Emails in on OU, OSU quarterback rankings
The new emails are in, and readers talked about my rankings of the greatest OU and OSU quarterbacks.
Bill: “Steve Davis not in the top 10 OU quarterbacks? 32-1-1 and two national championships, plus the 35-10 buttwhipping of Nebraska in the ‘75 showdown? Try to be a little serious.
Whenever someone tells me who to put on a list, but then doesn’t offer a suggestion on who to take out, they have joined the likes of Dick Vitale. Who is anything but serious.
John: “Nice piece on Sam. But how can any OU quarterback be judged by his record without taking into consideration the quality of the teams they played such as Texas up and down and the same with Nebraska. Opposition coaches also should be considered with the likes of Darrell Royal and Tom Osborne. Maybe the BCS geniuses can figure out the major criteria using a computer.”
Don’t laugh. Computers couldn’t hurt. But Texas’ primary down times – 1950s, 1980s, 1990s – really only correlate with two or three OU quarterbacks. Jimmy Harris. Jamelle Holieway. That’s about it. All the others went against prime Longhorn beef, and outside the ’50s, there always are great conference foes, be it Nebraska or someone else.
David: “I recently conducted a survey on four OSU message boards about the expectations for this season. I also happened to ask who was the best QB and WR in OSU history (I understand your point about Thurman having a better career than Barry Sanders, but it would be hard to argue that he was a better running back). As you might expect, most people voted for Zac and Dez. I was too young to remember how good Hart Lee Dykes was, but I think people tend for forget how good Rashaun Woods was. He set a bunch of Big 12 records, but he’s mostly remembered for his two great Bedlam performances.”
Do you realize that to this point, Mike Gundy has quarterbacked almost twice as many games as Zac Robinson? And quarterbacked two 10-win seasons? And set Big Eight passing records? The question is not who is the greatest quarterback in Cowboy history. The question is, can Robinson somehow catch Gundy?
Now, on to some other football items. James: I am an OU fan but truly think OSU will run the table this year and win not only the Big 12 South but the title. They have three of the best skilled people in the nation in Robinson, Hunter and Bryant. Look for the Pokes to blow out Georgia, then they’re in the hunt. They could easily knock off the Sooners in Norman, and I think they’ll upset UT.”
Knock off OU? Maybe. Easily knock off the Sooners, who have lost twice at home in Bob Stoops’ 10 years? Nothing easy about it.
Henry is one of those readers who has to find reasons for defeat other than just getting beat: “Everyone claims that the Big 12 is a better league and more fun to watch since it went to the spread passing game. I say the Big 12 is more like the Mountain West, WAC and Pac-10 of decades past. How many national titles did those leagues actually win? Well, there was Washington in 1991 (and Don James was one of the few Pac-10 coaches that emphasized running the ball and playing defense) and the nonsense of BYU getting picked over Florida in 1984. The Big 12 is getting more like that. It has won two national titles this decade, one of those 13-2 over FSU back when Oklahoma actually used to have a dominating defense (remember those days?) and the other was Vince Young running the option at Texas. That is a far cry from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s when Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Colorado won as many titles as anyone. You probably are the only one on the planet who didn’t enjoy Nebraska rolling up 62 points on Florida in 1994. The idea that run-oriented offenses are boring is absurd. If you are scoring points, it doesn’t matter how they are scored. And watching Oklahoma lose over and over again in title games (and increasingly in matchups against Texas) certainly isn’t fun. Back when Miami dominated Nebraska and Oklahoma a couple of times in bowl games in the 1980s, the football world claimed that the option was dead, outdated and that the Big Eight needed to go with the passing game. But now the Big 12 – and Oklahoma in particular – is playing so poorly in big games, and everyone is talking about how fun it is to watch and how many records Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy are going to set? It should be Big 12 teams doing what Florida did with Chris Leak and Tim Tebow in 2006 and Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin in 2008. It should have been Big 12 teams doing what Arkansas did with the wildcat in 2006. A Big 12 team should have been able to recruit Terrelle Pryor from that mind-numbing Ohio State program, or gotten Russell Shepard away from LSU (where they are going to use him as a combination Tebow/Harvin player). And a Big 12 team ought to be running the offense that Oregon does, or running Penn State’s ’spread HD.’ And Minnesota and Michigan are putting in versions of that offense as well). For all the talk about how ‘exciting’ the Big 12 offenses are, the actual innovation is going on in other conferences. Really, all the Big 12 is doing is running what Hal Mumme was running at Kentucky and Joe Tiller was running at Purdue in the mid 1990s. It isn’t new, it isn’t exciting and most importantly it doesn’t win championships.”
Do you see what happens to your brain when you make excuses. You become pathetic. I don’t pathetic as in ridiculous. I mean pathetic as in to be pitied. Henry obviously is a college football fan who follows the sport but who gone cuckoo. His team hasn’t won a title, so there has to be a reason. Someone is doing something wrong. When a fan reaches that stage, it’s time to leave the sport. Time to take up gardening or hunting or garage-saleing. Football isn’t working anymore. The idea that the Big 12 isn’t innovative is absurd – both OU and Texas won national titles with offenses that were cutting edge at the time and soon copied by scores of other programs, the Mike Leach spread in 2000 and the shotgun option in 2005. The idea that the Big 12 hasn’t won its share of national titles this decade is absurd – two out of nine is about what you’d expect. There are five major conferences, so if it’s spread around, which it almost always is, that’s 20 percent. The Big 12 has won 22 percent. The SEC happens to have won four of the last six but won just one of the previous six. That’s the way life goes.
Josh is a worried OSU fan: “I found some interesting stats. Most of which do not favor us. Just saying. No matter how you spin Georgia’s road record, it is impressive. If we win Saturday, this will be the biggest win of the Gundy era to date without question. Huge, huge, huge game. Georgia enters the week as a six-point underdog on the road. It is only the 10th time they have been underdogs on the road in the Mark Richt era. So that 30-4 record may be somewhat deceiving considering Georgia was the pick to win in 24 of the games. However, that is taking nothing away from that because that is very impressive considering those road games include the following: Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Arizona State, Alabama, Auburn, LSU, and Clemson. Last season’s trip to LSU was listed as a pick’em. Georgia beat LSU 52-38. The six-point spread this week is the third-largest point spread against Georgia on the road. The others were a pair of 11-point spreads (at No. 11 Tennessee in 2001 and at No. 5 Auburn in 2006). Georgia won both games. This will be the 13th time in the Richt era Georgia faces a ranked team on the road. UGA has been an underdog in eight of those games, including one pick’em (LSU). UGA’s record in the previous 12: 10-2. UGA’s record as an underdog in those games: 6-2.”
Josh, you need to go lie down and rest up. It’s going to be a long week if you let numbers take over your inner-most being.
Bill wrote about my suggestion for a Bedlam All-College: “I think your All-College is a step in the right direction but would in my thinking dilute the thrill of the first conference Bedlam game. I have thought for some time that a classic between the four state schools would be a great draw. That is ORU vs. OU and TU vs. OSU and flip flop the next year. The ADs at the four schools all agree to split the profit four ways. If successful for a couple years, pull a two-nighter and switch opponents, with one night in OKC and one night in T town.”
Settling for an OU-ORU-OSU-Tulsa doubleheader instead of Bedlam is like a Sunday afternoon at Lake Hefner. Perfectly enjoyable, but let’s not pretend we’re on the Oregon coast.
Brian: “Is this the worst All College lineup? OSU/La Salle and OU/El Paso? What happened to having a marquee game?”
This All-College isn’t marquee, but the basketball isn’t bad. La Salle is pretty good, and UTEP is better than that. There have been a lot worse All-Colleges. I mean, is LaSalle/UTEP all that much worse than Rhode Island/Virginia Commonwealth?
And finally, Shannon: “You know what the best thing about America is? We could take any player of off any international team in the Little League World Series, place them on our team and they would not look out of place. We are not without flaws as a country, but that fundamental is still there.”
Well said. Get rid of the Little League World Series and we’re darn near perfect.
2009: Greatest Heisman race ever?
We wrote about the amazing 2009 Heisman Trophy race in the Sunday Oklahoman. It’s an historic year. Never before have two Heisman winners returned to a college football season.
Tim Tebow won in 2007 and Sam Bradford in 2008. Now both are back, with ‘08 runnerup Colt McCoy a hot contender as well. Back in the day, rarely did a junior win the Heisman, and now if a junior wins, he almost always turns pro.
To have two returning Heisman winners, a series of unlikely events have to occur: 1) a sophomore has to win; 2) that sophomore has to return for his junior AND senior years; 3) the year following the sophomore victory, either another sophomore has to win or a junior who doesn’t turn pro. Barring a total longshot, that’s the recipe, and the stars have to align just right.
And the stars have aligned in 2009.
This is a star-studded campaign unlike anything we’ve seen. This harks back to presidential campaigns that were loaded with big names. In fact, twice in history, we’ve had presidential races that matched men who had already inhabited the White House.
A warning: neither presidential race foreshadows a Sam Bradford victory.
The Tebow Model: In 1884, Democrat Grover Cleveland won the White House. In 1888, incumbent Cleveland lost to Benjamin Harrison. Then in 1892, the battle royale was staged. Cleveland vs. Harrison. It was as if George Bush I ran against Bill Clinton in 1996. Or Jimmy Carter vs. Ronald Reagan in 1984. Anyway, Cleveland regained the Oval Office. Hurray for Tebow.
The McCoy model: In 1904, Republican Teddy Roosevelt won the White House. In 1908, Roosevelt chose not to run, and William Howard Taft won the election. That set up the wildest presidential campaign ever, 1912. Taft ran as the incumbent. Roosevelt returned to the campaign and ran as a third-party (Progressive) candidate. And the Democrats nominated Woodrow Wilson. Two men who had lived in the White House and a man who hadn’t. Voters went with the man who hadn’t. Woodrow Wilson won the election. Hurray for Colt McCoy.
OSU: Would Fields have ranked No. 1?
I wrote today about Zac Robinson’s place in OSU history and how he has a chance — it will be difficult — to surpass Mike Gundy as the greatest quarterback in Cowboy history.
But here’s another debate. What if Josh Fields hadn’t gone to baseball after his junior year? What if Fields had come back for his senior season, 2004, and quarterbacked State? Where would he rank?
First, a refresher. Fields quarterbacked two seasons, 2002-03, plus a couple of games off the bench at the end of 2001. His record: 17-9. His victims: OU twice, Nebraska (OSU’s first over the Huskers since 1961), Texas A&M twice (OSU had been winless against the Ags in Big 12 play) and Southern Miss.
Fields set the school record for touchdown passes, 55, three more than Gundy. Fields threw for 6,090 yards; Gundy’s school record is 8,473. Gundy completed 636 passes; Fields completed 445.
Give Fields one more year, and it’s likely he would have broken most of Gundy’s records. But like I keep saying, you can’t go strictly by numbers. Fields played in the more pass-happy 2000s, not the 1980s, though Fields got in on the early days, not these wild, wild West days of the last few years.
Anyway, we also need to project how OSU would have done with Fields at quarterback in 2004. Those Cowboys went 7-5 with Donovan Woods, who was a solid freshman quarterback. They routed UCLA 31-20 in the opener and were 5-0 when they hosted Texas A&M on Oct. 16. And lost 36-20.
They also lost 38-35 in that Bedlam classic at Boone Pickens Stadium, 56-35 at Texas in that wild game in which OSU led 35-7, 31-15 at Texas Tech and 33-7 to Ohio State in the Alamo Bowl.
Where would Fields have made the difference? Two games, I say. With Fields, I believe OSU would have beaten A&M. Those Aggies were solid but not great; they finished 7-5, with a big loss to Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl. They took OU to the wire in College Station but lost at Baylor. Sixteen points is a lot to make up, but OSU was sluggish that night in Stillwater. No way would the Cowboys have been sluggish with Fields.
And despite how well Woods and the offense played in Bedlam, I think Fields would have produced a victory against the Sooners. OSU scored a ton anyway, and Fields wasn’t playing linebacker, but I’ve got to believe he would have found a way to produce four more points. If for no other reason than that late deep ball to Prentiss Elliott, which Woods sailed just beyond Elliott’s grasp, the Cowboys could have captured that Bedlam with Fields.
So improve OSU to 9-3 in 2004 with Fields. Suddenly, his career record is 26-12, which is in Gundy’s ballpark (29-14). Fields’ numbers, for their time, would have been comparable. His weapons would have been a little more impressive (Fields had Rashaun Woods’ to Gundy’s Hart Lee Dykes, but with apologies to NFL vets Tatum Bell and Vernand Morency, they aren’t Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas).
Fields wasn’t going to make all-Big 12 in 2004; Heisman incumbent Jason White had that slot nailed down. But his resume’ would have been glittering after three-plus years of transforming play.
Fields already is the quarterback who lifted OSU out of more than a decade of mediocrity into the upper tier of the Big 12, but give him that 2004 season, and he would be remembered even more for such heroics.
Give Josh Fields that 2004 season, and he would be known as the greatest quarterback in OSU history.
Alexander off the bench? Sooners loaded
I walked up to OU defensive ends coach Chris Wilson on Media Day and told him his position was pretty loaded if Auston English, who a mere two years ago was a serious candidate for Big 12 defensive player of the year, wasn’t even going to start.
“He’s not?” Wilson asked with about 75 percent seriousness. “I didn’t know that.”
Wilson wasn’t bluffing. He said Thursday that English and Jeremy Beal would start at defensive end, with Alexander off the bench in a rotation that also is likely to include David King and R.J. Washington.
Makes me think of 1985. In 1984, OU defensive end Kevin Murphy, a great player, was injured, so the Sooners turned to redshirt freshmen Darrell Reed and Troy Johnson. Reed was in line to start, but Johnson was relatively unknown.
Both became excellent players as rookies, the Sooner defense was outstanding and OU won the Big Eight title. A year later, Murphy returned for a fifth year, and the Sooners suddenly were loaded at defensive end.
That’s where the 2009 Sooners are. I would rank OU’s best defensive players this way: 1. G.K. McCoy; 2. Frank Alexander; 3. Travis Lewis; 4. Dom Franks; 5. Brian Jackson; 6. Jeremy Beal; 7. Adrian Taylor; 8. Keenan Clayton.
If I’m off, I don’t think I’m off much. If Alexander is not the second-best defender on this team, he’s close. And yet, he’s not going to start.
Beal has turned into a wonderful player, and if English is anything close to where he was throughout much of 2007, he’s a wild man himself. They are elder statesmen on this defense, so I don’t have a beef with the starting designations. But that doesn’t Alexander is not a pass-rushing demon. I think he’s a budding superstar.
And yet, on this team, he’s the backup defensive end.
By the way. That 1985 OU team? The defense did OK. Over the last seven games of that season, it allowed 42 points total. It shut out Colorado and OSU. It held SMU (back when the Ponies were riding high) to 13. Kansas and Missouri to six each. Nebraska to seven, a touchdown scored on a fumblerooski. And in the national title game, Penn State managed 10 points.
Disgusting stories just keep coming
Wednesday was a day full of startling news. News that makes you wonder about the future of society.
* Ex-Sooner football player Eric Thunander, 29, was charged in Cleveland County District Court with three counts of lewd acts with a child and one count of possession of child pornography. Just last year, the deaf Thunander published a book, Silent Thunder, in which he detailed his life of overcoming depression and drug addiction and a dysfunctional family.
* Joshua Spires, 28, former pastor of the First Baptist Church of Jay in Delaware County, was charged with 10 counts of of lewd molestation. He is accused of having consensual sex with a 15-year-old girl from his church, with some of the acts coming on his desk where he also prepared sermons. The relationship allegedly started when Spires was the church’s youth pastor.
* And Millwood Middle School assistant football coach Larry Ray Buck, 50, was arrested on complaints of lewd acts with a former female student, who was 14 at the time.
The stories just kept coming, one after another. An inspirational athlete. A pastor. A coach. All facing disgusting charges. Three men easy to trust. Which could be part of the problem. Easy trust can lead to a relaxed guard.
This Wednesday was a valuable reminder to us all, a lesson that we don’t really know people just because of reputation or titles or position.
The story of Thunander will hit hardest, because while few Oklahomans have heard of Buck or Spires, thousands have followed Thunander, who was one of Bob Stoops’ early recruits and, despite a rollercoaster beginning, seemed to be a success story. As recently as last May, Thunander spoke at the baccalaureate service for Norman graduates. Now his life is in tatters again.
And we all are further warned. Be wary of people with access to our children, no matter their title, no matter their fame.
Any downside to a Bedlam All-College?
I wrote for today’s paper about a Bedlam All-College (http://www.newsok.com/berry-tramel-all-college-needs-bedlam/article/3395657?custom_click=lead_story_title) — Oklahoma State vs. Oklahoma in late December at the Ford Center.
I’ve brought it up in the past but got nowhere with the coaches. Kelvin Sampson and Eddie Sutton weren’t interested.
Sutton would always talk about 1986, when he had a great Kentucky team that played LSU twice in the regular season and again in the SEC Tournament, winning all three times. But then they played in an NCAA regional final, and LSU won to go to the Final Four. Why that had to nix a third Bedlam regular-season matchup, I don’t know.
I think Sampson just didn’t want to deal with the prospect of losing Bedlam and then hearing about it for a month, until the first conference OU-OSU game. That’s negative thinking. Why not dwell on the positive? Win in December and ride a month of glory? And win or lose, it’s not like we still wouldn’t have football to take our minds off the basketball result.
I trotted out the theory to OSU coach Ford that the losing coach might be in for a long month and he dismissed it quickly. “I don’t care about that.”
That’s an encouraging attitude.
I wanted to ask OU coach Jeff Capel his thoughts on the idea, but he deferred to athletic director Joe Castiglione, which is disappointing. I wasn’t presenting a contract ready to be signed. I was trying to get the flow of ideas going.
Capel’s perspective would be interesting, because of his North Carolina roots. Grew up on Tobacco Road, played at Duke, his brother played at UNC.
“Would Carolina play Duke in Charlotte just for the heck of it?” Ford asked. “I don’t know.”
I don’t know, either, I assume not, but I know this. They used to play in Greensboro just for the heck of it.
A Bedlam in December would be unparalleled in contemporary college basketball but would hark back to the Big Four Tournament, which was played from 1971-81 in Greensboro, N.C., and included Duke, Carolina, Wake Forest and North Carolina State. Which means those in-state, arch-rivals could easily end up playing four times, counting the ACC Tournament. The Atlantic Coast Conference staged a post-season tournament long before other leagues joined in.
And basketball in North Carolina thrived in the 1970s.
Playing meaningful games never is a bad thing. Playing games people want to see always is a good thing.
All-College field not very exciting
First, the good news. The 2009 All-College Classic field will include two past NCAA basketball champions for OSU and OU.
Now, the bad news. OSU’s foe, LaSalle, won the 1954 NCAA title, and OU’s foe, Texas-El Paso, won in 1966.
It’s not that the Explorers or the Miners — extra credit if you know which nickname goes with which school — don’t play good basketball. LaSalle was 9-7 in the Atlantic 10 Conference last season, 18-13 overall, while UTEP was 10-6 in Conference USA, 24-13 overall. LaSalle (Explorers) and UTEP (Miners) are good, solid opponents.
But they won’t sell a lot of tickets at the Ford Center.
In recent years, the All-College has been rejuvenated by rousing matchups. OSU-Tennessee. OU-West Virginia. OSU-Pitt, in a double-overtime thriller that was as good a college basketball game as you’ll ever see. OU-Gonzaga. OSU-Gonzaga. OU-Michigan State.
Those are the kind of games needed to generate college hoops excitement in December, when this state is still smoldering with football, and now with the Thunder, the NBA has the basketball spotlight. Marquee matchups are needed, and LaSalle and UTEP don’t provide it.
LaSalle, the school of sharpshooter Tom Gola, and UTEP, the school made famous by the late Don Haskins, one of my all-time favorites, possess solid histories. They don’t possess a box-office punch.
Emails in on OU-BYU parking & playoff
The new emails are in, and my week of vacation brought a span-the-globe array of dispatches.
Bob wrote about the OU-BYU game in Arlington: “I can’t believe that Jerry (Show Me the Money) Jones is not opening his parking lots for the OU-BYU game until 1 p.m. And the Rangers have an agreement not to open theirs before he opens his. This could have been a tremendous payday for the Arlington hotels if he had opened them by 9 or 10 a.m., cause lots of folks who travel four or five will now come down the day of the game instead of the day before. Jones talks big about catering to tailgaters, but I doubt if he ever has tailgated.
Well, 1 p.m. seems plenty early to me. Eight hours before kickoff in a parking lot seems a long time to me. How do you get the ladies in your life to commit to nine hours with only a port-a-potty on hand? By george I think we’ve got it – if Jones will think of pay toilets, he’ll open the lots at dawn.
Shannon wrote about the tireless subject of a college football playoff: “The other day on a Yankee broadcast, Jim Kaat reflected on the creation of the DH. The big concern from the players was voiced by middle relief pitchers. It seemed at that time that starting pitchers were primarily pulled in a pitch-hitting situation late in the game. If managers no longer had to worry about pitchers hitting in a late game clutch spot, why would they ever pull starters except for closers? Wouldn’t middle relief pitchers be forced out of the game and replaced by offensive players on the major league roster? Of course, while the logic seemed solid, we now know the advent of the DH created a more formidable batting order. And in turn to the earlier departure of the starting pitcher. Thus, a greater need for middle relief. Now, the lack of a playoff system in college football. What would happen to fan interest in the early part of the season? ‘Preseason’ games would no longer be important. I say not so fast my friend. I will leave the details to those who can work them out – and there are many who can. As long as entry into the playoff bracket is based on winning your conference, the preseason can now be about developing your team. Out of conference matchups can be about playing your peers. OU could play Michigan, Tennessee, and USC without fear of ruining their national championship chances. What fan would not love that? Ratings would soar. And now there is a greater relevance placed on conference games for the teams which would have been eliminated under the current system but are still playing for a conference title game berth. And thus the opportunity to earn their way into the playoff bracket. Two-loss Colorado vs. one-loss Nebraska now has national significance.”
Everything Shannon said is true. Except the elephant in the living room. No way will a playoff include only conference winners. The Texases and Oklahomas and Alabamas will not allow it. They are not going to allow a playoff in which the Conference USA champ gets in and they might get left out. Which means wild cards come into play, which means posturing and polls come back into play, and the regular season becomes even more meaningless.
Joe wrote about Brett Favre: “How can people give Favre so much hell? Who wouldn’t take the money and run? I’m 56 and for $12.5 million, I’d take somebody’s best shot (he’d have to get grass stains to hit me in the head). If they want him and he wants to try and the fans evidently want to buy tickets to see him and his teammates, say ‘come on’ and then screw everybody else. $12.5 million will buy a nice wheelchair or nurse or whatever you need, and in the NFL a 22-year-old is just as apt to need those things. I’m not a Favre fan, but he hasn’t killed anyone or any dogs or done any of that stuff, yet he’s put all that stuff on the back pages (Vick says thank God for Favre) and yet he’s catching as much crap for the sin of changing his mind again. That’s worse than DUIs and dog fighting and drugs and steroids?? Geez.”
Well, I don’t hear all that much criticism about Favre. Anyone who didn’t see this coming wasn’t paying attention. Favre was playing the oldest dodge in the NFL book; avoiding training camp. And can we forget $12.5 million. This doesn’t have anything to do with money. Brett Favre is not coming back for money. He’s coming back for the roar of the crowd and the feeling he gets on Sundays. The criticism should be – and is, I believe – placed on the Vikes, who are taking a flier on a 40-year-old quarterback, which is an indictment of their organization and shows how shaky their Super Bowl hopes really are.
James wrote about the preseason polls: “After reading Jake Trotter’s article on being No. 2, I did a quick look and found the loser of the BCS title game has not finished No. 2 either of the polls. This was only searched back to 2002. My question to you is, looking at the preseason poll for this year, what type of scenario would it take for the prediction to become reality? Obviously, Florida would have to win the BCS to be No. 1, but neither Texas or OU could be the loser because the loser never finishes No. 2. How would Texas and OU finish 2 and 3? What bowls and how would they get there?”
Well, I think the whole premise is flawed. In 2002, Miami finished No. 2 after losing the BCS title game; USC did the same in 2005 and Ohio State in 2006. And let’s say OU or Texas wins their grudge match in a great game, then loses to Florida in the BCS championship, it’s not kooky to think OU or Texas would be No. 2. But we’re off base. The preseason poll is not a prediction of the final poll. It’s an estimate on where the teams are. If anything, I would say it’s a prediction of the polls going into the bowls.
Some readers commented on my blog item in which I suggested Jermaine Gresham could hurt his draft status if he keeps up his relatively-harmless, but goofy actions, like getting arrested for failure to pay a seat-belt ticket and yelling shoutouts to Michael Vick. Greg: “Gresham is bordering on being the punk some of us have been afraid he is since he rose to stardom. Are seat belt fines and shoutouts to Michael Vick wrong? Of course not, in the technical sense, but as you so correctly indicate, a hint to the NFL ‘I am a punk and I could be an attitude problem like the nutcase Shockey.’ Is it in the water down in southern Oklahoma? But rather than a blog item or newspaper article, why not a comment off camera, without recorder or tablet, with Bullet Bob or Kevin Wilson. Coming from the coach, not you, probably scores the hit Jermaine needs. I am afraid calling him out in the newspaper will only make him more bull-headed. If he thinks the press in nice little downhome OKC is tough, Jermaine should consider what it might be like, in say, Philadelphia. His conduct concerns me; maybe not outright clues, but harbingers of something negative.”
Frankly, I don’t have the time to set up a counseling service. I’ll bet the coaches have it well-covered. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing if they have talked to Gresham. Bad is bad. But if they have talked to him and it’s still not getting through…
Chris thought differently: “In order to get a response out of me as I mature, some buttons must be pushed. I know those guys are in the spotlight, but they are kids. I’m in my early 40s and still make decisions I second and third guess. I often think of the many things I did coming from a Christian, well-trained, African-American home with both parents and support from my siblings just excellent role models, well-respected family, I can go on and on. But there were times in college I made some decisions that could have cost me and/or others our lives and perhaps landed me in jail or mental institution. Working on the staff with the late Paul Hansen, I said some things to officials after games that I wish I could take back some 21 -22 years later. After reading the Houston Chronicle online, I saw a list of the top 10 guys drafted in April’s draft and recalled what everyone was saying about Andre Smith (Alabama) and how his stock was down due to some decisions he made during the combines and late in the season. Well he went sixth overall. I can’t recall where the big mouth tight end from Miami (Kellen Winslow Jr.) went when he was drafted by Cleveland a few years back. But I don’t think all that I’m-a-soldier talk caused him to slip too far. Keep in mind mankind responds in two ways, either through emotion or via behavior. Kids are very impulsive and don’t think before they react, so we have to take that into consideration. Blogs like this contribute to underclassman leaving early, they feel that if they are going to be criticized for mistakes they make on and off the field, it’s easier to take when you are getting a salary.”
First of all, let’s go back to Planet Earth. No college kid ever left early for any reason that had to do with media or fans. They leave because they want to be paid and they would prefer the professional lifestyle, and for that, I don’t blame them one bit. Second, Andre Smith was considered one of the two best players in the draft before he got himself kicked off the team at Bama. So you’re right, he didn’t fall far. But he fell some, and when you drop from No. 3 to No. 6, that’s millions of dollars. Gresham hasn’t cost himself a lot of money yet. But unless someone gets ahold of him and tells him to quit acting like a knucklehead, it could happen. Michael Crabtree only LIVED with a fellow who was into drugs, and Crabtree dropped to No. 10 despite ranking with Smith as perhaps the draft’s best talent. We could debate all night whether these guys are kids or not. But it’s irrelevant in this case. Gresham is about to be a pro, and he’s going into the draft either slightly red-flagged or much red-flagged. It’s up to him.
Craig wanted to talk OU football: “You guys have mentioned Frank Alexander two days in a row. At the spring game, my grandson and I sat in the north end zone down low in order to get a good look at him during team drills. Man, that guy looks really good. He looks like a beast! He looks like a speed rusher to me. He should be very good if they use him right.”
I don’t think using him right is any problem. When’s the last time OU coaches didn’t use a defender right? They seemed to know better than the Dallas Cowboy staff how to use Roy Williams.
Boots wrote about OU openers: “I was trying to remember, was the OU-Stanford game in 1978 a season opener? That was a two-TD win that almost got away in less than a minute. (OU won 35-29) We lived out there for 41/2 years and I would have gone to high school across the street from Stanford Stadium if we’d stayed in Palo Alto. I really wanted to go to that game for old-time’s sake. Of course, I liked that one better than the West Virginia game of 1982. We also did have a near-disaster when I was an OU student that would have rivaled Appy State at Michigan – the Vanderbilt game of ‘77. We really deserved to lose that one. That’s the one that Switzer called an abortion.”
Interesting games, all. But my list was not based on how the game turned out. My list was based on how good of a matchup the game was going into the season. Which made West Virginia near the bottom of the top 10, Stanford just out of the top 10 and Vandy nowhere near the top 10.
Larry had a suggestion: “Enjoy your work and would recommend a sports article detailing the top three or four worst football officiating calls in each of the major conferences. Each football program could give you their worst and you select the top few for each conference.”
I think too much is written about the refs. When something cataclysmic happens, yes, shine a bright light on it. Otherwise, no reason to pile on.
Mark wrote about OSU’s lack of an indoor practice facility: “Great example of when you try to get it perfect, you sometimes get nothing. Makes me wonder if that one house (in Stillwater) that took another year to buy cost us $200 million. If that had not held things up, they maybe would have gone ahead and cashed some out to get it going. Anyway, hopefully the OSU faithful will get their heads together to get a timeline going. Yes, it’s a feature that is not a luxury. You have to have one.”
Interesting point. The holdout homeowner might have exacted the ultimate revenge.
Bill wrote about the RedHawks: “Was at the game last night and have to say it was a good night except for us getting beat. I am just curious about a couple of things and would like your input. OKC says we are a big league city. That is all well and good, but in my opinion the fans need to act like it. We had a combined no-hitter thrown against us last night. I stood at the end after the final strikeout and applauded the performance. What I thought was sad was only about 10 others were doing the same thing. I was not happy we lost, but like I told my wife, you go to a big league park and the home team is being no hit on the final batter, you will see most of the home crowd pulling for the pitcher to get that no hitter.”
You can’t compare major league baseball with minor league baseball. For one thing, the minors don’t seem to be about the baseball so much anymore. It’s more about the fan experience. Nice amenities, cold beer, fun attractions. No-hitters aren’t as big a deal in the minors as they are in the majors. And as for combined no-hitters, they aren’t a big deal even in the majors.
Steve wrote about baseball: “I happened to be reading your blog and watching the Yankees/Red Sox games at the same time, and Joe Morgan trotted out the well-worn line about hitting a baseball being the most difficult thing to do in sports … you take a round bat, a round ball and you’re supposed to hit it square. Morgan attributed it to Pete Rose. Anyway, this line, while clever, always bugged me because I always wonder what other shape a bat and ball would take that would be easier to hit? Can you imagine a batter trying a square ball with a square bat? Does anyone really think this would be easier? A round ball optimizes your chances of hitting a ball squarely and getting it to travel a long distance. I don’t know about the bat, which is required to be round. Maybe a flat bat would work better, but I’m not so sure. Maybe I should just appreciate a clever quip and leave it at that.”
Here’s what I’ve found about athletes. They’re pretty good at explaining what happens. They’re a little lost on explaining how it happens.
Move the video board at Jerry Jones World
During the Big 12 media tour of Jerry Jones World, the first thing we did was debate the massive video board: Could a punter reach it during a game? We didn’t have any dimensions, we were just eyeballing.
I said no way, thinking that it looked too high and surely no one would build a new stadium that might get in the way of a punt. But someone else — I think it was Johnny Hoover of the Tulsa World — said he thought it could be hit with a punt. Turns out Hoover was right.
In the tour we took, our guide said test punters actually had reached the video board but that the Cowboys didn’t think it would/could happen in a game, since those test kicks were actual attempts to hit the board. Uh, not so fast. In the first exhibition game Friday night, Tennessee Titans backuppunter A.J. Trapasso banged a kick off the video board, and by rule, the play is a do-over. Then Trapasso almost hit it again.
A do-over? This isn’t sandlot football. This isn’t golf with mulligans. You want a riot on your hands? Have Mat McBriar rocket a punt off the video board against the Giants, then in the do-over New York blocks a punt for a touchdown and wins 21-17.
The NFL says it is monitoring the situation, whatever that means, and Titans coach Jeff Fisher, a member of the league’s competition committee, says it’s a concern.
The answer is clear. Raise the video board, which is 75 feet off the ground. Move it higher.
The Cowboys don’t want to do that, because of the expense. The stadium’s cost now sits at $1.15 billion ($1.2 billion, or $1.4 billion, depending on which report you believe), and any overruns come out of Jerry Jones’ pocket, which of course means it eventually comes out of fans’ pockets.
But the video board has to move up anyway for a U2 concern (you rockets can explain why), so whatever is the temporary solution, make it the permanent solution. And frankly, no one should care what it costs Jerry Jones.
In the tour, the guide proudly talked about how some of the granite in the suite areas was imported from Italy. Huh. I guess there was no pretty granite in the whole state of Texas.
To me, that was an abomination. The city of Arlington gave the Cowboys $325 million or so for the building of the stadium, and fans, very few them of from Rome or Venice, are paying outrageous seat licenses, and Jones imports granite from Italy.
If I’m the NFL, I’m telling Jones to move his video board out of punter range, no matter the cost.
Truth is, the league already has too many goofy holes in its stadiums, foremost of which are the goofy baseball infields that teams play on early in the season in dual-sport stadiums like Miami and Oakland.
No high school team in America plays on dirt, but a portion of a Dolphins-Patriots showdown might be. Ridiculous.
And it’s ridiculous to open a new stadium that on its maiden game, a punt gets blocked by something hanging from the ceiling. Move the video board.
100 years later: Semi-pro bites Oklahoma again
A century after Jim Thorpe first played a brand of ball called “semi-pro,” the term has reared its head in Oklahoma again and threatens to cost an athlete in the state.
OU backup middle linebacker Mike Balogun, who started against Florida in the national championship game and played well, has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA for playing semi-pro football in 2005 and/or 2006, seasons after his 21st birthday, and Balogun’s status now depends on appeals and the lawsuit he has filed.
In 1913, Thorpe was stripped of his Olympic gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon because he was considered a professional, having played semi-pro baseball in Rocky Mount, N.C., in 1909 and 1910. Rocky Mount then was in the Eastern Carolina League.
Thorpe’s medals eventually were reinstated — but in 1983, a span of 70 years that if repeated doesn’t figure to help Balogun or the 2009 Sooners. Former Oklahoma Gov. George Nigh always says one of his proudest acts in office was in helping the drive to get Thorpe’s medals reinstated.
Balogun was ruled ineligible because he, allegedly, played for the Maryland Marauders and Prince George Jets in the North American Football League, after the age of 21. NCAA rules state that any year of playing organized football after a player turns 21 counts as a year of NCAA eligibility.
The term semi-pro is a poor word choice. It has been used for more than a century to describe any league outside of the organizing bodies that rule sport.
There is nothing professional about the North American Football League. It is amateur football at its purest level. The players aren’t paid, except on perhaps the most rare occasions. It’s grown men playing football for the fun of it. Not that I’m saying the NCAA rule is misguided. The NCAA has valid reasons for establishing eligibility; I’m not exactly sure why adult, amateur football leagues should count against a player’s ticking clock, but I don’t discount the rule out of hand. I plan to research exactly why the rule exists.
In contrast, Thorpe absolutely was a professional baseball player. He got paid to play, and while today something like the Eastern Carolina League would not be considered under the umbrella of organized baseball, in 1909 ALL minor leagues were independent. Thorpe’s was at the bottom of the food chain, and he was paid a pittance (who wasn’t in 1909?), but he absolutely was a pro.
The problem with the Thorpe case was the International Olympic Committee’s rules against professionalism. The IOC long since has scrapped them. Pros can play today. Even the NCAA has relented, allowing professionals in one sport to compete in college in another sport.
That won’t help Mike Balogun, who played in a football league that was much more semi than pro and whose status in Oklahoma puts him, at least temporarily, in an historical class with the most unlikely of colleagues. Jim Thorpe.
