Category Archives: Sports

College Football, Commentary, Oklahoma Football, Oklahoma Sooners, OU Football

Sooner Coaching Legend Bobby Proctor

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Bring up the name Bobby Proctor to long time OU football fans and you’ll hear words like intense, gritty, fierce, intimidating, and motivating.  Ask Bobby Proctor to describe himself and he would tell you he’s blessed.

From his playing days through his coaching career, Proctor experienced a series of life defining moments that he looks back on now with both fondness and wonder. Nothing came easy for the Arkansas native, but in the end he’s had an excellent ride.

 

The first twist of fate that started him on the road to a life in college football occurred when he had completed junior college in Texas and was ready to continue his playing career at Wyoming, hundreds of miles from anywhere he’d ever been, because they had called and offered him a chance to play.

“I was hitchhiking back from Galveston, TX and a couple picks me up and they asked me where I was going to school,” said Proctor. “When I said Wyoming, the lady told me they just let their coach go. So I get back to school and talked to our coach and he said (Bowden) Wyatt wasn’t fired, he’s going to Arkansas. I get a call about two weeks later and Wyatt said ‘do you want to come to Arkansas? I’ll give you a scholarship’.”
“All my life, I grew up in Arkansas, dreamed about going to Arkansas. Hell, I couldn’t wait to get there. It all works out in a pattern sometimes. But that was the biggest change that’s ever happened to anybody.”
Proctor stayed on at Arkansas and became a graduate assistant, working with the freshman team. One of his pupils there was none other than Barry Switzer.
“Go back longer with him than anyone else,” Switzer said. “When I was a freshman at the University of Arkansas, the first coach I reported to was Bobby Proctor. He was my freshman coach and I have had a relationship with him for 60 years.”
Before that relationship would become a working one, Proctor had to wander through the proverbial coaching desert, making stops at several beleaguered programs along the way. In the next 18 years he was an assistant at Tennessee (for Wyatt), Georgia, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt – with a six week interruption to take a job at Memphis State before returning to Vanderbilt, where he was left jobless when the staff was removed in 1972. Just when it appeared that Proctor was headed to another downtrodden program, fate intervened again.
“I’ll never forget watching the Sugar Bowl (between Oklahoma and Penn State) and I told my wife ‘wouldn’t it be a great thrill to be able to go to Oklahoma and coach’,” Proctor said. “I was getting ready to go to North Carolina to visit for a job and (OU assistant) Billy Michaels called me and said ‘Switzer wants to talk to you’ and I said don’t hang up. In the meantime, Switzer called me and said ‘we need a secondary coach, you were recommended, so come out and visit’.”
Switzer had just taken over for Chuck Fairbanks and actually planned to offer the job to then-Nebraska assistant Warren Powers until the new Sooners head man found out his new team was going to be slapped with a major probation.
“I called Warren and told him not to come,” said Switzer. “I couldn’t let him walk into this situation. So then, I called Proctor and told him, we were fixing to go on probation, but you’ve got a job here coaching the secondary if you want it. We’ll be on probation for a couple of years. He said ‘I’ll be there in the morning. Coaching at Vanderbilt is like being on permanent probation’. I laughed about that for years. At that point and time, being at Vanderbilt really was like being on permanent probation.”
“I had never been on winning football teams very much. It was just a new life for me, it was a new life for my family,” said Proctor. “When I was inducted in the Hall of Fame in Arkansas, I told Switzer ‘Coach, you changed my whole life. You could have hired anybody in the country. My family and I thank you.’
“When I left Vanderbilt, I made a statement that going from Vanderbilt to Oklahoma is like going from hell to heaven,” Proctor said. “What I mean was at Vanderbilt we had five defensive backs that had to rotate. Going to Oklahoma, we had three deep. That makes it a lot easier to coach.”
Besides the step up in the caliber of athletes and competition, Proctor also encountered some else a coach of his upbringing wasn’t quite ready for. He soon realized that times were changing and he had to grudgingly change with them.
“At Vanderbilt, they couldn’t have long hair, mustaches, nothing. I was really strict,” said Proctor.” So I get to Oklahoma and some of ‘em got mustaches, some of ‘em got Afros and one day after practice I told my wife “I believe I’m gonna join them. I’m not gonna join the other side.” And Switzer kinda talked me into one time going with an Afro. It didn’t take me long to realize that just because a kid had a mustache, long hair or Afro, it didn’t mean they weren’t good young kids and good football players. “
Proctor prowled the sidelines with a ferocity that was ramped up even more during practices, which were open to the public and media during his coaching time. He struck fear in the hearts of first year players who would become his staunchest allies as they grew older.
“He was fair but tough,” said Switzer. “He was as tough on first teamers as he was on third teamers. He ate everybody out.”
One of the players that drew Proctor’s wrath was future NFL defensive back Darrol Ray.
“First game, freshman year, pregame, hour and 20 minutes before kickoff, we’re out just to do a light warm-up. It’s about a hundred degrees so it doesn’t take much to get started. I notice that there’s probably 10-15 thousand fans but they’re closer to where we are working out,” Ray said. “We’re just going through the line, helmet and shoulder pads, I get my chance and dig in, kind of run into a guy, and then the wind changes. I looked up and this guy is running at me, grabs my facemask and says ‘you’ll never play here!’ He’s gripped my helmet with both of his hands and he’s shaking it back and forth, so I flipped it off and let him have it. And he says ‘get out there and hit somebody’. I’m thinking holy cow, what happened, we don’t even have our pads in yet.”
“So I go to the end of the line and Jerry Anderson comes up to me and says ‘don’t worry about it rookie, he picks on one every year. You’ll be alright’. As I look in the stands, there’s people dying laughing because Bobby Proctor has picked out his new whipping boy for the year and I happen to be him. That’s the fall of 1976.”
After being shell shocked that day, Ray began to understand the method of Proctor’s madness.
“I notice the first game of my junior year, I was team captain, and he got somebody by the face mask and I notice some of the same old crowd was there that had been laughing at me two years earlier and they’re laughing at the new guy and I’m the one that has to go up and calm him. There’s the full circle on Bobby Proctor.”
Now, 35 years later, Ray laughs about a photo with Proctor hanging on the wall of his Lindsey Street barbecue restaurant that bears the caption “You’ll Never Play, Ray.”
Proctor also became famous for a phrase that both he and Switzer would both shout at the top of their lungs when a defensive player had a chance to intercept a pass. You could hear “Oskie” over the noise of the crowd and see Proctor jumping up and down, imploring his team to turn things around. Just where did that phrase originate?
“General (Bob) Neyland (legendary Tennessee coach) made up ‘Oskie’,” Proctor said. He was a great guy. When I was at Tennessee, he would come out and sit all day. He would say ‘Oskie wow wow’. Go from defense to offense. When I was at Arkansas, we would call it Oskie, but when I went to Tennessee, I realized where it came from.
Proctor Tennessee
After 19 years at OU and 37 years as a college football assistant, Proctor was unceremoniously dumped by Gary Gibbs in what led to legal action and a bitter split. One year from having tenure at OU, Proctor eventually received a legal settlement after suing the school and hard feelings persisted for a time. But his longtime friend Switzer helped him realize that once again, the sudden change of direction would turn out to be beneficial.
“When Gibbs fired me, Switzer told me ‘You will learn how to live. You’re gonna be home Thanksgiving. You have a chance to be with your kids’,” Proctor said. “I didn’t realize what it meant. But after a year or so, I did. You can’t coach the rest of your life. I’m still close to him (Switzer). He invites me to most of the things they have. I’m still a part of it. It’s really been enjoyable. I learned to get out and enjoy myself.”
These days, Proctor keeps a home in Norman but spends a great deal of time in his trailer at Soldier Creek on Lake Texoma, fishing until his heart’s content.
Proctor fishing
“They call it the redneck trailer because the deck’s worth more than the trailer,” said Proctor. “I get to come down here and stay and my son, Scooter, has a trailer down here and we fish a lot together and with the other two boys. One night we caught nearly a hundred stripers, the four of us. Scooter got one that weighed 22 pounds and I got one 19 pounds. I have a boat, we go out some. I used to sit down here in the spring and out of 30 days, I’ll spend 20 days and fish then go back home. I really enjoy it. We’ve met lots of good people down here.”
When he looks back at the twists and turns his life took during his football career, Proctor still can’t help but shake his head in amazement.
“Sometimes, I think I’d like to sit down and write a book about all the places I’ve been and all the things I’ve done. It’s unbelievable how you end up,” Proctor said. “It was a great run. I always look back and say we won’t take a back seat to anybody. We had three national championships- played for six and won three. I hope Coach Stoops gets the same thing, because he’s a great guy, he’s done a great job.”
“All the kids and grandkids are all right here. I’ll be 85 in November.  Switzer called me and said, ‘Doctor, we’re in overtime’. I said maybe it’ll last, like Arkansas had five overtimes one year. It’s a good life, good people. I can’t wait for football season to start. “
(Content updated from original story in Sept. 2014 issue of Sooner Spectator magazine)
College Football, Commentary, Oklahoma Football, Oklahoma Sooners, OU Football

WHICH TEAM IS THE GREATEST IN OU FOOTBALL HISTORY?

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It’s highly unlikely that the 2014 Oklahoma Sooner football will make it to the National Championship Playoff, let along qualify as one of the greatest teams in OU history.  But since this is the 40th anniversary of the 1974 national title squad, I thought it would be fun to go back and revisit which teams should be on the top five list of all-time greatest in history.

For the purpose of this discussion, you have to narrow the field and even trying to do that will start a few chat room arguments. First of all, we’ll limit the choices to undefeated teams, and that in itself will start a fight with devotees of the 1985 squad, which won the National Championship, but lost in the regular season to Miami.  The key word in this analysis is TEAM and that means performing on a high level for every game of the season.  If you want to talk about the most talented squads in history, that may be another story.

We’ll start with the 1949 team, which went 11-0 and posted five shutouts, including a 35-0 rout of LSU in the Sugar Bowl. Despite a dominating year in which they outscored opponents 399-88, OU wound up second in the national polls, behind Notre Dame.  Looking back, that snub seems amazing, given the fact that the unblemished season extended OU’s winning string to 21, a string that would be extended to 31 games with a 10-0 regular season in 1950, only to be snapped in the Sugar Bowl by Kentucky. Ironically, the Sooners did win the national title that season, as voting was done prior to the bowls.

The 1949 team featured Darrel Royal at quarterback in the split-T and the introduction of the Oklahoma 5-2 defense that became the standard for all levels of football in years to come.  The closest anyone came to the Sooners that season was a six-point decision in the Red River Shootout over Texas. Bud Wilkinson’s squad also took a seven-point win over Orange Bowl bound Santa Clara, but after that, no one came within 20 points of OU. Besides Royal, Leon Heath, George Thomas, Stan West, Wade Walker and Jim Owens were named All-American and Wilkinson was named the National Football Coaches Association Coach of the Year.

Any of Wilkinson’s mid-50s undefeated teams could be included in the comparison, but the 1956 squad makes the list for their sheer dominance over opponents.  They blasted their first three challengers 147-0 and went on to post six shutouts in 10 games.  Included in the carnage were a 47-0 win over Texas, a 40-0 pasting of a Notre Dame team that would end the record 47 straight win streak the following year, and a season ending 53-0 thumping of Oklahoma A&M.

Mercifully for the rest of the teams in the nation, the Sooners did not play in a bowl game, but were declared National Champions after outscoring the opposition 463-51.  Future NFL stars Tommy McDonald and Jerry Tubbs captured the Maxwell and Camp Trophies, as the top offensive and defensive players in the country, and they were joined on the All-American teams by Bill Krisher and Ed Gray.

Likewise, their predecessors in 1955 belong here for extending the streak to 30 games and being the only one of the three teams in the mid-50s to play in a bowl game.  Like the team the following year, they allowed less than six points per game. Bo Bolinger and McDonald were All-Americans and the Sooners got revenge on the guy who left OU after one year to make way for Wilkinson, Jim Tatum.  Tatum’s Maryland team was proclaimed by some as the ‘greatest team of the era’ but they soon found out who the real boss was.

The 1974 undefeated Associated Press National Championship team can certainly lay claim as being the best in Sooner history. Racking up staggering rushing numbers with Joe Washington leading the way, Barry Switzer’s first national title team was a dominant force that few outside of Oklahoma saw due to probation that banned the Sooners from television  broadcasts. Only Texas was able to play OU within a touchdown and three times the offense posted more than 60 points in a game. Eight Sooners made All-American, led by future NFL Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon and brother Dewey.  Other stars on the team included Washington, Tinker Owens, Rod Shoate, Randy Hughes and Kyle Davis, all of whom would go on to have lengthy NFL careers.

Fast forwarding to 2000, that team takes a slot in the top five for their amazing precision on the march to a national crown. Not regarded as a national contender in the preseason, Bob Stoops second OU team quickly opened eyes in the early season.  Like this year’s squad, they were extremely dominant through the first eight games, including a 63-14 destruction of Texas that was similar to last month’s humiliation of the Longhorns.   There were close calls at Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, as coaches tried to disguise the shoulder injury to quarterback Josh Heupel, who gamely fought through the pain and another narrow win over Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship game.

The climax to the first OU national title in 15 years was a breathtaking defensive performance in the Orange Bowl in a 13-2 win over Florida State.  The Sooners shut down Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke and finished with a school-best 13-0 record.  Heupel finished as the Heisman runner-up, while winning the Walter Camp trophy and Associated Press Player of the Year honors. Linebacker Rocky Calmus and kick returner J.T. Thatcher also made All-American teams, and bubbling under the radar was future superstar Roy Williams, who should have made the national honors squads.

Now that we have the lineup, it’s time to rank the contenders.

Number Five -2000

There are probably several OU teams that were not included on the list that have an argument to be ranked ahead of Stoops’ title team. But this team deserves a spot on the list for coming out of nowhere to will themselves to the National Championship. Heupel revolutionized OU’s offense and the defense has to rank among the top five all-time as well.  It helped that no starters were lost to injury all year, an ingredient vital to almost all national title teams.

Number Four – 1955

The second of three straight national title teams gets this slot for the way they finished the regular season – four straight shutouts while outscoring their opponents 166-0 during that stretch, and for continuing on to a bowl game and knocking off number three Maryland, 20-6. That was something their 1956 counterparts didn’t get to do because of an archaic rule that a school couldn’t go to a bowl in consecutive years. Tell that to all the 6-5 teams of today.

Number Three – 1949  

It’s probably a bias against post-World War II football, given the number of older veterans who returned to the collegiate ranks and a bias against the quality of football being played at the time that puts this squad lower on the list. Without television and videotape, it’s hard to compare the players of the time with those of today.  This team holds its place in OU history as the one that really cemented OU’s national reputation in the Wilkinson era.

Number Two – 1956 

The competition gets tough here. In the middle of college football’s longest winning streak, there can be plenty of support for this team as the best all-time. It’s close, but a nod goes to more modern times over the golden age.  I can only hope that Tommy McDonald doesn’t get wind of this.

Number One – 1974

So many stars, so much success. Even though Steve Davis would be number five in talent among quarterbacks on the top teams, he ran the show well on a team with unbelievable ability.  Half of the players on this team made All-Big Eight and almost the same number had outstanding pro careers. Even with a 14-0 season, this year’s squad would be hard pressed to topple Little Joe, the Selmons, Tinker Owens and Billy Brooks, Rod Shoate, Randy Hughes and all the great talent from Barry Switzer’s ultimate squad.

 

 

NASL, NPSL, Oklahoma City FC, Soccer, Sports

OKLAHOMA CITY FC ACADEMY DEFEATS FORT WORTH IN HOME OPENER

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Stephen Cummins and Kevin Cabello scored early goals and Oklahoma City held off a determined second half Fort Worth rally to secure a 2-1 victory Friday night in the NPSL home opener.

Playing through a steady first half downpour, Oklahoma City attacked quickly, with Cummins scoring in the 12th minute and Cabello tallying two minutes later as the home team took a 2-0 lead into intermission.

After being dominated in the opening half, Fort Worth came out of the locker room with a vengeance, putting pressure on Oklahoma City goalkeeper Bryan Byars and finally getting on the board in the 55th minute. But Byars and his teammates help the Vaqueros at bay from that point.

Fort Worth played shorthanded after Tyler Humphrey received his second yellow card at the 63rd minute for protesting a foul call.  Vaqueros coach Mark Snell was also banished in extra time.

Oklahoma City FC Academy men are now 3-0 on the season and will play again Sunday night at Casady School against Tulsa Athletics.  Oklahoma FC Academy women will open the action at 6 p.m. against FC Tulsa Spirit. Tickets for the doubleheader are $5 and can be purchased at the gate.

 

College Football, Commentary, Oklahoma Football, Oklahoma Sooners, OU Football

The Boz – Like A Lost Ball In Tall Weeds

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Another year of announcements for the College Football Hall of Fame has come and gone.  And once again, Brian Bosworth has been snubbed.

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Whatever you think of The Boz and his acting career, his pro football career, his reported PED use and whatever other careers he has pursued, one fact remains.  Brian Bosworth was a helluva college football player.

From 1984-1986, Bosworth amassed 395 tackles, 169 unassisted, 27 for losses. He is the only collegian to ever win the Butkus Award twice, was a two-time consensus All-American and set the school record for tackles in a game with 22 against Miami when they meant something.

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But his college career ended in infamy, first getting suspended for the Orange Bowl after testing positive for banned substances and then embarrassing his team and coach by wearing a T-Shirt that said the NCAA stood for National Communists Against Athletes.

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And for that, he is snubbed by the college hall in favor of people like Joe Hamilton (Georgia Tech quarterback 1996-99) who I don’t remember at all, John Sciarra (UCLA quarterback 1972-75), Leonard Smith (McNeese State cornerback 1979-82) and Wesley Walls(Ole Miss tight end 1985-88).

Thirty years have passed since Bosworth’s “transgressions”.  A pair of foolish incidents involving a 20-year old shouldn’t wipe out a career of excellence.  Time to get over it, college football. The Boz-and Brian Bosworth-belong in your hall of fame.

American Music, College Basketball, Commentary, Jazz, NBA, Oklahoma Sooners, Sports

Five Years Gone But Never Forgotten – Wonderful Wayman Tisdale

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May 15 marks the fifth anniversary of the death of one of the greatest human beings to ever walk the earth.  We lost Wayman Tisdale far too early at the age of 44, but his spirit and love for life stays with us today.

I first met Wayman when he was an awkward teenager at Booker T. Washington High School, yet to develop all the gifts he had been granted.  What a pleasure it was to be able to have a front row seat as he developed into one of the best basketball players in the history of college basketball and as he became one of the greatest ambassadors the state of Oklahoma could have.  His musical talents, which actually were far more developed in his youth than his basketball skills, also became a primary part of his professional life.

Talking to Wayman at OU media day in 1984.
Talking to Wayman at OU media day in 1984.

Although he didn’t have the type of NBA success he may have wanted, Wayman took another road and became a well-respected and much loved jazz musician, working with some of the top performers in the industry.  His smile remained as broad as the ocean and his handshake as strong as his love for his family, his state and his music.

The last time I had a chance to visit in depth with Wayman came just a year before his passing.  He had survived cancer’s first attack and had not yet seen the relapse that was to come.  As always, his spirit was infectious and his grace was immeasurable.

There haven’t been too many bumps in the road for Oklahoma basketball all-time scoring leader Wayman Tisdale.  Since he was a freshman in high school, Tisdale has traveled a fairy tale path – from prep superstar at Tulsa Washington to three-time All-American at Oklahoma, the Olympic team, a decade long pro career and into a post-retirement career as a top-selling jazz musician.

But this past spring, Tisdale experienced one of the few setbacks in his life.  Last may, he fell down a flight of stairs in his home and while doctors were doing X-Rays to determine the damage to his knee, they found a cancerous cyst in his fibula.   Following removal of the cyst, Tisdale had to cancel his music tour and start chemotherapy to treat the cancer.  Once again, it appears Wonderful Wayman has come out on top.

“Everything is great.  I’m pretty much done with the treatments and back out on the road,” said Tisdale. “So I’m feeling great and everything is pretty much behind us.  I had to curtail my touring most of the summer but I was able to go back out this winter.”

Tisdale just completed a Christmas Jazz Cruise in January to Aruba and Curacao and his latest CD, Way Up, debuted at #1 and spent 30 weeks in the top 10 on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz charts.

He still has the infectious smile, the outgoing personality and the easy going nature that made him a fan favorite in Norman while he was becoming the most decorated player in Sooner history and helping to build a budding dynasty for coach Billy Tubbs.  Tisdale was the first player to be named first team All-American as a freshman, sophomore and junior and he holds virtually all of the Oklahoma scoring records.

“It was a long shot when I first went there.  I had a lot of people trying to tell me not to go to Oklahoma, but that didn’t matter to me,” Tisdale said. “What mattered is that I was going to get to play as a freshman and pretty much get the program handed over to me and you just can’t find that anywhere else.”

Tisdale exploded on the college basketball scene and brought OU to prominence
Tisdale exploded on the college basketball scene and brought OU to prominence

 

It was instant stardom for Tisdale, who averaged 24.5 points as a freshman and 25.6 for his three year career.  He led the Sooners within a game of the Final Four on two occasions and built the foundation for Tubbs’ teams that would later on make it to the NCAA championship game.  And he was the leading rebounder for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Gold Medal basketball team coached by Bob Knight.

From there, Tisdale became the number two overall pick in the NBA draft behind Patrick Ewing and went on to a 12 year career with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns that saw him average over 15 points a game and score almost 13,000 points.  In the latter stages of his career, Tisdale released his first musical effort, Power Forward, and showed his teammates and the world that he was serious about a career in jazz after basketball.

He had played the bass in his father’s Tulsa church as a youngster, but when he began to grow and basketball became his calling, Tisdale put music on the back burner.  He still played from time to time, with many people considering it a hobby or a novelty.  However, Tisdale was just as serious about music as he was about basketball.

“Ninth grade, I started sort of excelling in basketball and had to put the bass down then.  Never really put it down completely,” said Tisdale. “I just never really did practice as hard on the bass until maybe my eighth or ninth year in the league, I really got serious about it.”

“I got harassed a lot by (my teammates), you know.  But I knew what I wanted to do, I was focused and didn’t let a lot of people deter me in what I wanted to do.  Sometimes I went overboard because I was spending so much time doing it, but other than that, it was all out of the love.”

The big lefthander released two CDs that were critically acclaimed before he decided to retire after the 1997 season.  Now, Tisdale was making the transition from basketball star that happened to play music to full-time musician.  How was he perceived in his new world?

“Pretty much from day one, they really embraced me on the music side,” said Tisdale. “I guess my sound is so different and so new that it kind of took off right away when they heard my playing. It just been a blessing to come from one world into another and be pretty much successful, so I don’t take that for granted at all.”

Wayman Tisdale OC Pavilion 05 Amy Rogin

“I always wanted to do it and always aspired to do it, and I knew what kind of work it was going to take after being successful at basketball, knew that I was going to have to work just as hard or harder to make it in music, so why can’t I?  That was the theory I used and it just came about.”

“It took lots of discipline.  I listened a lot, too. I listened to a lot of advice.  I bumped my head a lot of times, too, but even though I bumped my head I still took the advice and kind of just went from there and things just started to fall in place after a while.  There’s no substitute for hard work and that’s what I’ve been taught and done the whole time.”

Tisdale has released seven solo albums to date.  In 2002, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame and received the Legacy Tribute Award. He was also nominated by the NAACP as “Outstanding Jazz Artist” for its 2004 Image Awards.

Honoring Wayman with a lifetime achievement award at the Oklahoma Sports Headliner event
Honoring Wayman with a lifetime achievement award at the Oklahoma Sports Headliner event

He has also kept a connection to his home state, commuting from his farm home near Tulsa to his business interests in Los Angeles.  Tisdale and his wife, Regina, have four children and his Tulsa home includes a stocked pond so he can indulge in another passion – fishing – while helping in the garden and horseback riding with his son. Outside of the home, Tisdale regularly takes Tae Bo with Billy Blanks, calling it his new addiction and the best workout since playing in the NBA.

“We’re back home and enjoying the farm life and I’m traveling probably more now than ever,” noted Tisdale.  “Things are just moving right along.”

For a couple of years, Tisdale returned to OU to do color commentary on Sooner basketball television broadcasts, but his music success forced him to give up that job.  He still takes a keen interest in the program.

“My schedule is just really busy, pretty much all year round now, so I wasn’t able to do it.  I really enjoyed doing that.  I loved that,” said Tisdale.  “The program is kind of rebuilding now and it’s getting to where it needs to be.  It still has a long way to go, but it’s a good start and they’ve got some good foundation to do it with.”

A big part of that foundation is freshman center Blake Griffin, who some are touting as the second coming of Tisdale.  Even though Tisdale was the first OU player to have his number retired, he agreed to allow his number 23 to be reinstated so that Griffin could wear it this year.  Griffin is off to a great start, but still has a long way to go to reach the numbers that Tisdale compiled, even though Tisdale hopes the 6-10 youngster can reach those heights.

“I’d rather that he be better than me.  I know that he’s gonna be a great player and I’m going to be wishing him all the best”, said Tisdale. “We need to get him to average about 10 or 15 more as a freshman.  But he’ll be alright.”

And while Tisdale is doing just fine in his latest career, he still would like to stay involved in the sport that gave him a chance to reach a national audience and he took the opportunity to lobby for yet another job.

“You know, I’m interested if the Sonics come to Oklahoma City, I’m definitely interested in working in some capacity”, Tisdale said. “Not as a coach or anything but front office work. Community relations.  I think I’d be good at that.  My face would look good on that.”

It’s hard to believe that it has been 25 years since the smiling youngster from Tulsa showed up on OU campus and put Sooner basketball on the map.  Tisdale plans to keep moving and putting a smile on the face of everyone he touches.  As far as he’s concerned, that’s just part of the plan.

“I think everybody’s life is orchestrated.  We’ve just got to follow the blueprint”, said Tisdale.  “I feel that I’ve been dealt a pretty great blueprint and it’s just been a blur for me.  It hasn’t stopped going since before I got to OU.”

Sadly, there would be no storybook ending to Wayman’s story. Shortly after this interview, the cancer returned with a ferocity that required the amputation of his leg.  Still, Wayman battled back through rehabilitation, but the signs were there that this was a battle he would not win.  Eventually, he succumbed to the disease.

His memory lives on with the Wayman Tisdale Award, given to the top NCAA freshman each year.  And his wife Regina battles on, still cherishing her husband’s memory and struggling to deal with such an enormous void.  We share her memories and we, too, still can’t believe that he’s gone.

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Commentary, Los Angeles Clippers, NBA, NBA Playoffs, Oklahoma City Thunder, Sports

NBA or YMCA? – The Dumbing Down of Pro Basketball

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Of course, things were always better back in the day and you come off sounding like an old fuddy duddy when you bemoan the fundamentals (or lack thereof) in today’s NBA.  But the real basketball purists – Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith –  have had enough. And so have I.

The comedy of errors in the last minute of Oklahoma City’s win over the L.A. Clippers was mind-boggling, especially since a number of them were committed by arguably the best point guard in the league, Chris Paul.  We’ve come to expect unorthodox plays from The Human Torch, aka Russell Westbrook or Dum Dum Number One, according to the Chuckster.  However, when CP3 (Dum Dum Number Two) pulls not one, not two, but THREE bonehead plays in the final minute to help lose the game, it’s time to reflect.

Throughout the years, new things come into vogue.  For a while, it was headbands – still championed by Lebron James and the resurrected Al Harrington.  Then it became shooting sleeves.  And now, apparently, it’s fouling guys taking three point shots. There have been an unprecedented number of fouls committed on out-of-range shooters in the playoffs and an equally unprecedented number of three-and-one plays as well.

Last night, Paul may have flicked Westbrook’s elbow on a likely unmakeable three, but the bigger sin was even coming close enough to get called for a foul. Repeat after me.  You should never foul a jump shooter.  Especially when he is five feet beyond the arc.  You deserve whatever happens when you do.

And I’m not even going to get into the Reggie Jackson bail out, when he ignored the obvious dish opportunity on a three-on-one break and tried to be the hero.  Why Matt Barnes was reaching in made no sense, whether or not it was the worst call in playoff history (Doc Rivers) or if it was the proper call per the suddenly read by everyone on the planet NBA rule book (highly unlikely). It was a stupid play all around.

 

Some people consider the Thunder-Clippers matchup a great series. Right now, I consider it a battle of half wits, which is better than no wits, I guess. The winner of the series?  The team that doesn’t go completely brain dead down the stretch like both have done in games four and five.

College Football, Commentary, Football Recruiting, NFL, Oklahoma Football, Oklahoma Sooners, OU Football, Pro Football

Looking Back – The Discovery of Jermaine Gresham

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The football recruiting trail is littered with the bones of prospects who never reached their potential, but you always like to go back and look at the ones that seemingly rose from obscurity to make it big.

Former Sooner and current Cincinnati Bengals tight end Jermaine Gresham is one of those.  Blessed with size and speed, Gresham rose from a dirt poor background to become one of the top receivers in the game.

But in late 2005, Gresham was just a tall basketball star that was starting to become a major football recruit without much fanfare. It all started with a video, in the days before the Internet had taken over recruiting and it culminated with OU getting a major star. And when I spoke with him, he was not used to all the attention that was starting to come his way. Let’s take a look back at the emergence of Ardmore’s Jermaine Gresham.

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For a town of just under 24,000 residents, Ardmore has turned out its fair share of major college football prospects.  And most of them have been skill position athletes.  But none have possessed the overall God given talents of the latest recruit on the national radar, Jermaine Gresham.

At a shade over 6-6 and currently weighing 232 pounds, Gresham has recruiters ready to beat a path to the Carter County town this fall.  In high school, he has played wide receiver and even some defensive back, but college coaches project him as a tight end in the mold of Tony Gonzalez, Jeremy Shockey or Kellen Winslow, Jr.  Like Gonzalez, Gresham excels in basketball, having scored 39 points in the opening round of the 5A State Tournament this season.  He averaged over 20 points and 10 rebounds a game this year, leading his team to a runner-up finish. Even though he is good enough to play basketball at the D-1 level, Gresham says he plans to play football.

Interestingly enough, Gresham has caught the attention of every major college football program in the country without going through one of the standard rituals that put most recruits on the map.  The soft-spoken star has never attended any school’s summer camp and doesn’t plan to do it this summer, either.  Instead he will work at the high school and re-take several classes to try and improve his overall grade point, hoping to reduce the score he needs on the ACT test.  He took the college entrance exam for the first time in April.

Rivals.com, one of many recruiting sites that engulf the Internet, fueled his nationwide discovery. They posted video of Gresham in action and later traveled to Ardmore to see him in person, and they have now ranked him in their top 100 prospects for 2006.  They currently list 10 schools in the running for his services, including Oklahoma.

Traditionally, OU has had a tough time with the nationally touted recruits from Ardmore.  In the late 80s, Rafael Denson was a highly sought running back who chose Oklahoma State over Oklahoma, and in the 90s, wide receiver Taj Johnson left the Sooner State to sign with Miami, later transferring to San Diego State.  The Sooners may have their work cut out for with Gresham, too, who says he is “wide open” in the recruiting process and will probably not commit to any school in the fall.  He did ask his coach to take him to an OU spring scrimmage, possibly a good sign for the Sooners.

Gresham eventually cast his lot with the Sooners and became a star
Gresham eventually cast his lot with the Sooners and became a star

Gresham claims to have no allegiances to any team, saying he’s just a fan of the game.   Hundreds of letters have been pouring in to his mailbox, and his high school coach, Mike Loyd, says a number of scholarship offers have already arrived.  OU and OSU, along with LSU, Texas, Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa State have made that step, while schools like Notre Dame, Miami, Ohio State and Michigan are also hot on the trail.

One school that Gresham was looking forward to hearing from was National Champion USC.

“It’s kind of surprised me that I haven’t heard anything from them.  Everybody else has stepped in”, said Gresham.

Several days later, the first correspondence from the Trojans arrived.

This is heady stuff for a 16-year old whose coach thought he was just a basketball player when he arrived at Tigers’ workouts a few years back.  Gresham changed that perception with 27 catches his sophomore year, and 56 more last season.  Those who have seen him in person or on tape marvel at his grace and agility.  And he has decent speed for his size, running a 4.6 in the 40-yard dash.

Gresham is also modest in evaluating his own talents.

“I’m not fast, but I’ve got pretty good hands.  Kind of like a T.O. (Terrell Owens)”, says Gresham, in a non-boastful manner. “But I watch everybody and try to pick up things I can use.”

What is frightening is that Loyd believes Gresham has only scratched the surface of his ultimate ability.  Loyd should know a little about what it takes to make it as a big-time college football player.   He played quarterback professionally for six seasons and coached junior college powerhouse Northeastern Oklahoma A&M from 1990-1995, leading the Norsemen to the 1991 National Championship.  There, he produced a number of receivers who went on to star in the major college ranks and NFL, among them former University of Tulsa star Chris Penn.

Loyd says Gresham at this stage is ahead of any receiver he ever coached at NEO.

“Jermaine is athletically better than all those guys.  His upside is incredible,” said Loyd.  “He’s just now started working in the weight room and he’s starting to enjoy that.  He’s strong in the bench and squat and I guarantee he can play at 245 pounds next year, easily.  I can’t think of a receiver I’ve ever had with more potential.”

“Number one, he’s a good guy. He works hard, is fun to coach and fun to be around.

He has a chance for a bright future. He’s wide open.  I’ll sit down and talk to him about the process. He’s just 16 years old and all of this can be overwhelming.  I don’t know if he knows how special he is.”

To make sure that Gresham is prepared for the onslaught of recruiting advances that will intensify as the year develops, Loyd frequently sits down with his star player to map out a strategy for the recruiting process.  He also brought in a couple of former OU stars to talk to Gresham about what to expect as schools try to entice him to join their programs.

Former Sooner tight end and recent Denver Broncos signee Stephen Alexander, heading into his ninth NFL season, recently traveled to Ardmore to give Gresham an idea of what the process is like and what schools will expect of him at the D-1 level. Alexander also talked to the youngster about getting his academics in order and about what kind of attitude college coaches would be expecting. The Chickasha native was accompanied by another former Sooner teammate, J.R. Conrad, who is now a coach with the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz of the Arena II football league.

Gresham quickly became a favorite target for OU Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford
Gresham quickly became a favorite target for OU Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford

All of the attention is apparently having an impact on the young receiver.  Gresham has started to become more serious in his workouts and is starting to build his body in a way that will meet college coaches’ expectations for the move to tight end.  Loyd says Gresham reminds him of a bigger Ryan Humphrey, the former Tulsa Washington two-sport star who was a top tight end recruit by many colleges but chose instead to play basketball and is now in the NBA.

“Jermaine is like Ryan in that he is not a skinny basketball type guy out there.  He’s a football player that also plays basketball”, noted Loyd. ”He has big legs and broad shoulders. He’s going to get much bigger.”

Gresham has always been a marked man on the gridiron, drawing double and sometimes triple coverage.  Despite that, his coach plans to get him the football as much as he can this fall, especially on the short routes, where Gresham can use his size and agility to make yards after the catch.  On the hitch pattern, Loyd says you can expect Gresham to run over his share of cornerbacks, too.  He has averaged over 12 yards per reception on that particular pattern during his career.

Opposing teams won’t be the only ones zeroing in on Gresham this fall.  The nation’s top programs will be vying for an opportunity to have him make one of his five official visits to their campus, but so far, he isn’t giving any hints as to how his top five list will shake out.

“I’m not going to commit early.  I’ll take all my visits and weigh my options”, said Gresham.  I’m just living my life.”

He made that visit to USC and to Miami, but eventually settled on OU, where his Mom could see him play.  After a slow start his freshman year, he exploded with more than 100 catches and 25 touchdowns in his next two seasons.

Gresham showed his athleticism with this TD catch in the BCS title game against Florida
Gresham showed his athleticism with this TD catch in the BCS title game against Florida

The injury bug, which had continue to follow him to college, prevented him from playing his final season and he elected to turn pro, becoming the 21st overall selection in the 2010 draft.  He signed a contract worth $15.85 million dollars, making those hardscrabble days growing up in south central Oklahoma a thing of the past.

Gresham made an immediate impact on the Bengals offense
Gresham made an immediate impact on the Bengals offense

His pro career has flourished, despite more injuries, as he joined fellow Sooner Keith Jackson and another Hall of Famer, Mike Ditka, as the only tight ends to catch 50 or more passes in their first three NFL seasons.  After back-to-back Pro Bowl selections, Gresham saw his workload diminish in 2013 as he split time with rookie Tyler Eifert, but at 6-6 and 261 pounds, he remains one of the most feared targets in the league.

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Commentary, Los Angeles Clippers, NBA, NBA Playoffs, Oklahoma City Thunder

Whose Dynamic Duo is Better? – This Series May Settle The Question

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There are a pair of Batman and Robin’s on the court for the Oklahoma City Thunder – L.A. Clippers NBA Western Semifinal series and the argument rages on as to which duo is numero uno.

On one side, Blake Griffin, third place in the NBA MVP voting, alongside Chris Paul, perennial all-star and arguably the top point guard in the NBA.

On the other side, league MVP Kevin Durant and all-star human dynamo Russell Westbrook, who may be closer to the Human Torch than Robin.

In game one of the best of seven Monday night in Oklahoma City, the combined numbers were fairly close but in the Clippers favor. Griffin and Paul combined for 19-of-30 shooting, 8-0f-9 from three-point range (all Paul), 9-of-12 from the line (all Griffin) for 55 points, seven rebounds and 15 assists. Durant and Westbrook combined for 18-of-33 shooting, 4-of-10 threes, 14-of-18 from the line for 54 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Chris Paul hit his first seven threes on Monday night

Chris Paul hit his first seven threes on Monday night

The big difference in the game was the fact that the rest of the Thunder players combined to score three fewer points than Durnat and Westbrook combined, along with the fact that nobody covered Paul or the rest of the Clippers from three-point range as they hit a whopping 15-of-29.

Griffin and Paul work more in tandem, feeding off each other’s offensive and defensive actions and knowing how to complement (and compliment) each other. Griffin sensed early in game one that Paul had the feeling, so instead of posting up and calling for the ball, he came high and set screens to get Paul free.

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“When somebody’s got it going like that, you just try to stay of the way as much as possible, but also help keep that fire going,” said the Oklahoma City native Griffin.  “In the second half, we were moving the ball so well, but it all started defensively. We just tried to stay out of his way and let him do what he was doing.”

For Paul’s part, as Westbrook put it, “He wasn’t doing anything crazy.  He was just shooting threes.”  Paul didn’t go out looking to have a big offensive game, but  as just took what he was given.

“It wasn’t like I was coming down and making unbelievable shot,” said Paul., “It was because the court was open and I had two defenders on Blake. He puts so much pressure on the defense and BG is such a great passer.”

Clippers coach Doc Rivers described Paul this way.

“He’s just very, very smart .  He sometimes gets in the way with that because he’s thinking so much, but today he was in a great place,” said Rivers. “He played free without thought but when we needed him to, he did it.  I thought his intuition was phenomenal.  He knew we needed a good start and he got one for us.  That’s why he’s just who he is.

After playing a controlled game in the first round series finale against Memphis, Westbrook reverted somewhat to his Jekyll and Hyde ways, hitting most of his shots, but committing some unforced turnovers, six of them to be exact.  Durant missed some chippies that he would normally convert and both he and Westbrook were part of the Thunder’s total defensive collapse.

By the time the Thunder made enough contact with the Clippers to pick up their first team foul, L.A. already had 32 points and there was just over a minute left in the opening quarter.  Durant knows the defense must tighten up.

“We have to get more physical,” said Durant. “I’m not talking about hard fouls, I’m talking about jamming the lane, fighting through screens and not letting guys run free.  We just have to be more physical.”

 

Coach Scott Brooks and his MVP must figure it out before Wednesday night
Coach Scott Brooks and his MVP must figure it out before Wednesday night

It’s not often that you are treated to these type of combos matched up in one series.  If the Thunder’s stars can rally back in game two Wednesday night, the debate on which duo has the o

 

 

 

 

College Football, Commentary, Oklahoma Football, Oklahoma Sooners, OU Football, Sports

Mike Gaddis – Dreams Unfulfilled and a Life-Saving Gift

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Of all the stories in Sooner running back history that begin “If only he had stayed healthy…” the saga of Mike Gaddis’ career is one that is still talked about by OU fans today.  And in terms of the game of life, it’s one that has a happy ending.

Coming out of Midwest City’s Carl Albert High School in 1987, Gaddis was one of the most highly recruited runners in the nation.  At 6-0, 217, he was the prototypical tailback, having rushed for over 3,700 yards and 53 touchdowns in his prep career.   Gaddis grew up as an OU fan and the Sooners had the inside track except for one thing – they ran the wishbone.  So Gaddis jockeyed between his feelings for Oklahoma and the chance to be the next great tailback at USC.

“Bobby Proctor was my recruiter and he used to come pick me up when I was down there for track meets and bringing me over to watch spring practice and give me the grand tour.  Made me feel like I was really a big man,” said Gaddis.  “But even though I was an OU fan, I really wanted to play tailback.  I didn’t want to be a halfback, so USC was in the picture and it really came down to those two schools and the difference was coaching.”

“USC had just hired Larry Smith from Arizona, brand new coach, I didn’t know who he was.  Everything was the same except for the coaches for me.  Obviously, Switzer had been there forever and I signed with OU. And I never looked back after that.”

But Gaddis’ OU career almost ended before it began.  Tiring in early fall workouts, doctors soon discovered what was characterized as a “blood disorder” after running a series of tests.  In reality, Gaddis’ was experiencing kidney problems, even though the coaches and doctors didn’t tell him the whole story.

“They talked to my mother about it and my mother kind of kept me out of it.  Because at that time, to me, I felt perfect.  I didn’t feel any problem.  I felt normal,” Gaddis said.   “Said they wanted to redshirt me, which I was upset about.  I thought I could play that year.  So I sat out that fall.”

The real story of Gaddis’ illness also wasn’t made known  to the public.  Rumors began circulating among the media and fans that Gaddis was just out of shape and not ready to play and that the health issue was a smokescreen to take the heat off of such a highly recruited player.  Many doubted Gaddis would ever contribute at OU.  It took a while before he proved them wrong.

Cleared to play in 1988, Gaddis started slowly before breaking into the lineup midway through the season.  He had his official coming out party in the annual Bedlam Game in Stillwater, matching OSU Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders stride for stride as the Sooners took a 31-28 victory.  Gaddis ran for 213 yards that day, Sanders 215.

Mike Gaddis had his best days against Oklahoma State
Mike Gaddis had his best days against Oklahoma State
“That was a special game because, number one, I was in a car wreck that week and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to play.  So driving up there on the team bus, they still hadn’t really cleared me to play,” said Gaddis.. “We get there and I’m feeling pretty good and the juices are flowing, so there’s no way I’m not playing.  And the option game was just incredible that day.”

It was to be the first of three great games Gaddis would have against the Cowboys, a team that he wanted to punish each time he went on the field.

“Being from Oklahoma, you know what that game’s about and a lot of those kids you play against in high school, so there’s a lot of trash talking throughout the year and lot of trash talking for me with the coaches,”  Gaddis said. “It was personal.  Because I remember how hard they recruited me and then when I ruled them out, they said I couldn’t play.  So I took it personal. I always got up for that game.”

In case you forgot, here are highlights of Mike Gaddis at OU

 

Despite the flashes of brilliance, there were times Gaddis had to come out of the game for a breather, something he thought was normal, but something that was actually a product of his condition.  He found that he couldn’t be the kind of workhorse back that some expected him to be.

“And I didn’t really understand back then and didn’t think about it much.  But I could only carry the ball probably 20-25 times.  Anything over that, I just couldn’t do it.  Physically, I was just done,” said Gaddis. “And it would take me a day or two days to recover.   Everybody else was going out Saturday night, but not me.  I’m going home and I’m crashing. ‘Cause I’m exhausted. I’m in bed all Saturday night, Sunday I drag myself out to go to the meetings, but I’m exhausted until Monday.  But that was normal for me, so I didn’t think anything of it.”

Coaches and fans were excited about Gaddis finally reaching his potential after the sensational finish to the 1988 season, but things were about to be turned upside down in the off season.  Switzer was forced to step down and the Sooners were suddenly on NCAA probation that kept them off of television.  Several players exited in the aftermath and the start of the 1989 season was in turmoil. Following a 6-3 loss at Arizona, it was up to Gaddis to start turning things around.

He ran for more than a hundred yards against Kansas in a conference opening victory, then destroyed Oklahoma State with a 274-yard performance, the fourth-best in Sooner history.  Up next was Texas and Gaddis was ready to start thinking about his Heisman Trophy chances as the Sooners prepared for the annual Red River rivalry.  Sports Illustrated had written a story about him being the best back that no one had seen because OU was banned from television, and he was geared up to make his mark against the Longhorns.

Gaddis had more than 130 yards at halftime but what started out as potentially one of the best running days by any Sooner against the Longhorns turned into a nightmare early in the second half.

“I take a pitch around the left and I’m getting ready to go 80.  I mean it just opens up and that’s going to put me over 200 yards for the game, I’m going to have a 1,000 yards for the season by the end of the game, and I’m thinking, I’m getting ready to win this trophy, that’s why I came here to win a championship and win the Heisman.  I’m Billy Sims. That’s who I grew up wanting to be,” said Gaddis.  “And then boom, just like that –  I put my foot in the ground, my knee gives out, next thing I know I’m rolling on the ground looking up at the sky wondering what in the heck just happened to me.”

Gaddis' Heisman dreams were dashed on the Cotton Bowl turf
Gaddis’ Heisman dreams were dashed on the Cotton Bowl turf
“And even then, when they took me to the sideline, I just felt like it was a sprain.  So I’m like, tape the sucker up and let me get back in there.  Obviously, there like no way, we’re going to wait to see what’s going on.  It was an ACL tear.  I had two guys I grew up watching.  Billy was my main man and then there was Marcus Dupree, so in my mind, Dupree blows his knee out and he’s pretty much done. I’m thinking I’m pretty much done.”

His season ended with 829 yards on just 110 carries – a 7.5 per carry average – in just less than six games.  Gaddis had watched his Heisman dreams evaporate and even though he began rehabilitating, he doubted in his own mind if he could ever come close to being the back he had been.  He could not even return to the field for a year and a half, and as the 1991 season arrived, he was listed as the fourth team tailback.  That might have been the last we heard of Mike Gaddis if not for some comments made by head coach Gary Gibbs.

“I think he said something like we can’t count on Gaddis, something like that.  And he sparked me to want to come back, so I busted my butt that summer, me and Coach (Pete) Martinelli, strength and conditioning coach,” said Gaddis. “What motivates me is when people say you can’t do it.  If I don’t want to play, that’s my decision.  But you aren’t going to tell me I can’t play.  I go to coach Gibbs the day of the article and I’m told him ‘I’m getting ready to prove you wrong because I’m going to come back.   I’m going to make you play me.’”

Gaddis rebounded in his final season to torture the Pokes again
Gaddis rebounded in his final season to torture the Pokes again
Still third-team when the season started, Gaddis finally got his last chance when the two backs ahead of him were injured in the conference opener at Iowa State. He came off the bench to rush for over 100 yards and would up regaining his starting spot down the stretch.  Gaddis reeled off a 217 yard performance against Missouri and tore up his old favorite, Oklahoma State, with his third 200 yard game against them., running for 203 yards on a career-high 35 carries.  He finished the year with more than 1,300 yards and 17 touchdowns, turning down a chance for a medical hardship year to go to the NFL.

A sixth-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings, Gaddis once again saw misfortune strike when he blew out his other knee after securing a spot on the team.  He tried to come back with other NFL teams, but concerns about his kidneys rather than his knees made teams leery of giving him a shot.  It was about the same time that the possibility of kidney failure started to become reality.

“I always believe everything works out for the best and I never second guess.  When I was 18 at OU, they told me that when I was 25, I would probably need a transplant,” said Gaddis. “When I was 27 is when I started feeling the effects. The high blood pressure for no reason and headaches, so I started seeing a kidney specialist and about five years later, it was time to get it done.”

After testing all four of Gaddis’ brothers for a match, doctors selected his brother Brent as the ideal candidate to donate a kidney.  Brent, who had been a basketball player at Southern Nazarene University, spent 10 months in psychological and physical evaluation, while Mike was on dialysis, before the two went to Baylor Medical Center in Dallas for the transplant operation.

“It’s a blessing every year with my brother’s kidney in me.  I haven’t had any rejection.  My body has accepted it”, said Gaddis. “Obviously, I’m on tons of medication so my body won’t reject it.  Because I take so many immune suppressants, I have to be real careful around people who are sick.  Even when my kids get sick, I have to be careful and worry about infection.  Fortunately, I haven’t had any problems and this kidney could last me the rest of my life.”

Gaddis with his family a few years ago, shortly after his kidney transplant
Gaddis with his family a few years ago, shortly after his kidney transplant
“Looking back, you don’t really know how bad you are feeling, because that’s normal to you.  When you know is after I had the transplant.  Then I knew how bad I felt all my life. I never knew you could feel this good.”

Gaddis settled back in Oklahoma City, where he has operated an insurance agency for  more than 15 years.  He has been married to his high school sweetheart, Andrea, for 20 years and they have two boys, Lunden  and Roman .   Gaddis keeps close tabs on the Sooner program and is especially happy for two of his old teammates who are now on college coaches.

“Ol’ Cale (Gundy) does a heckuva job with those running backs. I never thought he would be good running back coach”, Gaddis said.  “But the ball doesn’t touch the ground, they run hard, they’re physical,  I told him he couldn’t coach me, because I was fumbling all over the place.  I had that ball out there like a loaf of bread.  I grew up watching the wishbone.”

“Chris Wilson (now at USC), I played with him. Those guys are doing a good job.  I never saw either one of them as coaches, but who does when you’re playing.  It’s a good way to stay around the game, you’ve got to be patient, they’re in there breaking down tape and getting their guys ready, and then having to listen to the “experts” on the radio second guess every move.  It’s a tough job.  They’ve served their time and put in their dues and I think they’re putting in some serious hours.  I get to go home every day.”

For Gaddis, the thought of what might have been is something that he’s learned to live with through the years.  Despite the injuries and illness, he still managed to carve out a spot among the top ten all-time rushers at OU in what amount to about a season and a half worth of action.

“Just growing up an Oklahoma fan and then having an opportunity to go play at that school that you grew up worshipping and listening to on the radio every Saturday before every game was on TV,”  said Gaddis.  “It was my lifelong dream to go there, but not just go there but actually be able to be a good player there.  My only regret was, there is no way I could know how my career might have turned out.  I thought I could have gotten a couple of Heismans, honestly. When I look back, I never really started a full season.

“I’m pretty proud about that and maybe one day, my kids will really believe I played there.”

 

Commentary, Media, Sports

No Apologies

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The world was in a uproar over a headline in the Daily Oklahoman from Thursday morning that dubbed Kevin Durant as “Mr. Unreliable”. It was perched above a column by Berry Tramel that opined about the Oklahoma City Thunder star’s struggles in the playoff. Newspaper columnists and reporters don’t write the headlines – there’s a whole separate crew responsible for that – but they do suffer the wrath of those headlines from the reading and non-reading public.

That headline went through a three-step approval process and no one along that line, including the top newspaper brass, objected to the two words that rocked the state and the sports nation.  I will have to admit I was surprised to see what was screaming from the top of the Thunder Extra, given that the local paper is usually one of the biggest cheerleaders on the planet and never courts controversy unless it occasionally deals with who is feeding who fried chicken and whether someone is qualified to be a man at the age of 40.

But despite my raised eyebrows, I didn’t see a problem with the headline although I knew the great majority would.  In fact, if it had included a question mark at the end, it would have probably weathered the thunderstorm of criticism that followed.

What I did have a problem with was the apology from Oklahoman Sports Editor Mike Sherman.

Oh, I don’t have a problem with Mike.  I have known him since his days as a cub reporter, have respect for his honesty and dedication, and I even sat next to him at Tuesday’s Thunder-Grizzlies game in OKC. In fact, our kids will probably be attending the same school this fall.

However, one thing you never, ever, ever do in the world of journalism is apologize for a stand you took on a particular story of theme. What it implies is that you don’t have the courage of conviction to stand behind what you believe.  And the apology likely caused the Oklahoman more embarrassment as the day continued than the original headline.  Stick to your guns, take your medicine and live to fight another day.

I’m sure the pressure to apologize came from the top office, after getting a number of calls from advertisers and possibly from one of the Thunder owners who just happens to be the son-in-law of the old newspaper owners.  But this is where the editorial side needed to bow up and say “No, we got this.”

In fact, given Durant’s public response, which was that it was no big deal, and his on court response, which was to throw up a big FU in busting out to a 14 point first quarter en route to a 36 point explosion, the Oklahoman could have taken some credit for his turnaround in the series with a Friday headline saying “I Guess We Were Wrong” (and so was I).

While the newspaper will probably have to scuttle a pending special Thunder edition they were trying to sell in the upcoming weeks due to adverse response to the headline from irate advertisers, at least they were relevant again for a day.

Just remember next time, don’t say it if you don’t mean it.  And own it once you do say it.