Heroes in sports?
There are heroes in sports.
Just not always where a spotlight shines.
Watch my latest video commentary or read below:
The word “hero” is thrown around often in sports.
A quarterback leads a late-game drive, and he’s called a hero. A guard knocks down a last-second shot, and she’s called a hero.
But really, a hero is so much more. It is someone who shows courage amid danger or adversity. It is someone who displays self-sacrifice. It is someone who is looking out for the greater good. Because of those definitions, there are plenty of folks who believe there are no heroes in sports.
I’ll say that a game-winning touchdown or a goal-line stand does not a hero make. But that doesn’t mean sports is without its heroes.
Sports has heroes.
Plenty of them.
Many of them, though, are unsung. Their work is celebrated by the people closest to them, but beyond that, they are largely unknown. Perhaps they coach little league but are as concerned about the rules of life as the rules of the game. Perhaps they officiate rec league with a smile. Perhaps they encourage folks to join the Tuesday night bowling league.
Heroes in sports come from all walks. There are up-and-comers and weekend warriors, coaches and teachers, officials and referees, fans and encouragers. Others work in the concession stands and take the tickets and run the chain gangs and prepare the fields.
So, do you know a hero in sports? Maybe it’s the golf course starter who always has a kind word for your son. Maybe it’s the coach who is always willing to bring your daughter home after practice. Maybe it’s that person you know changed your life through sports.
If you know an unsung hero in sports, I want to know about them, too. Soon, we will begin telling the stories of unsung heroes in our sports section. E-mail me about your sports hero at jcarlson@oklahoman.com.
Make no mistake, there are heroes in sports. Let’s just make sure the real ones are unsung no more.
Miles v. Stoops: Count me in
Another Monday, friends. Another video commentary.
Watch it here, or read it below:
Could the madness of this college football season end with something so perfect, so cosmic that it makes sense of the craziness?
If LSU and Oklahoma play it will.
Les Miles vs. Bob Stoops.
Would that be perfect, or what?
The two coaches traded verbal jabs time and again before Miles left OSU for LSU. They had more barbs than a livestock fence.
After OSU beat OU 16-13 in 2001, Miles said the Cowboys should’ve won by more.
Stoops shot back by saying some people are satisfied with four wins.
The Cowboys, by the way, just happened to finish 4-7 that season.
A couple years later, Miles said of the Sooners, “They’re the best team in college football, we’re told.”
After the Sooners throttled the Cowboys 52-9 in Norman, Stoops was less than warm during the coaches’ post-game mid-field handshake. The Sooner coach later said, “I was professional. I said good game. That’s all I need to say. I don’t need to hear his opinion about anything.”
Oh, it’s been rich, rich stuff between these two.
Most coaches walk on eggshells these days. Miles and Stoops made scrambled eggs instead.
And it didn’t stop after Miles left OSU for LSU. He still couldn’t resist a little Bedlam trash talking. During one of LSU’s caravan stops two summers ago, Miles was asked a question about OU, LSU’s opponent in the Sugar Bowl a few years ago.
Miles said, “When you guys were playing Oklahoma and I was representing another school, I watched every play and I was so damn happy that LSU won. I look forward to meeting that team again and that coach.”
Stoops fired back a few days later at an OU caravan stop.
“Boy,” Stoops said, “I bet it burned him to see us raise our third Big 12 championship in the last five years since he’s watching us play in these championship games all the time.”
Both Stoops and Miles have tried to insist that they play nice. Miles even said he called Stoops after he took the LSU job and told him what a pleasure it had been to compete against him.
But really, who are these two trying to snow under? Their bad blood runs thick.
Now with LSU at the top of the BCS standings and OU rising higher every week, a national championship showdown seems more likely than ever. Playing for a title would bring its own drama, of course, but wouldn’t it be sweet to have Miles and Stoops back together again?
With so many weeks between the conference championship games and the national championship game, one of them would be sure to slip up. All it would take is one little spark to start the inferno.
Through the madness of this season, a Stoops-Miles showdown might be one thing that makes sense.
OU and LSU have agreed to a home-and-home series beginning in 2018, but we may not have to wait that long for the fun of Stoops v. Miles.
I thought Kansas was a hoops school
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Earlier this week, I spent some time in Lawrence working on a story about Kansas football.
Kansas football?
Yep, Kansas football.
Isn’t Kansas a basketball school? I think so, but folks are definitely keeping an eye on football this year. The Jayhawks are undefeated, one of only three remaining undefeated teams in the country.
A friend of mine, who’s a big enough KU fan to have basketball and football season tickets, told me that her husband had to remind her about the first exhibition basketball game.
I guarantee that’s never happened before.
Usually by now, thoughts among the Jayhawk faithful have turned to the hardwood. Football, after all, is often a grueling struggle of not just losses but beat downs. Kansas football has been a laughing stock, even among Kansas fans.
The long-standing joke among students has been that football season isthe time you perfected the chants and the cheers for basketball.
Mind you, basketball at Kansas is hardly dead. Students camped out earlier this week for the basketball team’s game. Its exhibition game, that is.
Still, there’s a whole new vibe around football in Lawrence. It wasn’t so many years ago, that the athletic department lured fans to the football team’s home opener with basketball. Back in 2004, it invited fans to come to the football stadium a few hours early. The reason? To watch the basketball team’s exhibition at the University of British Columbia live on the jumbotron. The idea, of course, was for folks to stick around for the football game. Instead, some came for the basketball but left before the football.
Fans aren’t leaving early anymore.
It just underscores what an amazing turnaround Kansas has made. What Mark Mangino, his staff and his players have done is quite an accomplishment.
Now, if KU could just have a basketball team that its football team could be proud of.
Bad sign in the Big Easy
The Hornets returned to New Orleans on Wednesday.
How’d it go?
Check out my video commentary or read here:
I want to believe that the Hornets will work in New Orleans.
After all that city has been through, it deserves to have something go well. The Hornets have a stout squad, a team that has all the earmarks of a playoff team. I hope that the Big Easy has a chance to experience that fun and that excitement this season.
I want the best for the Hornets there.
But after Wednesday night, I’m worried about their chances.
Wednesday was opening night for the Hornets. They tipped off the 2007-08 season in New Orleans, their first full season back in the Big Easy since Hurricane Katrina blew them all the way to Oklahoma City.
The opener was on Oklahoma City cable television, just as another 24 games will be this season. I tuned in about mid-way through the second quarter.
The first thing that struck me was how much it looked at first glance like Oklahoma City. The floor is the same, save the name of the city along the baseline. The uniforms are the same, save the city on the front.
But that first-blush reaction was quickly replaced by another.
“There’s no one there,” I said out loud to the television.
OK, so there were probably 10 or 12 thousand folks there, and Hornets owner George Shinn said during a halftime interview that the game was a near sellout. There were lots of empty seats, though. Shinn attributed that to Halloween parties, no doubt a big deal in a city that never passes on a chance to party.
Still, the no-shows were concerning. The sections behind the benches looked more empty than full. The crowds in the upper deck looked sparse as well.
That is not a good sign on opening night. That is one of those nights that almost every team packs the arena.
Not the Hornets.
Maybe Shinn was right. Maybe the answer was as easy as the Halloween holiday. Maybe the crowds will come for the other 40 games the Hornets have at home.
For their sake, I hope so.
But the truth is, the Hornets are facing an uphill battle. The rebuilding in New Orleans continues, and that includes being able to support an NBA team. It isn’t the most important thing happening there. Not even close. Schools and houses and security are paramount.
Thing is if the Hornets can survive in New Orleans, it would be a great sign of how far the city has come and how healthy the area is. It will take time, but for the sake of the city and the team, I hope that opening night is just the beginning, not a sign of things to come.
All-Big 12 team needs a shakeup
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The Big 12 needs a makeover.
Of its all-conference team, that is.
Less than a month remains on the conference slate. That means the announcement of the all-Big 12 teams is just around the corner.
Which brings me to the area that needs a facelift — the skill positions on offense.
Right now, the first team includes a quarterback, two running backs and two wide receivers.
I have no problem with naming one quarterback to the first-team. It makes for a tough selection, but hey, tough calls make being a first-teamer a special honor.
Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel is my pick right now, by the way.
But look at the running back position. Who are the two first-teamers?
I say Dantrell Savage is a lock. The Oklahoma State tailback is as good as they come. He is averaging 124 yards a game. He is quick. He is shifty. He is tough. He is, in other words, first-team material.
But who’s the other first-team running back?
Jammal Charles at Texas is fumble prone. Marlon Lucky at Nebraska is, well, at Nebraska. Brandon McAnderson at Kansas is averaging only 86 yards rushing a game. And Oklahoma, which might have the most talented backs, is platooning Allen Patrick, DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown.
None of those guys are slam-dunk, no-doubt first teamers.
Now, look at the receiver position. Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree and Kansas State’s Jordy Nelson are the two leading receivers in the conference, each with more than 1,000 yards receiving. They’d be my first-team picks.
That leaves out Adarius Bowman at Oklahoma State, Malcolm Kelly at Oklahoma and Todd Blythe at Iowa State. All three of those guys are expected to play in the NFL in the next year or so.
And what about Danny Amendola at Texas Tech? Or Marcus Henry at Kansas? Or even tight end Martin Rucker at Missouri?
The Big 12 is stacked with great pass catchers and so-so running backs. Then again, the conference is going. More pass-oriented offenses. Fewer run-dominated ones.
Heck, that’s college football. Teams are opening up their offenses, and that puts more emphasis on receivers.
Why not have the all-conference team reflect that? Why not have three receivers and one tailback?
It wouldn’t have to be a permanent switch. Goodness knows, the way offenses ebb and flow, the wishbone could come back into vogue before the decades out. But for now, why not give the voters an option? They could be asked to pick one running back, one wide receiver, then be given an either/or option with the other two spots. Then, who ever comes out with the most votes gets it.
For the time being, having a first-team all-conference squad with three receivers would better reflect the offenses of today. You’re a lot more likely to see an offense with three or four receivers than with two tailbacks.
The all-conference team should be the same. It’s a much-needed makeover that would bring the Big 12 up to date. Heck, if the conference would do it, it would actually become the trend-setter.
Video on the RUF/NEKS
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Rough on the RUF/NEKS
Should the Sooner Schooner ride again? Listen to my video commentary or read here:
The RUF/NEKS as we’ve long known them are gone.
I say, “Hoorah.”
But I’m also happy that the Oklahoma spirit group that has been around since 1915 isn’t going away entirely.
No doubt you’ve heard the news: earlier this week, the University of Oklahoma banned current members of the RUF/NEKS from official university events. An investigation determined that members had abused alcohol and hazed pledges this semester.
Alcohol abuse.
Pledge hazing.
In my mind, those are two of the biggest problems facing college campuses today. Of course, I’ve never understood what it proves to publicly humiliate a freshman or to do a keg stand. Does that make the tormentor or the guzzler more of a man?
I’d say the opposite.
The sad truth is, drinking and hazing are not going away on college campuses. Not even the ban on the RUF/NEKS at OU will change that. But that doesn’t mean the university should’ve just stood by and allowed it to happen. It had to take action.
Frankly, I think it did right by banning the members but not the group.
The RUF/NEKS will now be under the direction of the athletic department, something that frankly should’ve happened years ago. Maybe that would’ve kept the group from recent embarrassment.
The RUF/NEKS were harassing Nebraska players before a game three years ago at OU. A Cornhusker lineman ran into one of the RUF/NEKS, knocking out his teeth. A trial ensued. The lineman was cleared, but the damage was done.
Damage to the RUF/NEKS.
They need to be held to the same standards as every other on-field representative of the school. And even though they’ve shown themselves incapable of that in recent times, they can change. They can drive the Sooner Schooner and fire their shotguns and even carry their paddles without acting like a bunch of knuckleheads.
While some people would rather do without the shotguns and the paddles, I say the RUF/NEKS are one of the things that makes Saturdays at OU unique. They make the stadium feel more like a Wild West corral. They add to the environment.
I wouldn’t want to see the Schooner go away. Heck, I wouldn’t even want to go without those shotguns, even though they still scare the bejesus out of me.
I’m glad the RUF/NEKS have been given a second chance, a chance to clean up their act and remain a part of game day.
Is Les Miles the new Bob Stoops?
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Les Miles has become Bob Stoops.
Oh, OK. Not exactly Bob Stoops. Miles still wears the ball cap, not the visor. Then, there’s the difference of team colors, Miles being partial to LSU’s purple and gold instead of OU’s crimson and cream.
But other than that, Miles has become Stoops. He is now the daredevil that Stoops used to be.
Miles is now the riverboat gambler of college football coaches.
The former Oklahoma State coach must have steel innards. These past few weeks, he’s pushed every button and every extreme to keep his LSU squad in the national title hunt.
Three weeks ago against Florida, Miles decided that his squad would go for it on fourth down not one, not twice, not even three times. The Tigers went for it five times. FIVE TIMES.
Who knows what’s more remarkable — that Miles made five fourth-down calls or that the Tigers made it every time.
LSU beat Florida, by the way, with a late game-winning drive that included two of those fourth-down conversions.
Then after a triple-overtime loss to Kentucky, Miles and LSU had perhaps the biggest late-game gamble of them all Saturday against Auburn.
Trailing 24-23 in the game’s final seconds, LSU only needed to kick a field goal. That would’ve been the safe play. That would’ve been the preferred play. That could’ve won the game, too.
Miles decided to go another route. Even though the clock had ticked below 20 seconds, he allowed the offense one more shot at the end zone. He thought the Tigers still had time for a play AND a field goal attempt if they needed it.
He was right — barely.
When Demetrius Byrd hauled in a Matt Flynn pass in the corner of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown, one second remained on the clock.
Miles’ decision was either incredibly dumb or absolutely gutsy. Because it worked — gutsy it is.
It could’ve all gone horribly wrong, of course. If the quarterback would’ve needed to scramble or the ball would’ve been tipped around before falling incomplete, time would’ve expired. LSU would never have gotten that field goal attempt.
If the decision would’ve backfired, Miles would’ve been skewered.
Instead, he’s a gambler extraordinaire.
Used to be, Bob Stoops had that daredevil streak in him. He called trick plays and sneak attacks, several of which helped OU climb back into national prominence. It was grand fun.
Stoops and the Sooners aren’t so risky any more. That’s too bad, if you ask me.
The good news is, Miles is doing his darnedest to keep people guessing. Heck, he’s doing such a good impression of Stoops, folks in Norman could take a cue from the riverboat gambler in Baton Rouge.
