Strange August: No OU scrimmage

For the first time since I can’t remember when, I’ll see no Sooner scrimmage before their first football game. Unless you count Chattanooga as a scrimmage, of course.

I understand Bob Stoops’ decision to close the scrimmages. He’s right. People can study up on the Sooners and get a slight jump, although the prime suspects — Big 12 foes, Texas in particular — wouldn’t really gain an advantage from schemes and formations. The Sooners play five games before Dallas; Texas will have a big block of data to study just from games.

But September foes, particularly Cincinnati and Washington, might learn a thing or two. And any trick plays or surprise wrinkles that OU might be working on but saving for just the right time, those would come in handy to amateur scouts from UT, Tech, OSU or A&M.

Still, it’s too bad that the scrimmages are closed. OU fans have made it a tradition to turn out en masse to watch the intrasquad battles on Owen Field. It’s insufferably hot, and you might not learn much, especially if there’s no quarterback derby, but to the seasoned fan, the scrimmages gave glimpses not just into the 2008 season, but the future. Young players will get to shine only on the practice or scrimmage field. And some fans are hard-core enough to take note.

Oh well. Write it off as another victim of the new technology. Internet. Camera phones. Instant information. You can’t blame Stoops for trying to protect his interests.