Berry Tramel

Thoughts from The Oklahoman Sports Columnist Berry Tramel

Looks like a Thursday for OSU & OU March 02, 2008 | Comment on this article

It’s way too early to tell where OU and OSU will settle in the seedings for the Big 12 Tournament. But here’s what seems most likely: neither the Cowboys nor Sooners will get a first-round bye, and that means both would play on Day 1 in Kansas City, Mo. The big winner Saturday was Baylor, which came back... Read More

Lloyd Noble troubles March 01, 2008 OU’s biggest game of the Jeff Capel era comes at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center against Texas A&M, and there can’t be a lot of reason for optimism. And not just because of OU’s two straight 45-point performances. Check out OU’s Lloyd Noble showing this season. In the Big 12, OU has played six... Read More

A mail bag about Sudden Sam February 29, 2008 My column this week about Sam Bradford drew some interesting responses. I said Bradford was an excellent freshman quarterback, but if he could improve into a playmaker, an improviser on occasion, Oklahoma football would take a big step up. One reader wrote, “He cannot become a ‘playmaker’ until the coaches... Read More

Sooners reeling February 28, 2008 If the Big 12 race ended today, OU would be seeded seventh for the conference tournament. And the Sooners might be going down instead of up. OU’s malaise continued with its second straight 45-point performance, a 62-45 loss at Nebraska, on the heels of a 63-45 loss at Texas. OU wasn’t very good in the game... Read More

More television saga February 27, 2008 Another funny situation tonight. OU’s women are at Texas Tech, and the game is being televised by Sooner Sports Network. OU’s men are at Nebraska — a far more important and intriguing game than the women — and it’s not on TV. I wondered why, so I asked. An OU official told me that the Sooners tried to... Read More

Bedlam on Thanksgiving Friday? February 26, 2008 The move of Texas A&M-Texas to Thanksgiving night opens an ABC slot on Thanksgiving Friday. Wonder if there’s any thought to moving Bedlam there? Bedlam has been a Thanksgiving Saturday staple most of the last decade, and the games have been mostly entertaining. Let’s see, every Bedlam game in Stillwater... Read More

Can OSU get in? February 25, 2008 Sean Sutton’s Cowboys have gone from contending for last place two weeks ago to now contending for a first-round Big 12 Tournament bye. And some are asking if OSU can somehow make the NCAA Tournament. The answer is yes, but it will be hard. There are two ways, and winning the Big 12 Tournament is the LEAST... Read More

Twists & turns in Big 12 hoops February 23, 2008 Interesting day in Big 12 basketball, thanks to two stunning results. OSU’s upset of Kansas at Gallagher-Iba Arena and Nebraska’s shocking victory at Texas A&M. Here’s what the day means. * Do you realize OSU is only one game behind OU in the Big 12 race? The Cowboys are 5-7; OU is one of four teams at... Read More

Scheduling conflicts February 23, 2008 Let me vent. For the second straight Saturday, the OU and OSU men’s basketball games go head-to-head on television. Last week, OSU played Texas A&M on ABC, with a start time about 20 minutes before the OU-Texas Tech game on the Big 12 Network. Today, it’s OU-Texas on ABC at 2:30 p.m., with OSU-Kansas at 3... Read More

Readers respond on Sean/Self February 22, 2008 Today, we turn over the Blog to OSU basketball fans, who can’t seem to agree on the status of Bill Self. Some say I am only trying to stir up trouble by suggesting OSU decision-makers even want Self, while others say I am nuts for suggesting that no way would Self leave Kansas at this point in his career. So I... Read More

College basketball’s best ever February 21, 2008 ESPN is counting down the top 25 college basketball players of all time, and here’s how you know the list is political. Michael Jordan is No. 13. Young whippersnappers will say, why so low. Anyone with a clue will say, don’t you mean 113? No way is Jordan one of the greatest college hoopsters of all time. No... Read More

Refs are people, too February 20, 2008 Funny scene Tuesday night at Lloyd Noble Center, where OU beat Baylor 92-91 in overtime, one of the darndest games I’ve ever seen. Anyway, at halftime in the press room, we’re standing around watching the last minute or so of Indiana-Purdue, which just might be Kelvin Sampson’s last game. Indiana pulled... Read More

Here comes the NBA February 19, 2008 It’s not happening with a big boom. It’s a series of smaller cosmic events, which tempers the excitement. More of a boil than an explosion. But make no mistake what is happening. The NBA is on its way to Oklahoma City. Listen to this Seattle Times quote from Seattle city council president Richard Conlin,... Read More

Surprise leader in Big 12 February 18, 2008 What a difference a week makes in Big 12 basketball. Both the Sooners and Cowboys are in much better shape than they were last Monday. It was a good week for both; two-game winning streaks for each, including big road wins in the Lone Star State. How big was David Godbold’s 28-foot 3-pointer that beat Texas... Read More

A wedding rich in spirit February 17, 2008 Saturday night, my wife and I attended one of the most unique weddings either of us had ever seen. It was a wedding of two former OU athletes, but it was not a jock-filled, sports-honored ceremony. The wedding of Shannon Selmon and Vince Carter was rich in spirit. I was invited because I’ve gotten to... Read More

Emptying the Fiesta Bowl mailbag February 16, 2008 Today we bring back a popular feature, one I hope will appear weekly. The mail bag. I’ll share some interesting emails I received from readers. Today’s topic: the Fiesta Bowl meltdown by the Sooners. A fellow named Dave wrote and was not happy with the state of OU football: “I’m beginning to think that... Read More

Stand up and cheer February 15, 2008 This morning in The Oklahoman,I wrote about the special-needs cheerleading squad at Empire Elite, a gym in Bethany. I thought it was a good story, I thought it was inspiring and frankly, I was pleased with my work. I had only one hangup. Did this story belong on the sports page? One of my editors asked that... Read More

Slow night at the box office February 14, 2008 OSU and OU played two reasonably-important basketball games Wednesday night. OU hosted Iowa State for its NCAA Tournament life; OSU hosted Baylor maybe for its coach’s life. Here’s how interested the fans were. The combined attendance of 14,433 barely would have filled Gallagher-Iba Arena. OSU drew 8,608,... Read More

Grand night at the Thorpe February 13, 2008 The Jim Thorpe Banquet always is one of the best non-game nights of the year in Oklahoma City sports. Lynne Draper, Greg Slavonic and the Jim Thorpe Association staff do a fantastic job putting on a quality event. Here’s just one example. The banquet is scripted and was scheduled to end at 9:25 p.m. Tuesday. It... Read More

Coaches on the hot seat February 12, 2008 A few weeks ago, I blogged about coacheshotseat.com, a website that tracks the status of college football coaches. I wrote about the grades given Bob Stoops and Mike Gundy for the 2007 season; each received a C, which I thought was low. Stoops, I said, deserved a B+ for winning the Big 12, while Gundy earned at... Read More