THE CRIMSON PIGSKIN e-LETTER
THE BLOGGY CREEK MONSTER
Check out the new blog at www.CrimsonPigskin.com . Readers requested it and now YOU GOT IT!!! Don't forget to drop a note to CPEL: crimsonfish@juno.com telling CPEL 66 Reasons Oklahoma is a great place to live, work and be a fan of college football. Happy posting!
HASKINS' LEGACY LIVES ON
Basketball legend Don Haskins passed away last weekend at the age of 78. As a younger man he was a hard-nosed student of Mr. Iba's basketball philosophy at Oklahoma A&M University. Even the Disney motion picture Glory Road is a testament to his toughness, compassion and refusal to accept anything but the best his teams had to offer. During his career, "The Bear" as he was called, (undoubtedly for his perpetually cheery disposition) coached a number of NBA stars and one man who went on to nearly play pro football for the San Diego Chargers named Nolan Richardson. A hamstring pull kept him from making the team and changed basketball history.
Foxsports.com quotes former Tulsa and Arkansas head coach Nolan Richardson as saying he was at Texas Western College when Haskins arrived in El Paso, Texas in 1961. "He said Haskins told him he couldn't 'guard a telegraph pole' and suggested he stick to football." The Chargers must have heard him. Interestingly enough, even though Richardson was on Haskins' first squad, he had already left Texas Western before the 1966 Miners did what was unthinkable at the time. Haskins started 5 African-Americans against the Kentucky Wildcats, coached by Adolf Rupp, and the Miners tunneled out a 72-65 win.
In a tribute ceremony this week at the Don Haskins Center, on the campus of what is now known as the University of Texas El Paso, many former players and friends paid respects for a man who made a great contribution to the sport of basketball, the university he coached at and every young man who had the good fortune to play for him. Just like Coach Rupp whom he defeated in that 1966 national championship, NC State's Jim Valvano, KU's Phog Allen and the game's inventor, Kansan James Naismith, Haskins left an indelible mark on college sports which will live on until the last hoop has been made.
PARANORMAL U.
A group of Penn State students involved in an A&E television show known as Paranormal State spends a lot of nights and video tape searching ranches, hotels and houses for ghosts and things that go bump in the night. Just a few minutes of watching them hollering into the 3am darkness and expecting them to start screaming in terror or building scale models of ancient ruins in their dessert bowl is just great before drifting off to sleep. They seem plenty serious enough and the fact they don't bolt into the night, running a zigzag pattern down the street holding their head in their hands is pretty darn meritorious, noting they aren't always privy to their surroundings because they don't work in a lot of light. There is plenty of 2-way radio communication and that seems to calm even the most flighty members of the crew.
Similarly, Penn State football coaches spend a lot of nights and video tape searching ranches, hotels and houses for the best football players they can find. As elusive as ghosts and things that go bump in the night, once found, great athletes can make an exciting game even better. Over the years, Penn State has incurred some season tally's that would make the nation's average assistant coaches run a zigzag pattern down the street with their head in their hands. Instead, the Nittany Lions have been able to regroup from down years and are off to another fine start. The first three outings include big wins against Coastal Carolina, Oregon State and at Syracuse.
Despite the early success and very favorable remaining schedule CPEL expects PSU to hold true to form and drop a couple of games as the year progresses. Illinois and Ohio State catch the eye at the moment. Here's an idea sure to sent JoPa's troops to the top of the polls. A new innovation for Penn State and probably a first ever for football may be to have the Paranormal State crew bring their flashlights and cameras to the PSU football offices at 3am and comb the area for a national championship. If not, perhaps they'll find some players who can run.
TULSA
After a week off, Tulsa returns to action Saturday evening at 6pm CDT inside newly renovated Chapman Stadium. There's a new press box. There's new turf. There aren't as many seats but that just makes for a family atmosphere of togetherness. Hurricane head coach Todd Graham says in Sunday's Tulsa World his favorite part of the new look is the field. The new artificial surface is the only thing in the stadium with any blue on it. Graham is quoted as saying, "it really jumps out at you". A $3.1 million 55'x27' video board doesn't hurt the look of the place either. Future astronauts may be able to see that gem from Mars.
Meanwhile the New Mexico Lobos would like to jump out at the Hurricane and make TU feel blue, coming off a 36-28 win against Arizona last week. Tulsa's idle week has been plenty of time to compensate for the upset-minded wolves who will attempt to take Skelly Field for their own. Captain 'Cane to the rescue!!! TU 48, UNM 27.
ARKANSAS
With Hurricane Ike rolling into the Texas gulf coast, Galveston and Houstonish in location, the Hogs' game with long ago arch rival Texas was postponed to September 27th. Instead of traveling to Austin, now Arkansas plays host to the Alabama Crimson Tide Saturday at 11:30am CDT. This made for television drama will be shown on Ray/Com Sports.
Since joining the Southeastern Conference, the Razorbacks have been the proverbial thorn in the side of the Tide. Arkansas as overcome better Alabama teams on more than one occasion but coach Nick Saban's Tide is on a nice roll that started with a thrashing of Clemson on national television the first week of the season and has gained steam with two more wins over Tulane and Western Kentucky. 'Bama still has some question marks but appears to be talented enough to make a run at the SEC title and possibly a national title if they get the right breaks down the stretch. The Tide cooks up micro"wave" bacon curls, aka chiccarones, aka pork rinds Saturday in Fayetteville. Alabama 30, Arkansas 24.
TENNESSEE
After three weeks of recovery since the triple overtime loss at UCLA (who incidentally lost at BYU 59-0 last weekend), UT gets to go to "The Swamp" and face their (SPLASH, CHOMP) arch rival the Florida Gators. This trial by fire comes after an easy 35-3 win against and overmatched Alabama-Birmingham team last week. The Blazers never had a chance at the home Neyland Cathedral opener.
Scheduling this SEC eastern divisional game later in the season would be more favorable for Tennessee but in recent years, Florida vs. Tennessee has been a late September taste of what the SEC has in regard to very good teams standing toe to toe until one flinches. In favor of Florida, the Gators have generally reached midseason form by the end of September and the team on the field Saturday is just about as good as the team showing up for games in November. For perennially rebuilding teams like the Volunteers, they typically show a lot of improvement between September and November.
There may be another card up the sleeves of the Vols in that Florida's Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Tim Tebow is playing Saturday. This has provided motivation for more than one team over the years. Despite the accolades Tebow has received and a random fact among others at timtebowfacts.com stating "Superman wears Tim Tebow pajamas.", Rocky Top should make sure old Blue doesn't get near the water. There are Gators in that swamp. Volunteers leave Gainesville, Florida counting fingers and toes. Gators 31, Tennessee 18.
OKLAHOMA STATE
Pistol Pete's head hit his pillow Saturday night full of the euphoria from finding things that go bump in the night. What with Halloween approaching and all the orange and black decorations, it seemed appropriate. Just kidding. Pete's head was full of the dreams of football glory Saturday night. After all, the OSU Cowboys had dispensed with the Missouri State Bears (not to be confused with Don "The Bear" Haskins or Paul "Bear" Bryant) by a score of 57-13. Despite clearly marked signs urging Cowboys not to feed the Bears, the Pokes fed MSU it's second loss and an 0-2 start.
In light of the big win and a revenge match with Troy in Stillwater on September 27th, a week off fits nicely into the agenda for Conference and NCAA domination! (Cue menacing laugh,…BWA HA HA HA HA!) Kick-off for the game on the 27th is at 6:05pm CDT. Oklahoma State is idle this week.
OKLAHOMA
Where were those naughty elves who impersonate PAC-10 officials Saturday afternoon when the Sooners were demolishing the Washington Huskies 55-14? Where were the yellow hankies that filled the skies over Lubbock, Eugene and Boulder in recent memory? Oh, they were still flying as OU was penalized 11 times for 110 yards and those numbers were "Husky" compared to the whopping 8 yards UW lost on a paltry 3 hanky drops. One viewer was concerned because it appeared an official was stashing his penalty flag in his trousers. The official did however survive the entire contest without any falling shorts.
This time, Oklahoma's talent and tenacity overcame an inordinate quantity of whistled infractions against Stoops' Troops. It seemed OU could do no wrong as naysayers were silenced following a series of media articles regaling fans with the fact Bob Stoops hasn't fared so well during visits to teams west of Norman. Reportedly starting 10 freshman, Washington can look forward to finding a secure place for a young team in the PAC-10 and a place to torch the videotape of OU quarterback Sam Bradford tossing five TD (no, not Tom Dirato) passes over, around and through the porous Huskies' defense. Wonder if Ty Willingham has thought of upgrading to iron dogs to pull the purple and gold sled?
Now that the celebration for winning a road game is over, Oklahoma sets its sights on the TCU Horned Frogs. Texas Christian visits Owen Field on September 27th. The 6pm CDT kick-off will be televised on Fox Sports Net. Hopefully the rest of the game will be televised too. Oklahoma is idle this week.
THE PERCENTAGES
The CPEL went 3-0 on the picks last week. This brings the season tally to 11-1. That's 92% for all those East Texas meteorologists out there. Onward and upward!
Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend!
Carlos
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