot easier just to blame the fans?
Mark wrote, “I was deeply disappointed in Stoops’ comments about how he perceives the fans’ role in the 59-2 home record during his time here. As a die-hard, lifelong, Sooner-born, Sooner-bred fan and alum, I’m offended at his tone. If the stadium was empty in 2002 when we played Alabama, would we have won? If the stadium was empty in 2006 against Texas Tech, would the Red Raiders have folded offensively in the second half? For this week’s game, I paid $144 for two tickets. How dare he criticize what kind of fan I choose to be! Those high-priced tickets are paying his salary and he scoffs at the fans’ fandom! This is the biggest game in Norman since 2000 and he has made THIS a significant side story for the rest of the week. He’s acting like our home success is all because of him. HE recruited the players. HE coached them up. The success was all HIM. Well, if the home record has nothing to do with the fans, then his road embarrassments are ALL HIM. HIS team’s meltdowns away from the friendly confines of Owen Field are ugly and memorable for the entire country. He’s always been cantankerous. I thought it was just because he’s a private guy. But in the last couple of years, his arrogance permeates out of every pore. He’s not a Sooner. He may have embraced the tradition in the beginning, but he has never been one of us. His comments clearly drew the line between HIS program and the people who give out their hard earned cash to watch the football team we grew up loving. He may have been trying to get the fans to respond. He always talks about his player’s execution. Well, this was a lack of execution on his part and it’s not going unnoticed. If he chose to test the waters in the NFL or Knoxville or Seattle this year, there wouldn’t be a bunch of fans clamoring for him to stay.”
Here’s my take on what Stoops did. I don’t think he was doing much more than just trying to rile up the fans. But in effect, here’s what he did. He drew a line. He told the fans they really weren’t part of Sooner football. Ask Stoops if Michael Crabtree is better than Juaquin Iglesias, and he won’t say yes. Ask Stoops if Mike Leach is the best offensive coordinator he’s ever had, and he won’t say yes. But ask him if Florida fans are better than OU fans, and he didn’t blink twice in saying yes. The message was pretty clear to me. Stoops won’t knock his own. But the fans go under the bus.
David sent in this quote from Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson about a white-out plan for fans, calling it a different approach to the subject of homefield advantage and the impact of the crowd: “Hopefully, it will be fun for the fans and generate some excitement in the stadium. Having a nationally-televised game on Thursday night will hopefully make it electric here and get the crowd into it. I think I saw a statistic where Miami is 15-1 in Thursday night games so we will need the 12th man to help us out here.”
Hard to argue. Sometimes, tact goes a long way.
On to the BCS. Joe wrote, “How about writing a column about the bias of the so-called ‘computer polls’ aspect of the BCS rankings? First of all, calling these six polls computer polls is simply ludicrous. These computers spit out what the man associated with each one wants it to. Case in point…..Richard Billingsley, a big OU fan who carries absolutely no credibility as a voter. The week immediately after OSU defeated Missouri, the other five pollsters in charge of their computer polls had OSU ranked between 3 and 6. Billingsley had OSU ranked 11th or 12th.”
You know, Joe, you’re right. They’re not computers. They’re formulas, and computers do the heavy lifting. Yes, I’ve heard that Billingsley’s rankings is pro-OU. But two things. 1. The formula doesn’t change. He doesn’t gerry-rig it to give the Sooners an advantage; he can’t. And the formula doesn’t give points for wearing crimson or having a coach who wears a visor. 2. Billingsley doesn’t always boost the Sooners. This week, OU is ranked sixth by Billingsley. Two computers have OU fourth, one has OU seventh and three have OU sixth. Billingsley can’t prop up the Sooners even if he wants to, and if he could knock someone down, it wouldn’t be the Cowboys, I promise you.
David wrote about my Harris poll column: “I’ve always thought one of the most important jobs in the sport was the pollsters’, as proven in my ill-fated campaign to get you to vote in the AP poll. I consider the AP’s poll to be the most important even if it’s not part of the BCS, as I personally consider the national champion to be whoever the AP says it is. What I like best in the column is your point that the BCS shouldn’t have its Big Bowl participants determined by polls and computers at all, but by a small committee. It would give the BCS a lot more credibility, as I believe a great source of the ridicule aimed at the BCS is due to its ridiculous selection process. Further, I think it would improve the bowls if we then let the other bowls select teams the way they did pre-BCS, minus all the automatic bowl tie-ins. The current bowl selection process results in too many uncompelling matchups, whereas under the old system, each bowl was motivated to create as compelling a matchup as possible to sell tickets and get TV viewers. Personally, I’d say call off the Big Bowl altogether, just use the BCS as a way of letting the two perceived best teams play each other in one of the major bowls, and let the polls do their job of selecting a national champion.”
Well, I didn’t actually call for a committee to supplant the BCS. I called for a committee to supplant the Harris poll. And going back to the old bowl structure is awful. It stunk to high heaven. The bowl tie-ins are great, because under-the-table deals are gone.
Brad wrote, “Great column. Sports fans take for granted that the pollsters know what they’re doing, and that they are unbiased. Little did we know.”
The Harris poll ranks with the state of Minnesota as the goofiest electorate in American sports or political history.
Mark wrote, “I read your piece on the Harris Poll and you make some valid points. In theory, the Harris is much better than the AP and coaches simply because it incorporates more people who have the ability to watch more games. The media is covering their game and the coaches have a game of their own. Like I said, in theory the Harris should be the best poll going. I roll a second TV into my living room every single Saturday. I have ESPN GamePlan and I get ESPNU, ESPN Classic and the Versus Network. Other than the Big Ten Network, I have access to and watch more games than just about anyone I know. I don’t attend more than about two games per year and the rest of my Saturdays are parked inside Mark Family Memorial Stadium watching at least bits and pieces of about 20-25 games per week when you include the games during the week. It’s just a part of my lifestyle. This sport is my hobby/passion/obsession, and two years ago, I kept my own Top 25 throughout the season just for kicks. My question is this: how can I be considered for selection to be a Harris Poll voter next year?
You get on the Harris board the same way you get most things in life. Know somebody. And I mean somebody besides me.
Bo, an Auburn fan, wrote, “I read with interest you column on the Harris Poll and the Auburn ties that are voting. Maybe this will allow Auburn to get some revenge for the ‘non-biased’ votes by some of the Bama voters in 2004 in the polls. Undefeated at 14-0 and one unbiased Bama beat writer votes Auburn down the line. But it won’t happen with the Auburn voters; they have too much integrity, something missing on the west side of the state.”
Nice little rivalry they’ve got going down there in Alabama.
Dave wrote about my blog that said Mike Leach would be a prime candidate at OU if Bob Stoops ever left. “OK, I can tell reading your article you have not lived much outside of Oklahoma. I think the fact that Mike Leach was a coach at OU has been mentioned in your paper a little more than once. Who really cares? You think OU fans are that insecure as to have to be reminded every story? Truth is not many people outside/inside of Oklahoma really even care that Mike Leach was schooled here. As an OU grad who has lived outside of Oklahoma, your article appears very small town thinking and presumes Mike Leach would give up Tech to come to OU. We need more professional informed college football reporting here in OK. Not peanut type hype. 1. Why would a coach of a No. 2 team want to go to work for a No. 5 team? 2. Most professional people would prefer to stay in Texas than come to Oklahoma. 3. OU is not well known outside of football even in Texas. Ask 99.9% of young adult males in this country which school is academically and athletically better and they would not know. Your only argument is money. If OU can afford Leach, then he will come.”
I assume this guy is just pulling my leg. If not, he’s easily one of the five biggest idiots ever to write me.
Jim wrote, “Well, I tried. I turned on the Thunder game Monday night and caught most of it. Does anyone seriously think Swift could even play for North Carolina? He is a stiff! Whatever he is getting paid, it is too much. Also, has the crowd gotten quiet since the Hornets left? Is PJ a coach? I don’t think I will waste my meager retirement money on tickets to watch these guys, the halftime show would have to be Tony Bennett. Three more years of giving them a chance? By that time Durant will be long gone!!
Of course, I will admit I am not a fan of pro basketball, but if they were half good, I would sit in the upper deck for an evening.”
You bring Tony Bennett in, and I say we give him the game stage and let the ballplayers have intermission.
Larry, a big Tech fan, wrote, “I recall a couple of years ago wondering what the Big 12’s tiebreaker was in the event of a three-way, A beats B beats C beats A situation. I emailed you with the question and you informed me correctly that it would be determined based on BCS ranking. I said to myself, ‘Then we’re screwed.’ The only way Texas Tech wins is to leave nothing to interpretation or subjective judgment, because we’re always going to get Mighty Powered in the human polls. Since Texas losing narrowly in Lubbock is already being cited as pretext for them passing us in the BCS rankings, can I assume that if we lose a close one Saturday we’ll be declared the victor? I think not.”
I think you’re right. Tech will get screwed.
OSU fans weren’t idle this week. Robert wrote, “With Kendall Hunter leading the Big 12 by 500-plus rushing yards, a question has come to mind. With the rich tradition of the Big 12 and Big Eight for producing some amazing running backs over the years, when was the last time in this league (or the Big Eight) that a runner led the league by 500 plus yards?”
I don’t know, but I know it happened in 1988. No one got with a mile of Barry Sanders’ 2,626 yards.
Nathan, an OSU fan, wrote, “I have yet to see a story on the remarkable situation OSU players and Mike Gundy have created. I have followed college football for a long time but have never recalled any team having semifinalists for national awards at quarterback, tight end, wide receiver, running back, and head coach! Of course, not all of them will win or even be finalists for these awards. Regardless, it is an astounding achievement. I can’t recall this ever taking place in my lifetime. Do you know of anybody who can match this feat? If not, I think this is worth talking about.”
I agree, it’s an amazing display of widespread talent, and it might never have happened, but only because these awards haven’t been around very long and the notion of publicizing “semifinalists” is even younger. I’m sure there are teams that have qualified. USC 1972 comes to mind: quarterback Mike Rae, tailback Anthony Davis, fullback Sam Cunningham, flanker Lynn Swann, tight end Charle Young. So here’s what I would say. More impressive than all those Cowboys making some semifinal list is this: We just compared OSU to the ‘72 Trojans.
Dan wrote about the announcement that Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp is the coach-in-waiting for Mack Brown. “You can smile and put on a happy face, and Mac is the best salesman ever, BUT NOBODY likes their boss telling them who their replacement is. Will wants Mac’s job - period. You or I would not like our boss to tell us who is replacing us. This will fail and Will will be gone in two years.”
I don’t know how it will work out, but I thought the timing was funny. Sure seems like it sends a strange message to Mack, who is doing a whale of a job.
Enough colleges. Let’s go to the NBA, where the Thunder fired P.J. Carlesimo early Saturday morning. Billye wrote: “Thank Heaven, Clay Bennett finally did it. Now maybe we can have a real NBA basketball team.”
I don’t see OKC having a real NBA team for several years. But a new coach can’t hurt.
Chris asked, “Do you recall way back (in 1989) when OKC hosted the Olympic Trials? They don’t do these anymore but it used to be a big deal. The coach for men’s basketball was none other than P.J. Carlesimo. I vividly remember him saying over and over how he disliked his stay in OKC and how hot it was and how he wouldn’t come back here. I don’t see or hear any of the media mentioning this. Can you recall this in the Oklahoman’s archives? I find it very interesting that he is now stuck here with the Thunder. I wish they would fire him.”
Actually, I’ve always vaguely remembered something Carlesimo said during the festival, nothing outrageous, but I can’t find it in the archives, so I think it might be urban legend. And firing Carlesimo is risky. Anyone willing to coach this team, I say let them have at it.
Andy wrote about my fondness for Russell Westbrook. “You’re right, Westbrook was a very good pick at No. 4. For the Thunder, he will provide what we need vs. what (O.J.) Mayo or a D.J. Augustin would have——he does it all. Rebounds, assists and some points.”
Truth is, I can think of three reasons to be excited about the Thunder so far. 1. Russell Westbrook. 2. Jeff Green. 3. The Thunder Girls seem about the same as the HoneyBees, which is the only thing the Boomers can match up with the Hornets.
Bad timing for Thunder firing of P.J.
The Thunder has not excelled on the public-relations front, from ticket policy to player/public interaction to general game presentation.
And here’s the perfect example of doing things the wrong way. The Thunder just fired coach P.J. Carlesimo at the absolute worst possible time.
This is no defense of Carlesimo. You can’t defend the Boomers’ performance: 1-12 is bad enough, but to get blown out every night is unforgivable. This team is non-competitive; it hasn’t been ready to compete at the NBA level, and that falls on the coach. The record falls on the front office, but the lack of effort and on-court disorganization falls on the coach.
Something had to be done, and clearly the easiest move was to put Carlesimo out of his misery.
But this was the worst possible time to do it: In the wee hours of a Saturday morning, when it will get the least bang around Oklahoma City of any other time of the week. And in the wee hours of a Saturday morning on the day of the biggest football game in the state in eight years.
OU-Texas Tech totally eclipses everything in Oklahoma today. Sometimes, that’s when you want to announce a firing, when it will draw the least eyes and ears.
Not this one. This was a firing that needed to be trumpeted. Needed to be done on the steps of city hall; needed to be leaked to The Oklahoman or the Sports Animal on a week day so that everyone could buzz about it.
The Thunder needed to send the message to the city that this start is unacceptable. That despite the long-term building plan, this kind of performance will be dealt with harshly. That’s a message OKC fans deserve, because frankly, they haven’t been given NBA basketball as promised. No one that I know of is upset with the 1-12. Almost everyone that I know of is either angered or amused by the ridiculous performance of how the Thunder got to 1-12.
Firing Carlesimo under dark of night, on a weekend, when the state’s sports fan has moved into serious football mode, means the gesture will lose its PR value.
There will be Thunder fans who don’t even realize the move has happened until Monday morning. Many of those who do hear the news will be so football-centric, the information won’t process until after the BCS and bowl implications are figured out this weekend.
This was a prime opportunity for the Thunder to let its fans know that this franchise is committed to a lot more than just counting the money they’ve spent on so-far horrid basketball.
The Thunder let that opportunity pass.
