Orange-White game festivities
From the Oklahoma State athletics office:
OSU Spring Game To Be Preceded By Competitions, Followed By Keith Anderson Concert
Football, tennis, concert include free admission
STILLWATER – Fans of Oklahoma State athletics may want to begin making plans now to be in Stillwater for a full day of activities on April 12 when the agenda will include the annual Orange-White spring football game as well as a free concert by Columbia recording artist Keith Anderson.
The day’s athletic events will include men’s tennis, softball, baseball and the spring game, followed by the concert in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Admission is free to the tennis match, football game as well as the concert.
Softball begins the day’s activities at noon with a Big 12 contest against Iowa State at the Cowgirl Softball complex. OSU is off to a 7-4 start and looks to be much improved in its second season under Rich Wieligman.
At 1 p.m., Frank Anderson’s baseball squad will host Nebraska in what normally proves to be a pivotal Big 12 baseball series. Last season, the Cowboys came within one game of the school’s 20th appearance in the College World Series.
A time is yet to be set for the men’s tennis match as the Cowboys and Baylor will meet in a battle of perennial Big 12 contenders. OSU registered a 4-0 upset win over the fourth-ranked Bears earlier this month.
The Cowboy football squad concludes its spring drills with the annual Orange-White game at Boone Pickens Stadium at 4 p.m. Oklahoma State is coming off a 49-33 win over Indiana in the Insight Bowl.
The concert will start following the football game. Anderson is an OSU graduate and a native of Miami, Okla. He is a Grammy-award winning songwriter and his most recent top-10 hits as a performer include “Pickin’ Wildflowers” and “Every Time I Hear Your Name”.
OSU baseball: Season starts Friday
#27 Oklahoma Statevs. Gonzaga
Feb. 22-24 — 4 p.m., 1 p.m. (DH), 1 p.m. Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000)
Oklahoma State
The Cowboys are coming off their best-ever season under head coach Frank Anderson as they finished 42-21 and advanced to the second Super Regional in school history, where they fell one win shy of advancing to the College World Series.
OSU returns just two position starters from a year ago, but both players, Rebel Ridling and Jordy Mercer, are All-Big 12 Conference performers. The pitching staff returns seven hurlers who made at least 11 appearances last season.The Cowboys were picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 Conference in a preseason vote by the league¹s coaches.
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James Dickey to Arkansas State?
by andrea cohen
A day after Dickey Nutt resigned as the basketball coach at Arkansas State, Oklahoma State assistant coach James Dickey’s name has come up in several
Arkansas news reports as a possible replacement.
Dickey said Wednesday afternoon that he has not been contacted by
Arkansas
State.
“I do have interest in being a head coach again and I have strong relationships at
Arkansas
State, but I have not heard from (
Arkansas
State),” Dickey said. “My main priority now is helping this (
Oklahoma
State) team and helping coach Sean (Sutton) win games.”
Dickey, an Arkansas native and graduate of Central Arkansas, was the head coach at Texas Tech from 1991-2001 after serving on staffs for Eddie Sutton at both Arkansas and
Kentucky. He has been an assistant at OSU since 2002.
jinxing the streak
by andrea cohen
The preview I wrote for Saturday’s Oklahoma State basketball game was all about the Cowboys’ road losing streak, which appeared primed to extend to 20 games. Timing is everything, right? As we all know by 7:35 a.m. on Sunday, OSU upset the Aggies in College Station yesterday. Big win. Huge win. For a bunch of reasons.
For me personally, it’s nice to stop writing about the streak (trust me, it was getting old. Although, having just written all about it, it was quite easy to recall the facts to talk about breaking it). Clearly the Cowboys were ready to stop hearing about it. I got several teasing comments from players and coaches yesterday — not in a complaining or obnoxious way, which is why these guys are good to deal with — but in a “won’t it be nice to write about something else?” way. Yes, it will.
On the agenda today is a Monday Insider, likely about Byron Eaton. During the game yesterday I got a text from a friend who is a big OSU basketball fan saying: “Changed my mind about Eaton.” I think a lot of people are feeling that way after the way he played Wednesday and Saturday, so we’ll take a look at him this afternoon.
Halftime thoughts from Bramlage Coliseum
How in the world do you turn the ball over 14 times against the No. 20 team in the country and only trail by five at the half?
Manhattan, Kan., appears to be bizarro world, because that’s what we’ve got going here.
The answer, I suppose, is that OSU has hit some shots. The Cowboys are shooting 47 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3, which helps make up for all those turnovers. We’re about to resume play, we’ll see how this one plays out.
Keeping the Cowboys motivated
by Andrea Cohen
On Monday I wrote an “insider” story about how difficult it would be for Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton to keep his guys motivated. At 10-11, OSU’s NCAA Tournament shot is a long shot, and six losses in a row can take its toll. I’m not — and I wasn’t then — saying Sutton couldn’t keep his guys together, just saying it was a big, big challenge.
So yesterday, I went to practice to see how it was going and saw was one of the most spirited and entertaining practices of the year. The trash-talking between guys was, um, intense, to put it lightly. The orange team (Sidorakis, Harris, Moses, Adams and Hatch) beat the black team (Eaton, Dove, Muonelo, Anderson and Thomas). When the teams were tied at the end of regulation every guy on both teams declared they wanted to play overtime.
“Very competitive,” Sutton said after practice. “Good practice.”
Who knew we were witnessing history on Saturday?
I just got three phone calls in about 4 minutes telling me Bob Knight just resigned. One of them said: “Well, you witnessed Bob Knight’s last game.”
Wow, I thought, I did.
Me and about 8,350 other people. Which, by the way, makes me smile and shake my head. If anybody had known that was Knight’s last game, the place would have been packed. Instead it was half-empty and everything about the game from the crowd to the basketball was totally lackluster. Strange way to leave, but then again Bob Knight’s a strange guy.
At Big 12 media days back in October, Knight spent his time on the podium discussing the World Series. Baseball, no basketball. A little horse racing, more baseball. He ended it by thanking the media for “recognizing my exceptional talent in analyzing baseball here this morning.” Entertaining, but strange nonetheless.
Thinking back, I’m glad I asked him a question on Saturday, in his last postgame press conference (for the record, he didn’t really answer the question, just started talking about something else, but whatever).
I’m dying to hear why the man resigned, and I have to think it was unexpected. I spent 20 minutes on the phone with his son Pat, then the head coach designate, on Friday morning for a story I wrote about him and Sean Sutton’s friendship on Saturday. Nothing in my conversation with Pat led me to believe Knight was on the verge of retirement; in fact, Pat said kind of abstractly that he would talk to Sean about the transition when it was imminent, but he definitely didn’t say it as though it was four days away from happening.
But I get the feeling that with Bob Knight, you really never know, no matter who you are.
Wrestling: Coleman Scott earns honor
Oklahoma State senior 133-pounder Coleman Scott is this week’s Big 12 Wrestler of the Week, the conference office announced today.
Scott claimed wins over a pair of top-10 opponents last week to lead the Cowboys to victories over two teams that were both ranked No. 1 at one point of this season when he handed No. 7 Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State a 6-2 defeat as part of OSU’s 16-15 win over the No. 9 Cyclones last Friday, then came back to beat No. 5 Mack Reiter of Minnesota by a convincing 8-2 decision as part of the Cowboys’ 18-14 win over the No. 4 Gophers on Sunday.
Including those two wins, Scott has won 18 consecutive matches, highlighted by five wins over top-10 opposition. Four of Scott’s last six wins have come over opponents ranked in the top 10 nationally. On the year, the three-time All-American owns a 24-2 record to go with a 15-1 mark in duals.
For all of the success that Scott has achieved in his career, this is the first time he has been honored as the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week. He joins teammate Jake Dieffenbach as Cowboys to have earned the honor this season, as Dieffenbach secured the recognition the week of Dec. 3-9.
Scott’s honor marks the 29th time an Oklahoma State wrestler has been recognized as Big 12 Wrestler of the Week since the conference formed in 1996-97.
The Cowboys are on the road this week, competing at Oregon on Feb. 8 and at UC Davis on Feb. 10.
Juco invasion
By Mike Baldwin
‘ Staff Writer
OSU will officially sign its 2008 class on Wednesday. But most of the newcomers who could most impact the 2008 season already are on campus. Seven junior college signees, and high school safety Markelle Martin, will participate in spring ball. Other than the nation’s No. 1 kicker joining the Cowboys this summer, it’s the players already on campus that could have the biggest immediate impact, especially defensively.
After talking to the junior college coaches who coached OSU’s newest additions, it’s apparent spring practice will be more interesting than usual. Besides monitoring several young players’ progress like redshirt freshman defensive end Richetti Jones, watching the junior college players in March and April will provide some insight into the 2008 season.
Spring practice should give us some answers. Spring practice starts on March 3. The spring game is scheduled for April 12.
Bedlam Wrestling: Tickets on Sale
Bedlam wrestling hits Norman on Feb. 21 at the Howard McCasland Field House and Sooner fans wanting to attend the match may buy tickets starting Friday, Feb. 1.
Reserved tickets for the OU-OSU dual scheduled for 7 p.m. are $15, while general admission tickets are $10. Group rates are also available. To purchase, please contact the OU Athletics Ticket Office at 405-325-2424 or 800-456-GoOU. Admission is free for OU students with a valid student I.D.
The match between the in-state rivals will mark the second meeting of the year. The Cowboys defeated the Sooners by a 21-9 final tally on Dec. 2.
