Big 12 football: Bob Bowlsby loves the round robin schedule
When I chatted with new Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby last Friday in Irving, Texas, one of the things that most appealed to Bowlsby was the league’s round-robin schedule for football and double round-robin schedule for basketball. You can read the column here:
But I didn’t get too much into it. I thought I would let you read all of what Bowlsby had to say. As athletic director at Stanford, Bowlsby was part of a 10-team Pac-12 Conference that in 2006 embraced a full round-robin schedule – every team played all other nine teams.
“The nine-game football schedule is a statement of mutual support,” Bowlsby said. “There are a lot of other institutions and leagues that haven’t been able to get there, to a full round robin. The round robin in men’s and women’s basketball is another indication of that.
“Those are difficult things to do, because for the most part, coaches oppose those kinds of things. It’s easier to find a non-conference opponent for that ninth game than it is to play a league game. That’s a commitment to strength.
“Playing a full round robin, if I put my chairman’s hat back on for the basketball committee, I would tell you that one of the best markers in the post season of legitimacy is a full round robin conference champion in basketball. When you look at some of the leagues, they have four no plays, four one play and a little bit of a round robin among the rest. You never know what kind of credibility the league schedule has.
“That’s a commitment that, probably if the truth were said, basketball coaches would rather play additional non-conference home games. But a commitment like that speaks volumes about the philosophy of the league.”
You guys know me. I’m a big proponent of a 12-team league with a championship game. I don’t think the Big 12 can go long without a title game. I think the cultural pressures and financial demands eventually will bring the Big 12 back to a two-division format.
But I have to say, the nine-game conference schedule was superb in 2011. It made for more good games. It made for more continuity – every school in the Big 12 played both of our Oklahoma teams, so we became more acquainted with the likes of Kansas State or Iowa State, after 15 years of them playing an Oklahoma squad just once a season.
So while I favor the 12-team format, I liked the 10-team format. Bob Bowlsby likes it, too.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Sweep script hard to beat
The Thunder swept the Mavericks in a first-round Western Conference playoff series and did so in a manner that would be difficult to trump. The four Thunder victories should pay dividends for the way they happened.
Game 1: The Thunder won 99-98 on Kevin Durant’s last-second shot. Getting a decent shot — and getting it to fall — in hero time is difficult in the NBA. The defense usually wins those scenarios. To get a basket from Durant on a must-make shot will instill confidence in the Thunder and its offense.
Game 2: The Thunder won 102-99 with defensive stops down the stretch. The teams traded the lead most of the fourth quarter, but after Dallas took a 97-96 lead with 2:18 left in the game, the Mavericks scored on just one of their final five possessions. The only Dallas basket came on a layup by Jason Terry with 20 seconds left, with the Thunder up three and willing to give up an easy 2-pointer just so the Mavs wouldn’t shoot a trey. Defensive intensity was apparent when the Thunder really needed it.
Game 3: Blowout city. The Thunder won 95-79 and led by 26 with five minutes left. Think about it. The Thunder totally snuffed Mav confidence. Dallas had played two tossup games in Oklahoma City and had to feel good about its chances at home. But the Thunder dominated throughout the game and issued a clear statement on which was the better team.
Game 4: The Thunder won 103-97 after trailing 86-73 with 101/2 minutes left. A stirring comeback. Not an epic comeback, not the caliber of that Clipper rally from 27 points down a week ago, but still impressive.
Look at that quartet. A victory on a last-second shot. A victory earned by defensive stops down the stretch. A statement-making blowout in front of a hostile crowd. And a big comeback.
The playoffs are supposed to be about surviving and advancing. Which they are. But if you can build on a victory, all the better. Every game gave the Thunder a different jolt of confidence. Success under four sets of circumstances.
Four blowouts always is the goal. But it would be hard to script a better series for the Thunder in terms of how the games were won.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Oklahoma football: Good-bye to a link to the past
My friend Ed Frost — who is your friend, too, since he supplies me with all kinds of great insight and nuggets as an OU historian — wrote me Friday to tell me of the death of Bob Reeds.
I didn’t know Reeds, and there’s no reason for you to have ever heard of him. But he was a great link to the distant, distant past of Sooner football. Reeds was the son of Claude Reeds, OU’s first football all-American.
The days of Barry Switzer are growing more and more distant. Switzer hasn’t coached the Sooners in 24 years; he became head coach 39 years ago and arrived in Norman 46 years ago.
The days of Bud Wilkinson have become the dusty days of history. Wilkinson arrived in Norman 66 years ago, can you believe it?
OU historian Harold Keith arrived as publicist in 1930 and pioneered the vocation. That was 82 years ago.
Claude Reeds was an all-American 17 years before Harold Keith. He played before Owen Field was laid out as a gridiron. He played before World War I. He lettered as a freshman the year that Oklahoma City stole the state seal from Guthrie and became the state capital.
Claude Reeds was an accurate passer — Bennie Owen was an innovative coach, sort of the Sid Gillman or Mike Leach of his day, embracing the forward pass when the sport looked more like rugby — who would could run or throw effectively out of his tailback (shotgun quarterback) position. The OU media guide also says Reeds was “an outstanding punter and was also used at end, where he was an outstanding blocker and equally adept on receptions. During the final game of his career against Colorado, Reeds had one of the greatest runs of his career as he took it 70 yards on a fake punt for a touchdown. Most observers said he must have run at least 200 yards on that play alone as he crisscrossed the field eluding Buffalo tacklers.”
Reeds was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1961.
And his son was alive in Norman until Thursday.
Here’s the note I received from Frost: “Just a heads up on the death of super nice guy Bob Reeds. He was the son of Claude Reeds, OU’s first football All-American. Bob lived in Newcastle for many years. That’s where I met him when I did a story on the Reeds clan. In recent times, he had been in assisted living in Norman, and a friend called this morning and said Bob died last night. I visited him Tuesday afternoon at Norman Regional and, as always, he thanked me for coming and said he enjoyed the visit.
“He was 92, I think, and he had told me stories about Bennie Owen, Indian Jack, Jack Mitchell and a lot of others. Bob played football for his dad at Central State when Claude was the head coach there. He went out for football at OU after transferring here and participated in spring drills under Snorter Luster. But he got a job in Tulsa and didn’t play here.
“Like so many others who are fading away, he was a real link to the past of OU sports. I think he also played basketball for Central State. He was an officer in the Navy during WWII. His one regret that he told me about was that his dad’s 107-yard punt vs. Texas in 1910 wasn’t listed in the OU media guide, even with an asterisk. I know they don’t list the records before 1936, but that one deserved special mention. Harold Keith wrote a couple of detailed pages about it in Oklahoma Kickoff. I don’t think Harold made it up.”
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Big 12 football: A salute to Chuck Neinas
Bob Bowlsby was introduced as the Big 12 commissioner Friday. Bowlsby in June will take over for Chuck Neinas, who last autumn became interim commissioner (and since has been named acting commissioner).
I’ll be writing about Bowlsby for my Saturday column. I’ve also posted some of Bowlsby’s comments about taking over the job. You can read those here.
Both Bowlsby and Big 12 chairman Burns Hargis, OSU’s president, took time Friday to salute Neinas.
Hargis: “Just want to take a minute to thank Chuck Neinas. Chuck Neinas came into this conference in some fairly tumultuous times and has been a steady hand on the helm. We just really appreciate his expertise, his service and the ideas that he has brought, which frankly I think have solidified this conference in ways that few could have achieved.”
It’s too much to say Neinas saved the conference. But no doubt he solidified the league. Look at what Neinas has done since he took over. When Neinas arrived, Texas A&M was gone and Missouri was going. Neinas led the mission to replace them with TCU and West Virginia, which frankly will replace A&M and Mizzou with no void at all other than the KU-Mizzou basketball rivalry. Neinas also brought the Big 12 to the edge of a lucrative television contract with ABC, and the 10 members have agreed to sign away their media rights, which would keep the league stable. The contract is not finalized yet, but it’s expected to be a formality.
The Big 12 is in much better shape now than it was last summer.
“I likewise would like to thank Chuck Neinas for his help in the most recent three or four days,” Bowlsby said. “It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind. This has all happened relatively quickly. I got off the plane last night about 11:45, and it sounded like my phone was blowing up with text messages and ding-ding-ding emails. It’s been a little bit of a daunting process over the last couple of days, but Chuck, thank you for your help in beginning to get me up to speed and thank you for all you’ve done to keep this conference on its even keel, over the past months, because it’s not easy coming in as a interim.
“I don’t think there’s any question he went about the process of not only keeping us headed in the right direction but enhancing what we’re doing.”
I think the future of the conference is exceedingly bright.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Power Lunch Chat with Berry Tramel: 11 a.m.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Dirk Nowitzki talks Game 3 loss
Dirk Nowitzki always is interesting to watch play basketball. He’s also interesting to listen to. Following the Thunder’s 95-79 rout of the Mavericks on Thursday night in Dallas, Nowitzki met with the media after midnight. At one point, he referred to the Thunder as “OKC.” I thought that was cool. I don’t know why, but I thought hearing a German superstar from Dallas use the acronym for our city was totally cool.
Here are some of the things he had to say:
“The disappointing thing was, as bad as we played, we got to within five points. After that we couldn’t get anything going. Every time we made a little push, they made great shots. (Derek) Fisher made some shots, (Daequan) Cook made a couple 3s. (Russell) Westbrook has played great. (Kevin) Durant picked a good time to have a big game.”
My response: It was a game of yo-yo, but with the Thunder totally in charge. After the Mavs got up 15 with two minutes left in the first quarter, the Mavs drew with 32-28 a minute into the second quarter. But the OKC defense stiffened. After the Thunder got up 48-33 late in the second quarter, the Mavs drew within 50-45 early in the third quarter period. But again, Dallas went cold (one score in eight possessions) and OKC eventually zipped to a 16-point lead. Dallas’ last hurrah was drawing within 66-55 with 3:59 left in the third quarter, but the Thunder broke away and eventually led by 26.
“We’re a different team than a year ago. That’s over with.”
My response: I guess they’re still talking down in Dallas about the breakup of the champion Mavs. Heck, we’re still talking about it back home. Jim Traber and Al Eschbach bring it up all the time when I’m on the Sports Animal with them. But don’t we have to cut Mark Cuban some slack. All he’s done is bring elite, contending basketball to Dallas for 12 straight years. He knows what he’s doing. It seems fairly obvious to me that Cuban’s reason for not re-signing Tyson Chandler was that Nets point guard Deron Williams has indicated a preference to return home to Dallas.
“Westbrook is the key. He’s been stellar. He’s been shooting the ball well, making great plays.”
My response: No kidding. Westbrook started poorly Thursday night, making just two of eight shots in the first quarter. The rest of the game, Westbrook was 6-of-11. He finished with 20 points with four assists and three turnovers. And that’s his bad game. Westbrook’s three-game average: 36 minutes, 48 percent shooting, 25.7 points, 3.7 assists.
“If you think about the 0-3 hole, you’re just going to get more frustrated. We have to win a game. You can’t focus on winning four straight. We need to show some pride on Saturday.”
My response: Nowitzki watched the Blazers get down 3-0 to the Mavs a few years ago, then storm back to tie the series 3-3. So Dallas has some inspiration to at least embrace.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Playing well in Dallas
The Thunder has played seven playoff games against the Mavericks in the last calendar year. Three in Dallas, four in Oklahoma City.
Collectively, the Thunder has played better in OKC than inDallas. Strange but true.
Look at it. Last year, the Thunder lost both home playoff games against the Mavericks. The Thunder went 1-2 in Dallas. And 0-2 in OKC.
Now the Thunder is 2-0 against the Mavs in this series, both in OKC. But the Boomers won the two games by a total of four points.
“We definitely play well here,” Scotty Brooks said an hour before Game 3 tipoff at American Airlines Center. “This is a great building. One of the best in the league. They come out every game to support. This is one of the best. Our guys get excited about playing here. We’ve had some success.”
Last year, the Thunder lost 121-112 in that epic Game 1 in which Dirk Nowitzki scored 48 points. Then the Thunder won Game 2 106-100. The series ended in Game 5 with Dallas’ 100-96 victory, in which the Thunder led most of the game.
Last year in OKC, the Thunder was beaten 93-87 in a Game 3 that never was that close and 112-105 in an overtime Game 4 in which the Thunder blew a 15-point lead down the stretch.
The trend is the same in the regular season. The last two seasons, the Thunder is 2-2 at home vs. the Mavs, but one of those victories came on Kevin Durant’s 28-foot buzzer-beater last December, to win 104-102. The Thunder is 2-1 at Dallas the last two regular seasons.
So counting all games, the Thunder is 4-4 vs. the Mavs at Oklahoma City and 3-3 vs. the Mavs at Dallas. And the Thunder has won twice at home on two of Durant’s more famous game-winners.
“We’ve got a great crowd,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “We need them to really bring it. We’re playing a really good team. We just had two tough games in a building that was really loud. We’ve got to reciprocate. That’s something that can help our energy, and we need it.
“We’ve got to win these two games at home. That’s our job now. They did it at their place. Now, we’ve go to do our job here.”
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Oklahoma City Thunder: A bigger pain than Kendrick Perkins
I wrote about Kendrick Perkins for my Thursday column in The Oklahoman. How you love him as a teammate, despise him as an opponent. You can read the column here.
As usual, Nick Collison had some insightful things to say about the issue. He talked about how some guys’ goal is to get under your skin. That Perkins isn’t just going off like a mad man. He’s got a method to his physicality.
“For me, personally, as I got older in the league, guys like that didn’t bother me as much as younger, because you understand it more,” Collison said.
“I played with Reggie Evans. To me, he’s the No. 1 guy like that. He just finds so many different ways to get an advantage by getting under a guy’s skin.”
Evans is a backup power forward for the Clippers. He went to the University of Iowa and joined the Seattle SuperSonics as an undrafted free agent in 2002. So Evans has spent 10 years in the NBA because of his toughness.
Collison and Evans were teammates in Seattle. “I practiced against him,” Collison said. “I used to get so frustrated with Reggie. I think that helped me playing against guys like Perk.”
Every team needs guys like that. Not all are as defensively skilled as Perkins – yes, Gran Torino is defensively skilled. He knows how to position his body and use his girth to keep opposing centers from the spots on the floor they want to be. The difference between letting Andrew Bynum catch the ball on the low block, four feet from the basket, and letting Bynum catch the ball four feet further out is the difference between victory and defeat.
Not every tough guy in the league is so skilled, but they remain valuable. The little things add up.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Big 12 football: Bob Bowlsby a solid choice
The Big 12 soon could have a new commissioner. Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby has been offered the job, according to espn.com, and is expected to accept.
Bowlsby is a solid candidate. He’s not a powerful personality, necessarily, but the Big 12 never has sought a powerful personality, at least not until Chuck Neinas’ interim term these last seven months, so no reason to think it would change now.
Oklahomans probably know Bowlsby best from his part in the Sooners hiring Bob Stoops. Bowlsby was the AD at Iowa in 1998, when OU and Iowa both interviewed Stoops. In the days leading up to the 2009 Sun Bowl, I wrote about those searches. You can read it here.
Bowlsby, born in Waterloo, Iowa, is 60. He attended Minnesota State-Moorhead. He was athletic director at Northern Iowa, then was hired by Iowa in 1991 and spent 14 years with the Hawkeyes, before going to Stanford.
Bowlsby has served on the NCAA Basketball Committee and the U.S. Olympic Committee, two influential bodies.
I don’t know about his talents in negotiating television contracts, but thanks to Neinas, the Big 12 largely has done the leg work for the upcoming deals, so that’s probably not a big deal.
And Bowlsby has no apparent ties to any of the Big 12 schools, which is a good political development in a league that has been very volatile.
How will Bowlsby handle the delicate issues of conference realignment and Big 12 stability? No one knows. But he’s a solid, long-time administrator. Is it a home run hire? I don’t think you can say that. Maybe some day it will prove to be. Is it a whiff? No.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
Brandon Weeden: Cleveland Browns’ old man rookie
Brandon Weeden just got drafted by the Cleveland Browns. And of the 76 players on the team, only 15 are older. Sixty Browns are younger than Weeden, who is 28 and was born in October 1983. Of the 15 Browns that are older, five also are 28.
I don’t know if that’s good or bad. It might be an advantage for Weeden. Most rookies are hard-pressed to take command, even if they’re the starting quarterback. But a 28-year-old, soon-to-be 29-year-old, rookie quarterback is different. He’ll be older than most of the men in his huddle.
For the record, the five Browns who also are 28 but older are receiver Josh Cribbs, linebacker D’Qwell Jackson, defensive back Dimitri Patterson and defensive linemen Frostee Rucker and Brian Schaefering.
The 10 Browns 29 or older are defensive back Shelden Brown, kicker Phil Dawson, linebacker Scott Fujita, punter Reggie Hodges, defensive end Jaqua Parker (another Oklahoma State product), defensive lineman Scott Paxson, tight end Alex Smith, defensive back Ray Ventrone and tight end Ben Watson.
So Weeden is going to a team, as a rookie quarterback, that will have just three offensive players older than him — Cribbs (28), Smith (29) and Watson (31).
Weeden will be the leader of the team in no time.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
