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View Full Version : For those who dont realize how good Sherri is...



Collier11
3/30/2010, 11:46 PM
This program was horrible, absolutely horrible when she took over, her 1st 3 years they were 28-55 with 1 NIT bid to show for it, that includes being 11-35 in conf.


In the 10 years following, She has led our girls to a record of 285-87 and a 77% winning percentage if my numbers are correct.

She has also led us to 3 Final 4s and 4 sweet 16 appearances while making the tourney every one of the last 10 years.

Remarkable, 3 cheers for Sherri!!!

Collier11
3/30/2010, 11:46 PM
someone else could probably speak to just how bad our girls program was before Sherri, I dont know alot about that other than we were bad.

RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
3/31/2010, 12:43 AM
Stacy Dales is MEGA-HAWT!...still. I wish she was still on ESPeNis!

Collier11
3/31/2010, 12:46 AM
yeaaaahhhh

GrapevineSooner
3/31/2010, 12:59 AM
someone else could probably speak to just how bad our girls program was before Sherri, I dont know alot about that other than we were bad.

And that the women's basketball program was on the verge of getting the ax in the early 90's.

What Sherri's been able to do in her time in Norman is nothing short of amazing.

King Barry's Back
3/31/2010, 02:33 AM
Stacy Dales is MEGA-HAWT!...still. I wish she was still on ESPeNis!

Not on ESPN? Where is Stacey nowadays?

Yeah, let's face it. Sherri and OU have no right to be this good. OU hired her right out of freaking NORMAN HIGH SCHOOL. Color me a skeptic at that point. I thought anything was better than what we had, but I figured Sherri would be a place holder for a few years, stabilize the program, and we'd move forward.

Then look what happened. (That's one reason I don't criticize coaches as much as some others on this board.)

In the Tulsa World, Sherri is quoted as saying that (after noting that OU women's program was discontinued in 1990) OU's current success is proof that in women's basketball, "you can do anything you want to do."

Guess so.

King Barry's Back
3/31/2010, 02:36 AM
someone else could probably speak to just how bad our girls program was before Sherri, I dont know alot about that other than we were bad.

THis post got longer than I intended. Well, well, when we get old we start reminiscing a lot more...

Collier -- I watched quite a bit of OU women's bball back in the late 80s, early 90s. We didn't win many championships -- won the Big 8 once -- but OU was a stepping stone program and just didn't get much resources, support or attention from the Athletic Dept/Univ.

Just as an example of the lack of support -- In the 80s, the ladies used to play right before the men's teams. The men were really good in the 80s, and for the gals' games, the student section would be almost full because folks would come out early for good seats to see Wayman, Choo, Mookie, Stacey, et al.

So it was a pretty good environment for games, and gave the OU women a home court advantage -- especially in the second half.

Then Billy decided that he liked to have the arena all to himself on game day, and the AD ordered that the women could NOT play in Lloyd Noble on the same day as the men.

I think if you trace it, that was when the OU ladies' program started heading downhill. Casual basketball fans lost that exposure to the women's teams.

Also, consider that our last two coaches were hired from the local high school, and if I remember right, Okla Baptist (?!?). One of those sure did work out, but it doesn't really point up that OU was serious about a national search for coaching talent.

But I would hate to say that the women's teams back then were "horrible, absolutely horrible" as you did.

Mara McHugh turned in Big 8 finishes of 4, 3, 2, and our first Championship in the 80s. Then we kind of crashed for a few years, and the regents made a business decision to cancel the program. They basically (as I remember) said to themselves -- do we go out and search for a new coach, pay them some money, and start spending more on the OU basketball gals -- or are we better off to spend the same money on the other female sports?

That was a time when wimmens hoops was dominated by a handful of programs (much more so than even now), and others didn't really have much of a chance at any national level success. The NCAA/Big 8 were still new to handling women's sports, and there was no identity for those sports. At the time, I thought cancelling the program made some sense, but I am glad that in the end they did not do it.

But comparing to today is apples and oranges. I mean, if you look at the 70s, the OU men's hoops program was about the same. We were a football, and only football, school, thank you very much.

As an aside, I do remember that the most attention the hoops ladies got during season was when the head coach was accused of making a racial slur. I believe it was 1987, when the Sooner Ladies opened against Texas-San Antonio, New Mex St, and New Mexico. I think they also played an exhibition against an all-star team from Mexico.

The coach (which was Mara McHugh if I have the right season) stated something like, "We sure are playing a bunch of burrito eaters."

And the fire storm began. Was that a racial slur? I mean, they DO eat a lot of burritos in San Antonio, New Mexico and regular Mexico -- but maybe saying "We are having a lot of positive exposure to Hispanic culture," might have gone down better?

Collier11
3/31/2010, 02:54 AM
I knew about the program being canceled but didnt know all of that other stuff or the reasons behind it, appreciate it

OU_Sooners75
3/31/2010, 08:07 AM
How bad was it before Coale?

They were on the verge of getting rid of the women's basketball program.

Jacie
3/31/2010, 08:22 AM
Until last night, I had always thought it strange that Coales was hired to coach the Sooners with only a highschool job on her resume. Then during the OU-KY game, it was pointed out how she got a great reccomendation from Gene Auriemma, who knew her from recruiting visits to Norman. Shows that a good coach means as much to the program as good players.

Sooner04
3/31/2010, 08:50 AM
To make it back to the Final Four after losing 60% of your starting lineup (C. Paris, A. Paris, W. Hand) from the previous year's FF squad is something only the big dogs do. What Sherri has done with this group is tremendously tremendous.

We're playing with house money now. I hope we throw haymakers from our heels at Vanderqueer.

badger
3/31/2010, 09:04 AM
I think it is a common misconception that things immediately got better when Sherri arrived in 1996.

Funny story about her hiring - she was really pregnant at the time she interviewed for her job. She said that she wore the only shirt that still fit and that she was lucky that it was red.

We won five games her first season. She's said that she used to cry on the LNC court after her 22 losses that season. She was not a losing coach. Norman High was a winning program.

I've read that we averaged about 200 fans her first year. Bringing in a local high school coach after working so hard to save a program wasn't something that OU did that was endearing to the fans.

One Christmas break a few years later, an assistant AD that was in charge of womens athletics decided that she would give Coale a Christmas present - fans. She worked with donors, alumni, the community, etc., and when Coale walked out onto the court, for the first time she had been there, the stands had thousands in attendance. The assistant AD said that much like we see after wins talking about her seniors this postseason, she was on the verge of tears.

Despite the success we now have, it has not always been a constant up and up. After Stacey Dales graduated in 2002, after selling out the previous home tourney games, we suddenly only drew a few thousand the next year, a first round loss to George Washington. We were lucky to get a bid that season. Probably only because we were a tourney host site.

Just like Dales had once brought fans to LNC for womens games, the signing of Courtney Paris did a few seasons later. I remember showing up to a full student section in 2005 - hell, there wasn't ever full student sections during the Dales era! There were a few guys dressed in labcoats whom I heard got hugs from Sherri once after a big game. The athletic department frantically told students they could sit in other lower level seats, but to please not stand most of the game like they normally do.

And of course, there's success on the court too. In 2002, we were raking in trophies left and right. The Big 12 regular season, the Big 12 tourney, the Regional Championship... speaking of, you know how big a deal they made about UConn winning by 40 last night? We won our Elite Eight by 30 effing points that year. It was against Colorado in Boise, Idaho. Colorado just fired their womens coach yesterday. Lol :D

People have said that this year was the best coaching job that Sherri has ever done... but before they said that, it was the 2004 Big 12 tourney that other teams were all like "Uhhhh... wtf, man" when OU as a 6-seed ran the table on all of the top teams, from KSU (they used to be good) to Baylor (hahahahahahaha) to Texas.

And wow, two Final Fours in a row. I would have expected it while Courtney was here, but not the season after. It makes you wonder... was it some of the players we had last year that were more to thank for the success last season than CP3, AP5 and Whitney Hand? Or perhaps, was it in fact Sherri Coale all along?

Don't ask her - she'll never take credit over her players. And if you ask her about her seniors one more time, she might just start bawling on national television.

Sooner04
3/31/2010, 09:25 AM
People have said that this year was the best coaching job that Sherri has ever done... but before they said that, it was the 2004 Big 12 tourney that other teams were all like "Uhhhh... wtf, man" when OU as a 6-seed ran the table on all of the top teams, from KSU (they used to be good) to Baylor (hahahahahahaha) to Texas.
That 2004 tournament run was nuts, and it'll probably never happen again considering the restructuring of the schedule eliminated the crucial day off the ladies used to receive on Friday. We won four games in a row over at Reunion, and I was present for the last two. We stomped an absolute mudhole through Texas, who was #2 in the country at the time. I can't remember how many breakaway lay-ups Maria V. had, but it seemed like she was totally cherry picking.

The regional finals were in Norman that year, but we had to get through Stanford first. Oi. Man, do we owe those ladies a beatdown or two or twelve.

oumartin
3/31/2010, 09:36 AM
If there is a team capable of beating uconn I think it's baylor, I think that freshman dude on the Baylor squad can handle their all american inside, It's just seeing if Baylor has anyone for Mia Moore.

NormanPride
3/31/2010, 10:57 AM
That 2004 tournament run was nuts, and it'll probably never happen again considering the restructuring of the schedule eliminated the crucial day off the ladies used to receive on Friday. We won four games in a row over at Reunion, and I was present for the last two. We stomped an absolute mudhole through Texas, who was #2 in the country at the time. I can't remember how many breakaway lay-ups Maria V. had, but it seemed like she was totally cherry picking.

The regional finals were in Norman that year, but we had to get through Stanford first. Oi. Man, do we owe those ladies a beatdown or two or twelve.

I miss Maria. She was awesome!

Maria! Viiiiiiiijaroellll! I remember her parents came for senior day, and they brought their flag with them. It was very touching.

Collier11
3/31/2010, 11:07 AM
If there is a team capable of beating uconn I think it's baylor, I think that freshman dude on the Baylor squad can handle their all american inside, It's just seeing if Baylor has anyone for Mia Moore.

we had em down in the 2nd half

badger
3/31/2010, 11:10 AM
That 2004 tournament run was nuts, and it'll probably never happen again considering the restructuring of the schedule eliminated the crucial day off the ladies used to receive on Friday. We won four games in a row over at Reunion, and I was present for the last two. We stomped an absolute mudhole through Texas, who was #2 in the country at the time. I can't remember how many breakaway lay-ups Maria V. had, but it seemed like she was totally cherry picking.

The regional finals were in Norman that year, but we had to get through Stanford first. Oi. Man, do we owe those ladies a beatdown or two or twelve.

I had never been to a tourney that we wore red jerseys so much for. Alas, we're probably gonna wear those the rest of this season.

As for Stanford. Hate them. A lot. With all of the increased traffic to the basketball forum, I will make it a goal for everyone to understand why fans of this team hate Stanford so much.

TopDawg
3/31/2010, 11:22 AM
badger's right...it took Sherri a little while to get things rolling. It wasn't until I donned the Top Daug suit that things really turned around.

You're welcome.

oumartin
3/31/2010, 11:25 AM
I understand we had UCONN down in the second half, I just think Baylor has a chance to beat them and as good a chance as anyone has had.

badger
3/31/2010, 11:25 AM
badger's right...it took Sherri a little while to get things rolling. It wasn't until I donned the Top Daug suit that things really turned around.

You're welcome.

So were you the one that got tied up by the stanford mascot, then lifted your leg against it? :D

Jello Biafra
3/31/2010, 11:34 AM
I had never been to a tourney that we wore red jerseys so much for. Alas, we're probably gonna wear those the rest of this season.

As for Stanford. Hate them. A lot. With all of the increased traffic to the basketball forum, I will make it a goal for everyone to understand why fans of this team hate Stanford so much.

so we talking OU/OSU type hate or Chicago/green weenie bay type hate?

badger
3/31/2010, 12:02 PM
so we talking OU/OSU type hate or Chicago/green weenie bay type hate?

I don't hate OSU womens basketball. They're a cute little wannabe program that has actually been OK recently and I'm happy for them, because Sherri is friends with the coach.

I don't hate Chicago. You guys have won one lousy Super Bowl and in order to have a good rivalry, you need to have two passionate fanbases.

The hatred of Baylor womens basketball comes from the thuggery of the players, the arrogance of the coach and their recent success at the expense of our team.

Stanford hate is at least two-fold of what Baylor hate is. I intend to show all the ways I hate Stanford on the wimmens blog this week.

Collier11
3/31/2010, 12:05 PM
I don't hate Chicago. You guys have won one lousy Super Bowl and in order to have a good rivalry, you need to have two passionate fanbases.
.

And Badg takes the claws out, watch out Jello :eek:

Jello Biafra
3/31/2010, 12:22 PM
And Badg takes the claws out, watch out Jello :eek:




:mad:

she loves me or she wouldn't pick on me.

badger
3/31/2010, 12:51 PM
Sorry Jello, I love NormanPride, not you. However, like I said, rivalries don't exist without two passionate fanbases, so that's why I don't hate Chicago, because I respect the rivalry.

I think most Packer fans would say the same. I remember a few years ago when GB needed Chi-town to win for the Pack to go to the playoffs, someone made a blue and orange crayon sign that said "GO BEARS" on the sideline at Lambeau. It was awesome.

You guys lost that day :mad:

:D But we still went to the playoffs thanks to some insane catch by some random Cardinals receiver.

SoonerMom2
3/31/2010, 01:10 PM
I had never been to a tourney that we wore red jerseys so much for. Alas, we're probably gonna wear those the rest of this season.

As for Stanford. Hate them. A lot. With all of the increased traffic to the basketball forum, I will make it a goal for everyone to understand why fans of this team hate Stanford so much.


After the Sun Bowl, I detest Standford, their pep band, and their stupid tree. Their leader of their so-called band may be one of the biggest jerks ever as they played through the presentation ceremony. Wonder if he will wear his skunk custome like he did at the Sun Bowl.

Want to see the Sooners beat Stanford in SA for the second time this school year. I cannot think of a better win then to shut up ESPN announcers who have Stanford playing CT in the Championship game.

cjames317
3/31/2010, 01:41 PM
Stacy Dales is MEGA-HAWT!...still. I wish she was still on ESPeNis!

Maybe Coach Coale could bring Stacy Dales on as an ***'t coach? That would increase the guy fans, home and away. Some of my Waco old fart buddies make it a point to go the women's game with the Sooners so they can ogle OUr coach.

badger
3/31/2010, 02:14 PM
Stacey Dales is on the NFL Network. I think she's happy there. However, I'm sure someday she'd like to return to the game she obviously still loves.

Jello Biafra
3/31/2010, 02:17 PM
Sorry Jello, I love NormanPride, not you. .

pffft. hes hung like a small rodent...











:eek:

stoopified
3/31/2010, 02:30 PM
Wth 313 wins Sherri needs only TEN more victories to match the win total of all other OU women;s coaches combined.21 wins would push her past Billy Tubbs(333) as the all-time winningest b-ball coach at OU.The 11 consecutive NCCA torneys match Kelvin's streak and her 22-10 NCAA tourney mark is better than Tubbs(15-9) and Sampson(11-11).Her 22 wins is closing in on the COBINED tourney wins of Tubbs,Sampson.

To use a football analogy Sherri is to OU ladies hoops what Bud,Barry, Bob are to OUr beloved football program.I think McHugh would fill he Bennie spot as she proved you could win at OU but didn't achieve great national sucess.

badger
3/31/2010, 02:54 PM
To use a football analogy Sherri is to OU ladies hoops what Bud,Barry, Bob are to OUr beloved football program.I think McHugh would fill he Bennie spot as she proved you could win at OU but didn't achieve great national sucess.

Not quite. She needs a title. Big 12 championships are nice, as are downed nets, but she'll be up there with them when she has a title.

Yes, we'll have to go through UConn, but hey, Bob had to go through FSU, who had just won the title the year before, too.


pffft. hes hung like a small rodent...
No he's not. Do you think sf.com is going to take your word on this, or mine? ;)

Sooner04
3/31/2010, 02:55 PM
The 11 consecutive NCCA torneys match Kelvin's streak
It doesn't match Kelvin's streak, it surpasses it. Kelvin made nine consecutive appearances from '95 through '03. He missed it in '04, and then made the Tournament again in his final two seasons.

Jello Biafra
3/31/2010, 03:02 PM
Not quite. She needs a title. Big 12 championships are nice, as are downed nets, but she'll be up there with them when she has a title.

Yes, we'll have to go through UConn, but hey, Bob had to go through FSU, who had just won the title the year before, too.


No he's not. Do you think sf.com is going to take your word on this, or mine? ;)

well, probably yours lol.....

but sic'em said.....one time at band camp...

Sooner04
3/31/2010, 03:04 PM
[sigh]

off....

badger
3/31/2010, 03:11 PM
It doesn't match Kelvin's streak, it surpasses it. Kelvin made nine consecutive appearances from '95 through '03. He missed it in '04, and then made the Tournament again in his final two seasons.

Hmmm... is it a postseason streak, or a non-NIT postseason streak?

And yes, this is supposed to be about the womens basketball success, not personal stuff or packers and bears and crap, so I'll stop feeding the chi-troll. :)

Jello Biafra
3/31/2010, 03:15 PM
Hmmm... is it a postseason streak, or a non-NIT postseason streak?

And yes, this is supposed to be about the womens basketball success, not personal stuff or packers and bears and crap, so I'll stop feeding the chi-troll. :)

bleh....like 04 has never been involved ANYTHING off topic...screw em....


for the record though, i was super impressed with the combo of NY and amanda last night....calling them money doesnt even cover it. you watch it slowly build from a 4 point lead to a 10 point, hangs around for a 6 or 7 minute stretch then all the rookies drift in and out and the lead continues to stretch. after the mens season, it did me good to watch that last night.

Jello Biafra
3/31/2010, 03:18 PM
and...and and....not that i have been paying attention to all the womens BB at ou for all these years but the fact that sherry is being mentioned with pat summit and geno orgamontino (or whateverthefugghisnameis) is a testament to her legacy. if she can go to the final four with this team, wait till she gets the kind of players year in and year out that conn gets now.

Sooner04
3/31/2010, 03:34 PM
Hmmm... is it a postseason streak, or a non-NIT postseason streak?
I'm thinking just NCAA. Sherri's dates back to '99, right?

Billy made eight straight NCAAs from '83 to '90 (four #1 seeds and a #2, btw) until he was derailed by Thomas Hill.

badger
3/31/2010, 03:44 PM
I'm thinking just NCAA. Sherri's dates back to '99, right?

Billy made eight straight NCAAs from '83 to '90 (four #1 seeds and a #2, btw) until he was derailed by Thomas Hill.

Hmm... technically I guess you could say it dates back to 1999, but our first in this streak was the 99-00 season, so technically the tourney run started in 2000.

Our 98-99 season was in the WNIT (second round loss).

This season marks our 11th (including this year) straight trip to the BIG Dance (not the little dance, aka WNIT, haha).

Also, I hate to say this, but I think it's more difficult for mens teams to make the tourney than womens teams, just like it's more difficult for non-BCS teams to make a BCS bowl than BCS-conference teams. Many schools have yet to discover how valuable a good womens basketball program can be. However, pracitcally every school out there can field a mens basketball team and get Division 1 status.

Sooner04
3/31/2010, 04:06 PM
Hmm... technically I guess you could say it dates back to 1999, but our first in this streak was the 99-00 season, so technically the tourney run started in 2000.
Phylesha's senior year, right? Beat Purdue in West Lafayette and then lost to UConn in the Sweet 16?

Purdue won it all either the year before or the year after we beat them.

Sherri probably wouldn't have quite as good a streak if not for quirky NCAA rules regarding the women's tournament. We probably don't make the Tournament in 2003 if we weren't hosting the first and second rounds. That team was decimated by injuries.

badger
3/31/2010, 04:35 PM
agree - the most questionable invites were 2003 as you mentioned and then I'd say 2005 was bad too. I know we were an 8-seed that year, but it was a BS seed and we were ousted in one round.

I would say that we got the 8-seed in '05 for the same reason we've been ranked sort of high all year - Sherri's got uber respect among the womens basketball community. Before Kentucky's coach (apparently) wanted to model UK after OU's program under Coale, it was others who said the same thing, like little Marist College that we met back in '03 or '04. There's probably more out there. They totally should adopt the OU model. It's successful :)

Oh, and Whaley was OU's first recruit in '96. You can read more on her here. (http://www.soonersports.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/071807aab.html)

the_ouskull
3/31/2010, 04:45 PM
And that the women's basketball program was on the verge of getting the ax in the early 90's.

What Sherri's been able to do in her time in Norman is nothing short of amazing.

They weren't "on the verge" of anything. The program GOT the axe.

the_ouskull

badger
3/31/2010, 05:19 PM
They weren't "on the verge" of anything. The program GOT the axe.

the_ouskull

ja, for eight days, starting March 28, 1990. :(

tulsaoilerfan
3/31/2010, 10:01 PM
But, but, but i thought some of the people on here complained in the past that Sherri couldn't get the most out of her recruits? Where are those people now? :)

Collier11
3/31/2010, 10:04 PM
hey ill admit that 3 years ago I was getting frustrated, with the Paris twins we had two sweet 16s and a 2nd round exit, that was extremely disappointing. Sherri got that crap figured out though :D

badger
4/1/2010, 09:10 AM
But, but, but i thought some of the people on here complained in the past that Sherri couldn't get the most out of her recruits? Where are those people now? :)

Before 2009, it seemed like Coale was destined to be a one-hit wonder: 2002. It seemed like Stacey Dales was the reason for OU's success and even getting awesome recruits in pairs like Ashley and Courtney Paris was not going to get us back to that level.

Then, we made it to the Final Four (finally!) in 2009 and all was forgiven.

Perhaps this is how stuff will work out for Capel. I really hope so, because right now it looks like the only reason we were successful and in the tourney was Blake Griffin.

goingoneight
4/1/2010, 11:13 AM
Capel had some success without Blake before... he's just got to learn how to clean up the "me first" attitude in his hotshot players and get the effort out of them he got in his first three years.

goingoneight
4/1/2010, 11:14 AM
As for Sherri Coale... I'm wondering where all the critics went, too.

Beuller?

They're probably hiding in the same place as the Fire Stoops crowd.

badger
4/1/2010, 11:16 AM
It was kind of cool the one season that Sherri made more money than her mens basketball counterpart. Alas, it's all about the market, and as awesome as Coale is, womens basketball coaches just don't make as much nationally as mens basketball coaches, so you have to pay Capel a competitive salary to keep him.

I doubt that you'd hear Sherri complain though. She and Mr. Sherri apparently were overjoyed to hear that she'd be making $80k her first season. It was apparently more than their teacher/coach salaries combined, and almost triple what she made at Norman High.

:D Of course, she has gotten a few raises since 1996.

goingoneight
4/1/2010, 11:24 AM
If you gave me 80K even today to coach a sport, I'd take it AND the criticism from the mouth-breathers.

Then again, I'd probably be fired after two or three years. :D

NormanPride
4/1/2010, 11:28 AM
Same here! Though I wonder if the raise helped her that first year when she would cry on the court after losses... Poor Sherri!

TopDawg
4/2/2010, 11:24 AM
So were you the one that got tied up by the stanford mascot, then lifted your leg against it? :D

Actually, that wasn't me. I think it was during my time, but it was one of the other ones who did it.

I was there back in the days of Whaley and the Workman twins. My great aunt (who used to coach high school) has been a fan of the OU women's team for years. Back during my early days as TD, the games were still free to everybody and my great aunt tells me she remembers the day...probably around 1999...that she and her friends began to realize that they were probably going to have to start paying for tickets...which they were more than happy to do.

I still remember one of my favorite TD moments was in the 99-2000 season. Texas Tech was the Big XII's elite program and we had lost to them by 2 the previous year in Norman. But in 99-2000 they were our conference opener and as the clock ticked down on our 82-76 victory, I remember seeing Marita Hynes give a high-five to Larry Naifeh in the most spirited exchange I've ever seen Larry Naifeh be part of. Marita was beaming and the arena was rocking because everyone knew that the victory over Tech signaled that our women's program had reached its tipping point. We went on to finish 2nd (I think) in conference with a 13-3 record, equaling the total number of conference wins Sherri had in her first three years.

badger
4/2/2010, 12:04 PM
Marita Hynes is a very nice person and loves to talk about the womens basketball team. She was the one I was referring to earlier, who decided that a perfect Christmas gift for Sherri would be to fill the stands for the first time. I think she is semi-retired, but still with the athletic department and will probably be cheering her heart out in San Antonio this weekend.

Top Dawg vs. Stanford tree was a legendary rivalry, from what I heard from people who were around for 2000-01. Alas, I wasn't at OU till the next season. I am tributing it right now in the womens blog. Replacing Top Dawg (or Top Daug, whatever) with the horse pigs was an epic fail :mad:

EDIT: I heard the Top Dawg that did that leg lifting motion got in uber trouble, despite the fact that the tree started it by tying Dawg up. Joe C. is the captain of "no fun" :(

TopDawg
4/2/2010, 12:15 PM
If it happened in the 2000-01 season, that was the year after my first stint. I did 97-98, 98-99, 99-2000, then they asked me to do it again when I came back for grad school: 02-03 and 03-04. I was there for Kelvin's first tourney win, but missed the Final Four run.

That second stint was when they also brought back Kenny, who was TD in the 80's then a professional mascot for a while. During my first three years I was TD for both men's and women's along with one other person each year. When I came back, Kenny did the men's games and I did the women's games.

I really enjoyed working the women's games because the team really enjoyed having me there. I didn't get to work with Marita much, but when I did she was always great. Naming the softball complex after her was a nice move.

It doesn't surprise me that the TD who did the leg lift got in trouble. I got in trouble once for wearing an upside down longhorn on my butt for the Texas game once. At the time, the rufneks had 'em, so I figured it was okay. Guess not. I was (pleasantly) surprised to see our twirler sporting one this year, but I wondered if anyone got in trouble for that one.

badger
4/2/2010, 12:24 PM
The thing that was most distinguishing between mens games and womens games during my time at OU was that you could really distract female athletes, while male athletes would just ignore you.

I mean, I'd heckle at volleyball games and the next thing I know, the opposing player's serve is going straight at the net, like if the net wasn't there, it would have hit me in the head. hehe.

Most epicly was a Colorado game in either 2003 or 2004, when a larger female player was the target of some guys around me (what they were doing was too cruel for me to partake in). Making beeping noises while signaling to back up, making chewbacca noises? I think she was probably bawling back in the locker room after the game.

There are also other little nuances, like repeatedly saying the name of the high school the player is from when they have the ball (that girl was passing the ball as quickly as she could by the end of the game to avoid hearing our serenading), or of most use to our team, something known as "operation deception."

Basically, when the shot clock was at 17, we'd say "7!" and continue the countdown like that. What would usually happen (and it was amazing how successful this was) is the opposing player would take a wild shot right after we say one, it'd airball or something worse... and then, OU gets the ball.

Best part was the OU bench (and some of the players on-court to some degree) would be dying laughing at our stunt. Coach Coale would not acknowledge it, but I know I saw her smirking a little after a few of those successful "operation deception" missions :D

King Barry's Back
4/2/2010, 10:33 PM
The thing that was most distinguishing between mens games and womens games during my time at OU was that you could really distract female athletes, while male athletes would just ignore you.

I mean, I'd heckle at volleyball games and the next thing I know, the opposing player's serve is going straight at the net, like if the net wasn't there, it would have hit me in the head. hehe.

Most epicly was a Colorado game in either 2003 or 2004, when a larger female player was the target of some guys around me (what they were doing was too cruel for me to partake in). Making beeping noises while signaling to back up, making chewbacca noises? I think she was probably bawling back in the locker room after the game.

There are also other little nuances, like repeatedly saying the name of the high school the player is from when they have the ball (that girl was passing the ball as quickly as she could by the end of the game to avoid hearing our serenading), or of most use to our team, something known as "operation deception."

Basically, when the shot clock was at 17, we'd say "7!" and continue the countdown like that. What would usually happen (and it was amazing how successful this was) is the opposing player would take a wild shot right after we say one, it'd airball or something worse... and then, OU gets the ball.

Best part was the OU bench (and some of the players on-court to some degree) would be dying laughing at our stunt. Coach Coale would not acknowledge it, but I know I saw her smirking a little after a few of those successful "operation deception" missions :D

"Operation Deception" -- Great story!! Mixed feelings on making the "big girl" bawl in the locker room, though.

badger
4/3/2010, 10:46 AM
"Operation Deception" -- Great story!! Mixed feelings on making the "big girl" bawl in the locker room, though.

Yeah, I didn't partake in that one.

As for "Operation Deception," I am not sure if it still goes on or not and it probably wouldn't be as effective in the Alamodome. That place just sucks noise out. They'll probably put up the blue screen of death since it's not really meant for basketball.