Monthly Archives: September 2017

Be careful what you ask for… 

Back when the original Big 12 imploded, the new Big 12 was looking for new teams. TCU and West Virginia made the cut. Who knows why West Virginia made it in, but we know for sure about TCU. For some unknown reason, T. Boone Pickens insisted that the Big 12 take the Horned Frogs.

As they say, be careful what you ask for, you may just get it…

It can only be assumed that T. Boone believed that his Cowboys would reap huge recruiting benefits by playing in the talent rich Dallas area every other year. He may have also assumed that the lowly Horned Frogs would never pose an on-field threat to his boys.

TCU used its Big 12 invite to build a new state of the art on-campus football stadium. I have seen this facility first hand and let me tell you, it is pretty special.   Recruits love new facilities; TCU’s recruiting has taken off as a result.

At the same time, the biggest mistake made by T. Boone was overlooking TCU head coach Gary Patterson. A Bill Snyder protégé, this guy can flat out coach.

The cream de crème in all of this is the fact that T. Boone overruled OSU A.D. Mike Holder as Holder hoped to step up OSU’s non-conference schedule. Gundy insisted on playing cream puffs while Holder wanted the schedule to include legitimate Power Five opponents.

Playing a physical Power Five team after playing three high school teams will bite you in the butt every time. And of course this happened on Saturday.

All of this came to life on Saturday as TCU spanked the Ags. Gary Patterson schooled Mike Gundy as the Horned Frogs used man-football against OSU.

Additional pleasure can be taken by those of us that believe that whatever goes around comes around.   A Big 12 team should not be beating up on the likes of South Alabama.

A blind man could have seen this one coming. OSU was forced to play a physical, athletic, well-coached team and paid the price. In one felled swoop the dreams of Cowboy fans came crashing down. They can kiss their thoughts of a National Championship and a Heisman Trophy away.

As for T. Boone, this could not have happened to a better guy. Is it possible that OSU’s elder statesman is not as smart as he or his fans had been led to believe?

Regardless, life as we know it can now return to normal.

Boomer Sooner…

 

 

Baker…taking another look…

As you may have expected my last blog created differing opinions.  Of course, this is exactly what blogging is meant to do…

Some felt that the Baker’s planting of the OU flag at midfield was totally classless.   Others took a middle of the road approach and appreciated Baker’s apology.  Other fans ate it up…and believed that the move will allow OU to regain its swagger.

I suspect that many of the first group are “the color orange” people who will hate OU no matter what they do. For these guys I refer them to the fact that their fans rush the field or the court everytime their Cowpatties win a game….give me a break…act like you’ve been there before.

The apologist group means well and I appreciate a heartfelt apology myself when merited.  As a coach, I never rubbed it in and never wanted to show up the other guy.

I also suggest that Baker would never have apologized, heart-felt or otherwise, for his move had it not been for David Boren.  Boren is the ultimate nice guy and politician who always sees the bigger picture for his University.   Boren would love for OU to be part of the Big Ten someday and he believes that keeping the Buckeye brass happy can’t hurt.

Ultimately, as an OU football fan, it comes down to our desire to return OU football to its former glory.   This will not happen without swagger.  Bob Stoops was the ultimate nice guy and during the last ten years of his regime OU had lost its swagger.  OU also lost its place at the final-four table.   

Two things jump out at me at this point.  Swaggar may put us perilously close to the edge at times, but without that swagger winning in Dallas and Stillwater this year becomes a lot harder.

Move forward to a scene on November 4 as the orange hoard rushes the field after a win over the Sooners in Stillwater.  That is a scene I do not want to see.  If this means allowing Baker to plant the OU flag at Ohio State to restore OU’s swagger, so be it.

Boomer Sooner…

 

 

 

 

 

Baker…

You gotta love this guy…Not only does he go out and beat The OSU, he follows his Heisman-like performance by sticking the OU flag in the heart of the OSU logo at midfield.

For the most part I’m pretty much a laid back kind of guy who believes in letting old dogs lay. However in this case, I thought this move was pretty cool.  Last year’s Ohio State embarrassment of the Sooners had been eating at all of us for a whole year.  For that matter, when was the last time OU fans were treated to this kind of emotional signature win.   It’s been a while.

You’ve got to love a guy who plays with his emotions on his sleeve.   Without those emotions that win in Columbus does not happen.

Just like all OU fans I adore Sam Bradford, but let’s get real…as talented as Sam was as an OU quarterback, he could not have pulled off a win over the Buckeyes at the Shoe.   Sam would have ably led his team, but when pure emotions were needed to fire up the Sooners, it would not have happened.  And of course, Sam would never have staked the OU flag at midfield.

Possibly after several years we would tire of Baker’s antics, but for the here and now, this is exactly what the doctor ordered.

For this year, I like OU’s chances any time we go on the road for a big game. Baker eats this stuff up and he makes sure his fellow players do the same.  Going into Saturday’s game I was simply hoping the Sooners could hang with Ohio State.  I discounted the value of Baker Mayfield’s grit and his love for the Sooners.

Now…all bets are off.

Boomer Sooner…

 

 

Week one…

…OU is pretty good…If the running game improves this offense will be lethal.  Does this mean that we will beat Ohio State… Probably not…after all we are talking The OSU and we are talking playing at the Horse-shoe?  The key for next Saturday night will be for the Sooners to hang with the Buckeyes. A road loss to a team the caliber of Ohio State will not hurt the Sooners down the road.

I was encouraged by OU’s defense, I was very encouraged about backup quarterback Kyler Murray and Trey Sermon and the tight end game.  We knew that Murray could run, but on several occasions on Saturday, he really threaded the needle.  This year we will have tight end game with two guys with great hands. Trey Sermon will be the next great OU running back.

…Once again, the Oklahoma media has crowned the other OSU as its 2017 Big 12 and National Champion.  Granted, OSU’s offense will be pretty good this year. The problem for Aggoot fans is that they have the same defense.    You can only do so much with a bunch of three star athletes.

The other problem for the other OSU is that they are an ankle sprain to Rudolph from being very average.  Their backup quarterback is a walk-on.  At the same time give the Pokes credit, I have them as the third best team in Big 12…

Speaking of the 2nd best team…West Virginia will be pretty good on both sides of the ball this year.  Thank God we play these guys at home this year.  As for the northern Ags, they catch the Mountaineers on the road the week between their Texas and OU games.  Bad timing.

…While TCU beat up on a lowly Jackson State 62-0 on Saturday night, it is hard to score that many points against air.   Gary Patterson is like a ghost buster; he will be on a mission from God this year.

Look for the Horned Frogs to possibly throw a wrench into OSU’s National Championship plans on 9/23.  The Ags will have waltzed through three cupcakes at this point.  Going up against a physical college team after playing three high school teams can be mentally tough.

…Texas sucks…Maryland is better than some may think, but there is no excuse for losing to a bunch of turtles at home.  As we have said before Texas is at least a year away.

The good news is that Texas lost, the bad news is that the Big 12 Conference keeps losing to teams in the eastern time zone.   Texas to Maryland, West Virginia to Va. Tech and Baylor to Liberty College.  For a conference that was on life support going to the season this is not good news.

…Oh by the way, we saw the first nail hammered into Kevin Sumlin’s coffin Sunday night.  How can you give up 34 unanswered points in a quarter and a half?  That is probably the question being asked by rich A&M alums this morning…

…Finally, the Baptist Bowl was played in Waco on Saturday.  The game was won by Liberty College.  The Athletic Director at Liberty (Jerry Falwell’s old school) is the same guy that was deaf, dumb and blind as Baylor’s A.D. back during Baylor’s war on women.

I can say this as a guy that grew up Baptist.  Only a Baptist school like Liberty would hire this grease-ball to run its athletic program.  I was never a fan of Jerry Falwell or his Moral Majority crap so I am not surprised by the move.  Baptists should know and do better…

Okay, back to football.  It is now just five days until the game we have been waiting for some 365 days.  Of course as some will say, be careful what you ask for…at the same time I will be surprised if the Sooners don’t play better this year. This year we have athletes on defense instead of a bunch of guys masquerading as football players…

Boomer Sooner…