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My buddy, Matt Clayton, is the man often responsible for designing the cover of the sports section of our newspaper.

His opinions aren’t read in the newspaper, and yet, he is a highly opinionated, tell-it-like-it-is guy.

So, when I asked him the other day if Oklahoma State would beat Georgia, his answer was straight to the point.

“No,” he said.

There’s one other tidbit about Matt that you need to know. He is a lifelong orange blood. He grew up cheering for the Cowboys, then went to OSU. (He also cheers for the Arkansas Razorbacks, but that’s a different story for another day … ) I tried to tell Matt that I think these Cowboys could win, that I like their chances of beating the Bulldogs a lot better in the first week than the third or fourth.

Matt still wasn’t budging. In fact, he reminded me that the Cowboys traditionally have not only lost games like this but also lost them in spectacular fashion. A late fumble. A dropped interception. A blocked extra point.

Thing is, Matt knows all too well about bizarre disappointments. He’s also a Cubs fan. (And in case you wonder what that feels like, he suggests you check out a recent column by Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey.)

Steve Bartman anyone?

Perhaps Uga will bite Bobby Reid on the ankle during pre-game warm-ups. Perhaps Dantrell Savage will run into the hedges, never to be seen again. It’s crazy, of course, but that’s the kind of wackiness Matt fully expects.

Something, he figures, is bound to go wrong for the Cowboys.

Believe me, he makes a compelling argument, and everything in my head says that he’s right. The Cowboys haven’t been able to win many games like this over the past decade. And honestly, I have been thinking about who will win this game for the past few weeks. I know that’s not as long as the Cowboys have been pondering the opener in Athens, but still, I do have other things to do with my time.

I’m not a total sports nerd.

But for all the thinking and all the rationalizing and all the convincing from Matt, I still have this feeling in my gut.

I think the Cowboys are going to win.

OSU 20, Georgia 17.

When I picked that outcome for our staff predictions, I never suspected that I would be the only one.  The truth is, though, that if you’re picking with your head, you probably go with the Bulldogs. But as I look at a Georgia secondary with some missing pieces and an offensive line with several newcomers, I think that OSU has a chance to do some things.

Maybe I’m crazy. Maybe I’m wrong. We’ll see soon enough.

Of course, Matt already thinks I’m crazy and wrong, though most days that opinion has nothing to do with my predictions.

Seems no celebration of Sooners past would be complete without Barry Switzer.

The former Oklahoma coach, of course, was on hand Thursday when the Billy Vessels statue was revealed in Cleveland, Okla. He had the crowd in Vessels’ hometown in the palm of his hand. Here’s a look at some of his remarks:

“I grew up in a little town like this. I would listen every Saturday afternoon to my car radio. Actually, it wasn’t my car. It was my dad’s car. Everything was stick shift back then. You only had to push it three feet to kick it off, so you didn’t have to worry about the battery running down.

“The radio in the house was all static during the day. You could pick up the Grand Ole Opry at night, but during the day, it was worthless. So I would sit out there on Saturday afternoon, and I would listen to college football.  No air conditioning. You opened all four doors and sat in the car under the shade of an oak tree.

“The problem you had with college football at that time of the year in the early season was that the only day games played were the University of Tennessee Volunteers and the Oklahoma Sooners. Obviously, I listened to the Oklahoma Sooners.

“I listened to Billy Vessels play in 1952 when I was in high school. All of these guys that are here (Eddie Crowder and Claude Arnold among them) had their names mentioned … but Billy was the star.

“I got to know him later on in life after I came to Oklahoma. I really understood why Billy was Billy, how he exuded a personality, how he grabbed your hand and looked you in the face and gave you that great smile. And all that wavy, curly hair. I understood why they called him ‘Curly.’

“I understood that he was a great player, even though I didn’t have a chance to play with him or see him play live. Bud Wilkinson told me himself that he was the best player that he had ever coached. ‘Both sides of the ball,’ he said, ‘he would’ve been a superstar.’

“When I look back on my success and Bob Stoops’ success and anybody that coached after Bud Wilkinson and Billy were at the University of Oklahoma, I think that we enjoy the foundation that they laid for our great tradition. If it hadn’t been for Billy and his teammates and Coach Wilkinson … my job would’ve been a lot tougher. They built a tradition that made it so easy for me to go into homes all around the country and people would let me in because they were willing listen to what I had to sell. I had a great product to sell because of what they accomplished.” 

A cell phone rang in the office the other day. Happens all the time, right?

Thing is, this ring was different. Not a chime. Not a bell.

It was the Florida State “War Chant.”

I know everyone is partial to their favorite school’s fight song. It’s the one that makes you stand up and clap, that stirs those memories of days gone by and those hopes of days to come.

But hearing the “War Chant,” better known as the tomahawk chop, got me thinking about great fight songs. (In case you’re having trouble getting any of these links to play, try going to this website and finding your favorite.) A couple years back when Oklahoma played Florida State in the Orange Bowl, the Sooner coaches blasted the “War Chant” repeatedly during practice. They were trying to create crowd noise, and I’m sure there was an added benefit of making the players sick and tired of the Seminoles.

Really, though, I thought it was cool. That’s one of my favorite fight songs. Here are a few others:

* Tennessee’s “Rocky Top.” OK, I know this one probably gets tiresome if you hear it all the time, but in these parts, it is rare to hear this classic.

* Southern Cal’s “Fanfare, Tribute to Troy and Fight On.” Sure, it’s a long title, but how cool are the trumpets and trombones. Makes you want to stand up and march around.

* Texas A&M’s “Aggie War Hymn.” The Aggies are a conference foe in these parts, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a cool fight song.

And in case you want to hear “Boomer Sooner” or “Ride ‘Em Cowboys” or any other fight song, there’s a website called College Fight Songs. It has pretty much any fight song you could want to hear, and if you aren’t already in the mood for college football season, you will be once you browse around that site for a bit.

Exactly two years ago Wednesday, Hurricane Katrina roared across the Gulf Coast.

If you think back, the images are not difficult to re-create. The people stranded on rooftops, holes cut in their shingles where they escaped their attics. The folks floating down flooded streets on mattresses. The concrete slabs, the only thing left where houses once stood.

In Oklahoma, of course, we were reminded more often of Katrina after the Hornets relocated to Oklahoma City for two years.

And yet, I suspect none of us can fully comprehend what New Orleans and the entire Gulf Coast region endured then — and what it still endures today. Some of my co-workers have been to New Orleans since the storm. I have not. But today I am reminded of the people who lost their lives and the struggle that still remains after reading “Two Years After Katrina,” an Alexander Wolff piece in Sports Illustrated.

The story recounts the place the sports has played in the recovery of New Orleans as well as the struggles that athletics faces in the rebuilding process. It asks the question — how can millions of dollars be spent on athletic facilities when so many other areas must be addressed? It also asks — how can millions not be spent on sports if New Orleans is to recover?

It’s a lengthy read but well worth the time.

Apparently owning an NBA team and running a cable television network just isn’t enough for Mark Cuban.

He’s adding “Dancing with the Stars” to his to-do list.

According to internet reports, the Dallas Mavericks’ owner is set to join the ABC show’s fifth season. The dancing competition pairs celebrities with professional dancers, then boots one pair off the show each week.

Athletes have fared well. Olympic speed-skater Apolo Anton Ohno won last time around. Former Dallas Cowboy superstar Emmitt Smith won before that.

But a team owner?

Cuban might not be light on his feet, but you can guarantee the guy will be entertaining. Can you imagine how he’ll react to anyone who disagrees with him?

Cuban’s dancing partner: “Mark, those sequins just don’t work with your skin tone.”

Cuban: “What? What’re you talkin’ about? That’s a terrible call!”

Somewhere in the Big Apple, David Stern trying to figure out how much to fine Cuban. The NBA commissioner can’t be too fired up about the league’s most volatile owner going on “Dancing.”

Of course, if Stern had any say in what Cuban did with his down time, he might have saved us all from “The Benefactor.” It was Cuban’s first attempt at reality TV, and it was a bomb of epic proportions.

Let’s hope his second attempt goes a little better.

My travels take me up and down the Broadway Extension almost every day, and for the past few months, I’ve been enthralled by the new digital billboard near NE 23rd.

What most often catches my eye is the countdown to kickoff at Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

When the scoreboard first went up, the countdown was in the hundreds of days. It started around 120 or 130. The day it registered down in the double digits was a banner day. Then, when it got down into the 30s, well, that was fantastic.

A month until the season starts?

Awesome. 

But this morning when I approached 23rd on Broadway, I nearly caused an accident.

The billboard read: 9 days until kickoff.

Finally, single digits.

Finally, kickoff.

Go crazy, folks. Go crazy.

Last we saw Sam Bradford playing in real, live football games, things didn’t go so well for Slingin’ Sam and his squad.

His senior season at Putnam City North was his most woeful as a prepster. The Panthers finished 5-5 and missed the playoffs for the first time in several years.

Truthfully, though, Bradford had little help that season. PC North’s rushing game was almost non-existent. The Panthers averaged about 80 yards rushing a game.

The year before was an entirely different story. Bradford teamed with running back Deji Karim and wide receiver Kenny Brown to create one of the most potent offenses in the state. Karim rushed for more than 2,000 yards that season, opening up the field for Bradford and helping the quarterback have his best high school season.

The Panthers had a championship-caliber team that season. They failed to make the state finals only because of a comeback for the ages by Jenks. Bradford did all he could against the mighty Trojans that day, leading the Panthers on one scoring drive after another. He made the plays. He moved the ball. He rallied the troops. In the end, he could do little from the sidelines to help the defense.

The next season when Bradford had to try to win games practically by himself, he couldn’t do it.

He won’t be able to do it as a Sooner either. Then again, he won’t have to. OU has stars at running back, wide receiver and offensive line. The Sooners’ talent will make Bradford look good.

If what he did his junior year at PC North is any indication, Bradford will make the Sooners look good, too.

So, Oklahoma has chosen Sam Bradford as its starting quarterback.

Shocker, right?

OK, so it wasn’t exactly a bolt out of the blue Tuesday morning when OU issued a press release saying Bradford was the guy. The redshirt freshman has been the steadiest and surest of the three Sooner quarterbacks. He was the best in the spring. He was the best in the fall scrimmages. He completed 12 of 17 passes for 130 yards and four touchdowns in a rain-soaked scrimmage Saturday.

So, Tuesday, the Sooner coaches made it official.

Sammy B. is the QB.

Thing is, you could see Bradford already assuming the role of starter when practice started earlier this month. He walked like the starter. He talked like the starter.

Well, actually, all the quarterbacks said the same things when last we heard from them. But even in those seemingly scripted remarks during OU’s media day, Bradford seemed most at ease. He had the calm. He had the polish.

Now, does any of that guarantee success? Of course not. But it does mean that Bradford has already pictured himself as the starter, already thought of himself in terms of this success. Sometimes the belief that you can get there is a big first step to actually arriving.

Emmanuel Moody is leaving Southern Cal.

But is the running back coming to Oklahoma State?

That remains to be seen. Moody was supposed to be in Stillwater on Monday, and there’s no doubt that we’ll hear more about his plans in the coming days. Until then, though, this talk of him becoming a Cowboy begs a question — what might Moody look like as a Cowboy?

We have no fancy-pants way to superimpose an OSU jersey on Moody, but here are a few clips of him at USC. This one is against Arizona, and this one is from the Washington State game.

Want to know how a guy is going to put himself in contention at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills?

Survive the front nine.

Score the back nine.

A pattern has emerged in the first day and a half. The front side is playing extremely tough. There are birdies out there on the front nine, but most guys are making their scores on the back nine.

If just surviving the front is key, Scott Verplank might be the guy to watch. He’s already finished the front nine with a string of eight consecutive pars and a birdie on No. 9. Most any player out at Southern Hills this week would gladly take that score on the front, no questions asked.

If Verplank can keep up the steady play on the front, the former Oklahoma State standout will be in the hunt come Sunday.