Ever have one of those weeks that starts out looking really horrible and ends up being...sorta kinda...alright? I had one of those weeks last week. On Spring Break here a lot of my family trickled down to Mazatlan to enjoy the relaxing sun and surf. Been going there for years. This year the newest addition to the family...grandson...joined us. He is 14 months old and was quickly the hit of every place we went to for dinner...or anything else for that matter. While I only stayed a week because of work the rest of them stayed for two weeks. When the little guy got home he bagan running a high fever. Last Monday...after seizuring from a 104.8 degree temperature...we spent the day in the emergeny room with him. Six hours later we were told he had a viral infection that they couldn't pin-point. So...a prescription for Motrin to control the fever...and out the door to the house (he lives with us). Not a good start to the week.

The Mazatlan factor was at work again as my wife and a very close friend of hers drove back home from there. They spend most of the winter down there so they drive down and drive back. Well...the close friend got extremely ill the last week they were there and when they arrived in Dallas...where this woman has children living...they admitted her into the hospital. My wife was stranded...in Dallas...say it isn't so!!! Because of a variety of reasons putting her on an airplane was not an option so...yours truly...had to make a trip south. Fortunately for me...my dad went down to Dallas and picked up my wife and brought her back to Oklahoma City. The original plan was to go get her and make a quick turn around and come right back home. Plans change.

The Sooner end of spring football scrimmage...the Red-White game was this past weekend and...well...being down there already...we stayed and took in the game. At the same time I got caught up on some other Sooner football things.

We remember WR Malcolm Kelly for a number of things. His ability to get open and catch many key passes in his OU career. His speed in the open field after the catch. The classic touchdowns he has scored over the past couple of years. The attention he received last year which allowed Juaquin Iglesias to have a breakout year. The two Fiesta Bowls he didn't play in due to injury. HIs leaving OU for the NFL after his junior year. All good..right? Wrong. As he did not participate at the NFL Combine as the result of his latest injury he was expected to work out for scouts in Norman last Wednesday...which he did. And now we can remember Malcolm Kelly for another reason. After running a sluggish...the local paper called it a "pedestrian" 4.68 in the 40 yard dash...Kelly lashed out at...everyone but himself. He had been working out for the past month on astro turf. On Wednesday morning the NFL scouts switched the field for the workout and...doggone it...nobody told Malcolm. So, Kelly lashed out at OU strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt. "Certain people have tried to hold me down, and they know who they are," Kelly said after the workout. "I wouldn't say the whole OU coaching staff, but certain people, I would say that." And that wasn't all Malcolm needed to get off of his chest. The OU medical staff misdiagnosed his thigh injury last December  which kept him from participating in the Fiesta Bowl and from training for the NFL Combine until a month ago. He also claimed that the OU staff basically told him to suck it up and play through it. Had he done that the risk of further injury would have threatened his NFL career which he also accused the OU staff of doing intentionally.

Here is what happened during the diagnosis. He WAS initially diagnosed with a deep thigh bruise. Within 48 hours of that diagnosis his status was upgraded to a deep thigh STRAIN. OU's treatment of a partial quadriceps tear and a quadriceps strain are virtually the same thing...inactivity. Rest and rehab and doing nothing that a WR does daily in order to help the injury heal...is...from my past injury history (which is sort of lengthy)...fairly standard practice.

Head Coach Bob Stoops called Kelly's remarks unfair. "I don't think that is fair," Stoops said. "A lot of deep tissue injuries take a while to figure out. Our doctors do as good a job as anybody in the country. Regardless of what his injury was, misdiagnosed or not, it was a deep tissue injury. He never played. It isn't like he played a game and re-hurt it. He would not have done anything different than he's done, which is to rest it for a long period of time, which he did, and rehab it." Kelly claimed that had it been diagnosed correctly two days before then he would have been able to play. Stoops said that comment is off base. "He didn't do anything the whole time before we went to the Fiesta Bowl. He didn't practice once," Stoops said. "He didn't practice at the Fiesta Bowl, even though we tried to warm him up. Its not realistic for that injury to heal that fast."

So...apparently Kelly's poor showing for NFL scouts last Wednesday wasn't because he isn't emotionally tough enough to handle a change of location (albeit a different...slower surface) but because the University of Oklahoma coaching and medical staff tried to screw him over. It had nothing to do with the fact that the NFL scouts ordered the change of location (to a surface more in line with the surface at the combine) but that Jerry Schmidt personally tried to ruin Kelly's chances on this particular day. QUESTION FOR YOU MALCOLM. Why would you train on a faster surface instead of one that simulates the surface at the combine? The scouts are going to make adjustments to your time on that surface anyway. Maybe your trainer, Chip Smith, should have worked you out on another surface as well. And maybe by Saturday he had given Malcolm Kelly some good advice. On Saturday morning Kelly was quoted in the Daily Oklahoman as saying, "I can't say I was as prepared as I should've been. I hadn't ever run on that surface as far as my training goes." Other quotes attributed to Kelly in the Saturday paper went like this. "Oklahoma did put me on the field, they gave me an opportunity for scouts to see me on film. So I can't take that away from Coach Stoops. He believed in my ability to go out there and play. I was a Sooner when I got up there and I'll be a Sooner when they put me in my grave." Kelly said his concern at the time he lashed out was for his family and his parent's, who he doesn't want to have to ever work again. Malcom, I understand your  concern. Hopefully you have just become man enough to take the next step. You accepted responsibility for the poor time and the poor training and admitted you went about this the wrong way. Now I can say, Good luck to you.

As for the game. WINDY. A hard steady wind with 30 to 40 mph gusts made it a "not so much good offense" kind of a day. That and the fact that Adron Tennel, DeMarco Murray, Chris Brown were among others who did not participate in the game...or in spring football for that matter. All of the above are recovering from injuries in one form or another so they haven't participated so far. That left three running backs healthy enough to handle the load during the game. Moissis Madu rushed 11 times for 31 yards, freshman Justin johnson carried the ball 20 times for 44 yards and Matt Clapp added a few nice runs at the end of the scrimmage. So the news odf the day from the offensive standpoint was passing, passing and more passing...and it was almost all of it...offensive. Sam Bradford tossed 3 interceptions and 1 TD pass. The QB's on the day threw 6 interceptions and had 3 of those returned for touchdowns. It would have been four but Bradford...apparently not having learned from the Texas Tech game...made a bone jarring tackle (his own) after one of his interceptions. ON the day Bradford went 12 of 25 for 191 yards on top of the other previously mentioned numbers. Joey Halzle, Keith Nicol and Landry Jones combined to hit on 9 of 33 passes for 112 yards, 2 touchdowns and three interceptions. Madu had 6 receptions and was the only player to record more than 2 catches on the day. Jones impressed me with his arm even if he did only complete 1 of 5 passes. Three of the incompletions were drops and his one comjpletion was a 50 yard TD . While the wind was obviously a factor in the offensive play the defense stepped it uop a looked very good.

Losing Curtis Lofton, Reggie Smith, Marcus Walker, Lewis Baker and a host of others from the Sooner defense was cause for concern going into this year. Well...start looking out for these names. Dominique Franks...picked off 3 passes and returned one of them 57 yards for a TD. Brian Jackson and Jonathan Nelson who took a Keith Nicol pass 81 yards the other way for a score. Sam Proctor and Lendy Holmes combined for 19 tackles on the day from the safeties positions.  Jackson broke up passes all day and tipped a ball that DE Alan Davis picked off. DT's Gerald McCoy and Demarcus Granger continually plugged holes on the inside giving the D line a strong showing on the day. This is great considering All Big 12 DE Auston English didn't dress. As for the linebacking...Curtis Lofton and Lewis Baker have moved on and it is now time for Ryan Reynolds, Austin Box and Keenan Clayton to take over. Clayton is a safety who has been transformed into a linbacker during his redshirt sophomore season. He didn't think he played very well during the Red-White game but he was the one player that Stoops and defensive coordinator Brent Venables singled out as having an excellent day.

Special teams were minimally effective and a lot of that had to do with the wind. Incoming kicker Jimmy Stevens kicked 3 field goals in 3 attempts  and made 4 extra points. The punting game struggled all day due to the wind factor.

So...all in all..with many key players absent...it was a decent enough game but the sun being out and being surrounded by family made it a special day. The Sooners should be formidable when they get key personnel back and if the performance of the defense is any indication of things to come. So...lets play some football.

And the little guy...my grandson...was eventually hospitalized when I was in Oklahoma picking up my wife. Seems he picked up Salmonilla poisoning in Mexico. But, after a few days in the hospital getting antibiotics through an IV he started this week back at home...where my wife and kids and grandkids are now all at home...safe...and for now...sound. So...a weird and whacky week...turned out alright after all. 

Andy Roddick helped eliminate France from Davis Cup play this past weekend. Actually, as well as Andy is playing...the French helped. Seems their number one player figured Andy was too good for him...so they played someone else against him. Roddick hammered Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 for the deciding victory in a best of 5 quarterfinal match.  Richard Gasquet, France's top player, begged out of the match. "He felt Roddick was playing too good for him and he probably had no chance," French captain Guy Forget said of Gasquet. Guess what Richard...conceding someone was playing too good for you...and saying you "probably" had no chance...spells out quitter. Unless someone tells me that you were too injured or ill to compete then I wouldn't want you anywhere near my team...especially if you were the best I had to offer...and second best at least put forth an effort. PLease tell me there is a real reason for begging out of the match with Roddick. I haven't jumped all over the French are this or that bandwagon...but I'm starting to think...well...maybe those negative comments ain't all that far off.

And that's the bottom line...

Boomer Sooner!!!

College football is here and I'm lovin' it. I'm lovin' it because I get to read a lot of great posts about who is doing this...and why this team is this...or that team is that. I'm lovin' it because it means I get to spend a week of quality time with my dad with no interruptions from the rest of the clan. I'm lovin' it because for the first time in a few years the Oklahoma Sooners...are blowing the doors off of their opponents in the early part of the season. I fully understand that it is only two games into the season. I fully understand that there may be a high school team or two in the country who could give North Texas a run for their money (at least that is the consensus of some Sooner detractors). I fully understand that the Miami Hurricanes aren't the Miami Hurricanes of the 1980's and that they are on the comeback trail. However, after watching the Sooners of the past few years play down to the competition (and once below it) in early season games...it is good to see them crushing teams like they are supposed to...when they are supposed to.

Hammering North Texas 79-10 gave the Sooners some confidence at positions that were questionable, at best, heading into the season. Starting the year with a redshirt freshman, Sam Bradford, at QB, the loss of their most proficient DE's to graduation, and the loss of their two primary linebackers...along with Adrian Peterson's departure for the NFL left many questions for the Sooners. Bradford opened up strong with a 21-23 for 363 yards and 3 touchdowns against North Texas. DeMarco Murray answered questions regarding the loss of Peterson (and Peterson's projected replacement Allen Patrick) with a 5 TD performance. The DE's and linebackers pressured all day. But this was against North Texas. Who cares? Well, the Sooners did. And all of the neighsayers said "Wait until they play Miami!" They'll get a true test against that defense. We'll see what OU has after that game."

Well...! Miami's defense...had a tough time on Saturday. The redshirt freshman at QB was 19-25 for a paltry 205 yards. Yea, but he ripped the Hurricanes for 5 TD passes. So for two games he is 40-48 for 568 yards and 8 TD's. Not bad! Allen Patrick finally carried the ball this year. After sitting out the North Texas game he carried the ball 7 times for 47 yards. Chris Brown returned from a team suspension in the North Texas game and carried the ball 15 times for 42 yards. The big gun again for the Sooners was Murray who added 15 carries for 64 yards bringing his season total to 32 carries for 151 yards and 5 TD's. Malcolm Kelly caught 4 passes for 102 yards and 3 touchdowns. Yardage wise this game was no where near as out of control as the North Texas game was. Miami's defense had its hands full all day with multiple looks in plays and personnel from the Sooners. Five different Sooners carried the ball against Miami and eight different Sooners caught passes from either Bradford or his backup, Joey Halzle, who played the end of the game and completed a 61 yard scoring pass to Adron Tennell. The point here is that as good as Miami's defense is...the Sooners could throw out relatively fresher bodies all day. Their OL handled the Hurricanes D line all day with the exception of Calais Campbell recording his first sack of the season. It took its toll on the Hurricanes defense. The Hurricanes offense had issues of its own.

I commented before this game how Miami worried me because of their defense. Their offense didn't concern me for two reasons. Their QB, Kirby Freeman was 9 for 21 the previous week and I didn't expect much more than that against an Oklahoma defense that is young...and loaded...and getting better. The second reason Miami's offense didn't bother me was that as well as they ran the ball a week ago against Marshall...this week they were playing Oklahoma. Bragging...arrogant...realistic!!! It has long been a point of contention that Miami's strength is their defense...NOT their offense. With Freeman at the helm against Marshall it was up to Javarris james and Craig Cooper to rush for 215 yards in that game. Relying on more of the same against the Sooners helped the Sooners actually. They held the Hurricanes to 54 yards on the ground and limited Freeman and his QB partner, Kyle Wright to a 10 for 23 day for 82 yards and a touchdown...which came after 2 pass interference penalties against OU and a fake field goal. This was late in the second half and OU was up 21-3 at the time. And while I am lamenting Miami's struggles on offense it wouldn't be fair to take away any of the OU thunder on defense. Miami's field goal in the first quarter was the result of an absolutely horrible snap on a punt that sailed 2 yards over the hands of OU's punter and was finally recovered by him on the 8 yard line giving Miami a first and goal on the 8. Four plays later they had to settle on a field goal by Francesco Zampogna to get on the board. Within minutes of that score OU's Reggie Smith returned a fumble by James 61 yards for a score. OU took the ball on the second half kickoff and proceeded to lose it on a Chris Brown fumble resulting in Miami's last score of the day...another field goal. Roughly 5 minutes later Bradford hit TE Jermaine Gresham for his second TD of the year and the Sooners started pulling away from Miami at this point.

So, after two games the Sooners are looking very, very good. Not so much because of who they played and beat...but how they played them and beat them. When playing inferior competition in any sport you are supposed to win...and win big. The past few years OU has not done that. This year they have while others have not. They have racked up 1,079 yards in offense and given up 386. As I was informed last week...232 of it was in passing yards to North Texas. What my informer neglected to mention was that most of it was in the second half when OU had 3rd and 4th string guys on the field on defense. But I digress. They have outscored their opponents 130 - 23. Their defense has scored as many touchdowns as they have had scored on them. Yes...it's early and we have a long way to go. Let's us Sooner fans enjoy the ride as long as it lasts and hope coach Bob Stoops keeps the guys focused. If his comments this week are any indication...he will.

When asked about them getting cocky and overconfident Stoops had the following comments.

"This group has always been so good about their attitude and their habits and not being that way," Stoops said. "I'll mention it, but I don't believe it'll be a big deal. They understand that we've got a long year in front of us." 

When asked about his team Stoops offered up this statement.

"I've always felt like we've got the chance to be a solid and really good football team, but I always feel the year is about building and getting better as you go through it," Stoops said. "So it doesn't matter where you start. You've got to improve as you go through the year. I feel we're on schedule or about where I hoped we would be."

Accurate statements if you plan on playing for the big prize at the end of the year. Especially with teams like LSU and USC and, of course, Texas in the way (not to mention some others who are yet to be identified).

We'll see how accurate he is when the Sooners take on the Utah State Aggies this week. The Aggies are 0-2 coming into this one but have had the lead in both games going into the 4th quarter and lost it. Against Wyoming last week the Aggies were outscored 15-0 in the 4th quarter in a 32-18 loss and in the opener against UNLV they led 10-9 going into the 4th quarter and lost 23-16. Their QB is Leon Jackson who handles the punting duties as well. Their leading receivers are WR Kevin Robinson and RB Curtis Marsh who have 8 catches each while the rest of the team has 14 catches in total. On defense they have FS Antonio Taylor who leads the team in tackles with 25 in 2 games and LB Devon Hall who returned a  third quarter interception 38 yards for a TD last week. He had a 65 yard fumble return against Boise State last year.  It will be interesting to see if the Sooners keep up the intensity and continue to play at the level THEY SHOULD play at...the same one they seem to have finally realized they should play at.

And that's the bottom line...

Go SOONERS!!!