Apparently, Marine and Miner sound way too much alike..... [Archive]

Rhino

8/8/2008, 01:34 AM

From El Paso Times (http://www.elpasotimes.com/sports/ci_10121425):

Futures: Britt Mitchell is a name Miner fans should keep an eye on. The 6-foot-6, 285-pound true freshman was one of the more coveted offensive linemen in the state of Texas last season while playing for Class A powerhouse Roscoe near Abilene.

He signed with Oklahoma, graduated early and went through spring drills with the Sooners. He didn't like Oklahoma and, after looking around -- and losing a significant amount of weight because he thought he might join the Marines -- decided to continue his career at UTEP.

He has to sit out this year because of the transfer rule, though as a true freshman a redshirt makes sense anyway, and is hurt right now, but is looking forwad to beginning practice with the Miners.

"I just didn't enjoy it up there" in Norman, Mitchell said. "Since I've been here at UTEP I've loved every minute of it. I like it a lotbetter here."

Curly Bill

8/8/2008, 01:37 AM

I wonder how much of him not liking it was the amount of competition?

OU_Sooners75

8/8/2008, 02:32 AM

I wonder how much of him not liking it was the amount of competition?

Not sure. But some kids do not fit in at OU. We have seent his kind of stuff before. However, this is the first time I seen a player lie about joining the service to get out of his LOI.

Either way, I wish him luck. No need in talking bad about a kid that did not like it here.

And for the record: I think the competitive issue was probably about 75% of the issue.

Curly Bill

8/8/2008, 02:40 AM

I wouldn't talk bad about him as I don't know him at all to do so...

...but the difference in playing at Roscoe to OU is huge.

OU_Sooners75

8/8/2008, 03:00 AM

I wouldn't talk bad about him as I don't know him at all to do so...

...but the difference in playing at Roscoe to OU is huge.

Yes it is. I wish him luck in his UTEP playing career.

To bad not everyone can love the Mecca of College Football.

swardboy

8/8/2008, 06:45 AM

Britt, it would be better for people to think you a fool, than to open your mouth and prove it.....

Mad Dog Madsen

8/8/2008, 08:28 AM

Totally agree.

Jason White's Third Knee

8/8/2008, 09:16 AM

Oh, BFD. If he didn't like, let him go. He wouldn't give it his all if he didn't want to be there, so who cares? It takes a certain kind of screwball to devote everything that they are to a game. Don't get me wrong, I love college screwba- I mean football and my wife think that I am a screwball for loving it so much, but screw her. It's not like her damned Oprahs and Dr.Phils are so great. Hell, it's my DVR and she fills the whole damned thing up with those sorry shows. They aren't much better than Springer and his damned shows about shemales and stuff. Shemales? That's just disgusting. Wait- what was I talking about? So Britt Mitchell left OU to become a shemale? Fine. UTEP can have him/her.

soonerhillbilly

8/8/2008, 09:25 AM

whoa! You need less coke. If he didn't like it at OU fine, leave! But to say you are going to join the Marines and have people respect that decision and to say good luck and to think he is going of to fight for our right to watch Football on Saturday and then he just goes and signs w/ a different school. That is bullstuff! I hope he sits the bench for 3 years! To think he was leaving our beloved school to fight for a bigger cause and then to lie. Did he even talk to any Marine recruiters? Or did he stop a 7-Eleven and buy a bumper sticker. Sorry but I think he is sorry for leaving the way he did. If you don't fit in or you are scared of competition, then just say it. Don't Lie! BOOMER SOONER ! ! !

Jason White's Third Knee

8/8/2008, 09:36 AM

I doubt if he lied. I suspect that those were his intentions. He's just a kid and doesn't have a clue what he wants to do with his life. I just don't care. He didn't do something like Jarboe did and disgrace himself and the school. He just flaked. Twice. I doubt if he would have lost the weight to join the Marines otherwise.

StoopTroup

8/8/2008, 11:11 AM

If your wanting to join the Marines....why doesn't he just go do that.

He can go to School later.

Why risk getting hurt playing football.

Taxman71

8/8/2008, 03:43 PM

One word....Juarez, Mexico.

BillyBall

8/8/2008, 03:57 PM

I can't imagine living in El Paso and having a good time. It is the armpit of the United States.

Taxman71

8/8/2008, 04:09 PM

Maybe he is a huge fan of Marty Robbins.

stoopified

8/8/2008, 07:40 PM

Just as well,If he can't handle being a Sooner,he couldn't handle the Marines.

batonrougesooner

8/8/2008, 07:43 PM

maybe he just changed his mind.

Big Red Ron

8/8/2008, 07:45 PM

This is the same guy everyone thought was giving up an opportunity to play football to serve our country. And it took a couple of months for anyone to clear it up? Dude's a worm in my book.

soonerfan28

8/9/2008, 02:05 PM

I read in the Tulsa World that he is now at UTEP. I thought he was joining the Marines. What happened to that?

bringit

8/9/2008, 02:14 PM

I read in the Tulsa World that he is now at UTEP. I thought he was joining the Marines. What happened to that?

Marines--Miners..... maybe some confusion :confused:

Lifted that one from the original thread :D

silverwheels

8/9/2008, 02:27 PM

Dishonorable thing to do. Good riddance.

Jason White's Third Knee

8/11/2008, 10:56 AM

I can't imagine living in El Paso and having a good time. It is the armpit of the United States.

Have you ever been to Wichita Falls? Or Amarillo? Far worse.

MiccoMacey

8/11/2008, 07:31 PM

1) If he doesn't want to be at OU, I wish him the best of luck wherever he chooses to do with his life.

2) For those who bellieve he flat-out lied to get out of OU, there is also a very real chance he was rejected /placed on hold by the Marines for any numerous reasons (including a weight issue) then chose to continue playing somewhere new. I sent many kids home once they got to Basic Training because of various disqualifying reasons. Or he may have just changed his goals after leaving OU and before entering the Marines. There are waaaaaay too many potential possibilities for why he chose the journey he's on to just assume the worst of a kid, and for many on this board it's mainly because he chose to leave OU.

To automatically assume someone lied to you and belittle him without knowing one thing about his circumstance is pretty shameful.

3) If he DID lie, and he tried to use the Marines to leave "with honor"...then yes, that would be dishonorable.

But I stick to #2 until I know different.

Jello Biafra

8/12/2008, 01:03 PM

1) there is also a very real chance he was rejected /placed on hold by the Marines for any numerous reasons (including a weight issue)
But I stick to #2 until I know different.

easy way to find out here.....if the recruit freaks could find out his body fat% which is regularly reported in todays recruiting circles, we could find out if it was his weight....with his dimensions, there is a high probability of him taping out but i think the marines have a entrance PFT that you have to pass.....i saw earlier in the post that he is currently injured......if that is true, he may not have been able to pass that test anyway.

i HAVE seen the sooner staff in action with the football camps and if he couldnt handle what was going on there, he would regularly cry himself to sleep in basic/AIT.....

TheHumanAlphabet

8/12/2008, 02:00 PM

Micco,

Good post. 18 year olds are not as mature as many posters here would think. I don't understand the vilification of the guy. He didn't want to be at OU, so be it, his loss. I knew many 18 y.o. on my honor floor back in the day that flunked out becuase they stayed up all night, drank scotch and walked around with a pipe and a sweater - thinking they were cool and "adult". That is until their folks arrived to help them pack as they flunked out.

If you're #3 is proven, then I will hope he wallows in mediocrity.

batonrougesooner

8/12/2008, 02:42 PM

I think people on this thread are being way too hard on the guy. No one knows the circumstances regarding his change of plans.

If the roles were reversed and he was a guy who left another program to join the military but then had a change of heart and then ended up at OU, I doubt we would be reading such negative comments about the guy's character.

He's 18 freakin years old! Give the kid a break.

Jello Biafra

8/12/2008, 03:27 PM

let me clarify my post. after re-reading it, i may have sounded a lil harsh. when i "ahem" was asked to leave the team, i had serious hard work losing 40 lbs before the army allowed me to partake because there was no tape test to enter ( i think there is now).... my point earlier was/is if he realized he wasn't going to pass the entrance pft anyway, he may have changed his mind. no big deal. i don't hate him for walking away some kids aren't very strong in their mind and if he didnt think he was going to make an impact, he's just occupying a scholarship. we need players who KNOW they are the one for the team....

Jacie

8/26/2008, 12:38 PM

August 25, 2008

True freshman offensive lineman Britt Mitchell enrolled early at Oklahoma in January, then decided to leave after spring practice and enroll in the Marines. He changed his mind about the Marines and now is at UTEP, where he will sit out the season under NCAA transfer rules.

OKLA21FAN

8/26/2008, 12:50 PM

UTEP is in Waco now?

wow, i missed that one :gary:

OUstud

8/26/2008, 12:54 PM

:confused:

bringit

8/26/2008, 01:07 PM

I could probably search for the other 3 or 4 threads about this, but the Waco twist is captivating :0

Jacie

8/26/2008, 01:07 PM

My mistake, El Paso. They all sort of blur out to me. Once you get out of Dallas or San Antonio, the state of Texas is just one crappy town in the middle of nowhere after another.

TheHumanAlphabet

8/26/2008, 01:08 PM

Zackery!

I am sure ole SicEm would be surprised...

OKLA21FAN

8/26/2008, 01:16 PM

My mistake, El Paso. They all sort of blur out to me. Once you get out of Dallas or San Antonio, the state of Texas is just one crappy town in the middle of nowhere after another.

UTW !!!!!!!!!!

SicEmBaylor

8/26/2008, 03:14 PM

My mistake, El Paso. They all sort of blur out to me. Once you get out of Dallas or San Antonio, the state of Texas is just one crappy town in the middle of nowhere after another.

Waco is 700 miles from El Paso.

Also, Waco isn't really in the middle of no where...it sits right on top of I-35 and is only an hour and a half from both Dallas and Austin and 3 hours from Houston. Plus, Waco itself has a population of 120,500 people. I wouldn't call a city over 100k people and within 3 hours of 3 of the nation's largest metropolitan areas to be "in the middle of nowhere."

OKLA21FAN

8/26/2008, 03:17 PM

plus Waco might be the best Sooner in conference road games in terms of hospitality and such.

tell em Sicem! (and then add a 'sicem story' just for ambiance)

TheHumanAlphabet

8/26/2008, 04:10 PM

Just booked my hotel for UT Waco ;), now to get tix...

Boomer_Sooner_sax

8/26/2008, 05:52 PM

Waco is 700 miles from El Paso.

Also, Waco isn't really in the middle of no where...it sits right on top of I-35 and is only an hour and a half from both Dallas and Austin and 3 hours from Houston. Plus, Waco itself has a population of 120,500 people. I wouldn't call a city over 100k people and within 3 hours of 3 of the nation's largest metropolitan areas to be "in the middle of nowhere."

Lubbock has more people than Waco...just sayin' :D

XingTheRubicon

8/26/2008, 06:53 PM

Fargo is in between Minneapolis and Detroit.

SicEmBaylor

8/26/2008, 06:54 PM

Lubbock has more people than Waco...just sayin' :D

Yes, but Lubbock really is in the middle of nowhere.

douxpaysan

8/26/2008, 08:13 PM

Yes, but Lubbock really is in the middle of nowhere.I used to wonder when I heard "blown to Smithareens"... where is this place Smithareens? Could it be between El Paso and Waco in the Lubbock burbs?:texan:

Jdog

8/27/2008, 09:28 AM

Fargo is in between Minneapolis and Detroit.

Fargo, Wisconsin or Michigan?

Your sadly mistaken if you're talking about the one in North Dakota.

Jdog

8/27/2008, 09:33 AM

UTEP= University of Texas "EL PASO" - "Here's you sign"

but yes you're right, it is in the middle of no where.

SicEmBaylor

11/3/2009, 05:29 AM

Just booked my hotel for UT Waco ;), now to get tix...

I think the proper name is, "DKR North." That's what the UT folks call it anyway...

StoopTroup

11/3/2009, 05:58 AM

Fargo and Waco both end in "o".

Coincidence? I think not.

SoonerBacker

11/3/2009, 06:54 AM

Just as well,If he can't handle being a Sooner,he couldn't handle the Marines.

That's for sure! Honor, courage, & Commitment. Obviously the Commitment wasn't there! As to the issue of meeting weight requirements, he had to have known that was an issue when he originally decided to join. I don't know of a Marine Recruiter anywhere in the U.S. who would have told him he was good to go if he was overweight. That is one of the very first questions they ask - "What's your weight and height?" - especially if there appears to be an issue with that.

guzziguy

11/3/2009, 07:05 AM

I can't imagine living in El Paso and having a good time. It is the anus of the United States. Texas is the armpit.

I think my changes to your statement made it a bit more accurate......but yours was pretty good.

11/3/2009, 07:08 AM

As a former player for a small NAIA school, i can say college football is a kick in the teeth that first day of practice in full pads. He's a kid... I wish him well.

HoustonSooner23

11/3/2009, 07:37 AM

My wife is actually from Roscoe. I unfortunately have to go there for most holidays to visit the in-laws. I was talking with a friend/Roscoe football coach last year and he said that Britt had quite a few personality conflicts with OU's coaching staff. Apparently being the top dog in a town of 1500 does carry over to a campus 20 times that size. From hearing stories about Britt we probably didn't want him anyways.