I Guess We're Lucky Thats All He Said

For those of us in Oklahoma bombarded by replay upon replay of Mike Gundy ripping "The Oklahoman" writer Jenni Carlson, it's hard to sit on the sidelines. When I first saw it, I had to go find out what she wrote, thinking that it could not have been that bad. Carlson is notorious for not fact checking; I expected to see a lot of eronious claims, rumors, or just made up stories. What I found was, in my opinion, the public castration of the ex-starting quarterback. She called him out on the carpet, and I think that Gundy and Carlson are both lucky that that is all he said. What gets me is that the Oklahoman defends her article, calling it good objective journalism. For those of you that don't know here is some of it-
"By Jenni Carlson, The Oklahoman: STILLWATER — Bobby Reid stood near the team charters last Friday night, using his cell phone, eating his boxed meal. It would've been normal post-game activity but for one thing.
His mother was feeding him chicken.
Which brings us to the quarterback switch-a-roo at Oklahoma State.
Don't see the connection?
Let me explain. Cowboy coaches have gone full-speed ahead with the Zac Attack, opting to start Robinson over Reid a week ago, then sticking with him against Texas Tech today even after an embarrassing loss at Troy. Weren't we being told just last week that Reid was still the guy? All the weight with which Cowboy coaches were backing Reid has totally shifted to Robinson.
The change seems sudden.
Thing is, it may not be as abrupt as it looks. If you believe the rumors and the rumblings, Reid has been pushing coaches that way for quite some time.
Tile up the back stories told on the sly over the past few years, and you see a pattern that hasn't always been pretty.
Word is that Reid has considered transferring a couple different times, the first as early as 2005. Reid, then a redshirt freshman, was facing competition from returner Donovan Woods, and apparently, Reid considered leaving OSU just because he had to compete for the spot.
Reid's nerves have also been an issue. Earlier this year, he told our Andrea Cohen about his game-day emotions.
"I get sweaty palms. I get the butterflies in my stomach. I sweat lot,” he said then. "I've been playing this game for 15 years. And I can honestly say every game I've played in, I've been nervous. It's not so much me being scared; I just get to a point where I start worrying about a lot of things I can't control.”
A lot of guys get nervous, some even puke before games. How you handle the nerves is important, though, and Reid hasn't always managed them well. He has gotten off to some extremely slow starts, putting the Cowboys in some holes. Some, they dug out of, with Reid often wielding the biggest shovel, and some, they couldn't.
Then, there have been the injuries. No doubt some of Reid's ailments have been severe, including an injured shoulder that required surgery and forced him to redshirt. Other times, though, Reid has been nicked in games and sat it out instead of gutting it out.
Injuries are tricky, of course. You don't want a guy to put himself in harm's way if he's really hurt, and yet, football is one of those sports in which everyone plays hurt. Aches and pains, bumps and bruises are part of the gig.
Reid's injury against Florida Atlantic — whatever it was — appeared minor but just might have been the thing that pushed Cowboy coaches over the edge. Even though Mike Gundy said last week that Robinson got the nod because he had the better week of practice, insiders say that the coaches decided to bench Reid early in the week. The bottom line: The switch is less about Robinson's play and more about Reid's attitude.
"The coaches made a decision,” Reid told our Mike Baldwin after the Troy game. "I just have to go with it, get better and get back on the field.”
There's something to be said for not being a malcontent, but you can almost see Reid shrugging his shoulders as he says those words. Does he have the fire in his belly?
Or does he want to be coddled, babied, perhaps even fed chicken? (THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IS WHAT I THINK IS THE WORST PART OF IT)
That scene in the parking lot last week had no bearing on the Cowboys changing quarterbacks, and yet, it said so much about Reid. A 21-year-old letting his mother feed him in public? Most college kids, much less college football players, would just as soon be seen running naked across campus. (WHY DON'T YOU QUESTION HIS SEXUALITY WHILE YOUR'E AT IT)
And what of the scene television cameras captured earlier that evening of Reid on the sidelines laughing with assistant strength coach Trumain Carroll? The same cameras showed him throwing his cap in disgust after a missed play earlier, but to be laughing in the final minutes of an embarrassing loss is bad form."

There are a few more lines to it; the website wanted me to join newsok.com to read it again, I declined. The national media has gotten a hold of Gundy's tirade and broadcast it, saying that he was wrong, and that he looks like a fool. Maybe so, but they don't show what he was angry about. I don't throw my opinion out there a whole lot, at least not publicly, but this whole article is wrong. It is wrong in fact, in principle, and in intent. I have been fairly vocal in my support for Bobby Reid. I think that it was wrong to bench him at Troy, and that it was wrong to bench him against Tech. Let me take you back to the Georgia game. The score was 28-14 in favor of Georgia in the middle of the third period, OSU's ball. Bobby Reid hit the big tight end over the middle for a gain of at least thirty yards. It was first and ten on about the Georgia 48 yard. Offense coordinator Larry Fedora calls a hurry up play, where they run up to the line quickly with no huddle hoping to catch the defense unprepared. They ran the running back up the middle. Instead of catching the Georgia D offguard, OSU's o-line missed a block and the back was tackled for a three yard loss. The next play was run up the middle, which was stopped for a three yard loss. After the big play, there were two plays for negative yards, it's now third and sixteen. On third down, pass protection breaks down and Bobby Reid is sacked for a loss. Those three downs, that had nothing to do with Bobby Reids ability, but with his offensive coordinator's poor judgement, lost the Georgia game. Without a doubt in my mind, it sent Reid on a path that he may never recover from. In my opinion, being quarterback at a division 1-A school is the hardest thing to do in sports. The scrutiny must be unbearable, the pressure unrelenting. It is not for the faint of heart, and sometimes you find people that just cannot handle it. Other times, the signal callers are victim of circumstance, i.e. Cale Gundy getting booed off Owen Field. The events of this season have spiraled out of control for Reid, and very little of it was his own doing.
As an OSU grad, I have become very disalusioned with my alma mater. Boone Pickens large donations are no secret, but during the OSU-Nebraska game last year, Pickens said he was on the take for 40% of the OSU athletic departments net revenue. I didn't realize that NCAA athletic departments were for sale. Before I had tolerated their losing, in football, now it seems a form of karma, that OSU should lose. I wanted to attend the OSU-Tech game with my wife, but when we went to purchase tickets we found that the worst seats in the cost $85. I hope that Pickens money will be enough for OSU because I am not alone when I say that they will not get as much of mine if they had never brought him on board. Also with Pickens money they got his opinion too. He has a large say on who is hired and fired at OSU athletics. I don't like Boone Pickens, I don't like how he got rich, and I don't like that everytime I buy an OSU hat, 40% of OSU's take goes to Boone Pickens. OSU sold their soul to the devil for 300 million, and they better watch out because Pickens has become a millstone around their neck.
I feel sorry for Bobby Reid, who has NFL potential, and will probably never get there, because of offensive coordinator Larry Fedora, and ironically the man that defended him on Saturday.

As for Carlson, I can only hope she gets her up and coming. If we had performed so unethically we would be fired. I cannot ask for any less from "The Oklahoman".

New Top 30 Poll

1.USC
2.LSU
3.Oklahoma
4.Florida
5.WVU
6.California
7.OSU
8.BC
9.Oregon
10.Rutgers
11.Texas
12.South Florida
13.Clemson
14.Kentucky
15.Wisconsin
16.South Carolina
17.Georgia
18.Missouri
19.Hawaii
20.Michigan State
21.Va. Tech
22.Cincinnati
23.Penn St.
24.Arizona St.
25.Purdue
26.Alabama
27.UCLA
28.Nebraska
29.Michigan
30.Miami

Week 2 Results

I had a very brutal week at 5 and 9. I really can't complain about this result though. If you watched college football at all, you know it was very crazy weekend. It could have been much worse, in my opinion. We have better week of games next weekend, and I look forward to releasing my picks later in the week. So this weeks loss with 20% juice is $820. Making us down $320 on the year. Don't worry I think we will get it back next week.

One More Pick

Missouri vs. Mississippi: Missouri is a 6 point favorite. My pick: Missouri.
There that makes it an even 14 on the weekend. Good luck everyone.

Week 2 Picks

To be honest there are a lot of good games this weekend, but not a lot that I feel strongly about. Then try picking with a spread, it makes it even harder. I had more confidence in my picks last week, to be honest, but we'll try it anyway.
Oregon State vs. Cincinnati on Thursday: OSU is 3.5 point favorite. My pick is Oregon State.
Middle Tennessee State vs. Louisville: Louisville is 40 point favorite. My pick is Louisville.
West Virginia vs. Marshall: WVU is a 24 point favorite. My pick is West Virginia.
Buffalo vs. Temple: Temple is 3.5 point favorite. My pick isTemple.
Duke vs. Virginia: Virginia is 17 point favorite. This is my dump truck pick of the week (meaning I would unload on, or bet 3 X's normal amount) My pick: Virginia.
Bowling Green vs. Michigan State: Michigan State is an 18 point favorite. My pick is Michigan State.
N.C. State vs. Boston College: BC is favored by 14. This is my second dump truck pick of the week, and just fyi I like this one better than the first. My pick: Boston College.
South Carolina vs. Georgia: Georgia is 5 point favorite. My pick: Georgia
Notre Dame vs. Penn State: Penn State is favored by 17.5. My pick: PSU.
Hawaii vs. Louisiana Tech: Hawaii is favored by 28. My pick: Hawaii.
Virginia Tech vs. LSU: LSU is a 12.5 point favorite. My pick: LSU
BYU vs. UCLA: UCLA is a 7.5 point favorite. My pick is BYU.
TCU vs. Texas: Texas is a 10 point favorite. My pick is TCU.

One of the reasons this week concerns my is that with all but 2 of my picks, I went with the favorite to cover, and the line setters know what they are doing. Yet I can't help it, I don't like the dogs in 11 of the 13 games. I am not going to win all the games though, I just want to win most of them. We'll see how it turns out. Talk to ya'll later.

New Top 25 Poll

1. USC
2. LSU
3. West Virginia
4. Wisconson
5. Louisville
6. Florida
7. California
8. Ohio State
9. Oklahoma
10. Rutgers
11. Hawaii
12. Georgia
13. Boston College
14. Texas
15. Virginia Tech
16. Georgia Tech
17. UCLA
18. Clemson
19. TCU
20. Oregon State
21. BYU
22. Missouri
23. Auburn
24. Boise State
25. Michigan State
When I made out the poll I had decided to put Hawaii in the top 10, but I ended up working them out due to other teams that just couldn't be left out. If Hawaii goes undefeated, and they probably will, I hope that they have a chance to play in the National Championship game. They have a high octane offense that can put up points on ANYONE. I heard guys on the radio wondering who was going to take Loyd Carr's place at Michigan, and they were throwing around names like Les Miles and such, but here's suggestion: How about June Jones? All he has done is change Hawaii into a BCS buster. He has done an excellent job. I could be Hawaii's waterboy though and I wouldn't leave for a million a year.
I dropped Michigan out of my top 25, all the way from second, and Texas to 14. They too have some issues, as they struggled against Arkansas State. An interesting game next week is Oregon at Michigan. Oregon runs the spread offense like App State did, and Oregon does not want to lose to a team that just dropped its home opener to a division 1-AA team. But Michigan is looking to redeem itself, after an embarassing loss, perhaps the worst in school history.
I have taken an early look at the lines and I doubt that I release 15 games this week, because I couldn't find that many I like. I will post a few that I will be looking at. If you have a game you like let me know and I will take a look at it.
A few other things that we have learned include that Temple is not as bad as it was last year and may get good value as the year progress's. East Carolina, my honey hole last year, is also a team that may get good value, although they are favored at home against North Carolina. Central Michigan was terrible against Kansas, and now have thoroughly confused me because I loved Central Michigan getting 8 against Kansas. Is Kansas that good or Central Michigan that bad?
Anyway I am going to release my picks tomorrow night hopefully. Winning up to $480 dollars can not be expected every week. A winning percentage of 67% is fantastic in my opinion, and I doubt that I will finish the year with that high of a number. I am going to say that I won't finish the year with that high of a number. Keep your fingers crossed.

Saturdays Results

We recovered quite nicely so far to be 8-6 over the weekend. So if you laid $100 per bet with 20% juice on a loss we are up $180 on the weekend. If you unloaded on Tulsa like I said, say 3 times normal amount, which I am not of fan of betting a lot on a line that you like unless you feel like it is seiously skewed, and that one was, then we are $380 on the weekend. We are not done yet, with a chance to go 9 -6, as Clemson and Florida State are yet to play, lets keep our fingers crossed. Weekend regrets include, taking the 18 points with Marshall against Miami. Actually at the end of the first quarter Marshall had outgained Miami like 150 to 50, had put up points while Marshall did not. Other regrets include taking North Texas and the points, I have already explained why I took them. The last one is that we stayed away from The Boston College Wake Forest game in Boston. BC was like a 4 point favorite and I like taking BC minus the 4. Anyway lets hope that Clemson covers the 3 they are getting against FSU. One more thing, can you believe that instead of retiring from FSU, Bobby Bowden fired his own son as Offensive Coordinator? What a pile of crap Bobby Bowden is. Nothing, in this world ever make me fire my own son, especially when I am 70 years old. He might have ruined his career, at half his age. He had taken him to BCS bowls and Bowden fired him. What precident set by FSU by allowing him to do this. I heard the buy out was very pricy, but even so, I think it makes Bobby Bowden look like a very very selfish individual. Maby his son who is the head coach of Clemson can exact revenge upon their dear old dad, and clobber FSU.