New (good) guys in town?
Sometimes being in the sports media is drudgery. Waiting in hotel lobbies hoping someone will talk to you. Standing outside locker rooms praying for a willing source.
But then there are times when we get a gem of an assignment.
Monday was one of those days. We in the media had a chance to meet the new guys in town. It was media day for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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For the better part of four hours Monday, we had a chance to chat with the players. Kevin Durant. Jeff Green. Earl Watson. Nick Collison. Joe Smith. All of those guys were there, and so many more.
Much of their time was ate up with interviews and photos and the like. These guys were doing everything under the sun. They were reading radio liners. They were taping spots for the NBA’s overseas TV networks in places like Italy and China. They were doing videos that you’ll see all season on the Ford Center jumbotron. All of them had a full day.
And yet, there were down moments during the day. That’s when I had a chance to strike up several conversations. I talked to Earl Watson about how tough it is moving because no two houses are the same so you’re always having to buy something or ditch something else. I talked with Jeff Green about his fun-loving personality. I talked with Damien Wilkins about the summer AAU tournament that I saw him play in many moons ago in Kansas City.
I also had a chance to chat with some media types about their experiences during media day.
From everything I experienced and everything I heard, it seems like Oklahoma City got itself a good group of characters on this NBA team. This is something that Clay Bennett and Sam Presti have said would be a priority, getting players who would play the right way and act the right way. Monday, the latter was evident.
Granted, none of us every really know pro athletes. Kobe was thought to be a great guy right up until that incident in Colorado a few years back. We just don’t know for sure what these guys are like when they’re out of the spotlight.
And yet, the first-blush impression is that this is a team that Oklahoma City is going to be proud of. There didn’t seem to be a lot of bad attitudes or massive egos. Most of the guys I talked with were not only well-spoken and thoughtful but also funny and sincere. That’s a pretty decent combo.
I had much the same feeling Monday that I had a couple years back when the Hornets first hit town. They seemed like nice guys then, and as it turned out, there were very few knuckleheads in the bunch.
Let’s hope we’re as lucky with the Thunder.
First impressions lead me to believe that we just might be.
More from The Q&A: Yolanda Odenyo
Oklahoma State soccer star Yolando Odenyo has traveled quite a road to get where she is.
Not only is she from Sweden, but she also had an NCAA hang-up that had lasting effects for three years. The NCAA said she’d taken money above and beyond living expenses while playing for a club team in Sweden. After being initially ruled ineligible, she was allowed to start at OSU but was classified as a sophomore, not a freshman. It wasn’t until last season that she was granted a fourth year of eligibility.
Here’s more from my Q&A with Odenyo:
Jenni Carlson: Being from Sweden, what do you miss most about home?
Yolanda Odenyo: It’s pretty far.
JC: You should get a T-shirt for that, coming the farthest?
YO: (Laughs.) What I miss most is not so much Sweden itself. It’s having my family around. They’ve always been there supporting me in my soccer. It’s just always been a family outing whenever I played. Sometimes, they didn’t even watch the game, but that’s OK. They had fun. Any time I had a big game, it was an occasion for the family to come together, so that’s really what I miss the most.
JC: How does your family keep up with you? On the internet?
YO: My mother stays up until 3 a.m., even though she has to get up at 6 to work, on the GameTracker. I never found the GameTracker that exciting. Sometimes, they actually have video. I’m like, “You can stay up for that, but GameTracker? Really?” Shot, 37th minute.
JC: Then, 10 minutes later, another shot.
YO: She’s a hard-core fan.
JC: What has this whole eligibility question been like for you?
YO: Going into last season not knowing whether I would be a junior or a senior, it was a little ambiguous. You prepare for every year like you’re ready to go out and play, but your senior year is special. Also, you have to make a lot of decisions after you’re done. My focus wasn’t right because I didn’t know where I was. Then once they told me I was in fact a junior, I was able to relax. I felt that pressure at the beginning of last year. Going into this year, I know that if I let that get to me, I’m not going to be able to perform. It was a little trial run, I guess. (Laughs.) A little senior year trial run.
JC: How did you get the news about your re-classification?
YO: By the time the season started, I just kind of decided, “OK, this is my last year.” I had really put it aside until after practice one day, Karen (Hancock, OSU assistant coach) called saying she had just gotten the call from compliance saying, “You’re a junior.” It didn’t really sink in until a few hours later. I was like, “Sweet. I don’t have to decide what to do with my life just yet.”
JC: Now, what’s you’re major?
YO: Human development and family science.
JC: I know there are still soccer options, but what does the future hold?
YO: Down the road holds some type of human services job. There’s not one job I want to do. It’s helping people basically. I know that’s what I need to do. I probably will fit in some coaching somewhere. But I graduate in December and I’ll pursue a professional (soccer) career in some fashion and I’ll probably go back and do grad school, too. I don’t have to grow up just yet.
JC: What are the pro soccer options?
YO: There will be a draft of college and other players in January. Combine in December. The pro league will start in the spring. Seven teams, I believe, the first year. It’s going to be competitive. For me being a non-American … there are only four players on each team. I’ll do my best and go after it, but if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. I can always go home. Really, right now, Sweden probably has the best league to play in.
JC: Is it tough to strike that balance of planning ahead without getting ahead of yourself?
YO: I think it’s important to know your goals. What you do today determines what you get tomorrow, so I keep that in mind in terms of where I want to be. But at the end of the day, I could die tomorrow, so I just try to seize the day and make the best of it.
JC: So, what’s the best of this year? Is it pie in the sky, want it all?
YO: Yeah, why not? First thing is a Big 12 championship. After that, we can go after the next one.
Bored with Baseball
Listen, I know I should be fired up about the baseball playoff races.
The Rays and the Cubs are in. The Yankees are out. The Dodgers and the Diamondbacks are duking it out in the National League West while the Phillies and the Mets are battling in the National League East.
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There’s all sorts of drama and all sorts of unknowns. There’s plenty of reasons to be excited.
But I’m not. I just don’t find baseball any fun any more.
Truth is, I was a baseball fan before I was a fan of any other sport. My dad coached baseball, and so I spent many summer afternoons at the park.
And I loved it. Keeping score. Eating sunflower seeds. Hollering at the pitchers to “rock and fire.” Yelling at the batters to “wait for your pitch.” Summer evenings at the baseball park were the best.
But now, I can’t get fired up about baseball to save my life. At a time when even the most fringe fan should be ga-ga about the playoff chases, I’m as uninterested as can be.
Here’s the thing — baseball needs to do one little thing that would amp up the excitement again. And I’m not just talking about my excitement because let’s face it, baseball isn’t the American passion that it used to be.
The fix: shorten the season.
American sports fans used to be content with sitting back and enjoying the slow burn of the 162-game regular season. Now, no one has time. Everyone is in a hurry. Everyone is in a time crunch. The baseball season feels like it stretches on forever.
If baseball cut out even 10 percent of its games, it would make the season better. Games would mean more, and two-plus weeks would be shaved off the schedule.
Baseball remains a great game with its gamesmanship and its strategy, but this is truly a case where less would mean more. So much more.
Heisman “Chase” is on
First things first — Missouri has yet to play a quality opponent.
Still, it’s impossible to ignore what Chase Daniel has done in the first four weeks of the season. The Missouri quarterback has been stellar.
Passing percentage: 75.9 percent.
Passing yards: 1,412 yards.
Passing touchdowns: 12.
Interceptions: 1.
Even if you’re playing against ghost players in the backyard, those are amazing numbers. And right now, no one else comes close to what Daniel has done.
That’s why he tops my vote in this week’s HeismanPundit.com/Orlando Sentinel Heisman Trophy straw poll.
Against Buffalo this weekend — and no, it wasn’t the NFL team that calls upstate New York its home – Daniel complete 20 consecutive passes at one point. No other quarterback in the history of the Big 12 has ever had a stretch when he’s been so hot.
Daniel could really assert himself in his next two games. After an off week, Missouri plays at Nebraska and at Texas. Those games could put him in the Heisman driver’s seat.
Here’s a look at my ballot this week:
1. Daniel: In a word, impressive.
2. Tim Tebow, Florida: The Gators scored a solid win against Tennessee, but the junior quarterback was fairly pedestrian. He had only 96 yards passing with two touchdowns. Frankly, the Gators didn’t need him to do any more. That speaks well of the strength of their team, but doesn’t do much to boost a Heisman campaign.
3. Sam Bradford, Oklahoma: The Sooners were off this week, so the sophomore quarterback held fast at No. 3.
4. Mark Sanchez, Southern Cal: The Trojans were off this week, so the junior quarterback held fast at No. 4.
5. Max Hall, BYU: A newcomer to my ballot. The junior quarterback has already thrown for almost 1,300 yards with 15 touchdowns and two interceptions. Right now, those type of numbers trump anything that Knowshon Moreno, Jeremy Maclin, Michael Crabtree or any other Heisman candidate has done.
Hard to celebrate these celebrations
The United States re-claimed the Ryder Cup over the weekend, and there was lots of celebrating along the way.
There were high fives and fist pumps, and frankly, some of it was ugly.
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No, no, I’m not claiming unsportsmanlike conduct like the Europeans did on Friday. Apparently, they didn’t take too kindly to Boo Weekley and J.B. Holmes pumping up the crowd.
Earth to the Euros — golf needs more, not less, of that.
But I have to tell you — golfers need to work on their celebrations. There is not a stiffer bunch of celebrators in sports. They look so robotic, so mechanical.
Even Weekley did. Listen, he might have some of the most humble beginnings of any golfer. His Southern accent is as fun to listen to as any of the Europeans, and frankly, playing this weekend in Kentucky, it sounded like his accent thickened. But even Mr. Down Home looked a wee bit stiff every time he flapped his arms to encourage the crowd.
There’s reason to believe that things have improved over the years, though.
During the weekend’s television coverage, we got to see that old footage of Paul Azinger high fiving his caddy during a Ryder Cup match a few years back. Azinger was the American captain this year, so the TV folks pulled out the old video of him. There Azinger was in a red sweater, making a shot, then high-fiving his caddy again and again and again. He looked so serious yet so stiff and out-of-place doing it.
Another popular highlight of old was Justin Leonard’s Cup-clinching putt a few years back. It was the last time the Americans won the Ryder Cup, and his putt set off a wild, green-side celebration. But Leonard made a little dash around the green after the ball dropped, and it looked like he was running in a straight jacket. His torso seemed to be locked in place, shoulders back, head out.
Awkward.
At least, there were no repeats of that this time around.
Former OSU standout Hunter Mahan did a fist-pumping celebration Sunday that would’ve made Tiger Woods proud. Former OU standout Anthony Kim set some sort of world record for high-fives given.
Maybe the youngsters will save us from celebration embarrassment in future years.
Listen, I’ve got a suggestion for the Americans. Now that you’ve figured out how to win the Ryder Cup again, it’s time to take the next step. It’s time to start working on those celebrations. The next Ryder Cup is in two years.
Get to work.
Sooner influenced Iglesias’ decision
Oklahoma wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias almost didn’t become a Sooner.
A former Sooner helped convince him, though.
Here’s more from my Q&A with Iglesias:
JC: I know you didn’t go to the same high school in Killeen, Texas, as Tommie Harris, but did you know him?
JI: I didn’t know really know Tommie. When I was in eighth grade, I think he was graduating. It was his senior year, so I didn’t really know Tommie. But he called me the day I was committed to Oklahoma and said I didn’t want to go. Me and him talked and he was just saying how it was a great place. He actually helped me come to
JC: Is it OK for a Killeen guy to go to OU? I guess maybe you and Tommie have made it OK.
JI: People just always say the same thing — “Man, I root for you, and I cheer for you, but when you play Texas, I’ll still root for you but I won’t root for your team.”
JC: You grow up a Texas fan at all?
JI: Me and my family, my dad, my brother, we didn’t pay attention to college football. We just watched the Cowboys. Then when it wasn’t football season, we’d watch the Spurs. We didn’t really watch college football. I didn’t really have any clue about anybody when I came. I didn’t know who were the big programs. That’s why when I got recruited here, I was like, “Oklahoma? Is that a good thing?” I didn’t really know who was big and who wasn’t.
QB change with a local flair
Our beloved website, NewsOK.com, had a headline that caught my eye Wednesday afternoon.
“Can Frerotte save Adrian Peterson’s season?” it read.
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Apparently, the Minnesota Vikings have decided that Tarvaris Jackson isn’t the answer at quarterback. Of course, they were the only ones who hadn’t come to that conclusion, but finally, they decided to replace him with Gus Frerotte.
That makes this story bigger than big for our fair state. Frerotte is a former Tulsa star, and he’ll be handing off lots to Adrian Peterson, the former Oklahoma standout who is now the Vikings tailback.
The truth is, though, neither Frerotte nor Peterson is the local who is cheering this decision most. Kevin Williams is the one doing cartwheels from one end of the Twin Cities to the other. The former Oklahoma State defensive tackle anchors the Minnesota defense, and no one has seen the bad end of the Tarvaris Jackson experiment more than Williams.
The Vikings have a defense, after all, built to win a bunch of games. They went out and got defensive end Jared Allen in the off-season, and that strengthened an already stout defense. But after two games, the Vikings are winless despite two solid defensive performances.
Minnesota held Green Bay to only 24 points in the season opener but still lost.
Then, last weekend, the Vikings kept the Colts in shackles. Peyton Manning and Co. managed only 18 points, but Minnesota still lost.
Sure, those close calls are tough on everyone, but for a defense that is producing, the frustration rises to a whole other level.
So when Minnesota decided to change quarterbacks, the first person I thought of wasn’t Adrian Peterson or even the guy who will now be taking the snaps, Gus Frerotte. No, Kevin Williams came to mind first. He deserves better than he’s been receiving.
With apologies to my friends who write headlines for our website, the quarterback change in Minnesota wasn’t about saving Adrian Peterson’s season. It was more about saving Kevin Williams’ season — and maybe his sanity.
Football winners and losers
We had a little hitch in our get-along today.
In our sport staff’s college football picks, my selections were really Berry Tramel’s picks. Considering that Berry’s in first place, maybe I should’ve kept my mouth shut and let ‘em ride.
But I’m willing to stand or fall on my own picks, so here are my selections for the week:
West Virginia at Colorado (WVU by 3.5): West Virginia, 31-24
Baylor at UConn (UConn by 13.5): Baylor, 31-28
Central Florida at Boston College (BC by 11.5): Boston College, 31-17
Vanderbilt at Mississippi (Ole Miss by 5.5): Mississippi, 21-14
Mississippi State at Georgia Tech (Ga. Tech by 7.5): Georgia Tech, 24-14
LSU at Auburn (LSU by 2.5): LSU 17-7
Alabama at Arkansas (Alabama by 8.5): Alabama, 31-10
Notre Dame at Michigan State (Mich. St. by 8.5): Michigan State, 35-24
Boise State at Oregon (Oregon by 12.5): Oregon, 34-20
Wake Forest at Florida State (Fla. State by 4.5): Florida State, 20-14
New Mexico at Tulsa (Tulsa by 10.5): Tulsa, 41-21
Miami-Fla. at Texas A&M (Miami by 3.5): Miami, 21-17
Buffalo at Missouri (Mizzou by 33.5): Missouri, 56-21
Fresno State at Toledo (Fresno by 6.5): Fresno State, 27-17
Rice at Texas (Texas by 31.5): Texas, 52-14
TCU at SMU (TCU by 24.5): TCU, 48-10
Florida at Tennessee (Florida by 7.5): Florida, 34-24
Georgia at Arizona State (Georgia by 6.5): Georgia, 20-13
Arizona at UCLA (Arizona by 1.5): UCLA, 27-24
Troy at Ohio State (Ohio State by 20.5): Ohio State, 49-27
Bryant is big time for Cowboys
Dez Bryant bounced around the Boone Pickens Stadium turf looking for someone to chest bump.
A touchdown celebration?
Not this past weekend.
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The Oklahoma State receiver didn’t manage a touchdown catch. Heck, he didn’t have one single, solitary catch all day. Against Missouri State, the Cowboys didn’t need to throw the ball to win by 40-plus.
And yet, Bryant was the picture of happiness. He celebrated with teammates. He cheered. He hollered.
Bryant is big time.
We already had evidence that backed that up. Bryant caught 43 passes for 622 yards and six touchdowns last season as a true freshman. And he did so despite playing second fiddle to Adarius Bowman.
Through two games this season, he already had 16 catches for 326 yards and three touchdowns.
Those numbers held steady after the Cowboys’ third game. And still, Bryant looked Saturday like he’d caught 10 passes instead of none.
That’s good news for the Cowboys.
Why?
Because their best player isn’t a prima donna. He’s the opposite of that. He’s a team player. Bryant isn’t consumed with how many catches he has or how many touchdowns he scores. As long as the team’s winning, he’s happy.
How else to explain his exuberance Saturday afternoon?
Now if the Cowboys start struggling and he’s not catching anything, things might change. Things should change. Bryant is the best player on the OSU roster; he needs to have the ball in his hands. But on Saturday, he didn’t need to and he didn’t sweat it.
Bryant was actually one of the last players off the field. He high-fived every hand and signed every autograph. He smiled all the way to the locker room.
This guy is big-time, and his abilities are only part of the reason.
Give it up to the Cowboy fans
It’s a miserable day in Stillwater.
Rainy. Gray. Yucky.
There’s still a nice crowd at Boone Pickens Stadium for Oklahoma State’s beat down of Missouri State. No official attendance has been announced yet, but I suspect there’s probably about 30,000 here, which is about 10,000 or so more than I expected.
It’s not that I doubted Cowboy fans. It’s just that when you pair bad weather with a really bad opponent, the chances of having a good crowd are slim.
But the OSU faithful have shown up in some strong numbers. They’re being rewarded with a pretty decent show by their team — Cowboys lead 36-3 with a couple minutes left before halftime — but really, the fans are the ones who deserve big-time praise. They brought their ponchos, they braved the elements, and they made the stadium more orange than ever expected.
