RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!
5/7/2010, 09:09 PM
This from another OU fan, on another OU fan board:
"Every decision Castiglione makes at Oklahoma starts with the question: How does this maximize our revenue?"
This short-sighted approach is EXACTLY what's wrong with Oklahoma football. I'll mention one example. Giving up a home game in Norman to go play BYU at Jerry's World was a business decision. Great. You not only lose the game, you lose your Heisman Trophy QB, which sets the tone for a nightmare of a season: finishing 8-5 in a year many thought you were a top 5 team. If the game had been played in Norman is the separated shoulder Sam Bradford suffered far less severe considering it would have happened on natural grass? And would it have even happened given the different venue? And might the Sooners have actually pulled the game out anyway? So in the short term, you gain a few more bucks; in the long term, you throw away your season and the opportunity to play in a much higher (paying) bowl, which actually COSTS you money.
The question the AD should be asking first is simple: what gives the football program the best opportunity for success?
The Sooners are already throwing away a home game every other year (and a big one): Texas. Home games are sacred and should be valued and kept at all costs. I remember at mid-season watching the Sooners play and seeing the OU logo at mid-field and commenting to a friend how strange it looked after all the road games.
The AD should have vision and an ability to look beyond the carrot in front of his nose. As the landscape of college conferences is about to shift, it appears once again Oklahoma is clueless in looking out for its best interests. OU fans have discovered what Arkansas fans learned many decades ago: being involved in a conference with Texas schools is suicide, at least if you care about getting a fair shake. The Big 8 -- minus Texas -- served Oklahoma well. What I'm suggesting here is that the Sooners don't have to be tied to Texas and go along with whatever they want to do; instead, Castilgione should be thinking outside the box and making all the necessary calls to put the Sooners in a stronger position -- winding up in a better conference and actually having more input in to how the conference is run.
Shall I be clearer? Let's find ourselves in a better position than allowing 80% of the refs to come from our rival state. Let's avoid having a referee call an OU-Texas game who lives in Austin. Let's not have a championship game every other year in our rival state. Let's not have the conference offices in our rival state.
OU may be a smaller market. And certainly that has its disadvantages. But the people that make decisions affecting the football program's well being shouldn't forget that Oklahoma on the field has a better tradition than anyone down in Texas -- including the Longhorns -- and its fans and the coaches and players who offer their blood and sweat deserve to be given the best opportunity to succeed -- and not just line the pockets of those in the Sooner shadows.
"Every decision Castiglione makes at Oklahoma starts with the question: How does this maximize our revenue?"
This short-sighted approach is EXACTLY what's wrong with Oklahoma football. I'll mention one example. Giving up a home game in Norman to go play BYU at Jerry's World was a business decision. Great. You not only lose the game, you lose your Heisman Trophy QB, which sets the tone for a nightmare of a season: finishing 8-5 in a year many thought you were a top 5 team. If the game had been played in Norman is the separated shoulder Sam Bradford suffered far less severe considering it would have happened on natural grass? And would it have even happened given the different venue? And might the Sooners have actually pulled the game out anyway? So in the short term, you gain a few more bucks; in the long term, you throw away your season and the opportunity to play in a much higher (paying) bowl, which actually COSTS you money.
The question the AD should be asking first is simple: what gives the football program the best opportunity for success?
The Sooners are already throwing away a home game every other year (and a big one): Texas. Home games are sacred and should be valued and kept at all costs. I remember at mid-season watching the Sooners play and seeing the OU logo at mid-field and commenting to a friend how strange it looked after all the road games.
The AD should have vision and an ability to look beyond the carrot in front of his nose. As the landscape of college conferences is about to shift, it appears once again Oklahoma is clueless in looking out for its best interests. OU fans have discovered what Arkansas fans learned many decades ago: being involved in a conference with Texas schools is suicide, at least if you care about getting a fair shake. The Big 8 -- minus Texas -- served Oklahoma well. What I'm suggesting here is that the Sooners don't have to be tied to Texas and go along with whatever they want to do; instead, Castilgione should be thinking outside the box and making all the necessary calls to put the Sooners in a stronger position -- winding up in a better conference and actually having more input in to how the conference is run.
Shall I be clearer? Let's find ourselves in a better position than allowing 80% of the refs to come from our rival state. Let's avoid having a referee call an OU-Texas game who lives in Austin. Let's not have a championship game every other year in our rival state. Let's not have the conference offices in our rival state.
OU may be a smaller market. And certainly that has its disadvantages. But the people that make decisions affecting the football program's well being shouldn't forget that Oklahoma on the field has a better tradition than anyone down in Texas -- including the Longhorns -- and its fans and the coaches and players who offer their blood and sweat deserve to be given the best opportunity to succeed -- and not just line the pockets of those in the Sooner shadows.