Jenni Carlson

Opinions from The Oklahoman sports columnist

College football rankings fun July 30, 2007 | Comment on this article

Our friends at ESPN.com decided to pass the final days before the start of football practice with a little ranking. They asked 15 of their college football experts to rank all 119 Division-I programs for what they’ve done in the past decade. An interesting idea. An even more interesting result. The top... Read More

Carlson: Artrell improving July 25, 2007 Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy was asked about the progress of Artrell Woods. The wide receiver was injured a couple weeks ago in a freak weight room accident. He injured his back and needed emergency surgery. Gundy said that considering the nature of his injury, Woods is doing well. While the Cowboy coach... Read More

Carlson: Gundy on Collins July 25, 2007 Oklahoma State linebacker Chris Collins was brought up only once in Mike Gundy’s press conference. The Cowboy coach talked not about Collins’ pending legal situation but about his health after a season-ending knee injury a year ago. “Chris Collins is back full speed,” Gundy said. “When he was... Read More

Carlson: Favorite part of Media Days July 24, 2007 My favorite part of Big 12 Media Days has just begun. Mike Leach on the dais. The Texas Tech coach is a hoot. He’s opinionated. He’s thoughtful. And man, oh man, he’s funny. He opened with a laugh, sitting down and beating the press conference moderator to the punch. “Any questions?”... Read More

Carlson: Missouri surprise July 24, 2007 News about Missouri’s stop atop the Big 12 North in the preseason poll surprised some folks. That group included a few Tigers. Missouri defensive tackle and Midwest City product Lorenzo Williams remembers opening the morning paper not so long ago and seeing the headline. He admitted Tuesday during Big 12... Read More

Back from vacay July 17, 2007 Greetings, sports fans. Long time, no blog. Took some time off last week, and even though I ventured outside Oklahoma County only once, it was exactly the thing I needed to recharge. So, feeling energized, I offer you a smorgasbord of thoughts on the latest goings on in sports: 1. The New York Post is reporting... Read More

Don’t be like Mike July 06, 2007 Federal agents returned to Michael Vick’s home in Virginia on Friday morning. They brought a dozen cars, a U-Haul truck and a helicopter with them. Doesn’t look good for Mike. The accusations about the Atlanta Falcons quarterback’s involvement in dog fighting aren’t going away. In fact, they only... Read More

A true sports hero July 04, 2007 So often in sports we throw around the word “hero.” In reality, sports has few heroes. Legends, yes. Stars, for sure. But heroes in sports are rare. An e-mail earlier this week reminded me of that. Former Oklahoma football player and coach Leon Cross was nice enough to share with me an e-mail sent to him... Read More

What to do with pro wrestling July 03, 2007 Never have been a pro wrestling fan. Never watched it. Never liked it. That’s probably a shared sentiment among folks in the sports media. Sure, there are some of us who like the scripted act, but a vast majority prefer our sports to be un-rigged. We like for the teams, the athletes, the coaches to decide the... Read More

Rain: Punishment or preparation? June 29, 2007 So, it’s raining again today. Big shocker, eh? Some folks around here are beginning to wonder if we’re being punished for something. I say we’re preparing for something. The Sonics. They are still Seattle’s squad, but if they don’t get an arena deal done in the Pacific Northwest, Oklahoma... Read More

Never too early for ’08 Draft June 28, 2007 The 2007 NBA Draft is only hours away. That means the 2008 draft is only a year away. I know, I know, this is jumping a gun a little seeing as how this year’s picks have yet to be made, this year’s millionaires have yet to be named. And yet, there are already folks out there thinking about what happens next... Read More

Durant No. 1? No way June 27, 2007 There’s talk wafting around the Pacific Northwest that the draft might go Durant-Oden instead of Oden-Durant. Yep, some folks up that way believe Portland might take Texas phenom Kevin Durant instead of Ohio State big man Greg Oden with the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. That’d leave Seattle, of course, with... Read More

JamesOn not off his rocker June 26, 2007 The news last week that JamesOn Curry would leave Oklahoma State and remain in the NBA Draft despite working out for exactly zero teams shocked many. Contrary to popular belief, though, this isn’t the worst idea ever. Fantastic? Tragic? No on both counts. Curry will be undrafted. Of that, there seems... Read More

Summertime? Summer Games June 13, 2007 The 2008 Olympics are not so far away, and USA Gymnastics is already gearing up. It has teamed with AT&T to do a series of online videos about the sport in the States. Three episodes are already linked up, and in the first one, you’ll notice a nice dose of Oklahoma flavor. Olympic hopeful Jonathan Horton... Read More

Grow up, J.R. June 12, 2007 J.R. Smith became a fan favorite during his one year in Oklahoma City with the Hornets. It wasn’t his game we loved. It was his youthful spirit. Smith acted like a big kid. Goofy. Funny. He’d come out of the locker room at halftime, and if they were playing the “Everybody Clap Your Hands” song, he’d... Read More

Star in the making? June 11, 2007 Hope you had a chance to catch our scholar-athlete package on Sunday. Every year, these kids amaze me. Talented athletes. Dedicated students. None were more impressive this year than Leigh McCoy of Casady and Steven Perry of Bishop McGuinness. Here’s a little leftover tidbit about Perry, who’s going to play... Read More

The King is still a prince May 24, 2007 LeBron James is still learning. For the second time in as many games, James and his Cleveland Cavaliers gave away a victory in Detroit. They had a chance to win both road games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Great chances, in fact. Donyell Marshall had a wide-open look at a game-winning three in Game 1. James... Read More

Pinging and ponging May 23, 2007 The NBA has once again captured the imagination of Oklahomans. The bouncing ping pong balls bounced in favor of the Seattle-soon-to-be-Oklahoma-City Sonics, and now, they have a chance to snag Kevin Durant or Greg Oden. Whichever player is left after the Portland Trail Blazers draft will be scooped up by the... Read More

Home of Super Bowl XLV May 22, 2007 So, the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium has been awarded Super Bowl XLV. That’s Super Bowl 45 for those of you who are Roman numeral challenged. Even though the game is four years away — 2011 — the announcement that it is coming to the Dallas area should excite folks in Oklahoma. No doubt few of us will... Read More

See DeMarco run. Run DeMarco, run. May 22, 2007 Just in case you need a little football fix, here’s a little highlight video of Oklahoma tailback DeMarco Murray. On it are clips from his high school days at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas. Most of them are impressive, but I particularly like the flip into the endzone only a few seconds into the highlights.... Read More

Jenni Carlson

Want a different take on sports? Jenni Carlson provides her unique insight on everything from the pros to the college ranks to the preps and everything in between.