Sooner Magic…

It was almost like the Sooner softballers were hungover from the previous night’s celebration as they faced OSU on Saturday.  The championship dance routine would have been perfect at the end of the Bedlam series, but not the day before.  Then again, possibly our Sooners were toying with the Lady Ags.  Regardless, it was simply a matter of time before OSU snatched defeat from the jaws of victory once again. 

Nicole May got off to her normal slow start by giving up a walk and a home run early in the game.  After that, she settled in and did a really nice job both as the starter and as the reliever.  Here’s one for the books…Hope Trautwein got the win even though she walked four of the six batters she faced.  That’s softball for you.   

Of course, for OU fans who have seen this act before, the Jocelyn Alo grand slam could not have come at a better time.  The greatest hitter in softball history is normally pitched around by coaches in order to avoid her sultan of swat routine.  Unfortunately for the OSU coach, he was left with no options.  Walk Alo intentionally would mean walking in the tying run.

Coach G. bit the bullet and pitched to Alo and right on cue, she goes yard with a grand slam and as they say the rest is history.  Granted, there was a bit of drama later in the game, but for the most part the game was over at that point. 

As I said before the series began, I wanted a sweep and as the game went into the 5^th I realized how badly I wanted for that sweep to happen.  A loss in that last game would have undone all the good that had been created in the previous two.  Fortunately, Jocelyn and Sooner Magic were not about to let us down.

Now, we are one step closer to another Natty…    

Boomer Sooner…

Bedlam softball…

Hopefully with our move to the SEC, this Bedlam thing will go away, but until that happens, we are stuck with it.  We will also be stuck all week with the incessant overuse of the term by the local media to describe the upcoming softball weekend.  Those guys love to stir the pot and give OSU an extra boost any time they can.  This is one of those times. 

This OSU softball team is the best bunch to hit Stillwater since Sandy Fischer was coaching the Cowgirls back in the day.  Fischer owned the state in those days as she won 901 games during her career.  Fischer was forced into retirement in 2001 as Patty Gasso began breathing down her neck.  Patty needs to keep that same pressure on Kenny Gajewski, the current OSU coach.  That’s right, no wiggle room.

This week, the Cowgirls will attempt to duplicate or even better last year’s win production over the Sooners.  Last year the Cowgirls beat the Sooners for the first time in over a decade.  The good news is that last year’s win came in Stillwater while this year’s games will be played in Norman.  The bad news is that this year’s OSU team is much better than the one that Coach G. put out there last year. 

Here’s the bottom line…the Sooners need to sweep OSU in order to shut these guys up and more importantly to nail down the #1 seed throughout the NCAA tournament.   If we are as good as we say we are, we need a series sweep this weekend.

Boomer Sooner…

Be careful what you ask for…

“Little brother” may be the biggest threat to wrecking OU’s plans for another softball national championship.  That’s right, it’s going to get really interesting over the next month in college softball. Here’s the rub…OSU is really good and much of this has to do with Patty Gasso’s act of kindness.   Of course, in her defense, she was probably taking advice from Joe C., the biggest Aggie lover of them all.     

Kenny Grajewski, the current OSU head coach was a Florida assistant coach when the OSU job opened up a few years back.  Patty Gasso recommended Coach G. for the OSU position.  Oh well, what’s the harm, she must have thought.  The harm is that there was a time when OSU dominated the Oklahoma softball landscape.  It has taken Patty Gasso twenty years to turn things around.  I for one don’t want to give that up. 

Keep in mind that coach Grajewski’s team beat the Sooners for the first time in over a decade last year and they have added two pitchers to that team, including last year’s Texas ace, Miranda Elish.  That pitching staff held Texas to 3 runs for an entire weekend while OU’s pitchers gave up four runs in one game to the Horns. 

What’s my point…my point is that we must start taking this OSU team seriously…they are loaded this year and they still have the same coach.  Coach G. was tutored by former OU baseball player turned softball coach Tim Walton.  This guy uses the same approach to softball as a baseball guy would.  Go with your starter and then shut the door with your hard throwing closer.  It’s a time-honored formula that works.

This is really my point…OU people need to stop worrying about OSU.  Remember how it felt last November after OSU beat us in football.  They’re not our friend…they would love nothing more than to derail our quest for another National Championship.   

Boomer Sooner…

Jordy Bahl’s post…

“Glory goes to God in every outcome. We are undeserving of the abilities, relationships, and passion he’s gifted to us.  Its humbling being able to wear your heart on your sleeve battling under his name.  We are so unworthy of these things, but his love is so much greater.  #butGod…

Sooner Baseball…

Unfortunately, I spent four hours Saturday night that I will never get back watching OU baseball blow a four-run lead to OSU in Stillwater.  That was the second time in the last week for the Sooners who blew a six-run lead to Texas in Dallas.  Yes, this is frustrating, but given what this team has been through, I’m impressed with their resolve and fight.

Why does the athletic department schedule home baseball games in Tulsa, Dallas and Amarillo.  As if this were not bad enough, we play all our Big 12 road games against top ten teams, OSU, Texas Tech and TCU.  With Joe C. as a friend, who needs enemies.  The Sooners started out the year with double digit losses on the schedule so getting a decent baseball regionals spot was not going to happen. I’ve heard that Omaha and the baseball world series is nice, but until something changes in Norman, that ain’t going to happen,

I agree that Joe C. deserves credit for his support of the football program, but why not do the same for baseball.  Possibly, he was cut from his 8^th grade baseball team and still holds a grudge.  In any case, these guys and this sport deserve better than this. 

Boomer Sooner…

Sooner Magic…

After last year’s Bedlam football game where Sooner Magic never happened, I have decided to focus this thought on softball for the time being.  The Sooner softballers waited until the last minute on Sunday to make Sooner Magic happen. 

Of course, we got a little help from the Baylor left fielder, but still.  I have been in her position, and I felt badly for her, but then again, she became part of Sooner Magic lore.    

I was never convinced the Sooners were going to lose that game on Sunday but winning it the way they did was perfect.  The Sooner softballers used a little Sooner Magic to keep their winning streak alive.  I’m sure that back in the Bud days, it took a number of bad plays by opponents to keep the Sooner 47 game win streak intact.    

Of course, the most impressive part of the OU weekend was the Sooner pitching staff that gave up only two runs for the weekend and one hit in the finale.  To have three pitchers of this caliber is phenomenal…this team is going to be hard to beat. 

Boomer Sooner…

Sooner Magic…

After last year’s Bedlam football game where Sooner Magic never happened, I have decided to focus this thought on softball for the time being.  The Sooner softballers waited until the last minute on Sunday to make Sooner Magic happen. 

Of course, we got a little help from the Baylor left fielder, but still.  I have been in her position, and I felt badly for her, but then again, she became part of Sooner Magic lore.    

I was never convinced the Sooners were going to lose that game on Sunday but winning it the way they did was perfect.  The Sooner softballers used a little Sooner Magic to keep their winning streak alive.  I’m sure that back in the Bud days, it took a number of bad plays by opponents to keep the Sooner 47 game win streak intact.    

Of course, the most impressive part of the OU weekend was the Sooner pitching staff that gave up only two runs for the weekend and one hit in the finale.  To have three pitchers of this caliber is phenomenal…this team is going to be hard to beat. 

Boomer Sooner…

OU softball…

To say that the Sooners have dominated the competition so far this year would be an understatement.  Here is your current OU softball score card. 

The Sooners have won 21 of their 25 games by run rule…The Sooners’ team batting average is .391.   The Sooner pitching staff is 25-0 with a team ERA of .91.  If you only count Hope Trautwein, Nicole May and Jordy Bahl in the mix, the team ERA drops to .66.  OU’s fielding percentage is a whopping .970. These stats remind me of a player winning the triple crown.  

Included in the 25 wins are three wins against top 25 teams in UCLA, Tennessee, and Arizona.  This past weekend the Sooners beat two Big Ten teams by a combined score of 35-1.

With this behind us, we can now see what we’re made of as the Sooners will travel to Lexington to play the 12^th ranked Kentucky Wildcats Tuesday.  Then we enter Big 12 conference play. 

At this point, Patty’s biggest worry is keeping her starters focused.  Then again, with the competition level at every position off the charts, keeping their attention should not be a problem.  Speaking of competition, Patty has just signed another top five class that includes the #1 player/pitcher in the country for next year. 

And they say, we’re only a football school…

Boomer Sooner…

The best of all worlds…

Sometime schools are football schools, and sometimes they’re not…the biggest difference between the two is that places like OU use football to provide top of the line athletic programs across the board.  Oklahoma and Kansas are perfect examples of the dichotomy between the two.

In the latest USA Today revenue rankings for athletic departments OU generated over $163 million dollars for the 2020/21 school year which ranks the Sooners at # 8 in this category.  Kansas is no where to be seen on this list.  

At OU, the non-football/non-revenue sports work extra hard to pay their own way and OU football takes care of the rest.

Here is proof positive of this is working out for us…

OU sports currently ranked #1 nationally…softball, men’s golf, and women’s gymnastics

OU sports currently ranked #2 nationally…women’s tennis, men’s gymnastics…

Additional rankings

#17 men’s tennis

# 21 women’s basketball

# 24 wrestling…

Kansas needs a football program in the worst way.  Without it, the athletic program sucks across the board. KU basketball comes close to paying for itself, but Bill Self’s $10 million-dollar yearly salary takes care of any money that the basketball program generates… 

OU has the best of all worlds.   We should be proud…

Boomer Sooner…

So, you’re saying there’s a chance…

This is one of my favorite movie lines of all time as Lloyd (Jim Carey) in “Dumb and Dumber” is rebuffed by Mary Swanson.  She shared with him in the nicest way possible that his chances were not particularly good, sort like one in a million. 

That’s the way I have always felt about OU building a new basketball arena in my lifetime. Today, however I’m increasing the odds from one in a million to possibly one in a thousand. That’s right…I’m saying there’s a chance. 

The stars may be aligning themselves for this to happen. The latest stars that are coming into alignment are the two new basketball hires.  I can’t imagine either one of these up-and-coming coaches relocating to Norman without promises being made in this area. 

For the record, the LNC is a nice venue, but from a basketball standpoint, it just won’t get it done.  The building was built almost 50 years ago as a concert/basketball venue and has actually served both causes reasonably well at times. During the Billy Tubbs era, the place rocked for basketball.  

Today, with everyone else having a home court advantage, the Sooners are better off playing in the Paycom Center where the seats are near the playing surface. In particular, Porter Moser’s style of play needs a boisterous crowd.    

Here’s a thought…let’s keep the LNC with its spacious floor plan for concerts and for OU’s award-winning gymnastics teams. Next, let’s take the momentum and the extra money from our move to the SEC and build a new basketball arena within walking distance of student housing.  

Maybe it’s the three-game winning streak that has gotten me worked up about this subject, but in any case I’m saying there’s a chance.  

Boomer Sooner…