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statsman

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  1. Love it. Like many here, I took Strategy classes in MBA school. My big takeaway about Strategy? You ought to have one. Texas’ is straightforward- use the large SEC media money to make sure the football program is staffed as well and as fully as any program in the country. Leverage a large, successful alumni booster base and a location in a talent rich state (as flagship university) to have one of the nation’s most talented teams. OU, lacking some key attributes that Texas has, is fumbling for a strategy that might work. They keep trotting out variations of “get exceptional coaches that want to be in OK because of…tradition” or “hard nosed players that are just tougher and love the game”. You can tell how bad they are struggling by their boards’ repeated calls for salary caps. (The best is their cries “something has to be done e to fix this”, because, evidently, the world cannot tolerate a non-elite OU)
  2. Agree with posts above- late in the game, defense gassed, no run game, momentum in ASU’s favor, there was one path to victory: Ewers balling out. And then, Ewers balled out.
  3. The Texas A&M fanbase really seems upset about not having targeting called.
  4. Kevin Mar was canned by the PAC for incompetence, and reacted, not by getting better, but by leaning into the role of “provide the league office the result they want”. Post season games just give him the opportunity to display his incompetence
  5. This is a cut n paste of a concert experience I wrote in August 2011, on another board: So, my wife is a big fan of The Kings of Leon. We had seen them twice before, and I thought they were “OK”, but nothing too special. Honestly, I’ve always been annoyed by their lead singer (and main songwriter) Caleb Followill, who I refer to as the Least Engaging Front Man in Rock Music. His stage persona is that of a serious musician seeking an audience worthy of him, and never quite finding it. My wife says that’s his schtick. I think he’s just a jerk. Also, in the two prior shows we saw, the gigs lasted 50 – 55 minutes, with only one encore of two songs each. It’s like they’re union workers and not getting paid overtime. The concert Friday was in the Starplex bandshell in Fair Park. It was as hot as hell, still near 100 degrees as the band took the stage after 9:00. I was not too excited about going, but even less excited about sending my one, true love, the mother of my child, into Fair Park late at night on her own. Knowing I needed to be a responsible driver, I limited myself to just the one 24 oz. beer, leaving me with more clarity than I desired for the show. Two songs into the show, the lead singer (TLEFMIRM) announces (when you read this, sprinkle in a bunch of f-bombs to get the real flavor) that his throat is shot, and he needs the audience to sing along. That’s fine, I thought, the crowd was standing up and into it. Two songs later, he complained that the audience wasn’t singing loudly enough. “Asshole”, I thought. 30 minutes into the show, he changes up. He starts talking about how great the audience is, how we’re the best audience ever. I turned to my wife and said, “This doesn’t bode well” (yes, I do use words like “bode”). Sure enough, one song later, Followill announces he’s going backstage to throw up and drink a beer, following which he will return to sing three more songs (presumably the band’s two biggest hits, “Use Somebody” and “Sex on Fire”, would be included, as they have not yet been sung that night). He then left the stage, followed by his bandmates. The crowd waited patiently. After 20 minutes, half of the “Go Home” lights came on, and “Go Home” music came over the speakers. The audience sat. A few minutes later, two of the band members came out and apologized for the show ending, saying the lead singer couldn’t go on, alluding to the heat. Some fans were upset, but most seemed fairly placid about it. Walking to the car, my wife, knowing my feelings about them, said, “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I smirked. Oddly, this was not our first unexpectedly curtailed concert there. 20 years ago, while dating, we saw a Morrissey concert at the same venue (Morrissey was the lead singer for the band “The Smiths”, known mainly for their hit “How Soon is Now?”). That show ended an hour in, when overenthusiastic fans stormed the stage, and swarmed Morrissey. Nobody could really fault him for ending that one early. The next day, word came out that the main reason for Followill leaving the stage was that he was too drunk to continue (the heat probably contributed). Supporting an exhaustion fiction, the Houston show scheduled for Saturday was postponed. Yesterday, word was released that there would be a makeup show in Dallas, and we could re-use our tickets. My wife is excited, because she is convinced they will really try to a great show this time (I’m expecting them to do their greatest “Don’t give a crap” performance ever, myself). I would just as soon stay home, but…love of my life, mother of my child, late night, etc.
  6. I was pondering that the other day- with no portal, what would Texas have done for a QB if VY hadn’t been signed (with skills and talents that forced change on the offensive scheme)? We had Chance Mock and Matt Nordgren. Would we have signed McNeal or McGee instead of the Ags? Someone else? I can’t see that team, built for a NC at every other position, doing better than 10-1 (sure as shit weren’t beating the Buckeyes) in the RS and 11-2 overall (if they made the BCS NCG, which would be iffy). In other words- a typical peak Mack Brown team. Well, we did sign VY, the 2004 attempt to move him to WR didn’t work, and we did get the NC. To hell with hypotheticals.
  7. On the above podcast, they describe Curtis Lofton’s job as OU GM- a player wants more money, so they go to him for help. Lofton then sits down and reviews the player’s aid, and the player’s expenses, and gives him advice on better budgeting.
  8. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/oklahoma-sooners-unofficial-40/id1114209557?i=1000682173444 This is great. The podcasters are openly wishing Venables would resign, naming assistants they want gone…openly comparing Venables to Charlie Strong… It’s hilarious, because at this point in the season cycle, all the negativity does is turn up the heat on Venables, and make it harder to recruit and hire.
  9. I will say, since the theme of the post is that Sooners shouldn’t contribute to their collective until big program changes are made, and they missed the chance to make such changes for another ten months, I support the message. (Also, it sure isn’t a shock to hear about Switzer involved in a grift)
  10. https://www.on3.com/boards/threads/1chokelahoma-collective.1696940/ I don’t know enough to comment, but this is from a Sooner post:
  11. Brent Venables is actually executing the Bob Stoops Program Plan, and not doing horrible at it, but the framework of college football has changed. OU always recruited players with potential and then put them in a crucible to turn them into elite players. That worked when there were high barriers to player movement. Now, there aren’t barriers to movement, plus there are now large overt enticements to change teams. The Stoops Method doesn’t work. As Dan Lanning said, your most important recruits each year are your current roster. It’s too late for Venables to adjust. The OU AD screwed up in giving him a real extension last year (instead of the fake extension where the term is lengthened but the buyout doesn’t go up), after sufficient evidence was already in that Venables couldn’t retain his roster.
  12. I don’t know that Royal would hate the game now. Royal was all about his players taking advantage of their opportunities to succeed in later life, therefore his emphasis on academic support and disdain for players selling themselves to shitty schools for short term payouts. He might like this era where a player can start to leverage his abilities into a real start in life, to go with an education.
  13. From the “London Calling” album. If someone were to ask me, “Why was ‘The Clash’ referred to as ‘the only band that matters’, this is what I would point to. I don’t really know a lot about music. I just know- this song is great. It wasn’t a hit; I don’t care. I doubt it could have ever been played so much on the radio as to make me tire. It’s a shame that when you ask Alexa to play “The Clash”, you keep getting “Rock the Casbah” and “Should I Stay or Should I Go”. Instead, ask for “Hitsville in UK” or “Police On My Back”. (Or anything from their original self-titled album, which is the best example of punk played by people who know how to play their instruments). (Also- Elvis Costello’s “Beyond Belief” is sneaky great)
  14. From a SoonerScoop post from a regular fan, explaining why Zac Alley wants to part ways with OU. Probably not true, but worth posting anyways, for its literary qualities…
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