While Ketchum’s rankings seemed to be about as arbitrary as one could get, with musings as ridiculous as Jaxon Shipley being the #1 WR in Texas (I’d go with Onyegbule or Metoyer first), it gives me an excuse to talk about where OU is at with recruiting so far. Let’s start by looking at the commits to date:

Trey Metoyer – Best WR in Texas right now. Shades of Michael Crabtree.

Danzel Williams – Unknown who jumped out of nowhere to earn All State Honorable Mention honors as a DB in his first year playing the position (per the FW Star Telegram). Small but very talented athlete.

Chris Barnett – If he’s not the best TE in Texas, he’s 1A with MJ McFarland (aka UT’s next “blocking surface”).

PL Lindley – Isn’t he the stand-up comedian who had his own TV show for about 2 years and is on CNN from time to time? Anyway, looking at his tape, he looks like a Keenan Clayton type SLB/S hybrid.

Jordan Wade – Most underrated DT in Texas, and it’s mostly his own fault. Splits his focus between baseball and football, and he won’t reach his potential until he focuses on one. Sam Bradford was very similar in this regard. He obviously had the tools, but he played golf and basketball at a high level, too.

Kendal Thompson – Son of former Sooner legend Charles Thompson, Junior is a star in his own right. Very solid arm, highly mobile in the pocket. Colt McCoy type, imo, but even I won’t go so far to think he’s that kind of accurate yet.

Kameel Jackson – Dominating every camp and combine he goes to, I’m waiting to see how he does this summer and in his senior year before I get my hopes up, but we may have picked up a steal here. Stay tuned.

Needs:

Offensive Line – We always need OL. If our trend holds, 2 of the 5 OL we just signed will either never play a down or play very limited snaps before moving on. Brey Cook is a fairly good OT out of Arkansas who I haven’t seen a lot of, but he’s got us leading along with Arkie. We’re holding out hope for Westerman or Hagarty, but I’m not overly hopeful. I think we’ll end up going after local products Dylan Dismuke and Garrett Gladd instead.

Linebacker - We need a solid MLB, and Anthony Wallace looks to fit the bill. Of all the recruits remaining out there, Wallace is the biggest need. Tom Wort is a great MLB from all accounts, and Ronnell Lewis is a damned beast. But injuries tend to strike us in waves, and we’re thinner than I would like at MLB.

Kicker – Jeebus, we’re the Charlie Browns of the Big 12. No matter how many times we try, futility is just one more FG try away. We’re a competent kicker away from turning a 8-5 season into a 10-3 campaign or better (missed 3 field goals against Nebraska and lost by 7, missed 1 each against Miami and BYU and lost each by 1).

Thoughts or comments?

2) Recover a small bit of joy at pegging UT for a first round exit after you realize that this is a realistic possibility

3) Rewatch the Sun Bowl

4) Post overlong diatribes needling Huckleberry to come out of his slumber to debate the merits of Google and logic.

5) Follow football recruiting with an overly meticulous zeal resembling the worst parts of stalking

6) Talk to your wife

7) Play with your inner child

8 ) Play with your actual child

Any additions?

Masoli, who had been mentioned as a potential Heisman candidate, will remain on scholarship with the Ducks.” —ESPN

Chip Kelly did say that Masoli does have his redshirt still available should he choose to use it. So, is this a case of a coach making a very gutty decision and putting his QB down for the year, or a cop out in letting him potentially take the redshirt?

It does put the UO season at risk and Kelly is to be commended for putting the long term credibility of the program over one year, and demonstrating that more leadership is and should be expected of the quarterback position than any other. I just wonder if he’s watering down his own discipline by offering the redshirt?

What do you guys think?

Essentially, my existence is a combination of the worst parts of “GOB” Bluth and Michael Bluth.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Trey Metoyer committed to OU. You can never have enough great receivers who can really dominate when the ball is in the air. I don’t see too many guys already on campus who are going to keep him off the field. Stills, Miller, and maybe McCay if he comes along quickly enough. What he said about why he was committing so soon was interesting:

“I wanted to go through the entire process, but I started feeling a great deal of pressure—not really from any of the colleges who offered, but from me not wanting to lead anyone on…I always liked OU, but I wanted to look at other programs and campuses too and enjoy the opportunities.” Metoyer added, “I always knew OU was where I wanted to go and that’s not going to change, so now I can focus on school, my upcoming SAT, the off-season workouts, spring drills, and really just enjoy the summer before my senior year.”

h/t to smoaky.com

He’s still being called “draft-able” by scouts, but the NCAA cost him some money. With a big year, he could’ve worked his way into the 3rd round, maybe even the late 2nd round.

The most impressive things to me about Balogun are 1) that he’s going to complete the four credits needed and get his degree, and 2) that he spent the entire year still participating with the scout team.

More interesting in this situation is the announcement that Balogun is going to proceed in a lawsuit against the NCAA. I’m curious as to what grounds he’s filing under. My guess would be tortious interference with contract. I’m also curious if he realizes how hard the NCAA is going to fight back.

For those of you who’ve forgotten, despite testimony that the websites maintained for semi-pro teams are notoriously unreliable and the sworn affidavits of every single executive member of the semi-pro league in question, Balogun was de-certified for the 2009 season. The NCAA apparently liked the general “take anything on Google as gospel truth” (as did my pal Huckleberry) approach (despite every legal, logical, and experiential concept being to the contrary).

A very good point of comparison is found in the NCAA case with Andy Oliver. After suspending Andy Oliver at the worst possible time prior to the CWS, and doing so on grounds so patently illegal that Barry Switzer would’ve been offended, Oliver filed a suit that the NCAA fought tooth and nail before an Ohio trial court absolutely excoriated the NCAA. A good primer can be found here.

The NCAA’s only real hope is going to be in stalling Balogun indefinitely in appellate courts. Unfortunately, this tactic is devastatingly effective against litigants of limited financial means.

The 2nd Restatement of Torts defines tortious interference of contract as consisting of a party who:

1)Intentionally and improperly interferes with the performance of a contract

2)Between another and a 3rd person

3)By inducing or otherwise causing the 3rd person not to perform the contract (by making it too expensive or burdensome to perform contract)

4)And causing pecuniary loss to the other from the failure of the 3rd person to perform the contract

Intentional and improper? Check. Most courts hold that defendant (NCAA) has to show that there was a legal justification or privilege to interfere with the existing contract. Good luck with that. Between another and 3rd person? Check. Inducing or otherwise causing 3rd person not to perform? OU sidelined Balogun, didn’t they? Causation of pecuniary loss? This one’s tricky. You have to show specific and tangible loss, not just speculative loss.

What’s more speculative than the NFL draft?

UT fan can breathe a deep sigh of relief as the NCAA put a one year hold on what has to be the most hilariously asinine rule proposed by the NCAA in the last 3 months. Yes, I chose that time frame on purpose.

The “coach in waiting” rule that treats a head coach designate just like a head coach would’ve severely limited Muschamp’s ability to recruit this spring. However, in a stroke of jackassery, the NCAA is stating that the rule will be binding after this year. If this rule wasn’t so blatantly targeted at UT, I’d be offended by the stupidity of it. As it stands, I find myself indifferent.

Gresham and McCoy showed up to be weighed and measured. Dom Franks ran a 4.47 40. Keenan Clayton checked in at 6′1″, 229, ran a 4.57 and scored a 10′7″ broad jump. Someone’s going to take a flyer on Clayton in the 7th round or pick him up as a free agent after the draft.

Brian Jackson posted a 4.6 40. Ouch. I know speed was never his forte, as he got abused repeatedly against Texas Tech by a random Hispanic temp worker, but the league has high standards for CB’s.

JR Bryant and Mike Balogun got to work out for the scouts, which is nice. I would’ve liked to see Balogun get his senior year, but hopefully he gets a shot off of the free agent list.

Bradford’s workout is March 25th. Should be interesting.

First, let’s take a look back at the men’s basketball season.

I have a hard time listening to the bitching and whining at Barking Carnival about the “failures” of their extremely young team.  It’s like a guy about to go home and fuck an 8 whining about the fact he’s not going to nail the 10.  Meanwhile, the only way OU fans were going home with an 8 this season is if they nailed four 2’s. 

Breathtaking.

Anyway, spring football is here, and hope finally returns to Norman.

I’d give you an on-site report from practice, but Stoops is, as usual, protecting practices with the fervor that Muslims protect Mecca from the stain of infidels.  So I’ll try to give you a perspective if they open up the spring game.

What we know so far is that Kenny Stills and Tony Jefferson have been impressive in workouts.  The receivers not named Broyles are still trying to put everything together, so Stills could sneak in and get into the rotation. With Jonathon Nelson being moved back to his natural CB position, along with special teams star DeMontre Hurst at the other CB, the SS position is open.  I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Kevin Brent step up and take the job.

Meanwhile, the DL looks to be very strong at DE, with the single most proven rotation in the Big 12.  JaMarcus McFarland and Stacy McGee have been drawing positive reviews on the inside, and Justin Chaisson has been twisted down to DT.  I think he’ll kidnap a spot in the rotation if he can put on about 25 pounds without losing too much speed.  Adrian Taylor is reportedly on schedule with his recovery.  It wasn’t a spiral fracture, so he should be able to get back to 100% physically by the summer.  Getting a gruesome injury like that out of your head isn’t as easily done.

The offensive line learned their lesson from last year and has been putting in very serious effort in the weight room.   This is the same song and verse from the 2006 preseason.  After getting whomped by anyone with talent the year before, the OL figured out they actually do have to work out in the offseason to be ready for the regular season.  Donald Stephenson, suspended for the 2009 season for violation of an anonymous “team rule”, is already expected to take the starting job at LT.  Jarvis Jones and Ben Habern are expected to contribute some in spring practice.  This would be an extremely good sign.  The OL is still the big question mark for 2010.

Landry Jones seems to have improved dramatically after an extremely solid Sun Bowl outing.  Frankly, I think we’re in very good shape, but, much like UT fans ignoring the obvious greatness of Colt McCoy while singing the praises of Gilbert, we’re whistling past the graveyard if we think Jones is on his way to Bradford-esque levels of greatness already.

TE is a position where we can only get better because the position was such a liability last year.  This is a paraphrase of Stoops’ own words from his presser today.

More to come after I get a chance to see some practice footage.

Home games against Florida State, Air Force highlight 2010 OU football schedule

The University of Oklahoma football team will face nine bowl teams in its 2010 schedule. The schedule was released Tuesday morning. Of the nine bowl teams, two — Cincinnati and Texas — played in BCS games.

“We have assembled a schedule that is representative of our tradition,” OU athletics director Joe Castiglione said in a statement. “It features intriguing intersectional games as well as the always rigorous Big 12.”
“We’re also excited about the visit from the Air Force Academy. With Tinker Air Force Base located just a few miles north of our stadium, we anticipate heightened interest in that game. Certainly we are privileged to host the Cadets in Norman.”

Oklahoma will play six games at home, five on the road and one, the annual match-up with Texas, on a neutral field.
The Sooners open with three straight home games. The first takes place Sept. 4 against Utah State prior to a Sept. 11 visit from Florida State and new Seminoles defensive coordinator Mark Stoops, the brother of OU coach Bob Stoops.

OU’s open week falls on Oct. 9.

2010 Oklahoma football schedule

(opponents 2009 record in parentheses)

Sept. 4: Utah State (4-8)
Sept. 11: Florida State (7-6)
Sept. 18: Air Force (8-5)
Sept. 25: at Cincinnati (12-1)
Oct. 2: Texas at Dallas (13-1)
Oct. 9: Open
Oct. 16: Iowa State (7-6)
Oct. 23: at Missouri (8-5)
Oct. 30: Colorado (3-9)
Nov. 6: at Texas A&M (6-7)
Nov. 13: Texas Tech (9-4)
Nov. 20: at Baylor (4-8)
Nov. 27: at Oklahoma State (9-4)
Dec. 4: Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship at Arlington, Texas

Wow. Nine bowl teams is a load, even in an overloaded bowl system. None of them are exactly Middle Tennessee State. Four in a row including two BCS returnees, a traditional power (FSU) and a sneaky good change up of a team. Landry Jones and the offensive line better improve quickly.

Is it manageable? Yeah, it’s manageable. In fact, if you can get through the first 5 at 4-1, not to mention 5-0, and the 1 loss isn’t Texas, you’re in the thick of the national title race.

The Big 12 South schedule has only one game in Norman, but it’s a B12S schedule we’ve won the conference with every time we had it from ’00-’08.

It’s a schedule you can win a national title with. It’s also a schedule you can go 8-4 with. I’m liking 9-10 wins at first glance, and will adjust after the Spring.

Link to Scout Article

Metoyer is reportedly visiting UT for their first Junior Day tomorrow, so we’ll see if he holds out. I think he will, and he’d be a huge get. Scipio has described him as “Baby Crabtree”. Word.