Sooners News Daily 11.4.14
Posted on: November 4, 2014
First, let me start by apologizing for not getting one of these up yesterday. I was, and in some ways still am, angry about some things that have been said lately and I suppose in a form of personal protest, I chose not to put up my daily post as I normally would have. And while it’s more than just that, it has caused me to kind of reassess some things (and you can choose to believe that or not, but this isn’t coming from anyone other than me). So you may see some changes from me going forward for a little bit. Some of you may notice while others may not, but either way I didn’t want things to go unacknowledged.
But enough with my personal crap. On to stuff much more interesting.
FOOTBALL
Positive news regarding Sterling Shepard’s injury. (TFB)
‘Ready of not, Sooners want revenge’ (TW)
OTHER
Two @Big12Conference Offensive Players of the Week, one Defensive Player of the Week & one Newcomer of the Week! pic.twitter.com/Wszia18gNG
— Oklahoma Sooners (@OU_Athletics) November 3, 2014
Oh, DeAndre. Why’d you have to do him like that?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0hVqpWr5y4
I’m dying (be warned, some NSFW language). Granted, you could be the guy who does the voice for Archer (if you don’t watch that show, I couldn’t recommend it more highly) and all I’d hear is that and laugh my a$$ off.
Was/am/will continue to be a Spacey guy.
http://youtu.be/-kWHMH2kxXs
“1996, that’s when I was born.” – I hate you.
Jessica Chastain fan here.
You’d think these movies couldn’t get any more ridiculous then they go and top themselves. Every. Time. And I love every minute of it.
74 Comments
I got with Fast 1 & loved it, couldn’t do any more though.. Also, count me in the Chastain club, not a fan of redheads in general, would make an exception for her.. Also, i did miss the daily yesterday.. Don’t know what the drama is about but i hope the daily’s continue.. They always get my day started right!
Glad you’re back JE. Noticed you fell out of the game thread and figured it was the red ass. If you voice opinions of feelings, not everyone will be on your side. Have thick skin and just be who you are.
Oh believe me, my skin is plenty thick. I’m not changing who I am for anybody, BUT that also doesn’t mean I’m arrogant enough to think my opinion is always the right one.
That’s well said. I didn’t even notice the remarks you mention but I look forward to your daily comments a great deal. Don’t stop anything you’re doing. And if it’s the trolls affecting you just ignore their sorry a$$es!
i know this is partly or all directed at me. i think i shoulder some of the blame here. it wasn’t directed at you exactly. just the line of thinking where the negative connotations are perceived as “real” and the positive outlookers are “care bears” and sounded like conceding defeat before we even started the game. i took it over the line with the soapbox comment and i sent you an apology. i meant it and i hope you know i meant it. i love your comments most of the time and would prefer it to have you voice it because, as someone else already stated, its the respect shown by both sides that bring about discussion instead of argument. so again, i am sorry for crossing the line and would like to move on and not have you feel like you need to quiet down or any some such
We’re totally good. You didn’t cross any lines. In speaking w/ K last night about this whole deal I totally understood where he, you, and others were coming from re: my comments early on in the game thread. They were unnecessary on my part, I’ll freely admit that.
I want people to comment here, even if there critics. I welcome that. I think it’s healthy to hear both sides of things. I never want to be someone to make others feel they can’t express their opinion on things just b/c it may not agree w/ mine.
And as I said that day, me posting here has never been and never will be about me saying I’m right and anyone who doesn’t agree w/ me is wrong. I’m wrong all the time. All I’ve ever tried to do is express my self and relate what I see/think that others may also be able to relate to b/c that’s what I connect w/ when I read the work of others. Some people like and/or agree w/ what I have to say and others think I’m an idiot who should just shut up. I’d like to believe I’m cool w/ both.
awesome. and trust me, i’ve respected what you’ve had to say for awhile now, and it was just that back and forth that got to me. and the thing on the coaches was just for discussion. i hope you never think that i’m gonna try to put you down or anything
Not at all. Like I said, they were unnecessary comments on my part.
not to keep the plane from landing but they could have just been misconstrued on my part
Looks like Furious 7 is going to be more over-the-top than the last one, i did not know that was possible.
Will there be an open post or original posters telling us what recruits will be there?
Yes, we’re working on putting one together.
Well, Hoover reported the comments just like they were given- sarcasm and disdain compete.
I hope this game turns out like the one where Texass tech came in #1 and got their arse handed to them in a burlap bag.
Who you guys think will be in the 4th spot today? I am guessing TCU/Oregon, will be very telling if Bama on a bye week jumps up into that 4 spot.
TCU has the best resume IMO, but I am expecting it to be Oregon. Not saying it is right but they seem to take the overall rankings into account, and because Oregon started at the top and TCU worked their way from unranked upwards, I just cant see TCU ahead of Oregon. I actually still expect them to put Alabama ahead of TCU as well. If Oregon had an offensive line that could protect Mariotta, they would be a very dangerous playoff team.
I have to agree, I think Oregon will be ahead of TCU (since the committee seems to be giving them the due credit for the MSU win). To be honest with you, as much as I hate it, TCU offers the most challenge to the top 2 teams right now, Oregon defense is not very good, and the top teams will run roughshod on them. MSU defense is good but their offense is not great, and from the looks of it, they will have a uphill battle getting into the poffs (over Pac12, Big12 and ACC).
I actually do rate MSU a little more than you. The only reason I have Oregon over them is their head to head win. That said, it was in Oregon. Any rematch could be different elsewhere. If you recall, MSU hung with Oregon for a while in that game, and I think they did lead early on. I think MSU will be a tough out as long as they get decent QB play (we know they can play good D and run the ball).
Don’t drop out on us Jordan. I’m a huge fan and enjoy your perspective and posts.
I appreciate you saying that and I’m definitely not dropping out, but for the time being I won’t be posting as much as I have been in the past.
Jordan – quite a lot of the new posters here on TFB came here to follow you from your previous gig. That tells me right there you are a respected and passionate Sooners fan and writer. There will always be vitriol on online forums or message boards and I know you know this too. The purpose of these mediums is to discus and respect other people’s opinions. Its those who resort to snide comments, trolling and hostile attacks that threaten to ruin the experience for the majority of us who just wanna talk football and enjoy feedback from fellow fans.
Win or lose, we’re all passionate Sooner fans. There will be good times and bad. We have a right to talk about both and have our opinions respected when doing so.
thank you
I agree. I have been with this site since the original post. My wife now calls me a football brainiac because I’m always on here. I love that we can all express our opinions about OUR Sooners. That’s what makes this site. We’re all homers. The only difference in us is some are pessimists, some are realists and some are optimists. We balance each other out. It’s a sport, a game. I love playing the “what if” games of how we “could” make the playoff. That keeps it fun each week and allows me to cheer for certain teams I normally don’t care about even though, in my mind, with 2 losses, I’m pretty positive we’re not getting in the CFP nor will we win the Big 12. I am more of an optimist/realist but I enjoy reading everyone’s perspectives.
I really appreciate the insider info provided on this site regarding the current team and LOVE the recruiting info. Keep it up.
Glad your back Jordan!!
thanks
Jordan, get back in the game. If the sun rises, and you’re there to greet it, you have to get through the day. Here’s a quote by one of my favorite authors, James Baldwin: ” I can’t be a pessimist because I’m alive. To be a pessimist means that you have
agreed that human life is an academic matter, so I’m forced to be an optimist.
I’m forced to believe that we can survive whatever we must survive.”
The Kevin Spacey vid was classic. Great stuff! Thanx Jordan!
Jordan, I am oblivious to what you’re speaking about in your above post but glad you mentioned it. Hope it wasn’t a situation where you felt disrespected and unappreciated. You certainly don’t deserve that. I think the overwhelming majority of the posters on here will ride with you until the wheels fall off.
appreciate the kind words.
honestly, I feel like one of the things that works so well about what we do here is K presents one side of things, what I’d label as more positive, but he’s also critical at times when he feels it’s warranted. And I feel like what I do is very similar, but obviously for whatever reasons I’m not as adept at wording it in a way where it comes across as “positive” as he does. So I get painted w/ this brush of never having anything but negative things to say. And while I couldn’t disagree w/ that more, I respect the opinion of others and their right to voice their opinion.
Hell Jordan compared to me you’re Mr. Positivity riding on rainbows and unicorns. I think Rufus Alexander said it best on Saturday on Twitter. Watching that game Saturday, seeing the play calling, seeing the schemes, seeing the OU athletes allowed to play finally… It left you just wondering why? Why now? Just confirmed what we’ve been saying all season and it doesn’t make any sense.
I’ve never branded you as negative but only passionate about OU football. You want better for OU. Who could spend as much time as you do reporting on OU sports for free and not be full of passion for the program. You’ve earned the right to critique the program. Frankly, I like hearing improvements that you think the coaches need to make. Don’t change a thing. Be who you are.
thank you
Just want to add, I didn’t include what I wrote above fishing for compliments. Nothing could be farther from the truth. That said, I absolutely appreciate the kind words.
As I said above, my presence might not be quite as prevalent as it’s been in the past so I simply wanted to acknowledge why that will be the case.
Carry on.
found this on yahoo today; good read from SB Nation ISU game:
http://www.widerightnattylite.com/2014/11/3/7147225/oklahoma-postmortem-report
The perfect Saturday ? A Sooner victory over a talented baylor team. Will it happen or will the fans have to face the pain of another 41-12 butt-whipping ? Most on this site think OU has improved enough to eke out a victory. We’ll see. We live in hope of something, anything to improve the national persona of the program and a victory will do that.
Meant to include this and forgot. But it’s good to see some things haven’t changed. #flopper
https://vine.co/v/OO0pex9uI5d
That should be a fine.
Jordan, permit me to weigh in. I see a huge difference between complaining about players (which I can’t recall you ever doing) and complaining about coaching. Bob makes a cool $5M and Mike makes a healthy check too. If you feel they aren’t utilizing their players’ talents properly, they are fair game. But going after players is over the line. We all know the players are “leaving it on the field”, and they don’t deserve us putting them down. We had a poster on this site a couple of weeks ago come down on Moneycutt, and he deservedly got ripped by other readers. We don’t need that here. But if you are unhappy with the coaching, let ‘er rip; that’s fair game.
I respect people with strong opinions, and I haven’t seen Jordan cross the line. Go forth and have opinions!
Appreciate this
Don’t go disappearing on me on Twitter on Saturdays Esco. What with JY being a responsible adult and picking up in-laws at airports in the middle of games and stuff, I need at least one person to vent to!
Oh, trust me, I’ll still be there. But I need to be more quiet during games. I get way too caught up in the emotion of things and say stupid stuff probably much too often.
I’ve tried to use the game thread as an alternative for that necessary venting, but that’s obviously not going to work now. So on to Plan C 🙂
Kevin Spacey=terrific. and “how would our daughter be asian” definitely lol.
Jordan, I am not quite privy to the situation with the negative comments, sort of heard about it from a friend but I will have to see what it was all about.
Anyhow, I love every persons input to this site, K, JY, Drake, you, etc. You all bring something different to the site and all in a very entertaining way. I would say a vast majority of us are behind you completely and love what you do, so glad you are back and keep up the good work. I don’t want to be the only smartass around here so please don’t leave lol
I’ve always though the balance was the key. If I’m the “negative” one, I suppose that’s fine. It counters some of how others may take a more positive approach. I thought it was a good give-and-take if you will. Apparently that’s not the case for some. And that’s cool, to each their own.
What stuck w/ me was being told I was taking away from the site. And I don’t want any part of that. So I’ll take a step back for a while and see how things eventually shake out.
As a wise man once said, “You do you Boo Boo.”
But I have liked what you have brought, I thought you really increased the diversity of writing on the site greatly. If you feel you need a break or step back or whatever, then that is your choice and I don’t think anyone can argue with that.
But as one reader, I have not been offended by any of your posts. And if someone was, well I don’t know their reasoning so I refuse to comment. We all have “those days” and maybe that was the case. So hopefully things shake out well.
To be honest, I really like the negative comments, if they have a basis in reality, which I think yours does. I look at pessimism as a reality based view. Pessimists tend to realize that there is work to be done, and to work towards righting the wrongs, or at least pointing them out so that they can be addressed. I’m not a sunshine pumper, and I never will be. I don’t believe that it’s okay to lose to the better teams in the conference when the money is being paid to have the best team in the conference. Being okay with 3rd or 4th place in the conference is never going to be the type of guy that I am. If I go out and pay top dollar for a product that is supposed to deliver a certain outcome and doesn’t, I’m not going to be happy with the product. It may be outlandish to believe this way, but I think it’s realistic. Call me crazy.
I know everyone has their own definition of things and I’m fine if people think I’m negative all the time when it comes to OU Football. I’d disagree w/ them thinking that, but that’s certainly their right.
I guess my biggest issue w/ this “perception” of me is that I’m negative simply for the sake of being negative. And that is something I definitely do not believe I’m doing.
I have always said I’m just as open praise OU when it’s deserved, just as I’m not afraid to criticize when I feel that’s deserved. As much as I’m sure it seems like this isn’t the case to some, I always try to avoid ripping someone/thing just for the sake of doing so.
I want OU to win every single game they play. How anyone could think otherwise is completely beyond me. But what some seem to believe is negativity on my part, I consider to be objectivity. Of course I don’t want Mike Stoops to play his corners seven yards off the LOS, but I’d seen him do it for three straight games even though it clearly wasn’t successful. So when I’m writing about that, to me it serves very little purpose to say “well I hope this happens…” Of course I hope that happens, we all hope that happens, but what do you gain by me saying that?
It’s like I saw an article online today from The Oklahoman w/ the headline of something to the effect of “blitzing will be the key vs. Petty.” Well, no sh#$. I despise those type of articles. What is gained by stating what we all already know?
IMO, it serves more purpose to say what I think is going to happen. Certainly doesn’t mean I’m always going to be right, but my approach is…good or bad…I’m going to be honest and objective. Believe me, I’m the biggest OU homer on the planet. I love OU and not just OU football (if you follow me on Twitter you know that). But when it comes to writing, I put much more stock into being objective than being a “homer.”
That’s not for everybody, clearly. And I’m okay with that.
Couldn’t agree more with your outlook. I, for one, enjoy your writing and your take, and appreciate the alternate viewpoints. Keep up the good work.
thank you
WHAT! I missed a fulsome kerfuffle!?! A petulant bun fight broke out and I wasn’t invited? Ima go stick my lower lip out ifn things don’t change around here!
Whatever it was, it’s over. And we can have a nice hippy group hug and get on with hating on the Whackjobs from Waco.
Alles gut. Immer lustig.
LOL!!
I freely admit to making comments that sometimes in hindsight, regret. This site is awesome and you’re a big reason why. After all, we all want the same thing. Our team to win. Boomer!
Is the baylor game a ‘must win’ game for the players, staff, and program ??? another poster on another website believes it is such a situation. How do you guys assess the ‘state of the program’ ? Will a loss and ‘middle of the road’ conference finish satisfy you ? Will a loss and apparant downturn of the program direct Joe C to Michigan and B Stoops to a different job ? Will another loss to Baylor bring down heat from the regents on David Boren’s head ??? What margin of a loss is acceptable to you guys ? A 7 pt loss, a 21 pt loss, What are you will to accept and just ‘move on’ if worse comes to worse saturday ???
We’ve all agreed on mass suicide after the next loss, it’s the right thing to do. 🙂
No Jim Jones action for me, I’m more likely to go Bear hunting along I-35.
/i kid…i kid
We’ll push the critters to the south where you can pick them off at the river crossing. 🙂
If OU loses to Baylor I will be taking some serious drinks-just not cyanide. Other than an unbeaten season (obviously) I wanted OU to beat Tennessee, Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech, and Okie State. Well that option is still open, but somehow it seems shallow at this point. Like someone referred to above it’s time to fish or cut bait, sh*t or get off the pot, etc. etc. etc. Right now it’s time to leave for “happy hour”.
I will give you one thing. It seems the tone of your posts is changing to me. So thank you for that. I will ask you, what do you want? Not the cop out “what everybody else wants. Wins and a title.” What do you want for this week? What do you want for the rest of the yr? What do you want for the future?
If the fish quit biting, sometimes it is best to switch from plugs to live bait. Or to cast from the shore rather than dragging the bait behind a slowly moving boat. The fish may be tempted though the fisherman remains the same.
Um ok
Boomer : this week–play hard and ‘lights out’. try to be as perfect in all aspects as possible. A win would be nice but if the team plays as best it can and thats not enough–its not enough. Just got to recruit better, coach better, and get better. Personally, nothing less than 10-2 given the preseason hype but will probably have to watch this team settle for something less. I believe the program needs an in-depth , off-season review to see WHERE it can improve. If that means a change in recruiting tactics, a change in coaches, a change in type of athletes recruited, a change in locations recruited, do something to make the program bett If B Stoops can’t show the vision to be competitve for titles again, , then we’ve got another Mack Brown on our hands.
Nah. OU will be fine, as a program, even if we lose this game.
thank you, Brad. I’m doing my best to ‘will’ an OU victory Saturday. Somehow, just haven’t convinced myself this team can get it done against the Bears. While I think OU is a better offensive team than 2013, Baylor is probably a better team, too. It will be interesting to read what others think if the game ‘goes south’ Saturday and Baylor wins comfortably. Conversely, I’ll give plenty of props to the team if it can finish what was left unfinished in the TCU/ KST games.
I think Baylor was better on both sides of the ball last season. Doesn’t mean it’ll be an easy game. But I think if OU shows up, plays hard, and doesn’t do a bunch of stupid stuff (throw pick 6’s, miss easy FG’s, give up ST’s TD’s), I think we’ll win.
I feel I see things a lot like you do jordan. I dont really think its pessimistic, more realistic. Cant just site here and praise, and ignore obvious issues.
Id rather know the truth, than for someone to blow smoke and say “everythings just fine”
Appreciate the effort, and opinions, of all those involved with the site. It wouldnt be much fun if you guys were all clones of each other. The differing opinions are what make the site great.
Jordan. I appreciate your honesty!!!
Dont let the Bastages get you down or even get your attention. Wherever the static is coming from- consider the source and show your class.
No selection committee thread today so I will post this here.
Ou moved up 3 spots this week. They just need to move up 3 spots each week and will end up in the final 4. Once all these teams start knocking each other off then we should see our résumé start to compare favorably to the likes of Alabama. Also need to be clicking on all 8 for the rest of the season and show the committee which team is playing the best football. A big win over Baylor 20+ points and we could very well end up 10th next week which is ahead of schedule.
I like the way you’re thinking but it’s hard for me to trust the “committee”.
If bama loses this weekend and ou wins..there is no way you can tell me they deserve to be ranked ahead of ou. Am I right? So I hope that is the outcome and we see if the committee does the right thing. Ou won in better fashion over the 2 common opponents so far Tennessee and wvu.
You are right and I agree, I just fear that towards the end the sec and espin will crank up the pressure trying to influence the committee.
I’m sure espn will but we will have to see how it plays out. I’m sure espn will have to take a different approach (I know they don’t care about public opinion) but to be the sports leader they can’t ignore common sense. I’m just glad the big 12 is catching up to the sec as far as power index/ratings.
Would love to see OU knock baylor off the ball and put a foot on their neck! Needed to get that out. Feelin better already.
Is this the post to share feelings about Jordan Esco?
This is a safe place.