I have to tell you that this week’s comments are going to be somewhat vague, secretive. This week I am talking about drones. See, it looks like because we have increased drone strikes so much that the need for drone pilots has tripled. Oh I know what you’re thinking; they call them drones because no one flies them. So what’s the deal? Ok, here’s the top secret part. It’s really just a video game and maybe, just maybe our government is already in the process of training … Kids, Game Cube, Playstation. When I was younger I was really good at the space games, and if we would have had an alien invasion, I would have made Luke Skywalker look silly. I was also good at Street Fighter and the combat games… Maybe Wii and the Cube, or whatever’s out there is really just setting the youth of tomorrow on a flight plan of weapon system video games, at least until they figure out how to use all robots. We can blame people if they strike the wrong target, with robots…
My plan: put world leaders behind the controls of the game Street Fighter.., USA against Iran, or China. We’d whoop their butts …Only thing is we may have to barrow a quarter from China to play the game …I’m
Image from "EDU In Review" - click link for commentary on Top Ten Red River Rivalry Games
(Note: Originally published Oct. 1, 2010)
by Rob Loeber
College football is full of rivalries, and there are some great ones…
Michigan/Ohio State has tradition, but hasn’t been worth much the last few years. The Iron Bowl between ‘Bama and Auburn is the best of what the South has to offer, but it still misses the mark. Oregon and Oregon State call their battle the Civil War, but something about Ducks fighting Beavers just doesn’t inspire me all that much. Bedlam is up there for sure, but you get the feeling it means just a little more to the side in orange.
OU/Texas is the gold standard in rivalries and here are the reasons why.
The Cotton Bowl is the perfect setting. It’s almost exactly halfway in between Norman and Austin. The stadium is split at the 50 yard line. Sooners on one side, Longhorns on the other. Show me another event like this in all of sports. Go ahead show me. You can’t do it. The atmosphere alone makes this game what it is because you can feel the tension in the stadium and all around the fairgrounds. Nothing but burnt orange and crimson as far as the eye can see. The Texas State Fair is part of the experience. Ride the ferris wheel, win a teddy bear, eat something fried, eat something else fried, almost get sick, drink beer, feel better, watch football. If I’m not mistaken that might just be the meaning of life right there. Continue reading OU/Texas: The Best Rivalry In College Football?→
A few weeks ago, the Tulsa World published this article about how more Tulsans are embracing the Oklahoma City Thunder. Overall, the tone of the article is positive. It cites increasing ticket sales and rising TV ratings from the East side of the state. However, if you read the article and read some of the comments, you’ll quickly realize just how ignorant, jealous and petty so many folks are about the Thunder bearing the name “Oklahoma City.”
Tulsans don't need to go to this extreme, but you get the idea. (courtesy bleacherreport.com)
I don’t want to admit this is true, but having lived in Tulsa for almost seven years now, there is an inferiority complex for too many people when it comes to competition with OKC. These are the same imbeciles who need something to be offended by, something to rant about on sports radio, and who cling to the past like it’s keeping them alive. The ridiculous sentiment of this pathetic crowd is, “They’re not the Oklahoma Thunder, so why should I care? They don’t market themselves to Tulsa or play games up here, so why I am going to support a team that doesn’t acknowledge me?”
Really? Sometimes you people sound like too much like the kid who gets picked last for dodge ball. Did you ever think it’s because maybe you’re not good enough? Instead of whining and complaining just get better.
The BOK Center is a start, bust more downtown renewal must follow.
Let’s face facts here; Oklahoma City had a vision back in the mid-nineties. The MAPS project was executed flawlessly and now OKC has transformed itself into a big league city that is deserving of a professional franchise. Tulsa is a fantastic place to live, and offers plenty of things that OKC doesn’t, but it just isn’t on the same level when it comes to being ready for pro sports. Sure, Tulsa has the BOK Center downtown. It’s a beautiful facility and it’s a huge step in the right direction. But Tulsa also has a city council that squabbles incessantly, excruciatingly slow development along the river, and surface streets that make this town the perfect place to open up your own alignment shop. What takes Oklahoma City ten years seems to take Tulsa 25 years to accomplish. Believe me, Tulsa is changing and improving, but it’s not there yet.
It’s depressing to write this, but I will turn 30 later this year.
You would think at this point in my life, I’d be past the all the irrational behavior associated with one of my sports teams losing. You would think I’d leave behind the rage, the despondent face, and the shutdown of all normal neuron activity. You would think I could count to ten, take a deep breath, or at the very least keep some perspective. You’d be wrong.
Three full decades into life and I can’t keep myself from reverting back to child-like behavior when I’m met with massive sports disappointment.
It's like looking in the mirror. (courtesy cdn.bleacherreport.net)
The other night my hockey team, the Calgary Flames, was officially eliminated from playoff contention. As I sat there watching the game online, I began muttering to myself incessantly. Let’s just say it’s a good thing I was alone, because my soliloquies weren’t exactly meant for the ears of children. I know that’s awful. I know it is, but it was like a reflex. As the night went on, and it became increasingly clear that my team would be making tee times, my anger turned to sadness. I took off my t-shirt with the team insignia emblazoned across the chest and folded it neatly while whispering, “So close. I just want one more game.” When times are desperate I’ve also been known to don a hard hat with my team’s logo and the inscription: Hardest Working Fan. (There’s nothing more mature than a grown man sitting alone, wearing a hard hat, wallowing in self-pity). I slid the hard hat back onto a shelf, and then proceeded to check the standings over and over and over again. I stared at the point totals like a mathematical equation I just couldn’t solve. I let out a long sigh, and then said, “Thanks for a good run boys.” I said that out loud as if I was in their locker room expecting one of the players to embrace me. In the moment, none of this lunacy seemed odd or weird or the least bit desperate. But it is! I know it, and I still can’t stop it!
Of course I had my share of temper tantrums as a kid. On Thanksgiving Day in 1993, Leon Lett decided to ruin my life by fumbling a ball in the snow to set up a Dolphin’s game winning field goal. With my Cowboys defeated, I was inconsolable. I ran to my room, sobbing, and refused to come out for hours. I wasn’t just crying, I was wailing. I remember shaking and seething in my bed just as vividly as I remember the look on my parents faces. You know that, we’re-mortified-by-this-and-no-longer-proud-of-you look? Yep, that’s the one. Sure it was embarrassing, but in my defense I was just a kid.
Now fast forward to the present day. Has my maturity level evolved? Recent events point to no.
Could Jeff Capel's tenure at Oklahoma be over? (courtesy thespread.com)
Jeff Capel is a good basketball coach.
“Good” will cut it in just about any profession, just not Capel’s. Good coaches get fired every season and some in this state believe now is the time for a change in leadership of the Oklahoma program.
Capel’s detractors have a case. The Sooners finished the season last night with a 20-point loss to Texas and an overall record of 14-18. For the first time in 46 years, OU has posted back to back losing seasons.
Capel’s squad will also miss the NCAA tournament for a second consecutive year. The Sooners haven’t been left out of the dance two years in a row since 1994.
There was a brutal string of nine straight losses at the end of last season. At one point this year, OU dropped eight in a row and wound up losing nine of its last eleven.
Can Capel win without Blake Griffin? So far, the answer seems to be no. (courtesy sportige.com)
The Sooners have fallen close to the cellar in the Big 12 conference. Only Iowa State finished lower than OU in the standings, and ten of the Sooners conference losses were by a margin of ten points or more. It isn’t just that Capel’s team was losing, it’s that his team wasn’t even consistently competitive. It looks worse for OU when you look at recent history against the top teams in the conference. The Sooners have now dropped four in a row to Texas, four in a row to Texas A&M, and six straight to Kansas.
Critics also love to point out Capel’s recruiting history. Willie Warren, Tommy Mason-Griffin, and Tiny Gallon were all McDonald’s All-Americans and were supposed to be the next wave of Sooner superstars. They were going to pick up the slack after the departure of Blake Griffin, and continue to keep the program in a position of prominence. Warren played two seasons and bolted to the NBA. Mason-Griffin skipped town after only a year and was quoted in the Houston Chronicle saying, “School work was just not in my comfort zone.” Gallon also left Norman after his freshman season amidst allegations that he and his mother received $3,000 from a financial adviser. OU assistant coach Oronde Taliaferro was rumored to be connected to the adviser and the NCAA launched an investigation into Taliaferro’s actions.
