College Football’s Best Day of the Season

You have to understand this…I Bleed Crimson. My son Chris is a complete OU lunatic. He traveled to every road game and bowl game during his four undergraduate years minus the two games in Ames. My wife is an Auburn War Eagle. Plus, there’s a plethora of O State supporters in the family landscape. Tomorrow is a big day for them…a reckoning of sorts. So for me tomorrow is the best day of the college football season with Kirk’s surging Buckeyes at Michigan.

Then we get the Iron Bowl with Alabama’s uncharacteristicly soft defense at Auburn versus the mercurial Bo Nix. Bo Nix is the ultimate wildcard…you never know with that kid. He runs like Caleb and when he gets hot…he can play a little bit. Kid is tough as nails. I might put Alabama on mini upset alert just prior to kick-off.

I’m ready for Saban to retire and seek the GOP nomination so the country can be saved from Trump and clueless idiots like Kyle Rittenhouse in 2024. Mike Pence and Mitt Romney are only still breathing because Kyle Rittenhouse couldn’t get to D.C. in time on January 6th. Just saying. I’m to assume in the world of Tucker Carlson and those lost souls who follow him they’ve never heard of reckless endangerment and manslaughter as punishable offenses in our system of law.

Isn’t it ironic that the party of fervent pro-lifers could care less about the sanctity of life if people are at a political rally or protest which doesn’t coincide with their beliefs. Then the sanctity of life for all grown up walking talking fetuses doesn’t carry all that much sway. Ironic…isn’t it.

I may have to squeeze in a special Smerconish Saturday at some point to address Kyle Rittenhouse and those which excuse his behavior…. but not tomorrow.

But I have to say as an honors graduate of the Bob Jackson School of Criminal Law the verdicts didn’t suprise me given the poor job the proscecutors did and the fact they didn’t try the case in a different venue with a different jury pool where maybe they would have had a chance to convict this person of something.

It all begins with jurisdiction, venue, voir dire, and the hope you can sell your case to a jury which is sympathetic to your client. In this case….Kyle’s lawyer Mark Richards had a client which appealed to this jury. Just a wild guess, but I’m guessing OJ Simpson and George Floyd wouldn’t have appealed as much to this group of jurors. BTW…I thought Tucker Carlson was prescient in hiring Richards as Kyle’s lawyer. The guy is a good lawyer. A formidable advocate. Bob would be saying Mark Richards is a rising star in a courtroom. I’m sure he’ll have a book out soon on this case.

But back to football. Three great games with Bedlam closing the show with the entire nation watching tomorrow.

I can’t imagine Lincoln and Caleb are all that nervous. If they lose they can say adios, let the LSU crazies pay OU the $25 million for the buyout, and head off to Baton Rouge with a litany of transfer portal recruits heading with them to LSU if they so desire.

My reupped short list per Joe C would then be Lane Kiffin, Mark Stoops, or my boy Michael Leach with his law degree from Pepperdine and the part on his resume where he locked Adam James in an equipment shed and then told his ESPN father to pretty much f–k off. I love that. Leach would only get a two year guaranteed contract from me though.

For Mike Gundy though this is his day in court. Mike Gundy as a player from ’86-’89 was 0-4 vs. OU with Hart Lee Dykes, Thurman Thomas, and Barry Sanders. People forget Hart Lee Dykes was one of the most ballyhooed recruits in college football history. The recruitment of Hart Lee Dykes could in itself be a book as four universities were put on probation recruiting Hart Lee Dykes from Bay City, Texas. O State, OU, Texas A&M, and Illinois all received varying degrees of NCAA penalties for their violations in recruiting Hart Lee.

Gundy as the O State head coach is bascially 1-15 versus OU if you don’t give him a win for the gaame in which Bob Stoops repunted to The Cheetah….Tyreke Hill.

Mike Gundy is on trial tomorrow. Can he beat OU? High courtroom drama with much more suspense than the Kyle Rittenhouse verdicts being read aloud.

Mike Leach gets the last word heading into Super Saturday.

Bedlam Countdown

I’m going to be candid as someone who bleeds crimson..it wouldn’t kill me if Mike Gundy and Oklahoma State win this football game. Sure…it would add two additional chapters and a new epilogue to Mullet King: The Boone Pickens-Mike Gundy Saga. But it goes beyond that with me.

It would sting intially, but I’d get over it in a hurry and still be covering Baylor vs. O State next week provided Baylor beats Texas Tech earlier on Saturday.

If OU wins this game though..I have to admit then my competitive soul would then take over and I wouldn’t want OU to lose in Arlington.

There’s a ton of humanity attached to this game which goes beyond just winning a football game.

The main thing is…I respect the manner in which Mike Gundy, his staff, and his players have conducted themselves this season what with all the SEC distractions from OU and Texas leaving.

Unlike from their president the emotional Dr. Schrum…I’ve never heard much bitching and whining. In reality…I think Gundy is glad he won’t have to keep playing OU after next season. Gundy and his players have basically just worked hard to get better every week. To find a style of play which fits with QB Spencer Sanders and attempt to win with toughness every week.

Consider this… minus the 28-23 win over Tulsa and the 24-21 loss at Iowa State–this team has covered the Vegas spread in their nine other wins to get to 10-1. This is not a glamorous offensive football team. This team in my view is nothing like previous Mike Gundy teams out on the wide receiver positions.

It actually stunned me the portal transfer Tay Martin was talking some nonsense earlier this week. If I were Alex Grinch… T-Martin in my view will physically wilt if someone hits him in the mouth in the first period. If I were Grinch I’d have Key Lawrence put Tay on the ground hard the first chance he gets. No penalty though. If could step on him without getting a flag that would be even better.

But minus Martin…this O State group has been deserving of respect. They seem from the outside to be a good group of guys who’ve worked hard for this opportunity.

O State for the first time in the Lincoln Riley Era is actually the Vegas favorite to win the game coming in as a home 3.5 favorite. I have the game virtually at pick ’em. By the same token OU for the first time in the Riley Era minus last year and so far this year doesn’t have a quarterback headed to the Heisman show in New York.

Do I think O State is a great team?

No…I don’t. I think what they are is an older team on the back seven defensively who because of the extra year of Covid eligibility have this rare window to walk through this season. I think those back seven when they get the pass rush from the Colin Oliver kid are tough to deal with unless you have an exceptional, consistent QB on the other side of the ball.

If I’m OU O line coach Bill Bedenbaugh my group understands what Colin Oliver means to the O State pass rush.

O State’s linebackers…Rodriguez and Devon Harper are on my list as well. OU has to be able to block these two guys.

Remember this… O State was one Casey Thompson pick six away from being down 24-3 to the Texas Longhorns. Cornerback Jason Taylor’s pick six in my view was the play which literally changed/saved the O State season and sent Texas on its death spiral.

So tell me who’s the exceptional quarterback O State has beaten this season to get to 10-1?

The answer from my view is they haven’t played a game to date versus a quarterback who in previous Big 12 years would even rank in the top four of the Big 12 unless you view Brock Purdy from Iowa State as that type of player. And to be blunt…Purdy was the quarterback who beat O State in Ames 24-21.

So in the four games since then…O State beat Kansas the week after the Jayhawks almost beat OU, pummeled TCU who had already fired Gary Patterson as their coach, beat West Virginia which has the weakest QB play in the conference, and last week shutout Texas Tech who had fired their coach as well.

So while I say I respect O State’s season, it’s not like if I’m Lincoln Riley I’m thinking to myself I’m going to lose this game unless my team plays sloppy football from a standpoint of turnovers, stupid penalties, and a couple of blown defensive assignments.

If I’m Lincoln Riley and I’ve been seeing Gabe Brkic kicking the ball straight in practice this week I like my chances in Bedlam.

If I’m Riley I’m giving Caleb Williams the Jalen Hurts playbook from Bedlam two years ago in Stillwater when the Sooners won the run game and easily won the game. I want 18-20 running game touches from Caleb coming from RPOs, bootlegs, naked bootlegs, QB draws, intentional QB flushes from the pocket, etc. What I’m saying is I want as a coach to give Caleb as much space and time possible as a ball carrier in this game. For this game I want Caleb Williams to get the Jalen Hurts level touches.

I don’t think this will be easy though for either team. Spencer Sanders and Jaylen Warren are playing with confidence. This should be a tough, physical game won in the trenches.

Plus, for OU… Gabe Bkric can’t have the shanks in this game. Hopefully, his buddies took him on a tequila reckoning of sorts and they got his kicks straightened out.

I’m going OU 26 – O State 24.

Have a sensational Bedlam.

BOOMER!

After Dark Thanksgiving Wind Down

What a great Thanksgiving at my mom’s house. Fantastic food, wonderful conversation, some even handed discussions on the Kyle Rittenhouse verdicts, but basically just love in the air.

No sports were allowed on the televison. My mom starts popping albums on her old record player and started letting it rip.

I’m in a mood. I’m definitely in a mood.

I want to keep going while I have the Egg Bowl on the screen with the sound turned down.

Hope you had an amzing Thansksgiving. I watched the parade this morning as well since it didn’t go last year due to Covid.

I hope Frank Vogel is taking the time to kick back as well. He’s going to need to be able to do this as he still has 62 scheduled games left with Russell as his point guard. He’ll need to learn how to let music soothe his inner basketball soul at times.

Coach Vogel, close your eyes, pretend he didn’t just make that pass and flow with the music, buddy. Flow with it.

It is what it is. Golden State has Steph. Phoenix has Chris Paul. Miami has Kyle Lowery. Milwaukee has Jrue Holiday. Coach V…you have Russell. Dr. El Prez at okcthunderground.com is going to be playing lots of music for you this season. Been there. Done that. At this point we have to assume Rob Pelinka has a sense of humor. Right?

Russell, Bad Little Dude…if you want a ring please do what LeBron and Coach V ask of you. Forget that nonsense when your father told you the ball was your best friend. Your best basketball friends this season should be Coach V and LeBron and in that order. I write this because I like you and I’m tired of seeing you degrading your own legacy.

My NBA Journal: Frank Vogel and Russell Westbrook

After OU sleepwalked past a bad Houston Baptist team in Norman … I settled in on Thanksgiving Eve and watched some NBA hoops. For the the first time this week I didn’t pontificate any thoughts on the upcoming Bedlam game. I’m ready for the game to be played.

The Warriors were absolutely sublime in their second half putting away the Sixers in a game in which they trailed by nineteen points in the first half. Most of the teams in the West have now played around twenty games or so and quite clearly the Warriors and the Phoenix Suns appear to be the class of the West. Denver has been ravaged by injury and quite simply Utah isn’t that good once the regular season ends and the competition gets stiffer. Utah is what I would call …”A fake tough guy basketball-wise.”

Golden State doesn’t even appear to need Klay Thompson or James Wiseman at this point. With Steph playing at a MVP level this roster is so deep and talented it doesn’t seem to matter.

The second half was just beautiful basketball. A clinic on ball movement and finishing. Jordan Poole, Otto Porter, Damian Lee, Juan Anderson-Toscano, Gary Payton, Jr. Andrew Wiggins, Iggy, Kevan Looney, Bjelica, Johnny Kuminga, Moses Moody… etc, etc with Steph and Draymond being the stars. My god…go ahead and give Bobby Myers GM of the Year.

Again…if Klay does come back he’ll only need to contribute around 20-22 quality minutes a game. If Spoelstra and Riley are the best coach-GM combo in the East then it would have to be said Steve Kerr and Bob Myers are the same in the West.

That’s one thing we’ve never seen in Oklahoma City. What I mean by that is that’s it’s Sam Hinkie-Presti’s show. We’ve never really observed what could happen in Oklahoma City if a strong willed independent thinking coach was at the helm. Scott Brooks, Billy Donovan, and now the G League developmental coach… who btw does do a nice job in his pressers. But at the end of the day do you want Regis Philbin or a hard-ass coach who understands how to win night in and night out at the NBA level. A head coach who commands his own space through his own unique personaility and character and isn’t just another Sam Hinkie-Presti puppet.

Rule #2 of Coaching…You coach thru your own unique personality and character.

But to Billy Donovan’s defense…he did win two NCAA national championships at a football school and he did say farewell to the Thunder and appears to be doing a decent job in Chicago. I’m guessing at the end…Billy just said to himself–“Time to move on to a franchise with a different mindset.”

Tell me with a straight face what Scott Brooks or Sam Hinkie-Presti have done in the past twelve years without Kevin Durant toting their lunchpails to school every morning? Player makes the coach…player made the GM. Portland took Greg Oden. Sam Anderson should have written that somewhere in his book Boomtown.

But now to the Lakers…our mystery team in this year’s NBA season. LeBron returned from his one game suspension last night and was basically the GOAT scoring 39 points, taking Russell Westbrook off the ball, and willing the Lakers to a win over the Pacers.

With the win, the Lakers are 10-10 for the season with LeBron so far only playing in eight of the Lakers’ twenty games to date.

What do we make of these Lakers with LeBron, AD, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, and Rajon Rondo?

What I make of them is WTF was GM Rob Pelinka thinking when he put this roster together in the first place.

Why would Rob Pelinka add Russell to this mix except for filling in for LeBron when Lebron needs to rest?

My heart goes out to coach Frank Vogel who is a good NBA coach. Two of his teams at Indiana made it to the Eastern Conference Finals and he won a championship with the Lakers two seasons ago. He can coach. You know..maybe at some point if and when the Thunder are through tanking…Frank Vogel could be an effective coach for the Thunder.

When Russell is on the floor my eyes are on a split screen set observing Vogel’s facial expressions to some of Russell’s on court decisions in relation to the Doctrine of Time-Score.

Bless Frank Vogel’s heart. You can see the frustration fomenting at the corners of his eyes and mouth, but like the pro he is he keeps those feelings under check and keeps trying to work thru Russell’s rougher moments in relation to Time-Score decisions.

“Haven’t seen the game film yet,” Vogel answers to the tougher Westbrook turnover questions. “Need to see it on film before I can comment.” Like asking a politician if he plans on cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits.

I’ll answer for you, Coach.”Russell needs to pull his head out of his ass and play like an All-Star who’s still in search of his first ring with his career clock running out.”

I don’t know what to make of the Lakers. Obviously with LeBron they could be a factor…without him they’re not a playoff team is my take.

Frank Vogel pressers moving forward will be a part of My NBA Journal. Frank Vogel’s eyes are incredibly expressive. Look deep imto those eyes and you’ll get the answers to those questions being asked at the pressers. There are no Little Nick Gallo’s amidst the scribes in the tough LA sports media. No one will play the part of a puppy dog scribe to shield Russell from the obvious tough questions.

For Russell’s legacy sake…I hope he’s able to morph his game and grow from this opportunity to play alongside LeBron.

If not…his legacy will be he was this generation’s version of Allen Iverson. That being, an incredibly skilled player who couldn’t adapt his game to his teammates enough to win a ring.

This is Bob Myers at the conclusion of last season after the Warriors missed the playoffs. This should be a mandatory watch for Sam Hinkie-Presti and all of his lapdogs in the Oklahoma City market.

“Sometimes you have to lose to be able to learn how to win again. But this doesn’t mean you embrace tanking beyond a two year window. It means …you smarten the f–k up with your talent evaluation decision makers, adapt on the fly as per the leaague as a whole, and within a two year window put a legitimate basketball product back on the floor in Oklahoma City.” Mike Jackson

Tyler Herro Trending

Tyler is on fire and I’m proud of him. He grew up this off season and came to terms as to what it takes to become an NBA All-Star caliber player.

He worked on his body this summer. Took some much needed advice from Jimmy Butler… and GREW UP.

I’m sixty-four so you prolly won’t see me wearing my Tyler Herro jersey in public like the kid in Deer Creek, but Tyler Herro has two huge fans in Deer Creek, Oklahoma of all places.

To Sam Hinkie-Presti’s somewhat credit…he did try and pry Tyler away from the Heat with the inducement of Chris Paul, but Pat Riley and Eric Spoelstra aren’t clueless. Quite the contrary, probably the best GM/head coach combination in the NBA currently.

Jimmy Butler needs this Tyler Herro and that was what was missing from the Heat last season when they were swept in four games by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.

Eric Spoelstra has a very unique scoring combo in Tyler and Duncan Robinson.

So here we are again with me pointing out to Sam Hinkie-Presti you don’t have to have top six picks to be at the top of the NBA. You merely have to have some basketball smarts in the room who can come to terms with the fact SHOOTING THE BASKETBALL is a nice skill to have in some of your basketball players.

Don’t become complacent, Tyler. Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowery need you.

Porter Moser Presser Following Myrtle Beach Invitational

OU gets back in action tonight with a home game against Houston Baptist. The Sooners are 4-1 with the sole loss being a 73-70 heartbreaking loss to Utah State in the finals of the Myrtle Beach Invitational.

A tough loss in a game which could have very well been a 10 seed versus a 7 seed type of game in the NCAA Tournament. Both teams are viewed in that manner and this game hopefully will provide OU with a glimpse of what awaits them as the schedule gets markedly tougher after tonight’s home game versus Houston Baptist.

After tonight the schedule ascends with UCF-road, ranked Florida-home, Butler-home, and ranked Arkansas on the road. Plus, later on in the SEC/Big 12 challenge the Sooners will have to play at Bruce Pearl’s Auburn Tigers. Throw in the normal array of Big 12 stops and that’s a formidable strength of schedule for Porter Moser’s first team in Norman.

Coach Moser wasn’t happy with the last four minutes in the Utah State loss as the Sooners allowed a six point lead to turn into a three point loss due to questionable shot selection.

This is the type of situation where Duke transfer Jordan Goldwire playing the point has to exert leadership as not just a defensive point guard, but a point guard who can run the show with the game on the line against a quality opponent.

Time and score…time and score….time and score—you’ll hear this throughout this presser from Coach Moser. And he’s absolutely correct—his team played beautifully for thirty-six minutes then lost their poise in the final four minutes of the game.

It’s grow up time in a hurry. Both Florida and Arkansas are nationally ranked with tall athletic squads who extend defensive pressure all over the court.

There’s lots of good things on this Sooner team, but the thing which I have circled most is if Jordan Goldwire can be an offensive point guard who can take charge of the team in the moments like we saw in the Utah State loss.

Coach Moser doesn’t want the ball to stick like it did last year with Austin Reaves…he wants the ball to move in those situations where his team either gets a great look or gets to the free throw line.

On my bottom side of the basketball matinee tonight–the tanking 6-11 Thunder host the 11-6 Utah Jazz in a game in which I’m not sure if Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is going to play or not. The Thunder play the putrid Houston Rockets twice this week–so I would guess Presti needs a loss tonight. This is one of those nights where I’ll try to catch seven first half minutes and then the last five minutes of the game just to see how some of the developmental kids play against the Jazz.

The TNT Tuesday night showcase game was excellent last night as the NY Knicks held off the LA Lakers without LeBron. Russell was absolutely brutal in the first half, then in the second half played some of the best basketball I’ve seen from him in a while. I think Frank Vogel and his relationship with Russell Westbrook will be the focus in my NBA Journal entry this week.

Hope everyone stays safe and has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Mike Gundy: 2019 Bedlam Week on Special Team Play

I’ve put Sam Hinkie-Presti’s team on my two week content hold list so I can address both Bedlam Week and then whoever survives and advances to the Big 12 Championship Game in Arlington the following week-end. I can’t cover all of this by myself on here. I probably should have brought an intern or two over here with me from Daily Thunder and mentored him/her on how to attain some strength in their blogging voices/brand instead of just being weak feckless puppets. I could have saved Thunder Girl and Johnny Thunder from themselves…now look at them. It almost makes me want to cry.

So much like the storylines in Broadcast News with William Hurt, Holly Hunter, and Albert Brooks.

Me, of course being like the William Hurt anchor character who ascended to the anchor of the national nightly news…while Thunder Girl and Johnny Thunder being Holly Hunter and Albert Brooks pretending to be satisfied playing bit roles behind the scenes and off camera on the dying Daily Thunder embarrassment.

Per Mike Gundy today in the Tulsa World…Gundy said, and I pretty much agree, this will be the last Bedlam football game in quite some time. I would think it will probably be the last Bedlam game played in a regular game setting in my lifetime….which I think is kind of sad. O State should be in the SEC West with us, Missouri, and Arkansas. Think about how those regional pod games would grow with interest with each passing year. Maybe even Missouri could get its act back together as a relevant football program.

The Tulsa World knocked it out of the ball park today with their Bedlam coverage and when I see work like that…. I tip my hat and say job well done to the scribes in Tulsa. Tramel and Ryan Aber do an excellent job as well with their Oklahoma football program coverage, but I really enjoyed Bill Haisten’s look at Mike Gundy’s thirty years of Bedlam as a player, a position coach, and an offensive coordinator.

Per my Mullet King: The Boone Pickens-Mike Gundy Saga archives…Gundy played four seasons for O State as their quarterback going 0-4, as a position coach two seasons going 1-1, and as Les Miles’ offensive coordinator for four seasons going 2-2.

Then came Boone’s hydrocarbon manna from heaven with the edict attached Mike Holder would be Boone’s fiduciary of the Boone Bucks war chest while Mike Gundy would become the prodical son assuming the reins from Les Miles when he decided to take the job in Baton Rouge.

Eddie Sutton and then AD Harry Birdwell would somewhat relinquish some of their power while the Roman trifecta of Boone, Holder, and Gundy ascended to the heights of power in Stillwater. Eventually then Prez David Smidley would be replaced by Burns Hargis… and that’s how we got where we are today…. with Kayse Schrum replacing Hargis and Chad Wieberg replacing Holder.

As a head coach during the Boone Empire from 2005 thru today… Mike Gundy is 2-14 versus the Sooners and 0-4 versus Lincoln Riley. In 2011 the Cowboys destroyed OU in the 44-10 romp in Stillwater in the Landry Jones points off of turnovers game. By far the most impressive O State performance I’ve witnessed in my lifetime and the poorest OU quarterback performance by a Sooner quarterback as well.

Gundy’s other Bedlam win came in 2014 when Bob Stoops lost his mind and repunted to the most explosive football human in the history of the game in Tyreke Hill. To this day no one really knows what happened, but O State went on to win that game in Norman by a 38-35 count in overtime.

So…here’s Mike Gundy in 2019 with his mullet in championship form discussing with the local scribes the importance of gaining yardage via the special teams play in a normal football game. I included this today because I think special teams will play a huge role in the game on Saturday.

Two absolute great movies by James Brooks…Terms of Endearment and Broadcast News. That scene from Broadcast News above was pretty much how it came into being that Daily Thunder became the most widely read Thunder blog before it became the total piece of dogshit sellout it is today.

This is another great scene from the movie. I don’t think calling this scene as iconic is an overreach.

Who would have ever thought I would become Holly Hunter and they would become William Hurt. Go figure.

Gabe Brkic’s Self Imposed Kicking Curse

OU’s nationally elite placekicker Gabe Brkic has had the yips the past two week-ends versus Baylor and Iowa State going 0-3 attempting field goals

Turns out he kicked a burrito and put some sort of mojo curse on his own accuracy. Hopefully, that curse expires before kickoff versus the O State Cowboys on Saturday in Bedlam.

I would think for OU to win this Bedlam game by something like a 26-24 score or of the like…Gabe Brkic needs to be able to kick three or four field goals to help OU get to that number.

I thought about writing something about the Thunder’s predictable 113-101 road loss at Atlanta, but I think what I’ll do is put a hold on my Thunder comments till at least the end of the college football conference championship games.

I tried watching this game and couldn’t get past seven minutes or so of action.

Basketball wise…I’m thrilled covering OU, the Big 12, and of course my three adopted NBA teams this season Miami, Golden State, and Memphis.

Quite frankly…Sam Hinkie-Presti and his basketball operation bore me. I don’t know any other way to say it. It’s not the rebuild per se…but the manner in which everyone in his oranization talks down to people as if they’re complete idiots watching NBA basketball for the first time in their lives. It’s hard to listen to the people representing the Thunder organization. I wish they would let Nick Collison do that part of it. He’d be a great ambassador of sorts.

I don’t know how you get rid of the place kicking yips. I’m trying to remember what Tin Cup did to get rid of the yips in the movie. One of my close friends at John Marshall was our place kicker Rod ‘The Mule’ Carter. I don’t recall him ever getting the yips.

My Top 12 Power Poll & Other Reflections

So here we sit on the cusp of Bedlam and from my viewpoint as a blogger who wants to write his first nonfiction sports book it couldn’t be any better for me.

Why would I want to write a book titled Mullet King: The Mike Gundy-Boone Pickens Story?

Several reasons. I’m obviously a college football fanatic who lives in a state which is dominated by college football. But it goes beyond just that because I’ve thought the potential story of the Boone Pickens-Mike Gundy relationship was unique and could be an interesting story if presented properly.

One of my best friends used to cover Mike Gundy and the O State beat. Another one of my best friends and the best man at my wedding was a Midwest City Bomber and knew Mike Gundy growing up in high school. My middle nephew played high school football with Gundy’s oldest son…and btw my nephew made All-District 6A2 his senior season playing for the Stillwater Pioneers.

My brother ran the Panera Bread just down the street from Boone’s stadium and I sat next to Gundy once and struck up a conversation about his son and my nephew after a controversial ending in one of their football games vs the Lawton Wolverines where by sheer luck I had found myself sitting next to Mike Gundy’s wife and father-in-law at Cameron Stadium in Lawton at that very game.

Then there’s my son who’s an oil and gas hedge fund expert who started with Devon and then worked his way to being one of the most respected people in his field working for the second largest natural gas company in the U.S. I love my son and I wanted to be able to talk to him intelligently about what he does for a living…so I read two of Boone’s books.

That connection made me even more interested in Boone as the years passed. Like any father I wanted to know more about what my son was actually doing in his profession. Even before I thought about this Gundy-Boone relationship–I was always fascinated by Boone even before he purchased the Oklahoma State Cowboys football franchise and in essence ownership of a Power 5 football franchise.

The whole dynamic fascinated me from the college football to the big boy world of the oil and natural gas business.

Then there’s the Dan Jenkins connection to me from his two novels…Semi Tough and Dead Solid Perfect which pull at my heart still as a John Marshall Bear. In those two sports novels about the TCU Horn Frogs there’s this fictional characater named Big Ed Bookman who was the biggest oil and gas stud in Texas and the alpha donor for TCU back in the day in Fort Worth.

From the moment I witnessed Boone in Stillwater he connected with me as a real life Big Ed Bookman.

I loved Boone’s audacity. His passion for his alma mater. Sometimes, like all of his, he had his moments when got carried away. But in the end…I liked him.

And there was ‘finally’ the part of Mike Gundy which tugged at my heart. The Mike Gundy who lost his mother last year and from my prism that loss in a way maybe refocused him and made him a more serious/ compelling character than just being The Mullet King. It made Mike Gundy even more human to me as I thought about how I’ve had to deal with the loss of one of my parents.

If you’re an O State fan…you should be glad Mike Gundy is there right now regardless of how this football game goes this Saturday. Because Boone, Mike Holder, Burns Hargis, and Eddie Sutton are all gone. And to be brutally candid the other Big 12 schools should be glad Mike Gundy is still in Stillwater to make the conference look viable beyond the departure of OU to the SEC.

So that’s why I find the story compelling beyond just touchdowns and tackles.

Now…My Top 12 Poll.

1 Georgia

2 Ohio State

3 Alabama

4 Oklahoma State

5 Michigan

6 Cincy

7 Notre Dame

8 Oklahoma

9 Baylor

1`0 Ole Miss

11 Utah

12 Oregon

On my bubble

13 Arkansas

14 BYU

15 Houston