Ferris Bueller: The Meaning of the Story

Well, it’s really, really cold out here at the Deer Creek fanboy ranch this morning. No precip as of yet but it’s coming.

I’d say windchill probably below zero already. I re-scheduled my appointment with my CPA this morning and then showed Pauli how I would like her to use the Pup Porta Potty I put in place for her in my wife’s plant utility room.

Pauli basically shook her head and said, “No. Mike….I’m not doing this. This is beneath me. Put your winter gear on and let’s look for the mountain lion before the ice storm gets here.”

I said, “What if we take you with us to the beach in Florida later this month instead?”

She shook her head and said ” Not a chance. The beach…yes. But let’s go… get your ass in gear and let’s find Morris.”

“Morris?”

“Yes, Mike. I named him Morris…like Morris the Cat. Connect the dots. I know you can do this, Mike.”

So… we’re heading out the door in search of Morris.

Frank Costanza Snow Day Binge Watching

A brutal arctic front headed right for Deer Creek, Oklahoma. I’m not moving the next two days. This front could be life threatening. Pauli doesn’t know it yet but I’m setting her up with a Pup Porta Potty in my wife’s utility plant room.

This will go over big like when I caught the patio sofa on fire smoking a faux Cuban in forty mile per hour winds.

I love Frank Costanza. With each passing year I see more of Frank Costanza in me.

In this order my six favorite Seinfeld characters go… 1 Frank, 2 Elaine, 3 Kramer, 4 George , 5 Newman, and 6 Jerry.

Jerry just really never did all that much for me.

I’ve always wondered if rural Trump whites loved Seinfeld like I do or if Seinfeld is just primarily an urban thing.

I’d love to see that as a polling question on Smerconish sometime.

I’m guessing if you polled twenty thousand rural Trump whites…only 15 per cent would vote they were huge Seinfeld fans. I might send that one into Michael and see what he thinks. I’m guessing 85 per cent would be more entertained hanging a sitting vice-president or U.S Supreme Court Justice.

I’m going to binge watch Seinfeld and drink some wine tomorrow.

Be safe, be warm, and make sure you bring the dogs inside.

It’s like my good buddy Ferris Bueller once said, ” It’s how you spend a day off which ultimately defines you.”

Moving Forward Without Caleb

Vince Lombardi once said, “Dancing is a contact activity, football is a collision activity with malice in mind towards anyone in possession of the football.”

This is what the mindset in Norman will have to evolve into if Brent Venables is going to successfully transform the somewhat soft culture which is OU football circa the 2021-22 football season into something SEC elite.

Not dirty football. Not targeting but tackling and contact with anyone in possession of the ball of anyone wearing an opposing jersey.

Very simple. This was going to have to occur with or without Caleb Williams.

That’s all I have to say at this juncture.

Hit the weight room and be ready to show in spring practice you want to be on the football field wearing one of those iconic interlocking OU jerseys.

I love this video. It literally gives me chills.

BOOMER!

Caleb Williams Commits to USC

This can’t be a shock to anyone. Caleb and his father originally came to OU to play for Lincoln Riley. If he were my son and he had this relationship of trust with a specific coach… then we would probably do what Caleb just decided to do.

I think the theatrics and leveraging the past five weeks with LSU, Georgia, Auburn, Texas A&M, and Wisconsin were a bit much. But it is what it is in the new age of NIL college football landscape.

But no angst for me with Caleb. I wish him the best because he has the opportunity to be a special talent who I hope to see play in the NFL at some point.

I think the PAC 12 is currently the weakest of the Power 5 football conferences, but for his path to the NFL it shouldn’t matter.

I would have been pissed if he’d bailed out before the Alamo Bowl game, but he didn’t do that. He stayed in Norman and helped his teammates thru the transition from Lincoln Riley to Bob Stoops to Brent Venables. The players who went with him to USC are all west coast guys so how can you blame them either? I don’t.

OU has a very capable quarterback in Dillion Gabriel for next season and Jeff Lebby has signed two really good quarterbacks for the future in Nick Evers and Jackson Arnold. I love a quarterback with a first name of Jackson…just saying. It’ll be difficult for me to get beyond that moving forward. I actually suggested to my son to name the grandson Jack Jackson, but to no avail.

The Sooners had a top ten 2022 recruiting class and already added some solid additions to the team for next season via the portal…especially on the defensive line, at linebacker, and in the secondary. Plus… on the offensive side of the ball the Sooners added a tight end and an offensive lineman. The Sooners should be fine at running back. Maybe another receiver in the portal would be nice.

I think the real challenge for OU moving forward is to keep getting better on the defensive side of the football. Look who just dethroned the Sooners from the Big 12 title. It wasn’t a high-flying high-octane offense…it was Dave Aranda’s stingy defense at Baylor with a power running game on the offensive side of the ball.

You know what Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts, and even Caleb Williams never did? They never collectively won a national semi-final game in the College Football Playoff and odds are that’s not changing for OU until they can recruit physically elite players on the defensive side of ball.

To me that means on the defensive side of the ball you at the minimum need an elite interior lineman, an elite edge rusher, at a minimum one elite linebacker, an elite corner….and two very heady safeties who can tackle in space when needed.

In the pragmatic long run…I’m not thinking Caleb Williams leaving has that much effect on OU as they prepare to transition to the SEC. Georgia just won a national championship with a walk-on quarterback. In this age of SEC dominated football you have to be able to play complimentary football on both sides of the ball.

Looking forward right now without a crystal ball…I would go in the pre-season Big 12 …1 OU, 2 Baylor, 3 O State, and 4 Texas.

As far as Caleb…I wish him well. It’s a little soft what he’s doing, but not as soft as hooking up with Steph, Klay, and Draymond.

I think Caleb is an extremely articulate kid with the world in front of him. Plus, we beat Texas. Like in Casablanca…”We’ll always have Texas.”

Best wishes, Caleb. Hope to see you in the NFL at some point do what Joe Burrow just pulled off.