The Sooners' first win of the season
Published: 7/27/2011 9:15 AM
Last Modified: 7/27/2011 12:26 PM
Bob Stoops at Big 12 Media Days. MATT STRASEN/AP
Into his sixth hour of answering questions, Bob Stoops sat before a crowd of 25-30 sportswriters Tuesday, when one of those writers noticed something: The OU coach was more upbeat than usual.
"Nah," Stoops grinned, "I just like seeing you guys."
The feisty jab only reinforced the belief that Stoops and his players felt great about who they were – the Big 12's overwhelming favorites – heading into the season. A full day of interviews did little to stifle their assuredness.
The Sooners walked into the Westin Galleria as stars of the show (despite the Big 12's efforts to put Dan Beebe in that role). Television cameras trailed them down every hall. They carried themselves as such, speaking confidently about national goals, reflecting carefully on issues of the day, and even taking playful swipes at writers (Stoops) and rival teams (Travis Lewis).
Contrast that with Mack Brown's state-of-the-Longhorns address the previous day:
"We have a new offense to figure out, a new defense to figure out. We have positions to figure out. Obviously the quarterback position has to be figured out. And we've got to figure out who we feature in all the different schemes with a lot of new coaches. There's some anxiety with it…"
SOME anxiety? After that, you half expected to find Brown huddled in a corner of the talk radio room by lunchtime.
Twenty-four hours later, Stoops and the Sooners went from headset to headset telling listeners across the Big 12 region how great it feels to have so many dependable players back at so many important positions. Stoops talked for so long that by the time he arrived in the writers' room, his left ear was stained with headphone residue. He looked like someone had landed a punch to the side of his head.
Media day can feel like a fight. It's six hours where you're expected to answer the 1,000th question as refreshingly as the first. The writer from Lubbock who asks something at 4 p.m. doesn't so much care that the TV guy from Columbia asked the same thing at 10 a.m. He's still measuring the response.
By many accounts, the Sooners put on the same show from beginning of the day to end. They won the press conference(s) by TKO.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
