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.

Thursday's Results

I fired out a less than impressive 2 and 3 last night. Now you know why I don't bet on the games. Picking against a spread the first week of the season is very difficult. The biggest mistake I made was Kent State and ISU. I knew better than to pick ISU, and Kent State had some good wins last year, along with some bad losses. Lets hope that the rest of my picks pan out better than Thursday. Just FYI, a lot of people like OU to cover the 41 against North Texas. I do not, I look for OU to try throw the ball alot to get their inexperienced quarterback some game action. I think it will end maybe 42-7, 48-10, or 38-0.

Week One Picks

This Weeks Picks.
Just a little disclaimer, If you bet money with my picks you could lose some or all of your money. Your wife will be angry and you will be sad. I am not wagering any money on these picks, if that means anything to you betting people.
Miami (OH) at Ball State: Ball State is a 6 point favorite. My pick: Ball State.
LSU at Mississippi State: LSU is an 18.5 point favorite. In my opinion MSU was the worst team in a BCS conference last year, but teams play down to there level a lot. LSU has been a notorious slow starter under Les Miles, but MSU is bad. My pick: LSU I don't think Mississippi State will score an offensive touchdown in this game and could get shut out.
Kent State at Iowa State: Iowa State is a 3.5 point favorite. My pick: ISU
Utah at Oregon State: Oregon State is a 7 point favorite. My pick: Utah.
Tulsa at Louisiana Monroe: Tulsa is a 3 point favorite. My pick: Tulsa, and I really, really like this spread. If I bet I would unload on this one.
Western Michigan at West Virginia: WVU is a 23.5 point favorite. My pick: WVU.
Marshall at Miami (FL): Miami is an 18.5 point favorite. My pick: Marshall.
Army at Akron: Akron is a 5 point favorite. My pick: Akron.
Oklahoma State at Georgia: GU is a 6.5 point favorite. My pick is Georgia.
Central Michigan at Kansas: Kansas is an 8 point favorite. My pick: Central Michigan.
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame: Notre Dame is a 3 point favorite. My pick Georgia Tech.
Arizona at BYU: BYU is 4.5 point favorite. My pick: BYU.
Tennessee at Cal: Cal favored by 5.5. My pick: Cal.
North Texas at Oklahoma: Oklahoma favored by 40.5. My pick: North Texas.
Florida State at Clemson: FSU is favored by 3. My pick: Clemson.

You Know the Man

My son Logan is now able to stand and walk. So I now refer to him as Rory Calhoun, because the Simpsons said that he was always standing and walking. I had always assumed that Rory Calhoun did not exist or was a pioneering t.v. journalist like Charles Karalt. So a couple of nights ago I googled him and this is what I found, and in the words of TBS I found it mildly funny. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rory_Calhoun
Also funny to me is that he starred alongside George Strait, in "Pure Country".

NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

NCAA Football 2008 comes out on July 18, and I wanted to hone my video game playing skills by playing the 2007 version of the game. I was soon reminded that my X-box freezes up and tells me that my disc is unreadable, and that I need to clean the disc. Plus all unsaved info is lost. This has been a problem from the get go, and has been very frustrating for me. After losing two games to it freezing up (a game takes about an hour to play) I had had enough and called customer support. They said that I must send my console in to get it fixed. Its a wonderful thing, I will admit, they are sending me a box to ship it in and it won't cost me a thing. But it will be gone for 21 days, from the day I send it in. We are looking at the first week in August before it comes back. I will miss the premier of NCAA College Football 2008, a game that I have been counting the days until its release. Patience is taught in such terrible circumstances.

I forgot one.

I actually beat this guy in a head to head match up, only I used Tampa Bay.

Greatest Sports Moments

I wanted to do a blog about the greatest things that I had ever seen, period. Not just in sports, but I soon realized that if I did that they would all be sports anyways. These are not necessarily the greatest sports moments just the greatest ones I have seen, and I am sure that somepeople will disagree with me, but its all relative anyways.
These are in no particular order I suppose.

Watch the linebackers they bring six guys and still can't get to him.



I like the plays that are less about luck, but more of fate, maybe. It just seemed that USC was destined to win.




This one probably didn't make it without Guy Morriss getting the gatorade shower.


I believe Bryant Reeves won an espy for this play. I know it was nominated for one.



Jet, Rocket, Victory, what else can you say. This play made Kordell Stewart a lot of money, because he was never good enough to play quaterback in the NFL.



Greatest play in College basketball history.



Aaahh this one was wild. At the start of the fourth quarter I didn't think there was any way OU would get back in the game. It was just a wild game. Editors side note, Gerad Zabranski is on the cover of NCAA Football 2008, so this play made him a bunch of money. Side note to editors side note, NCAA Football 2008 comes out On July 17th.



I remember when they brought Dennis Eckersly out of the bullpen, and Vin Scully called him Dennis the Menace, and said that he hadn't given up a home run in 54 innings. It was foreshadowing that Hollywood couldn't have wrote.



I hate "Sooner Magic".



Where's your "Sooner Magic", now? This happened the same day my son was born. I like telling people that.



I did not like where this blog took me. I had moments in mind such as when the Boston Red Sox lost game 3 of the 2004 ALCS, they lost it like 18 to 7 or something like that. They just got crushed, and in my mind the series was over. After such a demoralizing loss, they were done, in my opinion. I actually considered e-mailing a letter to the Boston Globe entitle, "Why Do We Believe Anymore". I am glad I didn't. Then game 4 got rained out. The next night at the game I remember Boston fans having signs that said, "I can't believe I fell for it again." They went to the bottom of the ninth down a run, and I don't remember who got on and they sent in Dave Roberts to pinch run and he stole second. Anyways I am trying convey the hole both mentally and really they were in. Even when they won game 4 I still thought it was over in game 5. When 25 guys believe there ain't nothing that can't be done.



There is video somewhere of an autistic boy that was a water boy for a high school basketball team. On the last home game they let him suit up, with about 2 minutes left the team was way ahead so they put him in on mop up duty, and he went on to hit 6 three pointers and score 20 points. The video is incredible the crowd is so raucus with every three pointer he hits, the gym can hardly contain them. When the game is over they flood court. I counldn't find this video. And FOX and MLB is hording the Red Sox footage. Also missing is Tyus Edny's buzzer beater vs. Mizzou, en route to UCLA national title. As well as a fan shoots and makes a three/quarter court shot for a million dollars, during halftime of Bulls game. 60 minutes did story over it. It was pretty incredible, I can't find it either. I had another thing in mind when I started this and I am disapointed in the result.

Big 12 North Football

I am embarrassed because I am going to have to cheat. I am not going to take the time to explain why I like the schools to finish where I pick them, I will just pick them. It is hard to get motivated to write a page or two about every team. Anyways this is how I see the Big 12 North palying out.

6. Iowa State

5. Colorado

4. Kansas State

3. Kansas

2. Nebraska

1. Missouri

Watch out for Colorado with second year head coach Dan Hawkins, they could surprise some people and finish as high as 3rd.

Texas and Missouri will meet in the title game and it will be closer than you think. Missouri will have the talent to keep it close. Texas wins the Big 12 title game to take home it 2nd title in 3 years.

Movies

Die Hard 4 comes out later this summer. In the commercials they show a car crashing into a helicopter some 30 feet in the air. I saw Pirates Of Caribean earlier this year, and it is one of the worst movies ever made, it is absolute garbage. I heard that Spider Man 3 total crap, and the Fantastic 4 was horrible. My point is, is that they can't make good movies anymore. I had not seen a movie in the theatre since Pirates of Caribean 2, and then wasted a trip on the third movie. Hollywood is in kind of a funk right now. They can't make a good movie, kind of like the early '80's. The 1980's was a dark period in cinematic history. In 1984 Amadeus won best picture, I bet 99% of the people that read this did not that, and I bet 100% of them have not seen it. Another acadamy award winner was Chariots of Fire. Flash forward to 2006 and 2007 and it is in same lull. I was wondering that with 100 years of film making are there any original ideas out there. Original believable ideas. The movies today are made to generate money not to be good, they are entertainment. Made to get people in the theatre. I doubt I go see anymore movies this summer, none of them look any good. I am going to list the five best movies made in my lifetime with the thought of, is the best days of cinema behind us.

5. Gladiator (When Maximus takes off his mask and Cesar sees who he is; absolutely classic)

4. Forrest Gump

3. Cold Mountain

2. Crash

1. All The Pretty Horses (on this there is no debate, its like Secretariats run at the Kentucky Derby. The only debate is what is second).

Feel free to submit your own ideas, I would like to hear them. As you can see my movies have had some success in the Acadamy Awards, but they don't have to have had Oscars success. Hopefully Hoolywood will break out of their slump, but with summer releases such as Transformers, and Fantastic 4 it doesn't look like it will happen anytime soon.

OSU Baseball

Oklahoma State played its 3 game super regional at Louisville, (pronounced Looeyville unless you are from there then it is Looaville)vying for their first trip to Omaha since 1999. The Cowboys played 30 innings and were outscored 31 to 5 and actually won a game. Pitching was the Pokes downfall but their offense was bad as well. 4 of their 5 runs came on solo home runs. They couldn't get anybody on base and when they did they were thrown out stealing or they hit into double plays. I have watched 4 games of the Cowboys this season and they lost 3 of them. I should give them credit though, after they dropped 6 straight heading into the regional I wrote them off for dead. But they swept the regional and I liked their chances against the upstart Cardinals. Today the Cowboys pitching gave up 21 hits and 20 runs and were never in the ballgame. In the Cowboys pitchers defense, Roger Clemens would had given up runs to the Louisville Cardinals. They were aggressive at the plate and hit the ball hard. The umpire would not call a strike if the pitch was a little low and when the cowboy pitchers raised it up in the zone the Louisville batters crushed it. I am surprised the game is still not going, as write this at 10:30 p.m., they were that hard to get out. If Louisville stays this hot, don't be surprised if they win the national title. In the second game though OSU pitchers Justin Friend and Jordy Mercer shut them down only allowing 2 runs both of them unearned. OSU needed a solo shot in the top of the ninth to tie the game. In the 12th inning OSU scored an unearned run to win the game. In the opening game Louisville routed the Cowboys 9 to 0. I guess all in all OSU had a successful season, but with 11 drafted players and several seniors the cupboard is farely bare for next year. OSU played well at times, taking 2 of 3 from A & M, and sweeping OU and Texas Tech. However, they got swept by Missouri and Texas, with the indelible image of players in the dugout yelling profanities at the umpires after calling a balk on the OSU pitcher allowing the go ahead run cross the plate and head coach Frank Anderson was ejected. The year had a lot of promise at times, but ended as the season of what could have been.

The Black Thumb

My wife has a black thumb. Not in the sense that you are thinking of, she doesn't kill the plants. We went hiking in the Andes Mountains, and it became frost bitten. She now has trouble opening the mail.

The Land of The Lost

I can't seem to post a blog unless I ripping somebody or something, and this one will be no different, but I am aware that it seems like I am an angry person.
My eyes were opened to a very sad reality that some people live in. I found a blog hosted by blogspot, in fact, that "released" info on episodes of ABC's show "Lost". Now I must admit that I watch the show pretty regularly, but I am growing tired of it. I'll get into that later. On this website it showed who was going to die on the season finale'. There must have 200 comments of people arguing back and forth. I thought I watched the show. They were arguing about people I have never heard of. Supposedly there are two women going to die and they hadn't released who it was. Who is this Penelope'? I don't know her. Then they were all in a frenzy to figure out which year Ben was born. The guy that hosted this website I guess had friends who worked on the set and would tell him things. This guy is a good a friend. Hey tell me something that I can tell everybody that nobody is supposed to know. Oh yeah if you get caught you'll get fired. Thanks man. They refer to the people of Lost as Losties, and the others as the others, but there are other others. Speaking of lost, I am lost. These people eat, breathe, drink, and sleep Lost. It was scary. They posted a press release saying that the Dharma shark was coming back but they didn't call it the Dharma shark, they called it something something Sharkington. I don't remember the rest. One other thing the writers of the show were talking about how they had answered so many questions that you might have had from season 1 & 2. Like when they said Desmond crashed the plane (I by the way must have missed that episode because I did not know that). However, when they revealed that Desmond crashed the plane they answered the question with another question. You now know when, where, and who, but you still have the questions of how and why. All I want to know is what dragged the pilot out of the cockpit in the very episode and what was shoving down the trees the first night they were there. That's all I want. I have resided to the fact that Wednesday will be the final time I watch the show (unless they answer questions with answers and not more questions). The reason is that I just don't care what happens anymore; just tell me how it ends. Why are they there, how are they there, who's running the show, etc.. Tell me that. I'll be good. (I have resided in the fact that they will never explain the dinosaur or whatever that killed the pilot and was pushing over trees the first night.) You see, the writers had no story in mind when they started writing it. So stuff from the first season that did not make sense will never get answered because they are trying to throw us for loop in the next episode. It's probably one of the worst planned tv shows ever to hit the airways. I think that they started writing it with the idea that they were all in purgatory, and after the second season, everyone had figured it out, and they had to change horses in mid-stream and it just keeps getting wilder. There will be no logical explanation to it (unless its a dream or purgatory, but in that case those fans that I wrote about earlier will burn ABC to the ground.) It will have to be an alternate reality, aliens, or something. Another thing is that the show - I believe this is the end of the third season - has signed on for a fourth, fifth, and sixth season. AND, and I might add, that the next episode of Lost after this Wednesday's will not air until February next year. Sorry, I feel like ABC has taken a relatively good thing and milked it for everything it was worth. I feel taken advantage of, that they think I will put up with this. I will find something else to do. For those of you that live vicariously through Lost, I find it sad, or maybe I am sad, because I live vicariously through people who live vicariously through Lost.

University of Oklahoma Football Season Forecast

First off I want to correct a mistake I made in my last blog. A&M went 5-3 in Big Twelve play. OK now that that is out of way onto the blog. I was listening to the experts today on the radio. FOX Sports Southwest is having a south football preview and the guy that is doing the show was breaking down some of the teams. When OU came he said they had reloaded well and that they will be even better than they were last year. I saw another website that had OU ranked #7 nationally preseason. Are these people looking at the same team I am looking at? Gone is Adrian Peterson, replaced by Allan Patrick, probably. The best thing OU has going for it is the offensive line, all of them improved a bunch last year and ended the season looking very impressive. I think I could be the starting running and be pretty successful. Gone is Paul Thompson, replaced by Joey Halzle, I mean Sam Bradford, I mean Keith Nichol, well whoever it is one thing is for sure they will have never taken a snap in a game in division 1 A. Joey Halzle will probably be the starter. Look at the schedule second game of the season they play Miami. I am not impressed with Miami they stunk last year....on offense. They had an impressive defense. You put a little a discipline and structure on that team and will it be ugly in Norman. If you are an OU fan you better hope their offense is as anemic as it was last year. If they can move the ball its over. OU's defense was pretty dang good last year in games 4 thru 13. Oregon posted over 500 yards of offense. And they complained about the brutal, brutal call OU got against Oregon. Well OU was a blown call away from losing (maybe) to UAB at home (Reggie Smith's fumbled punt). The secondary got burned repeatedly in big games (Oregon, Texas, and Boise State). Is it getting any better next year. I'm not seeing it. They had trouble tackeling when the run game got into the secondary. Reggie Smith has to play corner. When they put him at safety to compensate for the mediocre corners they might as well be making him play with handcuffs. His big play ability is seriously hampered playing that far back from the action. Gone is Rufus Alexander, replaced by I don't, whoever it is he ain't Rufus Alexander. Gone are Larry Birdine, Calvin Thibidoux and C. J. Ah You, replaced by I don't know on this one either, but thats a pretty good pedigree of de's to replace. Now I will grant you that a lot of the rest of country lost a lot (Florida, Ohio State, LSU, Notre Dame), but how can you pick OU to be seventh preseason, or to win the big twelve. Right it down, chisel it in stone, OU will not win the south. Its Texas's to lose. I think that quite frankly its not even close. A&M will finish higher than OU and you can take that to the bank. The last time OU had this many question marks it got beat by TCU at home on the season opener. One reason this might be a successful season is the coaching staff. Its the best in the country. If anybody could pull it off its Bob Stoops, but I ain't seeing it. You don't lose that many key elements to the team and compete for the National Championship. Its Texas in the South plain and simple.
P. S. I wanted to write about the North today but that idiot on the radio got me too worked up.

Big Twelve South Football

In my first blog about college football I went through the schedules and picked games and talked about some of the matchups. Not any more. That took way to long and I don't have that much time. So with out further ado the big twelve south.
6. Baylor Bears: After improving some the last couple of years it seems the Bears program is improving. Baby steps if you are Guy Morris. Two years ago they edged out OSU for fifth place in the South the first time since the inception of the big twelve they finished better than sixth. Last year they tied with OSU for fifth. They are still pretty bad though. If they were in say the Sunbelt Conference they would battle for the Division title not in the big twelve though. There offense will not be that bad with average talent at quarterback and running back. But there defense is terrible. Looked for it get scorched early and often. If your looking for a team to finish in the cellar in the south start your search here.
5. Oklahoma State: OSU put together a pretty decent year last year considering the year before that. But if you look at the schedule and see how the games ended up 10 and 2 was a realistic outcome and given that I would call last year a massive failure. No impressive wins and if they did have one (Alabama) they almost blew it in the fourth quarter. But next year we begin again. The schedule maker should be ashamed with road games at Georgia and Troy State. 7 and 5 would be great season and Mike Gundy better hope for better than 6 and 6. Because the next year T-Bone will be expecting to challenge for the Big Twelve South title and rightfully so.
4. Oklahoma: Heres a shocker. Not really though. How could pick OU finish higher. Will they finish higher probably but look at what left Norman last year. Their linebackers, a pretty good quarterback, and oh yeah their all-american tailback. They have some decent replacements for the tailback, quarterback is a big question mark, and linebackers are unproven. They boast an excellent secondary that got burned in big games and had trouble tackling in the running game. I watched some of the spring scrimmage and they said that OU lost 2 starter on defense. I don't by it. C. J. Ah You is gone, Calvin Thibidoux is gone, Larry Birdine is gone, Rufus Alexander is gone, the only defensive lineman I remember from last year that is returning is DeMarcus Granger. OU will start the season off against North Texas and expect a patented OU slow start. The line on that game will probably 21 points, I say take North Texas and the points. It seems like Mack Brown just has Bob Stoops number if he could ever beat Texas he could challenge for the national title. OU heartbreak in Big D, Texas rolls bigtime.
3. Texas Tech: I am giving 95% of Texans a reason to sneer in the face of Oklahomans by picking the 3 major colleges ahead of all Oklahoma colleges. Oh wait Texans already sneer in the face of Oklahomans. Tech had a down year last year and yet had a nice win against A&M. They took OU to the wire. I expect Tech to be much improved and more consistent this year they could give A&M a run for their money. They have OU at Lubbock and the refs have already asured the Lubbock faithful a win. They have to go to Stillwater and Texas though, places where they usually struggle. A&M at Lubbock is a must win.
2. Texas A&M: I expect big things from A&M this year. Well actually I expect the same as last 6 and 2 in big twelve play. They have Texas and OSU at home On the road at Tech and OU, and Baylor stinks. Thats about all I got. They have a good quarterback, a good tailback, and a pretty good secondary. Status Quo in College Station.
1. Texas: Heres a no brainer. Texas is clearly the best team in the big twelve. Experienced quarterback, tailback, offensive line and receivers, I expect them to be a juggernaut averaging over 48 points a game. A defense that will get the job done. I don't see any reason why they can't run table and play for the National Title in New Orleans. Toughest test at A&M, and maybe Nebraska at Austin. They would be seeking revenge for tough loss to Texas last year.

It's Thursday Again

Well its Thursday again and that means Grey's Anatomy is on. If it wasn't for that show I would probably never blog. I miss the Thursdays of yesteryear, when Seinfeld was on. Not this pointless garbage. I'll probably get ripped to shreds but Grey's Anatomy is so bad. If you search deep down I think that you'll be able to admit it to yourself. The bloodborne to airborne disease that knocked out the entire surgical staff. Thats when I said, "No more." ABC is letting it die a cruel death and letting it drag out as the viewers slowly slip away. One of these days you will turn to a friend and say, "Hey remember Grey's Anatomy. Whatever happened to that show?" Thats how it will die. A brutal plot and uninteresting characters thats a formula for success so far for it. You know I have to give it its due. The first year the idea was novel. Four young doctors that were friends working their residency together. After that it turned to crap. And my wife still watches it holding on to that glimmer of hope that it can return to the epic that so fascinated her that first season. She wastes her Thursday evenings away searching for what could have been. The drama offset is better than the drama on. Are they going to kick Isaiah Washington off. Better tune in to see. It is garbage. And I think if you search deep down inside you, you can admit it to yourself.

Why is the NFL So BAD

Pete Rozelle looked down from heaven yesterday and asked, "What happened to my empire?" That would be a tough question to answer. The man died on top of the sporting world. Now the NFL is mired in mediocracy and floundering ratings. Even the most die-hard football fans would have a hard time naming off the last 3 Super Bowl champs. ESPN, which took on the failing Monday Night Football, spends all year trying to cram the NFL down our throats with draft previews and trade possibilities. When these come on, I change the channel. Who cares? When you watch a game, its three and out, punt, commercials, three and out, punt commercials, three and out, punt commercials, get a couple of first downs, kick a field goal, commercials, kickoff,commercials. Could they cram a couple of more commercials in there? The league's salary cap implemented to create parody did just that; there is barely any difference in the worst team and the best team. This year's Super Bowl featured the worst team ever to make the Super Bowl, and the worst quarterback ever to make the playoffs. Do you even remember the Super Bowl? No. It was raining and that's about it. If the league does nothing to rectify the slumping rating pro football will go the way of the NHL: to the outdoor channel. The NFL means nothing to people that live outside the 32 cities that play host to the NFL. Ask what's more important to an Pheonix resident: Arizona State football or Arizona Cardinals? They will tell you Arizona State, and ASU has been atrocious of late. I heard an interesting theory on why there is no playoff in college football. Because the NFL does not want one. Ask yourself: what's bigger the NBA playoffs or March Madness? Answer: March Madness by longshot. The same would happen in the NFL. They would be playing second fiddle to the NCAA, which they are in danger of anyway because of the BCS championship. Bottom line the NFL is boring; soon to be exposed for the fraud that it is. The diehard fans in the big cities keep holding on to the glimmer of hope, the pax romana, they enjoyed in the '80s and '90s will return. The New England Patriots tried to establish dominance and were by far the best thing going for the NFL but were squashed by the salary cap limitations. The NFL is in trouble, and the sooner the fans admit it, the sooner the they fix the problem. But with fans holding out hoping see a reastablishment of the glory days it won't happen. We have to hit them where it hurts, and just don't watch it. You won't miss anything. Even if the game is close you won't miss greatness. There is no John Elway's "The Drive", or Montana and the 49ers marching 93 yards to the endzone to win the Super Bowl. No Clark's catch in the endzone, or Buffalo's come-back from 32 down. No Barry Sanders, Aikman, Young, Marino, or Kelly. Instead we've got Ben Rothlesburger bumbling his way to a Lombardi Trophy. The League should be embarrassed. I don't know what happened to your empire Mr. Rozelle. All I can tell you is I don't like it.