Berry Tramel

Thoughts from The Oklahoman Sports Columnist Berry Tramel

Life in the John Wayne Suite July 24, 2007 | Comment on this article

Sometimes living right pays off. Sometimes it takes time. I arrived in San Antonio at 9:30 a.m. Monday, got downtown to our hotel at 10:30 a.m. and got online fully about 1 p.m. Tuesday. I spent 27-plus hours wrestling with the staff at the St. Anthony Wyndham Hotel to get the Internet activated. But I was... Read More

Welcome to Leningrad, Sooners July 12, 2007 Oklahoma football has been ordered to vacate its eight wins in 2005, and what’s next? Rafael Palmeiro’s home runs be stricken from the Baseball Encyclopedia? Richard Millhouse Nixon’s portrait be removed from the White House gallery? The Oklahoma Land Run be cast out of history books? Rewriting history to... Read More

Missing Dandy Don July 11, 2007 It doesn’t seem like Don Meredith spent 15 years in the network broadcast booth. Looking back on the halcyon days of Monday Night Football, it seems like Meredith analyzed NFL games for but a few seasons. But his work indeed was lasting. And not forgotten by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which has named... Read More

Will Early’s dismissal cost Sooners? July 10, 2007 Early left early. Barely into July, OU basketball coach Jeff Capel dismissed his recruit from the squad, for transgressions unknown but apparently related to a trespassing charge over the weekend, and now Capel is down to 10 scholarship players. Ten is enough. But 10 is precarious. Capel, who in April removed... Read More

Still time for Granger, McCoy July 09, 2007 Gerald McCoy and DeMarcus Granger haven’t been around forever. It only seems like it. OU’s big defensive tackles have been cursed by high expectations. Been cursed by... Read More

Why are the Feds on Vick’s trail? July 08, 2007 Federal authorities seem to be zoning in on Michael Vick’s involvement in a dogfighting ring, and I’m sure there’s ample legal grounds for staying after the Falcons quarterback.But should the feds be on this case?Dogfighting is an abominable practice that rightfully is outlawed. But should our federal agents... Read More

Best 7 ever July 07, 2007 Today is Lucky 7 day. July 7, 2007. 7-7-07. Good a day as any to debate who is the greatest No. 7 ever. Mickey Mantle or John Elway? These are the kinds of debates I love. It gets old comparing Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. A-Rod and Derek Jeter. I prefer cross-sports debates.... Read More

Time to punt the Home Run Derby? July 06, 2007 Barry Bonds? Out of the Home Run Derby. Junior Griffey? Out of the Home Run Derby. Alex Rodriguez? Almost certainly out of the Home Run Derby. Is it time we put the Derby out to pasture? Sports have a long history of auxiliary events that seem like a good idea at the onset, then lose momentum. The old HORSE... Read More

A-Rod’s wife did what? July 05, 2007 Cynthia Rodriguez went to Yankee Stadium on Sunday to cheer on her husband and pull another brick from the wall of civilization. The New York Post reported that the wife of Yankee star Alex Rodriguez attended the New York-Oakland game, sitting in the players’ family section, wearing a white tank top with language... Read More

Here-here for Bonds in the All-Star Game July 05, 2007 Baseball fans have voted Barry Bonds into the National League starting lineup for the All-Star Game, and I say, here-here. I’m no Bonds fan, not anymore, not after what he’s done and how he’s behaved. But he belongs in the All-Star Game. Frankly, he belongs in the All-Star Game more than he belongs in a... Read More

Losing a true legend June 22, 2007 Jim Shoulders and Walt Garrison came by The Oklahoman offices last February. I chatted with Shoulders, then interviewed Garrison. Call it a solid day. Do they make cowboys like they used to? Do they still make cowboys who talk straight and ride hard and have real dirt on their boots? Cowboys who retire from the... Read More

Hicks indicts Gonzalez June 21, 2007 Rangers owner Tom Hicks has fingered former slugger Juan Gonzalez for using steroids, and the only thing I can say is, us fans should have done the same. Never has anyone been a bigger suspect than Gonzalez, who always was one of my favorite Rangers. Hicks said Gonzalez’s injuries and early retirement makes him... Read More

USC recruiting eighth-graders June 20, 2007 Just when you thought college sports couldn’t get any seedier, along comes Southern Cal basketball coach Tim Floyd, who for the second straight year has offered a scholarship to an EIGHTH-grader. Ryan Boatwright, described as a speedy, 5-10 point guard from Illinois, hasn’t even decided where he’s going to... Read More

Stoops’ pyramid adventure June 19, 2007 I caught a “King of Queens” episode on late-night television Monday. Doug got hooked up in some goofy pyramid scheme that left him feeling embarrassed. Welcome to the club, Bob Stoops. Stoops admitted Monday that he was involved, apparently to a tiny degree, in a pyramid scheme that now is under investigation... Read More

JamesOn can play in the NBA June 18, 2007 JamesOn Curry apparently is going to stay in the NBA draft, and while I think it’s the wrong decision, that doesn’t mean Curry can’t make it in the pros. Think Jannero Pargo. The backup guard for the Hornets a year ago is opting out of the back end of a two-year contract, thinking his marketability is... Read More

Big 12 needs a strong leader June 15, 2007 Kevin Weiberg was a weak commissioner for the Big 12 Conference, as any OU fan can tell you. The Lubbock fiasco, the Longar Longar suspension. The Sooners certainly had no great reason to consider Weiberg a comrade. But Weiberg’s shortcomings were much deeper than that. His style of leadership — low key,... Read More

NBA ratings decline bad for OKC June 14, 2007 The NBA Finals’ television ratings continue to plunge. A 6.4 rating for Game 3, which is down 30 percent from 2006’s Game 3. That number basically translate into this: 6.4 percent of American homes watched the Spurs-Cavaliers. And that’s bad news for Oklahoma City. Here’s why. When the NBA comes to town,... Read More

Supplements are bad news June 13, 2007 First off, I’m not scientist. I’m no expert on substances. Don’t claim to be. But the news that OU supplied banned substances to football players last autumn, then stopped after discovering the NCAA infraction, raises several questions about the entire practice. Not just at OU, but at colleges and even high... Read More

Big 12 baseball down June 12, 2007 Here’s what we discovered about Big 12 baseball during the NCAA Tournament. 2007 was not a strong year. Oklahoma State was the final team standing, if you can call it that. O-State took Louisville to a climax game in the Super Regional but was outscored 31-5 for the weekend. At least the Cowboys won a game.... Read More

Put no limits on Clemens June 10, 2007 Roger Clemens bashing is all the rage, and maybe for good reason. Despise his parachuting into a major-league roster in June. Write him off for his burnt orange blood. Indict him in your mind because he’s probably skating free on some foreign substance while the Barry Bonds crowd gets all the slings and arrows.... Read More