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Before Super Bowl, name-dropping Shields, Squirek, Rodman, Diamond
Published: 2/5/2012 5:11 PM
Last Modified: 2/5/2012 5:11 PM

Fifteen thoughts prior to Super Bowl XLVI:

1, Did you read about the exchange between Madonna and former OU defensive lineman Gerald McCoy the other day? McCoy is apparently a credentialed member of the Ochocinco News Network (didn’t Ochocinco used to play football?) and he told Madonna: “I’m only 23, but I love you.” Madonna, who is 53, replied, “That’s OK. I’ve got love for 23-year-olds.” At that point, McCoy should have run like a real cougar was chasing him.

2, We have been blessed with good Super Bowls lately. Five of the last eight have been decided by six or fewer points. The ones which weren’t decided by single digits were good games, too. Saints-Colts was a one-point game going into the last six minutes. Colts-Bears was a five-point game heading into the last 12 minutes. Steelers-Seahawks was a four-point game until a clinching TD with 6:04 left.

3, If the BCS system determined the Super Bowl pairing, we would be getting ready to watch Packers vs. whomever you think was best from the AFC -- and that’s the root of the problem is we have to guess who deserves to be playing for a title instead of letting players earn it on the field.

4, It’s too bad that good guy Will Shields didn’t make it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first try. I spent a day with him in Kansas City in 2005 back because he was chosen to receive the Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Award. Here’s the story: http://bit.ly/wjF0C5

5, Madonna is providing the halftime entertainment. A pop culture site -- afterelton.com -- ranks the top 100 Madonna songs. “Vogue” was No. 1. At No. 20 was “Crazy for You,” a song she contributed to a very good soundtrack for a movie (“Vision Quest”) about a high school wrestler. Other Madonna sports connections I can think of: She was a ballplayer in “League of their Own.” And she is a former gal pal of ex-NBA player Dennis Rodman. NBA scouting director Marty Blake had a theory that Rodman (who wasn’t always flamboyant) was taught by Madonna to market himself (do crazy things). Here’s the story: http://bit.ly/xJfSFY

6, Non-Super Bowl thought: ORU played a Thursday game at South Dakota State and the venue (Frost Arena) might be the most perfectly named facility in the country. According to a weather site, the temperature in Brookings, S.D., will get above freezing just twice in the next five days.

7, Another non-Super Bowl thought: ORU’s Kevi Luper got a standing ovation in Fargo, N.D. when she set the Summit League career scoring record with a 41-point performance Saturday. Fans did that for a player from the visiting team? My faith in humanity is restored, at least for today.

8, Winning teams or franchises always seem to spawn “haters.” Duke basketball. New York Yankees. Dallas Cowboys. New England Patriots. Usually, the source of dislike is a distant relative of jealousy. Full disclosure: I have had a hard time watching the Patriots since the film scandal of a few years ago. Now, every time I see them play, it’s like I’m watching the 1972 Olympic basketball game and the Pats are the Russians.

9, Have Super Bowl commercials jumped the shark? Have Super Bowl halftime shows jumped the shark?

10, The only Sports Illustrated cover blurb I can remember from any of the Super Bowls is “Jack Squirek Shocks the Redskins” from 1984. I don’t know why.

11, I was always curious about “Smokey” Stover. He’s an Oklahoma native who played for the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl, but I had no idea where he settled into post-football life. Serendipity led me to him. Luck of the draw, I got sent to cover Oklahoma State’s game at Louisiana-Lafayette in 2010. Stover’s grandson, Hunter, kicks for Louisiana-Lafayette and the Smokey connection was mentioned in the school’s football media guide. During the trip to Lafayette, I detoured across town to visit with Smokey. Here’s the story: http://bit.ly/AykBQw

12, With an offense this good and a defense this bad, New England never would have been selected to play for a BCS championship. You are only allowed to participate in that game if the strengths are flipped.

13, During a radio interview Friday, former OSU player Terry Brown of Marlow said he was the only Oklahoma native to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl until Ada’s Jeremy Shockey caught a go-ahead touchdown pass for the Saints two years ago. I can’t verify Brown’s claim on short notice, but Brown scored the Minnesota Vikings’ only touchdown in Super Bowl IX. Brown is rooting for Oklahoma City’s Wes Welker to score a touchdown and join his exclusive club.

14, Also Friday, Owasso native and former Pittsburgh Steeler lineman Jon Kolb said he and Brown were roommates at OSU. But their NFL coaches (Chuck Noll, Bud Grant) were such hardcore “never fraternize with the enemy” guys that they had to sneak out to have dinner before they faced each other in Super Bowl IX. Brown tried to strike fear into Kolb by saying he had a teammate who could rip the phone book in half. Kolb went back to the team hotel and, after several teammates failed in an attempt to rip up phone books, he did it himself. Then teammates followed suit, giving the Steelers enough (or at least it makes for a good story) confidence to manhandle the Vikings in the big game.

15, If Neil Diamond doesn’t perform at the next Super Bowl, it will be less than super.



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Tulsa World sports writer Jimmie Tramel is a former class president at Locust Grove High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern State University with a journalism degree and, while attending college, was sports editor of the Pryor Daily Times. He joined the Tulsa World on Oct. 17, 1989, the same day an earthquake struck the World Series. He is the OSU basketball beat writer and a columnist and feature writer during football season. In 2007, he wrote a book about Oklahoma State football with former Cowboy coach Pat Jones.

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