Happy Thanksgiving
So we made the annual trek to Norman for Thanksgiving – making it a short trip and skipping town before the impending Bedlam of Oklahoma State arrived. Apparently we didn’t leave fast enough because our car was broken into Thursday night (Happy Thanksgiving)!
Friday morning as the women folk prepared to go shopping, my mother came to give me with the bad news. Missing was a portable DVD player and various other items — nothing devastating, but certainly not a great start to my football-intensive day. But there’s more…
All great criminals (fictional and non) leave a calling card. Jack the Ripper had his grape stems, the Zodiac Killer sent cryptograms, the Joker and his Joker cards … you get the idea. Apparently the criminal masterminds who perpetrated this crime had seen a little too much TV and decided to leave their own calling card of sorts – their cell phone. That’s right. Right there on the driver’s seat, taunting me saying “bet you can’t catch me!” So what do I do? I pull up the ole address book, scroll, find the entry for “mom” and hit “dial.”
Oh, but it gets better. The phone didn’t belong to the perp, it belong to the perp’s mom. Oh yes. So “mom” was actually grandma. Suckers.
I got a name, I got a number, I got an address. Grandma was very helpful.
Next I call Norman’s finest, who respond with significantly more expeditiousness than I expected. I provided the evidence (cell phone) and information I had acquired. A neighbor joined us who had also been broken into, then out of the blue the cop asks me if I lost a DVD player. Why yes I did! Well, the idiots had been caught, were already in juvie being held, and they had property from what police estimated to be more than a dozen thefts. Genius!
Texas might have OU’s number in football, but when it comes to crime fighting, Norman wins hands down. Don’t agree? Let’s not forget the two dead bodies found in west campus with multiple knife wounds that Austin PD was treating as “suspicious.” Thanks Barney, go ahead and take the bullet from your pocket and load it up.
So back to the task at hand, off I go to the police station. While there, the owner of the cell phone left in my car also arrived. Let’s just say she and I didn’t exactly become best friends while in the waiting area. Property acquired minus a few trivial items, information given to the cops, I said I’d be happy to come back to testify or flip the switch, whatever they needed. I left. “Mom” was still in the waiting room.
Oklahoma 27
Oklahoma State 0
The Sooners might have come within a nose hair of going 6 – 6 this season, but it certainly wasn’t going to be on account of Mike Gundy and crew visiting from Stillwater. If there’s one place the Sooners don’t lose, it’s Norman, Oklahoma (but they certainly don’t mind losing any place else).
The weekend kicked off with a real defensive struggle between Texas and Texas A&M, ending in a soccer score of 49 – 39. It’s not every day that the Horns’ defense gives up more than 500 yards of offense, but thankfully the Aggie kicker couldn’t hit the side of a barn from the inside, nailing the coffin shut and greasing the Longhorns’ trip to Dallas for the Big XII finals against Nebraska.
Auburn put the scare in Alabama, leading the game until the final drive, when suddenly the Tigers’ defense decided to quit playing and let the Tide waltz into the end zone, ending the game and my dreams of TCU making the National Title game. Of course, FSU still had its game against Florida, but there’s a difference between hope and insanity.
BYU and Utah went down to the wire, as the Cougars edged-out the Utes by three in overtime. Apparently payback is a dish best served in the end zone, as Max Hall had a few comments regarding Utah and its treatment of his family during last year’s matchup.
“I don’t like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, their fans. I hate everything,” Hall said Saturday. “It felt really good to send those guys home.”
The Cougars (No. 14 BCS, No. 16 AP) beat the Utes (No. 25 BCS) for the third time in four years, and it was the last regular-season game of the senior’s career.
“I think the whole university and their fans and the organization is classless,” Hall added. “They threw beer on my family and stuff last year and did a whole bunch of nasty things. I don’t respect them and they deserved to lose.” Well said.
Speaking of overtime, that was the mode of choice in the SEC as Tennessee and LSU both required a few extra minutes to put away Kentucky and Arkansas, respectively.
Kansas had the end of its six-game losing streak in hand, only to let it slip away in the final moments, extending its loss-o-rama to seven, placing Mangino’s legacy and employment in jeopardy, despite being named coach of the year a mere two season ago.
UCLA gave it the ole college try, but just didn’t have enough horses in the stable as USC continued its reign over LA, ending the match 28 – 7. Though not the most noteworthy game of the week, it does provide us with a learning point, so gather ’round kids.
Those of you who desire to be a football coach when you grow up, take note of Rick Neuheisel. When you are losing by two touchdowns with less than a minute to play and the other team has the ball and is content to just kneel and run the clock out, go ahead and let them. Don’t call timeout and try to force them to move the ball or punt like our buddy Ricky did. Because if you do, this might happen:
Keeping it on the West coast, if you missed Notre Dame v. Stanford, you missed a hell of a game. (ND 38, Stanford 45) Cardinal running back Toby Gerhart is a workhorse, moving the ball 205 yards on 29 times, racking up three touchdowns and even some Heisman chatter. I felt sorry for each linebacker who unsuccessfully tried to square-up against that freight train.
Of course it was only fitting that Charlie should lose the last game of his college career, as he dodged the media after the game, instead opting to let his players face the heat while he cowered in the locker room. You stay classy Charlie.
He was fired Monday.