First, let's get the anger out of the way. Some humans shame our species with their antics. Some are truly evil, like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, or Charles Manson. Then there are others who merely make the human race look incredibly stupid, shallow, petty, and unworthy of great things. I speak, of course, of folks like Michael Vick, the people who came up with Jackass, Paris Hilton, and most residents of San Francisco. Then, there are people like this fine example of police integrity. She has the nerve to call herself the victim in this situation? If she gets ever gets shot in the line of duty, is she going to sue the city for not providing her with free body armor and a Kevlar-lined cruiser with Plexiglas windows?
Now that the anger's over, it's time to give some credit where credit is due. I'm not much of a fan of Whoopi Goldberg's politics, but she stood up and said something great. Kudos to her for her honesty and integrity in this matter.
So moving right along...time for a little Sooner talk, but this is going to be a little different. This is going to focus a bit on an unusual phenomenon for OU, something that hasn't happened for quite a while. I'm talking about something I've mentioned before, but that could really be something wonderful for Oklahomans...a full-blooded Oklahoma boy as a high-quality quarterback at OU. Right now, that's Sam Bradford. USA Today did a great piece on him just yesterday. Knowing what a huge part the of Oklahoma's fabric is composed of sports, it's so gratifying to see another tried-and-true full-blooded Okie making a name for himself in one of Oklahoma's most high-profile positions (OU quarterback). Sam is part Cherokee, and Oklahoma native, and his dad played for OU under the great Barry Switzer back in the 70s...could the pedigree go any deeper? Guys like Sam and Jason White, another pure-blood Okie from Tuttle, are the inspiration and the hope of millions of guys just like me; guys that grew up as Oklahoma boys, played sports our whole lives, dreamed of playing for the Crimson and Cream (even though only a select few do, and even fewer from Oklahoma), and being remembered in Sooner lore forever. So many of the great players at OU and OSU come from out of state, and it's been that way for a long time. However, we still get great players from inside our own borders. Not to take anything away from the non-Okie players at OU, because any OU player gets an honorary Oklahoma citizenship; but the Okie players are special to us in a way that transcends mere love for the program or the school. It's recharges us and reaffirms our identity. Rocky Calmus, Teddy Lehman, Jason White, Cale Gundy, Tony Casillas, J.C. Watts, the Selmon brothers, Steve Owens...these are names that ring out for Oklahoma-born Sooner fans. I feel, for that reason more than most others, OU fans have really taken to Sam. It doesn't hurt that he's really been doing well, too. If he keeps it up, he could go down as one of the greatest Oklahoma and Oklahoma-born quarterbacks of all time.
I wonder if South Florida is as good as their ranking, or if they're yet another product of the great ESPN noise machine. I pay very little attention to anything anyone on ESPN says, except for Kirk Herbstreit, who is still one of the best college football analysts in the country. I guess ESPN somehow feels that the world needs two good teams out of Florida, and since Miami and Florida State are pretty much in the tank these days, there has to be a "legitimate" challenger to Florida's domination. I can hear the network honchos in the production room, "OMG!! We MUST have another Florida team to compete with our Florida coverage, or we'll lose the WHOLE STATE!!"
Looking forward to this weekend's huge game against Missouri. It will be nice to have a meaningful, high-ranked team to play other than Texas. I just hope the Sooners don't treat the home fans to another meltdown.
Thanks for reading along.
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