Month: December 2020

OU should be good with how their season has headed considering it was always going to be a rebuild transition season of sorts. OU will be headed to friendly AT&T Stadium as the home team in what potentially could be the best bowl matchup of the season minus Alabama vs. Clemson.

No Kennedy Brooks, no Trey Sermon, no Rhamondre Stevenson to start the season. No Ronnie Perkins, no Jalen Redmon, no Caleb Kelly to start the season. A defensive secondary still getting burned deep after the loss in Ames to get out to an 0-2 Big 12 start.

Throw into the mix a redshirt freshman starting at quarterback who didn’t get the benefit of a normal spring season due to COVID-19 and this was by far Lincoln Riley’s best coaching job in Norman.

I look back to the sitting of Spencer Rattler in the Red River Shootout as a turning point of sorts. The season could have gone to hell right there and then, but instead it was born in those four glorious overtimes when Spencer Rattler grew up as a college quarterback.

The moment for me was when Spencer Rattler hit Austin Stogner with a perfect pass through a very tight window at the Texas goaline to just get OU to the second overtime. To live for three more possessions.

If OU had lost that game to start 0-3 in Big 12… we wouldn’t be talking or thinking about the end of this season vs. Florida and what could be ahead for the Sooners next football season.

But to Lincoln Riley’s credit he didn’t panic. He didn’t throw his defense under a bus. He said in his heart they were getting better and would get better.

When Ronnie Perkins and Rhamondre Stevenson came back OU was a different team. They had a power back who could sustain a running game and a pit bull defensive end who was to this OU team what Von Miller is to the Denver Broncos when healthy.

Somebody please tell Spencer Sanders and Mike Gundy it’s okay to come out. You don’t have to hide anymore. Ronnie Perkins isn’t going to hurt you. We promise. Little Perk won’t bite.

OU’s defense with Ronnie Perkins is a different animal. His teammates feed off of him–on both sides of the ball. Lincoln Riley feeds off of him as a coach because he knows for the first time in his coaching career at OU his offense doesn’t have to score 45 points a game to win games.

This OU team with a healthy Austin Stogner couldn’t beat Alabama or Clemson, but they could certainly beat Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Texas A&M on any given Saturday.

Same with Florida. To me Florida is the most goofy team in the country. Lots of talent, but I’m not sure how much team smarts as evidenced by the cleat throwing at the end of the LSU giveaway loss.

Florida’s NFL headed tight end Kyle Pitt is opting out so that’s a big positive for OU. We’ll have to see who opts out for OU to have a clearer picture of what this Cotton Bowl could be by the time the two teams take the field.

But given where it seemed OU’s season was headed if they hadn’t pulled off the miracle ending in the Red River Rivalry…every OU fan should be exited about the Cotton Bowl and what the future could hold next season for this very young football team which is going to have possibly the best recruiting class in the Lincoln Riley era coming to Norman.

1 Alabama

2 Clemson

3 Ohio State

4 Notre Dame

5 Oklahoma

6 Texas A & M

7 Cincinnati

8 Florida

9 Georgia

10 Iowa State

In regards to Oklahoma—I think they’re the fourth best team in the country ‘right now’, but the loss to Kansas State as a second loss is too much for the committee to give the Sooners a pass on…I would guess. If I had to pick between Ohio State, Notre Dame, OU, and A&M….OU with this Ronnie Perkins led defense is the team out of those four I’d pick.

Texas A&M to me has no claim. This SEC West minus Bama was complete trash this football season. Auburn was horrible and LSU was historically bad. Minus Alabama—this was the worst SEC West I’ve seen.

I think Notre Dame will be pummeled by Bama. Likewise I think Clemson will handle Ohio State and that leaves us another Alabama vs. Clemson national championship final pitting Trevor Lawrence vs. Mac Jones. Best two teams, best two quarterbacks, best two coaches.

If OU and Texas A&M play in a bowl ….I like OU 28-24 if Perkins and Rhamondre Stevenson play. I think OU’s defense would be able to handle Kellen Mond. Kellen Mond would be the third most talented quarterback on OU’s roster next season.

Anyway, given the profound challenges presented by COVID–it’s somewhat amazing college football pulled this season off.

Kudos to Tulsa’s Golden Hurricane– they had a great season and should be proud of their effort against Cincinnati.

I’m happy for Trey Sermon as well with the Buckeyes. Nice game for him in the national spotlight.

I’m going to go watch the show now.

Michael Bublé & Bing Crosby – White Christmas – YouTube

This is my wife’s favorite Christmas song bar none. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas she’ll watch White Chritmas and Sleepless in Seattle at least five-thousand times each.

What a great day of college football championship games. OU’s win over Iowa State was easily the best game of the day. Most drama and most evenily matched.

I never thought of the pathetic grifter Trump once all day. I needed a day like this. I feel somewhat cleansed.

Congrats to Iowa State on a very nice season and here’s hoping Matt Campbell stays in the Big 12 as a coach until I die. Dude is a coach. His players love him. If Lincoln ever leaves I would hope Joe C would have Coach Campbell No. 1 on his short wish list.

When Coach C went after those zebras and almost got tossed he was sending his team a message and they never quit on him. I love that in a coach. His team had a chance to win in the last minute and that’s all you can ask out of your players.

OU made a play…Iowa State didn’t. It happens.

Conversely…if that had been Mullet King over there…he would have shrunk with the moment and his team would have quit on him. Just saying. Even O State fans at this point have to know this in their hearts.

Wow…Ohio State and Notre Dame…both massive no shows on Championship Saturday. Massive no shows and for Ohio State and I have no mercy. Tell me what they did this season which should qualify them for the Final Four.

I’ll do my College Football Power Poll in the morning.

What a great day to be a Sooner fan. For the first time since maybe 2003…OU has a defense with some pit bulls, dobermans, and fangs. Couldn’t help it–had to throw some Tramel in there. Almost certain he’ll use dobermans like I just did. Not the same ball club with Ronnie Perkins…not even close. Tre Norwood and Trey Brown get gameballs. Winfrey and Perk get helmet stickers.

Boomer!

Pokusevski 12pts 13reb Highlights ⚫ Poku DoubleDouble vs Bulls ⚪ – YouTube

Poku doesn’t play much defense. He’ll shoot the ball from anywhere at any time regardless of how many he misses. He makes some nice passes and some not so nice. He’s a decent rebounder. He made every conceivable bad play last night coming down the stretch as OKC blew a twenty point fourth quarter lead.

But here’s the thing…how is that any different from a Russell Westbrook game?

I have to admit…there is a certain entertainment value in watching Poku play. He’s always moving and something is happening whether it’s good, bad, or horrific.

But he’s not boring.

And if you’re going to be losing games in bunches at the least you don’t want to be boring.

I’d love to know how many calories he burns in twenty-five minutes of play. What he weighs before a game and then after a game.

OKC blew the twenty something lead in this their last and final preseason game. The Thunder finish preseason at 1-2 and seem primed to lose a lot of games. Which for them is good this season.

Just so we’re clear…at the end of the day I’m a fair dude. I may write things at times which go might over the top, but at the end of the day…I’m a fair dude.

I don’t know if JD Tailor is an alias for some other writer, but still–some interesting thoughts.

There’s a piece today on Daily Thunder titled The NBA’s Revenue Solution: Expansion Teams written by JD Tailor

The piece outlines the NBA’s financial challenges related to the COVID pandemic crisis which is going to effect league revenue’s for 2020 and at least two years beyond.

To paraphrase briefly…the NBA is going to have a $1.5 billion revenue shortfall for 2020. Around 40% of the league’s revenue is derived from game day operations. It is being projected the league for almost certain will incur another $1.5 billion or so shortfall in 2021. 2022…not sure yet.

I enjoyed JD’s piece and since I don’t have permission to link to the story–I would like to at least give him a thumbs up on the piece and encourge fans in the Oklahoma City market to read it.

I may even write some piece myself next week on where and why I would create two new expansion teams in the NBA in the next several years.

Anyway… a nice solid piece as all NBA fans should be aware of the financial challenges on the horizon for their NBA basketball teams.

Amid all the challenges of playing a college football schedule in the year of a COVID pandemic—the Big 12 got it right heading into Saturday’s championship game at Jerry’s World.

Iowa State should be the No. 1A seed and OU should be the No.1B seed. What none of us know is whether with Ronnie Perkins, Rhamondre Stevenson, and a more experienced Spencer Rattler at QB is if that’s enough for the Sooners to beat the Cyclones in a rematch.

Two best coaches in the conference in Lincoln Riley and Matt Campbell. Two best QBs in the conference in Brock Purdy and Spencer Rattler. Two best defenses in the conferences since Ronnie Perkins’ return to the Sooners’ front seven.

The two best teams on paper and on the field

A tough game to handicap from a betting standpoint. But like most games pitting two even teams it should come down to who doesn’t turn the football over at a critical time. Who doesn’t take a really stupid penalty to extend an important possession.

You would have to give Iowa State the edge at QB, the edge at running back with Breece Hall, the edge with an alpha receiver in 6’6″ tight end Charlie Kolar, and a defense which was statisticly better than OU’s for the duration of the season.

There will be no home field advantage and the weather will not be a factor.

Mojo and swagger will not be a big deal. Iowa State under Matt Campbell has beaten the Sooners twice since 2016 and almost did it a third time. OU players won’t be able to look across the field and see Mike Gundy with that deer in a headlight look on his face with a neon 1-15 tag hanging around his neck. This is a different deal. Iowa State players know it and OU players know it. This is an Iowa State team which thinks it’s going to win the football game.

Here’s the one place where I give the Sooners an edge…place kicker. I think the Sooners might have an edge here. So for that reason I’m taking OU 31 – Iowa State 28 at Jerry’s World tomorrow in what should be a good football game and a proper ending to the Big 12 football season.

Diana Krall – Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (2005) – YouTube

I may just hang out with my diva black lab Pauli and play it safe in self quarantine this Christmas. We got her nails done at the Lucky Dog Salon while we were in Denver and she looks remarkable. A pampered lab is a happy lab. Plus…I don’t have to talk to her about Donald Trump. I’ve made it this far without getting COVID…which is completely remarkable for someone like me. So I’m thinking a lot of Christmas music, no conversations whatsoever with family members regarding the human junk bond grifter Trump, just me and the lab out here in the forest of Deer Creek with the deer, wild turkeys and other assorted wildlife.

It’s lovely actually being away from other humans at certain times.

I have no desire whatsover at my age to get COVID. None. So I think I’m going to see if I have the inner discipline to do this.

Lots of Christmas music though.

This is the remarkable Diana Krall getting Mike’s Christmas Music Gala underway.

Be safe and enjoy Christmas in your own unique way this year.

Evan Mobley Is The Real Deal | USC Debut Full Highlights vs CBU 11.25.20 | 21 Pts, 9 Rebs & 3 Ast! – YouTube

Getting my game face on for Kansas at Texas Tech tonight. I love both Bill Self and Chris Beard as college coaches. I’m very exited to see what Tech throws at the Jayhawks tonight. Lest we forget Texas Tech is still the defending national runner-up as virtue of their close national final loss to Virginia almost two seasons ago.

When you watch a Chris Beard team what you should see is tenacious, tough team defense. Given Beard shaped his coaching style under Bobby Knight. When you watch Tech play you should see some of prime Bobby Knight as a coach in what Texas Tech is trying to do out there.

Chris B is 100-45 as a head coach entering tonight’s game in Lubbock.

Up above I have a video of Evan Mobley from USC. He’s currently at No. 2 on my list for the upcoming NBA draft. I wish we could see Evan Mobley this season in a tougher league like say the Big 12 or Big 10 where we could get a better gauge on his TSN. Because then we’d have a better feel of his physicality and ability to create space against better defenders.

When we have seen Cade Cunningham play eighteen Big 12 games we’re going to have a pretty good feel if he can adapt his game if Coach Boynton will morph his lineup with more of Rondel Walker, Bryce Williams and the Favors kid who can score the ball and open the lane for Cade.

Let’s go, Coach Boynton…I’ve been talking you up on my blog for two years. Let’s make sure we always have two guys on the floor with Cade who can shoot the trey and lessen lane congestion. Simple game. Gotta be adaptible. Take what they give you.

It was an interesting night in Stillwater on several fronts. Mike Holder allowed approximately 3,500 inside Gallagher Iba Arena even with Payne County at the top of Oklahoma’s COVID-19 rates. The fact this many people were allowed inside kind of surprised me given we’re headed into the toughest two months of the pandemic.

O State entered the game over Jaime Dixon’s Horned Frogs as a Vegas five point favorite which I thought was about right.

But for the second game in a row Cade Cunningham came out of the gates slow and in fact O State’s best ball in the first half was played with Cade on the bench.

In this season of empty or mostly empty arenas the energy is going to have to come from within the players themselves. O State is going to have to start coming out of the gate with more focus if they want to win Big 12 games.

This is a brutally tough, tough league. TCU filled my No. 8 preseason slot in the conference and you can’t lose games like this if you aspire to finish in the top half of the league standings come March. O State isn’t eligible to play in the Big Dance because of the LaMont Evans penalty, but still you want your ball club to get better every night out and reach their potential.

It doesn’t shock me TCU won the game, but it does concern me for the sake of O State’s season they’re coming out of the gates so slowly to start games. They did the same thing in Milwaukee in the road win over Marquette…. their best win to date. Somebody needs to rev the gas pedal on this young basketball team coming off the opening tip.

In the second half Mike Boynton called several timeouts to design PATs (play after timeout) to get Cade in better spots to score the ball, but Boynton’s ball club needs to be doing this more instinctively if they want to be relevant in Big 12 play and help Cade win NPOTY honors.

Cade went for 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists. Need to see more.

Cade had a chance for his second straight game winner, but his jump shot from the left corner came up a little short at the buzzer.

You want to see the brutal stretch O State has in their next six games? Try this on for size… at Texas, at Texas Tech, West Virginia, at Kansas St which should challenge Iowa State for the conference basement, Kansas, OU, and at West Virginia. I would only have O State as a Vegas favorite in the Bedlam home game versus OU if that.

You don’t bring your ‘A’ game mentality for those games and O State could be 1-6 league-wise coming out of this stretch of games.

This is where Mike Boynton is going to have to morph his team’s offense and create space for Cade on the floor.

Just like in hockey…the two most important words which should be coming out of a coach’s mouth…space and time. It alway’s about space and time on both sides of the ball. Creating it and denying it. This isn’t rocket science.

I watched some of the Thunder’s pre-season game as well. I could very well see Oklahoma City going something like 9-63. They appear to be truly on the cusp of being a very bad basketball team if they can dump Big Al Horford for a first round pick before winning some games.

Losing games enmasse and having to listen to Michael Cage trying to explain it seem to me more than cruel and unusual punishment for the Thunder fanbase. It’s going to be a cruel winter in Oklahoma City, but when you vote for the racist Birther Trump by a 70% margin … at some point the basketball gods will wreak retribution and come find you in the middle of the night.

Kansas at Texas Tech tonight. I’m ready to roll. Plus, I think I might follow Steven with the New Orleans Pelicans and see how their season goes.

(53) My Favorite Things (w/ lyrics) – The Supremes – YouTube

I became a grandfather for the second time last night as Aubrey was born in Denver. It is a wonderful feeling to be a grandfather. It truly is.

Every child should have their own song to sing on as they go through life. Kind of a pick me up when needed. I gave Little Robert… Journey of Life by Jake Owens.

For Aubrey I’d like to give her Favorite Things using the Diana Ross version.

I can’t wait to see Little Robert and Aubrey play together with Perk and Tucker in the park just out the door to where Chris and Elaine live in Bonnie Brae. It is the coolest little park you’d want your kids to be able to play in every day.

What a wonderful Christmas present to have Aubrey come into the world ten days before Christmas.

I am at peace.

This is Little Robert’s song.

(53) Journey of your life by Jake Owen #journey #of #your #life #video – YouTube

And this is the video they share when they both need a shoulder to lean on.

The Journey of Your Life Jake Owens – YouTube