No siesta after the Fiesta -- recruiting season is here
Published: 1/8/2007 11:50 AM
Last Modified: 1/8/2007 11:50 AM
I can say this about the 2006 Oklahoma football season: after 21 years in the business, it was easily the most challenging and yet most rewarding season I've had covering a beat.
And I'll add this about that unbelievable Fiesta Bowl: it was easily the most entertaining athletic event to which I've ever been assigned. And it gets my pick as the most entertaining college football game of all time. Notice I said most entertaining, not greatest, not best, not biggest. No football game I've ever seen has had so many twists and turns and inconceivable plotlines.
And now, on to recruiting. After eight days in Scottsdale, Ariz., I got 10 hours at home before leaving Wednesday morning for San Antonio to cover Saturday's U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Just looking at some of the names that have played in this game makes me giddy with anticipation of another football showcase.
Vince Young, arguably the greatest college football player ever. Reggie Bush, arguably the most exciting college football player ever. Adrian Peterson, arguably the greatest college running back ever. There are 13 first-round draft choices who played their final high school game here (38 draftees in all). There were 112 college football players this season who used this game as their jumping off point.
I arrived Wednesday morning. After getting my bearings around San Antonio and around the bowl's policies, I attended the All-American Eating Competition. No, I didn't participate. But I did have dinner with the entire coaching staff of the West squad (one was from Scottsdale, Ariz., where I'd called home for the previous eight days; one coached OU's Joey Halzle and this year's top recruit, QB Casey Clausen, and one coached OU's Jacob Gutierrez.)
The teams are practicing right now. The West (the three Oklahomans play for that team) is at Blossom Athletic Center, while the East is at Gustafson Stadium.
The challenge here is to take talented players from different systems and give them a game plan in just under a week. The gameplans are simplified, and sometimes a player's talent and instinct just takes over.
Tonight, after interviews, the teams (and hopefully the media) will be treated to some great local barbeque.
-- John E. Hoover
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
