Emails: Stoops & Broncos, Big Bowl, Holiday Bowl
The new emails are in, and it’s an interesting batch. Bob Stoops and the Broncos. The looming Big Bowl. The Holiday Bowl. Lots of topics.
Greg wrote, “OU will defense Tebow just fine. Tebow will rattle off a couple of ooh and ahhh plays, but overall he will be negated. He will be forced to throw more than 25 times, which is a negative sign for Florida. Florida will commit one costly turnover per half resulting in 14 OU points with little or no offense. OU will run for 180 and pass for 300. No turnovers. The first half will be lower scoring, but relatively even with someone leading 14-10 or 17-14. OU will win the second half convincingly and the game, 45-27. Tebow will emerge as a sympathetic, game, legendary figure with overall stats. Sam will be quiet, efficient, and the winner.”
Wow. Can you write my column for me, too, and I won’t sweat a thing.
Mac wrote, “Looking back at the bowl games during Stoops tenure, a rather telling pattern emerges. OU won all but one while Mike Stoops was on board and has lost all but one since he left. In those losses our opponents scored at will, that being the difference. I have often thought that Mike Stoops had an extreme ‘fire in the belly’ that he was able to transfer to his defense much better than Brent Venables could. Maybe it was their coaching interaction that made the difference. Either way, college players benefit from that extra sense of purpose that an exceptional one-on-one coach brings to the game.”
You know, I suppose it’s possible that Mike Stoops was a better defensive coordinator than Brent Venables is, but the mythical status of Mike Stoops is one of the more interesting crushes Sooner fans have ever had on a coach. It rivals Mike Leach.
Jason didn’t like me writing about the possibility of Bob Stoops going to Denver. “Your job as a journalist is to report news and not make news. Please stick to the fundamentals of your profession and report on subjects that you have verified the facts.”
Unfortunately, Jason did not accurately assess my job. My job is a combination of analysis, conjecture and reporting the facts. My job is not in any way to make OU fans sleep better at night. But since you asked, the facts are, Pat Bowlen is an OU grad, Bowlen and Stoops have a relationship of some kind, Bowlen is a solid NFL owner, Stoops would be nuts if he considered any franchise other than run by a solid owner and the Rocky Mountain News has reported that the Broncos have an interest in Stoops, to some degree.
Steve wrote about Stoops and the Broncos: “I hope you’re right. I am an OSU grad who left the state in 1970. We (OSU) have lost lots of games to the Sooners over the years and I never liked their coaches. I hated Switzer. But Bob Stoops is different. He’s a class guy and the Broncos are a class organization. I’d say it’s a good fit. We need someone like him to turn the Broncos around. I’m 60, but immaturely still like to see Oklahoma lose. I’ll still be rooting for Florida to whip the Sooners.”
I think it’s a sign of maturity to recognize your immaturity.
Brad wrote, “Watching OSU late this season, it seemed to me that they lacked depth, which hurt them late in games. In OSU’s last three losses (Tech, OU, Ducks), it was outscored 52-22 in the fourth quarter and 103-48 in the second half. Other than that they seemed as good as anyone.”
Maybe so. But OSU trailed OU 21-13 at halftime and Tech 28-14 at halftime. They got wore down only against Oregon. OSU’s first half performances against OU and Tech were about the same as the second half.
Dan wrote, “O-State dominated early, but didn’t show it on the scoreboard. Halftime score should’ve been 28-7. No late hits on OSU QB make it WWF all over again. Robinson likely had a concussion and probably other injuries. Mentally, he just wasn’t there. Head shots on a QB are often called; not here though. Trust me. If the same happened to Bradford in the title game, there would be a federal investigation. The wet field takes out best player for OSU (Bryant), game over. Two of best OSU players out, one due to conditions, one due to hits. Colorado would’ve beaten OSU at that point.”
I sure would have liked to see OSU play the whole way with a healthy Dez.
Eric wrote, “Just watched the Jayhawks’ impressive win over Minnesota in the Insight Bowl. Of course, I’ve already seen a number of bowl games this season, complete with the obligatory Gatorade bath for the head coaches. But instead of the celebratory dousing of the big man, just once I’d like to see some of the Jayhawks’ big beef eaters hoist Mangino up on their shoulders and haul him off the field. Now that would be a most impressive feat!”
Sounds like a job for Duke Robinson and Phil Loadholt.
Josh wrote, “The 2008-2009 bowl season has been home to some of the worst bowl games I have ever witnessed. The Sun Bowl (3-0 Oregon State), the Orange Bowl (20-7 VT).”
Actually, I really enjoyed the Orange Bowl and was fascinated by the Sun Bowl. I actually made a list today of the college football games I have covered this year: 57-2, 52-26, 55-14, 56-28, 45-35, 45-31, 28-24, 62-28, 56-20, 30-17, 65-21, 61-41, 62-21. A 3-0 game was a nice change of pace.
Mike wrote, Since you’ve dubbed OKC the Boomers, me and my buds starting referring to Ford Center as The Boom Box. I think you should consider adopting that moniker as well.”
The Boom Box it is!
Gene watched the OU-Arkansas basketball game and was displeased with the officiating. “Something has to be done about Ed Hightower and his totally incompetent crew. If you only look at the stats after the game, then it looks like OU played horrible. Granted, not their best performance, but it is a little hard to do when you have a refereeing crew as bad as this one. You are totally afraid to play any defense whatsoever, and when you see Capel get a technical, then something might, just might be wrong! Hightower has to go.”
I think he’s going to the Final Four. He’s been there a bunch of times.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
I am so sick of the glorification of mike stoops. He was
A good coach, period. He may have recruited better than
Venables because he did have better athletes than has
Venab$es – but, he sure lost some big games that were the
“Fault” of the defense — recall Crouch’s sprint in Lincoln
And the meltdown in College Station, which was followed
By OSU’s winning drive in Norman.
Berry, their name is the Oklahoma City THUNDER, not the Boomers. Clay Bennett gets to name the team, not you.
On the “Stoops-to-Denver” writings, I have to chuckle a bit when folks accuse you of wanting to “make the news” rather than report it, Berry. Perhaps they should know that in my personal crusade to get you to vote in the AP poll (I’ve always thought the poll needs as many good, reasoned thinkers as it can get), I was always met with the same response from you: “As a reporter, it’s not my job to make the news”. Disagree with Berry if you want guys, but I think his motives as a journalist are clearly noble.