A.D. learns media game
Tramel: A.D. learns media game

When Adrian Peterson's handlers started gushing about his Q rating, I admit. I was skeptical.

"He has something very special about him. He just has that ‘it' factor," Bill Henkel, Peterson's marketing agent, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in February. "He's got the looks; he's got the body; he's got the talent, charisma and everything. He can do anything he wants to do."

He's got the body and the talent, and a variety of ladies have told me he's got the looks. But the charisma? I never saw a lot of charisma out of Peterson during his three Sooner seasons.

But now, I guess I'm ready to believe. First, a variety of companies want to sign up Peterson, and he's already gone national with a Sprint campaign, plugging a cell phone on ESPN2's "Cold Pizza.”

Now, Peterson is learning how to work the media. Peterson was featured prominently on ESPN.com Tuesday, and the story by Len Pasquarelli ended with the story of Nelson Peterson's release from prison and finally getting to see his son play in high school or college for the first time. Peterson suffered his broken collarbone in that game, against Iowa State.

"The injury,” Pasquarelli wrote, "occurred when Peterson dove into the end zone, not so much to celebrate his 53-yard scoring burst, but to accentuate his father's presence at the game.”

"It was special,” Peterson told ESPN.com. "And there are more special moments where that came from.”

Nice story. But a little shy of all the facts. Peterson dove after Iowa State's Chris Singleton clipped Peterson around the ankle, causing Peterson to stumble. He dove into the end zone, where he landed on his collarbone.

Could Peterson have scored without the dive? Perhaps. Did diving insure the touchdown? Absolutely. Peterson was excited about his dad, no doubt. But diving because his dad was in the house? An embellished version of the actual events. Which means Peterson really is going to be a marketing star.

An interesting committee
Strange stuff in Indianapolis last weekend, where OU went before the NCAA's committee on infractions. Our man George Schroeder reported that committee member Brian Halloran wandered over to the assembled media during a break, and while he wouldn't answer questions about the Sooner case, Halloran quizzed them on who would be OU's quarterback in 2007.

Also on the committee: Jerry Parkinson, dean of the University of Wyoming College of Law since 1998 but formerly an 11-year faculty member of OU's law school, including four years as associate dean.

More intrigue. University of Miami athletic director Paul Dee is on the committee; his football team plays in Norman on Sept. 8, a game that will shape the season of both squads.

I don't know what it all means, but it's danged interesting. The reason OU was in Indy in the first place, and the reason the Sooners don't have a quarterback, is all the same reason. Rhett Bomar screwed up.

Halloran, a lawyer in Malibu, Calif., is one of three general-public representatives on the committee. The rest of the committee is made up people from NCAA institutions. Halloran's interest in the Sooner huddle could stem from his alma mater: Colorado. The Sooners play in Boulder on Sept. 29.

The rest of the committee: Jo Potuto, a law professor at Nebraska and that school's faculty representative to the NCAA; Gene Marsh, a law professor at Alabama and formerly its faculty rep; Jim Lechner, a former federal district judge and now a lawyer in Princeton, N.J.; Edward Leland, vice president at the University of the Pacific and formerly Stanford's athletic director; Dennis Thomas, commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference; Baylor graduate Thomas Phillips, retired chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court and now an Austin lawyer; and Eileen Jennings, general counsel at Central Michigan University.

But the Bulls erred last summer, when they decided to give Wallace a huge contract and trade the big contract of Tyson Chandler to the Hornets.

Wallace is the better player now, but not by much. In the latter part of these centers' contracts, Chandler will be the better player, and by a bunch.

Wallace is 32 years old. This season he is averaging 6.4 points, 10.7 rebounds and shooting 45.3 percent from the field. He just finished season No. 1 of a four-year, $60-million contract.

The 24-year-old Chandler is averaging 9.5 points, 12.4 rebounds and shooting 62.4 percent from the field. He just finished season No. 2 of a five-year, $54-million contract.

Wallace is a defender supreme, no doubt. But next season? The year after that? 2009-10? Are you kidding me? When Chandler is 26 or 27 and Wallace 34 or 35, Chandler will be one of the handful of decent centers in the NBA, and Wallace will be an old man by league standards.

The Bulls should have kept Chandler and not signed Wallace.

Hokies ned reason to cheer
Virginia Tech has canceled its spring football game, which had been scheduled for Saturday. No one in Blacksburg, Va., is in the mood for football after the horrific shooting spree on campus this week that left 33 dead.

But those who question the value of sports will have to rethink some day soon.

Truth is, if we remade the world, we would not join in unholy matrimony big-time sports with the collegiate experience. Varsity sports at the highest levels have proven to be a combustible mix on campus. Academic abuses, recruiting scandals, salaries totally out of control.

Yet sometimes, a school needs a little diversion. Sometimes, a ballgame is exactly what a university needs.

That sometime will come soon at Virginia Tech. The entire campus will endure various stages of grief, from disbelief to numbness to outrage to sorrow and all points in between.

But eventually, all Hokies will have to breathe. All Hokies will need to shout. Eventually, Virginia Tech will need a football game in the worst of ways.

Coach Frank Beamer and Tech officials made the right call in canceling the spring game. Probably too soon to congregate for a scrimmage. But Sept. 1, when the Hokies host East Carolina, can't get here fast enough. By then, Virginia Tech will be aching to bring people to campus so they can cheer instead of mourn.

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Adrian Peterson talks with young football players on the second day of his camp in Norman.

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Volleyball camp: June 23, 2009

Photos from the volleyball camp in Norman on Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

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Sunbelt Classic: June 23, 2009

Photos from the Sunbelt Classic in Norman on Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

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Endeavor Games: Saturday, June 13, 2009

Photos from the Endeavor Games Saturday, June 13, 2009

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