BOOM....There Goes My Youth

Only children do some interesting things. Some may think it’s weird, but for those of us out there who grew up sibling-less, these weird behaviors were borne out of necessity.

Only children who grow up obsessed with the NFL do some even more interesting things. As a child my “weird behavior” list was pretty long, but at the very top of that list had to be the imaginary NFL games I would play all by myself. I would catch, tackle, fumble, pass, kick, gouge, announce, rejoice, argue, and wallow in the mud all in the same series of motions and movements. I especially enjoyed the wallowing—just ask my Mom.

The behavior itself was pretty strange, but I think the motivation behind the behavior may have been even stranger. Most of the time, I would engage in these “games” in or near our front yard. But on occasion, when I was feeling a bit more “dangerous,” I would head to the front entrance of our neighborhood at 87th and Harvard in Tulsa, OK. The entrance area would get especially muddy, but more importantly, there was traffic coming and going. And traffic meant an audience. I was happy to “perform” for anyone who happened to be walking or driving by—but I was always hoping for one person in particular to catch my act.

At this point in my life, I am certified sports nut. I can trace my love of Major League Baseball, the NBA, and the two major college sports to specific times in my childhood. But with the NFL, there is no trace. It is as if it was written into my DNA. I do not possess a memory of time when I did not love the sport. For as long as I can remember, I was mesmerized by the helmets, uniforms, history, and drama of the NFL. I still get chills when I hear the original Monday Night Football theme song.

And then there was Madden. How could a kid not fall in love with THAT guy? John Madden oozed passion from the announcing booth. When I would see him on TV going nuts over the minutia of the game, I would get so excited because it made me feel like less of a freak. Here was this successful grown-up getting just as giddy about a mud-covered helmet as I was. If he could get away with it, then so could I.

He and his original partner, Pat Summerall, were as instrumental in the development of my love of the game as anyone. As a Redskins fan, I knew if Madden and Summerall were in the booth, that meant it was a big game. From a tactical standpoint, Madden helped me understand the importance of winning the game in trenches. He was the only analyst that was able to tell you exactly what the right guard did on the play almost before it was over. He saw things away from the ball—he helped teach me the game.

While his tactical prowess was always underrated, Madden will fittingly always be remembered for his passion, humor, and unique view of the game. Summerall was the straight-man and Madden delivered the punch lines—but never at the expense of the game (unlike many of the analysts today). His timing was impeccable, he always knew when to focus on the game, divert attention to the kid with the ice cream splattered on his face in the stands, or wax poetic about the “finality” of a team that was about to lose in the playoffs. In his prime, he was perfect.

As he got older, he slipped a bit, as we all do. He became a bit fixated on certain players and teams (Brett Favre), and he wasn’t quite as sharp as he was in heyday. But Madden always brought the passion—and that was good enough for me.

Madden goes down as an icon. But as a kid, I simply viewed him as an older version of myself.

Back to that muddy neighborhood entrance…

By that time, I knew Madden was afraid to fly and I knew he traveled from city to city via his RV—the famous Madden Cruiser.

Even though I knew it was a long shot, I was convinced that if Madden happened to drive by and see me re-enacting Redskins-Cowboys doused in mud and sweat that he’d stop and say hello—or maybe even invite me aboard to join him en route to his next destination.

Of course, the Cruiser never came. But that doesn’t mean that Madden didn’t take me for a ride.

OU Season Wrap-Up/Grades for 2008-2009

It’s not often that a team in any sport manages to meet pre-season expectations to a tee. But that’s exactly what the OU men’s basketball team did in 2008-2009. Coming in to the season, most fans and hoops pundits considered OU to be a Final Four contender, but perhaps just a notch below the elite teams in the country. In the end, this is almost exactly how things wound up.

This season will always be remembered in Norman as the season where Blake Griffin dominated the college basketball world. He left Sooner fans with enough memories this year to last a lifetime. Assuming Griffin bolts for the NBA in the coming weeks, he should go down as one of the most impactful two-year players in college history. While Wayman Tisdale may remain the gold standard in OU basketball lore, Blake Griffin made his mark as the most dynamic player to ever don the crimson and cream. He will be missed.

However, the best news to come from the season is that Griffin’s departure does not appear to be a death knell for the program or even next season.

Jeff Capel is still transitioning from the Sampson era. Against North Carolina, OU had three starters that would not have even been in the rotation for the Tar Heels. Starting next year, there will be only player on the roster (Tony Crocker) that wasn’t brought in by Capel and his staff. The five-man incoming freshmen class includes two McDonalds All-Americans, who will join Willie Warren (assuming he returns) as the key to 2009-2010.

There will never be another Blake Griffin in Norman—at least not for a very long time. But that doesn’t mean the program won’t continue to grow and flourish under Capel’s leadership.

Final Season Grades:

(Grades are based on performance vs. expectation, with a dash of “intangible” mixed in. Seniors get two grades—season and career.)

Capel/Coaching Staff: A-. I gave them an “A” last year and decided to drop it just a tad this year due to the late season malaise the team suffered following Blake’s concussion. That little slump may have cost them a #1 seed and whenever a team looks as disinterested as they did, the coaching staff deserves some blame. Having said that, the bottom line was a 30-win season and an appearance in the Elite 8, losing to the eventual National Champions. The Sooners played very well in the NCAA Tournament, which is a feather in Capel’s cap.

Austin Johnson: B. By far Johnson’s best year overall, but his late-season swoon was way too reminiscent of the enigma he’d been during his first three years in Norman. Midway through the year, he was on target for All Conference honors, but whether it was due to injury, fatigue, or whatever, Johnson dipped badly down the stretch.

Career: C. You never know what’s in a players head or his heart, but as a fan, I do wonder if Johnson left it all on the court during his career at OU. I don’t claim to know that answer, but at times I was turned off by his body language and perceived effort level. There were persistent rumors that Johnson played hurt, which is admirable and may have contributed to this perception, but all in all, his was an average career.

Omar Leary: C+. His minutes dwindled this year, but Leary always did what was asked of him. Quite simply, he was an under-talented player, going against guys that were generally on a level or two above him. But he did has his moments, and was a major factor in OU’s great comeback attempt against Kansas.

Career: C+. Got the most out of what he had, but ultimately, his lack of size and skill limited him to a minor role.

Taylor Griffin: A-. Really struggled early in the year, but went nuts down the stretch. Taylor raised his level of play late in the season when many of teammates were dragging and he was superb in the Big Dance. The guy played the best basketball of his career during his final games—doesn’t get much better than that.

Career: A. As I said in my entry last week(http://edkleese.blogspot.com/2009/03/farewell-to-true-sooner.html), Taylor was a true Sooner, representing the school in a perfect fashion during his four years. It was a real joy to see him play with his brother and his consistent effort and leadership should be appreciated by all fans.

Tony Crocker: C. TC dropped a full grade from last year, when I thought he had somewhat of a breakout year. As always, Crocker had his moments of his greatness and his performance against Syracuse in the Tournament helped keep this grade from being even lower. But his “bad moments” were entirely too frequent this year. He seemed to struggle not only with his shot, but his confidence level, compounding mistakes with more mistakes. Crocker always plays hard and his defensive effort against Michigan should be a model for struggling players, but it’s simply too much of a detraction to have a starter give you those kinds of inconsistent performances. Looking for Crocker to become more balanced as a senior.

Juan Patillo: B-. Not a huge sample size and the whole redshirt thing is still very odd, but there is no doubt that Patillo has the physical tools to be a highly effective player. He was fantastic in his first few games, then virtually vanished down the stretch. However, against North Carolina, he was one guy on the team that didn’t seem overmatched by Carolina’s size and athleticism. An extremely gifted athlete who only has one more year to make his mark.

Blake Griffin: A+. There’s nothing more to say. He was brilliant from start to finish and was clearly the best player on the floor in every game he played this season—including the finale’ against Carolina. His future in the NBA is seemingly as bright as his past in Norman. If for some crazy reason he decided to return, he could cement his legacy as an all-time great in the college game.

Cade Davis: C-. Davis struggled in his sophomore year. He got off to a good start with a good showing in NYC in the pre-season NIT, but he battled to find his shot all year. He does get major kudos for a being a great rebounder per minutes played player, but OU needs Davis to hit shots—and quite simply, he didn’t do much of that this year. I do think he was probably a bit affected by his inconsistent minutes—I’d like to see Capel commit to him a bit more next year.

Willie Warren: A-. A bit troubled by his lack of production over the final few games of the season, but even in the loss to UNC Warren showed flashes of what was a times a brilliant freshmen season. His game is mature—his sense of timing is excellent and he seems to have a knack for knowing when his teams needs him to pick it up and when he can hang back a bit. On the floor, Warren deferred to Blake all year (which was a smart move) and I’m very excited to see what he does as the #1 option next year. Has potential to be a first team All-American type of player. He holds the key to success in 2009-2010.

Orlando Allen/Ray Willis: Incomplete. Willis just might lead the nation in shot attempts per seconds played. The guy truly has a scorer’s mentality and in his brief moments of action, showed that he does have legitimate potential to be a player on this level. However, he was wild and his off the court issues are discouraging. I could see him being the type of guy that gets buried on the roster or transfers—which would be a shame because I think there’s something there. Very unimpressed with Allen for 90% of the year, but was very impressed with him during his brief action in the Tournament. He’s very big and word has it that he’s a hard worker—could be a surprise player for OU next year, but needs to work on his conditioning and footwork.

Awards:

MVP: Blake Griffin. No explanation necessary.

Defensive MVP: Juan Patillo. Yep, all five starters struggled at times on the defensive end of the floor, and even though he arrived late, Patillo made his biggest impact on the defensive end of the floor. Tony Crocker would be second on my list.

Worst Individual Moment: The end sequence against OSU in the Big 12 Tournament was very frustrating. A bad call by the refs against Blake didn’t erase the fact that Byron Eaton scorched our guards all night long.

Best Individual Moment: Even though it was against a lousy team, OU’s second half exhibition against Texas Tech in Norman was a sight to see. It was a dunk-a-thon of major proportions. Looked like the Globetrotters against the Washington Generals—a true thing of beauty.

Worst Loss: There’s no shame in losing at Missouri this year, but there was shame in the way OU played that night. A truly disgusting effort. The loss in Fayetteville would be a close second .

Best Win: No doubt, the Sweet 16 victory over Syracuse. Very encouraging that our very best performance of the season came on such a big stage when many people (including myself and other fans) were expecting Syracuse to pull the mini-upset. Capel deserves a ton of credit for having the team ready for the zone that night. Our defense was also outstanding. As a runner-up, I’m actually going to go back to November and say the win over Davidson—not because we beat such a great team, but because it was a real treat to see Blake and Stephen Curry both have career nights. A highly entertaining game that had a real “showcase” feel to it.


Overall Season Grade: A-. A slight drop from last year, but not by much. The little lull late in the season kept this from being a solid A—not the loss to UNC. No shame in losing to a superior team that throttled everyone they played in the Tournament. Overall, a memorable year—OU can hang the Elite 8 banner next year and be proud.