Jenni Carlson NewsOK.com Blogging Community

Our friends at ESPN.com decided to pass the final days before the start of football practice with a little ranking.

They asked 15 of their college football experts to rank all 119 Division-I programs for what they’ve done in the past decade. An interesting idea. An even more interesting result.

The top vote-getter is no surprise. Southern Cal has been the best program over the past decade with two national titles added to its trophy cases.

No. 2 is as it should be, too. Ohio State falls in right behind USC.

Then comes No. 3, and the disagreement begins.

Texas is ranked as the No. 3 program of the past decade. Heck, one, um, expert ranked the Longhorns No. 1 on his ballot. Listen, I think the Horns have been one of the top 10 programs of the past decade. But the third-best?

They couldn’t even beat Oklahoma for half of the past decade.

The Sooners, by the way, come in at No. 5 on the ESPN rankings.

And frankly, I think that’s about where the Sooners should be. They played for three national titles, winning one. They claimed five conference titles, and considering they weren’t even in those type of discussions until 2000, they’ve won five conference crowns in the past seven seasons.

Not bad.

And better than Texas over the past decade.

In my estimation, Florida (No. 4) and Florida State (No. 7) should rank third and fourth. The SEC is the best football conference in the country, and the Gators have been the leaders of the pack. And even though the Seminoles have dropped off a bit of late, they still have a national title and seven conference titles in the past decade. Remember, too, Florida State was almost untouchable in the late 90s, which are included in this ranking.

So I’d leave OU at No. 5 and move Texas to No. 6.

Until the Longhorns can win a league title without the help of a quarterback named Vince, they don’t belong in the top five.

Oklahoma State linebacker Chris Collins was brought up only once in Mike Gundy’s press conference.

The Cowboy coach talked not about Collins’ pending legal situation but about his health after a season-ending knee injury a year ago.

“Chris Collins is back full speed,” Gundy said. “When he was injured last year, he was our leading tackler, so we’re expecting good things from him.”

– Jenni Carlson

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy was asked about the progress of Artrell Woods.

The wide receiver was injured a couple weeks ago in a freak weight room accident. He injured his back and needed emergency surgery.

Gundy said that considering the nature of his injury, Woods is doing well. While the Cowboy coach admits that his biology knowledge is low, he says that because of the kind of person he knows Woods to be, he expects the youngster to play again one day.

– Jenni Carlson

My favorite part of Big 12 Media Days has just begun.

Mike Leach on the dais.

The Texas Tech coach is a hoot. He’s opinionated. He’s thoughtful. And man, oh man, he’s funny. He opened with a laugh, sitting down and beating the press conference moderator to the punch. 

“Any questions?” Leach said before his backside even contacted the seat below him.

Stay tuned.

– Jenni Carlson

News about Missouri’s stop atop the Big 12 North in the preseason poll surprised some folks.

That group included a few Tigers.

Missouri defensive tackle and Midwest City product Lorenzo Williams remembers opening the morning paper not so long ago and seeing the headline. He admitted Tuesday during Big 12 Media Day that he was taken aback.

“I was kind of surprised about that myself,” he said.

Perhaps the Tigers are the best in the North.

Then again, someone had to be picked to win the division.

– Jenni Carlson

Greetings, sports fans. Long time, no blog.

Took some time off last week, and even though I ventured outside Oklahoma County only once, it was exactly the thing I needed to recharge. So, feeling energized, I offer you a smorgasbord of thoughts on the latest goings on in sports:

1. The New York Post is reporting today that the BCS system might be scrapped as early as 2011 in favor of a four-team college football playoff. Apparently, conference and television leaders think it’s might just be a good idea.

A playoff system? In college football? Wow, I’m sure glad they thought of that …

But seriously, how many of us have been ranting and raving about a playoff for the past decade? What exactly did it take to make the front-office brass sit up and take notice? Well, no surprise here, but apparently, they see the potential for a big payout for a playoff.

Really? Big money? You mean, like, the NCAA tournament in basketball?

Obviously, we are seeing genius in action.

2. To all of those people who e-mailed me last month telling me I was all wrong for even suggesting something might be amiss with the Oklahoma State men’s basketball program, I haven’t heard from one of you since news of Marcus Dove’s arrest and suspension surfaced.

I wish I would’ve been wrong, but this is more evidence that something is wrong with the Cowboys. If you’re really an OSU fan, you have to hope like heck they get it figured out because this is a team with tons of potential.

3. Loved the top 100 sporting events in Oklahoma history that ran in the Sunday Oklahoman. I didn’t even know about some of the events. How about Bob Kurland vs. George Mikan in an NCAA champion vs. NIT champion game back in the day? That was some good stuff.

4. Thoughts and prayers go out to Artrell Woods. The OSU receiver is making quite the recovery after injuring his back last week in a freak weight room accident. He even posted a message on a Cowboy fan message board earlier this week.

Godspeed, Artie.

Federal agents returned to Michael Vick’s home in Virginia on Friday morning.

They brought a dozen cars, a U-Haul truck and a helicopter with them.

Doesn’t look good for Mike.

The accusations about the Atlanta Falcons quarterback’s involvement in dog fighting aren’t going away. In fact, they only seem more believable the longer the feds stay on the case.

Which begs the question: What will the Falcons do?

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s no-tolerance policy with off-field shenanigans seems to have taken hold with teams. Chicago cut Tank Johnson. Miami axed Fred Evans. Both had been involved in off-field incidents. While both are talented athletes — every player in the NFL is — neither carries the star that Vick does.

He brought football to Atlanta. Oh, the Falcons were there before he arrived, but no one really cared about them. Weird, considering the South is the most football-crazed part of the country. It took Vick, though, to ignited the masses in Atlanta.

But what if the feds decided to charge him being involved in a dog fighting ring? What if they uncover more evidence that something sinister was happening in the black buildings behind Vick’s house? What if they level accusations so disgusting, so horrific that even Clinton Portis shutters?

The Falcons will have a tough decision.

Vick has not be a model citizen, after all. His most recent brush with the law came in an airport when his water bottle was found to be more than a water bottle. If Vick had kept his nose clean before, giving him a little more rope might be understandable.

But now?

If Vick is involved in dog fighting — both horrific and cruel in nature — something must be done. The punishment must be swift, and it must be severe. 

And for the Falcons, perhaps it will need to be final. They might have no other choice than to cut Vick. It would be a difficult choice to make, but then again, so would keeping a player who allowed dogs to rip each other apart. 

Again, this all depends on what law enforcement officials determine, but if there are charges, there must be action. If that time comes, thinking about what Vick has done off the field instead of what he could do on the field should make the decision easier.

So often in sports we throw around the word “hero.”

In reality, sports has few heroes. Legends, yes. Stars, for sure. But heroes in sports are rare.

An e-mail earlier this week reminded me of that. Former Oklahoma football player and coach Leon Cross was nice enough to share with me an e-mail sent to him and several other Sooners by teammate John Tatum. They played together in the early 60s with a true sports hero, John Benien.

Here are Tatum’s words about his teammate and friend. They say it all:

“I know July 4th is Independence Day. Fireworks, hot dogs, flag and lots of fun. But Independence Day did not just happen. A lot of good men and good women bought our freedom with their lives.

“Almost 40 years ago, I attended a military funeral for a friend of mine who died in Vietnam. The sight of such a fine young man in his dress uniform lying there in a glass-covered military casket is a picture in my mind just as if I had seen him for the last time yesterday. I do not remember just how old my friend was. Perhaps 25 or so. He was a Lt. in the Army attached to JAG. He was a teammate of mine at OU. He was from Tulsa and played end. He was one of those guys everyone just automatically liked. He was a well-mannered and nice looking young man. Perhaps 6′1″ and 195 pounds. Intelligent, too, with a Will Rodgers-type personality.

“He was not an All-American and not really a star either. He was just a solid teammate you could count on to do his job.

“I guess one could say the same thing about him doing his duty as well, even if it meant the ultimate sacrifice.

“My friend’s name is John Benien. 

“Say a little prayer for John and his family. John Benien was one year behind me in college, and his brother Paul was one year ahead of me. Both Benien boys were ends. Paul was also in the Army and served in the Medical Corps. 

“Here in Oklahoma you hear a lot about Jason White and Adrian Peterson and whomever the star du jour happens to be. But when I think back on the great football players I have been fortunate to have known, John Benien is right there at the top. 

“I am not certain, but is it not important to remember these, our fallen heroes, and give thanks for their lives and for just a moment from time to time, celebrate their life and their gift of our continued freedom?  I think so. 

“Thanks John Benien. I shall always remember you, my old friend. 

“And to all of you, Happy Fourth of July.”

John E. Tatum

OU Class of ‘64

Never have been a pro wrestling fan.

Never watched it. Never liked it.

That’s probably a shared sentiment among folks in the sports media. Sure, there are some of us who like the scripted act, but a vast majority prefer our sports to be un-rigged. We like for the teams, the athletes, the coaches to decide the outcome.

So, pro wrestling has gone largely uncovered by the mainstream media.

Now, we see how badly it’s gone unchecked.

The murder-suicide of pro wrestling star Chris Benoit, his wife and young son have illuminated what is an unregulated multi-billion dollar industry. The WWE has been allowed to grow and flourish without so much as a check or a balance by those outside its walls. It has created an unsafe working environment for many of its employees.

How else to explain the deaths of almost 100 wrestlers before the age of 50 during the past two decades?

These athletes — even though pro wrestling may not be sport, it’s participants are still athletes — are dying of drug overdoes and heart attacks and other maladies linked strongly to their time in the ring. Their causes of death are often the residual effect of years on steroids and painkillers, an all-too-familiar drug cocktail in pro wrestling.

If this many former NFL or NHL players were dying, don’t you think the media or the government would’ve stepped in?

Of course.

But those of us who watchdog for a living have dropped the ball here. Pro wrestling fell through the cracks because it isn’t really sport and it isn’t totally entertainment. Who’s supposed to police it? Who’s supposed to regulate it? Who’s supposed to look out for the safety and well-being of its participants?

That’s a question that must be seriously considered now. It’s clear, after all, that pro wrestling isn’t looking out for them.