“A very reliable source close to the OU BB program told me yesterday TMG is gone. He packed his bags and unless Capel can talk him out of it our PG for the future has left the building, I trust this source 100%.  The rumor hit the message boards yesterday, folks thought maybe it was for Spring break but he has left the school. TMG threatened Capel after he signed TMG wanted to be paid and Capel refused. TMG told Capel he had friends that were being paid to play D-1 ball. Capel’s response was I am not paying Blake Griffin why would I pay you? TMG called him back a few days later and agreed with Capel.”

If this is true, and Gallon is also out, we start over. But, I don’t want guys like this in our program, no matter how good they are. Looks like Capel may be learning the same lessons that Stoops had to in 2005. Selfish players will wreck your Program.

My God, Capel has no control over this team whatsoever. This is 2007 offseason Texas football levels of embarrassing. You can’t let a half dozen bad apples spoil a bushel of 10 apples…that analogy sucked balls, but you get my point.

If this is substantiated, and I fully expect it to be, Gallon needs to be sent packing with no questions asked. Capel needs to be informed that he has exactly one year to get this tailspin under control. I don’t expect a turnaround that leads to a NCAA tourney berth, but I would like at least plausible levels of discipline.

Do I think the report is reliable? Absolutely. Capel recruited a bunch of me-first types whose egos far exceed their talent, and he failed to realize he lacked the ability to lead them, coach them, or do anything with them.

Ironically, coloradoag and I were just discussing that maybe OU needed to go Calipari on this and just buy ourselves a solid AAU team. Little did I know that Capel and Gallon were one step ahead of me. Touche. Thanks, Jeff, for adding insult to injury.

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.

That is the collective record of perennial powers UNC, Uconn, Arizona, UCLA, Indiana and Oklahoma. Maybe that’s why I just couldn’t get that interested in this college hoops season. I like the big powers in CFB and hoops. I root for the blue blood programs, except maybe UConn (‘cause them’s Yankees).

The problems at Indiana left behind by the cheater are well documented, but should it be taking this long for them to get better? The Big 10’s a salty basketball league but how does Indiana lose 10 in a row?

Will we ever know what really went down at Arizona leading to the “retirement” of Lute Olson. Clearly there was something wrong in the program and it must’ve had to do with him. That, not UCLA, has been the premier program in the west since 1985 and the wheels have fallen off badly.

UCLA with a losing season in a crappy Pac-10? Dogs and cats must be sleeping together.

You can blame the OU season on injuries, but this team was average before Warren went down. Capel had a bad year. He’ll get better but he didn’t do a good job engaging this team. Their effort on the defensive end, even at home, just wasn’t there and was ultimately the reason for the record.

Debate?