Emails in on OU women & Texas’ asterisk
The new emails are in, and it’s heavy on women’s basketball, with a little on college football.
Larry, a resident Texas Tech fan, wrote about asteriskgate, Texas’ claim to the 2008 Big 12 football title. “Can you believe those guys? Disgusting! Is there anything more irritating than a bunch of people who just can’t concede that their team actually lost fair and square?”
I think Larry is trying to start something.
John: Every OU fan going to the OU-Texas game this season should wear a t-shirt that says Big 12 Champions.”
Winning the game would be a more impressive statement.
Steve wrote, “I am certainly glad I am not from Oklahoma, but just live here. I have a heart problem and I feel all the angst Oklahomans are feeling over the asterisk might cause me another heart attack, if I cared. I guess it is good for space filler. I wish the sports writers at the Oklahoman would realize that not everybody that reads the sports section cares one bit about Oklahoma football or basketball or any of their sports. I am a sports writer who has covered national sports from World Series games in Florida and Minnesota, when the Marlins and Twins were champions, to college hockey championships and professional hockey in Minnesota. And Shaquille O’ Neal when he was a kid with Orlando and was being schooled by Michael Jordan in the NBA playoffs. I am a huge college football fan but could care less about the U of Oklahoma and would like to read more about the entire world of college football, not just the little piece of it occupied not very well by the Sooners. I am now covering a little high school softball, track and football, while waiting to die from congestive heart failure. I am being kept alive by the great cardiologists at the OU Health Center. More should be written about theses great physicians and the work they do than the football and basketball teams. At least the doctors are successful. All my friends all over the country and world are amazed that it took my coming to Oklahoma to have my problems diagnosed and treated properly. Doctors in Florida were treating me for TIA’s or small strokes, instead of heart trouble. I have a major wish which is probably a pipe dream. It is that the next time Oklahoma is offered a spot in the national championship football game, they either decline the invitation, or in a perfect world, the invitation is never made again until the once-mighty Sooners can prove they can win a low level college bowl game a couple of years in a row.”
Wow. Nothing like dying bitter.
Roger: “Three years ago, Kelvin Sampson signed some highly rated high school players but left for Indiana before they got to play for OU. Because of the coaching change, the players were permitted to void their written letters of intent. One of the players who left OU was Scottie Reynolds. Ironically, point guard was probably OU’s weakest position this year. Imagine if Reynolds was teamed with the Griffin boys this year, and Austin Johnson was just a good sixth man. That change alone would be enough for OU to make the Final Four. It seems wrong when a player is allowed to change his mind after he has signed a letter of intent. To change his mind after a verbal commitment is much like breaking off an engagement; voiding a written letter of intent seems more like being left at the altar. There must be a logical way to ensure that coaches are not recruited until after their last game is over or until the Final Four is over. Let schools have the months of April thru June to hire a new coach who is currently with another school. Players can sign a binding letter only after July 1. Similar rules of course are needed for football.”
How about this for an idea. Coaches honor contracts. Then all problems are solved.
Bill wrote about the OU women’s loss to Louisville. “Stevenson’s shot didn’t go in, for sure. but something else didn’t happen and that was not one foul was called on Louisville on their offensive end, and if you check your TIVO will see that the Cardinals fouled just about every time. and the foul called on Hand after she got an offensive rebound and was mugged, with the score 58-58, was a referee-initiated turning point in the game. As was the traveling on Ashley Paris a minute later.”
Blaming refs is for losers.
Greg: “Frankly, I thought the game came down to allowing the Louisville star, McCoughtry to run track on the next to last basket for Louisville, and then, at the other end of the floor, call traveling on Ashley as she made a basket getting judo chopped to the face by not one, not two, but three Louisville players. Not to mention they pushed her about two feet from her initial shooting stance. Women’s officiating, even in the Final Four, lags so far behind the men at this level. The Courtney phantom foul on her third was just another instance.”
Blaming refs is for losers. But women’s basketball officiating does stink.
Bob: “My opinion in brief is that Courtney Paris should have kept her mouth shut to begin with. Talk about providing motivation for Louisville! Joe Namath is the only person I recall who delivered on a guarantee of this magnitude. Even more disappointing was Bubba Paris’s comments calling out Sherri Coale. Great way to show your support for the team and promote cohesiveness. He is all about what is wrong with sports, and the meism present in athletics today.”
So, Bob, is it your stance that if Courtney had said nothing, Louisville would have played in its first Final Four with something less than 100 percent motivation?
Leonard: “Bill Russell used to say that he could always get a sense of a game, and how it might turn, a few minutes into the second half. What do you think accounts for OU’s slump/demise in the second half as compared with the way they started? Coaching? Discipline? Toughness? Disappearance of Hand as a key factor (or leaving that Louisville guard open at the end for 3-pointers)?”
I think it was Courtney Paris on the bench with three fouls.
Jack: “Good story on OU’s loss to Louisville. One line jumped out at me about midway through the story. ‘Lousiville won because on a cold shooting night for both teams, it made one more basket, 22-21.’ Oh no. Louisville won because OU once again got bitten hard by the same bug-a-boo that has nailed them for the last two years in big games. Turnovers. They gave up 17 and it cost them 16 points that Louisville got off turnovers. You aren’t going to beat any good team like that. Turnovers has cost them games time and time again, and Coale has not been able to correct it. Robinson and Stevenson are the primary reasons with poor judgment passes and just sloppy or overly casual ball possession and passing at times.”
I’m not buying it; 17 turnovers is a little high but not terrible. Danielle Robinson had three turnovers. Whitney Hand and Nyeshia Stevenson two each.
Bill: “Please see to it the Paris girls get the following message. I don’t know how to reach them otherwise. ‘I don’t know where fate will lead you in your pursuits, but I can promise you one thing: You will never be forgotten and you will always be loved in Oklahoma. Thank you for four great years’”
I think most people feel the same with you.
Shannon wrote about my column that questioned Courtney Paris’ lack of development over the years: “The lack of development in Courtney’s game is not discussed enough. What would be interesting is to discuss why it was not developed. That job falls not only on the player but also the coaching staff. The group as a whole appears to have failed here. Coaches could not push the right buttons? Player did not have the inner fire/discipline that we have recently discussed with Blake, Taylor, Whitney, etc. Coaches did not require enough — weight, stamina, etc. Player was afraid to find out how good she could be. Or maybe Courtney gave all she had. Some players peak early. I don’t know the answer but it is an interesting question. What I did find unfortunate was the timing of the article – if the article had been written after her sophomore or junior year, it would have been a challenge to her. If it had been written this summer, it would have been reflective. For it to be written the day of a Final Four game in her senior season just left a sour taste.”
That’s a legitimate complaint. But Bubba Paris opened the door.
Robert: “Your article said it all. I feel a lot better since I lost 15 pounds recently. I told my wife three years ago that the Paris girls would win a national title. Very sad, but I like what Bubba said a lot.”
I didn’t like what Bubba said. I thought he acted like a clown.
Nilo: “Your article about Courtney was awful and cruel. I hope someday you have the opportunity to comfort your child when somebody says something awful about them that breaks their hearts. I know people like you have no feelings for other people.”
Actually, Courtney would have been better served hearing straight talk long before her final weekend as a collegian.
Jay: “Why do you always have to write a negative article on the eve of big games? I hope the players and Sherri don’t read the paper. Stop being such a jerk.”
Sometimes I save negative articles for after big games. Like, say, in football.
Larry: “Another great column, really important and right on every point in Courtney’s Final Four opportunity. Just what I was thinking but no one else was saying out loud. It was arrogant and disrespectful to her teammates for Courtney to guarantee that she would personally bring a national championship to OU or she (meaning her dad) would pay back the scholarship. It was not only rude but totally classless of her father to blame Sherri Coale if OU loses. Sherri has shown her class and style by continuing to praise Courtney and refusing to comment on Bubba’s insulting comment. Courtney continues to remind me of Shaq these days. Both big bodies, but neither can jump. Not a good position to be in against very athletic Louisville.”
I love Courtney Paris. But the month of March was one big soap opera that didn’t need to be.
Hardy: “I saw your rating of the basketball programs. I thought OSU was low. I’m a longtime OSU fan and have trouble seeing OU at 19 and OSU 27. OSU has more NCAA tournament wins, more national titles (granted they were along time ago), over the last 10-15 years OSU has paid their coach more, I believe they have more fan support the majority of the time and the arenas they play in are not even comparable.”
Here’s what’s funny about the fans being so fired up. The fans are why OSU dropped in status. When Gallagher-Iba Arena was always full and rocking, OSU was at least as good a job as OU. Then the fan base fell off, and the No. 1 selling point for the Cowboys was gone.
-------------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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