Verdict on El Paso: Not a good bowl destination
One more day in El Paso, and it’s an interesting city. It is not a good bowl city.
There’s no crime in that. Oklahoma City wouldn’t be a good bowl city, even though it’s a wonderful place to live. The people of El Paso claim their city is a great place to live. OK. I can believe it. But that doesn’t make it a city you want to visit.
I know the Sun Bowl folks and the citizens of El Paso don’t want to hear that, but it’s true. It’s not a great tourist destination. Not great weather. Not a lot of things to do. The Sun Bowl seems to be providing good hospitality to the teams — the Sooners really seemed to enjoy their tour of Fort Bliss the other night, where they got to participate in shooting and tank simulations — and it seems to be a well-organized bowl. You generally don’t stay in business 76 years, and keep CBS as a partner for 42 years, without good organization.
The scenery is good; out here on the West side of town, where we’re staying, there are gorgeous views of the sun setting over the mountain range. I left Fort Bliss the other day to give OU’s Kenny Mossman a ride back to his hotel, and when I drove back to the base to pick up videographer Tim Money, twilight was descending. Some trees dotted the ground of the mountains behind Fort Bliss, and when the sunset hits, it looks like a painting.
And when you go up high — like at the Sun Bowl Stadium, which is virtually carved out of a mountain — and look at hte Rio Grande Valley, the cities, El Paso and Juarez, are very fetching. I’m looking forward to that sight tonight, when all the lights come on. It’s a little like that old Bette Midler song, “From a Distance.”
On the ground, El Paso is less impressive. El Pasoans have been touting for a month how safe their city is, and I believe it. It seems very safe. I haven’t once felt, uh-oh, I shouldn’t be here. Not even down at the border on Wednesday, when we went to shoot a video, and some guy walking in from Juarez yelled, “Go home.” But safety alone does not make a good bowl destination.
The border, of course, dominates the perspective of visitors, and I would assume residents rarely even think about it. To me, it’s a strange feeling to drive down a highway — in this case Interstate 10 — and look over at a foreign country, even discounting the troubled times in Juarez. It’s a so-near-yet-so-far feeling. You’re literally 100 yards from some place that you can’t go. Barbed wire or razor wire gives me a funny feeling, whether I’m near a prison or a place of business or a federal border.
Down at the border crossing, the lines to get into El Paso, both pedestrian and auto, are enormous. The lines to get into Juarez, virtually empty. I assume we’re checking things a lot more closely on our side, which is the way it was, on a lesser scale, when I went to Juarez in 1975 as a 14-year-old kid. They say that more than 60,000 people a day go back and forth across the border. I believe it.
I’ve been disappointed in the Mexican food. I’ve had it twice and went .500. Kiki’s was excellent despite awful service; Avila’s was mediocre. Jake Trotter also went to a joint on Saturday night before I got here and said it was mediocre. That’s .333. You can go into any three Mexican food restaurants in Oklahoma City, without any endorsements, just pick three off the streets, and bat .333.
I go to places all over the country. Some big, some not so big. Some I want to return for fun. Bring my wife and make a vacation out of it. Some I don’t care if I ever see again. Nothing personal. Just not a place I care to visit. El Paso might be a fine place to live, but I’m in no hurry to return.
Huskers rout Arizona: Pac-10 continues to struggle
I picked Stanford to win the Sun Bowl. I think I’m in trouble.
The Pac-10 continues to struggle. Nebraska’s 33-0 rout of Arizona in the Holiday Bowl on Wednesday night is another flare that the Pac-10 is not the conference we thought it was. The Pac-10 now is 2-3 in bowl games, and its defenses are struggling. Utah beat California 37-27 in the Poinsettia Bowl and Brigham Young routed Oregon State 44-20 in the Las Vegas Bowl. Southern Cal’s defense played solid in a 24-13 victory over Boston College in the Emerald Bowl, but UCLA struggled to beat Temple 30-21, trailing until the final minutes.
Then Nebraska ran all over Arizona. The Huskers can play some defense, but they are offensively-challenged. Suddenly, the Pac-10′s defensive acumen seems dubious. That might mean a big day for Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl. Stanford’s defense is not stout, relative to the Pac-10, anyway.
I thought the Pac-10 was the second-best conference in college football this season, behind only the Southeastern Conference. The Pac-10 went 10-5 against other major-conference teams (BCS automatic-qualifying leagues, plus the Mountain West). That was better than even the SEC’s 9-5.
But updating the standings with the bowl games to date, the SEC is 10-6, the Pac-10 11-8, the Big East 8-8, the Big 12 9-10, the Mountain West 7-8, the Big Ten 6-7 and the ACC 11-15.
Brut lives! Just check out the Sun Bowl
I walked into the Sun Bowl media room Monday and grabbed the usual assortment of materials. Press guides. Interview schedules. OU season CD. Sun Bowl notebook with no lines, which is spiffy for drawing but not so great for writing.
And a small paper packet of Brut after shave, in the shape of a Brut bottle.
Call the bowls a monument to marketing. Like someone in a chat said during the 2008 Brut Sun Bowl, when posters debated the political correctness of some Brut commercials: “I didn’t even know the damn stuff was still around.”
Brut was big when I was a kid. Provocative commercials — “after shower, after shave, after anything.” Exotic catchphrase — “Brut, by Faberge’.” Hall of Fame cast of endorsers — Joe Namath, Hank Aaron, Wilt Chamberlain, Muhammad Ali.
I hadn’t thought of Brut in 20 years until it signed on to sponsor the Sun Bowl. That’s what marketing is all about.
I once abhorred bowl sponsorships, just because of the name bastardization. Some of the bowls migrated away from their roots. For instance, there is no Peach Bowl anymore; it’s the Chick-fil-A Bowl. I love me some Chick-fil-A and wish I could cover that game, because a bunch of chicken sandwiches on a table are a lot more appealing than tiny little packets of Brut. But still, the Peach Bowl sounds way better.
There is no more Citrus Bowl. It’s the Capital One Bowl. Bowls named after financial services are a little tacky during this economic downturn, don’t you think, since they helped fuel the collapse?
The Motor City is now the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, the Tangerine is now the Champs Sports Bowl, the Copper is now the Insight Bowl.
Some bowls are just total sellouts to commercialism. Forty years from now, guys from Pitt and North Carolina will have to tell their grandkids they played in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
Some bowls toss out official names that require two breaths just to say. Advo Care V100 Independence Bowl. Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl. San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.
Of course, some bowl sponsorships actually sort of enhance the name. Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. That doesn’t sound bad. Pacific Life Holiday Bowl. Valero Alamo Bowl. Brut is that way with the Sun.
The Sun Bowl once was sponsored by John Hancock financial services, even was called the John Hancock Bowl for awhile, which made no sense, because John Hancock conjures images of Philadelphia, not El Paso.
Wells Fargo took on the Sun Bowl for awhile, which was totally cool. Wells Fargo makes you think of Death Valley Days and stagecoaches and the frontier. A Wells Fargo/El Paso marriage seems perfectly normal.
Vitalis sponsored the Sun Bowl for awhile, and just like Brut, who knew they still made that snake oil? Every Sunday morning until I was probably 12, my mom would baptize me and my brother with what had to be a quarter bottle of Vitalis each. No matter how long I live, I’ll never forget that smell and that feel. I assume I could get the same experience by dumping some Crisco oil on my head while frying eggs.
Anyway, good for Brut, staying in business and finding a way to let advertising-immune people like me know it. But I still think Joe Namath and some sexy girl is a better sales pitch than the Sun Bowl.
Snow, snow has gone away in El Paso
The snow is going, going and soon will be gone from El Paso. It’s stopped snowing , and whatever fell is melting. It’s about 35 degrees and the temperatures are rising. It’s expected to reach 42 degrees by 5 p.m.
Not that Stanford is affected either way. The Cardinal doesn’t know what an indoor practice is. Co-defensive coordinator Ron Lynn said when recruits come to campus and ask where the indoor facility is, the answer is the same. Don’t need one.
Lynn said Stanford was enjoying the snow; the players were even throwing snowballs at each other. Some of the Californians never had seen snow. No one on the Oklahoma roster has that problem.
El Paso: Here comes the snow
I spoke too soon about the El Paso weather. The snow hit about 8 a.m. mountain time, and it’s coming down. Already accumulating on palm trees, which is a totally wild scene.
Snow at the Sun Bowl is nothing new. OU offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson played in the 1982 Sun Bowl for North Carolina, when the Tar Heels beat Texas 26-10 in the snow. “They closed the airport,” Wilson said. “We almost didn’t get out after the game.”
Defensive coordinator Brent Venables said OU is prepared to practice indoors or outdoors. A couple of gymnasiums are available at Austin High School, where the Sooners are headquartered.
Sun Bowl plea: Snow, snow stay away
I woke up this morning, threw open the drapes at the El Paso Fairfield Inn and received some good news. There was not 3-5 inches of snow on the ground.
Some in the weather prediction business had suggested that was the overnight gift for Sun Bowl fans, but no. Something’s falling; looks like a little rain, a little snow, but nothing heavy at all. Weather.com now shows that some snow might fall this afternoon.
A little snow wouldn’t be a bowl-game disaster, but it’s not exactly what anyone from Oklahoma wants to see after the 14-inch blizzard of last week.
Bowl games ideally are played in warm weather locales, and while El Paso isn’t tropical, it’s not usually this cold. Temperatures in the 50s are normal this time of year, but it was cold — 40s and windy yesterday — and highs today suggest the 30s. The high Thursday (the day of the OU-Stanford game) is set for 54, with sunny skies, which would be pristine football weather.
The weather scare was enough for OU to move up its press conference this morning from 9 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., and it’s not like the Sooners have far to travel. Their hotel is just down the street from Sun Bowl media headquarters. But the threat of inclement weather apparently made the Sooners fear they might have trouble getting to their noon practice on time.
Any place that gets 14 inches of snow dumped on it can’t complain about someone else’s weather, so cut El Paso some slack. We knew it wasn’t Phoenix or Miami, and truth is, four years ago at the Holiday Bowl, San Diego’s weather was chilly. Not 34 and snowy, but chilly.
Cold weather is a downer for players who want to get out and explore a little at night, but they’ve got to like the mid-day weather. Football practice in the 40s isn’t a terrible thing. At Stanford’s practice yesterday, some lineman was the last guy off the field. We all were bundled up in the blustery weather, but this lineman trudged off the field in a T-shirt, carrying his pads, sweat pouring off him. I’ll bet the weather felt good to him.
I’ll update you on El Paso weather this afternoon.
A big mess at Florida
If there’s anything to learn from the Urban Meyer saga over the weekend, it’s this. You don’t want to be the coach who replaces Urban Meyer. And it’s not the Bear Bryant factor, as in, you don’t want to follow a legend. It’s the Frank Broyles factor, as in, you don’t want to follow a legend who is walking around campus rightfully thinking he still owns the place.
Meyer, the Florida football coach, said Saturday he was resigning after the Sugar Bowl, but Sunday he said he had reconsidered after a spirited practice with his team. At least one of those decisions is not well-considered. If doctors suggested Meyer step away from football, a Sunday morning practice shouldn’t deter him.
The plan now is for Meyer to step away from football after the Sugar Bowl, let offensive coordinator Steve Addazio run the program, then return next August. No reason why that couldn’t work.
But to me, the biggest flare of the weekend was Meyer’s attitude. Did you see his comments about the program, about when he had announced his resignation, his concern that Florida might bring in someone who would change the program?
Meyer gave ESPN an extended sit-down Sunday — Tom Rinaldi conducted a masterful interview — and Meyer seemed totally forthcoming about his failure to take care of his health and his family priorities, in the quest for football success. Really interesting stuff that every coach ought to watch.
But in terms of Florida’s football future, the most relevant theme was Meyer talking about no longer coaching the Gators.
“I was fearful we would turn it over to someone who would change our program,” Meyer said. “We do things a certain way.” If someone changed the Gator way, Meyer said, “I couldn’t live with that. That would destroy me.”
Meyer said he called UF athletic director Jeremy Foley from the sidelines of that Sunday morning practice and said they needed to talk. Meyer later told Foley, “We have to keep this boat headed in the right direction. How can we do this?”
And thus came the compromise of Addazio being interim head coach in the off-season. But the original plan, on Saturday night, was Meyer remaining at Florida in some kind of ceremonial status. Probably fund-raising for the president, would be my guess. Can you imagine what life would be like for the new football coach, unless it was Addazio or Dan Mullen or Charley Strong or someone from Meyer’s staff? Now we know why Bobby Bowden wasn’t named the interim coach.
Can you imagine Bob Stoops or Mike Shanahan working in that kind of environment? “We do things a certain way”? Holy Bo Schembechler. Who could enjoy working on that campus? Broyles’ final season coaching Arkansas was 1976, then he spent 31 more years as athletic director and keeping his thumb in the Razorback football pie. It makes for some bad karma. If something happens and Meyer indeed has to stay away, any coach with a good job already should pass on Florida.
Stoops to Florida: Much more plausible than Notre Dame
Urban Meyer’s stunning resignation from Florida on Saturday set the Bob Stoops conjecture spinning again. Would Stoops go to Florida?
Here’s my quick reaction. It’s much more plausible than Stoops going to Notre Dame, but I still think it’s unlikely.
Florida is a much better job than Notre Dame and it’s south, not north. But Florida would be a relative lateral move for Stoops. Florida is a better job than Oklahoma, but not by much. Both are in the most elite tier of college football. So Stoops would consider Florida only if he’s looking for a new challenge, and what’s the evidence of that?
The more I study Stoops’ situation, the more I think he’s several years from leaving Norman, if at all. His kids are 10 and 13 and have never known a home other than Norman. A guy thinking about moving doesn’t start building a massive new home, which Stoops has under construction in northwest Norman.
Sure, Stoops loves the beach and wouldn’t mind having one just down a Florida highway. Of course, with Stoops’ salary, he can fly to the beach most any time he wants and get there in not too much longer time than it takes to drive over from Gainesville. So quality of life, I don’t think, is an issue. Family considerations favor Oklahoma.
So this would have to be a total football move. Either comes down to that new challenge stuff, or something wrong at OU. And nothing’s wrong in Soonerville, other than a bunch of injuries and tight losses in 2009. Those things tend to balance out the next year, which is why 2010 should be quite promising for OU.
Challenge? Why would the competitor in Stoops need a new challenge. He’s got quite the challenge staring him right in the face. He’s lost four of five games to Texas, which despite three straight OU Big 12 titles in 2006-08, has got to gnaw at him.
I’ve said this a million times and I’ll say it again. Stoops strikes me as a guy who is a lot more likely to leave on top — Urban Meyer style — than when things are rotten.
Again, Florida is the most plausible of college jobs if Stoops does jump. He loved it there in 1996-98, working for Steve Spurrier. It’s down south with warm weather. You can win big there, and Stoops remains loved in Gator Nation.
But again, Gator Nation loves all kinds of guys, starting with Dan Mullen, offensive coordinator on the 2008 national title team. Mullen went to Mississippi State as head coach and did well, 5-7, in his maiden season at a school that hadn’t had a first down in four years. Mullen is a long-time Meyer guy and would keep Florida staff stable. I would rate Mullen the No. 1 likely replacement.
Others mentioned include:
* Arkansas’ Bobby Petrino (I don’t think Florida wants Petrino’s baggage of jumping ships);
* Boise State’s Chris Peterson (heck of a coach; I would hire him);
* Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh (seems a little risky for a job like Florida; Harbaugh’s resume’ isn’t that good yet);
* Utah’s Kyle Whittingham (going to Salt Lake City worked for the Gators last time);
* Mike Shanahan (I don’t see it; hiring a pro coach can be dicey. Shanahan hasn’t had to recruit in a quarter century, and besides, he’s going to get his pick of a variety of NFL jobs. Most coaches prefer the pros, especially those who have coached in both).
So there’s my prediction. To replace Urban Meyer, Florida goes after a popular, ex-Gator coordinator. But it’s not Bob Stoops. It’s Dan Mullen.
Emails in on Sun Bowl, OSU schedule & Oklahoma Bowl
The new emails are in, and there’s a healthy dose, even for a holiday week. Let’s get to it.
Frank wrote about my column that stated Bob Stoops is in a no-win situation in the Sun Bowl: “Why did you write this very negative article? Do you want to destroy Stoops? He’s had to play the very best teams in the country so many times. Just getting there is rare for any coach. Are you angry that OU trounced OSU? That great win and beating Stanford will propel us into 2010 in a big way. STOP the negativity!”
The answer to your original question is, because it’s the truth and because it was fair. That was an easy one to write.
Wayne:”I have enjoyed reading your articles for many years. However, there is one area where I do not like what you say so boldly in big print. Not many days pass that you do not knock Bob Stoops for his record in BCS bowl games. You make it sound like he is a no-good coach in major bowl games. The fact that he gets his team to the game in the first place is a great accomplishment that most coaches would be glad to be able to do as well as he. The Sooners had terrible luck this year with injuries but still salvaged a winning season. Why not build our coach up and encourage him? I think if a poll were taken in Oklahoma on how many people would trade Bob Stoops for any other coach in America, you would find that Stoops is loved by Oklahomans and would trade him for none. It sounds like you have sour grapes or something. Did Stoops say or do something to you that causes you to write the kind of articles I am talking about? You belittle yourself with each story of this kind. I would like it if you printed a response to my email on the sports pages.”
Not on the sports page, but here’s a response on the blog. You’ve got to be kidding. Bob Stoops gets paid $4 million a year yet needs encouragement? Needs my encouragement? If a poll were taken of OU fans, the majority would say they love Bob Stoops but it’s about time he won a BCS game, and the majority would agree that the Sun Bowl doesn’t count.
Larry: “Normally I agree with you, Berry, but I have to disagree with your article regarding no-win situation in the Sun Bowl for Bob Stoops. It would be a great success for Bob if he brings a team that is disciplined and plays in an efficient and productive manner. It would give us fans something to look forward to for next year. I am pretty disgruntled with our Sooners. I don’t have to tell you that we expect them to be well coached and to play as if they had some discipline. I believe if the Sooners go to El Paso, play well, show discipline and win a game that they should win it will set a tone for these young guys for next year.”
I don’t see it. If the Sooners go to El Paso and beat a Stanford team playing without its quarterback, what does that prove? And even if it does propel the Sooners for 2010 (I never buy that theory; the Sooners lost the 1999 Independence Bowl), that doesn’t erase Stoops’ BCS stigma.
Jim: “Can’t you find anything good to perpetuate, like success in the Big 12 and owning OSU. If OU beats Stanford, that’s a big deal to me, given the way this seasons has gone and hopefully bodes well for next year. Remember this; Stanford beat USC, whom the media loves.”
Sure, it’s better to win than to lose. But again, folks, beating Stanford won’t improve Bob Stoops’ bowl status one iota. Losing would hurt Stoops, but winning won’t help.
Bill wrote about El Paso memories: “I reading your piece on the earlier Sun Bowl and thinking how I would not likely go to this one and how a lot of other people probably have the same reaction. Too bad. I had one of the greatest times of my life in El Paso. I was at a school at Fort Bliss for three months at the end of a longer school at Fort Sill on my way to Viet Nam in 1965. Absolutely perfect spring weather. About half of the class was in the same category as me, on our way to Viet Nam, and another third were just back. The course, something about air defense in the counter-insurgency role, had a real hard time holding our attention, so we looked for other things to do, especially at night, instead of studying. Juarez supplied part of the answer. We spent several afternoons at the race track (dogs in the daytime and horses at night). We went to the bull fights on Sundays. Some, who were so inclined, heavily cruised the Juarez clubs and bars. At night my crowd mostly stayed in El Paso. There were more bars than you could count, and 100% of them had live music, even the military clubs, and not just the usual bar music but really great music. As far as I could tell, 100% of the musicians arrived from Mexico around 7 p.m. and stayed later than I did. They were a wonderful way to pass the time with our families mostly in Lawton or having been sent home to wait out Viet Nam, and we hit them just about every night. Which brings me to the Bar Seville. It was right downtown, fairly small, L-shaped with a little six inch high stage at one end of it where the musicians stood/sat. The wait staff were a mix of young men and women. The first time this happened to me it was unexpected and I was dumbfounded. A waiter brought our drinks, set them on the table, took a step back and broke into an operatic song in a fabulous tenor voice. Then I noticed the women doing the same thing; breaking into a short aria after delivering the drinks. This went on and on all evening, and, in fact, every evening that we went there for the entire time we were there. It turned out that they were all music students at (what was then) Texas Western College. They were just like college kids all over who waited table to work their way through college except that they all had splendid voices and the whole act was coordinated with the musicians. Once an hour or so they would go up with the band and do a couple of real songs. Even allowing for the amount of beer we were drinking, they were very, very good. I never saw anything like it anywhere before or since. Except for being on my way to Viet Nam I loved El Paso. I’m sorry the folks now can’t enjoy El Paso, and certainly not Juarez, like I did 34 years ago.”
I’m headed to El Paso in a couple of days. I’m not optimistic. Sounds like a place that lost its greatest tourist attraction (Juarez) and has a chip on its shoulder. I was on an El Paso radio show the other day, and the hosts were upset with my video, which suggested that OU fans aren’t excited about the Sun Bowl. These guys kept talking about what a great place El Paso is in which to live. Maybe so. But no one from Oklahoma is going there to live. Oklahomans are going there to visit.
Chris wrote about my column concerning OSU’s lack of an annual game in Dallas, in the face of every other Big 12 South doing so. “I enjoyed the OSU-Georgia series, attending both games, as well the OSU-UCLA series a few years back. I am not against scheduling good competition. I am concerned about locking into games outside of Stillwater. The only reason OSU played eight home games this year was because Mike Holder thought OSU would be playing Texas Tech in the Dallas area this year. Didn’t happen. OSU has played 11 games in Texas since Mike Gundy took over…12 with this year’s Cotton Bowl. Have you checked out OSU’s recruiting verbals? Why must people want to fix what isn’t broken? I am thrilled that Texas Tech/Baylor is in Dallas; (thrilled because OSU will not have the opportunity to play them in Dallas anymore during this contract). Don’t make too much about the Dallas area. We have signed Tatum Bell and Byron Eaton under the same conditions. Don’t compare us to OU and Texas. That takes time; this year proves we are not there yet. OSU is not missing the bus, we have our own bus, courtesy of Pickens and others. We will continue to rise. OSU faced a lot of adversity this year and still finished 9-3. I remember Sept. 5, basking in the warm sun after beating Georgia and just soaking up that great win.”
Great points. I guess my strongest thoughts are this. I’m all for a Dallas game if it means an upgrade to OSU’s schedule. If the Cowboys can upgrade their schedule without Dallas, then who cares? But I’m convinced the Cowboys can’t significantly make a dent nationally playing a steady diet of Troys and Louisiana-Lafayettes. Chris is exactly right. Think what that Georgia game did for OSU.
Craig also wrote about the issue: “Good article, I agree. But I will never sit in the very top row of JerryWorld. I am an experienced climber and I could not believe how steep the upper section is! At the BYU game, one of the ladies in our group got dizzy and scared because of the steepness. She and my wife got up and left. I also wish we could play one game in Houston each year. That would be fun and get good exposure.”
I don’t like the Houston idea. Dallas is centralize and easy to get to. Houston is not.
Danny: “I thought about this off and on through the year and wanted to get this idea to you. The NCAA would schedule the last two weeks of the season based on the power rankings after the bowl games. The teams ranked 1-30 would play 2 games each, one home and one away. You might have to switch a team if they are in the same conference, but 1 would play 11 and 21, 2 would play 12 and 22, and so on. You would do the same thing with teams 31-60, 61-90, and 91-120. This way teams like TCU, Boise State, BYU, etc. wouldn’t be able to say the BCS teams won’t play us and it would help ease scheduling. You could have a couple of easier games to start the season to warm up and adjust, or to play a rivilary series. It doesn’t bring the meaningful games to the beginning of the season like you would like, but conference play would begin earlier and everyone would have a more equal schedule. You wouldn’t have teams scheduling four easy wins any more. I like playing at least one easy game first to try to work out the kinks in the offense and figure out what you are doing with your players.
Look, I know college football needs fixing. Some believe the postseason is an absurdity, some of us believe the regular season is the outrage. But can we please stay sane? Play regular-season games after the bowls? Why not schedule by drawing out of a hat?
Tommy wrote about my Oklahoma Bowl column: “At one time in the early and mid ’60s, an All Sports Bowl in Oklahoma City did exist. The All Sports Association sponsored it. The home team was the winner of the regional college system. They would invite sundry same-sized teams from the U.S. I am not sure how long it lasted. I saw one game at Taft, the venue. Slippery Rock (Pa.) vs. Northeastern. Northeastern smothered them. I remember the wind blowing so hard out of the south that Slippery Rock punted into that wind and the ball hung in the air and then drifted back behind the line of scrimmage. I remember a small attendance that got smaller as the game progressed.”
Speaking of wind, can you imagine a football game played in the kind of wind we had Thursday, the day of the blizzard? Forget the snow or the cold. That was 40-50 mph wind consistently. That would have been a wild football game. No one in their right mind would pass into that wind. Pass? Heck, no one would punt into that wind. When you had the ball, you would run three plays up the middle, milk the clock as much as possible and try to hang on til the wind came your way.
Don, same subject: “The Oklahoma City All Sports Association has hosted a bowl bame. It was called the All Sports Bowl and was held at Taft Stadium during the early 1960s. The All Sports Bowl matched games between small colleges. The one with which I am most familiar was held in 1961 between Panhandle A&M and Langston. As I recall, Panhandle was a member of the old Oklahoma Collegiate Conference and Langston was not — or maybe it was the reverse. I attended the game at Taft, and it was a classic matchup. Panhandle was a perennial NAIA power, ran a fearsome single wing and was old-school tough. Langston was flashy. They featured the rollout passes and scrambling of Donald Lee Smith from Ardmore Douglass. An added attraction was the black vs. white aspect. Panhandle narrowly won, and I still remember the game fondly. Another All Sports game I recall was between Northeastern State and Slippery Rock (Pa.). Many Okies had heard of Slippery Rock because the PA announcer at OU would always announce the Slippery Rock score with great fanfare. Some even thought Slippery Rock was a mythical school. Northeastern State won handily.”
Here’s an interesting thought. Would small-college teams – NAIA or lower NCAA divisions – prefer the bowl system? Everyone talks about how great a playoff would be, and how every other division does it, but does anyone ever wonder if the players like it? Would they prefer a bowl trip. San Diego and Miami wouldn’t be available, but would they prefer one of the minor bowl destinations? Mobile, Shreveport, some place like that. I don’t know, but the answer is not automatically no.
Then there were a variety of off-the-wall subjects. Steve: “What’s up with the new Dallas place kicker? I can understand them cutting Nick Folk, but I can’t understand them picking up someone the ‘Skins cut who also missed his share of field goals. Is there something I’m missing here? Do they just want someone established? Or would they have to go through the union and league physical hassles to get someone else? It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”
It’s a lot like politics. You don’t really ever look at who you’re putting into office. Most votes are thumbs up or thumbs down on the incumbent. As a Redskin, Shawn Suisham missed chip shots against New Orleans and Dallas, probably costing Washington both games. But Dallas only knows that Nick Folk had to go, and Suisham won a kicking contest in practice. Who replaced Folk was largely irrelevant. Only that he was replaced.
Bruce: “I know I’m a bit late getting into this discussion, but as someone who follows the South more closely than the North. I have a question about the KU hire. I just don’t get the idea that Gill is some sure-fire, can’t-miss program builder. Here is a coach who is 10 games under .500 and plays in the can’t-walk-and-chew-gum division of the MAC. Yeah, last year was a great story and all but they still went 8-6 and had to go to overtime to get three of those wins and get another in an extremely fluky Hail Mary. I know Buffalo is near the bottom of I-A schools, but it’s not like the difference between Buffalo and Bowling Green (I guess the best job in the MAC East) is as great as the difference between KU and Nebraska. Again, I am not saying that Gill will fail, but there is nothing =yet to indicate that KU will be the best or second to best team in the North five years from now.”
Who besides Lew Perkins is claiming Turner Gill as a home run? Pete Carroll and Nick Saban weren’t interested in the job. But don’t dismiss the job Gill did at Buffalo. The difference between Buffalo and Bowling Green might very well be as great as the difference between KU and Nebraska. Buffalo was the ultimate dead-end job, and Gill did something with it.
Jeff: “I was needing a little input for my fantasy football league. I am in the championship game and have a 13-2 record. However, I can only start one of these two players and am not sure which to start. Ricky Williams, who plays against Houston, or Ray Rice, who plays against the Steelers. Which defense is better against the run? Rice has done better throughout the year, but Williams has done better the last couple of weeks. What do you think?”
I think I don’t play fantasy football. I know millions of people do it, and they say it makes the NFL fun. But for me, fantasy football ruins the real stuff. I’m watching Chargers-Titans as I type this, free to cheer for whoever I want (in this case, Tennessee), and don’t have to worry about individual performances. The NFL is great competition. Never know what will happen. I love to watch the games to see who wins. Not who rushes for 100 yards.
Steve: “If you’re looking for a good column sometime, let me suggest one on some of the classic games the MLB Network shows. Those are really fun. Not only the great stars of the past, but it’s a look how the coverage of the World Series has changed, and it’s fun to hear from the old broadcasters. Gowdy and Cosell. Amazing how much bigger the players are today. And you look at 1970, or so, and everyone is wearing a tie to the ballpark.”
You know, I do not watching sporting events in which I know the result. Prrobably 90 percent of my television-sports watching is with DVR, and if I find out the score, the game is ruined for me. But with that said, I would rather watch a 1970 baseball replay game, playoffs or World Series, than a live game. And much of the reason is what Steve said here. The broadcasters, though not Gowdy or Cosell. I loved Howard Cosell on football, but he was a bore in baseball. And I never liked Gowdy much. But when it was Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek, and later Vin Scully, well, that was as good as it got.
Andrew wrote about the Big Ten expansion: “I noticed you claimed Mizzou had a better academic standing than Nebraska. That is a fictitious claim. NU and KU are ranked as 96th in the country with Mizzou just behind them at 102. What is interesting though is NU has a low acceptance rate at 63% and MU is in the 80s. You also failed to mention NU’s other athletic programs rather than just saying that it only has football. Remember the Big 10 network is an all year network, not just August to March Madness. NU consistently ends in the top four of the Big 12 for all-sports standings. MU rarely enters the top five or six. You also failed to mention Nebraska’s athletic budget is also closer to the Big Ten than is MU’s. The other issue I’ve seen is TV audience. Don’t forget the two largest city populations in Missouri are border cities. This in itself actually limits Mizzou. Nebraska consistently pulls more fans in attendance and on the TV tube. Problem is Berry, that Nebraska, like it or not, is a better fit than Mizzou. Don’t be surprised if NU makes the move to the Big Ten.”
You’re right, I was wrong, on the academics. Turns out they’re all ranked about even – NU, MU and Kansas. And yes, TV ratings for Nebraska are better than for Missouri, which matters. But other sports, this side of basketball, don’t matter. But here’s why Missouri will be in the Big Ten before Nebraska is. The Huskers aren’t likely to go. Nebraska loves its tradition and embraces it. Missouri has little tradition. Nebraska would be a hard sell. Missouri would say yes to the Big Ten in five seconds.
Edgar wrote about the closing of State Fair Speedway: “This is just heartbreaking. Fools don’t know what they have. Nice how they waited a polite week and a half after getting citizens to agree to pay for their wish list before dropping the bombshell on the Speedway. The reasons are bunkum. It’s selfishness, a land grab. The well-heeeled connected get all their dream projects approved, then stick a knife in the heart of motorsports fans in gratitude. Greedy hicks. Snakes have schemed it for a time, letting the facility go to seed, mothballing the half mile, taking OKC off the World of Outlaws circuit and then point to falling attendance. Really. Perhaps the tragic melon-headed decision to pull down the monorail, a charming hip relic of space age optimism, a first step. Have to get rid of it first. Always dangerous to OKC heritage when there are Republicans making the call. Remember Kirk Humphreys’ bizarre zeal to raze the Gold Dome. There are two others in existence I believe. Let the lab have my Thunder gear to chew on. Screw it. I’m with Sonic fans. Hope Kevin Durant bolts the hick town when his contract is up.”
I agree, this was squirrelly politics, scrapping the Speedway write after the MAPS3 vote. But time marches on. The Speedway was a relic, it didn’t bring much money, if any, into the city, and the State Fair could make better use of the land. Tulsa’s track closed a few years ago, for no reason as good as making way for State Fairgrounds improvement. The charge of “hick town” is laughable. Oklahoma City’s move away from hickville is what killed the speedway. Time was, OKC needed working-class entertainment to keep its sports profile afloat. That is no longer, and while the working class is the big loser, that’s what happens when cities grow.
Elway not Stanford’s greatest quarterback?
How good is Stanford’s quarterback legacy? John Elway, who some consider the greatest quarterback in NFL history, isn’t the best in Stanford history. In 1994, the San Francisco Chronicle produced a list of the 10 best Stanford QBs ever. Elway wasn’t No. 1. Or No. 2.
Wow. For more than a decade, I’ve considered Elway the greatest NFL quarterback ever, and I saw him play on a rainy Owen Field as a sophomore, and he was just as transcendent as a collegian as he was as a pro. All the talk about greatest college quarterback ever, from Sammy Baugh to Doug Flutie to Tommie Frazier to Tim Tebow debates, well, none of them that I saw ever played like Elway did that September day in Norman. Total domination of a football game, by one player. One relatively young, inexperienced football player.
Anyway, if Elway isn’t the best QB in Stanford history, Stanford’s got an unparalleled quarterback history. Which it does. The Chronicle’s 2004 list, which shouldn’t be outdated, since only Trent Edwards could be viewed as a contender to make the list, and he probably deserves only honorable mention:
1. Jim Plunkett (1968-70): Bay Area’s only Heisman Trophy winner.
2. Frankie Albert (1939-41): Pioneer of the T-formation revolution.
3. John Elway (1980-82): Strange but true; Stanford was 15-18 with Elway at QB.
4. John Brodie (1954-56): Long-time 49er quarterback was consensus all-American QB in ’56, when Notre Dame quarterback Paul Hornung won the Heisman.
5. Bobby Garrett (1951-53): Won the Voit Trophy as top player on the Pacific coast.
6. Don Bunce (1969-71): Plunkett’s successor led Rose Bowl upset of Michigan.
7. Mike Boryla (1971-73): Almost took Stanford to a third Rose Bowl in four years.
8. Steve Stenstrom (1991-94): Four-year starter.
9. Gary Kerkorian (1949-51): Led the only Stanford bowl team between Frankie Albert and Jim Plunkett.
10. Steve Dils (1977-78): Started only one year, but it was a doozy, under coach Bill Walsh.
* Note: Not making the list were NFL veterans Trent Edwards, Guy Benjamin, Todd Husak, Chad Hutchinson, Dick Norman, Turk Schonert, Randy Fasini and Dave Lewis.
