Stooping to a new low at OU - Part Deaux

Weren't all of us OU fans excited about the 2014 season?  We ran roughshod over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and most of the starters were returning for this season.  Surely this wouldn't be another season of starting out unbeaten for five or six games and then stumbling by being out-coached and out-played by a team of equal or lesser talent.

Surely, you remember 2011 and the loss by 3 to Texas Tech in Norman, the loss by 7 to Baylor in Waco, and (horror of horrors) the 44-10 loss to OSU in Stillwater.  Of course, we rebounded in the Insight Bowl (name the location) by beating the powerhouse Iowa Hawkeyes.  10-3 finish is enough for most of the power players behind the dollars at OU.  It's called SETTLE, SETTLE, SETTLE!

On to 2012 with those same high (must be taking drugs) hopes for a national championship.  Oops, lost to K-State in Norman, 24-19, got our butts kicked by Notre Dame, 30-13, in Norman, and capped off a ho-hum season with a 41-13 thrashing by Texas A & M in the Cotton Bowl.

Undoubtedly, 2013 would be better.  Started off undefeated and then came the shootout in Big D. Texas prevailed easily 36-20 and there went the season and our hopes.  Got stomped by Baylor 41-12 in Waco but then pulled out a great effort and game plan in surprising Alabama in the Sugar Bowl 45-31.  Probably the best game OU has played in the Stoops era with only Stoops players. Remember the 2000 championship game was played mostly with players recruited by John Blake.

Now back to the 2014 season.  Undefeated heading to Ft Worth for TCU.  Started out flat (a habit under Bob Stoops) but turned it around by half-time.  After the turnover circus, OU is driving with about five minutes left and trailing by four.  Stoops can't use his "Let's Kick the Field Goal" strategy so they turn to their bag of tricks after having a third and one around the thirty yard line. Option with the QB - no gain.  Fourth and one.  Let's fool them.  Fullback up the middle.  Oops - they weren't fooled - turned the ball over on downs and turned a possible win into a loss.  My politics are conservative but my football ideology is play for the win, don't play to not lose.

We'll skip the confidence-building win in Big D.  It was as if Texas adopted OU's strategy in the second half and gave the game to the Sooners.  Maybe still in the running for post-season playoff possibilities if they can win out.  Recall the one-loss teams in the national championship games?

K-State back in town last week.  Surely, the previous doormats of the Big 7, 8, 12, whatever the league was called, couldn't beat us at home again.  Think again.  Forget the missed field goals. Stuff happens when you play for a non-motivating coach like Bob Stoops.  He doesn't want his team too pumped up so he pumps them down in my opinion.  But, you gotta love that OU defense lead by the other Stoops brother.  I don't remember a season where so many touchdown passes were caught by the other team with  no defender within 15-20 yards.  What defensive schemes are designed to have the defenders run into each other on crossing patterns?  OU does it over and over and over.  Now back to the reasons for the loss.  You don't have an extra point blocked right up the middle if you are a well-coached team, especially when it is to tie the game and you haven't really stopped the other team that well all day.

However, OU did get the ball back and drove to a first down on the four yard line.  What did the Sooners do?  Threw away the playbook that called for anything other than fullback up the middle. If we don't make it, we kick the field goal and go it front and probably win the game, right?  Just a little imagination on that last drive (a forward pass, gasp!) probably would have led to a touchdown. Wouldn't necessarily win the game but would at least have given the Sooners the lead with 3-4 minutes left. Lost yards on third and one so here comes Hunnicutt to be the hero.  Nineteen yard field goal, that is shorter than an extra point - piece of cake - WRONG!  In golf, we call that a "duck hook".  Never have seen an uglier field goal try from inside the twenty yard line.

Well, we can stop them on their next possession because we have our timeouts and strong defense. Oh, we've already used up those timeouts.  How many times in the past several years do the Sooners find themselves out of timeouts late in the game?  A lot, I assure you.  So, K-State makes a first down (on the ground) and runs out the clock.  Game over, season over.  Who cares about the rest of the season?  Not me.  I've watched my last OU game of the year.  Stoops will probably retire at OU in 20-30 years with this great won-loss record but will never win another national championship.  He doesn't have what it takes and should move on, but that is only my opinion.

The below was posted on 10-25-11.  None of those thoughts have changed and I have watched my last OU football game for this season (2014).

I think Skip Bayless got it right on his ESPN commentary yesterday when he stated that the loss to Texas Tech on Saturday was the worst loss in the history of the OU football program.  How do you lose to a team that you are favored to beat by thirty or so points and on your home field where you have a record of 75-2 during the tenure of your current head coach.  I remember the old saying coined by the fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1940s and 1950s.  Wait 'til next year!   I, for one, am tired of waiting.

Haven't we been through this scenario time and again under Bob Stoops' reign at the helm of the, arguably, best football program in NCAA, Division I.  True, he has a 135-32 (.808) record since he took over in 1999 but how many times have we had our hopes raised before the season starts that maybe this is the year of our eighth national championship?  Rated number one in preseason, all of those returning starters, no Big 12 championship game, relatively favorable schedule in a conference without Nebraska and Colorado, surely this would be the year.  By the way, Switzer and Wilkinson both had higher winning percentages during their tenure at OU.

No, reality has set it again.  During Stoops' regime, our disappointments have come at different times during the year, sometimes at the beginning, sometimes during the middle, sometimes at the end, and, oh yes, three times in the BCS Championship game for all the marbles.  But you say, we won the 2000 National Championship 13-2 over FSU.  But do you forget, those weren't players recruited by Stoops who is undoubtedly one of the best recruiters in the nation.

Let's look at the facts:  6-6 record in bowl games, 3-5 in BCS bowl games, and 1-3 in National Championship games.  It is evident that the powers that be at OU are content with 80% winning percentage but not this longtime fan.  My first OU game was in 1955 as a Boy Scout usher.  I cried the day, November 16, 1957, when Notre Dame defeated OU 7-0 to end the 47-game winning streak.  I have endured the lean years under Gary Gibbs, John Blake, etc and then came this unknown, Bob Stoops.  Great pedigree, football history better than most, brother included - we were set for greatness.  The malaise was past.  7-5 first year - OK, then 13-0 and National Champs.  We were back!

Then over the years, the "Can't Win the Big One' label began to rear its ugly head.  Let's review the last 12 years and then make up your mind.

• 1999 - 7-5, first year, not too bad.
• 2000 - 13-0, National Champs, could it get any better.
• 2001 - 11-2, lost to OSU in Norman, give me a break.  Who is Les Miles?
• 2002 - 12-2, lost to Texas Aggies and OSU - again?
• 2003 - 12-2, lost to KSU in Big 12 Championship but still in BCS Championship game. LSU who?
• 2004 - 12-1, 5 turnovers in 55-19 romp by USC in BCS Championship game.
• 2005 - 8-4, Rhett Bomar ring a bell?
• 2006 - 11-2, Can you say BOISE STATE?
• 2007 - 11-3, Lost to Colorado, Texas Tech (sounds familiar) and WVa in Fiesta Bowl
• 2008 - 12-2, Lost to Texas but still in BCS Championship game.  Tim Tebow, anyone?
• 2009 - 8-5, Sam Bradford hurt twice, 'nuf said.
• 2010 - 12-2, lost to Missouri and Texas Aggies but beat that powerhouse of football - UConn.
• 2011 - 6-1 so far, bet the farm that they will lose again before the season ends.

As Skip Bayless said yesterday, Bob Stoops is the worst coach in the NCAA when it comes to motivating his team to play.  I would add that he does not understand adjustments to the game plan and predictability, especially on offense.  The second quarter of the Tech game on Saturday was the worst offensive play-calling that I can ever remember and that is when the game was lost.  You could almost see it coming in the lackluster performances against Missouri and Kansas.

Well, there you have it.  Skip Bayless said that Stoops should be fired.  I don't necessarily agree with that but some changes need to be made.  Perhaps get rid of Venables and bring back Mike Stoops.  I hear he is looking for a job.  As Bob Stoops said after the game, "We were out-coached and out-played".  Who shares the burden of the blame for the loss?  The buck stops with the head coach.  Are we getting the best bang for our buck ($4M per year at least), I think not.

The crimson-and-cream bleeders will always say that we are so much better than most programs and defend the poor coaching decisions to the end but I say we should expect more and when our championship dreams are spoiled year after year after year, changes should be made.  I'm not smart enough to know exactly what but we have to figure out why the second quarter performance was the worst that I have ever seen.  Perhaps our motto should be "Three and Out, OU no doubt!

In baseball, good pitching usually stops good hitting.  In football, good defense usually stops good offense.  LSU is a great example of this.  Skip said he would trade Bob Stoops to LSU for Les Miles.  I would not but Miles' teams are usually not out coached as badly as OU. OU could end up 7-5 or 8-4.  Who would be satisfied with that?  I have no problems when OU loses to an opponent that is better than they are but this was not the case in Norman last Saturday.

Knee Replacement, Part II

Most of you know that I had my right knee replaced on December 7, 2012 (Pearl Harbor day and the 52nd anniversary of my dad's burial at Maple Grove cemetery in Seminole, OK).  Here is the before picture.

Just a little bow-legged

Never having had major surgery, I didn't really know what to expect.  No amount of doctor's instructions, internet blogs, or advice from those who have been through the surgery can prepare you for what is to come.
I remember that the peace of God was present leading up to the surgery and, since I slept through it, the surgery was the easiest part of the whole ordeal.    I kept a journal from day one and recorded my progress or lack thereof.  Adjustment to pain medication would be close to the top of my list of discomforts because your entire body from head to toe responds to the narcotics.  To kill the pain, it appears that the medication also kills all other bodily functions.  Those who have experienced it know what I mean so I will spare you the details.  A hint - regularity heads for the hills!

I had several visits to physical therapy in March 2007 following arthroscopic surgery to my left knee but I still was not prepared for the (to me) abuse I was about to experience under the watchful eyes and hands of Breah and Erin, the two physical terrorists (therapists) assigned to me.  Only once during the 19 visits did I get really cross with them (in a Christian sort of way, I hope) but on more than one occasion, I could easily have slugged them (not really).  It is hard for me to imagine a job where you are forced to cause pain to some really nice people but different strokes, you know.  Anyway, twenty-one months after the surgery for the right knee, it became apparent that the other knee was not going to get any better.

After right-knee replacement

So I scheduled the surgery for September 12, 2014.  At the time that the doctor's office called and wanted to move the surgery up a day to September 11, I said sure not realizing it was the 9/11 anniversary.  Oh well, should be as easy to remember as Pearl Harbor day.  Leading up to the surgery, I replayed as many of the events as I could from the first surgery.  Again, the peace of God reigned supreme and I never once doubted that HE would be with me, regardless of the outcome.  Events surrounding the trip on the gurney from the prep room to the operating room are very vivid from both surgeries and also very different.  There are nine operating rooms at McBride Hospital on Broadway Extension and we went north this time instead of south and all the way to the end of the hall before making a left into the OR.  The anesthesiologist put the oxygen mask over my face and said to breath normally and then I awakened in room 118.  Don't really recall much about the first few hours and the pain was tolerable.

After second knee replacement

As you can see above my legs appear to be much straighter now.  Both episodes have parallels and similarities but also major differences.  I have experienced much less pain this time but much more stiffness.  I took my last narcotic pain pill ten days after this surgery.  I was still taking them every now and then six weeks after the first surgery.  One added benefit to weaning off of the pain meds was that I could begin driving after getting the staples out on 9-22.  Joyce was very appreciative of this and I felt a little freedom also.

I have entered the notes and readings from my journal into a spread sheet and it is easy to compare my progress for both surgeries.  My flexion (bending angle goal is about 120) and extension (straightening angle goal is zero) numbers are beginning to align with my flexion not quite as good but my extension being much better.  Yesterday (10-8) was the first day that I began to feel that there was a light at the end of the rehab tunnel.  I couldn't see the light yet but I caught a glimpse of the tunnel.  One good sign is that I keep misplacing my walking cane around the house.  In fact, I went all night without it last night which included three trips to the necessary room.

I have completed 10 rehab sessions out of 20 that are scheduled and I don't see my surgeon until Oct 28th. With rehab being M-W-F, I am still required to do at least two sets of exercises daily.  Haven't missed many but sometimes I take a little break on Sundays since I have went to church the last two weeks.  I am pretty self-sufficient except for the white ted hose that I have to wear when I am up and Joyce puts that on for me.  The therapist said I had to wear it a least 4-6 weeks so maybe just two weeks or so to go since today is my four-week surgery anniversary.  

My numbers yesterday were flexion-108 and extension-1.  My numbers for the right knee ended up at 110 and 10 when the surgeon dismissed me.  The right knee numbers are now 110 and 0 so my numbers on the left knee are almost the same or better than the right knee was at the end of therapy.  I am hoping the therapy can end early with the recommendation of the therapist based on my current left-knee numbers.  I will still need to exercise for several months to regain strength but the therapists' main concern is ROM (range of motion).  If those numbers don't come around, additional surgery is used to force the ROM to where it needs to be.  What a horrible thought even though it is out-patient under a general anesthetic.

I know this is not as interesting to you as it is to me but your whole life is almost consumed with it for a month or two.  I have a high pain-tolerance and I have not yelled once in therapy.  The last two nights of sleep have been relatively pain-free and this didn't happen with the right knee until six weeks or so.  Through both surgeries, the will to keep going gets very weak at times but by focusing on the fact that the Creator God of the universe is my Savior and Lord and is walking beside me gives me the strength to go on.  With his presence, I will complete my recovery and will continue to praise HIM for has abundant blessings.  I pray that he is your Savior and Lord.  He is THE way, THE truth, and THE life.  There is no other hope for a lost and dying world.  Do not delay.  Turn to Christ NOW!