Cowboys Everywhere Remembering The 10
Wednesday night was a powerful one inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. Oklahoma State faithful from far and wide gathered not only to watch a basketball game but also to honor the men who died 10 years ago in the plane crash.
Truth is, though, the folks who are remembering those men today extend far beyond that arena or even this state.
I was reminded of that Thursday afternoon when this email arrived in my inbox. It was sent to several of us in The Oklahoman sports department:
My name is Mark Ray, and I am from Chicago. I am a 1991 alum of Oklahoma State. I remember listening to the OSU vs. Colorado basketball game 10 years ago. I don’t even remember if we won or lost. A few hours later I heard that the plane went down, and I cried like a baby at my computer as I couldn’t believe what happened. I still can’t. It has been 10 years ago, and yet, it feels like yesterday. We take so much for granted in life, and this shook me to the core.
I am writing you to say thank you for the awesome coverage of the anniversary of the plane crash. This has been a very hard day. I have lived in Chicago for a number of years, but I am forever connected to OSU. You guys have gone above and beyond on your coverage and I wanted to make sure that you know that it is appreciated. Today reminds us that whether you are a Cowboy or a Sooner that we are all human and there is no distinction today in regards to this tragedy. I hate OU with a passion, but today they are like a brother in sorrow as we are.
I want to thank coach Rick Barnes from Texas as well. I don’t have his email address and don’t know if you can give it to me or not. If not, please forward this email to him. Mr. Barnes: You are what is right about college athletics and your class and humanity is not only appreciated but viewed in awe. I wish more people in sports were like you, and I want you to know how touched me and many many other OSU fans are at your class. Thank you, Mr. Barnes. I am a fan of Texas basketball for no other reason than you. If I had a son I would want him to play for you. In a world full of Lane Kiffins and Bobby Knights, it is so refreshing to actually see a good person leading young men. You get that basketball is just a game and while many lives are enriched or changed by it, it is not what really matters in the grand scheme of things.
Remembering the 10 always …
Mark, while I don’t have Coach Barnes’ email, I hope that your sentiments get back to him as I know they are shared my many Cowboy fans. His decision to wear the “Remember The 10″ shirts on Wednesday was all class.
And while you wrote in part to thank us at The Oklahoman, I hope you know how much we appreciate everyone in the OSU family who has been willing to share their stories during this remembrance of this terrible tragedy. We have been touched and humbled by their willingness to share their memories, many of which are painful to this day.
We were all touched by the events of 10 years ago this evening. We will never be the same.
We will forever remember.
Love the Steelers or Packers? Let us know
Everyone is a football fan on Super Bowl Sunday, but for some of you, these are your teams.
Green Bay and Pittsburgh.
We want to hear from Packer and Steeler fans living in Oklahoma. Even though the frozen tundra of Green Bay and Pittsburgh is far from the red dirt of Oklahoma, we know that there are diehards among us. We know you are out there. We see your car flags and bumper stickers and sweatshirts and hats. We see you wearing your loyalty like a badge of honor.
And why not? The Packers and the Steelers are two of the most storied franchises in pro football.
This is a great Super Bowl match-up, and we know you’re excited about it.
Now, we need to hear from you. We want to tell your stories. How did you become such a big fan? What are your favorite memories? How have you kept your passion for your team alive even though you’re living in Oklahoma?
And please, we’re not looking for bandwagon jumpers. We’re looking for died-in-the-wool, long-time, hard-core fans.
If that’s you, we want to know about your fandom.
Why do you love the Steelers?
Why do you love the Packers?
Email me at jcarlson@opubco.com, and be sure to include your name, your age and where you live. The best stories will be part of our coverage leading up to the Super Bowl.
More athlete arrests? When will they learn?
I keep thinking that one of these days athletes are going to learn. Surely, they’re going to see enough of their teammates or their friends or even their idols getting in trouble, hurting their careers and causing bad press. Surely, they’re going to figure out that they need to keep their noses clean.
But no.
Kenny Stills and Tony Jefferson are the latest proof of that. The Oklahoma football players were arrested on misdemeanor complaints early Saturday morning in Norman. Stills was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, and Jefferson was arrested on suspicion of interference with official process.
Stills’ arrest happened a little after 2 a.m., Jefferson’s happened a few minutes later.
Listen, before you start sending those nasty emails and posting those vindictive comments, I understand the judicial process. I know these guys haven’t been found guilty of anything. I know these are just arrests. I know I’m not judge and jury of these two. So, no, I’m not here to find them guilty of the crimes that they were arrested for.
But I am here to say that their stupidity deserves to be punished. I said it when Oklahoma State star wide receiver Justin Blackmon was arrested this past fall. I’m saying it now. These guys deserve a serious kick in the keister regardless of what the judicial system does with them.
Bob Stoops has been consistent in situations like this — a one-game suspension is all but certain.
Frustration alone would be reason for the Sooner coach to sit these guys. Stills and Jefferson have the world at their feet. As true freshmen this past season, both played huge roles for the Sooners. Stills caught 61 passes and five touchdowns. Jefferson notched 65 tackles and picked off two passes.
Ironic – that OU team played a bunch of young guys, but still, the Sooners seemed much more mature than you’d have thought they’d be with such youth. And now, two of the brightest stars in that group have run afoul of the law.
Shortly after the news about Stills and Jefferson broke, I ran into a Thunder front-office type before the Knicks game. He hadn’t heard about the arrests, but when I told him what happened, he said the thing he couldn’t understand was how athletes at big-time colleges or in the pros ever put themselves in these positions. They have so many resources at their disposal; if they say that they need a ride home because they had a drink or two, someone is going to get them there.
He was right. With so much available to them, it seems like it would almost take effort to get into trouble. Or maybe it just takes someone being really, really stupid.
Maybe eventually athletes will learn — playing sports is a privilege not a right, and stupidity can forfeit that privilege.
I have a feeling Stills and Jefferson are going to learn that lesson. Here’s hoping a game’s suspension is enough to teach them.
Eddie Sutton still in great form
Eddie Sutton didn’t steal the show during the Warren Spahn Award Gala on Thursday night.
He did tell the night’s best story, though.
The former Oklahoma State basketball coach introduced Dave Hunziker, who fittingly received the 10th annual Bill Teegins Excellence in Sportscasting Award, but on a night that celebrated baseball and the major’s best left-handed pitcher, Sutton couldn’t help himself from telling a baseball story.
He’s a big baseball fan anyway.
He’s such a big fan, in fact, that it impacted his wedding day once upon a time. Bride-to-be Patsy told him that they needed to find a date, and he suggested June 1.
“Will that be appropriate for you?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said.
“Well, you know, let’s go on a honeymoon to St. Louis because they’ve got great restaurants, a wonderful zoo,” he said.
What he didn’t tell her?
“The reason I picked that particular date was the Dodgers were coming to St. Louis to play the Cardinals,” Sutton recalled Thursday night. “The Brooklyn Dodgers.”
He smiled.
“We’ve been married 53 years, so I guess it worked out OK.”
Sutton, who will celebrate his 75th birthday later this year, seemed sharp as ever Thursday night. Sutton gushed about Teegins, who was his radio play-by-play man for many years at OSU. Then, he talked lovingly about Hunziker, who replaced Teegins after he died in the plane crash that killed 10 members of the Cowboy basketball family.
Time has aged Sutton, but then, hasn’t it done that to all of us? His mind and his memories are sharp.
Even though the Spahn Gala was a night for baseball, it was great to see a basketball legend who is still in great form.
An OSU fan? Yes, but he’s a champion, too
If you’re headed to Oklahoma State’s game tonight against Iowa State, you’ll want to get there a little early.
The Cowboys will be honoring a cancer survivor before the game, and you won’t want to miss this one.
Cole Burke has been a lifelong Cowboy fan, a love passed to him from his father who is an OSU alum. But when Cole was 16 years old, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Months of chemotherapy and radiation followed.
Five months after his diagnosis, he was deemed cancer-free, but only three months later, doctors realized that Burke’s cancer had returned. Things were looking so grim that a Make-A-Wish trip was planned. Burke wanted to go to Germany to learn more about World War II history or meet Boone Pickens.
Told you this kid was a big OSU fan.
In the end, Burke picked the trip to Germany.
Not long after that, he was invited to a game as part of the Special Spectators, a program that enables youth with cancer to attend college sporting events.
“And who did we run into?” said Kendria Cost, who oversees OSU’s Coaches vs. Cancer efforts. “Boone.”
The two had a chance to shake hands, visit and take some pictures.
“The whole reason Cole wanted to meet him was to tell him that when he was at MD Anderson getting his stem cell transplant, he looked out of his room at a water tower with Boone’s name on it recognizing him as a donor to MD Anderson,” Cost said. “Cole wanted to tell him how much that meant to him and how proud he was that he was an OSU alum.”
For nearly two years, Burke has been cancer free.
Thing is, he’s more than a cancer survivor. He’s also an OSU student. Yes, Burke is now a freshman at OSU.
Having a chance to cheer Cole Burke — now that seems like a great reason to go to the game a little early tonight.
***
Want to know more about OSU’s Coaches vs. Cancer effort? Check out the group’s page on Facebook. Just search ”Oklahoma State University Coaches vs Cancer”.
Hi, I’m Jenni. I’ll be your tour guide
Back in college, I spent one summer working as an orientation assistant for incoming freshmen. Part of the gig required showing the youngsters and their parents around campus, walking around and pointing out academic buildings and residence halls and other places that they needed to know about and even throwing in the occasional bit of trivia.
Needless to say, I have decent credentials as a tour guide.
Which brings us to our good buddy Charles Barkley.
What’s up, Chuck?
So, we understand that you heard about the column that I wrote last week. You know, the one pointing out the fact that you promised to visit Oklahoma City five years ago but still haven’t made good on your promise.
Your pal Ernie Johnson made sure to point it out Monday night during halftime of the Thunder-Lakers game.
(I always knew I liked Ernie.)
Charles Barkley, dressed in mock cowboy attire, waits on the set for the beginning of TNT's Inside the NBA at the NBA Jam Session, part of the NBA All-Star events in Houston, Texas, Febraury 16, 2006. Barkley was dressed up to address the negative comments he made about Oklahoma during a broadcast last week. By Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
And Chuck, you once again promised that you’d make a visit to our fair city.
“Has it been five years?” you asked your cohorts on the set. “Well, you know what? Jenni, you are a hundred percent correct. Now that you’ve got my good friend Scott Brooks there, and the great Maurice Cheeks, who I played with in Philly, I’ve got to come to Oklahoma City.”
OK, Chuck, since you sound like you’re giving this some serious consideration, I’ve got an offer — I will be your tour guide.
Listen, I am a transplant to Oklahoma City, so like you, I once came to the city with some preconceived notions. But I quickly realized what a great place this is.
I’d love to show you some of the reasons why.
We’d start with the bombing memorial because even though that doesn’t signal the start of this city, what happened that day is central to where we are now. To understand the growth and the vibrancy and the resolve, you have to start at the memorial.
Then, we’d have to go check out Stockyard City, a place that has the cows and chickens that you seem to think everyone has around here.
(I promise, I have no livestock living in my yard nor have I seen any in my neighbors’ yards.)
Also, there’s a side benefit to going to Stockyard City — Cattlemen’s Steakhouse. You can’t come to Oklahoma City and not eat at the legendary restaurant. And Charles, I know there’s some talk about you being on a diet, but you need to suspend it for Cattlemen’s.
Or if you want, we could counteract the food with a stop at boathouse row on the river. They put folks in boats and have them row on the river. I know you’re a bit on the tall side, but I suspect they’d figure something out for you, Chuck.
And since you’d probably be coming for a game, we’d have to check out Bricktown. It’s the place where folks gather before games, and it would be hopping with Thunder fans. No doubt that folks would come up to you to shake your hand, to get an autograph, to take a picture, and you’d get to see how darn nice folks are here. That’s really the greatest thing about Oklahoma City — the people.
When you come to town, you’ll have a chance to see it for yourself, Chuck.
I’m here to help.
NBA: Don’t duck us, Chuck
I had a chance to chat Monday afternoon with the guys who do the NBA’s official podcast at NBA.com.
They wanted to talk about Chuck, of course.
I’m going to be writing more later today about what Charles Barkley had to say during last night’s TNT broadcast about my column last week reminding him of his promise to come to Oklahoma City. But until then, I thought I’d tide you over with the NBA.com podcast. There’s talk not only about Barkley but about the Thunder and OKC.
I had a great time talking to Sekou Smith and Lang Whitaker, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Check out the podcast by clicking here.
Bonus Q&A: Talkin’ Harbaugh with Beeler
Even though college football has always been our bread and butter at The Oklahoman and on NewsOK.com, we’re ramping up the coverage even more with a new college football page on Sundays.
Hope you enjoyed the inaugural one a week ago.
This week, The Q&A is with former Jenks High standout Chase Beeler who just finished a senior All-American season at Stanford. He had lots to say — so much, in fact, that I can’t fit it all in the newspaper. Here’s some bonus coverage from my conversation with Beeler:
Jim Harbaugh, now the coach of the 49ers. Did you think a move to the NFL might be in the offing for him?
Rumors were floated and circulated last year about whether he might leave. I think we were all pretty convinced that he wanted to come back and give it another run this year. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he stayed, but knowing what I know about him and his competitive nature to excel at whatever sphere he’s competing in, I wasn’t taken aback when he accepted that job.
Now that Coach Harbaugh is leaving, where do you see the Stanford program in five years?
Coach Shaw, the offensive coordinator who got the job, he’s a fantastic coach. Very intelligent. I always thought I could see him in a head coach role. One of the challenges that Stanford faces is … having to draw from a somewhat smaller pool than many other institutions have to recruit from. You looking for great football players, but you’re also looking for outstanding students, and that can be a little bit of a challenge. But I would think coming off a 12-1 season even with the coaching change, it wouldn’t really alter the recruiting landscape. I think as long as you sustain success, recruiting won’t be a problem. I’m not at all worried about the coaching aspect of it. I don’t think there’s going to be any sort of a drop-off.
You were named an All-American this season. What was your reaction to that honor?
It was cool. I was surprised. The way I found out, I was upstairs watching film with the offensive line coach and one of our offensive coordinators. I felt my phone vibrating … and I saw I had a voicemail from Coach Harbaugh. I asked the coaches to pause the film and said, “Let me check this real quick.” It was a real short voicemail. He said, “Chase, this is Coach Harbaugh. I need to see you in my office.” Was like, “Oh, gawd, what did I do?” I tried to think, “Did I have parking tickets or what possible violation could it be?” I walked out of the film room and Coach Harbaugh … happened to be walking into his office at the same time. I looked at him with this look of uncertainty. He came up to me and shook my hand and kind of pulled me into a hug and said, “Congratulations. You’re a first-team All-American.” There was excitement, but a lot of it was just relief.
That you weren’t going to have to run sprints at practice or something?
That he wasn’t going to tell me, I don’t know, that like a sales clerk identified you as bearing a resemblance to someone who robbed a 7-Eleven. (Laughs.) It was hard to believe, but then once the relief wore off, it was more excitement. It’s been great, but one of the things in my eyes about being selected as an All-American as an offensive lineman, it’s truly not an individual honor. I feel like those sorts of things are based on statistics such as sacks given up and yardage gained and whatnot, and that’s not just a reflection of my play. That’s a reflection of all the guys around me. Andy Phillips and David DeCastro, left guard and right guard respectively. Derek Hall, our right tackle, and Jonathan Martin, our left tackle. And … without Andrew (Luck) back there, you’d have to multiply the number of sacks we gave up this year by a factor at least three or four. He’s an amazing player with amazing pocket presence and incredible feet. It’s nice to see my name in ink, but ultimately, it’s not just for me. It’s not even primarily for me. It’s got to be the whole offensive line and the entire offensive unit.
OSU Football: Blackmon-Weeden bond strong
We knew that the Justin Blackmon-Brandon Weeden connection was stout.
On a day that the Oklahoma State standouts announced that they were spurning the NFL and returning to college, they proved that their bond might be stronger than expected.
Sure, we saw the Weeden-to-Blackmon connection time and again this past season. The quarterback and the receiver combined for nearly 1,800 yards and 20 touchdowns. They could just give each other a look or a nod or a glance and make something happen. They had a connection that quarterbacks and receivers dream about.
Apparently, it is a bond that extends beyond the field.
These two were a package deal. That’s a phrase normally used when talking about recruits, but really, it fits here, too. Weeden wasn’t going to the NFL unless Blackmon did, but he wasn’t staying at OSU unless Blackmon was, too.
And vice versa.
“With me, it was pretty much all this guy,” Blackmon said of how much his decision was impacted by what Weeden was doing. “We talked to each other through text messages and phone calls and things like that. We got on the same page, and we figured it out.”
Weeden said, “Once I knew that he was coming back, it was kind of a no brainer for me. I’m in a unique situation because of my age and all that, but what’s another year?”
Especially when you’ve got the nation’s best receiver on your side.
“When Blackmon decided he was coming back,” Weeden said, “it was pretty much a lock.”
It’s amazing to see how this relationship has bloomed in the past year. Think back to this time last winter. Weeden was a quarterback with lots of potential, and Blackmon was just a guy in the receiver corps who was fighting for playing time.
But during the spring and the summer, an on-field relationship started to develop. Blackmon became Weeden’s safety blanket. In trouble? Throw it to Blackmon. Need a first down? A big play? A touchdown? Throw it to Blackmon.
That evolved into a special bond that led them to come to a mutual agreement about next season.
Luckily for the Cowboys, they agreed to return.
Power Lunch Chat Recap: Jenni Carlson
