Berry Tramel

Thoughts from The Oklahoman Sports Columnist Berry Tramel

NBA Finals: Miami act getting tiresome May 31, 2011 | Comment on this article

The NBA Finals start Tuesday night, and the city of Miami — franchise, media, fans — seems to think everyone is against the Heat. Which is largely true. But I’m not sure everyone understands the primary reason. The Dallas Mavericks are the people’s choice; it’s not easy making Mark Cuban and his... Read More

Mark Stoops an Ohio State candidate? May 31, 2011 Mark Stoops is being mentioned as a possible candidate for the Ohio State football coaching job. Urban Meyer is the clear favorite for the job; I’m sure it’s his after the 2011 season, if Meyer wants it. But if not Meyer, who? A lot of observers are listing Mark Stoops as a possible candidate. In fact, one... Read More

Jim Tressel: Losing his job had to happen May 30, 2011 Someone on the radio the other day asked me if the NCAA was finally going to do something about Ohio State and its football scandals under coach Jim Tressel. I said sure, the NCAA is so mad at the Buckeyes, it’s going to put TCU on probation. You remember, during these periodic new revelations about... Read More

Jim Tressel: Don’t forget the Troy Smith case

May 30, 2011 Jim Tressel is out as the football coach at Ohio State, and the current series of scandals is only the latest, not the first, trouble Tressel encountered in Columbus. There was the Maurice Clarett case, in which the Buckeye star tailback was suspended for the 2003 season after receiving improper benefits, and, most... Read More

Chat with Berry Tramel at 11 a.m. May 27, 2011 Chat with sports columnist Berry Tramel at 11 a.m. 1 Show / Hide Archive Comments The following comments are archived from the original publication of this post robert on May 28, 2011 @ 2:41 am Thunder is done, over, finished. Move on to College sports, real sport. Lots of graft going on at Ohio State and... Read More

Thunder: Comparing OKC & Chicago collapses May 27, 2011 Amazing. Another epic collapse in the NBA conference finals. Three nights after the Thunder melted down against Dallas, the Chicago Bulls did the same. The Miami Heat beat the Bulls 83-80 to win the East, despite Chicago owning a 77-65 lead with 3:12 left in the game. The Thunder held a 99-84 lead over the... Read More

Thunder: Much was learned in Dallas series May 26, 2011 The Thunder season is over, courtesy of the Dallas Mavericks in a five-game Western Conference Finals. But the Thunder learned much about itself. Here is a little the Thunder learned: 1. Nick Collison is an elite defender. I know, Dirk Nowitzki had a series for the ages. But the Thunder refused to double-team... Read More

Thunder: Ultimate resiliency test in Game 5 May 25, 2011 The Thunder has been known for its resiliency. Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday night in Dallas is the ultimate test of that resiliency. The Thunder is coming off a spirit-crushing defeat. ESPN reported that in the last 5,000 NBA games in which a team had a 15-point lead with five minutes left,... Read More

Thunder: Nowitzki talks about the comeback

May 24, 2011 Long about midnight, Dirk Nowitzki took the podium and talked about the Mavericks’ amazing comeback, from 15 points down with less than five minutes left to force overtime and eventually beat the Thunder 112-105 in a game that will be long remembered in Oklahoma City. Nowitzki finished with 40 points, including... Read More

OU football: Dealing with Austin Box’s death

May 23, 2011 There is no chapter in the coaching manuals on how to deal with death. Football players aren’t supposed to die. Not in their prime. So Bob Stoops has a challenge in the coming months on how to deal with Austin Box’s death. How does Stoops deal with the tragedy? How does he address it with his team? How often... Read More

Thunder: Time to get physical

May 22, 2011 Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle intimated that Nick Collison was getting a little too physical with Dirk Nowitzki in this series. He’s got to be kidding. If anything, the Thunder hasn’t gotten physical enough. In fact, here’s the easy answer for why OKC got off to such a horrid start in Game 3 (27-10 after... Read More

Thunder: Westbrook not the first benched star May 21, 2011 Russell Westbrook’s “benching” is all the rage. The benching of an all-star? A second-team all-NBA pick? Was Scotty Brooks’ bold move unprecedented in NBA annals? The answer is, of course not. There’s nothing new under the sun. I don’t know how many all-stars have been invited to take a load off in... Read More

Rolando Blackman: Big Eight memories May 21, 2011 My collected wisdom — our Sunday Page 2 interview with a notable sports personality reflecting on life and a career in sports — for the Sunday paper is on Rolando Blackman, one of the two Dallas Mavericks whose number has been retired (Brad Davis is other other). You can read the Blackman collected wisdom... Read More

David Cook to premiere video, perform on "American Idol" next week

May 21, 2011 Former Tulsan and Season 7 “American Idol” champion David Cook will premiere the music video for his new single “The Last Goodbye” Monday on iTunes. The video was directed by the acclaimed and award-winning Nigel Dick (Britney Spears, Oasis, Nickelback) and shot in Malibu earlier this month. Read More

Thunder: Wild night in Dallas May 20, 2011 Wild night in Dallas. The Thunder’s 106-100 victory over the Mavericks set up what is becoming a fascinating series. Historic shootout in Game 1, with Dirk Nowitzki (48 points) and Kevin Durant (40), then an amazing morality play in Game 2, with the Thunder bench dominating like no one thought it could. Here... Read More

No Buffalo Wild Wings this week May 19, 2011 I’m in Dallas for the Western Conference Finals, so I won’t be at Buffalo Wild Wings on Northwest Expressway for my usual Thursday lunch. I will be doing my online chat at 11 a.m. So send in the questions and we’ll go for an hour or so. Read More

Thunder: Another look at Westbrook’s game May 19, 2011 Russell Westbrook played poorly in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. I think we can agree. Westbrook had 20 points thanks to 14-of-18 foul shooting, but he was 3-of-15 shooting, he had just three assists, four turnovers, three rebounds. Not good. But Westbrook did the one thing the Mavericks fear most.... Read More

Power Lunch Chat Recap: Berry Tramel on Thunder-Mavs Game 2 May 19, 2011 Chat with sports columnist Berry Tramel at 11 a.m. Read More

Thunder: Dirk vs. Durant ‘historic’

May 18, 2011 The word “historical” was thrown around quite a bit Wednesday during the Dallas Mavericks’ media session. The Dirk Nowitzki (48 points)/Kevin Durant (40 points) shootout still had even long-time NBA observers marveling. “Historic, historic game,” said the Mavs’ Jason Terry, a 12-year veteran, of the... Read More

Thunder: Second quarter spree lifted Mavs

May 18, 2011 Here’s where the Thunder lost Game 1 to the Mavericks: second quarter. The Thunder led 45-39 with 4:26 left in the first half. The Mavs scored 13 straight points and eventually took a 55-48 halftime lead. “We were taking too many quick shots,” said Scotty Brooks. “We weren’t having enough ball... Read More