OU Sooners top games #4-5

SoonerSports.com has released #'s 4 and 5 in their Top 10 Sooner football wins of the 2000's, and to me they're both shocking in that they're rated this low.

#5 is the 2000 A&M Game

OU trailed 24-10 before scoring 22 in the fourth quarter en route to a 35-31 victory in front of 87,000 plus at Kyle Field. The Aggies had only lost 6 times at home over the previous 12 years, but Torrence Marshall's INT return was the epitome of Sooner Magic.

#4 is the 2000 Nebraska game

This to me should've been 1 or 2. It was legitimately billed as the 'Game of the Century' part 2. Coming into the game, which followed a bye week for OU, the Sooners were ranked #2 in the BCS poll right behind the Huskers. Nebraska scored long TD's on each of its first two drives and things looked bleak for OU. But Josh Heupel and the Sooners dominated the Blackshirts in the second quarter with 24 points and taking a 10 point lead into the break. Derrick Strait opened the third quarter with an INT return for a TD to seal the win. I'll never forget seeing the oranges fly onto the field and fans tear down the goal post.

The reason I felt that was so awesome was because two years earlier, I was sitting in the sound endzone watching OU lose to Cal and had a conversation about how crappy the stadium was looking and how it would be amazing to see an upper deck on the east side of Memorial Stadium. Someone said, "I'm sure they'd get the money for that if they could come up and win a national title or two," to which I sarcastically replied, "yeah, I'll just sit right here and wait for that to happen."

The fall of 2000 was my senior year of high school, and that made it even more special. I'd been a lifelong Sooner fan, but let's be honest, it's really hard for a teenager to intently follow a crappy team game in and game out. The fact that OU was rarely televised made it even worse. But 2000 changed that. It was magical. The Nebraska game solidified the fact that OU football was really back. The wins over Texas and K-State were great, but had the Huskers gone on to beat OU, chances are the rest of that season wouldn't have really mattered.

Anyhoo, with three spots left, I'm not really sure what to expect. I'm guessing the 2001 Orange Bowl will be number one. 2002 OU-Alabama could be up there. So could 2004 OU-Texas A&M, 2002 OU-Texas, or the 2006 Big XII Title game against Nebraska. Stay tuned...

Oklahoma City Thunder?

Click on the link for the article.

Apparently, the NBA franchise formerly known as the Sonics will be the Oklahoma City Thunder, in a report from KOCO. 'The Thunder' won an online, fan voting contest conducted by The Oklahoman. If this is indeed going to be the new name of OUR basketball team in this great state, it's going to have to grow on me, and fast.

I don't so much like it, for a few reasons...

1) I don't like team names that don't end in 's.' Only six other professional teams (in the big 4 sports) do it. But the Jazz, the Lightning, the Heat, the Magic, the Wild, and the Avalanche to me are all pretty cheesy, with the possible exception of the Colorado Avalanche. Only two baseball teams fall in this category, sort of (both of the 'Sox' but at least their name sounds plural).

Shoot, of the 119 Div 1 college football teams (and I only count 1-A as 'Division 1'), only 12 have names that don't end in S, and some of them at least use a plural form of the name (Navy Midshipmen, Illinois Fighting Illini, Notre Dame Fighting Irish) a couple use a simple color as their name (Syracuse Orange, Stanford Cardinal), and a few use the collective name for a group of animals (NC State/Nevada Wolfpack, Marshall Thundering Herd). The ones that inexplicably use a non-S name are Alabama (Crimson Tide), Tulsa (Golden Hurricane), Tulane (Green Wave), and North Texas (Mean Green, which is a tribute to legendary alum 'Mean' Joe Green. They used to be called the Eagles.)

2) While 'the Thunder' is neat in that it depicts our well known stormy weather, I'd rather have had a name that some how relates to the heritage and history of Oklahoma, ala the 'Sooners.' The most obvious choice would be something relating to our Native American heritage, but that's apparently not kosher in this overly polically correct society of ours, especially considering that a state school just had to change its name from the classy and harmless 'Redmen' to the lame 'River Hawks.' Even though there isn't really even just one tribe that directly relates to Oklahoma (like Illinois Illini), the name of the state literally means Red People! Plus, there are still a handful of pro teams using Indian-related names (Cleveland Indians, Washington Redskins), and just because a team uses an Indian name doesn't mean that particular group of people have to be portrayed as savages. Even using a non-S name like 'The Tribe' would've been cool.

Or they could've picked something that more accurately represents the culture and history of Oklahoma, like the Buffalo, which just so happens to be the state mammal (ok, so it's actually the 'American Bison,' but who's really keeping track anyway). I'd have even settled for the Sandbass or Bullfrogs (the state fish and amphibian, respectively). Or why not the Gamblers? I'm just saying...

That's partially why I wanted the Thunderbirds, because that was a great Native American symbol, and plus we could've have numerous "Grease" T-Bird comparisons.

Once again, ESPN sticks it to the Sooner tradition

For the second time this summer, ESPN has basically stuck it to the tradition and grandeur of the Oklahoma Sooners. First, Norman wasn't listed among the 20 finalists for 'TitleTown USA.' I don't necessarily think that Norman is TitleTown, but when 9 other college sports towns are listed, I think Norman at least needs to be mentioned in their same collective breath. It wasn't just Norman that was shafted either; South Bend, IN was also left out. In particular, Gainesville, FL and Lawrence, KS are finalists. Louisville was listed, mainly for being the home of the Kentucky Derby (which isn't a sport) and Mohamed Ali, but their SportsCenter feature definitely showed as much of their Cardinals as it did either of the other two.

Several other towns were mentioned, as much for their past and dominating big time sports such as crew and swimming, Ann Arbor (Michigan), Columbus (THE Ohio State), Palo Alto (Stanford), and Knoxville (Tennessee) among them. Of those, Michigan most definitely is falling on its past in other sports. While their football team usually wins 9 games a year, they have one national title in the past half decade (which should really be more credited to Nebraska in 97), and their basketball team has been a joke since the Fab 5 (who didn't win anything, I remind you). I guess hockey is keeping them going... At least Columbus can claim Jack Nicklaus, and Knoxville can claim Pat Summitt and the Lady Vols, but that's about it really. But, I digress...

The newest shafting comes in ESPN's 'Coolest College Football Helmet' tournament, which pits the alleged 16 'best' helmets against each other in a contest in which fans vote on each match up. And, in fairness to the contest, I didn't see anything where it rated them in terms of tradition. Anyway, the first round match ups are as follows: (click on the name of each school to see a real picture of their helmet)

Paterno Bracket
Georgia Bulldogs vs. Miami Hurricanes (Georgia has already won round one)

Oregon Ducks (and I'm assuming they're only referring to the green helmet) vs. Texas A&M Aggies

Penn State Nitany Lions vs. Clemson Tigers

Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Nevada Wolfpack

Bowden Bracket:

Michigan Wolverines vs. Arizona State Sun Devils

Texas Longhorns vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Southern California Trojans vs. South Florida Bulls

THE Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Florida State Seminoles (This is classic match up of helmets that get less crappy as the season goes on.

Ok, now on to my thoughts (you knew this was coming...). When I think about cool helmets, I'm a stickler for those that have always been cool. Some of these are really cool helmets that have stood the test of time (Michigan, Notre Dame). Penn State's helmets are gorgeous. Sure, they're plain white, but when paired with the simple nitany blue jerseys and plain white pants, they're perfect. Here's my team-by-team critique.

- Georgia - Would've been much cooler if they'd made their own G logo rather than copying one of the most legendary sports logos of all time, Green Bay Packers.
- Miami - One of the coolest since their inception in 1976. Respect the U!
- Oregon - I, for one, love their uniforms and they have cool helmets too, as long as they stick with green. However it should be noted that these helmets are just now entering their 10th year.
- Texas A&M - One of the first games I ever remember watching as a Texas A&M game just a few weeks after my brother was born, so I've always thought the big block T and small A M were cool. But if I were them, I'd ditch the A&M and just constantly go with a large T and refer to myself as 'Texas Aggies.' That would be the ultimate eff-you to the rest of the state.
- Penn State - The only time in their history to wear anything different was a 7 season span (68-74) where they added numbers on the side. Otherwise, these are awesome.
- Clemson - The first entry I really question. They're not really that neat, and do a big bold orange and purple really go well together? They get bonus points for the 'running down the hill' intro, but that's about it.
- Alabama - The only year these haven't been used was 1969 when the Tide (like many other teams) dawned a '100' logo in honor of college football's centennial. Even the white helmets the team wore in the 50's are cool.
- Nevada - Props for going with the small WAC school, but these are just plain ugly. If you're inviting a BCS spoiler to this party, at least pick a team that has actually been a BCS spoiler (Boise State or Hawaii... even their silver ones). They both have much cooler helmets and color schemes.
- Michigan - Probably the most iconic of helmet designs. Even their imitators look pretty good.
- Arizona State - They make maroon and mustard look pretty cool. The colors have always been the same, and the Sparky logo has stuck since 1980.
- Notre Dame - The only other school to make a plain helmet look good for years and years. And years.
- Texas - The Longhorn logo is perhaps the most arrogant logo on the planet. That's all I want to say.
- USC - They've used some variation of this helmet design since 1972, and they get bonus points for using the gray facemasks since 2001.
- South Florida - They get my vote for worst helmets on this list. Seriously, what makes them cool? They're the worst in their own conference!
- THE Ohio State - I really don't like them at all, but the Buckeye stickers are cool to an extent. A little overrated in my humblest of opinions.
- Florida State - Like their first round opponent, these look much better with the pride stickers attached, this time it's a tomahawk. Overall, though, I'd say these are cool but not among the best in college football.

If making this list were up to me (and it obviously wasn't), South Florida, Nevada, Florida State and maybe even THE Ohio State would've been left out. My rankings would've been as follows...

1) Michigan
2) Penn State
3) Notre Dame
4) Alabama
5) Texas A&M
6) Southern Cal
7) Oklahoma
8) Nebraska
9) Miami, FL
10) Tennessee
11) Texas
12) Boise State
13) Oregon
14) Arizona State
15) THE Ohio State
16) Florida

Sorry to sound like a Big 12 homer, but these four teams have all had cool lids for decades. Of the four schools and their respective current helmet designs, Nebraska was the last to adopt theirs... in 1970.

Anyway, thanks for reading a completely meaningless blog. I'll be back to post more meaninglessness about uniform related thoughts in due time. As always, if you're still reading this, you need a hobby.

I forgot to add...

One more thing about The Dark Knight...


One of the trailers they showed before TDK was for "Terminator: Salvation," which is the first of a new Terminator trilogy. I didn't realize they were that far along in making the three new movies. I'd read they were probably gonna be made, but I thought they weren't in the post-production phase just yet. Not only is the movie coming out in summer of '09, but Christian Bale will be playing John Connor.

The countdown hath commenced...

THE DARK KNIGHT!!!

*** SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW - If you've yet to see the movie and don't want me ruining it for you, don't ready this until later.***

"The Dark Knight," the sequel to the great "Batman Begins" by Christopher Nolan, is quite possibly the greatest movie I've seen when compared to the hype that preceded it. And that's not to say it's just better than other over-hyped movies. This movie simply blew away the hype that came along with it. I went to watch this movie at the midnight premiere, so it was totally worth not getting to bed until well after three am.

Typically, you get what you expect with a summer blockbuster, especially when it's an action and/or comic book styled flick. Even recently, I was entertained by Will Smith's "Hancock," but it's definitely not a movie I'll rave about. While I do think it was one of Smith's funnier movies, I wasn't really held to the edge of my seat, nor was I left wondering what would happen next. Even the big major plot twist in the film didn't totally catch me off guard. The special effects were overdone and the fight scenes looked way too unrealistic.

However, with TDK, special effects are only noticeable in one scene, and even there they look quite realistic. Most of the stunts, car crashes and explosions are actually stunts, car crashes and explosions, and the movie was filmed in Chicago, which gives it a realistic city feel. 

Now, on to the movie itself.

Batman Begins introduced us to a terrified, tormented, and vengeful protagonist named Bruce Wayne, who actually became Batman. By the end of the movie, it was clear that Batman was the real person and Bruce Wayne was actually the alter ego. (as a reflection of what he was inside). TDK takes this a step further, almost borrowing a sub-plot from Spider-Man 2, in that Bruce is constantly looking for an out to be Batman no more. This is partly because the people of Gotham hate him, and for various reasons; namely, the Joker constantly terrorizes the city and kills countless people because he wants Batman to reveal who he is under the mask. People blame Batman for the death of cops, including the commissioner, and also a judge. The other main reason Batman wants out is give Bruce Wayne a shot with the love of his life, Rachel Dawes, in is instead in love with new DA Harvey Dent. The movie keeps a constant running inner debate for Bruce.

Meanwhile, Heath Ledger's Joker completely lived up to the hype that he was receiving. I'd think the Joker would be one of the tougher roles to pull off in a movie because of the corny and cheesy versions that came before it. In the 60's Batman movies, Ceaser Romero played basically a practical joker; he had jack-in-the-box traps, an exploding octopus, and was known to use a shock-buzzer on his hand when shaking hands with someone else. He had pale skin and green hair and that was about it.

In 1989's Tim Burton Batman, Jack Nicholson took the character a step further. He was scared second-hand by Batman (he fired a gun at the Bat and Batman deflected it back through the cheeks of Jack), fell into a vat of chemicals which stained his skin white, and required surgery to fix his face, which left him with a permanent grin. But, still, Nicholson's Joker played on the campy, out-witting style that Romero did in the 60's. While Nicholson pulled this off to perfection, the character wasn't entirely unpredictable.

Ledger's Joker is an absolute maniacal freak. He does things that make no sense, even to himself sometimes. He tells everyone a different back story about his scars, and then uses clown makeup to cover them up. He has no plan other than to try and one-up himself with every crime he pulls. The scene were he confronts Harvey 'Two-Face' in the hospital was one of the best movies scenes in recent memory. He basically turns Harvey Dent into the murderous Two-Face by convincing him that when plans are made, people will always find a way to corrupt those plans and stab you in the back.

The Joker was a character I both loved and hated. I loved him because he was a hilarious person. He didn't walk around literally cracking jokes and trying to out-smart everyone, but rather he was the most socially backward and out-cast movie villain I can remember. He doesn't at all care what people think about him or his appearance. His makeup is nasty and caked on, his hair is greasy, and while sitting there watching the movie, you can almost imagine how horrible he'd smell. But I hate the man because he commits crimes for his own entertainment. He has no empathy for anyone else. He'll kill anyone for any reason, an he'll rob banks just for the sheer joy and thrill, not to get any money. And even in all his random so-called no plan of villainy, he does indeed have a grand plan.

As for other characters, I was left scratching my head a little about Harvey Dent/Two-Face. I thought Aaron Eckhart did a great job with the two roles, but I just wondered where Two-Face really fit in with this movie. After seeing the previews, I really felt like this movie would set up Two-Face to be the bad guy in New Batman 3, but that's obviously not going to happen after he dies at the end of this one (while the Joker wasn't necessarily killed off... we were left to wonder about that one). In the 25 or so minutes he's Two-Face, Harvey only takes out his rage on people that he felt double-crossed him and led to the death of Rachel. In reality, the Joker was directly responsible for her death, as he not only kidnapped both Rachel and Harvey, but in telling Batman where each of them was located, he intentionally swapped their locations, knowing that Batman would take off to save Rachel. When the caped crusader instead arrives to save Harvey (and Rachel was too far away for the police to reach in time), the Joker knows that this will drive Harvey insane.

As Two-Face, Harvey kills a couple cops and some related with the mob, deciding the fate of each one on a coin flip. I liked that the character didn't become a vicious mass murderer, because that really would've just been a copy of the Joker. And he really didn't even have that last-minute redemption that is so expected from most movie bad guys. But Batman and Commissioner Gordon decide that letting the public think that Harvey Dent died noble and with honor rather than as a psycho will preserve him as the hero they needed him to be.

My only complaint is that I was a little confused about Two-Face. I was pretty surprised with the choices of who died and didn't die (Two-Face and Rachel die while the Joker doesn't), but none of my complaints are strong enough this to not be one of my favorite movies of all-time, if not THE favorite. I've always been a huge Batman fan, and this movie certainly live up to my expectations. I don't normally throw these around, but it was one of the few I ranked a 10 on imdb.com. 

Batman takes the wrap for all the murders Harvey committed, telling Gordon that in order to make Dent in deed be the hero, Batman himself would once again become the vigilante. As Batman rides off on the Bat-Pod with police in tow, Godron tells his son "He'll forever be in the shadows, our Dark Knight." It basically sets up the movie to be a good finisher to a two-part series, but it also leaves unlimited room for additional sequels. Judging by the hype and expected box office dollars for this movie, I'm not willing to bet this will be the end. I certainly hope not, anyway.

2000's Oklahoma Sooners games #6-7

The number 6 OU Football game of the 2000's is the 2007 Big 12 Title game between the Sooners and Missouri Tigers. Billed as the rematch of a late October showdown in which the Sooners won 41-31 (after Mizzou 'let them off the hook' according to Chase "Chubs" Daniel), OU responded by whipping the #1 Tigers all over San Antonio in the second half en route to a 38-17 victory, after the score was tied at 14 at the half. With the win, the Sooners became the first team to ever repeat as Big 12 champions, and won the fifth conference title in eight seasons. It was the 41st conference title in school history.

At number seven was the 2001 OU-Texas game, which was a simple defensive slug fest that will forever be remembered by one play. After sophomore QB Jason White came in in relief for Nate Hybl (who left with a shoulder injury), the Sooners optioned their way down the field for the games only TD in the second quarter. After a mistake by Texas DB Nathan Vasher, the Longhorns started a possession on their own 2 yard line with just over two minutes left. On first down, Roy Williams leapt over a blocker and landed on the throwing arm of Chris Sims. The ball fluttered into the hands of Teddy Lehman who waltzed in for the clinching TD. On the very next play for Texas, 'Superman' picked off Sims and the Sooners won for the second year in a row over Texas, 14-3.

#8 - OU-Texas, 2004
#9 - OU-Kansas State, 2000
#10 - OU-Alabama, 2003

My predictions for the future... I'm trying to think of what the top five will be. In all honesty, I can't even remember the nominees or what I voted for. The voting for this category was held back in late spring...

Anyhoo, I'm guessing the top two will be the 2000 Nebraska game and the 2000 National Title game against Florida State, not necessarily in that order. Also in the top 5 will be the 2000 & 2004 games against Texas A&M, and possibly the 2006 Big 12 Title game.

In a truly objective poll, the 2007 Fiesta Bowl against Boise State should probably be in the top 2 or 3, but I'm not sure how fans will rank that one, or if the category includes losses. I can't think of any other games the Sooners lost that could be counted as "great games" in the true objective definition.

Every Hero Has His Obstacles

Click on the title to read a great article by ESPN's Peter Gammons.

Like most of you, I sat and watched the Home Run Derby last night and was blown away by Josh Hamilton. Just the show he put on itself was amazing, but when you throw in his story, it's like watching a movie that would be too corny if it weren't true.

There are a lot of yokels out there who don't want to give much credit or any second chances to drug users or people who throw away a great gift such as incredible athletic talent. I know, because I'm often one of those yokels. I hate seeing seeing someone that can do the remarkable care more about their next high than their next home run, next diving catch, next touchdown or slam dunk. But it's easy for me to sit back and point a finger, because I've never had the grasp of drug addiction hang on to me and not let go.

It's easy to not feel sorry for drug addicts. True, often times people are a product of their own environment, and it's true that some people feel they have no where else to go. But they are the ones who make the decision to start drugs. They, themselves, start the addiction. And then they, and only they, are the ones who have to make the decision to help themselves and stop the addiction.

I sat alone in an office and watched the Derby Monday night and found myself literally applauding and yelling in amazement at the long, majestic homers he launched into the Yankee Stadium night. I felt like a kid watching someone who's only a year older than me, and it reminded me that despite all the negatives and all the black clouds over the past 15 years, baseball is still the pure, American pasttime that can bring us together and root for the underdog.

I read through several negative comments to Gammons' article about glorifying addicts or convaluting the Hamilton story because he claims he has to take a buddy with him everywhere he goes for accountability (people claiming if he needs accountability, he hasn't truly beat his demons). I think it shows responsibility. For some people, temptation is their greatest fear.

But in the grand scope of things, I think Josh Hamilton can be considered a hero. He's the story of second chances, that people truly can change. Only time will tell if he turns out to be a true star and the five tool stud everyone thought he was in the late 90's, or if he'll flame out. I'm certainly rooting for the former. He's the one player that could play for my least favorite teams (cough, cough, Red Sox or Cubs) and I'd still root for him to do the impossible. Because, at least for one night, there were no fans of the Yankees or Red Sox or Rangers or Cardinals, just fans of the game.

Favre a Packer no more?

(Click on the title for ESPN's story by Chris Mortensen.)

http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d8060e4f6

Apparently Brett Favre is wanting to come back, but no longer wants to come back a Packer, as his agent is asking Green Bay for an unconditional release from the remaining two years of his contract. I'm having a hard time with how I feel about this, for a few reasons...

1) Brett Favre is my favorite pro athlete of my generation.
2) I've been a Green Bay fan since I was 13, mainly because of my admiration for Brett Favre.
3) I love seeing an athlete play his entire career (a trade in the first year or two not withstanding), regardless of how good the team he plays for turns out to be (think George Brett and the Royals).
4) NFL contracts aren't guaranteed, so a team can dump a player anytime it wants at no penalty, and when a player holds out or asks for a release, he usually gets a labeled as greedy or a malcontent.

First off, Favre probably more so than any athlete on the planet right now has earned the right to change his mind about wanting to play or not and then having his team honor his decision, regardless of what it does to them, even though that team has a potential franchise QB standing on the sideline waiting for his turn. (I hope that made sense) If this were, say, Derek Anderson being wishy-washy with the Cleveland Browns, they'd probably tell him "tough luck" and go with Brady Quinn.

But all that being said, the Packers have waited until almost April each of the last few years, then jumped back on the Favre wagon after he said he was coming back. This year he finally said for sure he was retiring (his words were "I'm not 100% committed to playing football), so his era ended and the Aaron Rodgers days started. And, in Favre's defense, this is the first time he's actually announced he was retiring. Each of the past few years, he said he'd be back after taking time to think about his decision.

Anyway, after reports started surfacing this week that he wanted to come back, the Packers have apparently said no thanks to Favre's services, citing his comment about not being 100% committed anymore. (Also note - no direct quotes from either side were exchanged in Mort's article, only reports of comments made by Packers brass and Favre's agent) Now Favre is asking for a release from Green Bay rather than a trade, so he can pick who he potentially plays for next season.

I'm actually on Favre's side. I'll continue to be a Green Bay fan, and I'll continue to be a Favre fan. I agree with his agent; his accolades and what he's done for the franchise merit them granting him this one wish. I just sincerely hope this doesn't get ugly. He won't have a problem finding a place to play, as many teams will line up in need of a veteran QB. Favre will likely consider a few things before deciding; 1) is the team simply a good QB short of being a playoff team?; 2) do they run a West Coast offense?; 3) can he get along with the coaching staff?

I'm not nearly as die-hard an NFL team as I am MLB or even college football, so don't mistake my fandom of the Packers with that of the Cardinals. Plus, I root for teams, players, and even city situations more than I do in any other sport. Favre made me a Packers fan. Peyton Manning made me a Colts fan. Adrian Peterson made me a de facto Vikings fan (they're one of the few teams I loathe otherwise.) And their undying devotion to a team that was being ripped from their hometown made me a Cleveland Browns fan even when there was no Cleveland Browns.

All that being said, the list of teams I don't want to see Favre playing for are short. Some of the teams I dislike don't need a QB anyway (see New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles). Some need one and just don't realize it (see Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals). And some desparately need one (see Baltimore Ravens, although I'm a Raven fan for the same reason I'm a Viking fan... OU players).

According to the know-it-alls at ESPN, Tampa Bay, Miami, Baltimore and Houston are the likliest of candidates. I wouldn't mind seeing Favre play for the Vikes, because that backfield would become legendary in an instant, but I'd hate seeing him move to a rival team in the same division.

Anyway, here's to Favre's Packer career. Wherever he ends up, I'm hoping he enjoys a couple more years of success, because I'll certainly enjoy watching him play.

This sucks...

It's 6 am and I'm at work. I was supposed to have been here at the latest by 5, but my alarm on my phone didn't go off (and I made sure it was set both before and after waking up). So I got a 5:15 wake-up call from my boss who got woke up by people standing outside the building waiting for us to show up. Since I was in a big hurry, I ran off without grabbing anything for breakfast.

Now I'm hungry, still not totally awake, and stuck here listening to everyone watch Fox News with the volume turned all the way up. (I'm getting totally up to date on why the liberals are killing the country!) Also, I just saw a new "PSA" with the pater familias of 'OSU,' T. Boone Pickens, blabbing about how this country has gone from importing 35% of the oil it consumes to upwards of 75% of the oil (or "oll" has he says it), and that the only hope for America to recover is to use the domestic oil to recover and that "the next president" must be committed to utilizing what we have here. Sounds like a typical rich conservative oil man to me...

So far, according to Fox News...

- a flight out of Miami yesterday was cancelled after the pilots showed up an hour and a half late and was then altogether cancelled because the flight crew had to deal with "hostile New Yorkers" returning from a 4th vacation in Florida. The news anchors laughed at this.

- President Bill Clinton, who spent the spring and last winter ripping Barack Obama up and down, has started, get this... ripping John McCain up and down. Suddenly, it's unacceptable for him to speak negatively about a candidate.

- Some guy got praised for posting something on YouTube regarding his stolen dirt bike and, even though it upset both local and state level law enforcement, he eventually recovered it and busted the guy who stole it.

Anyway, that's my day so far. I'll be back later, sometime, to talk about this whole ESPN 'TitleTown' abomination.

Brewers get C.C.

I always hate it when a division rival makes a big deal that I was hoping either the Cardinals or Yankees would have (and could have) gone after. The Brewers just made a deal to land defending AL Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia. Both the Cardinals and Yankees had the resources to go after him, and, while the Cards aren't necessarily in dire need for starting pitching, you can always find a spot for a guy as good as C.C. I really never have liked the Brewers, even when they were in the AL. Now that they're a division rival, they're just another version of the Astros. They're a good team with a good offense (albeit with an overrated first baseman) and OK pitching, but adding the big C.C. will solidify them as contenders and should make the NL central a three-horse race for the next couple months (while I'm sold on the Cardinals being legit, I'm waiting to make sure they don't run out of gas come September like they did last year). 

Anyway, I hope the Brewers enjoy the 2 plus months of C.C. because he'll most likely be playing in pinestripes.

It's official... I'm a tennis fan

I've never been a big fan of tennis, but after getting wrapped in this year's Wimbledon Championships I can say that I am. Even though I can only name four players on the men's tour (including the 'big two' American men) and a handful of women's players (the Williams sister and a couple of hot Russian-typed women), and i don't even pretend to know where all the play or the intricacies of playing on the hard court, clay or grass. That said, I'm not a fan.

Like some of you, I've just finished watching one of the greatest games (using a general term here) to ever occur in sports with the Men's Championship between Roger Federer and 'Rafa' Nadal. When I turned it on after getting home from church, Nadal was a game up in the fourth set after winning the first two sets 6-4 before Federer rallied to take the third 7-6, then fought off three match points from Nadal in a fourth set tiebreaker. Rafa was up 5-2 in the tiebreak but Federer battled back to win it 8-6 and force a fifth set. The two traded service games until Nadal broke to go up 8-7, then he closed it out to win 9-7. Even John McEnroe, who was a part of the epic 1980 final showdown with Bjorn Borg, said it was the greatest thing he'd ever seen or been a part of.

While I don't know exactly where I'll rank it in terms of great games/matches/sporting events, but after a few more days/weeks of letting it soak in, I'll be able to give a more thorough analysis. 

As for my new thoughts on tennis, I've got to say I was rooting for Federer. I'm one of those who can be guilty of rooting for the favorite when it's a historic situation. For example, I love watching Tiger win the majors and would've loved to see RF win his 6th straight Wimbledon. Plus, I really don't care for 'Rafa.' I thought tennis was like golf, a sport with a tradition of etiquette and professionalism. If that's the case, then why is he allowed to play in a cut-off t-shirt and capri pants? Just curious...

As for the women's side, I was disappointed to see my new girl Ana Ivanovic go out in the third round, but I loved the all Williams final. I also enjoyed seeing Venus knock off Serena, for a couple reasons. 1) I always love it when big brother/sister knocks off little bro/sis. 2) Venus is always much more graceful in victory, and defeat, than Serena. Venus was always happy when she finished second to Serena, and she was also very subdued after winning Saturday. However, Serena celebrates like Venus is any other opponent and she was sullen after losing this time.

Also, I went out a few weeks ago and hit tennis balls for the first time in a long time. I've been a die hard racquetball player for quite a while, so I'm always a little nervous to go swing a different styled racket in a different manner for fear of hurting my racquetball stroke. But hopefully I'll be able to play a little tennis if I can get a decent racket and someone who wants to hit around every once in a while. 

All-Star Game Starters... you knew this was coming

The starting lineups and rosters were announced today for the 2008 All-Star game today. As you can imagine, I have my two cents about it. For starters, I think it's stupid you get to vote for the AL starting DH but not for the NL's. Also, I've always disliked voting for three outfielders, rather than one at each position. We don't just vote for four infielders, we pick one at each position. Those are my normal gripes with the game, along with the fact that the starters are picked completely on fan voting, so the teams are usually heavy with one team. This year, the teams are loaded with four starters from both the Red Sox and three from the Cubs, and out of all those I can only think of one who truly deserves the start. 

Anyway, here are the starters:

American League

C - Joe Mauer, Minnesota

1B - Kevin Youkilis, Boston

2B - Dustin Pedroia, Boston

SS - Derek Jeter, New York

3B - Alex Rodriguez, New York

OF - Manny Ramirez, Boston

OF - Josh Hamilton, Texas

OF - Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle

DH - David Ortiz, Boston

National League

C - Geovany Soto, Chicago

1B - Lance Berkman, Houston

2B - Chase Utley, Philadelphia

SS - Hanley Ramirez, Florida

3B - Chipper Jones, Atlanta

OF - Ryan Braun, Milwaukee

OF - Alfonso Soriano, Chicago

OF - Kosuke Fukodome, Chicago

As far of the starters, the fans actually got the NL infield right. The only one that could've been close was at 1B, and Berkman's numbers are a little better all across the board than Albert Pujols. Utley is having an MVP season, Ramirez is the best young shortstop in the game, and Chipper is having a season for the ages chasing a .400 average. The outfield got 1 of 3 - Braun. The others should've been Pat Burrell, Ryan Ludwick and/or Matt Holliday. Ludwick and Holliday are among the NL reserves, along with Nate McClouth of Pittsburgh. Overall, I guess most of the guys on the team are somewhat All-Star worthy, especially considering the rule that each team has to have at least one representative. The pitching staff is chalked full of it's usual snubs, including Kyle Lohse and his 10-2 record. 

As for the AL, it's typical with its bad roster. The only three (of 9) are undisputed, at least in my vote. (Rodriguez at 3B, Hamilton in the OF, and Mauer at C). Youkilis is a toss up with Justin Morneau of the Twins at 1B. Youk has one more homer, but Morneau has a slightly higher average and a few more RBI's. The Rangers should have the starting middle infield with Ian Kinsler at 2nd and Michael Young at short. Of all the Boston players, I thought JD Drew most deserved a start in the OF. Ichiro is putting up his typical Ichiro numbers and as always corners the Asian vote. 

But to me, the most glaring blemish is the large number of Red Sox on the team (including Jason 'the Captain' Veritek and his .219 average) but only two Tampa Bay Rays (catcher Dioner Navarro and pitcher Scott Kazmir). Overall, 7 Boston players make up the roster, including Drew and closer Jonathan Papelbon. The only other Yankee on the team is Marino Rivera, with no Mike Mussina (many thought he was a candidate to start the game in his own ballpark). 

Granted, the teams aren't complete. There is a final vote that will take place this week (from five snubbed candidates in each league), plus David Ortiz won't be able to play, so Terry Francona will get to name a replacement starter. In the NL, Soriano shouldn't be able to play, considering he's spent the last month on the DL. 

I'm not one of those who will gripe simply because one or two guys on my team got left off. I do feel Lohse and Rick Ankiel should've been included but I'm not going to throw a fit about it. There are plenty of other guys who could've been included but weren't, and it'll be that way every year.

#8 OU Sooner Game of the 2000's

No. 8 was the 2004 OU-Texas Game, with OU winning 12-0. This was the first time in 25 years a Texas team had been shut out. Adrian Peterson, in just his fifth career college game, rushed 32 times for 225 yards, including a 44 yard scamper from his own goal line the first time he touched the ball. He put up more yards on the Horns than the previous four teams combined.

Top-1o games are released each Monday, so No. 7 will be announced in a couple days.

9 - 2000 OU-K-State
10 - 2003 OU-Alabama

Fireworks Safety Tips

As a result of my latest bout of community service, I'm required to help the kids of this area with some safety tips. So, here's the 4th of July Fireworks Safety Tips PSA... hopefully this will satisfy the Man.

First rule of thumb, fireworks are time-honored 4^th of July tradition, but they can be dangerous. So, children, never handle fireworks unless supervised by an adult or dared by a cooler kid. I remember this one time in school, Joe Emmert offered me 50 bucks to light a fart with a firecracker. He wrestled, so I did it. I swear to God I did, but I didn’t time it right. About blew the stripes off my Zubaz…

OK, number two, alcohol and fireworks do not mix, so do all drinking beforehand. Remember, chug ‘em before you light ‘em. Also, cherry bombs make excellent alarm clocks for winos and homeless people. I swear to God I’ve knocked the change out of their cups before.

OK, if you have to cross state lines to get your fireworks, remember to pick up a couple cartons of discount smokes while you’re there.

Don’t point bottle rockets at your nerd friends. Nerds are small, they’re vulnerable. Slow moving fats kids make much better targets. I swear to God they do. You get extra points if you hit their lunch box.

Before shooting off fireworks inside a car, make sure it’s a rental. And never shoot fireworks at my boat; I swear to God I’ll take you to court…

Don’t light off fireworks around animals, man, that ain’t cool. They don’t like to be disturbed. But what is cool is finding a good dead opossum or dead squirrel. Road kill works great because the rigor mortis acts like a vice grip. I swear to God it does.

And finally, if an M-80 blows your hand off, remember to use the opposite hand to pick up the detached appendage. Otherwise, you’ll look like a big wuss in front of your friends; they’ll bust your chops all the way to emergency room.

So remember, a little common sense will make your 4th of July an enjoyable, safe, and memorable experience. I gotta go...

(by the way... the preceding was completely and totally ripped off (and slightly paraphrased) from the Bob & Tom Show... I wish I would've thought of it first)

I'm happy for OKC but sad for Seattle

Kevin Jackson of espn.com just wrote a great article about the Sonics coming to Oklahoma City. As I've said before, and will continue to say, that I want more than anything to have a professional team of our own in Oklahoma (rather than just borrowing teams from St. Louis, Dallas, etc.), but not by having some rich Oklahoman hijack some else's team. The ridiculous ultimatum he gave the people of Seattle (pony up half a billion for a new "arena" rather than play in a 14 year old area the people of Washington built in the mid 90's or else) was the perfect example of a team and an owner playing chicken with a city. This was one of the first times in recent memory that the city actually held its ground and called the owner's bluff, even though it's clear Clay Bennett wasn't bluffing. 

If they wanted to relocate a team to OKC, I wish they would have at least picked a team that hasn't been in a city very long and doesn't have long time support (Memphis Grizzlies). Had Hurricane Katrina not hit the Big Easy, we might have even had a shot to get the Hornets. They consistently had the worst attendance in the league (after New Orleans took the team from Charlotte), but David Stern said that Katrina wouldn't be the reason the Hornets moved. Even after they moved back this past season, they had mediocre attendance until they became one of the best teams in the league mid-season and everyone jumped on the bandwagon.

Anyway, I could keep going on about my thoughts and feelings, but you should read the article. It's a great story about how this isn't even about OKC vs. Seattle, but owners vs. fans.

Hancock

I just got back from watching Hancock, the new Will Smith movie. It's a pretty good flick, in the typical summer blockbuster realm of things. Think of it over all as Superman with a really "who gives a crap" attitude. The basic flow of the movie is typical of a lot of super-hero type movies... The hero is unstoppable, runs into some conflict and quickly overcomes it, then a bad guys pops up, catches the hero off guard, he gets injured but overcomes it and we all live happily ever after. Don't watch it if you like plot twists or getting surprised. There's really only one twist in the movie and I wasn't even totally surprised by it.  

As far as my thoughts, this is actually one of Will's funnier roles. He does more of the 'action comedy' in ID4, and more of the witty smart-alec type in MiB. In this role, it's just the eff-you type of comments through the first half of the flick.

Overall, it is what it is, and it is a fun, good big budget summer blockbuster that Will Smith is famous for, a la 'Independence Day' or 'Men in Black.' It probably won't land on any of my "favorite movie" lists, but it's definitely a good movie. If you go to it expecting to be entertained by a lot of action, fast cameras and CG, you'll enjoy it.

Broken Bats

I've been watching the Cardinals-Mets game on FSN, and now it's in a rain delay so I'm watching Red Sox-Rays game on ESPN. In the span of 10 minutes, I've heard the same story and semi-soapbox moment on both stations, regarding players doctoring bats and how that is making the whole "dangerous broken bat" issue worse than it should be. Granted, the maple bats to just have a tendency to just snap off rather than shatter (like the typical ash bat), players are shaving the handles down on the ash bats to help generate more bat speeds (it's legal to do that) and as a result it's making the bats break off more. Here is a paraphrased version of the similar statements...

- Dan McLoughlin (Cardinals play by play for FSN Midwest) After David Wright hit a ball off the end of the bat and it split in two a la Roy Hobbs in 'The Natural'

"Players are shaving the handles down to get the ratio of bat weight heavier towards the barrel, so they can get more bat speed, and that makes the bats very unstable. You'll seem them shatter every time you hit it wrong."

- Orel Hershiser (Color man for ESPN) After Johnny Gomes shattered a bat and the pieces sprayed all over the infield.

"Players keep shaving these handles down to generate more bat speed. They grow up using metal bats that are constructed that way, so they try to tailor their wooden bats that way and it just doesn't work. Plus, they heat these bats up and it causes them to lose all their moisture content and become hard but brittle."

Anyway, I don't really have a good input on what needs to be done, but with the new stadiums being built so fan-friendly (the fans can sit usually 45 feet behind the plate and within 50 feet of the infield), fans have little time to react when a heavy, jagged piece of wood comes flying in their direction. In last night's Cards-Mets game, Carlos Delgado had a bat snap off and only a snap reaction from a guy in the stands kept the bat from hitting a couple kids sitting in the fourth row. Hopefully something will get figured out soon.

What a... day?

This day has gone from good to not-so-good, to just an average day, to great and now to incredibly disappointing. And I'm not at all kidding or trying to lay out cliches and imagery. It really has been that up and down, and you all should know that I'm not a guy who is a constant roller coaster of emotions and feelings.

Anyway, needless to say, it now looks like the chances of my seeing Yankee Stadium are slim to none.

ESPY Nominees Announced

The nominees for the 2008 ESPY Awards were announced today, and, like usual, I found myself sucked into their viscous web and complaining about my perceived injustices and crowd pleasing choices. These awards are much like any other cable-network created awards; there's not much drama in terms of who will win, but you find yourself glued to the TV set anyway because you just never really know what might happen when an athlete steps to the mic. It's like a low-key version of the MTV Movie Awards.

Anyway, There are 37 Award categories this year. I'll highlight some of them (at least the ones I gave legitimate votes to) and give my two cents on a few as well. If you want to vote, go to ESPY.tv.

First up, the major awards (which will generally let you know who wins each of the sport-specific awards... And, also, I'm listing them in the order they appear on the ballot)

Best Male Athlete
Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez
- To me, Tiger is quickly becoming the greatest athlete of all time. Of the others listed, I think only A-Rod has a really good shot at becoming the "greatest ever" in his own sport. We all know Kobe will never be MJ, and most don't even think Brady is the best QB in the league now, let alone all time.
- My vote - Tiger

Best Female Athlete
Lorena Ochea (golf), Candace Parker, Danica Patrick, Lindsey Vonn (skiing)
- My vote - Candace Parker. She dominated a sport that's harder to dominate compared to golf, and she did it with one good shoulder. Ochea was good, but it was almost in that "does anybody even notice or care" kind of season. Danica shouldn't even be on this list. She's won one race. If she's on this list, then Jimmy Johnson should be on the best male athlete list. And I've never heard of the last chick.

Best Team
Boston Red Sox, New York Giants, Boston Celtics, Kansas Jayhawks (men's bball), Tennessee Lady Vols (bball), Detroit Red Wings
- This is an interesting list. You'll note there's no college football team listed, nor are the New England Patriots. I'm not saying I'd pick them over the Giants anyway (you saw the Super Bowl), but, the Pats did beat the Giants earlier in the season and compiled an 18-1 overall record, playoffs included. I'm just saying they deserve consideration... (and by the way, I hate Boston sports sans one team, which brings me to my pick for this category)
- My vote - Boston Celtics - They acquired big names, yet they played as a team and had the biggest turnaround in league history.

Best Championship Performance
Venus Williams ('07 Wimbledon), Josh Beckett ('07 Post-season), Rafael Nadal ('08 French Open), Tiger Woods ('08 US Open)
- This might be the best category in terms of legit choices. You could make a sensible, legitimate argument for each person and I wouldn't disagree with you. Venus was dropped to the 23rd seed, fought off match points in two of the first three rounds before crushing #2 Maria Sharapova in the fourth round and then sweeping the 6 sets in her final three matches. Nadal didn't drop a set in the French Open then lost only 4 games to #1 Roger Federer in the final. Beckett started just 4 games in postseason, going 4-0 and allowing just 4 ER in 30 IP for a 1.20 ERA with 35 K and 2 BB. He was the ALCS MVP. And does Tiger really need an explanation?
- My Vote - Tiger winning the US Open in 91 holes on one leg.

Best Breakthrough Athlete
Stephen Curry (Davison hoops), Adrian Peterson (NFL), Kyle Busch (NASCAR), Ana Ivanovic (tennis)
- I'm not really sure why AD is even on this list, because he wasn't technically a "breakthrough" since he was already a big time name. He should've been considered for the award when he finished runner-up in the Heisman balloting in '04-'05 sports year. Granted Peterson had one of the greatest 'professional' rookie seasons ever, but he was kind of expected to that wasn't he? Eh, I digress... To me, I define "breakthrough" as "at this moment a year ago, I didn't consider you to a) be a well known name in the sports world outside your respect sport or team itself, or b) have made the greatest stride or taken advantage of circumstances to rise to the top of your sport since this time last year. That said, last July I knew only of Kyle Busch and Adrian Peterson.
- My Vote - Ana Ivanovic - It's close, but she won a major championship and gave me a very lovely reason to watch women's tennis.

Best Record Breaking Performance 

Barry Bonds 756, Tom Brady and Randy Moss TD's, Brett Favre all-time TD record, some guy in track & field I've never heard of.
- My Vote - Brett Favre - For four reasons. 1) Favre is my all-time favorite pro athlete and everything that he did was nothing short of amazing. 2) The Hall of Fame just said they wouldn't display the Bonds 756 ball, which shows you where they stand on the issue. 3) Brady & Moss of the whole spying issue clouding theirs, and 4) the 100 meter dash record was just broken again last week and they didn't allow it because of "wind-aided."

Biggest Upset
Appalachian State over Michigan, New York Giants win the Super Bowl, Fresno State wins College World Series, Da'tara wins the Belmont
- My Vote - Appalachian State over Michigan in the Big House, biggest upset in college football history. Stanford winning at USC (41.5 point favorite) was huge also, but just the impact of App State winning over one of the most legendary, huge, biggest names in college football was unreal. Fresno was big too, but App State over Michigan is like if Pittsburg State won the college world series.

Best Moment
College softball homerun ACL tear, Jon Lester no-hitter, Danica's first win
- My Vote - softball homerun. You know the story, the girl hits her first homer ever, tears her ACL rounding first, and two members of the other team help her around the bases. One of the greatest shows of sportsmanship ever. Lester's no-hitter after beating cancer was a surpringly close second in my book, but Danica was a distant third. Had it not been another big moment for women in sports, I wouldn't have even dignified with comment. I'm really tired of her.

Best Game
Super Bowl XLII, NCAA Men's Basketball title game, NBA Finals Game 4
- My Vote - NCAA title game - Kansas's comeback over favored Memphis and Mario's Miracle top Eli Manning's last second heroics. Game 4 wasn't so much a 'great game' as it was just an epic collapse by the Lakers.

Best Play
Trinity's laterals, Manning to Tyree, Minnesota buzzer beater, Rick Nash goal
- My Vote - the Minnesota buzzer beater to knock off Indiana in the Big Eleven tournament, simply because it was a better play (with less on the line, however) than the Christian Laettner shot that gets so much hype. Manning to Tyree was a close second just because of the absurdity of it.

Best Sports Movie
Resurrecting the Champ, The Game Plan, Semi-Pro, Leatherheads
- My Vote - Leatherheads - Partly because it's the only of the four I've seen. But, for the main reason, it's a funny George Clooney movie that features "Boomer Sooner" as the team runs out of the tunnel at the end. The only of the other three I'd even consider watching is Resurrecting the Champ. As a rule, I don't even bother watching Disney sports movies (The Game Plan, featuring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson as a playboy Pro QB who finds out he has a young daughter he has to take care of - let the wackiness ensue!) and I'm just really tired of the same old Will Ferrell character over and over (I liked it better the first time, when it was called 'Talladega Nights')

Best Coach/Manager
Tom Coughlin, Terry Francona, Pat Summit, Doc Rivers
- My Vote - Tom Coughlin - for a couple reasons. 1) He actually had to coach his team to an upset, and he did. His team outplayed a heavy favorite through use of defense schemes and a good pass rush. 2) I'm pretty sure I could've managed the Red Sox to a title (although I would've intentionally blown it just to keep them from winning another title). 3) Summit is Summit. The college basketball world belongs to him/her, and the rest of the world cowers in his/her presence. 4) Doc Rivers nearly coached his team to playoff defeats in the first round, and the second round, and the conference finals. Kobe Bryant helped him win the title.

Best Finish
Jamie McMurray in the Pepsi 400, Western Kentucky NCAA round 1, Spurs over Suns, NHL Finals Game 5
- My Vote - McMurray beating Kyle Busch by the closest margin in NASCAR history at Daytona in the Pepsi 400. If you don't get at least a couple goosebumps watching two guys race side by side, bumping one another constantly going around a 2.5 mile oval all while going 200 mph, you need your pulse checked. (I hope you enjoyed that cliche!) The NHL Finals game was close second. Pittsburgh scored with 35 seconds left to tie the game, then won in OT to force a game 6.

Then there are two categories I don't understand: Best 'International' Athlete for both male and female. It's not so much the categories themselves, but the nominees...

Best International Male Athlete
Rafael Nadal, Christiano Ronaldo, Manu Ginobili, Kaka

Best International Female Athlete
Justine Henine, Lorena Ochea, Marta, Lauren Jackson

According to wikipedia, the awards are presented to the sportsperson in a North American professional or collegiate league, irrespective of gender, born outside the United States adjudged to be the best in a given year."

So, if Nadal and Henine are listed, then why not Roger Federer or Ana Ivanovic'? If Lauren Jackson (Australia) or Manu Ginobili (Argentina), why not Albert Pujols (Dominican) or Ichiro (Japan)? Of those listed, only Marta (Brazilian soccer) is on here strictly because of her performance in "international competition." None of these other athletes competes for his/her nation on a regular basis. Ronaldo did recently in the Euro Cup when he played for Portugal, and Kaka' plays regularly on the Brazialian men's national team. I'm just really not sure on the exact meaning of these categories.

As for the rest of the categories (that I actually knew who I was voting for), I'll just leave you with just the nominees and my pick underlined. In other words, I don't think I need to defend my picks here, but feel free to comment if you'd like.

Best NFL Player
Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Eli Manning, LaDanian Tomlinson, Bob Sanders, Brett Favre

Best Baseball Player
Alex Rodriguez, Josh Beckett, Jimmy Rollins, Jake Peavy, C.C. Sabathia

Best NBA Player
LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett

Best NHL Player
Alex Ovechkin, Jerome Iginla, Evgeni Malkin, Sydney Crosby, Pavel Datsyuk

Best Male College Athlete
Tim Tebow, Tyler Hansbrough, Michael Beasley

Best Female College Athlete
Candace Parker, Angela Tincher (Softball), Rachel Dawson (Field Hockey)

Best Driver
Jimmy Johnson (NASCAR Sprint Cup), Kyle Busch (NASCAR Sprint Cup), Dario Franchitti (IndyCar), Lewis Hamilton (F1), Scott Dixon IndyCar), Tony Shumaker (NHRA)

Best Male Tennis Player
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Bob & Mike Bryan

Best Female Tennis Player
Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic

Best Golfer
Tiger Woods, Lorena Ochea, Phil Mickelson, Annika Sorrenstam

There are a few other categories along the lines of 'Best Bowler,' or 'Best Action Sports Athlete' and others like those that I never pay attention to, therefore didn't bother giving a pointless vote to or away from the should-be winner.

I hope you've enjoyed this. If you're still reading, you need a hobby.

Blame it on Kade

So, I'm now looking for someone to go to New York with me. I'm aiming for the week of July 21-24, a Monday through Thursday. I want to go see Yankee Stadium before it closes for good after this season. My brother and I had been planning on going, but he's apparently bailing on me now. If I can get at least a couple more people, it'll be around 400-425 bucks a person for airfare and hotels for three nights. With four people, between 380-400 or so. Game tickets will probably be about 25 dollars each. I'd also like to see Shea Stadium if I'm going to be out there. This isn't really a "New York City trip" per se, I just really want to see the ball park before it closes. Most likely there'd be one day to just mess around NYC. Anyway, if you or someone you know (that I can get along with for three days) is interested in going, let me know pretty quick!

Bold Baseball Predictions... in hindsight

I was cleaning stuff out of my car today and found a baseball preview magazine I bought back in March. I don't even remember reading it when I got it, but I looked through it today just to test some of the "experts" picks. Anyway, since this is right at the mid-point of the season for most teams (the Cardinals played their 81st game tonight), and since I had absolutely nothing better to do, I decided to compare how the season was supposed to go with how it has gone, using my own "expert" analysis, opinion, and objectivity...

According to my Beckett magazine, and the 19 experts on espn.com, the overwhelming favorites to reach the World Series were the Detroit Tigers and New York Mets. Both made huge off-season deals to bolster already solid teams; the Tigers added slugging third baseman Miguel Cabrera & lefty Dontrelle Willis, and the Mets added arguably the best pitcher in baseball today, Johan Santana. After games are over on 6/27, both teams are 39-40 (and each has won at least 6 of its last 10 games to get to that record), and both are in third places in their respective divisions, a combined 8.5 games back. (Detroit and it's 137 million dollar payroll is only 2.5 games better in the standings than Kansas City. The Tigers outspent the Royals almost threefold this season). Meanwhile, the Mets have gained ground on the tumbling Phillies, who have lost 8 of 10.

Speaking of those mega-deals, Cabrera and Santana were the top vote getters for the six major awards according to the 20 espn.com voters for their respective projected awards. Santana got 13 of the 20 picks for NL Cy Young (Carlos Zambrano was second with 4), and Cabrera got 11 for AL MVP. No other player picked up more than 2 votes. Another Tiger young stud, Justin Verlander, was the projected AL Cy Young winner with 9 votes, 6 more than the next man, Roy Halliday. The other leaders were David Wright, NL MVP (9), Evan Longoria, AL Rookie of the Year (11), and Johnny Cuerto, NL ROY (5) narrowly edging Kosuke Fukodome (4). 

After today, the only likely accurate prediction will be Longoria, who's batting .272 with 15 homers and 46 RBI on the upstart Rays, who trail Boston by just .5 game. The other award winners at the mid point are 

NL MVP - Chipper Jones, Atl (.394, 16 HR, 46 RBI) - Chase Utley is probably just as valuable, but Chipper is batting 100 points better. You can't argue with that. Slight nod to Lance Berkman, but his team is already 12 games out and looks hopelessly lost.

AL MVP - Alex Rodriguez, NYY (.332, 15, 46) - Despite spending two weeks on the DL, A-Rod is the hottest hitter in the AL and keeping the Yanks afloat. Josh Hamilton gets the same recognition as Berkman. Special note here, A-Rod's numbers are almost identical to those of Albert Pujols, and he'd be about 4th on my list right now... goes to show the NL is having a much better offensive year.

NL Cy Young - Edinson Volquez, Cin (2.08, 10-3, 110 K in 99.1 IP) - There is no contest here... yet.

AL Cy Young - Cliff Lee, Cle (2.34, 11-1, 90 K in 103.2 IP) - Several players are almost as good, but none have been as consistent as Lee.

As for the espn.com picks,

- Cabrera - (.276, 11, 45) - started off horribly, has slowly started turning it around. Has stuck out once for every 5 AB's

- D Wright - (.285, 14, 62) - among the lead leaders in RBI's, but much like Cabrera, a slow start for both him and his team have him no where in the MVP discussion right now.

- Santana - (7-6, 2.93, 95 K in 103.2 IP) - getting no run support, Johan has already matched his loss total (6) from each of his two previous Cy Young campaigns.

- Verlander - (4-9, 4.49, 72 K in 102.1 IP) - started the worst among candidates listed, at 0-6, and has already matched a career high in losses. As good as his stuff is, I'd say he's a good bet to get back towards .500 by the end of the year.

As for team predictions, most picks were fairly accurate. Boston picked up 15 of 20 votes (the Yankees got the other 5), plus 2 votes for the Wild Card. Detroit and Cleveland each received 16 total votes, with the Tigers getting 11 to win the central and 5 for the WC, and Cleveland getting 9 and 7. Los Angeles (of Anaheim) picked up only 12 votes to win the west with Seattle surprisingly getting 8. Only the Chicago White Sox snuck in to steal just one vote, a Wild Card birth.

After today, Boston holds a .5 game lead over Tampa and are 6 games up on New York in the east. In the central, Chicago leads a red hot Minnesota Twins (10 straight wins) by half a game, followed by Detroit 5 back. Cleveland is in a free fall and are tied with the resurgent Royals at 7.5 games back in a surprisingly competitive division. In the west, LA leads Oakland by 4.5. Seattle is already 19.5 games back, and on pace to lose 104 games and finish 27 games worse than their espn projected record of 85-77. 

The NL hasn't been that surprising. In the east, New York, Atlanta and Philadelphia were all projected to finish within 3 games of each other, and right now that's right where they are, with the Phillies 3.5 games up on both the Braves and Mets. However, Florida is only a game back of first after being projected to finish last in the division and among the three worst teams in baseball. In the central, the Cardinals were picked to fight with the Pirates for last while Cincinnati was a darkhorse to win the division (even though the Cubs got 18 of 20 votes for 1st), but St. Louis trails Chicago by only 4.5 games while the Reds will be popular come trading deadline time, 13.5 back. If the west has yielded any surprises, it's that the Giants are only 5.5 back, not because they've been playing well, but because the division is the worst in baseball. First place Arizona has lost 7 of 10 and is 40-40 on the year.

At the halfway point, the Red Sox and Cubs own baseball's two best records. This could truly be a year of a record number of bandwagon jumpers. Let the anarchy begin!

LA Sooner Strikes Again!

This guy is pretty cool. On YouTube, his screen name is LASooner, and he always makes a highlight video from the previous year set to good movie soundtracks. This is kind of where I base a lot of my very general and basic ideas for videos. I think it's so much nicer than having some hip/hop song from some artist I've never heard of (with a stupid sounding made up name), "singing" some song that doesn't really have words... This just makes the videos come off much nicer. Plus, he always adds in the TV play by play to go along with it. I think that's a huge bonus, because, let's face it, play by play calls make the games (or is that just the play by play guy tooting his own horn?)

Anyway, if you have an hour or two to kill, go to LASooner's YouTube page and browse his videos. He has season highlight videos for OU since the 2000 season. 

2007 Oklahoma Sooners (Part 1 of 3)

2007 Oklahoma Sooners (Part 2 of 3)

2007 Oklahoma Sooners (Part 3 of 3)

Peoria Ridge - 6/26

Kade and I played the good ol' P-Ridge today. I hate playing out there. I never ever shoot well out there (not that I really shoot any better at other courses, but still...) That course seems to intimidate me, for some reason. But, I had a gift certificate still from Valentine's Day, so we decided to go. Normally when I play out there, I start off horrible, then manage to string together a few good holes for a decent back nine to salvage a score in the upper 90's or low 100's. (I told you I was a stud!). However, today, I nailed a drive down the middle of #1 (a par 5), then hit a 5-wood dead straight to within about 75 yards, and had an easy wedge to the green. My birdie putt stopped about an inch short, leaving me a gimme par. I was literally an inch from being under par for the first time in my life. Had I made that putt, I probably would've walked off the course and never played again, ending my golf career with that one shining moment of (semi-) glory. Anyway, I had a birdie opportunity on #2 as well, a chip from the fringe on the backside of the green, and managed to make bogey after my par putt missed short. (The greens were in terrible shape and the speeds were very hard to read). I played around bogey golf for the next 5 holes, then on #7, I hit one of the more remarkable shots I've ever hit.

I drove with a 5-Wood (the hole is a short par 4) about 200 yards and off to the right, between the cart path and a fence that marks OB, in the rough, and about 20 feet shy of the creek. Guarding said creek are a line of huge, tall trees, probably 75 feet tall. So, after debating my options of a) turning left and punching out into the fairway (the sensible thing to do) and b) using a sand wedge and trying to clear the trees with something straight up in the air, and I decided on c) none of the above, and went with the 'Tin Cup' mentality of "grip it & rip it." I took a pitching wedge and hit the ball straight up in the air, carried the trees and hit the back side of the green, about 125 yards on the fly. This was remarkable for a couple of reasons. 1, I usually don't get that much air under my PW that fast. It was almost like trying to hit the ball out of a silo. 2, I usually don't carry my PW more than 100 yards, and when I do, it's because I've bladed it and it never gets more than probably 20 feet off the ground. To hit it that high, that straight up, and that far, was nothing short of remarkable (for me, anyway). The ball left about an inch deep divot and bounced about 4 feet, stopping about 50 feet from the pin. I got in in two for my par. 

The rest of the round, I pretty well lollygagged my way to some unremarkable bogeys and even a couple pars here and there. We really didn't keep score very accurately on the back nine (or really even that correctly), but I carded a really bogus 92. I hit 48 on the front nine, which was actually legit (I fell apart on holes 4-6 and 8). 

Anyway, with my finances on lock down in preparation for saving for a Yankee Stadium trip in about a month, that's probably the last golf I'll be getting to play for a while. Maybe I'll find something else to entertain you all with (both of you!) for a few weeks.

Top Sooner Plays & Games of the 00's

Soonersports.com is running a couple of fan polls to determine both the 10 best plays and games from OU football in the current decade. For the most part, the choices are good. You simply pick your favorite 10 from 20 possible games/plays. The only play that I wish would've been on the list (that's not) is the Derrick Strait INT return against Nebraska in 2000, that proved to be the door slammer for the Sooners against the #1 Cornhuskers. In my opinion, that was the most important game in (recent, at least) OU football history, because it put OU back to #1 and showed that the Sooners were back. Another I would've liked to see was Garrett Hartley hitting a 49 yard FG to force a second OT against Baylor in 2005, or DeMarco Murray's busted play 92 yard (and 5 second) kickoff return against Baylor in '07.

Anyway, here are my top 10 plays, and why I may think so. As soon as I find the final poll, I'll show those too. The polling for top 10 games has already closed, so I'll post the final results as they're announced.

Top 10 Plays

10. Mark Bradley (2004) OSU TD tip & run - Had he caught it initially, he probably wouldn't have scored. But after deflecting it, the defenders flinched and he raced down the sideline.

9. DeMarco Murray (2007) Texas hurdle - Showed he's potentially the most explosive player in the nation after hurdling his own blocker then outrunning the Texas D for a 65 yard score

8. Andre Woolfold (2000) Nebraska juggle - Tips a Josh Heupel pass twice before reaching his left arm out and catching it while laying on his back.

7. Adrian Peterson (2004) OSU Spin & gone - Took a simple run right up the middle, spun away from one tackle at the line of scrimmage, then said bye bye to the Cowpokes. The signature moment from his Heisman runner up year.

6. Rocky Calmus (2000) Florida State Weinke fumble - Calmus stepped up and nailed a scrambling Chris Weinke deep in FSU territory late in the 4th quarter of the Orange Bowl, causing a fumble that would immediately lead to the game's only touchdown.

5. Mark Clayton (2003) Texas YAC - Catching a slant from Jason White, Clayton quickly ran out of room on the left sideline before stopping on a dime, juking twice, then cutting back to the right before scoring all the way in the right corner of the endzone.

4. Adrian Peterson (2005) Tulsa spinorama - Ran around the right side before blowing up a linebacker, spinning out of a tackle, running backwards three steps, then spinning and sprinting into the endzone for the nail in the coffin TD.

3. Torrance Marshall (2000) Texas A&M INT Return - Saved the season for the resurgent #1 Sooners, picking off Mark Ferris and running it back 35 yards (with the help of a Rocky Calmus clip) for the go-ahead TD late in the 4th Quarter.

2. Roy Williams (2001) Texas Superman - After a Longhorn mistake, Williams soared over a low block and landed on Chris Sims just as he brought his arm back to pass. The ball fluttered into the hands of Teddy Lehman, who took two steps into the endzone.

1. Renaldo Works (2002) Alabama snake run - Williams has the most memorable play on this list, but Works has the most impressive. Taking a screen pass, Renaldo weaved his way through the Tide defense before hurdling a tackler downfield and getting the Sooners a first and goal late in the 4th quarter of this classic game.

TOP 10 GAMES SINCE 2000

10. 2003 - OU 20 - Alabama 13

9. 2000 - OU 41 - Kansas State 31

Holiday Hills Golf Course - Branson, MO

So, after thinking for a while, I'm trying to decide what all I really want to write about on this blog. One of my favorite things to do is play golf, so I'm going to share a little about my golf experiences and the different courses I get to play. 

Today, I played Holiday Hills Golf Course in Branson. We tried going out yesterday, but after four hole we had to postpone it until today. I was hoping we'd get to finish yesterday so we could play Thousand Hills today (we're staying right on that course). 

This was one of the shortest courses I've ever played. I was with my uncles and my cousin Kellie, and today was her first golf outing, so we played from the white tees (the second shortest out of four). The longest are the golds, then blue, white and red. From the white tees, the course played just under 4800 yards, and is a par 68 with five par three's and one par five. This is also the only course I've ever seen that has back-to-back par three's. This course does that twice, with the 130 yard #6 followed by the 110 yard #7, and the gorgeous downhill 118 yard #16 and the 140 yard #17. After four holes, we decided to team up into a 2-man scramble to speed up the round due to a lot of people out on the course. 

Holiday Hills is a pretty nice course. It's challenging, but not punishing. On most of the holes, hitting in the rough can lead to a very manageable next shot. The course has some beautiful settings, especially with the hills and the creek that winds through the holes. The carts have GPS screens in them and tell you exactly how far you are from the front and back of each bunker, water hazard, and also the dimensions of the green and the distance to the pin, no matter where you are on the hole (or surrounding holes). My favorite holes were three of the par three's (2, 6, and 16). Most of the 4's were all pretty similar.

Some highlights of the course, and my round:

Hole 2 - I hit a sand wedge over the water to within 10 feet, then tapped in for birdie on this 86 yarder.

Hole 6 - I skied a 7 iron up over the water and left the biggest divot of my life on the lower tier of the green. The greens took on a lot of water from last night's storm and then a short steady rain shower today, so big divots were common.

Hole 9 - The only par 5, it played about 465 today. We took Larry's drive (mine went hopelessly right into some guy's front yard), which was about 160 yards. I hit a 5 wood about 200 yards that bounced just into the rough on the right side, then nailed a pitching wedge straight up over a tree and onto the green. We then four putted for a fantastic 7.

Hole 13 - Played 369 today, and I finally crushed a drive that played perfectly left-to-right into the fairway right at 100 yards short of the pin.

Hole 14 - My drive sliced into the very start of the #15 fairway, which came up 135 short of the pin, but about 35 feet uphill. I hit a 7-iron pin high just to the fringe.

I'm hoping to hit Peoria Ridge sometime this next week. I played Miami Golf & Country Club a couple weeks ago, I'll try to post on it sometime in the next couple days. Hopefully I'll be able to hit a few more courses this summer.

22 Holes for the Price 18

I'm in Branson for the weekend with the fam. We went to golf at Holiday Hills today, a pretty nice golf course just east of Lake Taneycomo. We got to the fourth hole when a storm blew in and they blew the siren, so we headed back to the clubhouse and waited out the lightning, but the rain never stopped. We just got a rain check and decided to try again tomorrow. Too bad, too, it ruined my fantastic round of +11... through 4 holes. (8 on each of the three par 4's and a birdie on the par 3 2nd hole). More updates later!

This is exactly why I hate the Cubs

(click on the headline to read the related story)

Freakin bandwagon jumpers. I've jumped on a few in my lifetime, most recently the Celtics, but when I did jump on one I didn't pretend to be a die-hard fan, and if they won or lost, I thought "oh well."

I think it's inevitible to jump on a few BW's in life, but it's funny how quickly those BW's turn into semi-trucks of domination that everyone outside that particular city (or group of states, e.g. "New" England) grow to hate that team after it wins a couple championships. For example, look at Boston. 6 years ago, the Red Sox couldn't beat the Yankees, and the Patriots seemingly came out of nowhere to slay the mighty Rams. Now, the Pat's are the most hated team in sports (even without the whole spying fiasco - and, no, I don't like putting "-gate" on the end of every sort of controversy) and the Red Sox have been the most dominant baseball team of the past half decade. Rooting for either of those teams now isn't "jumping on the bandwagon," it's just simply being a sheep and following the crowd.

I think if you're going to pick a team to inexplicably root for (one nowhere close to your location or home), you should adhere to a few guidelines. I give you a point/counterpoint for examples.

1) It's OK to pick a team because of one player, provided you keep rooting for that team after said player retires. I started rooting for the Packers in the mid-90's because I was sick of all the crap the Cowboys players got away with, and plus, I needed to break away from a team simply because my dad rooted for them (which isn't necessarily what you should do... sports are a bond. but that's another post.) I loved Brett Favre, so I started rooting for Green Bay. He's now gone, and I'm ready for the Aaron Rodgers era (or year, whatever it turns out to be). I'm sticking with my green and gold.

1) (counterpoint) Did anyone outside of Chicago a) root against the Bulls in the mid-90's, and then b) root for the Bulls after Jordan retired? I'll give this counterpoint a counterpoint of its own. When team management dismantles a team and basically lets it slide into mediocrity, it's ok to abandon the team. Or at least pick a team that's worth rooting for. (See the Florida Marlins).

2) If you're going to pick a team to jump on, pick one that hasn't been there before and is on the rise with a legitimate shot to be built into a winner in the next few years (regardless of if it's possible they'll win because of how stacked another team may be). Pick someone like the Tampa Bay Rays, or the Cleveland Cavs, or even my beloved Browns!

2) (counterpoint) Don't pick someone who has had 100 chances to win and still hasn't ever gotten there (cough cough, Cubs, cough cough). I know, they've won a series, but was anyone alive when they did?

There are a variety of ways and reasons a person can root for a team that's half the country away and be a legit fan. I like the Yankees because I grew up hearing the fairy tales about Mickey Mantle from my grandpa, who grew up with the Mick in Commerce back in the 30's and 40's. A guy I went to OU with is a die-hard Virginia Tech fan because his family is from Virginia. G-Spence is probably more devoted a Dodger fan than most of the whole of SoCal. Geographics don't matter, but if you decide to start rooting for a team, just remember to stick with them. Unless it's the Cubs. You should switch now... I won't even say a word to you about it. It'll be the like Prodigal Son returning home.

We are the champions!

So, my co-ed softball team, Bearskin Fitness Center, just won the Spring Co-Ed league. Just thought I'd pass that along. We went 13-1 on the season, with our only loss coming via forfeit because the league president didn't tell us what time we had to show up for a make-up game last week. So, now we're off to the summer league in two weeks!

Those Plucky Little Redbirds

Some of you may know that I've been a die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fan all my life, and that I'm always one of those obnoxiously-positive minded fans who always thinks his team will find a way to win no matter what the odds (I just a video of myself from an episode of 'The 5th Quarter,' from my senior year at OU where I literally flipped a coin to decide my pick for the 2005 OU-Texas game... Texas won the game 45-12 and went on to win the national title and be one of the better teams of all time...). Also, baseball is my favorite sport and by February of each year I'm totally jonesing for the National Pastime to get started.

All that being said, come February and March of Ott-8, I was ready for August and OU football without so much as seeing my beloved Cards play a game. Carpenter and Mulder each were recovering from major surgeries and expected to miss half the season. Pujols was hurting and said that even a minor injury would make him choose season ending surgery to his elbow which has hampered him for a few years now. There were guys on the roster with names like Skip, Wellemeyer and Lohse. We replaced a legendary GM by the free-agency era standards. And, unfortunately, Al Hrabowski was still in the broadcast booth.

Now we're in June, and Pujols (the game's best hitter) and Adam Wainwright (our steal we got for JD Drew) are both injured, Carpenter and Mulder have hit snags in their rehabs, guys by the names of Boggs and Pirisi have started games, and Yadier Molina (the most underrated catcher in baseball) got knocked unconscious last weekend and is sitting out a few games). And, yet, entering play today my St. Louis Cardinals, a team picked higher than only the lowly Pirates in the pre-season by most of the baseball minds, is just 3.5 games back of the "mighty" Chicago Cubs team picked by most to go to the World Series for the best record in the National League. And it's not like the NL Central of the past few years (St. Louis won the division in '06 with 83 wins) Only three teams in baseball (the Cubs, Red Sox, and Angels) have better records than the Cards.

Skip Shumaker has become the sparkplug at the leadoff spot that everyone claimed the Cards lost when they didn't re-sign David Eckstein. He's third on the team in hitting and OBP (.309 & .373, respectively), and second in runs scored (43). That's what a lead-off hitter should be doing. Plus, he's been a solid left/center fielder. Rick Ankiel has been a beast in CF, high lighted by his two ungodly throws he made to third base in one game against the Rockies. His hitting has dropped off a little the past 2-3 weeks as he's been hampered with a knee injury, but he's easily the come back player of the year. The platooning middle infielders have been pretty good. No all-stars, but certainly no slouches either (Adam Kennedy, Brenden Ryan, Cesar Isturis and Aaron Miles). And Troy Glaus has everyone forget about the "third-base cancer" otherwise known as Scott Rolen.

Then there's Ryan Ludwick. If he stays this productive all year and the Cardinals stay in the playoff hunt all year and he doesn't get legitimate MVP consideration, I'm asking Arlen Spector to get involved and find out what shady things are going on.

All that being said, this is one of the most compelling baseball seasons I've experienced in a while. If the Cardinals flirt with winning 90 games (which they're totally on pace for), Tony LaRussa should be the unanimous pick for Manager of the Year.

Thats... all I got.

Yo yo

So, I'm rocking the blogspot now. This is my alternative spot to basically just say whatever is on my mind or what I'm thinking about or whatever life has thrown my way. I'm keeping my blog on myspace for my deeper writings and things of that nature. Anyway, here goes!