Sooners made of Teflon? Hardly
Published: 9/21/2009 4:15 PM
Last Modified: 9/21/2009 4:15 PM
Oklahoma shuts out Tulsa and moves up two places in the AP poll. Ohio State blanks Toledo and moves down two. Interesting.
And infuriating, if you are Adam Rittenberg, the Big Ten Conference blogger for ESPN.com.
Among the highlights from Rittenberg's latest post:
"Meet the Oklahoma Sooners. They're apparently made of Teflon."
"Ohio State continues to be the nation's pinata, while Big Game Bob and the Sooners get a pass."
"It's ridiculous. And it needs to stop."
The truth is, the Buckeyes and Sooners are joined at the hip. Both programs, and their former do-no-wrong head coaches, endure much derision for their big-game failures.
And no, whatever the Sooners are made of, it isn't Teflon. I might direct Mr. Rittenberg to some things written about OU before and after last year's national championship...
Before, courtesy of AOL Fanhouse's Kevin Blackistone: "The national title Stoops brought back to Norman is nearly antique... Stoops' Sooners lost four of their last five season-ending bowl games... They lost three of their last four games against their hated rivals in Austin, Texas...
"'You're a missed field goal away from being a bum with everybody else,' (Urban) Meyer said.
"That is why Stoops needs to beat Florida. He's unfairly close to having some people call him that bum."
After Stoops didn't beat Florida, here's what the New York Times' Thayer Evans wrote: "Now that Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops' reputation as 'Big Game Bob' has been sullied to a mocking tenor, a new moniker has emerged for the Sooners: 'Chokelahoma.'"
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
