Stoops To Fly

[OUGreg723]

Bob Stoops is to fly with the BLUE ANGELS!:)www.soonersports.com

[PDXsooner]

i thought you were going to say you actually saw him fly. like with wings, throughout campus or something. that would be pretty cool.

[All_Day_28]

hopefully there's not a suicide Hook 'em flying it..

[walkoffsooner]

It won't be the last time he is flying high over texas this year.Hook 'em

[oumartin]

Bob will probably take the controls and do a few maneuvers. He is a stud!

[CatfishSooner]

Bobby Bob...

[snp]

i thought you were going to say you actually saw him fly. like with wings, throughout campus or something. that would be pretty cool.

I wish you were right. It's about time he matched his ability to shoot lasers from his eyes and breathe underwater.

[BASSooner]

too bad i wont get to see him flying:( i have to go to my cousin's very first communion(she's catholic). O well they better replay it on tv numerous times!!!!

[Okla-homey]

I bet he pukes. ;)

Those demo guys are diabolical like that.

[OKC Sooner]

I wish you were right. It's about time he matched his ability to shoot lasers from his eyes and breathe underwater.

http://x11.putfile.com/12/33618491117.jpg

[GDC]

They better not get our coach hurt. It's in Texas, I smell a whorn plot.

[StoopTroup]

He'll be fine.

Quite an honor.

I'm jealous.

[bri]

I bet he pukes. ;)

Those demo guys are diabolical like that.


http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/images/icons/bob.gif I threw up in a great way, certainly.

[OUGreg723]

"You throw up when you fly with the Blue Angels, everybody knows that."

[GDC]

OU coach Stoops is set to fly with the Blue Angels
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Writer
5/9/2006

What in the name of Evel Knievel is going on these days with the Big 12's football coaches?

In case you missed it, Colorado's Dan Hawkins went skydiving this spring even though he's deathly afraid of heights. Now comes word that Oklahoma's Bob Stoops is going to hitch a flight with the Blue Angels on Wednesday in Fort Worth.

What's next? Will Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon on Pat Jones' Harley-Davidson motorcycle?

Hey, nobody is questioning the courage of these macho, macho men. It takes a lot of guts to coach a team in one of college football's toughest conferences.

So why would Stoops want to strap himself into the backseat of a U.S. Navy F/A 18 Hornet fighter/attack aircraft and go 700 mph?

"Why not?" replied Stoops when asked if he had temporarily lost his mind when he agreed to the Navy's invitation to be one of three VIPs who will fly with the daredevil Blue Angel pilots.

Why not? Well consider what Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly wrote when he regained his senses after a Blue Angels' trip.

"If you get this opportunity," wrote Reilly, "let me urge you, with the greatest sincerity . . . move to Guam. Change your name. Fake your own death.

Whatever you do, do not go."

Here's the deal, coach: The Top Guns at the controls of these jets are not the modern-day version of Chuck Yeager, the World War II ace who became the first human to travel faster than the speed of sound.

The Blue Angels' hot shots certainly don't waste much time going from Point A to Point B. But along the way, they do a variety of stunts that include barrel rolls, loops, dives and flying upside down. In other words, Bob, be sure to take along a barf bag.

"Hopefully it doesn't come to that," Stoops said of losing his lunch. "But it might. Heck, I may even be knocked out for part of it. But I know for a decent part of it I'll be awake and enjoying it."

Stoops knows all about knocking himself out. As a four-year starter at Iowa, Stoops played defensive back with such disregard for his body that he was a concussion waiting to happen.

But cold-cocking yourself while tackling an Ohio State tailback can't compare to reaching 7.5 times the force of gravity as the pilot does those fancy maneuvers.

Wednesday's VIP flights are to promote this weekend's Texas Thunder 2006 Air Show in Fort Worth. The Blue Angels perform at various events to enhance the Navy's recruiting efforts.

It's probably too late for Stoops to back out. The other celebrity flyers are Kelly Clarkson and Babe Laufenberg. Clarkson was the first winner of the American Idol television show, and Laufenberg played for the Dallas Cowboys and several other teams before becoming a sportscaster in Dallas.

How would it look if Stoops decided to keep his cold feet on the ground while a female singer and a journeyman NFL quarterback had the intestinal fortitude to soar toward the heavens with 32,000 pounds of thrust strapped to their backsides?

Stoops said there is no way he'll back out at the last minute.

"I've always wanted to do this," he said. "I've been asked before, but for different reasons haven't been able to go."

What about the risk factor? Stoops has a wife, three children and thousands of OU fans who want him to stick around for the next 40 years or so.

"So getting in with the best pilots in the world in the best machines in the world," said Stoops, "as opposed to flying different places commercially, is a bigger risk?"

Uh, good point.

A Navy spokesman said Lt. Kevin Davis will be in the cockpit of the jet carrying Stoops. A native of Pittsfield, Mass., Davis became a Blue Angel in September 2005, after several combat missions and becoming a highly decorated fighter pilot.

Still, Stoops has approached this mission like he does a game with Texas.

Seeking some inside information, he telephoned Tim Fyda, a Youngstown, Ohio, high school buddy who was an Air Force fighter pilot.

"Tim said that he knows I've had a lot of great experiences (in sports)," Stoops said. "But he said this will be one of the more special experiences I will ever have."

Given Stoops' coaching reputation as a riverboat gambler, we probably shouldn't be surprised that he's eager to take this daring ride.

"Hey, it can't be any worse than calling a fake punt with your punter inside your own 10-yard line at Alabama," said Stoops of the gutsy and successful call he made when OU defeated the Crimson Tide 20-13 in Tuscaloosa in 2003.

"I think it's going to be an incredible, amazing experience. A heckuva rush."

OK, fine. But it's not too late to move to Guam..

[goingoneight]

What's next? Will Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon on Pat Jones' Harley-Davidson motorcycle?

I would have prefered that Lester stick around for that one. Gumby seems like a good ol' boy.

[suncoastsooner7]

Those bastages buzz my neighborhood atleast three times a week when they aren't touring. It is inevitably always after I have my daughter finaly down for a nap as well. :mad:

[Red October]

I was told you were supposed to eat bananas as your meal before going up with the Blue Angels. Why Bananas? Because they taste pretty much the same coming up as they do going down.

[GDC]

Soaring Stoops survives, and enjoys, trip
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Writer
5/11/2006

The OU coach shares Blue Angel aircraft with QB Babe Laufenberg and pop star Kelly Clarkson.
Bob Stoops added another accomplishment Wednesday to his already impressive resume: Blue Angels survivor.

The Oklahoma football coach was among three people invited to fly with the Navy's famous Blue Angels exclusive flight demonstration team in Fort Worth.

Dallas sportscaster and former NFL quarterback Babe Laufenberg and singer Kelly Clarkson also took the VIP flights to promote the Texas Thunder 2006 Air Show this weekend near Fort Worth.

Stoops, who has won a national championship at OU, three Big 12 titles and been the national coach of the year twice, said the flight was one of the greatest experiences of his life.

"It was just incredible," Stoops said in a telephone interview. "I loved it."

Lt. Kevin J. Davis was the pilot of the U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet fighter / attack aircraft that carried Stoops.

"He was awesome," Stoops said. "It's amazing what those guys are able to do. It's an incredible machine with an amazing pilot."

Stoops said his hour-long flight, in which the airplane nearly reached 700 mph at times, included doing a corkscrew maneuver straight up to around 7,000

feet, before going into a nosedive spiral.

Davis then flipped the plane over and nearly reached the speed of sound.

"We were flying upside down only about 1,000 feet over this farmland," Stoops said. "It's just hysterical; you're hanging there from the straps and he (the pilot) is talking to you the whole time."

Not surprisingly, the competitive Stoops challenged his pilot to try and make him black out because of the force gravity. Stoops was proud to say that it took 7.8 times the force of gravity (Gs) before he blacked out.

"Coming around a minimum radius turn where they take a tight circle at 7.8 Gs, I was fighting it and made it three-quarters of the way around and then boom," Stoops said. "When he gave it a little extra I was out for a couple seconds, which I wanted. I wanted to see what it would take, and he (Davis) said 7.8 Gs is a lot."

Stoops said he also didn't ever feel like reaching for the barf bag during the flight.

"I wasn't queasy or anything," Stoops said. "Shoot, I ate a hoagie (sandwich) just before we went up.

"Now Kelly (Clarkson) filled up a couple bags."

Asked if he would do it again, Stoops said: "Heck, yeah. In a heartbeat."

Dave Sittler 581-8312
[email protected].