Gameday –Championship Saturday

Getting ready to head out for a Championship Saturday watch party starting with the Big 12 CG at Jerry’s World.

Hope Mike Gundy and his group can finish off a truly remarkable football season considering what has transpired since the summer with college football. From a personal standpoint since OU is no longer in the running for a playoff berth I’d like to see Georgia, Michigan, O State, and Alabama in the Final Four if the SEC CG is close.

What I’d love to see the Committee do is actually see the winner of the SEC CG seeded No. 1 and the loser at No. 4.

With all due respect to Cincy and Notre Dame…I don’t think so. But we’ll see.

I’m also hoping we get word on the OU coaching vacancy by tomorrow sometime.

Venables, Lanning, or Beamer would all be fine with me as long as Big Game Bob stays on as the Associate Athletic Director of Football. If Caleb leaves…he leaves. The transfer portal giveth, and taketh. Don’t ever forget that. I hope he stays though because I love seeing him at the OU basketball games. Seems like a great kid. You only get to be a college kid once.

Just a note to Caleb…before Lincoln Riley ever set foot on OU’s campus, Jason White and Sam Bradford both won Heismans for Bob, plus Josh Heupel garnered a second place Heisman finish.

I think you know the rest of the story with Baker and Kyler.

Do your research. Do what’s right for you and your family.

But you know who my favorite OU quaterback of all-time is minus Sam Bradford?

It was Paul Thompson in 2006 after he came back from being switched to wide receiver and saved the program after Bob kicked Rhett Bomar off the team. Google Paul Thompson 2006 OU quarterback.

Concerning My Rant After the Thunder’s 73 Point Loss to Memphis

I received a tough comment on my take in relation to the Thunder’s abysmal 73 point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night.

So I’d like to explain my post on the 73 point loss right here.

Even though the 73 point loss by the Thunder was the worst loss in NBA history…I actually thought most of my comments were not all that bad.

I will admit I may have gone too far in comparing the Thunder to sex trafficking or domestic terrorism. Because in Oklahoma City we should never make light of the latter subject considering Oklahoma City’s dark history in that regard.

I went too far on that one.

Did I have a temper tantrum?

No. What I had was a human reaction to witnessing the young Thunder players being humilated by the process of which they’re being subjected to by Sam Presti because he can’t sustain a competitve team in this market without at the minimum tanking for three successive seasons.

I listened to the Sports Animal today to see if others agreed with me and not one person disagreed with the state of the Thunder. In fact…several went further than me suggesting Clay Bennett should either move the team to Las Vegas or Seattle.

If not for Russell Westbrook the Thunder would be 4-18 after twenty-two games. Unfortunately for the Thunder, they can’t schedule the Lakers for all 82 games with LeBron sitting.

The Thunder from my view have five perhaps six legitimate NBA players on their roster currently. Those being in this order are…1 Shai, 2 Lu Dort, 3 Josh Giddy, 4 Mike Muscala, 5 Kendrick Williams, and 6 Derrick Favors.

The rest of the roster are prospects in the process of proving if they can play at this level.

So that’s where I’m coming from as far as the Thunder. To be honest…I’ve for the most part tried to keep from commenting on the Thunder very much this season on my blog.

But I will admit the visual of these young kids being humiliated like this stirred me up. Because it should be an honor being an NBA player. There’s only 450 or so humans in the world who can say they’re an NBA player. How cool should that be?

And as far as the Thunder broadcast and the quality of those broadcasts… I don’t think I went nearly far enough. I can’t take anything back there.

But on the part where I compared the Thunder operation to sex trafficking and domestic terrorism… I will admit I crossed a line.

So please pretend I never compared Sam Hinkie-Presti and his basketball operation to sex traffickers and domestic terrorists. I was wrong in writing that sentence. I’ll try and be better if the Thunder lose a game by 74 points later in the season. I promise.

Have a wonderful Championship Saturday and bring it home O State.

MJ

Dave Lanning Moves Up on My Top Three OU Football Coach List

Joe C’s ‘stealthy’ search to replace Lincoln Riley continues with no presser scheduled for Friday or Saturday. This would signal to me Joe C very much wants to have a chat with Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning sometime between Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

I still believe from my take Brent Venables should be the choice. But in the event Coach Venables and his wife don’t want to pursue the OU job—then I’m moving Dave Lanning up to No. 2 on my list to be followed by Shane Beamer at No. 3.

I think the recruiting ties to the SEC part of the country, plus the overall culture change OU will need to be relevant in the SEC are huge dual components of why Joe C should be pointed in this direction.

I think all three of these guys are what OU is looking for to take the program into the SEC and be championship relevant. With Riley as the Sooner coach there would have been the question …’Will OU be able to attain the physicality toughness on both sides of the ball to be a consistent winner in the SEC?’

In fact… I will reiterate Lincoln Riley leaving for the Pac 12 will turn out to be a silver lining for the Sooners who in my view will begin SEC play in 2024.

If Joe C feels squeamish at all about the ages of Dave Lanning and Shane Beamer he could appoint Bob Stoops to be the Associate AD for OU Football. In a sense, help either of these young guys as a college general manager of sorts. Same with fifty year-old Brent Venables if he feels like the help from Coach Stoops would lessen his burden.

I think making Coach Stoops something beyond just interim coach would be a no-brainer for Joe C.

I’m not at all squeamish about the receivers from OU on the transfer portal currently. Theo Weese didn’t play a down all season….although I really like him as a possession receiver. Austin Stogner is someone I’ve always liked and I think/hope he’ll wait till the new coach is named before he makes a choice.

And in Jadon Hazlewood…to be honest with you… I think he needs a change of scenery. He’s a Georgia kid. He needs someone to toughen him up. He has a Cee Dee Lamb body, but for some reason he hasn’t reached his potential at OU. Maybe OU’s new coach would resonate with him. The transfer portal taketh…and the transfer portal giveth. Fact of the matter is I thought Mike Woods from Arkansas was our most consistent receiver this season.

I have no idea what Marvin Mims is thinking right now, but the fact of the matter is even after the QB change to Caleb Williams he and Jadon didn’t do much in the Sooners’ last three games when the defenses became much more physical.

Anyway…here’s Coach Lanning talking Georgia Bulldog football back in August before the college football world would witness the best defense in college football in the last ten seasons.

It looks like Sunday or Monday before the OU announcement will be made.

Klay Thompson’s Return Tonight in San Francisco

I have no idea when the Thunder’s next game is being played. The Thunder sit at 6-16 and are truly one of the more pathetic teams in the league for a second straight season. Even when a guy like me tunes in to watch one of their games… and then the other team’s star like Ja Morant last night in Memphis doesn’t play it’s not long before I stop watching. Thunder basketball games minus the Russell Westbrook games and Frank Vogel facial expressions aren’t watchable. Those by far have been the watchable Thunder television games so far this season.

If only Hinkie-Presti could schedule Westbrook and Frank Vogel’s facial expressions for the next sixty games I’d be all in.

Think of that…the Grizzlies best player didn’t play and the Thunder still lost by 73 points. Even Lincoln Riley and Roy Manning would be impressed with that level of tanking.

I have to tell you…those people who are showing up at Pay.Com Arena to watch this bullshit are either the best fans in the history of the sport or in no way have a life. Or maybe just too dumb to know any better.

For those of us who love the NBA and live in the Oklahoma area there are many other basketball options.

OU’s Porter Moser team has an all in group who play high energy ball and are fun to watch. They actually try to win games and actually chart things like a Quad I win. For the Thunder a Quad I win would be like consuming poison.

Mike Boynton’s O State group is struggling a little bit so far, but they should start playing better.

Kevin Durant’s team in Brooklyn currently has the best record in the East…. while Billy Donovan’s Chicago Bulls are in second place in the East. So many Thunder former connections doing extremely well.

The Phoenix Suns with three former Thunder players including Chris Paul, Cam Payne, Abdel Nader are atop the West a half game in front of the Golden State Warriors.

Tonight the Suns without Devin Booker visit Golden State for what will be Klay Thompson’s return. I can’t wait. I wish Devin Booker was playing, but for this game as a fan you just take what’s there on this given night.

Two best teams in the West. Both red hot so far this season. A national broadcast with the best broadcast people in the business giving objective, insightful, professional takes. All the things we probably won’t see in Oklahoma City for quite some time if ever as the Hinkie-Presti death march tankathon rolls along.

I picked the Thunder to win 25 games this season. They currently stand at 6-16 with still 60 games yet to be played. That would mean for the dreadful Thunder to get to 25 wins the team has to go 19-41 to somehow climb that mountain.

All of us in Oklahoma not only have to absorb the 57 losses, but also have to bear witness to the worst basketball broadcast team ever assembled perhaps in NBA television history.

Perhaps in the next Thunder loss…Little Nick Gallo will diagram certain sure loss manuevers the team can implement for gut cinch losing plays at clutch time.

Perhaps…. in the next loss alpha Thunder sycophant Michael Cage will maintain Big Blue never committed a foul in forty-eight minutes of play.

Isn’t it grand? Isn’t it rich? Call in the clowns.

But everywhere all around us in the basketball cosmos….there are some pretty good things to watch.

Good luck on your return, Klay Thompson. You’ve been missed by the basketball world, buddy. You’re somewhat to blame for all of this in OKC though. Because those eleven threes you splashed in Game 6 is what got us to losing to the Grizz by 73 points without Ja Morant last night in Memphis. That was you, Klay Thompson, my friend.

Thunder Sink Below Rock Bottom in Memphis, 152-79

Wow.

Sam Hinkie-Presti and Lincoln Riley in the same week…what a privilege as a human to observe both of these pieces of human shit in the same week.

I mean seriously …wow.

Seattle….would you like your purported NBA basketball team back? And in that agreement would you agree taking Sam Hinkie-Presti, that pathetic little puppet G League coach he has in place, and every singular member of the laughable Bally Sports Network crew which claims to be broadcasting NBA games on their network.

If you’ll agree to take this assemblage of human debris back to Seattle…I’m sure you can have the team for less than the most recent Forbes valuation of this smoldering piece of crap which has the audacity to tell its fans in Oklahoma City they have an NBA team.

Here’s the truth…I’m watching more NBA basketball than ever before in my life. I love the TNT Tuesday Showcase and tomorrow night I’ll be glued to the screen watching Phoenix vs. Golden State with Klay Thompson making his return.

Adam Silver’s league for me has never been more interesting and compelling to watch. I’m in love with the NBA like never before, but at the same time praying Adam Silver and the NBA Board of Governors will step in and take some form of league ownership of the team which calls itself the Oklahoma City Thunder.

What Oklahoma City has in place NBA-wise currently ranks somewhere between human trafficking and domestic terrorism.

It’s beyond sad to witness for the young men on this roster who’ve spent their dreams making the NBA, but only to find they have to play in Oklahoma City for a group who basically don’t have any problem demeaning their hard work and dreams of playing for a real NBA team.

I actually was going to watch this game from wire to wire tonight but almost puked just getting to halftime. I have no idea whatsoever why people like Nancy Lieberman, John Radigan, Michael Cage, Chris Fisher, Matt Pinto, Little Nick Gallo, and Low Energy Royce Young ever went to journalism or broadcasting school. Let me share a thought with you seven pathetic humans…. you are an embarrassment to your professions.

And to the piece of dogshit which calls itself the Daily Thunder which was whored to be monetized by a collective group of dimwits….fuck you, too.

Seriously.

You people deserve one another in some form of a garbage abyss of nothingness which karmawise at some point includes Lincoln Riley in your midst.

Are you kidding me?

As Mike Gundy famously said in his iconic rant….”Who are the adults here? Is this what we’ve sunk to in society? You people make me want to puke.”

A new low in Oklahoma City Thunder basketball.

Memphis 152 – Oklahoma City 79….. and it wasn’t really that close.

My Championship Saturday Picks

I’m going to do this on Thursday because I plan on being at an O State-Baylor watch party by 10:30 am. So I want to get this done right now and not rush thru my picks.

I’m 16-17 versus the spread so far this season thanks to hitting a couple of double value bonus games. That’s not terrible….it would usually beat Scott van Pelt and his picker. But I’m a little disappointed in my performance this season. Chris J is 20-13, which is excellent versus the spread and I’m just hoping to have a big Championship Saturday so that I’m not eliminated by the time we hit the College Football Playoff.

Before I get started…I noticed this morning two different sports writers for the Tulsa World went with the story related to the Roy Manning double agent incident pertaining to the OU commit Robert Spears-Jennings.. So—it appears there is legitimacy to the story.

I’m glad Jim Traber went with this on the air because quite frankly Berry Tramel at times seems more concerned with protecting his off the record relationships than actually writing a painfully tough piece on Lincoln Riley’s departure which might not make everyone at OU happy. I think he’s an excellent columnist, but you can’t have some other party dangling you through an off the record quid pro quo. Just my take.

My Championship Saturday Picks:

Big 12… Oklahoma State 24 – Baylor 16

Big 10… Michigan 27 – Iowa 17

SEC… Georgia 28 – Alabama 24

AAC… Cincy 27 – Houston 24

ACC… Pitt 34 – Wake Forest 28

I wonder in the Committee’s eyes how much Alabama has to be beaten by to not make the field as a two loss team. To me…I have that line at four points. I in no way would advance Alabama if the game doesn’t come down to the very end with the game on the line.

This should be a fascinating week-end of college football.

Good luck to Oklahoma State and congrats on an outstanding season to date.

OU Handles No. 14 Florida, 74-67

What a perfect basketball evening at Lloyd Noble Arena as Porter Moser’s rapidly improving Sooners led wire to wire defeating the previously unbeaten Floridia Gators to improve to 7-1 on the season.

Coupled with OU’s road win at UCF on Saturday this Sooner team has made some significant strides since losing 73-70 against Utah State in the finals of the Myrtle Beach Classic.

OU’s starting five of Jordan Goldwire, Moj Gibson, EJ Harkless, Jalen Hill, and Tanner Groves are melding into a very solid unit.

My top five coming off the bench right now would be CJ Nolan, Ethan Chargois, Bijaun Cortez, Jacob Groves , and Alston Mason.

With the high energy style of defense the Sooners play it will be critical for the Sooners to be able to play ten to eleven players once we get to Big 12 conference play.

Next up for OU is Butler next Wednesday in the Big12-Big East Challenge. This should be another nice challenge for the rapidly melding Sooners. When you watch these guys play it’s hard to believe they didn’t know each other several months ago.

It was Lon Kruger Night and the crowd was maginificent inside Lloyd Noble. The student section was standing room only and raccous as a student section should be. A great basketball atmosphere.

Both Caleb Williams and Joe C were there—so there was no way in hell there was going to be a football presser to introduce the new OU head football coach on this special day for Lon Kruger and Porter Moser.

You should watch this video just to hear Coach Moser explain how Joe C recruited him this past spring. It might prove insightful as to what’s going on right now with the OU search for its next football coach.

I was thinking about what I wrote this morning in relation to what Lincoln Riley’s legacy position at OU would be if the Roy Manning story has legs. But you know what…it doesn’t seem like anybody minus Jim Traber really cares that this coach just basically quit on his team this season. And even more off the charts is the fact Brian Kelly quit on a team which could very well have made the Final Four if he’d stayed with his team. Nobody really seems to care….which is very sad. nothing beyond the money seems to matter.

Day by day we’re losing sight of why we even play sports. It can’t just be about the money. At some point the money in and of itself holds no intrinsic value.

So I guess I need to rephrase where Lincoln Riley’s OU legacy will fall. I’ll put it this way… he’ll go back to being right there with Chuck Fairbanks on my OU Football Pantheon of Football Coaches…as far as on the field accomplishments, but probably become the most hated sports figure in contemporary Oklahoma sports history to go along with Kevin Durant.

I don’t hate anyone. Hating is a waste of time. But there are parallels between these two that’s for certain.

Both in a real sense both made the correct decisions on their own futures, it’s just neither took the time to thank those who helped them get to the next stages in their careers.

I mean I have to think…never in the history of USC football did they go out and hire some assistant from East Carolina who came from some hell hole called Muleshoe, Texas. Colin Cowherd might otherwise want reconsider how it is Lincoln Riley ever came upon USC’s radar screen.

I”m fine he’s gone for the selfish reason as a Sooner fan his style of coaching isn’t a match as to what it takes to win in the SEC minus perhaps what LSU did in 2019. But even that LSU team could actually tackle and block some the last few weeks of the season.

How sad Lincoln Riley didn’t take the right steps with Joe C and Bob Stoops to make his exit a classy one. To thank those who mentored him and made him a better coach.

This will all work out for OU football, but people really need to start appreciating why it is we compete in the first place and the journey it entails.

My Top 12 Power Poll

I didn’t watch the show on ESPN per se. I was watching the fabulous TNT Tuesday Showcase. I needed a break from college football. What an incredible night of top tier NBA hoops. I very much needed it.

I’m relatively sure I’m fairly close to what the Committee did though.

I need to start my O State-Baylor preview maybe tomorrow. It should be a good game.

Here’s my poll heading into Championship Saturday:

1 Georgia

2 Michigan

3 Alabama

4 Oklahoma State

5 Cincy

6 Notre Dame

7 Ohio State

8 Baylor

9 Ole Miss

10 Utah

11 Oregon

12 Iowa

——————————————-

13 Oklahoma

14 Houston

15 Arkansas

Does Joe C Have His Man Yet?

If not…I think he’s very close. An announcement and presser need to happen because of the highly unusual circumstances of Lincoln Riley’s stunning departure to USC which we now know per LA Times was a process which began back in September following the firing of Clay Helton after USC’s defeat to Stanford. I wouldn’t even be surprised if we’re in for an introducctory presser later this week.

OU’s hosting No. 14 Florida in hoops tonight and I’m fairly certain Joe C doesn’t want to diminish this game for Coach Moser would be my guess with a football presser this afternoon. But I would have this on watch anytime tomorrow and Friday or Saturday. Right before Gameday on Championship Saturday would be perfect.

I may be revisting my post from on Monday at some point this week on ‘Is Lincoln Riley A Traitor: Part II?’ This is turning into the movie Body Heat is what its turning into…. possibly. An incredibly sad story if some things are verified by major outlets.

A completely bizarre story broke last night on the recruiting trail involving secondary coach Roy Manning and from what I’m to understand his termination by Bob Stoops.

Roy Manning was a holdover who intially didn’t leave with the first group of coaches with Lincoln Riley to USC. Manning was hired in 2019 as a secondary coach who had coached with Alex Grinch at Washington State.

I’ll wait until I see an on the record statement by OU and their compliance department as to if and why Roy Manning was terminated last night. The story I read is so incredibly sad if true…I want to make sure it’s accurate before I put it on my blog.

I’m changing my list again this morning. This time I’m down to three coaches given what we’re learning every day as this story continues to evolve with the truth being revealed like layers of an onion being peeled one by one till we get to the complete truth on Lincoln Riley’s premeditated and calculated exodus to USC which began in September.

I don’t think I need verification to write bullshit to the notion he and his family were only made aware of the USC job offer following the Bedlam game. Just tell the truth. It’s no crime to admit you didn’t want any part of the SEC and that grind diminshing your earning potential over the next twenty years or so. From a monetary standpoint…that’s the money play. Just admit it.

Can anyone just simply tell the truth anymore?

I love the onion analogy. My father, the criminal defense lawyer, read it in a Vince Bugliosi book and shared it with me. It’s great to use in a courtroom before you explain to the jurors they’ve been lied to by the prosecution or by a witness.

This OU job is going to require a special coach beyond X’s and O’s at this point.

I’m thinking and hoping at some point Brent Venables later today or tomorrow will be announced as the next head coach in Norman. He’s the guy if Joe C can convince him to take this job at this point in his career.

Brent Venables has had three head coaches he’s worked for during the entirety of his DI coaching career. The three have been Bill Snyder, Bob Stoops, and Dabo Sweeny. You won’t find a more qualified person with ties to OU who fully understands why the OU head coaching job is a special job.

My top three now goes….. 1 Brent Venables, 2 Matt Ruhle, and 3 Shane Beamer. I’m putting Shane Beamer back on my list because as this story evolves it’s very clear to me Joe C has to have a coach he can trust and one who understands what the job entails.

Even though Matt Rhule is a current NFL head coach with the Carolina Panthers and has to finish his NFL season, he could still be hired, announced immediately, and Bob Stoops could continue as interim coach until that point.

I don’t think Joe C should wait too much longer before announcing his coach though…given what we’re learning everyday about Lincoln Riley’s departure.

I may have been wrong telling Jim Traber to tap on the brakes. This could be a very interesting day in Oklahoma sports history for multiple reasons.

The video above is Bob Stoops in June of 2017 announcing his retirement in advance of Lincoln Riley being hired as the new head coach in Norman. Today is actually the anniversary of Bob Stoops’s being hired back in 1998.

I may also have to re-evaluate Lincoln Riley’s place on my OU football legacy list behind Chuck Fairbanks and consider moving him a notch below Howard Schnellenberger as possibly the worst coach in OU football history depending on how this Roy Manning story is broken by the major outlets…. if it’s actually broken by reputable news outlets.

If the Roy Manning story turns out to be true….this is Body Heat with Kathleen Turner is what it is. Incredible. Just incredibly sad. William Hurt, damn, guy was a star in his prime. Of course in this one he’s Joe C and Lincoln Riley is Kathleen Turner. The hubris of this little guy from Bumblef–k, Texas is beyond the realm.

This could conceivably make Mullet King: The Boone Pickens-Mike Gundy Saga seem tame.