Twas the Night Before the Big XII............

This should be a great game!

'Twas the night before the Big XII and all through the land,

not a Tiger was stirring, not even the band.

Their Jockeys were hung by the locker with care,

in hopes that the Sooners soon would be there.



Truman was nestled all snug in his bed,

while visions of the BCS danced in his head.

And Pinkel in his kerchief full of Tiger pride,

and Bob and the Sooners ready to ride.



When down in San Antone there arose such a clatter,

Chase sprang from his bed to see what was the matter.

He realized the Option was gone in a flash,

and Maclin's dreams of running had just been dashed.



The Tiger tight ends trembled as they watched the show,

A Crimson and Cream luster set the horizon aglow.

When what to their wondering eyes should they find,

but a miniature Schooner, seven National Titles behind.



With a wizened old driver, skilled in leading his troops,

they knew in a moment it must be Bob Stoops.

More rapid than Temple his players they came,

and he whistled and shouted and called them by name.



"On Bradford , on Joe John, now Patrick and Murray!

On Chris Brown! On Iglesias! On Hartley and Kelly!

To the top of the conference! To the top of it all!

Now dash their hopes! Dash their dreams! Dash away all!"



And then in a twinkling, the Tigers fought back a scream,

and Chase saw the last of his Heisman trophy dream.

The defense drew in their breath and looked all around,

and realized that their "Pig" was nowhere to be found.



Bob's eyes how they twinkled, his coaches how merry!

As they carried on the legacy left them by Barry.

Gary's sad little face and a fear in his belly,

he shook on the field as his knees turned to jelly.



Pinkel spoke not a word, and the ball they couldn't carry,

Stoops filled up the scoreboard and then turned to Gary .

And laying his hand on the shoulder of his friend,

he gave Pinkel a nod and said, "Like Norman again."



Bob sprang to the Schooner, to his team gave a shout,

to the BCS they flew and left Mizzou down and out.

And we heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight,

"Boomer Sooner to All and to All a Good Night!"

author unknown

"Oklahoma, is about winning Championships"

It is Big 12 Champ game time again, and the Sooners have once again put themselves in position for a chance at their 41 Conference Championship against #1 ranked Missouri.

Even though the Tigers are ranked #1 in the nation, OU is somehow favored by 3 points. Missouri QB Chase Daniel has taken exception to this for some strange reason with this quote:

"For me, it's about a lack of respect. We're No. 1 in the nation and I think any No. 1 in the nation should be favored in any game that they play for the simple reason that they're No. 1."

Note to Chase: In the 2000 National Championship game, OU was ranked number 1 and was a DOUBLE DIGIT underdog verses Florida State, and things worked out pretty good for the Sooners. Compound this comment with his other comments of 'we gave the first game away', one has to think that Daniels maybe struggling with his pride and focus issues.

This should be a great, hard fought, and close game and which ever team comes out on top, one can only hope the both teams give their complete effort. If Missouri wins, here is to wishing them good luck in a National Championship game. If OU wins, here is to Conference Championship number Forty-one.

I can't wait, tickets are in hand and remember; There is only ONE Oklahoma!

OU/MU by the numbers
OU MU
Rushing Offense 193.92 (28) 170.50 (40)
Passing Offense 263.67 (35) 336.83 (5)
Total Offense 457.58 (17) 507.33 (5)
Scoring Offense 43.83 (3) 41.92 (6)
Rushing Defense 91.42 (7) 114.92 (25)
Pass Eff. Defense 118.46 (42) 119.54 (45)
Total Defense 324.58 (18) 380.75 (60)
Scoring Defense 18.25 (10) 23.42 (39)
Net Punting 36.89 (28) 30.00 (119)
Punt Returns 7.79 (77) 13.00 (20)
Kickoff Returns 28.23 (1) 23.36 (22)
Turnover Margin .67 (19) 1.00 (11)
Pass Defense 233.17 (70) 265.83 (103)
Passing Eff. 174.31 (2) 153.40 (8)
Sacks 2.58 (28) 2.33 (40)
Tackles for Loss 7.58 (15) 6.25 (61)
Sacks Allowed .92 (5) 1.50 (30)
(#) National Rank of 119 Teams

New Rules verses Old Rules

Now that the season has completed, the cries that 'driver X' was robbed of a Championship because of the new CHASE format. While their complaints may or even may not have merit, format changes are a part of every sport. It is just a fact.

Take a page from College Football for instance:

In 1973, first-year coach Barry Switzer went into the Colosseum in LA and stunned John McKay, Pat Haden and the defending national champion USC Trojans by playing them to a 7-7 tie. (OU threw 1 pass)

In 2007, LSU lost to Kentucky in 3 OTs and Arkansas in 3 OTs.
--------------------------------------------------------

Under the old system, without overtime, LSU would be 10-0-2, undefeated and likely still #1, set up to play for the NC after winning their conference championship game.

Under the new system, Switzer could possibly have beaten McKay and had 3 NCs in a row, instead of finishing 10-0-1 and ending up ranked 5th.

Incidently, Notre Dame beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl to go 11-0 and Alabama ended up 11-1-0, both claiming the NC for 1973. (Alabama was UPI NC which didn't vote after bowl games, OU was NC in 3 other services-including Sagarin, ironically a BCS computer input now)

I don't hear LSU fans crying about this new format change as they realize that it is simply a part of the game now.

the END OF A MARATHON

Congrats to J.J. for another title. It is pretty amazing to see and hear how humble both Johnson is and his crew chief Chad Knauss in the aftermath. While the final Chase race was a bit anticlimactic, but then again most Super bowls are the same way. Much hype, but doesn't deliver. I know many NASCAR fans complained that this season turned into a 'Jimmy and Jeff Show', but frankly, both earned that. I have said it before and will continue to say it, run up front and you will get much TeVee time. We saw it in 2005 with Elliott Sadler.

Working on a few projects this off season which well require some research and information investigation, but I am sure the findings will be interesting, but for now I'll just have a season recap over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. Too much great college football to watch between now and then. Has this been an amazing season or what? Who knows how it is going to end up!

THANKS MIKE

Earlier this week I wrote an in depth analysis of the possibilities of OU jumping Oregon in the BCS. After last night's game.......never mind

Thanks Mike and oh yeah, thanks to Ron and Dee Stoops too!

BOOMER!

Analysis of "Will OU pass Oregon" in the BCS

Assuming LSU, Oregon and OU win out, will OU pass Oregon.

Well, I went through the BCS numbers in detail and here is what I found (just skip to the end if you want the answer):

As you may or may not know, the BCS ranking is a simple average of the Harris, Coaches/USA Today, and Computer polls. Each of the 3 components is a percentage of points you have to total points available. So, if your team gets every first place vote, you have a 1.0000 for that poll.

Let's start with the human polls first. We have total points and number of first place votes, so need to see how each team is actually getting their votes. I need to make a couple of assumptions here, but I don't think they are that material.

1. LSU and Oregon are ranked in the top 3 by everybody in Harris.
2. LSU is ranked in the top 5 in Coaches by everybody, and Oregon is ranked in the top 4.
3. KU and OU are ranked in the top 5 by everyone in both polls.

That means, in Harris:

LSU has 73 first place, 20 second place, and 19 3rd place votes
Oregon has 22 first, 31 second, 59 third.
OU has 9 first, 30 second, 30 3rd, 42 fourth and 1 fifth
KU has 8 first, 31 second, 4 third, 13 fourth and 56 fifth.

In Coaches:

LSU has 35 first, 17 second, 4 third, 1 fourth, 4 fifth
Oregon has 13 first, 11 second, 26 third, 10 fourth
OU has 4 first, 20 second, 10 third, 10 fourth, 16 fifth
KU has 7 first, 12 second, 6 third, 8 fourth, 27 fifth

Now, lets assume that KU beats Mizzou, OU wins out, and OU beats KU in the Big XII championship game. How would voters now vote? I have assumed the following:

Harris:
1. OU gets all of KU's first place votes.
2. OU gets all of KU's second place votes.
3. Everyone keeps LSU in the same spot in voting.
4. OU gets half of Oregon's second place votes.
5. Oregon keeps all of their first place votes, and their losses on second place votes move to 3rd.
6. The rest of OU's votes are now 3rd (no more 4th or 5ths).

This seems pretty logical, and gives:

LSU: 0.9793
Oregon: 0.9411
OU: 0.9596

So OU ranked #2 in Harris.

For Coaches it is a bit more difficult, and clearly the voting is all over the place, as some coaches may vote to help their team (why not?).

Assumtions for Coaches:

1. LSU keeps it's 1st and 2nd place votes, and the 4ths and 5ths move to 3rd.
2. Oregon keeps all of it votes as it is.
3. OU gets's KU's 1st place votes, keeps it's 2nd place votes, and all 4ths and 5th's become 3rds.

That results in:

LSU: 0.978
Oregon: 0.938
OU: 0.948

So again, OU passes Oregon for #2 in Coaches.

Now to the computers.

LSU is #1 in 4 of the 6, and 2nd in those 2.
Oregon is 2nd in 2, and 3rd in 4
KU is #1 in 2, and has a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and a 6th
OU has 3 7ths, 2 9ths, and 1 8th.

Now we need to assume something about other teams. Let's assume that OSU, ASU, WVa, all win out. Also, lets assume that the computers don't allow OU to leap frog any of those teams with a win over KU.

Then,

LSU #1 in all 6
Oregon #2 in 5, and #3 in 1 (behind OSU)
OU gets 3 5ths, a 6th, a 7th, and an 8th.

BCS works out as follows (harris, USA, computers, total average)

LSU 0.9793 0.978 1.000 0.9858
Oregon: 0.9411 0.938 0.9600 0.9464
OU: 0.9596 0.9480 0.8100 0.9059

LSU and Oregon play.

Now, let's assume that OSU, ASU lose, and that OU can jump up to 3rd in all of the computer polls.

We still lose out, with Oregon at 0.9464 and OU at 0.9425.

If; however, OU can get 2 #2s in the computer, and 3 #3s, then it plays out as:

Oregon 0.9430
OU 0.9459

So, in conclusion, it doesn't look like it would happen. But the only real way for it to happen is:

KU wins out until Champ game
OSU loses to Michigan
ASU loss would help as well
The voters really like OU over Oregon, so much so that they change the way they have been voting.

The other dynamic that could happen is Oregon voters switch their votes to LSU. The lead LSU has can't be surpassed by OU without an LSU loss, so voters switching to LSU over Oregon helps as it decreases the lead Oregon has on OU. Lackluster performances by Oregon and great performances by LSU (ugh!) might the the things to root for absent a loss by either.

The only way things could get better is if they announce Oregon as the #2 team first, so they think they're New Orleans bound, and then break their hearts when the rankings are "under review" and have Gordo announce that the ranking has been overturned, OU is #2 and going to the title game! I can always dream!

back to the season finale of Nascar later this week.

I DON’T HAVE A NASCAR RULEBOOK, but….

I don’t have in my possession and have never read the Nascar rulebook other than snipits posted online but how can someone who is racing/crewchiefing/spotting and others associated with a multi million dollar and supposedly tier one race team not understand a simple rule as the Lucky Dog.

Flash back to the Dickies 500 at TMS and lap 120 when J.J. Yeley spins coming off Turn 4 and slides through the grass.

Elliott Sadler, as this happened was about to pass the 18 car however and while the nose of the 19 car was indeed ahead of the 18 car as the 19 spotter and the flagman announced that the race was under caution, there is always a second or moment delay from the actual caution call. This is simply the human aspect needed to ‘react’ to David Hoots’ call to ‘throw it out’. For this very reason Nascar begin using the scoring loops around the track in order to position cars after a caution.

But just after the caution flew, the 19 scanner commenced with a back and fourth banter and contradicting ‘rule quoting’. Which is really my whole issue for a ‘tier one’ race team. There should be zero, nada, banter as the rules in this case is very clear and should be second nature to everyone involved on race day.

Now before you hit the send button for the flaming emails, lets give some long over due credit to the whole 19 team and especially the driver for putting the 19 at that time of the race in position to be ‘debated’ for the lucky dog. And frankly more importantly ‘earning’ a lap back the hard way without the aid of the lucky dog pass just a few laps later. It was even more refreshing to see the 19 truly have a ‘top 15’ car by actually passing cars for position to gain that top 15. While the 19 was passed by ‘top 10’ cars, the 19 also passed other cars and held off countless charges from others. Honestly, the last 1/3 of the race, the 19 was not far off from a top 10, which is a nice change. Give credit where credit is due to the driver/spotter/CC/pit crew and over all effort, it was something that has not been the norm this season and maybe the spark to ignite good results next season.

But back to the issue at hand and I’ll attempt to highlight the 19 scanner chatter after the caution flew.

Spotter: “Good job! We should be the lucky dog ………………..no wait, they are saying the 18 then the 19.”

Driver: “You can’t get the Lucky Dog if you cause the caution.”

Spotter: “They are still saying the 18 then the 19.”

Crew Chief: “How can the 18 be ahead of us when he was spinning in the infield?”

Driver: “Tell Nascar I was ahead of the 18 when you (talking to the spotter) said ‘caution’. They are going back to the last loop in turn three. (pause) They need to be looking at were the cars were at the time of the caution.”

Which lies the rub, and the whole reason for the scoring loops in the first place.
Now it is understandable to question just how the 18 would be awarded (or in this case not) the lucky dog after spinning through the infield, but the back and fourth scanner banter was simply put, misdirected.

Starting with the driver’s comment of ‘you can’t get the lucky dog when causing a caution’. I’ll simply quote from a Jayski page on the lucky dog rule:
----Once the yellow flag is waved, all drivers must immediately reduce speed to a "cautious pace" and get in a single-file line behind the leader.
----Any driver involved in the incident that caused the caution will restart in the position they are able to return to the race without advancing their position.
----The rule further states that if the driver who is designated to receive the "Lucky Dog" brings out the yellow, then that driver does not get a lap back nor does anyone else.

So Sadler was half right in his statement, but his attempt to use selective reasoning for ignoring the scoring loops and how they should use and even the location of the loops is interesting to say the least. We all pretty much know what these scoring loops are, and their purpose, but Sadler fails to recognize that Nascar does not actually tell the teams (or the public) the location of the scoring loops for obvious reasons. (other than the start/finish line) Typically, Nascar places 12 to 24 scoring loops at any given tracks, and just a guess here, at a 1.5 mile track a higher number of loops would be used. For example, 20 scoring loops at TMS (1.5) miles spread out equally around the track would result in a less than 1.5 seconds at race speed between loops. Before the scoring loops, NASCAR used videotape and eyewitness accounts to attempt to establish the running order the instant the yellow flag is displayed. With 43 cars on the track at any given time, that process was just a cluster, and invited controversy.

One other side note, had the scoring loops not been used, the 19 car still may have not been awarded the Lucky Dog as when Brett announced the caution, the leader was in the act (just as the 19 was in the act of passing the 18 car) of putting another lead lap car a lap down a half a straight away ahead of the 19 car. Thus another cluster and controversy.

Once again, this seems to be an example of the need for teams to hire a ‘race day’ rules expert, someone whose only job on Sunday is to understand and apply the rules and when needed to question correctly any misunderstanding of the rule. After the race at the very least, and while I am not privy to any information if anyone from the 19 team did this or not, the rule book should have been broken out with all parties involved (driver/spotter/CC), and actually find the applicable rule and then go to Nascar for clarification. This is not only a problem with the action of some of the 19 team, but many athletes/teams from any level. But then again, with announcers and personalities the likes of Jimmy Spenser who try to interpret rules by word of mouth, it isn’t any wonder teams get confused.

It is easy to not agree with a rule in any sport, but to not understand them and their application at that level is a problem. There is simply too much money at stake.

COT TESTING QUESTIONS at ATL, & some other observations:

• I believe this was a free and open test session. Why would a team owner not take every approved race team in his stable? I am referring to the RYR 88 car. It was clear during R&D and testing last year that RYR was late building cars in the first place and behind the curve. I don’t understand why this test would not be taken to its fullest advantage.

• Evernham Motorsports brought two cars for the upstart 10 team, yet only brought one car each for the 9 and 19 teams. Once again, I am not sure why in a free test, one would not bring as many cars as possible. update: I just saw on the Tuesday afternoon speeds that the 19 did indeed bring a second car (although it appears that the 9 only tested one)
  

• Just how many race teams does the Cat in the Hat have control over? I have lost count, and with this RYR/Roush alliance or whatever one wants to call it, that number could go over a half dozen. There is only one solution to this problem…..FRANCHISING!

• In a genius move it looks as though the Penski may opted to move the #2 car owner points to Sam Hornish, thus giving Hornish a free pass into the first five races in ’08. Busch at worse would be able to use the most recent past champion provisional. While it might be more of a risk, I still believe the EMS will take a long look at moving the 19’s owner points to the 10 in ’08.

• Those darn foreigners are trying to take over the sport. Just a few decades ago there were comments by many of the Nascar faithful, that the ‘Yankees’ were trying to take over the sport, and now with the influx of the foreign born open wheelers, the focus has been shifted to them. One common complaint is that these interlopers have not ‘paid their dues’ in the lesser series. That may or may not be the case, and only time will tell the validity of that claim. But one other sport I noticed also has an alarming number of Japanese players crossing the pond and jumping straight to the Major Leagues. BTW, baseball’s TeVee are on the upswing as well as revenue. Just sayin.

• Did you see all those Nascar Fans dress up as empty seats last Sunday? I did, but I think there are a few more reasons than the simple ‘Nascar fans are tired of getting jerked around’ theory. You will also see (while not as many) open spaces on the front stretch at TMS this coming weekend as well. But for many, their reason for not attending races live may have more to do with the high cost of travel and lodging (no, not the ticket prices). The region of the race venue and the College Football schedule for that 300 mile radius may have more to do with it. For example, this weekend at TMS, it is the opening of deer season for starters, and more importantly OU/Texas A&M, Okie Lite/TEXAS, Texas Tech/Baylor and Kansas/Nebraska and South Carolina/Arkansas are all drawing from fans that if this race was not during College Football season, would be attending the Great American Speedway.

AND THE REST OF THE STORY

At the end of the 2006 season, I posted THIS BLOG concerning how Elliott Sadler seems to have a serious performance issue as the season winds down. This week's addition of the "Southern Gentleman's" IN THE FIELD article pretty much puts an exclamation point to my original premise.

Some one call the Post Office, there is a driver mailing it in.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL SILLY SEASON IS HERE!

Where is there a ‘Jayski’ version for college football when you need it? It seems that the rumors are running rampant from human poll discrepancies to coaching changes. But what a fun year it has been watching this crazy season unfold. It seems that on any giving weekend, a loss for your favorite team is a possibility, no matter who your team is playing. Along with that, are the rumors of coaches’ firings and subsequent hiring speculations. Here are a few quick hits in the world of college football:

· Les ‘the hat’ Miles has some big……….
I think ‘the hat’ has been pretty smart and gutsy with a great team. He doesn’t go for every 4th down. They had about 5 opportunities to go on 4th against Auburn last Saturday and they only took it one time.

The ESPN announcers last night were typical and showed that they as a network attempt to ‘create’ a story rather than simply broadcast. LSU snapped the ball with about 7 seconds left, and after the ball was caught there were clearly 3-4 seconds left on the clock. Even if it was incomplete or at worse completed before the goal line and in bounds, LSU had a timeout. Even if the clock guy ran extra clock off, they would have reviewed the play and the refs would have added at least 2 seconds back on the clock for a final FG play.

It was a good gutsy play call. The ESPN announcers didn’t realize that they could review the play to determine whether the clock guy ran too much time off.

· The coaching carousel:
It is starts in Lincoln with the train wreck that Bill ‘slash throat’ Callahan has created. Enter LSU Defensive Coordinator Bo Pelini? The real question might be is would Bo return to Lincoln after not being offered the job 4 years ago when he wanted it. Then add the speculation that Les Miles could very well leave LSU for his Alma matar Michigan very soon after this season is completed.

Still in the Big 12, the debacle in College Station lives on:
Coach Fran honors contracts about as well is the ‘Southern Gentleman’ in Nascar. But this time it just might be a breach of contract that does him in at A&M. Seems the ‘email gate’ is a violation and terminable offense in his contract. The sad part is that A&M is 6-2 and still in the hunt for the Big 12 Championship, although their last for games are all against ranked teams.

Enter Tommy Tubberville and some crazy rumor that he would actually consider leaving Auburn to take the College Station job. I have seen crazier things happen I guess.

Then there is Houston Nutt at Arkansas. It cannot be very good when banners are flown over the stadium at home games that say ‘FIRE NUTT’. Be careful of what you wish for UA fans, you never know who you might get to replace him.

* The BCS….
While I would like to say that the BCS has ruined college football for me, and of course a play-off would be better. (but even with a play-off there would still be very much controversy) I do have to say that the BCS even with all its flaws still makes for a very interesting season. I can beat the BCS to death with the voting issues, the computer poll weirdness and such, but as an OU fan I can throw all that out the window with one thought. “Just don’t lay a fourth quarter egg against Colorado and the BCS wouldn’t look so bad”. The season is just half over and some have given up on the system that EVERY team agreed to play with. And in all honesty, even a TWO LOSS team still has a legitimate chance of making the big dance this year with the remaining games left to play. I still eagerly await Saturdays and watching games and scores throughout the day and I'll be doing it again this Saturday...and OU doesn't even play!. I guess College Football is doing something right!