Mike Balogun

[CK Sooner]

The NCAA Committee On Elgibility will meet tomorrow to rule on the Mike Balogun situation.

[theresonly1OU]

The NCAA Committee On Elgibility will meet tomorrow to rule on the Mike Balogun situation.

I hope his lawyer is correct in his confidence that Mike will be reinstated, but the timing of this whole thing as opposed to, say their ruling on Julio Jones et al at Bama seems a little fishy to me.

In any case, I sure hope they do the right thing and Free Mike.

[OUHOMER]

umm, will he travel with the team , just in case?

or can he travel?

[CK Sooner]

umm, will he travel with the team , just in case?

or can he travel?

Bob Stoops said he was not going to travel with the team, but this is new news, so I think we will just have to find out tomorrow.

[StoopTroup]

The sadness of this all is that a Student Athlete needs a Lawyer.

[w0lfe]

Nice. Hopefully its good news, we could use some.

[SoonerTroll]

FREE MIKE

[OUHOMER]

The sadness of this all is that a Student Athlete needs a Lawyer.

No kidding, The NCCA doesnt have your back, The university doesnt have your back. very sad.

kind of like life. You have to fight when you know your right.

[sooner518]

theyre meeting on a Saturday? just freakin weird the way theyve dragged out this whole thing

[OklahomaTuba]

They like to take their time with these things. Just ask USC....

[LawtonBoy74]

This is some BS, its like they are almost doing this on purpose...on all days to meet they're going to meet on a non-business day, a saturday, and most importantly of all on the day of the game....VERY SUSPICIOUS NCAA

[Sooner-N-KS]

I saw that report late last night. I'm not sure, but "tomorrow" may actually be today, Friday.

[LawtonBoy74]

I saw that report late last night. I'm not sure, but "tomorrow" may actually be today, Friday.

If thats the case then I take my last post back :(

[soonerfan28]

If they rule him eligible can OU fly him to Dallas tonight?

[madillsoonerfan5353]

FREE MIKE!!!

[PLaw]

The sadness of this all is that a Student Athlete needs a Lawyer.

. . . . to argue with an organization that is supposed to be looking out for the best interest of student athletes.

National Communist Against Athletes

BOOMER

[LawtonBoy74]

Sooner

[NormanPride]

People need to make signs for the game:

FREE
MIKE

[w0lfe]

If they rule him eligible can OU fly him to Dallas tonight?

Dont know why you couldnt :)

[badger]

http://i31.tinypic.com/73f7t4.jpg

[LawtonBoy74]

Holy smokes someone's holding a free mike sign up behind Corso!!!! Maybe someone knew this was going to happen the whole time :eek:

[badger]

Holy smokes someone's holding a free mike sign up behind Corso!!!! Maybe someone knew this was going to happen the whole time :eek:

:pop:

[BermudaSooner]

If they rule him eligible can OU fly him to Dallas tonight?

I've got room, he can come with me!

[CK Sooner]

Wow, not good. (http://startelegramsports.typepad.com/colleges/2009/09/decision-on-oklahomas-balogun-expected-friday.html)

[Sirus]

And Reggie Bush continues to laugh.

[tigepilot]

Wow, not good. (http://startelegramsports.typepad.com/colleges/2009/09/decision-on-oklahomas-balogun-expected-friday.html)

Geez, can they find another way to make the process take even longer? :(

[CK Sooner]

You guys have to give them a break! They were busy clearing Bryce Brown and half the Alabama team!

:D

[Hotrod3157]

And yet USC just goes along without even a slap on the wrist

[NormanPride]

In the time since they de-certified Balogun they have:

- Started an investigation into Bryce Brown, a RB from Tennessee
- Started an investigation into Julio Jones and some other Bama player
- Cleared Bryce Brown
- Ruled on the Bama case
- Talked to an opposing coach about Mike maybe playing for the team he hates

Hmm.

FREE
MIKE

[colinreturn]

pathetic.

[Miko]

Can he ride to the stadium on an airboat with his Mamma? Or is that only permissible in bowl games?

[CK Sooner]

Can he ride to the stadium on an airboat with his Mamma? Or is that only permissible in bowl games?

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu204/cornfed1877/waterboy.jpg

[westbrooke]

Wow. i thought this was going to be a slam dunk. This is ridiculous.

I was given to understand that basically every testimony that called Mike's eligibility into question had been recanted or refuted, leaving... what? An online box score that the executives of the league admit is dubious? Am I missing something legitimate that can honestly be said to counter the stack of testimonials Mike and his lawyer have submitted?

[StoopTroup]

Stuff like this is completely ridiculous when they don't go after the Reggie Bush stuff.

[Jello Biafra]

im saying this seriously....we need to stuff thier email accounts with spam about them being commie fugg holes until they either **** the bed or get off thier high horse.

anyone want to dig in there and find those emails?

[CK Sooner]

im saying this seriously....we need to stuff thier email accounts with spam about them being commie fugg holes until they either **** the bed or get off thier high horse.

anyone want to dig in there and find those emails?

Here you go. (http://www.ncaa.com/feedback/ncaa-feedback.html)

[SoonerInFortSmith]

Done.

[CK Sooner]

If they end up taking away is eligibility then I will make a thread and we will flood them.

[LawtonBoy74]

Found this on MinorLeagueFootballNews.com they say he played semi pro but dont have dates, still interesting though

Linky: http://www.minorleaguefootballnews.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=799&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=2576&hn=minorleaguefootballnews&he=.com

Those outside of the league receive little exposure to the NAFL, one of the biggest semi-pro football leagues in the country.

Robert Licopoli founded the league in 1999, with the objective of unifying groups of fragmented semi-pro leagues around the country.

Licopoli had success doing so, but in the NAFL’s 11th season, over 60 semi-pro leagues still operate independently.

Balogun played for the now-defunct Maryland Marauders of the NAFL, as well as the Prince George Jets of the Mason-Dixon Football League. Balogun also reportedly played for the D.C. Explosion, a still-active team in the NAFL, but Explosion owner Mike Martin told the Tulsa World that Balogun never suited up for the team.

To participate in the NAFL, players must be at least 18 years old, and pay league dues. They must also provide their own helmet and pads. Players must have insurance and sign a team contract addressing liability issues. NAFL teams typically practice twice a week and play one game per week. Despite having nearly 100 teams, some teams, like Balogun’s Marauders, have proven unstable and ceased operations.

Many players who sign up for semi-pro football are former college players looking to either extend a career or work their way into Arena Football and, ideally, the NFL.

Balogun was different.

Since Balogun had never played college football, and players pay up to $2,000 to play in the league rather than collect paychecks, he could still participate in the NAFL and retain his college eligibility. Balogun did that, and earned a junior college scholarship because of his NAFL performance. Later, he accepted a scholarship offer from Oklahoma after being named his conference’s player of the year at Lackawanna College.

Stories like Balogun’s make playing in the NAFL worth the price tag for many of the league’s players.

Two semi-pro leagues unaffiliated with the NAFL, the World Football League and the Oklahoma Metro Football League, have strong presences in Oklahoma. Former players like Oklahoma’s Kejuan Jones and Oklahoma State’s Prentiss Elliott currently play in the World Football League, for the Oklahoma Thunder, based in Skiatook, near Tulsa. Oklahoma City also fields a team in the WFL, the Oklahoma City Gunners.