Emails in on Bedlam and Big 12

The new emails are in, and basketball is all the rage. Two Bedlam games within a week, plus the Big 12 Tournament, brings out football-like passion. And stupidity. Let’s get to it.

Thomas: “I have a few comments on your pro-Aggie agenda. First is your new center stud Moses should have been ejected from the game on his intention/flagrant foul on Blake Griffin. I saw no mention of that in your biased article. Then the foul near the end on Griffin that sent Anderson to the line for the winning point was a bad call. They were going for the ball and the foul could have also been called on Anderson. Then at the very end an OSU player mugged Griffin on his last shot. Big 12 buffoon officials swallowed their whistles.”

I have a few comments on your pro-stupidity agenda. If I printed your email the way you sent it in, without cleaning up the spelling and grammar, you would be ejected from the communication marketplace. But aside from that, blaming refs is for losers.

Steve: “Hey, Aggie boy, caught your OSU biased articles of the last three days. I suppose you finally talked your pitiful Aggies into a referee-aided win over OU. Of course you think that the Ford center atmosphere was special and historic. Aggie wins over OU in either football or basketball are extremely rare, so of course a little orange boy like you would see last night as special and historic. Let me clue you in on a few facts – OU is a very special university of which I am a proud graduate. OU sports tradition, feats and wins are historic and legendary world-wide. OSU, on the other hand, is a second-rate school which hates OU because the Aggies know that they will always be the disrespected little brothers of the legendary Sooners. Oklahoma is the Sooner State and if you’d take your orange glasses off, you’d see that OU has the love and forever has the heart and soul of 85% of all Oklahomans. I would encourage you to take a non-biased approach to your writing in the future.”

Ladies and gentlemen, whenever you think OSU has the corner on inferiority complex, go back and read this guy, who has so many self-esteem issues, it would take an army of therapists to straighten him out.

Charlie, a third-generation Oklahoman: “Please stop using the officiating excuse for OU’s losses. You constantly expose yourself as the paid shill for OU and the Gaylords that you are. I hate writing and am terrible at it. At least I can write freely and with integrity. You have neither. You are a simple hired hand for the despised Gaylords. The state of Oklahoma is changing and you will be relegated to the dustbin of our state’s history reviled.”

Charlie, you apparently are a third-generation idiot. You’ve just read all these emails from Sooner goofballs upset that I didn’t write about the officiating. Here’s what I propose. We put you all in a ring and hash it out. May the best man win, although I don’t see any good men to start with.

Nathan: “Did you watch Saturday’s ABC broadcast of Bedlam basketball? I think you may have another story to report. Blake Griffin was given more praises than Tebow during the national championship game. I believe I could possibly draw a sketch of his parents from memory, since I saw them nearly 20 times during that period. One thing that makes it truly unbelievable to me is the fact that the game was very close for the entire game, yet, if you didn’t know the score, you would have thought it was a runaway. Additionally, Griffin wasn’t even the leading scorer in the game, yet James Anderson didn’t even slow the nauseating praises crowned to Griffin. Just wondering if you saw and heard it and if you are going to run a similar story as you did after the BCS title game.”

If the announcers said you are a better person just by spending five minutes with Blake Griffin, then the answer is yes, I will write about it. If not, the answer is no.

Jesse: “James Anderson dropped 37 points on the Goons, in case you didn’t notice. What a joke. If Griffin is the Terminator, then what is Anderson?

Second-team all-Big 12.

Rebecca: Either your Sooners aren’t nearly as good as we’ve heard about all year or the Cowboys are a lot better than ever given credit for. You beat us by only four points and you expect your team to go to the Final Four. I don’t think so. Did you happen to see Pitt and UConn play today? What do you think they’ll do to The Great Blake Griffin besides stuff it down his throat and knock him to the floor every chance they get? You’d think his name is Adonis Griffin to hear the announcers and all the film they show of him. I’m just sorry you don’t have anyone else on your team that warrants being mentioned. And by the way, just how many points did James Anderson score today?”

Here’s a legitimate question. Why are some of these people sports fans? I mean, it’s obvious they’re not happy. It’s obvious they are angry, pathetic people whose misery is fueled by sports. Oh well, I guess that’s like asking why alcoholics drink.

OK, that’s enough from lunatics. Let’s talk about the atmosphere at the Ford Center Bedlam. Brent: “Your column about the atmosphere at the game last night was spot on. I am not sure it beats GI when its full and rock’in, but it was great.”

But that was my point. Gallagher-Iba, or Owen Field, or any home site, is not always rocking. When the visiting team makes a play, the air goes out. No air went out in the Ford Center.

Hardy: “I couldn’t agree with you more as far as your article goes. I’ve been to some games at Gallagher when it was a lot louder, but having it at the Ford Center with fans from both schools was awesome. I kind of thought OSU had more fans, which surprises me, since OU has the better team, but I am an OSU fan so I’m biased. It was awesome to see the back and forth with the fans.”

Here’s what I thought. I thought it was the equivalent of OU-Texas. I talked to Tim Allen, the association commissioner of the Big 12. He’s been around forever and worked at OSU and K-State. Anyway, he said he thought the atmosphere was about the same as a Missouri-Kansas game at KC’s Kemper Arena. But Missouri radio voice Mike Kelly told me he thought Bedlam at the Ford Center was better.

Now, on to the game itself. Darren: “I was disappointed at times with the officiating because they seemed to be calling a lot of ticky tacky fouls that never allowed either team to get into any kind of a rhythm. I’m not blaming the officiating on the outcome because, like Capel, I don’t believe the outcome was decided in the last 2.3 seconds. However, I kept thinking, ‘Why doesn’t Capel apply full-court pressure to the Cowboys?’ Especially in the last five minutes when they were obviously winded, particularly Eaton. The Cowboys just played the night before and the Sooners should have been the fresher team, with fresher legs. Plus, Capel’s got good reserves on the bench, particularly at guard play with Cade Davis and Omar Leary, and the lengthy Juan Pattillo. To me, that’s where Capel went wrong. But, hey, what do I know? I just hope the Sooners can regroup in time for the Big Dance. Otherwise, they might suffer a similar fate as they did against the Cowboys in the Big 12 tourney.”

I don’t think full-court pressure would have helped. OU’s problem clearly was offense. Too many turnovers, not enough touches for Blake Griffin. Don’t worry about a toothache when the house is on fire.

Dan: “I am an OSU fan so I do have a prejudice. However, I do want you to know that your column entitled, ‘OSU’s upset of OU as notable for atmosphere as its drama’ was very, very good. It was very powerful. I really felt the emotion of the game.”

Sometimes you wonder why you do this job. Then you get an email like this.

Katie: “I have continuously over the years written you harsh criticizing emails about your coverage of OSU. In complete sincerity, thanks for giving a little love for the Cowboys in your column.”