Sooners News Daily 7.8.14
Posted on: July 8, 2014
FOOTBALL
I think most of this on DGB is your typical sportswriter bluster, but where I’d agree is that from a football standpoint going FCS probably made the most sense. (CBS Sports)
No disrespect to Bruce Feldman, whose work I’ve always enjoyed, but any list of the Top ‘Freaks’ in CFB that does not include Charles Tapper is an incomplete list. (Fox Sports)
OU/Texas at No. 3 on this list of the top rivalries in CFB. (NFL)
NCAA suggests limiting contact in practices. (ESPN)
Incredibly disturbing story on former Sooner Larry Birdine. (Transcript)
This isn’t new, but if you’re still familiarizing yourself with the new CFB playoff this does a pretty good job of laying things out. (ESPN)
BASKETBALL
Houston transfer TaShawn Thomas finds the perfect fit in Norman. (NewsOK)
OTHER
The perfect embodiment of a frivolous lawsuit. (Yahoo)
‘Elephant ‘cries’ while being rescued – this story made my day. (The Independent)
Real-life Winnie the Pooh.
If these kids only knew.
Damn.
https://vine.co/v/MPhFBaK5EQz
Never jumped on the initial bandwagon, can’t see that changing after this. But for those who did, here ya go.
46 Comments
That list is completely wrong. OU-TX should be by far at the top of the list. Alabama friends of mine don’t even hate Auburn any more than we hate OSU. Their real hate is reserved for Tennessee.
Let’s put it this way. Has someone ever ripped someone else’s nuts off in a bar fight over any other rivalry?
Whaaaaa?
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/-Scrotum.html
That exceeds audience comprehension.
But so does wearing any item of clothing with that awful “diaper surprise” color.
I’d have to disagree with the original poster. I used to live in Birmingham, and the year ’round hatred between Bama and “All Barn” could be heard every day just by listening to WJOX. It was much nastier than OU-oSu. The year before I lived there, an Alabama fan killed an Auburn fan after an Auburn victory. No doubt, the Auburn fan made the mistake of taunting the Bama fan.
I read an article in one of the preseason football magazines (Lindy’s, I think) called “‘Til the Iron Bowl Do Us Part”. It was about how many marriages in Alabama end when they have a “mixed” couple who decide to marry. They interviewed an Alabama State Trooper who said EVERY single year he’d pull up behind cars parked on the shoulder where a man and a woman would be standing outside their car screaming at each other, oblivious to the traffic around them. He said it was always the same thing; an He said many times one will refuse to get back in the car with the other and procalimed divorce was the next step.
Their series is much more even and competitive. It’s not the lopsided dominance that OU enjoys over oSu. oSu fans are mostly just annoying aggies to us; they (Bama & Auburn) use language I can’t repeat here to describe each other.
Then there was the poisoned tree incident a few years ago.
I think it’s changed to some degree over the past 5 years. It’s much more bitter because of the stakes.
Not sure, but I do recall one neighbor killing another with a rifle a few years back. Clemson/South Carolina rivalry. Taking it to that level is just stupid. The nut-rip thing….well that just goes to such a primitive, personal level that it’s tough to not consider it #1.
I agree that OU-TX above Ala-Aub but I would have probably put Michigan-Ohio State at the top. It seems that the only reason Ala-Aub is at the top of the list is because of the last handful of years, not the long tradition.
I would put OU-UT and UGA-UF as tied for first.
Georgia and Florida doesn’t really get me excited. Auburn and Alabama haven’t even played each other more than other rivals. Ou/ut and Ohio state Michigan would be tied in my opinion and only because of the history for michigan and Ohio state. It’s been pretty lopsided 10-2 osu favor the last 12 years. And ou/ut have played for 6 bcs titles since 2000
I say those two because of how their fans feel about it and the fact that both are a neutral site, evenly divided with a State Fair adding to the festive mood.
That’s a fair point
I know the writer was judging the overall rivalries, but when a team is basically a non-participating party in a rivalry the way Michigan has been for most of the last 15 years versus tOSU, it’s hard for me to consider that the top rivalry. Michigan has only won 2 of the last 12 meetings.
That said, I will say the UM-tOSU rivaly may be the most bitter one. Maybe I’m a bit more sensitive to it being in Michigan, but man do those two really hate each other.
I live in Texas and graduated from OU, and get to experience our rivalry with Texas daily. The Red River Shootout is a huge deal, but having lived in Montgomery Alabama for a time, nothing compares to that rivalry. On virtually every neighborhood street, every house cheers for one Auburn or Alabama. Plus, the rivalry is fairly even.
Imagine combining all of your disgust and disdain for OSU and Texas into one game. Then you have to remember that they are both located in the deep south where seemingly anything goes.
Always entertaining stuff jordan!
I have read a few articles ripping OU for accepting DGBs transfer. I just want to point out that no charges were pressed. And nobody was there. If it was some sort of cover up by Mizzou or local police, then that is an entirely new can of worms to open up. It isn’t like he robbed someone at gun point or anything like that. I am not condoning what he did but I am also not going to condemn him. His academics seemed to be in line, which is more than a lot of players can say, and OU is not a school to be lax on a player. Why is the school receiving the blame. If he makes a mistake there, you bet they will boot him. But he is going to get a lot tougher discipline than he would have almost anywhere else. He goes FCS and I just see him as a big fish in a small pond environment and I don’t think that would benefit him at all.
Well, said young man.
People are quick to judge but how perfect are they?
More people are killed by hands and feet each year than by guns. Violent assaults are not to be ignored and while no charges(the women feared possible retribution) were filed there is a police report. In addition, his last arrest involving marijuana is still pending in Missouri. If they decide to prosecute his time at OU may be very short.
As for going FCS, I disagree, I think that would have been his best move. He seems to be fine when he is playing ball, not when he has idle time.
some people just see the worst in people. and some people see the positives. lets stick to the positives. no one knows what really happened. if he screws up again, he gone. i dont see the problem.
Really sad read on Larry birdine.hope he gets the help he needs. … and that might be prison time.
Sad, indeed.
He was a tremendous player for OU.
Obviously a very troubled young man. Prayers for the young lady for a full recovery, the children for this event not shaping their future actions, and for Larry to get the help he needs. Bummer
What a terrifying scenario for her and those children.
Domestic disturbance calls are the worst. I answered a call one night and the husband just went ape. He saw me come through the door and ran down the hallway to the bedroom. I body slammed him just as he was picking up an AR-15, kidney punched him until he gave in and I could cuff him. The AR…it was a toy. I could have shot him for being such an idiot. The petite wife was beaten nearly to death.
LEOs have such a split-second to decide how to handle situations, and those DV calls are indeed bad. Always praying my police officer son doesn’t get in a situation like that, but it’s probably bound to happen sometime. Y’all aren’t perfect, who is? But more people need to understand what you deal with and why you are trained to do things a certain way.
God Bless you and your son.
Most of the time the job is boring and routine, but can change in an instant.
I left LE because I couldn’t deal with the car wrecks anymore and the senseless slaughter, especially of children.
“Might be?” Dude was arrested in 2003 for the same thing. Details of this (unprovoked) attack were beyond comprehension, methinks he is done…for a long time
I said “might be” because I’m no expert and I wouldn’t know what he needs.
As a former friend of Larry Birdine, I hate to see this. I never saw him act aggressively towards anyone while we were at OU. I believe he was actively pursuing his masters degree and possibly a doctorate in the future. Sucks if true.
Out-running Striker while running down a wide receiver would definitely qualify Mr. Tapper as a top “freak” in my opinion
I’m with you.
Tapper is 6’4″ 275lbs. and was timed at 4.55 during the spring. I don’t know how he does with the weights, but that seems to be what the writer was most focused on.
I have no problem with Stoops wanting to give DGB a second chance. If he thinks they can manage the situation, then they would probably know better than us. Having said that, I just am not all that confident we are ever going to see DGB play in an OU uniform. His chances of getting a waiver seem very thin, which means he will have to sit on the sideline while staying out of trouble for an entire year (easier said than done it seems) before he will even be eligible to play. Then, we have to assume he won’t bolt for potential 1st round draft money in 2015. Honestly, the odds that he will be around long enough to make any impact for OU just seem slim at best.
fwiw
https://twitter.com/PeterJayy_2/status/486571690986835970
This is pretty much insane (assuming accuracy)
https://twitter.com/Official_MalikJ/status/486564875288584193
Impressive!! From what I could find, Mike Mitchell holds the national record SPARQ Rating with a score of 154.47 in 2012.
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/recruiting/football/story/_/id/8139359/eyes-texas-mike-mitchell
Also found this 2014 leaderboard, and Jefferson would be the new leader beating out 141.36 (as of 6/21). Maybe you guys can recognize some names as I’m not as aware of the recruits.
http://www.studentsports.com/blog/2014/02/24/2014-sparq-rating-national-leaderboard/
Just…dang!
CMIIW, but I believe these were all iPhone times, not laser timed. A reporter was tweeting out pics of the iPhone times earlier.
I thought laser times was kind of their thing at this deal, but maybe I’m wrong.
They did both, from what I can tell. Malik was laser-timed later at 4.49. Hand time posted was 4.39.
Interesting
Stupid, but conventional analysis by Dodd. Perhaps the real picture is that Mizzou coaches booted DGB as a wake-up call then endorsed him to Bob as a kid who could be helped. Maybe both staffs care about the kid. Dodd sounds like the guy who doesn’t want to get involved with anything messy no matter how worthy. That’s so common in our society, but not practiced by the winners.
UCLA vs USC for the city championship, recruiting in the biggest football metropolitan area in the world, less of a rivalry than Oregon vs Oregon State? That destroyed all credibility this stupid exercise could have. Actually, UCLA vs USC is bigger than USC vs N.D. I doubt that S. Carolina v Clemson is any bigger than Stanford vs. Cal, especially if you only count fans that can read.
Jordan, the elephant story was great. I’ve been involved with a group trying to save elephants from extinction, good to see that news of crisis is filtering into mainstream more now.