I’m starting X-Mas music two days early this holiday season. No stress whatsoever with the beleagered O State football fan yesterday at the Wellness Center Gym. He seemed to be in a better mood with the naming of Eric Morris as the next O State football coach. I left it alone and said nothing of the eighteen straight conference losses.
So everything is beautiful.
Hope evryone has peace and serenity this holdiday season.
Mike J
In the very dysfunctional world we now see ourselves in America…and especially in college football–it’s kind of nice to see someone like Brent Venables having this success at OU as a head coach.
But it shouldn’t be a surprise considering his previous coaching tree. Bill Snyder during the amazing turnaround at Kansas State. Then working for Bob Stoops at OU as linebackers coach for the national championship team. Then becoming D-coordinator on so many of those Big 12 championship teams at OU which made it to BCS Championship games as well. Then of course, the two national championships at Clemosn as defensive coordinator for Dabo Sweeny.
Is it really all that big of a surprise the Clemson program has dropped to its current level without Coach BV? I don’t think so.
BV just brings so much mental toughness and positiivity to whatever team he’s involved with. His teams take on his personality and character and just basically find a way.
And that’s what all this is about right now with this OU, that being, finding a way.
It’s a shame the 134th ranked of 134 in FBS… O State Cowboys haven’t been able to find a coach like BV. This award winning blogger, at this juncture in his life, especially as a Stage 4 survivor wonders if in his lifetime he’ll ever witness O State win a single conference football game again in the passive-submissive Big 12 in his lifetime given these past two seasons of complete football futility in Stillwater.
But enough of that.
MJ needs to the hit the terrain bike and see if he can eclipse the 3.5 mile twenty-seven minute time he rang up last workout after exchanging words with the little orange tatted earring dude who so splendidly exemplifies the average O State fan according to recently fired Coach Gundy as far as mobil homes and unpaid utility bills.
I’m 68 and I’m a man.
Have a wonderul Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
Beat LSU is the singular mantra for OU Nation. Do not look ahead. Totally focus on a talented LSU team in Norman on Saturday at 2:30pm on ABC with my guys Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy on the call.
Love and kindness. Live the Golden Rule even if the MAGA lost humans play the part of fools 24/7. Always be the best version of yourself if possible.
MJ
I need to give more print on the blog in relation to Isaiah’s big play role on this OU offense which is quite frankly…still challenged as we head into the LSU game this coming week-end in Game 12.
Basically…Isaiah is the Sooners big play threat both as a receiver and punt returner.
He is the one player who has given this Ben Arbuckle offense the capability to strike at any moment. Without him…the Sooners would not be playing for the No. 8 seed in the College Football Playoff this Saturday in Norman.
Having written the previous ‘graph’…I think in time Javonnie Gibson will evolve into that type of player as well. A big touchdown catch from Javonnie as well in the Missouri game. It would help OU immensely to beat LSU and advance to the Notre Dame game if a second wideout could evolve into a consistent big play threat as well. I consider Deion Burks as a dunk and dink type of threat. Deion needs to be more assertive in the Sooner offense as well. It can’t just be John Mateer and Xavier Robinson.
Isaiah had a very tough fourth quarter fumble in the close loss to No. 5 Ole Miss, but otherwise he’s been excellent coming down the stretch to help the Sooners amass those ‘hidden yards’ Coach BV always alludes to in his pressers.
Hidden yards are special team return yards, pick six yards, and scoop and score yards. Think about that. R Mason’s scoop and score at Tennessee. Eli Bown’s pick six at Albama, and Isaiah’s punt return versus Alabama. Think of those yards which don’t go to the offensive stat sheet, yet lead to scores as ‘hidden yards’ per Coach BV.
Anyway… a great stretch of games from Isaiah in the last three games and more will be needed if the Sooners hope to keep advancing against LSU and beyond.
BOOMER!
The Thunder schedule has been very, very easy 18 games into the defense of their ‘first’ NBA title…that much is certain. Of OKC’s 17 wins… only four have come against teams with at least a .500 record. Those four being Houston without Fred VVL, the Lakers without Lebron, the Warriors, and the Atlanta Hawks.
Every other Thunder win has come against a cupcake. And despite this I would say the Thunder have in reality shown they are clearly the prohibitive favorite to repeat…even without JDub.
And the reason of course is Superman. This young man has shown eighteen games into this season he is completly focused on a repeat and another mano y mano battle with Nikola Jokic for the regular season MVP.
No JDub whatsoever and it has mattered nil. The only thing to date it has proven is how good Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, and Ajay Mitchell can become if needed.
When you consider the Denver Nuggets have now lost Aaron Gordon for at a minimum 4-6 weeks with another hamstring injury, and Houston has that point guard issue… if anything during JDub’s absence I would say their chances in the West are even stronger than when this season started with JDub sitting.
Add to that…this vastly improved chemistry between Chet and Isaiah Hartenstein has blossomed when they’re on the court together in the Thunder’s big lineup.
Even without JDub…the Thunder can still run Dort, Wallace, Caruso, and Wiggins out there to defend the other team’s best offensive guard or forward. And one could add Kenrich Williams to that list as well when he returns from his injury.
And by April one could even possibly add the rookies Brook Barnhizer and Chris Youngblood to that list. And it seems clear to me while Ajay Mitchell isn’t what I would call an elite defender, he could very much evolve into an elite guard on the offensive end of the court.
And when you consider the condition of the Eastern Conference with a Detroit team which to date has still never won a playoff series in the Cade Cunningham Era…MJ would say if Superman stays healthy this might not even be all that interesting once we get to mid-April.
The one good thing for Denver is that they don’t have to play OKC until early February. The bad news is they just lost to the pathetic Sancramento Kings to fall to 12-4…and in reality the Nuggets without a fully healthy Aaron Gordon aren’t going to beat the Thunder in a six or seven game series.
I have no idea when JDub actually makes his return, but I don’t even think it matters right now. It would matter if Shai went down, but otherwise… Shai is Superman, and that’s all that matters in November.
The Thunder are massively deep with wing players who can defend, and in all candor that might in itself along with Chet and Isaiah be enough for a repeat.
The rest of the league isn’t the Thunder biggest threat to a repeat…only an injury to Shai or team complacency can bring these guys down.
Love, mercy, and peace.
Have a great Thanksgiving week.
MJ
It didn’t take a miracle finish by Joe Washington. In fact, after a bumpy start—the Sooners pretty much dominated this game in every facet of the game after Missouri’s intial possession.
After that first Missouri drive of the game…OU’s defense basically shut down the best running back in the SEC. It was vintage Coach BV defense.
Satenga’s 85 yard catch and run was the big play needed. John Mateer wasn’t great, but he was clutch when he needed to be. Tate Sandell made his only FG attempt. I wasn’t happy with Miller’s punting though. He struggled with several what should have been pindown punts.
Xavier Robinson is beat up, yet like Mateer, did what needed to be down when it needed to be done.
This wasn’t pretty, but then again these Sooners aren’t a pretty team. They’re a gritty team who’ve taken on the personna of their coach. I was glad broadcaster Sean McDonough took the time to tell BV’s life story during the telecast.
BV’s players love him and understand the very tough journey life he traveled to become the OU head football coach. It’s a life of perserverance. A life of sticking by his mom and siblings. It’s a life of being a standup husband and father. It’s a beautiful story given the overall cultural dumpster fire our country is currently mired in.
My helmet stickers go to the entire team who for the 11th straight quarter of play did not have R Mason Thomas available and overcame several murky flags by the zebras in the game. It just didn’t matter though because this team isn’t a piece of art or a beauty contest winner. It’s a team with a bulldog mentality.
It’s a team which reflects the soul of their coach…and that’s a good thing if you noticed all the coaches currently in college football who’ve either bailed on their teams or failed to provide role model leadership on and off the field.
I’m happy. A quiet happy, but with some music blaring and a hot cup of coffee. When you’re Stage 4, man…you savor these type of moments. You do.
I’m going to enjoy this game before I even think about LSU next Saturday in Norman.
Great job, guys.
Find a way. That’s the mantra. Nothing else. Find a way.
MJ
These early kick-offs require a little bit more of what I would call ‘mentally bearing down’ and making sure the focus is completely in the place it needs to be.
I’m sure Coach BV has stressed this all week long with the nation’s best running back coming to town to try to spoil this run of the Sooners’ these past several weeks.
You cannot allow this guy to get to his fourth or fifth stride. You cannot allow space. Tackling needs to be efficent. Tackling in space in this game is critical for the Sooners defense.
I could care less which quarterback Missouri plays today. Neither is of the caliber of the kid from Tennessee and Simpson last Saturday. Put the f–king heat of their quarterback and drive him to the ground within the limitations of a penalty.
It’s always about physicality in the SEC. Always. Win the line of scrimmage on both sides.
Missouri is a good team, not a great team. But a solid team capable of winning this game if the Sooners forget what got them to this game.
But most of…John Mateer and his offense need to pull their link on the chain today and moving forward. John Mateer and Xavier Robinson need to be solid. Satenga needs to keep making big plays.
That’s it for me. I’ve had my coffee. I’m going to go hit the bike and calm myself down a lttle bit.
BOOMER!
MJ
Holy shit. This isn’t even fair at so many multiple levels. Surely there has to be some politically correct group which looks out for slow, white Mormons even though the Jazz players aren’t necessarily slow, white Mormons.
Add to that…I never saw a shot of a chippy Mitt Romney talking shit from the stands either as this rout slowly evolved after the first twelve minutes of play. In fact…if Mitt Romney were smart he’d probably be living in Portugal or Spain far away from the MAGA crazies in his state.
Back to the game. But still… there are provisions in what used to be our constitution in regards to cruel and unusual punishment.
This was stunning. The Thunder gave up 44 points in the first period to the slow, white Jazz who were led by a Kevin Love flurry of threes in that first period. I honestly didn’t know Kevin Love was still in the league. At one point—the Thunder were down by 18. Jot that down and do the math.
Then that Nolan Richard-like 40 Minutes of Hell routine I constantly blathered about last season took hold of the Mormons in the arena.
I mean what do you even write after the defending champs bludeoned the Jazz in the game’s final 36 minutes for what ended up being a 144-112 rout and an amazing +50 turnaround which in reality shouldn’t have shocked anyone who’s been paying attention these last two NBA season.
My three helmet stickers go in this order..1 Superman, 2 JWill-Ark, and 3 Caruso who has a six year-old jersey wearing fan in Greenwood, Colorado named Robert Jackson. I don’t think he was up late enough though… to see this game, but surely his father, my son, will tell him about Caruso’s play on the drive to Saturday’s ice hockey game at the U of Denver.
The Thunder are now 16-1 and with Denver’s 112-109 win over Houston last night it seems fairly obvious the defending champs and the Denver Nuggets will at some point collide with one another multiple times this NBA basketball season.
BTW…Nikola and Jamal went for a combined 60 points last night. See what I’m talking about with the Rockets…they only scored 99 points against a Denver team which at times is somewhat soft defensively. To beat the Nuggets or the Thunder… more than Reed Shepperd and Aaron Hoilday will be needed.
I closing for tonight, if you look at the Thunder’s scedule from now to Xmas it is not crazy talk whatsoever for me to write they could possibly have a record of 28-1 after the Christmas Day game versus the young, still evolving Spurs.
I need to log off. Tomorrow’s football game in Norman will most likely be another SEC grinder.
My sleep music is imperative.
Later.
MJ
I’m a little sore from yesterday’s workout. The right knee on the first workout back after the chemo infusion is usually a little bumpy as far as time of recovery. So there will only be a light workout at the mini-ranch before heading to Norman for tonight’s game.
OU after four games is a little disappointing in that in their two losses on the road versus Gonzaga and Nebraska did they possess the ability to play SEC level defense in both two halves. The first half versus Gonzaga, and the second half versus Nebraska were abysmal defensively.
Porter Moser is in dire need of Jadon Jones being healthy and getting on the court to help alleviate some of these defensive woes with the OU defense. Jadon two seasons ago was the Western Coast Athletic Defensive Player of the Year at Long Beach State and would add tremendous balance to a defense in serious need of a versatile wing defender.
To be clear… there are some very good players from that conference now playing in the NBA. Three quickly of mind would be JDub, Ajay Mitchell, and and Brandon P with the Warriors. Jadon’s about 6’5″ of so and what I would describe as an Army Swiss knife type of player. What I mean by that is he could defend every position on the floor depending whether the other team is playing a big or small lineup.
So tonight…I’m geninely hoping to see Jadon make his OU debut in a real game. This will be my second time to see the OU men this season and my take is they will be a pretty good team offensively with Nijel Pack, Xavier Brown, and Tae Davis giving them a pretty nice three pronged scoring nucleus. My other take is if center Mo Wague gets in foul as he did in both losses—the Sooners will struggle to make the Tournament.
This team has some real work in front of them as far team defense and team rebounding.
After yesterday’s semi debaucle with the O State fan at the workout…I need to re-think the use of too much Rocky music before the workouts.
Russell Westbrook last time I remember used Taylor Swift music to calm himself down before a game. I’m not a huge Taylor fan. The whole thing with Travis Kelce has become somewhat nauseating for me. I wish them well, but I’m thinking Megan Moroney would be a better direction for me in this regard.
It will be a busy night for me after the game seeing if I can get inside of Othello’s for the Joe Castiglione retirement celebration. I love Joe C…a fellow Italian in this cultural wasteland called Oklahoma. As I’ve stated before on the blog… Oklahoma County and Norman are the only two counties left in Oklahoma in which MJ could live in given the over the top Trumpness of the other seventy-five counties.
God bless you, Joe C.
Ciao.
MJ
In reality, the only game I really watched with real interest from wire to wire was the Houston Rockets 114-104 road win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Pretty good NBA regular season game all things considered involving two teams who should both be in the hunt come May and June.
I think it’s good Doris Burke has found her comfort zone again on a different broadcast team. I like Doris. I always have. She just didn’t for some reason mesh with Michael Breen and the blathering Richard Jefferson. But of course, in the end, neither did Jeff van Gundy as it turned out. And I’m not sure at this early juncture that Tim Legler does as well. It’s tough to compete with Richard Jefferson for minutes. He never shuts the f–k up.
The Houston Rockets even without Fred VV are still really good. A very dangerous team with an excellent roster other than the point guard slot. But on this night in mid November, the Rockets got excellent point guard play from both Reed Shepperd andAaron Holiday, younger brother of Jrue, of whom I’ve always loved as an NBA guard.
Both guys were very good in this game…and on the road I might add. That’s a very positive sign for the Rockets. Aaron Holiday is in his 7th NBA season and is a career 6.5 ppg game guy. So I would say with caution…there will be nights when he doesn’t score like he did last night. But on the positive side—he and Shepperd were rock solid.
Otherwise…Houston in my mind has everything else needed to give both OKC and and Denver a serious run for their money in the West.
This team has four guys anybody in this league would covet in Sengun, Amen Thompson, an aged Kevin Durant, and Jabari Smith. Plus, their depth and size with their bigs is in my mind the best in the league. In my basketball mind as well…they’re the best rebounding team in the league when they get that look in their eyes and they go BIG.
These three teams, plus San Antonio, Minnesota, and perhaps even the Warriors on nights when Steph plays like a kid fresh out of Davidson… should make the West a compelling conference once again.
I still don’t really think the Lakers are legit. Maybe entertaining at times, but not legit as presently constructed with LeBron at this stage in his NBA career.
As far as the Thunder, the defending champs are the team to beat at 15-1 even though they’ve to date really only one game against a team which I consider as a viable contender. That being, the season opener in that great double overtime win over the Rockets.
It should be great. I’m heading to Norman tonight to watch the OU men play Oral Roberts and then over to Othello’s for a Joe C celebration of sorts for the best athletic director in the country.
Ciao.
MJ
I’m ready for a night of NBA hoops. Almost created an incident in the weight room when one of those O State fans Gundy was talking about in that public presser which got him in trouble in relation to mobile home owners in the O State fanbase… came in wearing earrings, tats all over his body, and the gaudiest orange piece of shit white trash bright orange shirt I’ve ever witnessed.
The little f–ker made a comment about my Play Like a Champion crimson shirt and then he did something akin to a strut and a visual taunt.
I then looked him over and replied, “Don’t worry, hoss…wrestling season has started. It’ll be okay. I hear you’ve got a couple of transfers coming in who will make you more competitive versus Tulsa next season at their place.”
Two of the trainers looked at me and started smiling.
It was a nice day. MJ is ready for NBA hoops.
Peace.
MJ