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Name-dropping: Arbor Day, Jerry Jones and big-hair athletes
Published: 4/5/2011 12:13 PM
Last Modified: 4/5/2011 12:13 PM

Reacting to the sports news of the day, April 5 version:

--It would be in poor taste to say Connecticut and Butler played offense like Harvey Almorn Updyke prepared the pre-game meals, so I won’t say it.

Butler shot a title game record-low 18.8 percent from the field and made only one -- one! -- basket inside the paint.

Updyke, by the way, is the infamous Auburn tree poisoner, alias the Grinch who stole Arbor Day.

--Biggest upset of the night? A major championship in a major sport was staged in Texas and Jerry Jones didn’t get blamed for anything.

--Who knows what’s considered cool with kids nowadays, but hair is apparently in if you check out the mops of 2010 PGA Tour rookie of the year Rickie Fowler and Butler’s Matt Howard (doppleganger: SNL’s Andy Samberg).

FYI, Fowler was among golfers invited Monday to a press conference at the prim-and-proper Masters. A Euro newspaper reported that Fowler was wearing his cap backwards, but was asked by the press conference moderator to wear the cap correctly. Fowler obliged without complaint. Bigger question: How does he fit all that hair under his cap?

--Wildest stat I saw today that didn’t come from the NCAA title game: The Denver Nuggets are 15-4 and are holding opponents to 10 fewer points per game since parting company with Carmelo Anthony. Double wow. Who knew you could have a franchise without a franchise player?

--A reader made a keen observation in a tulsaworld.com comment about new OU basketball coach Lon Kruger. Said Boknowsfootball, “Hey if a coach can run a program at UNLV in Las Vegas and come away clean with the NCAA for the past seven years, he’s a good hire!”

Jerry Tarkanian’s battles with the NCAA were legendary and Bill Bayno was fired after the NCAA determined rules were broken during the recruitment of Lamar Odom.

--A nonconference Bedlam baseball game (it’s tonight) is a great idea because it stirs up interest in the sport. How many people care a heck of a lot about college baseball? Don’t know. But a heck of a lot of people care about anything Bedlam-related.

--Former Tulsa World sports editor and columnist Bill Connors was inducted posthumously in the United States Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame.

I was hired by Mr. Connors and was embarrassed to cover games with him because he was such a pro. During timeouts at basketball games, I fell victim to heat of the moment and watched bands or pom squads. He watched huddles during timeouts to see what head coaches were doing and which assistant coaches seemed to be contributing anything. He was great at interviewing not just with his mouth and ears, but his eyes. He always seemed to notice, for instance, what championship rings a coach or athlete chose to wear and that typically led to questions.

The thing I miss most about Mr. Connors are car rides to the games. He told great stories and that made the commutes seem too quick.

--Texas A&M women’s basketball coach Gary Blair says he thinks it’s good for the women’s game that his school and Notre Dame reached the championship game instead of the usual (read: Connecticut, Stanford, Tennessee) suspects.

And I agree 100 percent. Would anyone outside of Storrs be excited about watching UConn beat somebody by 30 points in the title game? Sports dynasties can be interesting. Sports monopolies are as boring as the board game Monopoly. Notre Dame and A&M gave us a "get out of jail free" card.


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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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