Sooner04
2/11/2009, 11:49 PM
In 1987, as he limped off the field following OU's 17-7 win over Nebraska in the Game of the Century II, Barry Switzer was approached by the CBS cameras. After going on a rant about how no Sooner Magic was required for the ***-kicking the nation had just seen, the "Rhett Butler of College Football" was asked about playing Miami for a third time in three years. Switzer's mood immediately turned to reflective before he told the sideline guy in a hushed tone, "maybe it's our time."
Well, it wasn't our time then, but maybe it's our time now. How else do you explain balls being blocked by Baylor STILL going in for our Sooners? How else do you explain a tipped defensive rebound for the Bears popping into the basket for Oklahoma? HOW IN THE WORLD do you explain Austin Johnson catching a ball in mid-air and hitting a trey from the banks of the Brazos as the shot clock hits zero to put the game away?
If these were isolated incidents, maybe I would be more of a skeptic. But somehow, someway, our guys make plays and rack up wins. At what point does it stop being lucky and start just being how it is for the 2009 Oklahoma Sooners? We've had the answer so often from outside on the road. Tony hit a big three, Austin hit a ridiculous three. The Chupacabra hit a jumper to stop a run. EVERY TIME, there we were.
Baylor was scared to death of us from the opening horn, and you could tell by how much they slowed the game down. We played their game in Norman and beat the stuffing out of them. Tonight they hung around tenaciously and seemed to get crucial buckets after controlling several goofy-looking loose balls. Their crowd tried to pump them up, their coach implored them for a stop, and with the game in the 50s and less than ten minutes to go it looked as though they'd hang around enough to really make it a nailbiter at the end.
Shoo fly. Cry into your Dr. Pepper on the drive back home. And don't miss curfew.
SCORING BREAKDOWN:
1st - 13 [polar bear choking on plankton]
2nd - 22 [oh let the sun beat down upon my face!]
3rd - 13 [grizzly choking on rotting salmon]
4th - 30 [in the days of my youth i was told what it means to be a man!]
LEADING SCORERS:
18 - Blake Griffin [a timid 18]
17 - Austin Johnson [when no one else is there, Austin Johnson delivers.]
14 - The Chupacabra
14 - Willie Warren
LEADING REBOUNDERS:
10 - The Chupacabra [double-double]
10 - Blake Griffin
PLUSES:
1. The Chupacabra: Juan Pattillo burning the redshirt sent the Big 12 from a 3-Mile Island level of concern down to Chernobyl. He's playing more and more minutes and he's insuring that whoever is on the other side of Blake will be fresh. He and Taylor are both playing meaningful minutes without the risk of being gassed. Tonight's performance was particularly scary for coaches still trying to game plan for us, and The Chupacabra continues to fill up the stat sheet with steals, blocks and assists. Oh, and The Chupacabra does not dunk, friends. No, no, he settles personal vendettas by throwing it dooooooooown. It's almost like he hit the rim the first time he tried to dunk when he was two. He was so angry at being slighted that he's taken it out on the rim ever since.
2. Austin Johnson: Player of the game on ESPN, and hard to argue with that pick. Add his ridiculous "HORSE" style shot from 27 feet to the growing list of daggers he's driven into the hearts of our defeated opponents. I just can't say enough about him. I'm still eating crow every day over him.
3. Willie Warren: An OK game by his lofty standards, but 7-8 from the line was really big when things got sloppy down the stretch.
4. Announcing crew: Gannon and Bardo are the best I've heard this season. Knowing about Alvan and Gar Heard in Phoenix earns them massive credibility in the 04 household.
5. Blake Griffin: Speaking of Alvan and Gar, they're now tied with Blake for the most double-doubles in a season with 21. 25 games, 21 double-doubles for Blake. Looks like we're going to do the Heisman-Naismith two-step this year.
6. Protection: Only nine turnovers. True, the pace wasn't breakneck, but it's still protecting the basketball. Those possessions aren't wasted when, at the very least, a shot goes up.
MINUSES:
1. Blake at the Line: I'm a broken record, I know, but Blake misses, MISSES four free throws a game. We've played 25 games, and he's missed 102 free throws. That's a LOT of baggage being left out on the floor.
2. Loose Balls: The only reason Baylor stayed within 25 was our inability to corral loose balls throughout the game. Several garbage buckets were scored while we tried to start a fast-break without having possession of the rock.
3. Mugging: What they do to Blake down low is criminal. If Hansbrough received that kind of treatment Roy Williams would be bawling like Dick Vermeil at every post-game presser.
4. EF-4's Four Miles From My House: Say a prayer for the good folks of Lone Grove, Oklahoma, tonight everybody. They're hurting out there. Last night was some scary, scary stuff.
24-1 and 10-0 and ALL ALONE on top of the Big 12 Conference. Texas Tech comes to Norman on Saturday and I expect a great effort before a much needed week off before traveling to Austin. In fan news, I expect the LNC to be pretty well packed for our Valentine's Day matinee. In other fan news, OU acquired some additional tickets to the Big 12 Tournament in OKC, so we need to scarf those suckers up like a fat girl going after Beanie Babies in 1997.
The runaway locomotive that is OU Basketball only has a few more local stops left in 2009. Don't miss the train, sports fans. If you do, you'll damn sure regret it down the line.
Thank you for your time.
Well, it wasn't our time then, but maybe it's our time now. How else do you explain balls being blocked by Baylor STILL going in for our Sooners? How else do you explain a tipped defensive rebound for the Bears popping into the basket for Oklahoma? HOW IN THE WORLD do you explain Austin Johnson catching a ball in mid-air and hitting a trey from the banks of the Brazos as the shot clock hits zero to put the game away?
If these were isolated incidents, maybe I would be more of a skeptic. But somehow, someway, our guys make plays and rack up wins. At what point does it stop being lucky and start just being how it is for the 2009 Oklahoma Sooners? We've had the answer so often from outside on the road. Tony hit a big three, Austin hit a ridiculous three. The Chupacabra hit a jumper to stop a run. EVERY TIME, there we were.
Baylor was scared to death of us from the opening horn, and you could tell by how much they slowed the game down. We played their game in Norman and beat the stuffing out of them. Tonight they hung around tenaciously and seemed to get crucial buckets after controlling several goofy-looking loose balls. Their crowd tried to pump them up, their coach implored them for a stop, and with the game in the 50s and less than ten minutes to go it looked as though they'd hang around enough to really make it a nailbiter at the end.
Shoo fly. Cry into your Dr. Pepper on the drive back home. And don't miss curfew.
SCORING BREAKDOWN:
1st - 13 [polar bear choking on plankton]
2nd - 22 [oh let the sun beat down upon my face!]
3rd - 13 [grizzly choking on rotting salmon]
4th - 30 [in the days of my youth i was told what it means to be a man!]
LEADING SCORERS:
18 - Blake Griffin [a timid 18]
17 - Austin Johnson [when no one else is there, Austin Johnson delivers.]
14 - The Chupacabra
14 - Willie Warren
LEADING REBOUNDERS:
10 - The Chupacabra [double-double]
10 - Blake Griffin
PLUSES:
1. The Chupacabra: Juan Pattillo burning the redshirt sent the Big 12 from a 3-Mile Island level of concern down to Chernobyl. He's playing more and more minutes and he's insuring that whoever is on the other side of Blake will be fresh. He and Taylor are both playing meaningful minutes without the risk of being gassed. Tonight's performance was particularly scary for coaches still trying to game plan for us, and The Chupacabra continues to fill up the stat sheet with steals, blocks and assists. Oh, and The Chupacabra does not dunk, friends. No, no, he settles personal vendettas by throwing it dooooooooown. It's almost like he hit the rim the first time he tried to dunk when he was two. He was so angry at being slighted that he's taken it out on the rim ever since.
2. Austin Johnson: Player of the game on ESPN, and hard to argue with that pick. Add his ridiculous "HORSE" style shot from 27 feet to the growing list of daggers he's driven into the hearts of our defeated opponents. I just can't say enough about him. I'm still eating crow every day over him.
3. Willie Warren: An OK game by his lofty standards, but 7-8 from the line was really big when things got sloppy down the stretch.
4. Announcing crew: Gannon and Bardo are the best I've heard this season. Knowing about Alvan and Gar Heard in Phoenix earns them massive credibility in the 04 household.
5. Blake Griffin: Speaking of Alvan and Gar, they're now tied with Blake for the most double-doubles in a season with 21. 25 games, 21 double-doubles for Blake. Looks like we're going to do the Heisman-Naismith two-step this year.
6. Protection: Only nine turnovers. True, the pace wasn't breakneck, but it's still protecting the basketball. Those possessions aren't wasted when, at the very least, a shot goes up.
MINUSES:
1. Blake at the Line: I'm a broken record, I know, but Blake misses, MISSES four free throws a game. We've played 25 games, and he's missed 102 free throws. That's a LOT of baggage being left out on the floor.
2. Loose Balls: The only reason Baylor stayed within 25 was our inability to corral loose balls throughout the game. Several garbage buckets were scored while we tried to start a fast-break without having possession of the rock.
3. Mugging: What they do to Blake down low is criminal. If Hansbrough received that kind of treatment Roy Williams would be bawling like Dick Vermeil at every post-game presser.
4. EF-4's Four Miles From My House: Say a prayer for the good folks of Lone Grove, Oklahoma, tonight everybody. They're hurting out there. Last night was some scary, scary stuff.
24-1 and 10-0 and ALL ALONE on top of the Big 12 Conference. Texas Tech comes to Norman on Saturday and I expect a great effort before a much needed week off before traveling to Austin. In fan news, I expect the LNC to be pretty well packed for our Valentine's Day matinee. In other fan news, OU acquired some additional tickets to the Big 12 Tournament in OKC, so we need to scarf those suckers up like a fat girl going after Beanie Babies in 1997.
The runaway locomotive that is OU Basketball only has a few more local stops left in 2009. Don't miss the train, sports fans. If you do, you'll damn sure regret it down the line.
Thank you for your time.