Sooner Women Win Big 12

Winning the Big 12 Conference was a big deal for No. 9 Oklahoma, even if its celebration was somewhat subdued.

The Sooners clinched their first regular-season league title in four years, beating No. 21 Texas A&M 73-54 Saturday night for their 11th straight victory.

Courtney Paris had 15 points and 14 rebounds for Oklahoma (23-4, 13-0), seeking to become the first Big 12 women's team to go undefeated in conference play. The Sooners' remaining schedule includes road games at Kansas State and Texas Tech sandwiched around a home game against Nebraska.

Oklahoma Claims Outright Big 12 Title

Andi's Take on the Daytona 500

My Opinion on Sports reader, Andi, has volunteered her takes on the upcoming NASCAR season and will give us weekly updates on who she thinks will win that week’s race as well as how she is doing in her fantasy league.

Here are Andi’s thoughts on the Daytona 500 tomorrow:

I love NASCAR!! And, the Great American Race is this weekend... DAYTONA 500!! and just this past October on our trip to FLorida, I spent the day at the track!! Daytona 500 is the "superbowl" of NASCAR except that it is the first race and not the last. Then there are road races (boring) about 4 times. The season runs from February to November, so with that said... "Gentlemen.... START YOUR ENGINES"...

I get two primary picks and three back up picks. Obviously I get more points for my primary picks and I get bonus points based on where the primaries qualify. For the 500 I have #20 (Stewart) and #88 (Jarrett) picked as primary because they are my favorites and I thought I should start off with them. My back up drivers are #17 (Kenseth), #8 (Junior) and #24 (Gordon). Yes, I think Jeffy Lube is a cry baby, but the dude can race on tracks like this one and this is about points!!

My overall pick to win the NEXTEL CUP CHAMPIONSHIP is #20 Tony Stewart. If he wins it, I get 100 bonus points at the end of the season.

I’ve decided that my driver this year will be Jamie McMurray driver of the #26 Crown Royal Ford. He is from Joplin, MO and I have a good friend who knows the McMurray family. That mutual connection is enough for me to become a fan.


Who is your driver and why?

Sooners Host Cyclones

After losing at Colorado Wednesday night the Sooners return home to play the Iowa State Cyclones. I’m not really sure at this point what to say or what to think. Iowa State has a 14-10, (4-7 in the Big 12) record and their guard play could be very dangerous. OU has won five of six games against Iowa State in Norman under head coach Kelvin Sampson. The game is going to be televised by ABC with Ron Franklin (play-by-play) and Fran Fraschilla (analyst) announcing

After their loss at Colorado on Wednesday, the Sooners fell into a third-place Big 12 tie with the Buffaloes. OU has the advantage of better scheduling the rest of the way and if they take care of business shouldn’t be in danger of losing a first round bye in the conference tournament. Before the Colorado game Oklahoma had won seven of their last eight games.

One good thing that happened in Boulder was Michael Neal going off for a career high 26 points. The Sooners will need him to continue on that pace and have Kevin Bookout and Taj Gray take advantage of the youth that Iowa State has on the inside.

Another area where the Sooners need to improve Saturday is on the boards. That’s had to say for the best rebounding team in the country but OU was out boarded by Colorado 41-32 Wednesday night. Second chance points will be huge.

Scouting the Cyclones
F 0 Shawn Taggart (6-10, 225, Fr., 5.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 0.3 apg)
F 13 Rahshon Clark (6-6, 190, So., 13.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.4 apg)
C 33 Jiri Hubalek (6-11, 205, So., 8.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.6 apg)
G 1 Curtis Stinson (6-3, 215, Jr., 19.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 5.5 apg)
G 11 Will Blalock (6-0, 205, Jr., 14.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6.2 apg)

Iowa State has had troubles of their own recently. They are currently on a three game losing streak and have lost four out of their last five. The Cyclones, coming off a 73-63 home defeat to Nebraska on Wednesday in which they were outrebounded 45-28, are tied with Kansas State for eighth place in the Big 12.

ISU leads the league in steals (10.1 spg) and turnover margin (+6.1), ranks second in free throw percentage, third in scoring (77.5 ppg) and fourth in field goal percentage (.458). However, the Cyclones rank last in scoring defense (73.8 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.462). You know Michael Neal and Terrell Everett are loving that!

All-Big 12 candidate Curtis Stinson ranks second in the league in scoring with his 19.5 points a game and is tied for the conference lead in steals (2.7 spg). He also averages 5.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists a contest. Stinson needs nine more steals to become the third player in Big 12 history to accumulate 1,500 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists and 200 steals in a career. Junior point guard Will Blalock supplies 14.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.2 steals a game. His assists average ranks second in the league behind OU’s Terrell Everett (6.5). Blalock scored 23 points on 10-for-20 shooting Wednesday. Sophomore forward Rahshon Clark averages 13.4 points, a team-high 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals a game while shooting .504 from the floor. Sophomore center Jiri Hubalek, from Prague, Czech Republic, contributes 8.1 points and 3.7 boards per contest.

OU needs this game and I say they win it 77-65.

Taj Gray Picks Up NABC Honor
Oklahoma senior forward Taj Gray was named to the five-man National Association of Basketball Coaches First-Team All-District 12 squad Friday. It marks the second year in a row the 6-9, 238-pounder from Wichita, Kan., has earned the honor.

Gray, who has started all 22 games for the 16-6 Sooners (7-4 Big 12), leads OU in scoring (14.1 ppg), rebounding (7.9 rpg) and blocked shots (1.4 bpg). He is shooting .571 from the field to rank third in the Big 12 and has shot .500 or better in 18 of his 22 outings. The Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year has scored 22 points on three occasions this year and netted a career-high 31 (21 in the second half) against West Virginia on Dec. 22. He has grabbed at least 10 rebounds on six occasions, a season-high 14 twice.

New Guidelines for NIT

All regular-season conference champions not in the NCAA tournament field will be guaranteed a berth in the National Invitation Tournament, and teams no longer have to have .500 records to be selected for the NIT's 40-team field.

The changes were announced Thursday, less than a month before the NIT selection committee meets to select the field for the first time since the tournament was purchased by the NCAA.

The committee is comprised of former Division I coaches, including Naismith Memorial Hall of Famers Dean Smith and Chairman C.M. Newton. The other members are Don DeVoe, Reggie Minton, Jack Powers and Carroll Williams.

In the past, a team had to win at least half its games to be chosen for the NIT.
The regular-season champions of the 31 Division I conferences not in the NCAA's field of 65 will be invited.

"The committee was unanimous in its view on this matter," Newton said. "It formalizes what postseason basketball should be -- a reward for success throughout the regular season."

Sutton's Trouble No Laughing Matter

I’ve made fun of Eddie Sutton thousands of times over the past few years while watching the Oklahoma State Cowboys play basketball. When trying to figure out how he could have possibly seen a play differently than the fans and refs I’ve piped, “He must be drunk!” as he is arguing with the refs. When he bowed his head in his hands I quickly noted that he looked hung-over. Being an avid Sooner fan I never passed up the opportunity to crack jokes at the man who faithfully sat on the bench for the orange and black.

Today Eddie Sutton will be officially charged by the Payne County Sheriff’s office in his DUI case stemming from his auto accident last Friday night. Suddenly I find myself feeling bad for the man I used to love to make fun of.

As the details of Sutton’s auto accident unfold and the mystery of what Coach Sutton actually consumed before getting behind the wheel solved, there are questions that need answered.

What was he thinking? It’s not like he coaches at one of the states smaller universities. Eddie Sutton is a legend in the state of Oklahoma. He is an icon everywhere including Norman. Everyone knew that Sutton’s time was limited in Stillwater but after leaving Fayetteville Arkansas and Lexington Kentucky under scrutiny this was his chance to go out a hero.

Eddie Sutton is a class act and the people of Oklahoma will always love him but this mistake is inexcusable. I don’t mean to belittle his back pain or ailments but poor judgment came into play here and it hurt more than Sutton and the lady he creamed with his Dodge.

Who bought the bottle for Eddie? OSU fans are fighting mad over this and everyone loves Eddie too much to take it out on him! However, in a town the size of Stillwater a man of Eddie Sutton’s stature and past doesn’t walk into a liquor store and buy a pint. If the Cowboys find the perpetrator they are likely to string him up from an oak tree and have Pistol Pete give him 39 lashes.

What was Eddie Sutton allowed to drive? Forget the fact that the man was in so much back pain he had trouble standing up straight. Witnesses actually saw him stumble and fall in the parking lot of Gallagher Iba Arena before he drove off. THEY SAW HIM STUMBLE AND FALL!!! Why did they not intervene there? Did they just stand around looking at the “drunk guy” and laugh at him? It would have been too easy to stop this accident before it even happened.

Why do Oklahoma State fans take Eddie Sutton’s troubles as a personal attack? I was driving with a buddy of mine Friday night when we heard the news of the auto accident on the radio. I immediately said to my friend, who is an OSU fan, “Man, you know he was driving drunk.”

He took it in stride knowing that I was joking and our conversation quickly went to hoping that Eddie was okay. The truth is that many people have speculated (more seriously than me) that something was wrong with Eddie and he was possibly impaired before the truth of the situation came out on Monday and Wednesday nights. There were just as many insults hurled out by loyal Pokes fans as there were speculations. How dare anyone suggest that this man had fallen off the wagon? What a horrible group of cold hearted, insensitive bunch of (fill in the blank) you guys are.

Why are some Sooner fans reveling in this man’s nightmare? Is it because you hate him so much? Is it because you can now take a new hurtful dig at the Cowboys? Newsflash this didn’t happen to a coach in Texas it happened in our state, the Sooner state. Eddie Sutton has done more for OSU and the state of Oklahoma than any other coach in school history. After personally calling every family of the victims of the tragic Oklahoma State plane crash in January of 2001 Coach Sutton earned tremendous amounts of respect and became an Ambassador of the state.

I never made it a habit to cheer for Coach Sutton but my heart goes out to him in this. I love to see my Sooners give the Cowboys a pounding but I don’t love seeing anyone’s life fall apart.

Finally, why are so few people not seeing the miracle in all of this? No one was seriously hurt in an accident that could have killed people and a coach’s dark secret was revealed. How was that a miracle you ask?

What is better, a wreck where no one is injured or a coach who is loved by the university students and fan base drinking his life away? The latter definitely could have happened to Sutton if the wreck didn’t happen to bring this all into light. As a result of the wreck Coach Sutton has acknowledged he has an alcohol problem and is checking himself into the Betty Ford Clinic.

Now Cowboys fans have a new reason to cheer for their coach. They’ll root him on as he recovers from his addiction and regains his health and surprising enough there will be plenty of Sooner fans, not laughing, but cheering for Sutton right alongside them.

The Tale of 3rd Down

Anyone who knows anything about football knows that third down is huge. If you are on offense you want to try to avoid third down but if you find yourself there you want it to be third and short and you need to convert the third down to stay alive. If you are on defense it’s just the opposite. You want to force the opposing team into third down and you want it to be third and long to make it more difficult for the opposing team to convert.

That said Brian over at mgoblog came up with a great program that compares your team’s third down percentage against the national average. The Sooners looked horrendous offensively compared to the national average but are way above average defensively.


Red is not what you want to see here. It means you are below average and that is exactly what the Sooners were on offense. Notice, ironically, that the only area that OU excelled in was when they face 71/2 – 11 yards on third down.

When you look at the youth that OU has on offense and a healthy Adrian Peterson you have to believe that OU will only get better next season. At least we all hope!


Green is good! Anywhere you see green it means you are above the national average. Look at third and one. Nationally offenses converted 70% of the time on third and one. OU held their opponents to just a 46% conversion rate on third and one.

When you look at the fact that OU is returning 7 of 11 starters from last season’s defense and will have John Williams and Larry Birdine, two guys who were starters, back from injury gives a ray of hope that the Sooners will continue to dominate on defense.

OU is not your team? Go over to mgoblog and see how your team ranks against the national average.

Sooners Get Buffalo'ed

Things had to go right for the Colorado Buffalos to beat the Oklahoma Sooners Wednesday night and boy did they ever. The Buffalos out rebounded the Sooners, who are the #1 rebounding team in the country, 41-32. Colorado also shot 19-22 from the free throw line despite being the worst free throw shooting team in the Big 12. To top it off Colorado shot lights out from the field down the stretch to put the Sooners away 84-75.

Richard Roby scored 28 points and Chris Copeland added 18 to lead Colorado. The Buffaloes have now moved into a tie with the Sooners for third place in the Big 12 and bolstered their argument that they deserve a spot in the NCAA tournament with their first win over a ranked team.

Colorado used a 10-1 run late in the game to take a 63-58 lead and they really never looked back after that. The Sooners went flat late in the game being out hustled and outplayed for the first time in conference play.

Michael Neal, who started in place of injured guard Austin Johnson, scored 28 points on 7-of-14 shooting from 3-point range to lead Oklahoma. Terrell Everett added 18 while Taj Gray and Nate Carter added 11 and 10 points respectively.

My Player of the Game
Michael Neal
26 points
7 rebounds
1 assist

March Madness Just Weeks Away

CBS Sportsline has the Sooners as the #6 seed in the Oakland Regional facing Indiana in the first round. They have Memphis as the #1 seed in that bracket. Looking at the bracket I can see OU making it to the Elite 8, if not the Final Four, because I feel the Sooners match-up well against the teams in their path.

I know it is speculation at this point but it is fun to talk about. CBS Sportsline has four Big 12 schools in the big dance including Texas as a #1 seed in the Minneapolis bracket.



Enlarge bracket by clicking on it.

Sooners Move Up Again in RPI Rankings

The Sooners move up 5 spots this week in the NCAA Division I RPI rankings. Here are teams 1 – 64.

1 1 Duke Atlantic Coast 23-1
2 2 Villanova Big East 20-2
3 3 Tennessee Southeastern 18-3
4 5 Connecticut Big East 22-2
5 4 Memphis Conference USA 22-2
6 9 Pittsburgh Big East 19-3
7 8 Texas Big 12 21-3
8 12 Ohio St. Big Ten 18-3
9 7 Iowa Big Ten 19-6
10 6 Michigan St. Big Ten 18-6
11 11 UCLA Pacific-10 20-5
12 10 Gonzaga West Coast 21-3
13 13 Illinois Big Ten 20-4
14 19 Oklahoma Big 12 16-5
15 21 LSU Southeastern 16-7
16 25 Wisconsin Big Ten 17-7
17 15 UNI Missouri Valley 21-5
18 14 Florida Southeastern 21-3
19 30 West Virginia Big East 18-5
20 18 Arizona Pacific-10 15-9
21 23 Wichita St. Missouri Valley 20-6
22 22 North Carolina St. Atlantic Coast 19-5
23 26 North Carolina Atlantic Coast 15-6
24 39 Southern Ill. Missouri Valley 18-7
25 36 Missouri St. Missouri Valley 16-7
26 20 Georgetown Big East 17-5
27 32 George Mason Colonial 19-5
28 33 Syracuse Big East 17-7
29 16 Creighton Missouri Valley 17-6
30 17 Michigan Big Ten 16-6
31 37 Nevada Western Athletic 19-5
32 29 Cincinnati Big East 16-9
33 28 Boston College Atlantic Coast 20-5
34 27 Seton Hall Big East 15-7
35 31 Marquette Big East 16-8
36 38 George Washington Atlantic 10 20-1
37 24 Indiana Big Ten 13-8
38 52 Kansas Big 12 18-6
39 54 Washington Pacific-10 18-5
40 42 Bucknell Patriot 20-3
41 34 Wis.-Milwaukee Horizon 18-6
42 40 Maryland Atlantic Coast 15-8
43 49 Alabama Southeastern 14-8
44 35 Kentucky Southeastern 15-9
45 43 UNC Wilmington Colonial 19-7
46 47 Air Force Mountain West 19-5
47 50 St. Joseph's Atlantic 10 10-11
48 58 Western Ky. Sun Belt 18-5
49 48 Colorado Big 12 16-5
50 44 UAB Conference USA 17-5
51 46 Old Dominion Colonial 17-8
52 81 South Carolina Southeastern 13-10
53 56 Virginia Atlantic Coast 12-9
54 53 California Pacific-10 15-6
55 59 Hofstra Colonial 18-4
56 41 Utah St. Western Athletic 16-6
57 45 Temple Atlantic 10 13-9
58 63 Vanderbilt Southeastern 13-8
59 70 Houston Conference USA 16-6
60 57 Brigham Young Mountain West 15-7
61 55 Iowa St. Big 12 14-9
62 60 San Diego St. Mountain West 16-7
63 51 Bradley Missouri Valley 14-9
64 65 Louisville Big East 16-8

Complete RPI Rankings

Battle in Boulder

The Sooners are in sole possession of third place in the Big 12 basketball standings but that could change tonight in Boulder, Co. That is why it is important for Oklahoma to bring their A-game and it is what makes this a huge game for OU. Colorado is 11-1 at home this season but the Sooners have beaten the Buffalos in 16 of their last 18 match-ups.


For the Sooners to nab a victory in the Coors Events Center the must continue to have huge performances from guards Michael Neal and Terrell Everett. Neal is 27 for his last 49 (.551) from 3-point range ... Terrell Everett averages 14.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists in Big 12 play. The Sooners will also have to win the battle of the boards something that they usually do. Oklahoma leads the nation in rebounding margin at +11.6rpg.

Scouting Colorado
F 4 Andy Osburn (6-9, 225, Sr.. 8.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.0 apg)
F 15 Chris Copeland (6-8, 235, Sr.. 12.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.1 apg)
F 33 Julius Ashby (6-9, 235, Sr., 4.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.3 bpg)
G 21 Marcus Hall (6-1, 180, Jr., 9.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 4.0 apg)
G 23 Richard Roby (6-6, 195, So., 18.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.6 apg)

The Buffaloes, who have 10 seniors on their roster are just a game behind the Sooners. They have lost two of their last three and are coming off a 66-64 home win over Texas Tech on Saturday. Before losing at Iowa State (Feb. 5) and at Texas A&M (Feb. 8), the Buffs won five consecutive league games. They are 11-1 at home this year with the lone defeat coming at the hands of Kansas (75-63) on Jan. 11. Colorado leads the Big 12 in scoring (80.4 ppg), 3-point makes per game (9.0) and blocked shots (6.2 bpg).


Sophomore guard Richard Roby (pictured right) ranks fifth in the Big 12 with his 18.2 scoring average and also supplies a team-high 5.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game. Roby leads the league with .444 3-point percentage (he averages 2.5 treys) and had 17 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals Saturday against Texas Tech. Senior forward Chris Copeland averages 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks a game and has made 35 3-pointers (he’s shooting .417 from beyond the arc). Junior guard Marcus Hall scores 9.7 points a game and also averages a team-high 4.0 assists and 1.4 steals. Andy Osborn, a senior forward, averages 8.9 points a contest (2.0 treys per outing) while fellow senior forward Martane Freeman averages 8.7 points.

If OU plays their game I am confident they will win. The Coors Events Center is a tough venue but not the toughest the Sooners have played in this year. In my opinion a win tonight will guarantee Oklahoma a top three finish in the conference.

Big 12 Basketball Standings
Texas 10-1 22-3
Kansas 9-2 18-6
Oklahoma 7-3 16-5
Colorado 6-4 16-5
Nebraska 5-5 15-8
Texas A&M 5-6 15-7
Kansas State 4-6 13-8
Iowa State 4-6 14-9
Texas Tech 4-6 12-12
Missouri 4-7 11-11
Oklahoma State 3-8 13-12
Baylor 2-9 2-9

Sooner Baseball Team Off to a 5-1 Start

OU completed a three game sweep of Western Illinois on Sunday, outscoring the Leathernecks 36-5 for the series.

The Sooners started the season at the UTPA Tournament were they lost to Lamar after beating Texas State and Texas-Pan American during the first two days.

Oklahoma is led in scoring by Chuckie Caufield (pictured)who has scored 10 runs on 12 hits in 27 at bats. Caufield has hit 3 doubles, 1 triple and knocked in 8 RBI’s.

Up next for the Sooners is the Rice Tournament this coming weekend where OU will have a chance to redeem their loss to Lamar. OU will face Lamar for the second time on Saturday.

Big 12 Baseball Standings
Baylor 0-0-0 3-0-0
Texas A&M 0-0-0 3-0-0
Oklahoma 0-0-0 5-1-0
Kansas 0-0-0 6-2-0
Oklahoma State 0-0-0 2-1-0
Texas 0-0-0 4-3-0
Texas Tech 0-0-0 3-3-0
Missouri 0-0-0 1-2-0
Kansas State 0-0-0 0-0-0
Nebraska 0-0-0 0-0-0

NASCAR NEWS

The Daytona 500 is this weekend which will offically kick-off the NASCAR race season. In a feeble attempt to gain more readers as well as learn about a new sport I'll be posting NASCAR updates each week. For now it will be called NASCAR NEWS until I think of a catchy cool name for it.

Since I'm going to be following my first full race season let me know who I should cheer for. Who is your driver and why?

Teresa Earnhardt doesn't believe anyone -- including her stepson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- will bring the No. 3 the late Dale Earnhardt made famous back to Cup racing.
"Contrary to popular belief, everyone cannot be replaced," Teresa Earnhardt said. "Legends live on forever. I don't think the No. 3 will ever be driven by anyone else."


The rare public comment from Teresa Earnhardt comes from a one-hour television show, "NASCAR Five Years Later," that will air tonight on Speed Channel.

The No. 3 has not been used in the Cup series since Earnhardt's death. NASCAR controls car numbers and assigns them to team owners on an annual basis. Richard Childress has maintained control of the No. 3 since Earnhardt's fatal crash.

Earnhardt Jr., who drives the No. 8 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company his father formed and his stepmother now runs, said again recently he would like to drive the No. 3 before the end of his Cup career.

"I really think that'll happen," Earnhardt Jr. told NASCAR.com. "I've informally talked to Richard (Childress), just so he knew I wanted to do that. I'll drive the No. 3 car toward the end of my career if I've done what I wanted to do at DEI, and that's win championships and win races. And I'll stick around as long as it takes to do it."

Earnhardt Jr. said in that interview he'd use the No. 3 for people who worked with his late father and helped him win seven Cup titles.

"It'd be all about going out on the track with the 3, with an Earnhardt behind the wheel, putting a smile on Chocolate (Myers') face and Richard's face and those guys he spent so much time with for so many years. If the fans like it, they like it. If they don't agree with it, they don't agree with it. It's between me and Richard."

Earnhardt Jr. said his desire to drive the No. 3 does not mean he has any short-term plans to leave DEI. At the Speedweeks media day on Thursday, Earnhardt Jr. said he'd like to run DEI one day.

"I'd love to take over at DEI," he said. "Teresa and I will talk about that when the time comes, but that's not in the near future."

Earnhardt still among top sellers: Five years after his death, Dale Earnhardt remains one of the top sellers in NASCAR merchandise. The drivers whose merchandise sold the most at NASCAR.com Superstore:
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Tony Stewart
4. Jimmie Johnson
5. Kasey Kahne
6. Dale Earnhardt
7. Rusty Wallace
8. Mark Martin
9. Elliott Sadler
10. Ryan Newman

Will Ferrell Official Spokesman for NASCAR Day 2006: The NASCAR Foundation announced that Will Ferrell, star of Columbia Pictures' upcoming NASCAR comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, will serve as the official spokesman for NASCAR Day 2006. Set for Friday, May 19, NASCAR Day celebrates the spirit of NASCAR by encouraging fans to get their NASCAR Day lapel pins, which will be available in exchange for a $5 donation at NASCAR.com/foundation along with their favorite NASCAR apparel.

CBBA Poll, Week 7

Obviously our votes had to be turned in before the Villanova/UConn game last night so the Huskies will set atop the CBBA poll for one more week. Which brings up a good discussion question, who should be the new #1? Leave your thoughts.
Rank Team Record

1 Connecticut (4) 22-1
2 Memphis 22-2
3 Duke 23-1
4 Villanova 19-2
5 Gonzaga (1) 20-3
6 Texas 21-3
7 Florida 21-3
8 Tennessee 20-3
9 Ohio State 18-3
10 Pittsburgh 19-3
11 George Washington 20-1
12 UCLA 20-5
t13 Michigan State 17-6
t13 West Virginia 18-5
15 Boston College 18-5
16 Illinois 20-4
17 Iowa 19-6
18 North Carolina State 19-5
19 Oklahoma 16-520 Georgetown 17-5
21 Washington 18-5
22 Kansas 17-6
23 North Carolina 15-6
24 LSU 16-7
25 Northern Iowa 21-5
Others receiving more than one vote:
George Mason 5, Bucknell 2

Others receiving one vote:
Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, & Nevada

Slammin Sammy Could be Going, Going Gone!

There is nothing worse than a crushed ego and apparently there is nothing worse than playing major league baseball for the Washington Nationals. Because of this Sammy Sosa is considering hanging it up.

Sosa has not made a decision regarding the contract offer from Washington, which is a non-guaranteed, one-year pact for $500,000.

"Sammy wants to get to 600 home runs, but he's not willing to humiliate himself to keep playing. He feels that the lack of interest in his services this winter constitutes a humiliation," said a spokesperson for Sosa.

Sammy has not been the same player that he was during the 1998-2001 seasons when he hit 60 plus homeruns each of those seasons.

The MLB steroids scandal, injuries, and a corked bat have all led to the demise of Sammy Sosa. Every team in the majors has recognized it including Washington who initially only offered him a minor league contract.


"Sammy doesn't think of himself as someone who has to beg for a spot on a big league roster," said the source.

My CBBA Vote

Indiana is gone this week after going 0-2 for the week and Michigan is very close to dropping out. New in my poll this week is George Mason. The Patriots lead the Colonial Athletic Conference with a 13-2 record and are 19-5 overall.

()= Where I placed them last week.
1. Connecticut (1)
2. Memphis (2)
3. Duke (3)
4. Gonzaga (4)
5. Villanova (6)
6. Texas (8)
7. Tennessee (10)
8. Pittsburgh (12)
9. Boston College (13)
10. Florida (5)
11. West Virginia (7)
12. Ohio State (17)
13. Michigan State (9)
14. UCLA (11)
15. Oklahoma (20)
16. Washington (21)
17. N.C. State (14)
18. Georgetown (15)
19. George Washington (24)
20. Kansas (25)
21. Iowa (18)
22. Illinois (16)
23. Colorado (23)
24. Michigan (19)
25. George Mason (NR)
The official CBBA poll will be released tomorrow.

Sooners Rout Baylor, Again

Coming home off a two game road trip to two of the toughest arenas in the Big 12 conference Oklahoma guard Terrell Everett decided to take Saturday afternoon off, from scoring. Instead the senior dished out 14 assists, the most by a Sooner in 8 years, in Oklahoma’s 80-52 win over Baylor.

The Sooners continue to remain hot winning 7 of their last eight games and doing it Saturday with a new scoring leader. Michael Neal scored a team high 18 points going 6-11 from the three point line. Kevin Bookout put in 15 points, freshman Taylor Griffin had 12 and Taj Gray played sluggish again but managed 10 points.

Neal broke an early tie with a 3-pointer from the left side that sparked a 17-2 run and put the Sooners ahead to stay.


The Bears shot 4-for-21 (19 percent) and trailed 38-17 at halftime. It was the second straight game Oklahoma held an opponent to four first-half field goals.
"They really pressured the perimeter and with pressuring the perimeter, it made it tough for us to get people open, so it created more one-on-one play," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "We've got to do a better job of finishing then and handling that kind of pressure."


Oklahoma is in solid position to have a high seed going into the conference tournament. The Sooners currently sit in third place behind Texas #1 and Kansas #2. Colorado is just behind OU and the Buffalos will host the Sooners Wednesday night on ESPN 2.

It is still possible, though not probable, for the Sooners to win the regular season conference title. For that to happen OU would need both Kansas and Texas to lose another game. If Texas stumbles again down the stretch it could set up an end of the season match between the Longhorns and Sooners for the conference crown.

Jeb Bush on the Recruiting Trail

“I’m excited you’re looking at Florida State. When you come to Tallahassee again, let’s hook up with each other — Jeb Bush.”

That is the best of Myron Rolle's recollection of the text message that Florida governor Jeb Bush sent him prior to his enrolling at Florida State in January.

The NCAA has contacted FSU to determine if the governor's actions constitute a recruiting violation.

The NCAA could rule this to be a secondary or minor violation if Bush is determined by the NCAA to be a representative of FSU's athletic interests.

A statement released by NCAA spokesperson Kevin Barrett said: “The NCAA is aware of the situation and has been in contact with Florida State University. We are waiting for the university to submit information, and we will analyze it to determine if any violations occurred.”

In state rival Florida football coach Urban Meyer was not pleased with the governor’s actions.
“I want to meet the governor, and tell him that last time I checked, the University of Florida is a state institution, too,” said Meyer, who was also recruiting Rolle. …

Texans Won't Take Young

It’s official! The Houston Texans will draft Reggie Bush and not home town hero Vince Young. League sources confirmed late Thursday that the Houston Texans have exercised a "buy back" clause in quarterback David Carr's contract, paying him an $8 million bonus to secure his services for three more seasons.

Some fans have urged the Texans to choose Young, a Houston native. But Chris Mortensen of ESPN reported weeks ago that Houston officials are locked in on Bush, the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner and this move all but confirms it.

Under the terms of the complicated seven-year, $46.75 million contract Carr signed as a rookie, the final three seasons of the deal were voidable. Early in his career, Carr reached sufficient performance levels to cancel those three years, and technically, his contract would have expired on March 3, the first day of free agency.

But the Texans had the right to "buy back" the voidable years and had two options for doing so. The first would have involved paying Carr a bonus of $5.5 million to buy back two seasons, at base salaries of $5 million for 2006 and $5.25 million for 2007. The second, the deal for which Houston opted, included the $8 million bonus, which bought back three seasons, at base salaries of $5.25 million each in 2006 and 2007 and of $6 million in 2008.

Where do you think Young lands? I say New Orleans.

Charles Barkley - Mouth of the South

Charles Barkley decided to go off on the state of Oklahoma Thursday night during a TNT interview with soon to be Rookie of the Year Chris Paul of the New Orleans/OKC Hornets. Barkley asked Paul if he had a chicken and some cows yet and did he live on a farm? When Paul tried to complement the city and its fans Barkley said, “I know you don’t have an alarm clock, you just wake up when the chickens make noise.” When Paul suggest that Barkley come to Oklahoma City to see for himself what it was like Barkley shot back that the only brothers in Oklahoma played for the Sooners and the Hornets and that Oklahoma wasn’t a place for black people.

Charles didn’t you grow up in Alabama one of the last states to embrace racial equality? In fact you’re from Leeds Alabama a community of less than 10,500 people that is 82% white. I know you have heard chickens in your day!

Don’t forget you are the guy who was so fat when you played that you earned the nickname “Round Mound of Rebound.” You were supposed to try to make a comeback with Jordan but you couldn’t put the jelly donuts down long enough to pick up a basketball.

Don’t forget that no one understands what you are saying unless they have a box on their television that can interpret sounds that come out of the nose. For some reason you have lost the ability to speak through your mouth and everything you say appears, or at least sounds, like it is coming out of your nose.

Finally, don’t forget where you came from, the per capita income for Leeds, Alabama in $18,573. 13.2% of the population and 10.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 22.6% of those under the age of 18 and 10.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Before looking elsewhere to criticize why don’t you try looking at your home town? Don’t just look do something about it.

As far as Oklahoma City is concerned you still have an open invitation to visit. You will find that we actually are a modern city with an international airport and everything. We even have one of those NBA teams that you get paid to talk about and they are doing pretty good but don’t take my word for it. Ask the Lakers, the Heat, or the Spurs. They all thought that Oklahoma City was a small country town as well until they came here and were wowed by our crowd and beaten by our team.

Top 10 Basketball/Football Schools

Dennis Dodd from CBS Sportsline.com put together his top ten list of Basketball/Football schools. I have to admit that I was a bit surprised to see Oklahoma at number two. I also thought Louisville was rated to high, Ohio State and UCLA were to low and UConn didn’t belong.

What are your thoughts?

1. Texas: Top 10 programs in both sports. National champion in football. Seven straight NCAA appearances in basketball (including a Final Four in 2003).

2. Oklahoma: Actually football had to catch up to basketball. Kelvin Sampson arrived 11 years ago, keeping Billy Tubbs' momentum going. It wasn't until Bob Stoops got to Norman in 1999 that Oklahoma football turned around.

3. Florida: Along with Austin, Gainesville might be the epicenter of big-time college athletics right now. Two charismatic coaches (Billy Donovan, Urban Meyer) and national prominence for both programs.

4. Louisville: The Next Big Thing in football, an established national power in basketball. Credit AD Tom Jurich who led a facilities revolution and has survived schools cherry-picking his football coaches (or at least attempting to).

5. Wisconsin: The home of the 1,000-yard back and paint-by-number defensive basketball.

6. Ohio State: Since '99 Ohio State has endured an NCAA scandal in basketball and Maurice Clarett in football. It also has a Final Four appearance and a football national championship. Not too many schools could survive embarrassing scandals in both sports and chase national championships.

7. Boston College: This is what Notre Dame wants to be: BC has won six consecutive bowl games and finished tied for the Atlantic Division title in its first year in the ACC. Al Skinner is about to take the basketball Eagles to their fourth tournament in six years.

8. UCLA: Even though there was a merry-go-round of coaches, UCLA never wavered in its desire to keep basketball on the national stage.

9. Pittsburgh: Walt Harris brought the football program back to a BCS level. Dave Wannstedt was disappointing in his first year but is destined to win a Big East title before he's through.

10. Connecticut: This is a Lew Perkins production. The Huskies' former AD decided UConn could play big-time football. His vision was realized with a new stadium (Rentschler Field), a talented coach (Randy Edsall) and early entry into the Big East.

Sooners Get Rare Bedlam Road Victory

Taj Gray was a no-show for Oklahoma on Wednesday night but luckily for the Sooners so was the Gallagher-Iba crowd. Unlike in losses at Villanova and Kansas the road crowd in Stillwater played no factor in the outcome of the game for OU. Of course in their defense it’s hard to have something to cheer about when your team makes only four baskets, yes 4, baskets in the first half.

Oklahoma State had the perfect scenario to pull off the upset of #20 Oklahoma. The Sooners had early foul trouble and their star player was a virtual non-factor. The problem for the Cowboys was making baskets - they just simply couldn’t do it. The OU defense frustrated the Cowboys into 40% shooting for the game and held OSU to just 17 first half points. OSU had a 10-plus minute field goal drought in the first half including seven minutes without a score of any kind.


With Gray struggling with fouls and finding a way to get his head in the game freshman Taylor Griffin stepped in to score 10 points while Kevin Bookout added 13. Guards Michael Neal and Terrell Everett scored a combined 35 points including a game high 23 from Everett who shot 70% from the field and continues his rise to becoming the heart and soul of this team.

Guard David Godbold scored 9 points and could have had the biggest shot of the game just before the half. Oklahoma State had cut a 10 point Sooner lead to four when Godbold hit a three to push the lead back to 7. Everett would make it a 9 point Sooner lead going into the half with a left-handed shot that finally bounced into the rim as the buzzer went off.

This is the first Bedlam road win in six years for the Sooners. Up next for OU are the Baylor Bears. In their previous meeting in Waco OU won going away 82-52.

My Player of the Game
Terrell Everett
7-10, 23 Pts
5 Rebs, 5 Assists

Sooners Move Up in RPI Rankings

The Oklahoma Sooners have moved up 8 spots in this week's RPI rankings. Here are teams 1 through 64.
Rank Prev Rank Name Conf.

1 1 Duke Atlantic Coast
2 3 Villanova Big East
3 4 Tennessee Southeastern
4 2 Memphis Conference USA
5 9 Connecticut Big East
6 6 Michigan St. Big Ten
7 10 Iowa Big Ten
8 13 Texas Big 12
9 5 Pittsburgh Big East
10 11 Gonzaga West Coast
11 12 UCLA Pacific-10
12 15 Ohio St. Big Ten
13 7 Illinois Big Ten
14 19 Florida Southeastern
15 14 UNI Missouri Valley
16 24 Creighton Missouri Valley
17 17 Michigan Big Ten
18 16 Arizona Pacific-10
19 27 Oklahoma Big 12
20 29 Georgetown Big East
21 21 LSU Southeastern
22 30 North Carolina St. Atlantic Coast
23 25 Wichita St. Missouri Valley
24 20 Indiana Big Ten
25 8 Wisconsin Big Ten
26 38 North Carolina Atlantic Coast
27 37 Seton Hall Big East
28 23 Boston College Atlantic Coast
29 26 Cincinnati Big East
30 32 West Virginia Big East
31 31 Marquette Big East
32 35 George Mason Colonial
33 33 Syracuse Big East
34 18 Wis.-Milwaukee Horizon
35 36 Kentucky Southeastern
36 41 Missouri St. Missouri Valley
37 53 Nevada Western Athletic
38 44 George Washington Atlantic 10
39 22 Southern Ill. Missouri Valley
40 28 Maryland Atlantic Coast
41 45 Utah St. Western Athletic
42 34 Bucknell Patriot
43 43 UNC Wilmington Colonial
44 46 UAB Conference USA
45 42 Temple Atlantic 10
46 40 Old Dominion Colonial
47 48 Air Force Mountain West
48 47 Colorado Big 12
49 52 Alabama Southeastern
50 39 St. Joseph's Atlantic 10
51 55 Bradley Missouri Valley
52 60 Kansas Big 12
53 72 California Pacific-10
54 54 Washington Pacific-10
55 57 Iowa St. Big 12
56 63 Virginia Atlantic Coast
57 92 Brigham Young Mountain West
58 65 Western Ky. Sun Belt
59 69 Hofstra Colonial
60 61 Clemson Atlantic Coast
60 77 San Diego St. Mountain West
62 67 Miami (Fla.) Atlantic Coast
63 50 Vanderbilt Southeastern
64 58 Va. Commonwealth Colonial

Complete RPI Rankings

Bedlam

Tonight’s Bedlam game is big for Oklahoma but huge for Oklahoma State. Sunday’s loss at Kansas all but eliminated the Sooners from contention for the regular season conference championship. Now OU must win to remain in contention for one of the conference’s top spots and a first round bye in the conference tournament. The Sooners also need to continue to win games to improve their seeding for the NCAA tournament.

Oklahoma State needs to take advantage of having 5 of their final 8 games at home. The Cowboys win Saturday in Manhattan stopped a four game losing streak and a winning streak down the stretch using their home court advantage could propel OSU into the NCAA dance.

TEAMS I think OU is the better team with the most experience and possibly the most talented athlete in Terrell Everett. OU should be able to win this game inside with the guards feeding the ball to Kevin Bookout and Taj Gray. OSU doesn’t have anyone on their roster who can match-up with these guys. It will be interesting to see if Eddie Sutton tries to zone the Sooners.

OFFENSE The guards are about even for these two teams. Oklahoma has Terrell Everett who should get a lot of attention for the Cowboy defense and the Sooners will have to know where JamesOn Curry is at all times. Both teams have suffered shooting slumps from their guards but if I had to pick a team when the guards are “on” then it would be OU. Everett has proven that he can score from anywhere on the floor and Michael Neal needs just a second to kill you with a three pointer.

DEFENSE OU also has the advantage on defense. The Sooners swarming defense has held opponents to an average of 59.7 points while the Cowboys are holding opponents to 66.3 points per game.

TURNOVERS OSU takes care of the Basketball better than the Sooners to and turnovers could be crucial in tonight’s game. The Sooners will have to put pressure on Jamaal Brown and Curry to try to force turnovers and Everett and Austin Johnson will have to make smart decisions with the ball for the Sooners.


HOME COURT The final factor in tonight’s game is Gallagher Iba Arena. It is by far one of the most difficult places to play in the country and Cowboy fans get extra crazy for Bedlam. I think visits to Villanova and Kansas will help OU deal with the hostile crowd they will face tonight.


Scouting the Cowboys
F 4 Mario Boggan (6-7, 240, Jr., 13.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 0.8 apg)
F 5 Marcus Dove (6-9, 215, So., 5.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.8 apg)
C 40 Kenny Cooper (6-10, 260, Fr., 2.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 3.5 apg)
G 10 Jamaal Brown (5-10, 200, Jr., 9.5 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 4.1 apg)
G 24 JamesOn Curry (6-3, 190, So., 14.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.4 apg)

The Cowboys are 13-9 overall record and 3-5 in the conference. They are 8-3 at home (the losses were to Northwestern State, Colorado and Nebraska). Three of their Big 12 losses were by two points (two of them in overtime) and two of their conference victories were by two points.

Junior forward Mario Boggan leads the Cowboys with his 13.9 and 5.6 scoring and rebounding averages. He is shooting .592 from the field to rank second in the conference and owns a .787 free throw mark to rank fifth. Sophomore guard JamesOn Curry averages 13.2 points and 4.5 assists per outing, and has made a team-high 41 treys (shooting .376 from behind the arc). Torre Johnson, a junior forward, supplies 12.1 points and 4.8 boards a game while shooting .576 from the field. David Monds is another junior forward who averages 9.1 points and 5.5 rebounds a game. He is shooting .535 from the floor. Freshman point guard Byron Eaton, who came off the bench for the first time of the year on Saturday, averages 7.6 points, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals.

PREDICTION If this game were in Norman then I would pick the Sooners to win going away. I can't do that with the game in Stillwater! I wouldn't be surprised to see OSU win and either way I think the game will be close. I'm picking the Sooners to win 62-57.

Bedlam Basketball Contest

It’s the first My Opinion on Sports contest! Pick the score of the game and win your choice of an OU or OSU watch. It’s that simple! Here are the official rules.

• All picks have to be made before 8:00 pm CST.
• All picks must be posted here and e-mailed to dolphinfan73132@yahoo.com (so I will be able to contact you if you win.)
• All picks must include a tie-breaker.
• Tie-Breaker is the total combined turnovers.

You can view the watch by clicking on the Oklahoma Watches banner on the upper right corner of the page. The watch I am giving away is the agent series.

Go ahead and leave your pick and don’t forget the tie breaker.

CBBA Poll, Week 6

Rank Team Record
1 Connecticut (5) 20-1
3 Memphis 21-2
3 Duke 21-1
4 Villanova 17-2
5 Texas 20-3
6 Gonzaga (1) 18-3
7 Florida 20-2
8 Illinois 20-3
9 Michigan State 17-5
10 West Virginia 17-4
11 George Washington 18-1
12 Tennessee 16-3
13 UCLA 19-4
14 Pittsburgh 17-3
15 North Carolina State 18-4
16 Iowa 18-5
17 Ohio State 16-3
18 Boston College 17-5
19 Georgetown 16-4
20 Indiana 13-6
21 Washington 16-5
22 Michigan 16-4
23 Oklahoma 14-5
24 North Carolina 14-5
25 Northern Iowa 20-4

Also receiving votes:
LSU 7, Colorado 5, Kansas 5, Alabama-Birmingham 4, Maryland 4, Creighton 3, Nevada 3, George Mason 1.

How I Voted
1. Connecticut
2. Memphis
3. Duke
4. Gonzaga
5. Florida
6. Villanova
7. West Virginia
8. Texas
9. Michigan State
10. Tennessee
11. UCLA
12. Pittsburgh
13. Boston College
14. N.C. State
15. Georgetown
16. Illinois
17. Ohio State
18. Iowa
19. Michigagan
20. Oklahoma
21. Washington
22. Indiana
23. Colorado
24. George Washington
25. Kansas

Men of Steel

The AFC and NFC sent their best teams to play in the Super Bowl last night. Too bad the NFL didn’t send their best officiating crew to call the game. The Seahawks boast themselves for having the 12th man but it was the Steelers who had the extra help Sunday night.

Don’t get me wrong, the Steelers won the game by making the plays that the Seahawks couldn’t. Pittsburgh overcame a horrible first quarter to beat the Seattle 21-10. The Steelers took the air out of the Seahawks early in the third quarter when Willie Parker dashed 75 yards for the longest touchdown run in Super Bowl history. The back breaking play occurred in the 4th quarter when Antwaan Randle El hit Hines Ward for a 43 yard touchdown on a reverse pass.

Pittsburgh was a team of destiny, becoming the first team to advance to and win the Super Bowl as the number six seed. Jerome Bettis will ride off into the NFL sunset with a championship ring, won in his home town of Detroit, and Bill Cower finally wins the coveted championship that he deserves.

However, all the storylines will work their way back to the poor officiating. Seattle could have had an early 7-0 lead when Matt Hasselbeck hit Darrell Jackson in the back of the end zone for an apparent score. Back judge Bob Waggoner gave into the Steelers demands for an offensive pass interference call and threw a delayed flag. The Seahawks would have to settle for a field goal. Give Seattle those four extra points and we would have had a different ball game.

In the fourth quarter Hasselbeck was intercepted by Ike Taylor and on the return Hesselbeck made a great diving tackle but was called for illegally “blocking” Taylor across his knees. I’m still trying to figure that one out! How could you be blocking a guy you are in the process of tackling? There was also the Ben Roethlisberger touchdown that was upheld after the replay showed the ball to be inches shy of the goal line.

In my opinion the Steelers would win this game even without the questionable calls. The problem is that without those bad calls the game would have been more enjoyable for unbiased fans like myself.

Rock Chalk Jayhawked

The Sooners couldn’t overcome the pressure of having a 16 point lead on the road Sunday afternoon. After a monstrous Taj Gray dunk put OU up by 16 the Jayhawks took off on a 17-3 run that brought the team and the sellout crowd alive.

Kansas took the lead on a Julian Wright dunk following a Brandon Rush miss. Michael Neal followed that up with a three, putting OU back on top 58-57. Mario Chalmers then put Kansas up for good to make the final score 59-58.

Giving all due credit to Kansas this is a game that the Sooners should not have lost. I though that maybe over the course of the five game winning streak that OU would have learned to finish a team off but Kansas wouldn’t be finished.

The Jayhawks did what they needed to do to win the game and the Sooners didn’t. Kansas rallied behind their home crowd of 16,000 plus and OU just couldn’t handle the pressure.

Super Sunday, Super Bowl Preview Part III

It’s Super Sunday and the greatest sporting event of all is just hours away from kick-off. The Seattle Seahawks come into the game as the NFC’s #1 seed but a four point underdog to the Pittsburgh Steelers who are the #6 seed from the AFC.

Super Bowl XL has several interesting storylines to follow.

• Ben Roethlisberger will be the second youngest quarterback to ever start a Super Bowl at the age of 23.

• Mike Holmgren will attempt to become the first NFL head coach to win a Super Bowl with two different teams, while becoming just the fifth coach to reach the Super Bowl with two different teams.
• Anheuser-Busch will air more commercials during the Super Bowl than any other sponsor.
• Joey Porter and Jerramy Stevens will settle their, “My dad can beat up your dad” feud on the field.

Now that Joey Porter realizes that Seattle is actually going to play, let’s look at the game.

The Seahawks have the best offense and the Steelers boast the better defense but not by much. The Seahawks are averaging 369.7 yards and 28.2 points per game while the Steelers are managing to put up 321 yards and 24.3 points per game.

With all due respect to the Bus, Shaun Alexander should be the back getting all the attention right now. The NFL’s MVP is scoring touchdowns at a record pace and chewing up yards pretty consistently. If the Seahawks win then Alexander could be the Super Bowl MVP because he will have to have a very solid night against a tough Steelers defense to put Seattle in position to win.

The Steelers defense is only giving up 284 yards and 16.1 points per game while the Seahawks give up 316.8 yards and 16.9 points per game. Pittsburgh likes to bring the blitz from their 3-4 defensive scheme and if successful could have Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck frustrated and confused. However, if Hasselbeck can buy some time against the blitz then the Seattle receivers against the Steelers secondary match-up favors Seattle.

I know you are dying to know my prediction so here it is. I will be pulling for Seattle just because I am tired of hearing from Joey Porter and I don’t want to hear him talk about how he put Stevens in his place if the Steelers win. That said I’m picking Pittsburgh to win 31-24. The bottom line is that the Steelers are the hottest team in the NFL right now and I believe the AFC is a much stronger conference then the NFC.


Your Super Bowl MVP is…
Even though the sympathetic choice will be to give it to Jerome Bettis, he will not have an MVP type of game. The real MVP for the World Champion Steelers is going to be Big Ben Roethlisberger.

Super Bowl Preview Part I
Super Bowl Preview Part II

Turn Your Super Bowl Pick into $100.00

Everyteam.com is a site that I have been involved with for a couple of months now. It is an interactive site that allows fans to create and join forums about their favorite sports topics or teams, write your own sports blog, do video chat and much more.

They are hosting a free contest for the Super Bowl and it’s pretty simple. All you have to do is give your Super Bowl prediction and if you are right then you win a hundred bucks! You do have to be a member but registration is quick, free, and easy.

Here are the official rules.

1- Reply in this thread with your prediction
2- One prediction per user (1st one you post counts)
3- You must be 18 years of age and living in the United States.
4- Predictions must be posted by 5:00pm Eastern Standard Time. Predictions posted after 5:00pm will not be accepted.
5- To win you must predict the exact score for each team.
6- Tie-breaker: Should there be a need for a tie-breaker, the fan that guesses the closest to the total combined offensive yards gained by both the Steelers and the Seahawks will be declared the winner.
7- Winner will be notified through their EveryTeam account and will be asked to provide their mailing address to receive prize money. Winner has until March 5, 2006 to claim the prize.

Don’t leave your prediction here. Post it at everyteam.com. Here is how you get to the contest:

• Create an account with everyteam.com (quick,free,easy)
• Click on the Interact tab
• Click on the The EveryTeam $100 Super Bowl Prediction Contest
• Make your prediction
• Win $100.00!

You can also win a 42" Plasma TV for creating a new account. Good luck!

Sooners Going for Number Six

Oklahoma has won five games in a row and will go on the road this week as the conference season reaches its half-way point. The first stop on this two game road trip is Lawrence, Kansas. If there was a team that has been more Jekyll & Hyde than the Sooners it is the Kansas Jayhawks.

Phog Allen Field House is as tough of place to play as there is but this season it is not impossible to win there. Nevada and Kansas State have won there this season so it’s not too far fetched to think that OU has a legitimate chance.


To come away with a win on Sunday afternoon the Sooners will have to put together their best game of the season to this point. Yes, even better than their game against Texas Saturday night.

OU plays tough physical defense but must continue to stroke the ball on offense. When the Sooners guards are on they create lots of match-up problems for the opposing team because they can’t focus exclusively on the inside game of the Sooners. If you play man-on-man defense with the Sooners you will get beat. If you try to double the big men (Gray and Bookout) down low then the guards will find the open jumper. If you move the defense to play the guards out top then that leave Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout with man-on-man down low and they will win that battle. If you play a zone defense, which is your best bet, then the guards can find the holes in the zone and hit open shots. Thus the defensive nightmare created by the Sooners.

I think the Sooners will be able to dominate inside against Kansas. OU has been dominating the offensive glass all season and I think that trend will continue again on Sunday. Second chance points will be a necessity for an Oklahoma win.

The key for the Sooners will be to just stay in the game. If the Sooners are within 10 points with ten minutes left then they will be in good position. Kansas is 0-5 this season in games decided by 10 points or less.


If there ever was a “good year” to play in Lawrence then this is the year. OU is the hottest team in the Big 12 right now with the hottest player in the conference in Terrell Everett.

My Prediction: OU 77/KU 72

Seattle SuperSonics Coming to OKC?

The official announcement was made last week that the New Orleans/OKC Hornets will return to Oklahoma City for one more season. Despite the city proving that they can support an NBA franchise and despite players and coaches saying that they prefer they OKC crowd, the plan, according to NBA Commissioner David Stern, is to take the team back to the city of New Orleans even though it struggled to support the Hornets before Hurricane Katrina.

Other teams have notice the way OKC has embraced the Hornets and are now looking to OKC as a possible future location. One of those teams is the Seattle SuperSonics according to a story on CBS Sportsline.com.


Principal owner Howard Schultz (left) said Wednesday he will look at all options -- including moving or selling the team -- if the state Legislature fails to earmark $200 million for the Sonics to refurbish KeyArena or build a new home.

Schultz, who talked to reporters before the Sonics' game against the Golden State Warriors, said he's told team president Wally Walker to look at all the alternatives.

One would be moving the Sonics to a market known to be interested in acquiring an NBA franchise, such as Las Vegas; Norfolk, Va., or Oklahoma City, or to one of three cities -- Anaheim, Calif.; Kansas City, Mo., and San Jose, Calif. -- that have made overtures to Sonics officials, the team said in a statement.

There is no doubt that Oklahoma City will eventually wind up with its own NBA franchise and the hope is that it will be the Hornets. However if George Shinn is forced to move back to the Crescent City it’s nice to know that there are other teams who would be willing to move to a city that is anxious to support its own franchise.

How the Sooners got Their Groove Back

It all started with a three point shot at the end of one of the ugliest basketball games ever seen. OU guard Terrell Everett stuck a dagger in the heart of Texas A&M during the final seconds of their game on January 14th to seal a 45-44 OU win.

Last night Everett burned the Aggies again with a late steal and dunk that capped OU’s fifth consecutive win 71-63.

The shot that Everett made in College Station gave the Sooners shooting confidence that has helped turn this team into a team that mirrors the one Sooner fans thought they would see at the beginning of the season.


Teams are getting killed by focusing solely on stopping the Sooners inside game while leaving OU’s struggling guards alone. Bobby Knight learned this lesson the hard way when Michael Neal bombed Texas Tech with four late treys.

Rick Barnes suffered the same fate when Everett went off for 25 points Saturday night to stun the #4 ranked Longhorns 82-72 last Saturday night.

It’s not that the Sooner guards were bad, they were just injured. Freshman guard Austin Johnson and junior sharp shooter Michael Neal suffered nagging injuries and are now regaining their health. Suddenly it’s not as simple to game plan against the Sooners.


OU has been solid on defense all season and now opponents have to give special attention to the red hot Sooner guards giving Kevin Bookout and Taj Gray more freedom to create havoc inside.

I believe it is too late for the Sooners to win the regular season conference title but OU has put themselves in position to content for a first round conference tournament bye and then make some noise in that tournament and on into the big dance.

Buster’s Best, Super Bowl Preview Part II

First of all I would like to thank Steelers linebacker Joey Porter for dumbing down the game. It’s one thing to have confidence in your team and predict a win. It’s another thing to show your stupidity in regards to your comments to an opposing player.

Just in case you have been living under a rock this week Joey Porter is mad at Seahawks tight end Jerramy Stevens. Stevens made a comment that is was to bad that Steelers running back Jerome Bettis was going to have to retire without winning a super bowl because winning one is his home town of Detroit would be a fairytale ending to a great career.

Okay for the Joey Porter’s of the world let’s slow down and break down Stevens’ comments to see what he actually said.

In my opinion Stevens showed confidence in his team and then complemented the career of Jerome Bettis by saying that he had a great career and it was too bad he would end without a Super Bowl title.

In reply Porter, who obviously feels as if the world owes it to him to caudle and say only positive things about his team, felt it was necessary to make this a personal attack on him.

"Now I'm looking for him on game day, now I'm looking for Stevens," Porter said. "He has to line up in front of me, and that information you gave me just got me started so I'll be out there looking for him at the 50-yard line. That information will go a long way because Stevens can't hide from me. He has to line up in front of me and I'll remind him of [what he said] every time I put him on his back.
"I was focused on football until right now, when you told me what [Stevens] said. I don't blame him for thinking they came down here to win, but he said what he said and I'll be ready for him. I can never get an offensive player to say stuff like that no more, I'm always battling defensive guys. It is great that the tight end said it because I don't [ever] get to go against a tight end like that."
Porter didn't stop there. He was just getting warmed up.

"He should know his role," Porter said. "He hasn't done anything that makes anybody fear him, while Jerome is a Hall of Famer and everybody knows about him. Meanwhile, this guy is almost a first-round bust who barely made some plays this year. He has the nerve to say what Jerome is not going to do when he isn't going to be the deciding factor whether that happens or not. I'm going to make sure he don't have anything to do with the outcome of the game.

"I would think someone would say something, but I wouldn't think it would be him -- he's too soft to say something like that. He'll have the opportunity to back up his words, but I'm going to have an opportunity to back up my words.

"You ever see the movie "Underworld"? I was sleeping all week, but I got my first taste of blood right here, and it is great when you haven't tasted it in a while. This week was boring until now. He definitely is one who hasn't earned the right to say what's on his mind. There is no way he can hide from me. I needed to hear that, I needed something to get me going."

Despite averaging 12.3 yards per catch and 5 td’s on the season Porter described Stevens as a special teams player.

Joey, how excited are your teammates that it took a comment from an opposing player to get you fired up to play in the Super Bowl? Thanks for letting the entire world know that you are the official spokesperson for Jerome Bettis and thank you for showing us your lack of intelligence. Remember in Jr. High when you couldn’t contribute anything constructive to a conversation so your defaulted to making personal insults to those who knew what they were talking about.? That is the best description of Joey Porter that I can think of.

One more question. If the Steelers win is Joey Porter going to run over to Jerramy Stevens point his finger and say, “In your face punk”?

I was looking for a reason to cheer for or against one of these teams in the Super Bowl and now I have one. I would love to see Porter’s reaction if Stevens catches a touchdown pass.

Now on to Buster! He beat me this season in our football picks going Buster 68-32 picking games straight up. I went 47-51-2 going against the spread. Next season Buster will be going against the spread as well.

Super Bowl
The Seahawks are the #1 seed in the NFC and a 4 point underdog to the Steelers, the #6 seed in the AFC. If I remember correctly the last time an NFC #1 played an AFC #6 in the Super Bowl was 1985. In that game the Chicago Bears dominated the New England Patriots from start to finish. That game began the NFC’s reign of terror over the AFC that lasted until the Denver Broncos won the World Championship in 1998.
You could say that the AFC has dominated the NFC since then but really it’s the New England Patriots who have dominated the NFC.

In the last ten years only 3 AFC teams have won the Super Bowl. The Patriots won 3, the Broncos 2, and the Ravens 1. Using that logic, Buster is picking the Seahawks to win.

I’m going to take the Steelers to cover the 4 points they are favored by, which means I’m picking them to win. Despite my recent disgust with Joey Porter the fact remains that they are the hottest team the NFL. I’m looking for them to continue their winning streak.

Super Bowl Preview Part 1, The Voice of the Fans

Baseball Comes to My Opinion on Sports

Spring is a month away! That means Spring Training and the beginning of baseball season. This week’s renter is Chad Gramlings Baseball Blog. Welcome to My Opinion on Sports, Chad. Make sure to check him out, by clicking on the thumbnail at the upper right corner of the page, and stay ahead of the baseball curve.

Welcome to the OU 2006 Recruiting Class

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown
Curtis Bailey OL 6-7 340 Dallas, Texas
Jeremy Beal DE 6-2 243 Carrollton, Texas
Chase Beeler OL 6-4 275 Jenks, Okla.
Sam Bradford QB 6-4 200 Oklahoma City, Okla.
Cory Brandon OL 6-6 265 Corsicana, Texas
Chris Brown RB 5-10 192 Alexandria, La.
Brandon Caleb WR 6-1 194 Atlanta, Ga.
Quinton Carter DB 6-0 185 Las Vegas, Nev.
Brandon Crow LB 6-2 215 Comanche, Okla.
Dominique Franks DB 6-0 178 Tulsa, Okla.
Jermaine Gresham TE 6-7 230 Ardmore, Okla.
Joey Halzle QB 6-4 215 Huntington Beach, Calif.
Tim Johnson DE 6-6 265 Homewood, Ill.
Pryce Macon DE 6-1 258 Corpus Christi, Texas
Mossis Madu RB 6-1 190 Norman, Okla.
Gerald McCoy DT 6-4 305 Oklahoma City, Okla.
Eric Mensik TE 6-5 231 Rosenberg, Texas
Sherrone Moore OL 6-5 300 Derby, Kan.
DeMarco Murray RB 6-0 183 Las Vegas, Nev.
Jonathan Nelson DB 6-1 180 Mansfield, Texas
Chris Patterson LB 6-3 220 Chicago, Ill.
Chad Roark OL 6-2 290 Ada, Okla.
Daniel Tabon LB 6-3 215 Altus, Okla.
Adrian Taylor DT 6-5 280 Mansfield, Texas
Adron Tennell WR 6-5 200 Irving, Texas
Brandon Walker OL 6-3 315 Detroit, Mich.
Malcolm Williams DB 5-10 172 Grand Prairie, Texas
Trent Williams OL 6-5 290 Longview, Texas

As I said yesterday, OU signed another top 10 recruiting class. The Sooners landed four defensive backs, three players at defensive end, running back and linebacker and two each at quarterback, wide receiver, tight end and defensive tackle.

All but three of the signees came from the high school ranks. The three exceptions were junior college transfers Chris Patterson, Sherrone Moore and Brandon Walker. Moore is already enrolled at OU and Walker has three years of eligibility remaining rather than the customary two among most junior college recruits.

Here are Sooners head coach Bob Stoops’ comments on the 2006 class.

On the Quarterbacks:
"Joey Halzle is already here and working out. We felt that it was important to get another quarterback in here and could be here in the spring. We wanted a player who had some experience to free up Paul Thompson so that Paul can concentrate solely on playing receiver. We didn't feel that it was fair to Paul to continue to pull him away from trying to earn a starting spot and more playing time at the receiver position so he could work at quarterback.

"Sam Bradford is a young guy that I am really excited about. When you look at our recruits, Sam is one of the strongest and most talented players that we've recruited and watched in the last several years. What I love about him is that when you watch him, he is good at everything he does.

On the Wide Receivers:
"Brandon Caleb and Adron Tennell are talented, talented guys. Adron is playing basketball right now and he's just lighting it up. He had a great Army All-American game.

On the Running Backs:
"They are a very talented group of guys; Chris Brown, Mossis Madu and DeMarco Murray. Chris is probably the one who is strictly a running back. We feel though that we don't recruit guys for other positions.

"DeMarco is strictly a running back. The only reason I brought that up is that he is an incredible athlete. When you watch him, you can see his incredible hands, the way he changes direction, catches the ball and his incredible speed. Chris is also special in the way he runs.

"They all have different styles in the way they run. Mossis is a local guy who everyone knows. We loved watching him throughout the year. He has great athleticism, makes people miss and has an incredible burst. I think these guys will all complement each other."


On the Tight Ends:
"Jermaine Gresham's choice came down to today and I feel that he is one of the best tight ends in the country. He has the athleticism, size, hands and the ability to split out much like we did with Trent Smith. We feel that he can do all those things like Trent did.

"Eric Mensik, on top of being a great tight end, is a great deep snapper which was a priority for us with Jacob Rice graduating. Eric also has the size to make a difference at tight end."

On the Offensive Line:
"Sherrone Moore is already on campus and Brandon Walker is coming after the spring. Those guys have some extra size and a little more experience than the freshmen coming in. There is great size and the ability in the bunch of freshmen we have coming in. We will have them ready to play. I'm not going to pick out who's going to play right away, but we will give them all the opportunity to compete. I think these guys all have a chance to really help us."

On the Defensive Line:
"We signed five guys between the inside guys and defensive ends. All of them fit our mold. They are all athletic, can run and can change direction.

"Gerald McCoy is one of the top recruits in the country and decided today to become a Sooner. Gerald fits the bill of what we want. We've had him in camp for three years and he has reshaped his body in those three years. He's one of those guys who has the great explosiveness. I thought he was very good in the Army All-American game.


On the Linebackers:
"Jeremy Beal, Brandon Crow, Chris Patterson and Daniel Tabon are four linebackers that can run and are very powerful. Jeremy Beal has some extra size that we like for when we want to get a little stronger and thicker in the middle. The other guys are the typical linebackers that we like to recruit, in that they are very athletic."

On the Secondary:
"We have a couple of safeties, Quinton Carter and Malcolm Williams, and a couple of corners in Jonathan Nelson and Dominique Franks. These are talented guys, multi-sport guys and they have the speed and explosiveness that we look for."

comments from soonersports.com

Sooners Sign Top 10 Recruiting Class, Again

With National Signing Day drawing to a close the Sooners have brought in another Top 10 recruiting class according to Rivals and Scout.

Scout.com ranks OU at # 8 nationally.
Rk. School Commits Conf.

1. Florida 27 SEC

2. USC 21 Pac-10

3. Texas 25 Big 12

4. Georgia 27 SEC

5. Notre Dame 28 I-A Ind

6. LSU 25 SEC

7. Penn State 24 Big Ten

8. Oklahoma 28 Big 12

9. Auburn 25 SEC

10. Michigan 19 Big Ten

11. Pittsburgh 25 Big East

12. Florida State 30 ACC

13. Ohio State 20 Big Ten

14. Mississippi 29 SEC

15. Miami (Fl) 21 ACC

16. Texas Tech 34 Big 12

17. Oklahoma State 28 Big 12

t18. Alabama 23 SEC

t18. Arizona 25 Pac-10

20. UCLA 22 Pac-10

21. Clemson 20 ACC

22. Texas A&M 22 Big 12

23. California 20 Pac-10

24. Tennessee 21 SEC

25. North Carolina 28 ACC

Rivals.com has the Sooners at #9.

1 Florida 27

2 Southern Cal 21

3 Florida State 31

4 Georgia 27

5 LSU 26

6 Texas 25

7 Penn State 24

8 Notre Dame 27

9 Oklahoma 28

10 Auburn 25

11 Alabama 23

12 Ohio State 20

13 Michigan 19

14 Clemson 20

15 Ole Miss 29

16 Miami-FL 21

17 UCLA 22

18 Arizona 25

19 California 20

20 Nebraska 22

21 Pittsburgh 26

22 Oklahoma State 27

23 Tennessee 22

24 South Carolina 24

25 Texas A&M 22

Official RPI Rankings

Here are the first official RPI rankings of the basketball season. I have posted 1-63. To see the rest you can click here.

Rank Prev Rank Name Conf W-L
1 1 Duke Atlantic Coast 19-1
2 2 Memphis Conference USA 19-2
3 4 Villanova Big East 16-2
4 6 Tennessee Southeastern 14-3
5 3 Michigan St. Big Ten 16-5
6 8 Pittsburgh Big East 17-1
7 5 Illinois Big Ten 19-2
8 10 Wisconsin Big Ten 15-5
9 9 Connecticut Big East 18-1
10 15 Iowa Big Ten 16-5
11 7 Gonzaga West Coast 17-3
12 17 UCLA Pacific-10 17-4
13 12 UNI Missouri Valley 19-3
14 13 Texas Big 12 17-3
15 11 Ohio St. Big Ten 15-3
16 16 Arizona Pacific-10 13-7
17 31 Michigan Big Ten 15-3
18 20 Wis.-Milwaukee Horizon 16-4
19 25 LSU Southeastern 14-5
20 19 Florida Southeastern 18-2
21 14 Indiana Big Ten 12-5
22 21 Maryland Atlantic Coast 14-5
23 26 Southern Ill. Missouri Valley 16-5
24 27 Boston College Atlantic Coast 16-4
25 28 Creighton Missouri Valley 14-5
26 24 Wichita St. Missouri Valley 17-5
27 18 Cincinnati Big East 14-7
28 29 Oklahoma Big 12 13-4
29 22 North Carolina St. Atlantic Coast 16-4
30 38 Georgetown Big East 14-4
31 32 Marquette Big East 15-6
32 30 West Virginia Big East 15-4
33 23 Syracuse Big East 15-6
34 40 Bucknell Patriot 16-3
35 39 George Mason Colonial 15-5
36 44 Kentucky Southeastern 14-6
37 84 Seton Hall Big East 12-6
38 33 North Carolina Atlantic Coast 12-5
39 58 St. Joseph's Atlantic 10 9-8
40 36 Old Dominion Colonial 15-6
41 35 Missouri St. Missouri Valley 13-6
42 56 Temple Atlantic 10 11-7
43 54 UNC Wilmington Colonial 16-6
44 45 George Washington Atlantic 10 16-1
45 52 Utah St. Western Athletic 15-4
46 41 UAB Conference USA 15-4
47 69 Colorado Big 12 15-3
48 51 Air Force Mountain West 17-3
49 43 Kansas St. Big 12 12-5
50 49 Vanderbilt Southeastern 12-5
51 37 Xavier Atlantic 10 13-4
52 59 Alabama Southeastern 11-7
53 63 Nevada Western Athletic 15-5
54 34 Washington Pacific-10 16-4
55 46 Manhattan Metro Atlantic 13-6
56 62 Bradley Missouri Valley 12-7
57 47 Iowa St. Big 12 13-7
58 105 Kansas Big 12 14-6
59 42 Clemson Atlantic Coast 14-6
60 67 Va. Commonwealth Colonial 14-5
61 61 Arkansas Southeastern 14-6
62 53 Iona Metro Atlantic 15-4
63 64 Virginia Atlantic Coast 10-7

The Voice of the Fans, Super Bowl Preview Part I

Many people save the best for last but I may have done the exact opposite with my Super Bowl preview. Everyone knows that the fans are the true voice of the team. They don’t have to respect their opponent and they aren’t pressured to be politically correct. The fan states exactly what is on his mind with no remorse. That is what makes this part of the preview so good.

Steeler Fanatic and The 12th Man both took the time to answer a series of questions about their teams, opposing teams and the big game. Here it is!

1. What are you initial thoughts on your teams opponent?

12th Man - They're a great football team, and they're on fire. Big Ben is proving he's one of the best big-game QB's in the NFL, and that defense swarms like crazy.

Steeler Fanatic - I approach every game thinking about our opponents strengths and weaknesses. Seattle is one of those teams that has plenty of strength and little weakness. They do depend on Shaun Alexander to carry the load but, they have proven that Hasselbeck can lead the team when needed. Unfortunately, that is a weakness. I have watched several Seahawk games and at first, I thought they were benefiting from a weak schedule. After seeing them play the last few weeks, I realize that they deserve to be in the Super Bowl.

Hasselbeck will need to bring his A game against the Steelers picking up blitzes and reacting with a quick release. He's not going to be able to rely on Alexander and the running game, making him a liability. Seattle is well coached, they have the league MVP at running back and their Defense is very tough. Much like the Denver game, mistakes will be the key to this game. Can Hasselbeck play 60 minutes of mistake free football? Can the Seattle Defense stop Roethlisberger the hottest QB in the game? Can the offensive line stop the explosive pass rush? If the answer to those questions is yes, they have a shot.

2. What is the best match-up advantage for your team in this game?

12th Man - Matt Hasselbeck and our recieving corps against Pittsburgh's secondary. Polamalu isn't a cover safety, and Pittsburgh's corners are average at best. If Matt has time to throw, he is capable of picking their secondary apart. The Hawks receivers have a pronounced size advantage, and Jackson and Engram should be close to 100%.

Steeler Fanatic - The best matchup by far is the 3-4 defense against Seattle's offense, with the explosive pass rush, the run defense and many blitz packages, Hasselbeck won't know what hit him.

3. What is the worst match-up advantage for your team in this game?

12th Man - Ben Roethlisberger against our secondary. Big Ben has been awesome during the playoffs and the Steelers have been using the pass to set up the run. Seattle's secondary makes plays but often plays too soft at the line of scrimmage and the Steelers should be able to exploit that.

Steeler Fanatic - The worst matchup would have to be the Seattle Wide Receivers against our Secondary on blitz packages. If they end up with a linebacker covering them across the middle or on the "hot route" it could be a long day for the Steelers.

4. Which coach do you want on your sideline, yours or your opponents? Why?

12th Man - Ours. It's simple, really - just count the rings. Holmgren knows what it takes to win a Super Bowl and he's solved every tough defense he's played against this January.

Steeler Fanatic - Hands down, Bill Cowher. His personality matches this Steeler team to a T and it shows. He's taken a running team and introduced a red hot passing game that has prevailed in the Playoffs. His style of coaching coupled with the best assistants in the league makes for a Super Bowl winning staff.

5. Give your prediction of the outcome of the game.

12th Man - It's early, but I'm thinking 31-16 Seattle. Hawks score a late touchdown to put the game on ice. Seattle will have more success on defense on third down and that will hinder Pittsburgh's offense. On the other side of the ball, Seattle's O-line will hanlde Pittsburgh's blitzes and give Hasselbeck just enough time to make something happen in the passing game.

Steeler Fanatic - This should be a close game in the first half, but Seattle won't be able to handle the Defense in the second half. Big Ben will have a career game and people will remember this team for years to come. The "Road Warriors" will be a household name and Super Bowl XL will finally rid the Steelers of the One for the Thumb Curse that's plagued us since 1980. Final Score Prediction: Steelers 28 - Seahawks 17

Back from Panama!

I made it back from my five day journey to Panama City, Panama. I was able to journal a few thoughts each evening and I am sharing those thoughts, as well as some photos, this week at my other blog Abundant Living. Check it out!