While I am certainly no proponent (in fact it is one of my most hated sports clichés) of the idea of someone having “mojo†or “swaggerâ€, whatever it was that separated Bob Stoops from the rest of college football for his first six years is back. Local and national media liked to label him “River Boat Bob†or “Big Game Bob†for the better part of those years and have loved to talk about how he has lost it ever since. Starting in Columbia and being solidified on Saturday night in College Station, Bob Stoops has the big game mentality back and is ready to return to prominence.
Continue Reading November 6th, 2006
The tenure of Vernon Parrington was off to a smashing start and he scheduled something major for the University in the second game of the 1897 season, their first game against another university. Parrington was 1-0 with the victory over Oklahoma City, but a rematch with OKC and a game with Fort Reno were both called off because of extreme weather conditions. Therefore, OU would play just one more game in 1897, in Oklahoma City against Kingfisher College.
Continue Reading November 6th, 2006
The third year of the University of Oklahoma’s football program was to be the first with the benefit of a full-time football coach. David Ross Boyd decided that the program had grown to the point where a coach was needed and hired Vernon Parrington, a prolific young English Professor, to run the program in addition to being baseball coach and Athletic Director. With all of these extra duties, he was awarded no extra compensation, though he would prove he deserved much.
Continue Reading October 23rd, 2006
Before I start a firestorm of criticism and insults let me start by saying that in no way shape or form could Sooner fans, coaches, or players feel good after losing Adrian Peterson. In fact, they should feel like someone stole their new Tivo just as they had filled the electronic wonder with dozens of their favorite shows. They should feel sick to their stomachs about missing the opportunity to see such a player ever don the Crimson and Crème again. That being said, this is a monumental opportunity for Kevin Wilson to prove his ability.
Continue Reading October 18th, 2006
As a distinguished educator arriving to his new destination, David Ross Boyd could not have been happy. He would later claim to have been motivated and inspired by the possibility of what could be possible on this stretch of burnt prairie but for now it was just that, burnt prairie. This desolate stretch of Indian Territory was so barren that you could look for miles in almost any direction without seeing a tree, but this first President of what would become Oklahoma University was not discouraged. He was ready to make his mark as an educator in America.
Continue Reading October 16th, 2006
When referring to Oklahoma Football it is generally referred to as Bud Wilkinson having created the “monster†of a program. While he may have fed it well, the hunger for football has always been raging in Oklahoma, even during the fall of 1895. Just six years after settlers charged as “Boomers†and “Sooners†across the border in the land run the game of football was getting ready to make its first official appearance. The absurdity of that moment was almost matched by the absurdity of Oklahoma Territorial University’s first game.
Continue Reading October 12th, 2006
Chapter 1- Barber Shop Beginnings
It really happened without any fanfare. It really happened without a cheering crowd or a marching band. It really just happened in a simple barbershop, a barbershop owned and operated by a man named Bud. Bud Risinger’s Barbershop on Main Street in Norman would have a lot to do with the early years of Oklahoma Football, specifically, the verbal birth of the idea when a young man named John Harts spoke up rather regularly, “Let’s get up a football team.â€
Continue Reading October 9th, 2006
The 2006 edition of Oklahoma-Texas was not unlike many recent games in the series, which is why it is altogether shocking that Oklahoma lost. If you were part of the national audience that watched the game you saw one team laying out the hits, holding on to the ball and not making game shifting penalties … the same thing that happened over and over during Oklahoma’s recent five game win streak in the series. Here’s the kicker though, this time the team doing the right things had horns on their helmets.
Continue Reading October 8th, 2006
Nobody in or around Norman believes that all of the questions from the first three games of the 2006 campaigns were answered in the Sooners 59-0 thrashing of Middle Tennessee, but it was most definitely a step in the right direction. For the first time since Jason White graced Owen Field, Oklahoma looked like a team that could regain the swagger of the early Bob Stoops years thanks to an opportunistic defense, efficient offense, and reliable special teams unit. Are they ready for the eyes of Texas in front of the eyes of the nation?
Continue Reading September 26th, 2006
As the proverbial horse has been methodically beaten to death I will step up to the plate one last time and dispel a few myths that have floated in the atmosphere since Saturday’s Debacle in Eugene. These myths are not so much related to the calls made during the game, but in the opinions and statements in the fallout. Pack it up and pack it in, let us begin!
Continue Reading September 20th, 2006
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