Got an OU-Texas prediction right here
Oklahoma- Texas is a no-holds-barred, no-punches-pulled sort of rivalry.In keeping with that spirit, here’s a blunt prediction — Texas is a touchdown and a half better than OU.
Not exactly music to the ears of Sooner fans, but the Longhorns will be the superior squad Saturday at the Cotton Bowl. That’s not to say the Sooners are sorry or the Longhorns are world beaters, but the fact remains that Texas is better.
The crazy thing is, the Longhorns might not have the best player in the game. Even though he’s only been back for a week after that shoulder injury, Sam Bradford looks like he’s playing in a different league. He looks that much better, that much more refined than everyone else around him. Maybe that’s a reflection on the rest of his teammates, but frankly, I think it speaks volumes about just how special Bradford is.
It’s always good to head south of the Red River with the best player, and if he happens to be the best quarterback, all the better. But that advantage is not enough for the Sooners to overcome the ones the Longhorns have.
OU receivers vs. UT secondary: edge to Texas.
OU offensive line vs. UT defensive line: edge to Texas.
UT receivers vs. OU secondary: edge to Texas.
UT offensive line vs. OU defensive line: edge to Oklahoma.
The most glaring advantage for the Longhorns is the least sexy. Talk about offensive and defensive lines, and most people’s eyes glaze over. But the fact is, the Sooners have serious deficiencies on their offensive line. The loss of Brian Simmons only adds to their woes.
Listen, everyone knows that this rivalry breeds the unexpected. A couple years back, Jason White and Vince Young were the stars in a game that finished 12-0. So, yes, anything can happen. But here’s what I think will — Texas 34, OU 24.
More from The Q&A: Stanford White
Douglass High School named its football field after legendary coach Stanford White on Friday night.
The man spent almost three decades as the head coach of one of the state’s most revered programs. There were dozens of wins, a bunch of playoff appearances and even one state championship. But that isn’t what makes White proudest.
Jenni Carlson: I suspect you probably see many of your former players around town, but with homecoming and the field naming, there are even more around. When you think about those men, what makes you most proud?
Stanford White: What they’ve gone on to become many of them. But when you’re coaching those kids, you’re so focused on pushing them as players and getting them to be their best in that respect, you just don’t realize. You can’t see what’s ahead for those kids. Some of the ones that you thought would never go to anybody’s college or anything like that … have gone on to become successes.
JC: I suspect there are lot of good fathers and husbands in the bunch, too.
SW: Absolutely. There’s one guy in particular that was one of the best football players that we had. He was an aggressive kid in high school. A good kid, but just had a mean streak in him. Long story short, he spent a short time in prison, but now, he is the model father. He is at every parent-teacher conference. He is the strictest parent with his kids. But again, you would’ve never thought that when he was a kid.
JC: That is great. You never know what impact you’ll have on kids, do you?
SW: That’s why you have to treat every kid, every child who plays for it — it doesn’t matter what his athletic ability is, whether he’s a kid on the bench who doesn’t get to play a whole lot or whether he’s your superstar — they’re all equals. And one day, they’ll all be adults. You have to treat them that way, and they appreciate it.
Yes, Bradford will
News is out that Sam Bradford will start against Baylor.
That turns a potentially ho-hum day into an afternoon packed with intrigue. I suspected that Oklahoma would throttle Baylor and turn the second half into a second-stringer’s dream, and even though I think the Sooners are still the heavy favorite, this game has all sort of interesting questions.
What will Bradford look like? How will he play after more than a month off?
How will his arm look? Will there be signs of fatigue?
Will Kevin Wilson’s playcalling change? Does Bradford’s presence make that much of a difference?
For so long, the biggest question surrounding OU football was, “When will Sam Bradford play?” Now that we have the answer to that, we have plenty more questions that need answering.
Saturday can’t come fast enough.
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More from The Q&A: Daniel Cormier
Former Oklahoma State and Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier has turned his competitive juices to mixed martial arts.
He made his debut in the sport last week, more than a year after his wrestling career came to an unceremonious end. He suffered a severe kidney problem after his weight cut before the 2008 Olympics and was unable to compete in Beijing.
Now, Cormier is back in the fray.
Jenni Carlson: What was it like to be competing again? Obviously, a different sport, but still a competition.
Daniel Cormie: It was awesome. To have those competitive nerves before the fight. To have those butterflies walking to the cage. Then to actually get that feeling after a year of doing no competitive thing … as soon as that cage closed, I was OK. People say, “DC, how were you so composed in there?” It’s because I know that I’ve competed my whole entire life. The funny thing is, I’d never been in a cage before.
JC: Really?
DC: Not even in training. We trained in a ring.
JC: With the decision to go to MMA, did you give yourself any sort of out? Like, try it for a month or two and see what happens? Or were you all in from the beginning?
DC: You know, I kind of thought like that a little bit, but if I’m going to do something, I have to commit to it a hundred percent. And I did. I went out to California and trained hard. Training isn’t a problem. I did that my whole life. But getting hit initially was like, “Whoa.” But then after you get over that, the initial shock of that, it’s really not that hard.
JC: Those first few punches, you’re probably thinking, “Hey, ref, where’s the whistle?”
DC: As a wrestler, I’ve got that good ace in the hole; I just take them down. Guys start kicking my tail too much, I take ‘em down, and once they’re down, it’s harder for them to really compete with me because of my ability to hold guys down on the mat. But you’re got to be really careful with the submission holds. I really don’t feel those yet as well as I need to. As I progress in my career, I’m going to have to feel them better, but right now, I think I’m doing pretty good where I am.
JC: When you progress in your career? You mean, like, when you’re six months or a year in? You’re in the infancy of this.
DC: I’m a baby in this thing. I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback on my first fight. It was on national TV. I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback on my ability to stay composed. That goes back to wrestling with holding up under pressure, but I’m not stupid. I’m not a delusional person. I’m not going to sit here and say I’m a world beater because I’m not. I’m just really learning. In time, I think I will be pretty good at it. Like wrestling, I didn’t step onto a wrestling mat like I was a natural. It takes some time. That ended up working out pretty good for me. I’m committed to this sport, and with the commitment I’ve shown to wrestling, if I do the same thing, I’ll be OK.
JC: So, what’s next?
DC: I’m trying to fight again before the end of the year. It’s awesome because you train hard and your compensation is so over the top. When you were trying to go to wrestling competitions, you couldn’t find sponsors. Now, you’ve got people just throwing sponsorships at you. It’s just insane.
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More from The Q&A: Courtney Paris
Courtney Paris just finished her rookie season in the WNBA.
Even though she’s finished her season, she’s staying busy. The former Oklahoma Sooner superstar has made several appearances in Tulsa as the city works to land a WNBA team. She is also preparing to head overseas to play this fall and winter with a professional team in Israel.
All the while, though, she’s motivated by a rookie season that was a struggle. Sacramento finished 12-22, the worst record in the WNBA, and went through a coaching change mid-way through the year. Paris had her own struggles early, though she grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds in the Monarchs’ season finale.
Jenni Carlson: Let’s talk about your rookie season. I wrote about you right before Sacramento played Seattle on national TV. You were struggling to get off the bench, but that game seemed like a turning point.
Courtney Paris: For me, it was all about just being patient. That was the hardest thing, especially when you want to be out on the court. Your team’s not doing well. You’re struggling. It’s hard to wait for things to change. That was just a personal growth point for me. I went up to another level. The crazy thing is, a couple games after that, we changed coaches and now I had to learn a new system. That brought on its own stresses.
JC: With the coaching change being in your rookie year, did you almost get to the end and feel like, “Man, I’m just getting the hang of this”?
CP: I think everybody feels that way. We won our last game, and the second half of the season, we almost played well enough to make the playoffs. If we would’ve done that in the first half, we’d still be playing. But I’m just going to use the second half of the season into this overseas season. I’m just really excited about the opportunity to play basketball, see the world and make money doing it.
JC: Oh, yeah, the paychecks.
CP: It’s not a bad job.
JC: Did you make any fun purchases with that WNBA money?
CP: I have not. In college, (twin sister, Ashley, and I) scrapped together and were able to buy a home and a car. Now, you’re paying those mortgage payments and car notes, and it’s not as hard as it was in college. I’ve just been able to save, so that’s the cool part.
JC: Most people your age aren’t able to save much, so well done.
CP: You know, I’m not much of a shopper. The only time I ever buy anything is when I absolutely need it or I feel like I will never be able to get this again. Otherwise, I don’t buy it. Ashley’s kind of the exact opposite.
JC: I know you won one of the WNBA’s Community Assist Awards. What did that mean to you?
CP: A lot. I’m one of those people that even when everything isn’t going as well as it could be … there’s something you can do. Like in college, if you’re having a bad shooting night, at least you can rebound. This season was a struggle as far as the way our team finished. But I feel like you can always impact something or somebody. For me, being able to do work through my foundation … it was like, basketball’s not going the way I want, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a responsibility to the community.
JC: You mention your foundation. How did the Courtney Paris Pay It Forward Foundation come to be?
CP: It might even tie in a little with the whole guarantee thing back in college. (Laughs.) I just feel like I’ve had so many opportunities in my life, and I’ve been able to do so many great things, but I wouldn’t have been able to do them without help from other people. I just want to pay that back to the community. I want to help the community, help people the way I was helped. You can’t always go back and help the same people that helped you, but you can help the next little kid.
