Month: December 2021

Let’s go with this first—this wasn’t a huge upset. OU came into the game with a win over Florida already on their Quad I belt this season. This isn’t the same Arkansas team with Moses Moody who pushed the national champion Baylor Bears in last spring’s Sweet 16. None of that was present in Tulsa today.

If I were going to seed Arkansas in the buzz-saw tough Big 12…I might have had them as No. 4 behind Baylor, Kansas, and Texas. So this wasn’t like OU beating Gonzaga or Duke…but it was a great signature building block win to get this OU team believing they can possibly entertain the notion of being a top four team in the Big 12.

What a great basketball environment today in Tulsa!

This is why I don’t think OU fans will miss Bedlam all that much. Texas will still be Texas and Arkansas will become Bedlam. I’m not sure what we call it yet…but this rivalry will become special in the SEC in both football and basketball.

The question will be who will the O State fans find that they hate more or equally than OU? Who will they find they can dream of beating twice every fifteen years? Who will be that team they live to hate on? Think about that.

I wrote yesterday that OU has never been pristine in football and that’s completely accurate. But what I didn’t write was for me as a college football fan OU was always like the Oakland Raiders. That team with an attitude with the face of Al Davis hanging somewhere in a corner in the Sooner practice facility. I love that team. I’ve missed those teams.

But back to this game. OU never trailed in this basketball game…as in never. They came out and hit Arkansas with a barrage of threes and never looked back. Arkansas never really bothered OU with their full court pressure and we all knew Arkansas would never go into a zone like Butler did… so really this wasn’t that huge of a win. Playing a zone isn’t in Arkansas’s DNA. Kansas State, Butler…yes. Arkansas…no.

What I mean is…this was a nice win, but when the OU players wake up tomorrow morning it’s time to reset the goal standard a bit looking forward.

OU beat Arkansas in every stat on this game sheet… every single stat. OU outshot Arkansas, out rebounded Arkansas, out assisted Arkansas, actually had more steals than these Forty Minutes of Hell wannabees.

OU won every fifty-fifty loose ball. OU was on the floor more than Lindsey Graham at a Donald Trump fund raiser.

OU won the game by twenty-two points because THEY WERE THE BETTER TEAM–PERIOD.

All five OU starters scored in double figures. All five did the little things that I preach about on my blog constantly. Those little Toughness, Smarts, Nasty things which will win you ball games.

Jalen Hill became Jalen Hill again. Tanner Grove played with that bullshit smirk mojo grin of his. Jordan Goldwire played like he had something to prove. Moj Gibson found his three point stroke which wasn’t even in the building in the loss to Butler.

But most of all… EJ Harkless was the best basketball player in the building on Saturday afternoon in Tulsa. EJ was that player. And when you have that player as a coach…I think Coach Moser knows in his heart he could have a sneaky good under the radar type of team on his hands if he can keep them listening to him as far as shot selection in the last five minutes of a game.

If I get into a knife fight…I want EJ on my team. I love EJ Harkless. I love what he stands for as a basketball player. EJ Harkless has the soul of a basketball player.

EJ’s line was 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists. He was clearly my No. 1 Star of the Game. No. 2 was Jordan Goldwire and No. 3 was Jalen Hill.

OU improved to 8-2 with the win and now takes a week off to take mid terms.

I hope each OU player goes to sleep tonight dreaming of what they can become if they play forty minutes the right way every game.

BOOMER!

The below video is what happens to you when you realize your team just got out-Toughed, out-Smarted, and out-Nastied. This ejection had nothing to do with a foul not being called. The fouls and foul shots taken in this game were virtually identical. This was about Eric Musselman trying to show his team what he thought of their effort on Saturday in Tulsa. It’s all about toughness, or therein the lack of. This was Coach Musselman coaching for the next Arkansas game.

You ever think you’re going to see this from Sam Hinkie-Presti’s puppet tanking coach who he pays way below industry scale pay to lose games on purpose? Not a chance. Coach Tank may feign anger here and there, but it’s faux anger. Like the games itself…not real.

I thought OU would have a very legititmate chance to win today in Tulsa, but I never envisioned a 22 point win. Great win for the Sooners! Every kid on that team took the loss to Butler as a teachable learning experience and came together today as a serious basketball team moving forward.

Great job, Coach Moser. You my friend, are a big time basketball coach.

I think I’ll recap the game later. There’s no high like winning the right way. And this was winning the right way.

BOOMER!

I actually liked Bob Dole. Back in my younger days he was what I would describe as a moderate Republican with a heart. If Bob Dole was a young Republican today he’d be primaried by a Trump zealot and in most liklihood in the ultra red state of Kansas not get out of a GOP congressional primary. Bob Dole would have a zero chance of being elected in Oklahoma with perhaps the exception of the 5th Congressional District which is Oklahoma County primarily.

He actually was the only GOP living vice-president or president who attended Donald Trump’s 2016 GOP Convention in Cleveland. Not one other Republican who held those offices attended that historical spectacle.

Dole voted for Trump twice in fact, but after the attempted government overthrow on January 6th…even Bob Dole in his 98th year admitted he was wrong ever giving his support to Donald Trump.

Even more interesting while Mitch McConnell, Mike Pence, Dan Quayle, Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden all attended Bob Dole’s funeral…Donald Trump couldn’t find the time to reschedule some tee times and attend.

Maybe this was the week-end he and Melania had a golden shower scheduled. Maybe.

I loved Dole for his both sides of the aisle approach to American politics. I didn’t agree with him on everything, but I respected him much like I did John McCain and Bush 41. There are no more of these guys left in the party of Donald Trump. Those dudes are gone and those type of Americans aren’t going to be in the mix moving forward in American politics.

Bob Dole had a great cutting sense of humor. Maybe that was the part of him which drew me to him. The old SNL skits with Dan Ackroyd playing Bob Dole will never leave me.

That’s the Bob Dole I will always remember and treasure.

America lost a treasure this week, but my guess is the party which he devoted his adult professional life to didn’t for the most part even notice his departure.

When we drive to Denver on this Christmas to see the kids…despite what my wife says I’m stopping the car to go thru the Bob Dole Memorial Museum right there off I-70 in Russell, Kansas.

I’ve always wanted to go thru the museum, but this trip for sure I’m stopping the car to walk thru the place.

Bob Dole…be well, sir.

I feel better now. Almost cleansed. I’m going to sleep.

Here’s the thing…I’m actually a very nice person. I could recap this game, but why do it? I could unload on Sam Hinkie-Presti and Russell Westbrook, but what’s the point?

It serves no purpose.

Here’s what I will say though before my thoughts about the Thunder get written on here and the Good Witch Glenda from the Daily Thunder comes over here and sprinkles me with fairy dust…I’m happy for Austin Reaves.

Unlike Russell…Austin is a smart enough basketball player to know how to play off of LeBron and help his team play with a sense of basketball cohesion. Austin Reaves 13 points, +17. Nice game, kiddo.

That’s it. That’s my Laker-Thunder recap.

Let’s roll to the music.

Been a tough two weeks of blogging. Didn’t know the OU football season would implode like that. Nice night to drink a few Lone Stars in a bottle and take a break.

Merry Christmas.

Goodnight. Beat Arkansas. BOOMER!

Bless Frank Vogel’s heart. He didn’t put this Laker roster together, but he’ll be the one who gets fired.The breaks of the game unless he can somehow figure how to channel Russell Westbrook’s more destructive impulses and make LeBron eight years younger.

I like Frank Vogel. Seems like a solid guy. Maybe he and Ty Lue with the Clippers could trade places. Why not?

Trust me, I’ve been waiting for this moment from Jenni Carlson.

Should Jeff Lebby be the next offensive coordinator at OU?

I knew it was coming. Everyone in this market knew it was coming. Every market has a moral guardian and Jenni is the moral guardian of the Oklahoma sports market.

And as I write my response to Jenni Carlson’s piece on her column this is what I would say first.

Grow up a little bit because you’re now a parent like Mike Gundy hoped you’d become some day. Each year that your child grows… I hope you impart to your child the doctrines of forgiveness, redemption, and staying on course with the life journey we all travel.

We all error. We all make mistakes. We all ultimately seek redemption in various forms in this life and beyond. Redemption is a thing with me. Because I know I’m gonna need some redemption mulligans when all this is over for me. But I do get better each year. It’s a process.

Another thing…you must be the only person left breathing who views OU on the same pristine prism you claim the Sooners travel on amongst the other members of the current college football world.

Did someone strike you in the head before you actually wrote OU is a pristine place? Is your piece a sympton of acute head force trauma?

OU is a football cash flow monster if you haven’t taken the time to notice. It’s probably one of Oklahoma’s most valuable commodities. When in your world was OU a pristine light on the college football prarie?

Name for me that date. You can google if you need to.

I’ll answer for you. I was botn in 1957…that would in a sense mean in my lifetime OU has never been a pristine place where college football has been played.

It’s a fun, winning, exuberant place where college football is played with mojo and splash, but it’s never been pristine.

So when I read your piece you pretty much lost me with the pristine nonsense.

OU football is like every other cultural thing in America nowadays. It’s dysfunctional to its core and does the best it can to navigate the tough choices it has to make to remain a viable entity within its genre.

Barry Switzer’s exit ring a bell? Gary Gibbs’ firing another bell? You ever interview Beverly Schnellenberger? Ever contemplate how David Boren ultimately handled the Joe Mixon situation? Ever hear of an Alford Plea before Joe Mixon? OU’s exit to the SEC? When was OU pristine in my lifetime?

Your column doesn’t have a case, Jenni…. because OU has never been a pristine football program—so why would now be any different?

OU does the best it can. Period. Just like at Oklahoma State where they almost fired their coach last year for wearing some sort of pro Trump dumbass T-shirt. BTW…Gundy admitted he was a dumbass. I give him a ton of credit for that and getting rid of the mullet in the same year. He finally grew up. The O Staters need to stay away from the pristine bullshit as well. Don’t make me laugh.

There’s nothing pristine associated with college football. Cage fighting has more dignity. OU isn’t Vanderbilt. Never claimed to be…I hope.

By the way should Phillip Montgomery be the head football coach at Tulsa? He was just extended another two years and was Art Briles’ offensive coordinator at Baylor?

There you might have a case for your flawed argument because Tulsa University could in a sense sell itself as a pristine institution which plays DI football.

So…should Phillip Montgomery be the head coach at Tulsa?

Your Honor…the defense concedes OU has never had a pristine football program. This is a waste of the taxpayer’s money and the Court’s time.

Your Honor…if the Court could stop this nonsense and allow the prosecution a few hours to locate their argument and their case…I think this would be the approriate time to recess and have some lunch.

Should be an interesting basketball week-end with the Thunder hosting Russell Westbrook and Frank Vogel tonight in Oklahoma City. The Thunder didn’t see LeBron in either of their epic tank defying wins earlier this season. So you would think this game could be lit as far as being fun to watch.

Then on Saturday Porter Moser’s Sooners take on No. 12 Arkansas in Tulsa at 12:30pm. Hopefully…OU will have as many fans there as Arkansas. The Hogs travel really well basketball wise and that’s only a ninety minute drive from Fayeteville.

Huge game for the Sooners who stand at 7-2 after a brutally disappointing home 66-62 overtime loss to Butler on Tuesday.

Porter Moser’s team just bascially became unglued in the second half when Butler went to a zone defense. The game went from OU up by ten to OU needing a desperation three from EJ Harkless to just get the game to overtime.

OU bascially played like shit for the second half of the game. Didn’t shoot well. Didn’t rebound. Didn’t take care of the ball. Didn’t defend all that well. Didn’t get the fifty-fifty balls. Didn’t play hard or very smart. I don’t know what else to write.

I’m almost dead-solid certain Coach Moser said all the above in the privacy of the Sooner locker room after the game.

Of the five OU senior starters EJ Harkless quite frankly was the only one who came out of the locker room for the second half.

In a nutshell—it was a very poor showing by the Sooners and a game like this won’t help the Sooners in March when they’re surfing the Big Dance bubble.

I don’t think OU will see any zone from Arkansas given they play uptempo as much as anybody in the country. Not quite Nolan Richardson’s ‘forty minutes of hell’, but clearly uptempo.

Huge game for OU. They need to show up and play well. After this game OU has two cupcakes before entering the Big 12 Death March where I would think it will be tough for this team to go any better than 8-10 at the best. Plus…OU has to travel to play a game at Auburn.

So…if OU wants to surf the right side of the Big Dance bubble they better start surfing.

I wonder if Laker coach Frank Vogel ever talks to Russell Westbrook like this?

Doubt it.

LET’S GO LAKERS!

Clutch shot by Mike Muscala to elevate the Thunder past Toronto on Wednesday. A great decision by Shai not to force something over three defenders. On a primary assist like this the assist should get as much credit as the shot itself.

You’ll notice our coach actually was subbing situationally last night at the end. After the timeout by Toronto our coach did exactly what he should have done by inserting Kenrich into the game for defense.

Just like a real game and everything.

I’m pretty sure our coach can bench coach. That’s not a concern with me. The duration of the tank beyond this season is a concern of mine. There should be some sort of NBA good faith by-law which doesn’t allow a team to tank more than two consectutive seasons. Obviously–some agree with me hence the extra play-in games were added last season to see if it would dissuade tanking..

Anyway…great play by Mike Muscala and Shai.

Tomorrow…all my attention will be on Frank Vogel’s facial expressions with the Lakers in town.

Jim Knowles took the Ohio State offensive coordinator’s job on Tuesday. His annual pay of $2 million per will make him one of college football’s highest paid coordinators.

O State reportedly offered $1.3 million. Do I think Jim Knowles simply took the job for more money?

No. I don’t. I think the extra money is nice for Jim Knowles, but I also think studying him somewhat he wants a new challenge every five or so years. I think Ohio State will be his first job where the stakes are extremely high. It’s a place where if you don’t make the Final Four the season is viewed as a failure.

If you study his resume each one of his jobs has been a rung higher competitively on the competition ladder.

It’s like he’s pushing himself to get better just like he demands of his players.

Evidently… his speech at the Frank Broyles Award Show was a big hit. I’m going to try and find it and put it on my blog.

I love what he says about coaching defense. He says, “It’s like me and my players get on a submarine together and we either excel or fail together based on how well I’ve taught them. Their mistakes are my mistakes.”

I love that. Every coach at every level should know that quote.