College basketball: Shooting itself in the foot
The listed attendance for the Oklahoma-Missouri basketball game Monday night was 5,036. That kind of attendance malaise has OU officials — and officials at many a college basketball port — worrying how to restore fan interest in a sport that has staggered.
Here’s an idea. Quit doing things that invite fans to stay home.
The OU-Missouri game started at 6 p.m. on a Monday. Just like I wrote a few weeks ago about Bedlam starting at 6 p.m. on a weekday, that’s an asinine starting time. Made for television, of course (wait; it’s not television, it’s ESPN. It’s a made-for-ESPN tip time).
The Big 12 scheduled nine conference games for 6 p.m.: Texas A&M at Baylor, Bedlam and Mizzou at OU already have been played. Still to come are Iowa State at OSU (Tuesday night), A&M at Texas Tech, Kansas at Baylor on Wednesday night, Iowa State at Baylor next week, followed by Kansas State at Missouri and Kansas State at Texas A&M. And that doesn’t include a Missouri-at-OSU 6:30 p.m. start.
6 p.m. weeknight starts in Norman or Stillwater (or College Station or Austin or Ames or Columbia or anywhere else) are not easy for fans. If you live in Edmond, trying to get to Norman or Stillwater by 5:45 p.m. is difficult. You’re rushing, you’re hitting rush hour traffic, it’s a mess. Same with the folks in Tulsa. If you live in Norman or Stillwater, it’s easier, but still not easy.
Big 12 officials erred in allowing 6 p.m. starts, just so games could be placed on ESPNU or ESPN2. All the games are going to be on regional or local television anyway, no matter when they start. So the concession was for national broadcasts. Let me assure you. No one nationally is watching Oklahoma-Missouri or Oklahoma State-Iowa State. The fans in Riverside, Calif., or Grand Rapids, Mich., or Richmond, Va., are watching something else. Now, Baylor-Kansas on Wednesday is different. Which brings up another question. Why are you playing one of your games of the year at 6 p.m., even for television purposes?
OK, let’s move on.
This basketball season, OU and OSU collectively have played Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Saint Louis, Virginia Tech twice, Arkansas, New Mexico, Alabama, Tulsa, SMU, Santa Clara, Washington State and Missouri State. Not a bad list of opponents. Not great, but not bad.
Fourteen non-conference games that you might be interested in watching.
Of those 14, three were played in either Norman or Stillwater. OSU hosted Virginia Tech and Tulsa, OU hosted Arkansas. The rest were road games (but just four) or neutral site games (seven).
We want to get fans interested in college basketball, to the point they will want to be at as many games as possible, and yet before conference play, the best games are played nowhere near campus.
So let me get this straight. You play at times completely inconvenient for fans. You play games in the early season that are completely uninteresting. Then you wonder why fans haven’t migrated to your team.
The answer is clear. College basketball in general, Big 12 basketball in particular, does not really care about the ticket-buying fans. Officials at every school like to talk about it. They like to talk about ways to increase fan interest. But when it comes to really catering to customers, the truth is apparent. Fans are not a priority. Attendance is optional.
If the Big 12 really cared about the attendance issue, it would not schedule 6 p.m. starts.
If the sport really cared about the attendance issue, it wouldn’t sanction all these neutral-site tournaments that don’t count against a team’s scheduling allotment, which means an OSU-Stanford game isn’t played in Stillwater or Palo Alto, but in New York. Which means an OU-Saint Louis game isn’t played near the arches of the Norman campus or the big arch next to the Mississippi River, but in Anaheim, Calif.
Oklahoma football: Would Bob Stoops agree to another Florida State series?
Florida State’s phone call to OU, gauging the Sooners’ interest in another home-and-home football series, certainly is fun to think about. The Orlando Sentinel reported the inquiry in a story you can read here. Another Sooner-Seminole series? Just about every football fan in America would endorse it.
Florida State needs a home game, after West Virginia canceled out on the Seminoles. OU wouldn’t mind a road game, since the Sooners’ non-conference game at TCU has become a conference game, replacing OU at Texas A&M.
Under the scenario, OU would in 2012 play Notre Dame at Owen Field and Florida State at Doak Campbell Field. Then in 2013, OU would host FSU and play at Notre Dame Stadium. Then the Sooners would play a rumdum each season for their third and final non-conference game.
Tough schedule. Rugged, even. Heroic, considering the time in which we live.
But not terribly out of line from what OU was going to be playing anyway in 2012. Switching out a trip to Texas A&M for a trip to Florida State. I’d say those two programs have been about the same the last six, seven years. Big name, so-so game.
So for a school scrambling to fill out its schedule, which OU is, it makes some sense.
But it has virtually no chance of happening. It won’t get past the gatekeeper, Bob Stoops.
Stoops doesn’t seem interested in beefing up the schedule. I asked him last week about the possibility of playing Missouri or Texas A&M non-conference. Mizzou, in particular, is looking for non-conference opponents for 2012.
Stoops laughed that laugh that means, you’re crazy.
But also, Stoops would want no part of another matchup against his brother, Mark, Florida State’s defensive coordinator. Bob Stoops was downcast after a 47-17 rout of the Seminoles in Norman in 2010. He obviously wasn’t keen on beating his brother so bad.
Stoops was more upbeat in September 2011, when OU won 23-13 at Florida State. Mark Stoops’ defense was much better in defeat than the previous year.
But still. I don’t see Bob Stoops signing up for another Florida State series as long as Mark Stoops is there. Even if Bob Stoops was willing to take on another heavyweight.
And you know? I can’t blame him. Every family is different. Some brothers don’t seem to mind playing against each other, or at least don’t let it bother them publicly. But some do.
I’m reminded of some passages from Jay Wilkinson’s recent book about his dad, Bud Wilkinson. In Dear Jay, Love Dad, Jay Wilkinson publishes dozens of letters from his father while Jay was in college.
Jay Wilkinson became an all-American football player at Duke, which in the early 1960s was an Atlantic Coast Conference power.
Early in the 1962 season, it became apparent that an OU-Duke Orange Bowl was a possibility.
Bud Wilkinson’s letters to his son initially were hopeful of a father-son showdown.
Sept. 2, 1962: “Our squad looked in good shape at our meeting yesterday. We’ll soon know. I hope we can play well – and see you in the Orange Bowl…”
Sept. 11, 1962: “I hope your ball club is faring better with injuries than ours … I felt yesterday we’d meet you in the Orange Bowl – mainly because Tommy Pannell is such a great player. This morning in pass scrimmage, he broke his ankle…”
Almost 50 years later, Jay Wilkinson wrote that at the season’s midpoint, “the possibility still existed that Dad and I could share a common destiny in that season’s Orange Bowl. A bid to the game would represent the attainment of goals we were both working hard to achieve. But then it occurred to me, like a sudden movement witnessed out of the corner of one’s eye, how I would feel if placed in a spot where my success would mean my father’s failure. Suddenly, I was not so sure that would be a good thing.”
More from Bud Wilkinson.
Nov. 12, 1962: “I believe you can win the rest of them. 8 and 2 is a marvelous record. If we win Saturday I am a little sad that after such a fine season you may have to play against Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl!”
It didn’t happen. Duke finished 8-2, but the Orange Bowl invited Alabama.
Jay Wilkinson wrote, “Deep down inside, I was relieved. As the season had progressed, I had grown less and less enthusiastic about a possible Oklahoma-Duke Orange Bowl matchup. I had no interest in working against my dad; it was one thing to kid about it – but I could not see myself competing against him and the tradition I admired, respected, and loved.”
If you want to argue that it’s different for a father and son, I can buy it. If you want to argue that it’s different when it’s not coach vs. coach, but coach vs. player, fine.
Different, yes. But not necessarily different result. It’s still not comfortable for all kinds of families. Still not something you want to do.
The Wilkinsons discovered that 50 years ago. Bob Stoops already knows it. Don’t look for him to agree on another series with Florida State.
So long, football: The best games I saw in 2011
Great, great Super Bowl. But like every Super Bowl, good or bad, the final game carries a degree of sadness. No more football for six months. Total drag.
Anyway, my 34th football season is in the books. I covered 21 games in the 2011 season. And the best of the bunch had huge impacts on the sport nationally.
Here are the 10 best games I saw in the 2011 season:
1. Giants 37, Cowboys 34, Dec. 11: Dallas led 34-22 with a touchdown scored with 5:41 left in the game. The Cowboys were about to take control of the NFC East. Then Eli Manning took over. He drove the G-Men on TD drives of 80 and 60 yards to take the lead, then Tom Coughlin called timeout just as Dan Bailey was making a tying 47-yard field goal. Jason Pierre-Paul then blocked Bailey’s subsequent attempt, and New York had a wild victory. Three weeks later, the Giants beat Dallas in the Meadowlands for the East title, and now New York has another Super Bowl title.
2. OSU 41, Stanford 38, overtime, Jan. 2: Stanford led 14-0 in the second quarter, but OSU caught up quickly with the Brandon Weeden/Justin Blackmon show. The rest of the game was set – Stanford score, OSU score. The Cardinal had the ball last, but Jordan Williamson missed a 35-yard field goal try on the final play of regulation, then missed a 43-yarder on the first possession of overtime. That left the Cowboys in control, and Weeden’s strike to Colton Chelf carried the Cowboys into the end zone. Replay review returned the ball to the 1-yard line, so Quinn Sharp kicked a 22-yard field goal to win it.
3. Baylor 45, OU 38, Nov. 19: Not every season do you get to see a Heisman Trophy won. But anyone at Floyd Casey Stadium did, as Robert Griffin torched the Sooners early, OU made a spirited comeback to tie, then Griffin delivered the fatal blow in the final seconds.
4. OSU 30, Texas A&M 29, Sept. 24: The Cowboys trailed 20-3 at halftime, and OSU’s hoped-for special season seemed in jeopardy. But within 13 minutes, OSU had taken the lead. A wild fourth quarter kept the game in doubt, but James Thomas’ late interception turned back the final A&M rally.
5. OU 23, Florida State 13, Sept. 17: Seems like forever ago, but this was the game of the week, and it lived up to the billing. The Seminoles tied the game 13-13 in the fourth quarter, but Landry Jones’ touchdown pass to Kenny Stills gave the Sooners the lead with seven minutes left, then Javon Harris’ – yes, Javon Harris – interception set up the clinching field goal.
6. Lions 34, Cowboys 30, Oct. 2: Dallas led 27-3 three minutes into the second half, and Detroit looked like the same old Lions. Then Tony Romo threw two straight interceptions, both returned for touchdowns, and the Lions had hope. In the fourth quarter, Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes, including the game-winner to Calvin Johnson with 1:39 left, and the courses for two seasons were set. Dallas disappointment, and Detroit rise to the playoffs.
7. Iowa State 37, OSU 31, 2 OTs, Nov. 18: An historic game, ISU’s biggest upset ever. A nationally-prominent game, which knocked the Cowboys out of the Big Bowl. A sad game, played on the same day the Cowboys learned of another fatal OSU basketball plane crash. Not a well-played game, but suspenseful. The Cowboys blew a 24-7 lead, then Sharp’s late miss from 38 yards gave Iowa State life. After both teams scored overtime touchdowns, Weeden threw an interception, and the Cyclones stormed to victory.
8. Texas Tech 41, OU 38, Oct. 22: OU’s inefficiency was stunning. The Sooners had won 39 straight at home, but against the worst Tech team in at least a generation, OU fell behind 31-7. The Sooners made a game of it in the fourth quarter, but Tech held and confirmed for finality that something was amiss in Norman.
9. Cowboys 18, Redskins 16, Sept. 26: Dallas won it with six Dan Bailey field goals. JerryWorld, like Texas Stadium before it, is always tension-filled when the Cowboys are monkeying around with a game they should win.
10. OU 31, Iowa 14, Dec. 30: OK, so I didn’t cover 10 great games. I covered nine. Something has to be 10. This one was mostly boring, until Iowa scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to draw within 21-14. The Sooners didn’t put it away until the final 21/2 minutes.
Big 12 basketball: Weekly rankings
Time for the weekly Big 12 basketball rankings, based on the schedule you’ve played so far. And remember the plus/minus system. Plus for a road win, minus for a home loss. And you’ll be surprised at who is No. 1. Here are the rankings, along with each team’s remaining games against the big three of Baylor, KU and Mizzou:
1. Baylor 8-2 +4 (21-2). The Bears have played just four conference home games. They are 5-1 in Big 12 road games. Baylor hosts Kansas and goes to Missouri, both this week. Baylor does still have to play at Iowa State.
2. Kansas 8-2 +3 (18-5). The Jayhawks host Missouri and go to Baylor. KU’s already been to Ames.
3. Missouri 8-2 +3 (21-2). The Tigers host Baylor and go to KU. Mizzou, too, has been to Ames.
4. Iowa State 7-3 +2 (17-6). The Cyclones haven’t played Baylor, plus they go to Missouri. Fourth place seems assured for ISU.
5. Kansas State 5-5 even (16-6). KSU still has Kansas, Baylor and Mizzou consecutively, the latter two on the road.
6. Oklahoma State 4-6 -1 (11-12). The Cowboys are through with Baylor, but they go to Missouri and play Kansas twice.
7. Texas 4-6 -2 (14-9). The Longhorns host Baylor and go to Kansas. They also play at OSU in a game that could decide sixth place.
8. Texas A&M 3-7 -1 (12-10). The Aggies are finished with Baylor. They get to host Missouri and Kansas.
9. Oklahoma 3-7 (13-9). The Sooners are finished with Kansas. They host Mizzou and go to Baylor. Lose to Missouri on Monday night, and OU might be relegated to ninth place.
10. Texas Tech 0-10 (7-15). Not terribly relevant.
Super Bowl commercials: The good & the bad
I missed the Super Bowl commercials last year for the best of reasons. I was at the Super Bowl.
This year, I was home, which means access to the Super Bowl commercials. And I’ve got to say, it was a stellar class. There were some goofball advertisements, but for the most part, imaginative and entertaining.
Here’s my top 10 commercials from Sunday night:
1. Coca-Cola’s polar bears. Three versions, all fun. First off, polar bears are totally cool. If you’ve never seen polar bears, check them out sometime. I’ve seen them at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. A huge water tank, and let me tell you, they aren’t moving slowly when they hit that water. Anyway, the polar bears were great. And I love the imagery of an ice-cold Coke in arctic conditions.
2. Elton John’s Pepsi commercial. Pop culture meets the French Revolution. The X Factor’s Melanie Amaro the heroine. Fun, fun, fun.
3. Budweiser’s Prohibition spot. Celebrating the end of Prohibition, complete with the guy coming out of the barber shop with shaving cream all over his face. Just a bunch of cool-looking scenes from the 1930s, including a baseball park.
4. MetLife’s cartoon characters. All your old favorites made an appearance. The Jetsons. Mister Magoo. Charlie Brown, Underdog, the Cosby Kids. I was ready to sign up for insurance on the spot.
5. Doritos’ Great Dane. The dog apparently kills a cat and uses a bag of Doritos to bribe his owner not to say anything. Apparently, a bunch of cat-lovers are outraged, and you can see their point. But I must admit, I laughed out loud. Maybe if it wasn’t a Great Dane, I wouldn’t be so charmed.
6. Volkswagen’s dog workout. Some collie (looks like a collie) wants to chase cars, but he’s too fat to get through the doggy door. So he goes on a weight-loss training regimen. Climbs stairs, pulls a mat with weights on it, runs laps, watches what it eats, looks at itself in the mirror. A wonderful commentary on modern America. Not that it made me want to buy a Volkswagen.
7. Hyundai’s Rocky theme. Hyundai didn’t have a pristine night. The commercial where a driver uses quick stops and starts to resuscitate his passenger? Not all that cute. And the spot where a guy lets a cheetah out of a cage to race a Hyundai was just so-so. But when all the Hyundai employees start humming the theme from Rocky, well, I’m a sucker for the Rocky theme, and I’ll bet most Americans are, too.
8. The naked M&M’s. Sort of silly. But it made you think of M&M’s. And how can that be a bad thing?
9. Best Buy’s mobile phone store. Best Buy introduces us to all the guys who made great inventions with cell phones. Texting, videoing, all kinds of stuff. I found it educational.
10. Chevy Camaro and the graduate. Some guy thinks his parents have given him a Camaro for graduation and goes coo-coo. It’s actually the neighbor’s new car. A classic case of letting some misinformation go on too long.
Some general thoughts about other commercials.
* Didn’t like Audi’s vampire party. I don’t like vampires. I guess 16-year-old girls do, but I’m not sure they buy a bunch of Audis.
* The Ronald McDonald House commercial was sweet and darn near perfect. I don’t know why I didn’t put it in the top 10. Just didn’t seem like it belonged on the list.
* I didn’t like Chevrolet’s end-of-the-world commercial. The world has ended by some kind of The Apocalypse, and the only survivors drive Chevy trucks. Then the ad takes a shot at Ford owners. Sorry, I don’t want to live in a world where everyone drives a Chevy truck.
* Is it just me, or has Jerry Seinfeld lost his touch? His Acura commercial, in which he tries to buy the first Acura and must bribe a customer to step aside, just doesn’t do it. Not even Jay Leno rescues the commercial.
* The monkeys with careerbuilder.com make me laugh. They don’t make me check out careerbuilder.com, but they make me laugh.
* “Your Cheating Heart” never gets old with the Coke salesman in the Pepsi commercial. Or is that a Pepsi salesman in a Coke commercial.
* I didn’t like the reinvented Camry commercial at all. But I did like the concept of a reinvented Department of Motor Vehicles office, complete with ice cream and a putting green. There’s something there for all businesses to ponder.
Super Bowl 46: NFL’s premier franchises collide
Super Bowl 46 includes the NFL’s premier franchise, the Patriots. This is New England’s fifth Super Bowl in the last 11 seasons, a mark of consistent excellence thought impossible in the free-agent era.
But the Patriots’ opponent also is regal, even recently. It’s hard for any franchise in the NFC to stand out. These Giants ended one of the great streaks in modern sports history. In the 10 seasons from 2001-10, 10 franchises won the NFC. In order: St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Philadelphia, Seattle, Chicago, the Giants, Arizona, New Orleans, Green Bay. And look how close we came to making it 11-for-11, with the 49ers. That would have been mind-blowing.
But also look just beyond the streak, on both ends. The same franchise that ended the streak is the same franchise that kept it from starting earlier. The Giants. The G-Men beat Minnesota (look, the Vikings aren’t on the 10-for-10 list) in the 2000 NFC title game, and now are in Super Bowl 46.
That’s three Super Bowls in 12 years for the Giants, which is no dynasty, except in the context of the ultra-parity world of the National Football Conference. Then it’s virtual domination.
The crazy world of the NFC goes back even further. In ’99, the Rams won the NFC. In ’98, the Falcons. Go from the 1998 season through 2010, the NFC had 13 champions, won by 11 franchises, with the Rams and Giants winning two. The Giants this year get to three in 14 years.
If you want to go back 20 years, give Green Bay two more and Dallas three (that’s right; the Cowboys haven’t won the NFC since the 1995 season. Haven’t even been to an NFC title game since January 1996).
It’s still a parity-driven conference, but the Giants clearly are the elite franchise in the NFC. Their consistency is superb. In the last 25 years, the G-Men have been to Super Bowls under three head coaches and three quarterbacks. They haven’t had a losing season since 2004. The only NFC franchise that comes close to that is Philadelphia (2005).
The status of New England is clear. The Patriots under Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and Robert Kraft have been the league’s standard of consistency. But the Giants have been the long-time class of the NFC. And now they meet again, in Super Bowl 46.
Super Bowl 46: Prediction time
Super Bowl 46 arrives Sunday with a rematch. Patriots vs. Giants. New York won 17-14 four years ago in Super Bowl 42, and this is a rematch because the primaries remain. Same coaches, Tom Coughlin/Bill Belichick. Same quarterbacks, Eli Manning/Tom Brady.
The way rosters overturn these days, even a rematch from the previous year’s Super Bowl would have a ton of new faces. If you’ve got the same quarterbacks and same coaches dueling, that’s a rematch in this day and age.
How many Super Bowl rematches have we had? I would say just two:
* Cowboys/Steelers. Pittsburgh won Super 10 over the Cowboys 21-17, then three years later won Super Bowl 13 over Dallas, 35-31. Those rosters didn’t have a ton of turnover. Largely the same teams.
* Cowboys/Bills. Dallas beat Buffalo in back-to-back seasons, 52-17 and 30-13, in Super Bowls 27 and 28. Virtually the same teams.
But 49ers/Bengals was not a rematch. The ’81 49ers and ’89 49ers had the same coach (Bill Walsh) and quarterback (Joe Montana), but Cincinnati did not: coach Forrest Gregg and quarterback Ken Anderson in ’81, coach Sam Wyche and quarterback Boomer Esiason in ’89.
Neither was Washington/Miami a rematch. They played 10 years apart, after the 1972 and 1982 seasons. Don Shula coached both Dolphin teams, but George Allen coached the ’72 Redskins and Joe Gibbs the ’82 Redskins. In Super Bowl 7, Miami won 14-7, with Bob Griese quarterbacking the Dolphins and Billy Kilmer the ‘Skins. In Super Bowl 17, Washington won 27-17, with Joe Theismann quarterbacking the Redskins and David Woodley the Dolphins.
So really only two Super Bowl rematches.
Only eight Patriots remain from their Super Bowl 42 roster: Brady, flanker Wes Welker, tailback Kevin Faulk, guard Logan Mankins, center Dan Koppen, left tackle Matt Light, nose tackle Vince Wolfork and kicker Stephen Gostkowski. Koppen is on injured reserve. Hixon is on injured reserve.
But 17 Giants remain from Super Bowl 42: Manning, tailbacks Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs, guard Chris Snee, left tackle David Diehl, right tackle Kareem McKenzie, center Kevin Boothe, receiver Domenik Hixon, cornerbacks Aaron Ross and Corey Webster, kicker Lawrence Tynes, linebackers Chase Blackburn and Mathias Kiwanuka, deep snapper Zak DeOssie and defensive ends Dave Tollefson, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck.
Of course, since Super Bowl 42, the revamped Patriots have played at a higher level than have the Giants. Including this season. But not including the last month.
The revitalized Giants have stormed through the playoffs, dominating Atlanta in the Jersey Meadowlands before winning at Green Bay and at San Francisco.
Both teams barely escaped their conference title games. It’s not far-fetched to imagine a Harbaugh Super Bowl — Jim’s 49ers vs. John’s Ravens. Instead, we’ve got this rematch.
Judging the Giants on how they’ve played since Christmas Eve — dismantling the Jets, then dominating the Cowboys on New Year’s Night — New York has been the best team in football. The Giants have a vastly superior defense than does New England, and with Eli Manning playing at such a high level, New York’s offense isn’t too far behind the Patriots’.
Let’s go with another Giant victory in this Super Bowl rematch, 27-23.
Oklahoma State football: More on Robert Nunn
I received a lot of good feedback from my Robert Nunn column in the Friday Oklahoman. Nunn is the former OSU linebacker who now coaches defensive line for the New York Giants. You can read the column here.
I heard from a variety of people giving me additional perspective on Nunn.
I heard from long-time Oklahoma high school football coach Ray Goldsby, who was coaching at Moore when Nunn graduated from Apache High School.
“Thanks for the great article concerning Robert Nunn. I was fortunate enough to coach Robert in the Oil Bowl his senior year. Many people questioned us on why we would pick up a kid from Apache to play in the Oil Bowl. August Deets had been his coach in Apache, and in my opinion August had always been right up front with coaches, and his word was good. So when he said Robert could play, that was good enough for me. He then started for us at linebacker in the Oil Bowl and we beat a heavily favored Texas team that year. The rest is history, but it could not have happened to a better young man.
“He is and was just as the people described him in your article. I just feel privileged to have him be a part of my coaching career.”
I also heard from long-time Lawton Constitution sports editor Joey Goodman, who is the uncle of Maury Tate, Nunn’s lifelong friend.
“Good piece on one of the really great guys from Southwest Oklahoma. Remember when he was growing up, ornery little redhead who was always getting into something. His family and our family went to the same church, and I had a great time watching him growing up, first with his high school career and then at OSU.
“Obviously I’m proud of what he’s accomplished, knowing him like I do. He and Maury were always together and many times I was right there with them trying to provide guidance.
“One of the best stories he didn’t tell you about was his four sons and how they love to go ‘home’ to Grandpa Bill’s barn and hunt rats. Bill told me they can kill more rats than any old cat.
“He also didn’t tell you about the cookie story. Mom Ann makes a heckuva chocolate-chip cookie and she sends some to Robert before every Giants home game. He told me that if they win, the linemen get the cookies, if they lose the coaches or staffers get them. (Jason) Pierre-Paul has been known to literally grab them out of the hands of the other linemen.
“The more things like that you hear, the more you learn that Robert makes playing for him fun. He tries to make practice tough but interesting and not boring. Obviously he’s done a great job in that area and the Giants are the beneficiary of his efforts.”
Our Super Bowl correspondent, Josh Weinfuss, also supplied some further thoughts from Nunn at Super Bowl Media Day.
On living in New Jersey, compared to Apache: “It’s a little bit different (laughing). Just a tad different. But you know what, it’s like everywhere else. There’s good people wherever I’ve been. Our next-door neighbors are just as good of people as I grew up with. It’s been a great experience and been a fun ride. Eating at the café in Apache is a little less expensive than going down to eat at any restaurant in New York. Like I said, we make the best of it. My family likes it, like the people we’re around. My kids go to school there. We’re enjoying it.”
On routinely talking with his father, Bill, an Apache farmer: “We talk about everything. Talk about the grandkids. It starts with the grandkids, then it goes into football, then farming, the weather, my brothers, the rest of the family. It’s usually on Fridays. It’s the day we kind of slow down and I’m usually always driving home in traffic.”
Oklahoma State football: Mike Gundy still swinging
Mike Gundy came late to the campaigning party. His declaration before Bedlam that Alabama deserved to be No. 2 in the rankings showed that Gundy hadn’t learn to play the game demanded of coaches vying for a spot in the Big Bowl. But since the final gun of Bedlam, Gundy has been promoting his Cowboys and popping those who prevented OSU from playing LSU.
Gundy did it again this week. Concerning Alabama’s 21-0 victory over LSU in New Orleans, Gundy said he has no idea what would have happened in an OSU-LSU game, but “if we’d have played, we’d have thrown it 60 times. I don’t know what kind of game it would have been, but it would have been fun to watch.”
LSU had just five first downs and 92 total yards against Alabama. LSU coach Les Miles had a close-to-the-vest gameplan and stuck with it. LSU threw just 17 passes the entire game.
Alabama gave up just 1,449 yards in 13 games. Only two teams threw for more than 150 yards — Arkansas 209, Florida 207. The Crimson Tide rarely was tested in the air.
Penn State threw 39 passes in a 27-10 loss, but the Nittany Lions completed just 12. That’s not a sophisticated passing game. Auburn completed just 11 of 20 passes in a 42-14 home loss to Bama. Florida completed 14 of 23 passes in a 38-10 home loss to Bama. Tennessee completed nine of 18 passes in a 37-6 loss at Alabama. And on and on it goes.
Arkansas was more like OSU. The Razorbacks completed 24 of 40 passes against Bama. Alabama won that game 38-14 in Tuscaloosa. But OSU was better than Arkansas and wouldn’t have been playing in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Outside of the Razorbacks, Alabama wasn’t tested in the air. And it’s the same with LSU.
I’m not saying OSU would have beaten Alabama or LSU. I think the Tide or the Tigers probably wins that game. What I’m saying, and what Gundy is saying, is that Alabama never was put outside its comfort zone. At least LSU was, with non-conference games against Oregon and West Virginia, neither in Baton Rouge.
The SEC argument that OSU never saw a defense like Alabama’s or LSU’s is true. But the counter argument is true too, that Alabama never saw an offense like OSU’s.
That’s all Gundy is saying. The national championship game ended up a regional championship. We didn’t get the matchup that would have answered some questions. Instead, those questions remain.
Oklahoma football: Are OU, OSU recruiting enough Okies?
OU and OSU signed eight Oklahomans on Wednesday. That’s eight total.
The Sooners signed Edmond Santa Fe defensive end Mike Onuoha, Jenks tailback Alex Ross and Heritage Hall flanker Sterling Shepard. The Cowboys signed Tulsa Washington (and Navarro Junior College) defensive tackle Calvin Barnett, Madill tailback Caleb Muncrief, Wagoner cornerback Kevin Peterson, Broken Arrow tight end Zac Veatch and Stillwater kick returner Jesse Vester, though Vester might not qualify academically.
Now, both schools offered scholarships to a variety of other Oklahomans. Norman tailback Donovan Roberts. Heritage Hall tailback Barry J. Sanders, Owasso receiver Keon Hatcher. Maybe others.
But still, that’s not a huge haul. And it’s been the trend for several years. Both the Sooners and Cowboys are signing fewer and fewer Oklahomans. And Mike Gundy says that might be a mistake.
“I think we mess it up sometimes,” Gundy said. “There’s better players here than sometimes we think. It’s like the girl who lives down the street isn’t as pretty as the girl who lives across the country. We’re not doing a good enough job. We look hard at Oklahoma kids. But sometimes, when we feel somebody else is better, because of that, they’re like, ‘fine. Whatever.’ We need to do a better job combing with a fine tooth comb.”
OU walkon tailback Dominique Whaley is Exhibit A. Coming out of Lawton MacArthur, Whaley drew little interest. So he went to Langston University, was a backup tailback there, then transferred to OU without a scholarship.
In 2011, the Sooners also had the following in-state players contribute: flanker Ryan Broyles, guard Gabe Ikard, defensive end Ronnell Lewis, safeties Aaron Colvin and Jevon Harris, tight ends Trent Ratterree (another walkon) and Austin Heywood, defensive tackle Stacy McGee, cornerback Gabe Lynn, kicker Jimmy Stevens, deep snapper James Winchester and punter Tress Way. That’s a decent amount of in-state players.
You could argue either way, depending on perspective. The Sooners have been winning Big 12 titles (four in the last six years) without much in-state talent. Or you could say, some of the OU off-field issues came from players not caring enough about the program, which generally is not the case with homegrown talent.
What’s really happening at OU is a commitment to more national recruiting. The Sooners signed players from 11 states on Wednesday.
Bob Stoops didn’t apologize for the coast-to-coast approach, though he did say, “To recruit regionally is something you always want to do.”
OSU is not recruiting nationally so much, though the Cowboys have gone hard into Georgia and went West to Arizona and California this time. But OSU has focused primarily on Oklahoma and Texas, with more and more of that focus in Texas.
Still, the Cowboys had their share of in-state contributors in 2011, starting with three all-Americans: quarterback Brandon Weeden, receiver Justin Blackmon and offensive tackle Levy Adcock. Also from Oklahoma were receiver Josh Cooper, safety Daytawion Lowe, tailback Jeremy Smith, defensive tackle Cooper Bassett, receiver Tracy Moore, defensive tackle Christian Littlehead, offensive tackle Michael Bowie, fullback Kye Staley, receiver Colton Chelf, linebacker Tyler Johnson and center Casey LaBrue.
“Oklahoma players have been great for us,” Gundy said. “We’re finding, in in our league, guys coming out of Oklahoma are doing really well.”
In recent years, OSU’s ascension has garnered more respect outside the state than inside. Gundy said he thinks that is changing, with the Big 12 title and the Fiesta Bowl victory. “There’s some truth to the respect,” Gundy said. “More respect in the state of Oklahoma and other states. It’s something you have to earn. Recruiting is about being persistent. These young men want to be in a program where they have a chance to win it all. They want to be in the action.”
