I've had enough moral victories

[RedstickSooner]

I'd like to go back to winning "actual" victories now, please.

[Soonerus]

Who said anything about a "moral" victory ??? This is not the OSU board...

[nighttrain12]

Who said anything about a "moral" victory ??? This is not the OSU board...

Exactly!

[Widescreen]

So you're saying we have 3 victories and 3 moral victories? Hmmm.

[StoopTroup]

I'd take some immoral victories. :D

[westcoast_sooner]

I've struggled all day with the same thought - how so much of the rhetoric sounds like more excuses and searching for moral victories. When you look at the season so far, this team has faced 3 ranked opponents and lost 3 games by a total of 5 points. When you take out the losses by graduation and injury from last season's offense, you're left with 3 starters - possibly 2 now. This really is a rebuilding year, a season that has
a) a "what were we thinking when we let Stoops talk us all into believing that there wouldn't be a letdown from last year?"
b) a nightmarish loss of our AA TE and our Heisman winning QB
c) experiments on the OL resulting in no TE game at all

Look - this season is what it is. I'm tired of being on the losing end of close games in big name contests, but graduation and injury from last year has limited the coaching staff's ability to do a lot. The reality is that it will be 2010 before we'll see a huge improvement. My hope is that we'll see the growth of the young guys like we did in 2005. That each week, they'll get a little better and a little better.

[RedstickSooner]

And, to try and clarify what I meant, it's this: I'm sick and tired of being competitive, hanging in there against great opponents, watching our players play their hearts out, and yet coming up short.

It just feels like we're cursed -- outright cursed -- at the moment. I'm not suggesting that a ton of us are claiming moral victories (I don't think we are) I'm suggesting that what we're getting, basically, *are* a bunch of moral victories. Losses without shame, I guess you could say. (As opposed to That Game Which We Do Not Speak Of, for instance, which had plenty of shame.)

I just don't get why we can't catch a break from the football gods lately. It's an exhausting spiritual slump to be in.

[Flying Scotsman]

Do we need to start praying to Tebow?

[westcoast_sooner]

And, to try and clarify what I meant, it's this: I'm sick and tired of being competitive, hanging in there against great opponents, watching our players play their hearts out, and yet coming up short.

It just feels like we're cursed -- outright cursed -- at the moment. I'm not suggesting that a ton of us are claiming moral victories (I don't think we are) I'm suggesting that what we're getting, basically, *are* a bunch of moral victories. Losses without shame, I guess you could say. (As opposed to That Game Which We Do Not Speak Of, for instance, which had plenty of shame.)

I just don't get why we can't catch a break from the football gods lately. It's an exhausting spiritual slump to be in.

When it rains it pours. We haven't got many/any breaks this season. Just when we think things are beginning to look up, Sam gets hurt again. I really hate going through these type seasons, but each time we do, we always seem to come out the other side with something really special. With all the crying, whining and bashing of the coaching staff around, a lot of people seem to forget that in this decade, OU has been in the MNC Game 4 times and won the Conference Championship 6 times. NO OTHER TEAM has done what OU has done. While I won't suggest everything is rosy in Norman at the moment, I still have a lot of confidence that 2010 and beyond will hold a lot of happier times.

[Octavian]

I've gone back and forth a lot with this now.....fact is we're 3-3. That's obviously not anywhere close to our expectations.


But we've lost 3 games by 5 points without 2 of the best offensive players in America.


Who here thinks we'd be 3-3 if we would've had Sam and Gresham at full strength for the entire season?


There's an extremely good chance we'd be 6 points better than we currently are....and we'd be 6-0 and ranked either #1 or #2.


And everyone here and around the country would be marveling at what a dynasty Stoops continues to maintain.


But I agree....this is OU -- there are no moral victories. Now we have to re-group and beat teams that aren't as talented as us.


We won't play another team more talented than Texas the rest of the regular season. Bob and Co. absolutely have to pick this team off the mat and pull an '06 type performance....go on a run and beat the teams we should beat. We can still finish with a less-than-disastrous year.


And I'm still proud as hell of the Oklahoma defense.

[tulsaoilerfan]

Honestly i think if either of them had been healthy we wouldn't be having this discussion right now; however, u play the hand you are dealt and it's still disappointing to see all the problems on offense

[StoopTroup]

Do we need to start praying to Tebow?

I would if I were you. Well not to tebow...for tebow.

[Soonerus]

Honestly i think if either of them had been healthy we wouldn't be having this discussion right now; however, u play the hand you are dealt and it's still disappointing to see all the problems on offense

Geez, I actually agree with you on something...

[aero]

To me, losing by 1 point or 38 is no different. It's a loss and it sucks no matter how you cut it. Yes, it may sting a little more getting rented-mule-whipped compared to a close loss but bottom line is I'd rather OU never lost a game from here on out. The losses we've had this year have been games we could have and perhaps even should have won and most people who may have seen the games would agree. But I think with our recent failures in BCS games as well as a few other big games the losses this year make it easy for the OU bashers to discredit us. They won't mention that we have lost our Heisman qb AND the best tight end in the country or the talent we are trying to replace at the O line and receivers. But all of that is o.k. by me. A lot of teams have injuries and every team replaces personnel every year. We won't use it as an excuse. We'll suit up whoever has the desire to get on the field and fight and represent OU as a champion. Win or lose. I just know that with all of the success OU has had (and will continue to have) I can take the lows. I can take the bashers. Anyone can dish out whatever they want and I can handle it with no problem. Because there is only ONE team that is the University of Oklahoma. And there is no team that can definitively say they have a richer history of excellence when it comes to football.

Boomer Sooner

[GottaHavePride]

Honestly i think if either of them had been healthy we wouldn't be having this discussion right now; however, u play the hand you are dealt and it's still disappointing to see all the problems on offense

Knowing this board, if Sam and Gresh had been healthy the discussion we WOULD be having (while 6-0 and #1 or #2) would sound like "**** that ****er Kevin Wilson! Why ain't we scorin' 50 points a game no more?"


;)

[tulsaoilerfan]

Knowing this board, if Sam and Gresh had been healthy the discussion we WOULD be having (while 6-0 and #1 or #2) would sound like "**** that ****er Kevin Wilson! Why ain't we scorin' 50 points a game no more?"


;)

I would much prefer that discussion any day over what we have been discussing the last 3 weeks :D

[tulsaoilerfan]

Geez, I actually agree with you on something...

There's hope for you yet then; come on over to the dark side Rus :D

[GottaHavePride]

I'd take some immoral victories. :D

Also, I nearly posted this exact thing before I saw you had already done it.

[picasso]

I'd like to go back to winning "actual" victories now, please.

I never had any to begin with.

[StoopTroup]

Bump

[yermom]

i don't feel that bad calling Texas a moral victory, kinda. we were really supposed to lose that game