In Norman Paranoia Strikes Deep

So it’s our fault that the Pac-12 didn’t want OU without Texas. Gotcha.

My daughter’s best friend’s mom tore me a new one yesterday about the criminal activity coming from Belmont… Apparently we are the cancer that is making all of the other teams in the country want to align with a money rich conference…

she is a sooner grad and well there you go…

So it begins…and if the results begin to change on the field, then expect all the rhetoric to be stepped up a notch. If the roles had been reversed in ’08, where OU had beaten us, only to be left out of the B12CG, it would be much worse right now, IMO. The fact that they have won on the field as of late, is only thing that has somewhat kept them from a complete meltdown.

Deloss should have killed this conference. Seriously. This is stupid. Boren runs his mouth. Bowtie/Byrne screw up and turn down the joint network. And then when Texas tries to do what’s best for it, we get blamed for ruining the conference. The problem with the Big 12 is that there is only one other big fish in this pond, and that fish is not even that great (OU). The SEC, B1G and Pac are stable because they have several big fish which check each other and actually have some worth to them.

I’m telling ya, man….I’m telling ya…I don’t know what it’s gonna be….but it’s gonna be HUGE!…just watch out…keep your head on a swivel

Like I said, this whole business is the sports equivalent of the “death panels” brouhaha. Facts don’t matter, only the narrative does. Ignorance abounds.

The real problem with the Big 12 is that it’s new. 18 months ago if the Pac 10, Big Ten or SEC want to expand, where are they looking? The Big XII and the Big East. Maybe the ACC.

It’s always been a shotgun marriage conference that has gotten by. If Texas was currently in ‘85-’95 form and not the power player it is now, this conference still would have been a target and lost teams. Hell, we’d probably be gone.

But NU and A&M have to point fingers on the way out, and OU is the same as they sulk back into the Big XII. NU, CU, and A&M simply went after a self-perceived (and perhaps a real) better deal. NU and A&M just had to play the “nanny nanny boo boo” game on the way out.

One of the comments from the Sittler piece asks, "Why can’t the other eight schools out vote Texas on any issues of importance, i.e. high school highlights on LHN, revenue sharing, etc? "

It’s a koan. If Sooners think about it long enough, they’ll achieve enlightenment.

As a rule, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. In that spirit, you gotta give the Sooners credit for persistence and moxie; they just keep flailing away with their little blue plastic Playskool hammer . . . .

Strange, that sounds like something an Aggie would do.

The real problem with the Big 12 is that it’s new.

And centrally located. All three can (and did) pull members out of it and remain geographically pure.

This sooner rabble boils down to the independent university networks, imo. I take this vibe as an indication that OU is coming to grips with the apparent reality that they won’t whiff anything near the LHN deal with SoonerVision. I’ve mentioned it before, if OU could get SoonerVision up and on a trajectory to soar, we’d have a partner that could help diffuse the Kleig lights on UT for the LHN in the for conference stability in the near term and a useful partner in any future negotiations for realignment deals with the Pac. Instead, by default, the way for OU to try to even the playing field is to attack us with the image of UT being omnipotent and iron fisted, and assume a stance that could weaken our leverage in the future if we attempt to realign together. The rabble is also due to OU feeling kind of stuck.

If the University of Texas never played the University of Oklahoma or Texas A&M University in any sport beyond today (with exception of a National Championship), I’d be perfectly happy. The best time to end a sick relationship is now.

Is there no one capable of writing a pro-UT article in a newspaper that exposes these lies? I realize most intelligent people don’t read newspapers, anymore, but this shit is getting old when it goes unanswered. Dodds and Powers need to get the truth out there. This shit is anything but, yet people are buying it.

How did we get here? OU was the first to say “Hey look at us, everybody! We’re going to the PAC-12 on our own! We don’t need Texas!”

Then as I recall, DeLoss and company flew to Normal to try and get a handle on things from the OU perspective and they pretty much folded their arms, pouted and said “No! We’re doing whatever we want!”

The rest is history. Why is the failure of others laid at Texas’ feet?

OU, A&M, Nebraska, & most of the media bring to mind alcoholics & drug addicts. All of their mistakes & problems are the fault of others & their excuses are simple, shallow & mindless. Any reasonable, rational, objective observer can see it for the bullshit that it is. Only problem is, apparently we are their dependency, otherwise they just leave.
It’s difficult to understand how a person that has reached Boren’s station could play this so badly. You don’t turn your cards over until the other players fold & maybe never turn them over. Oh wait, that’s right, he’s from Oklahoma.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

Chancellor Palpatine: I don’t know how much longer I can hold off the vote, my friends. More and more star systems are joining the Separatists.
Mace Windu: If they do break away—
Chancellor Palpatine: I will not let this Republic that has stood for a thousand years be split in two! My negotiations will not fail.
Mace Windu: If they do, you must realize that there aren’t enough Jedi to protect the Republic. We’re keepers of the peace, not soldiers.
Chancellor Palpatine: Master Yoda, do you really think it will come to war?
Yoda: Hmmm. The Dark Side clouds everything. Impossible to see, the future is.

Padmé Amidala: You’re not all-powerful, Ani.
Anakin Skywalker (Boren): Well, I should be! Someday I will be. I will be the most powerful Jedi ever. I promise you. I will even learn to stop people from dying! It’s all Obi-Wan’s (Dodds’) fault! He’s jealous! He’s holding me back!

Just when I thought we’d gotten rid of Aggie jokes someone else pops up to maintain a high level of stupidity.

ssr, was that catch 22? Or Territorial Pissings?

Come on people now smile on your brother everybody get together, try to love one another right now… GOTTA FIND A WAY, A BETTER WAAAAY… I’d better wait

jw, it is interesting that every time we seem to settle down in this conference, a different member goes nuts. is there some sort of ethereal vacuum that must be filled?

Intelligent people don’t work at newspapers anymore, that’s the problem. What’s Left are emotional unaccountable Utopians who read an article and think that makes them an expert.

Do we have extra votes relative to every other conference member? If not, people need to shut up.

I’d really like to see Dodds try to get out in front of this thing, maybe with a candid interview by a non-friendly (no AAS/ESPN reporters allowed) questioner. Seems to me the best way to combat stupidity is fact. Like it or not, there are decision-makers out there NOT under the thumb of Daddy Dodds, and when realignment commences for real, they will play a role in our future. It’d be nice if we didn’t have the PR image of Godzilla.

Once I saw the cat photo, I forgot what this thread was about – classic.

First Bob Stoops is Batman, and Texas is a single rogue longhorn.

I don’t recall a longhorn being in Batman’s rogues gallery, but whatever.

Then Oklahoma is like Gotham City, except a state, and not-so-Gotham.

Then the Big Twelve conference is like a carousel.

Then the carousel is like a game — a game which Texas always wins (apparently Texas is no longer a rogue longhorn).

This is some of the worst sportswriting I’ve ever seen, possibly because the author is a Joker who’s tired of his team of wooden horses stepping in cowshit on the way to closing escrow on not-so-Wayne-Manor.

“Joetx said:

September 27th, 2011 at 8:19 am

Like I said, this whole business is the sports equivalent of the "death panels" brouhaha. Facts don’t matter, only the narrative does. Ignorance abounds."

Yah, but the difference is, in spite of the hyperbole, the health care rationing still is a fact.

That’s all I’m going to say about it.

the pic of the cat reminded me of something i enjoyed reading. isn’t germane here, but i hope you’ll allow it.

From The Chronicles of a Cat:

Day 983 of my captivity.

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They seem to get some sort of idiotic pleasure from it.

They dine lavishly on fresh meat while the other inmates and I are fed a disgusting hash or some sort of dry nugget. I make no attempt to disguise my contempt for the rations; nevertheless I must eat in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me from going insane is my memory of home. Once again I vomit on the carpet to disgust them.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. Surely this would strike fear into their hearts since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. Alas, they cooed patronizingly about what a “good little hunter” I am. The bastards.

Tonight there was some sort of assembly of their accomplices. I was moved to solitary confinement for the duration of the event, but I could hear them clearly. And – oh! – the tantalizing smell of the food. Once I overheard that my confinement was due to something called “allergies.” I must learn what this means and see if i can use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost able to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again soon, but this time at the top of the stairs.

The other prisoners here are of no value. The dog seems content with his special privileges. He is regularly released and always seems to be more than willing to return. I think he may be retarded or brain damaged or something. Then there is that bird. Often I observe him in close communication with the guards. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell well out of my reach where he is safe. For the moment.

Now these are the kinds of tidbits I’m talking about. No need for a lot of analysis. Just some great gravy drippings that keep me coming back for more.

Thanks!

yeh…. sounds like aggy talk just find all reference to captors, romentors, accomplices, ets and replace with Texas… Bird=not aggy conference mate, dog=ou

If we finished 5-7 again this season, and our last two victories were against OU and A&M, I might actually be happy with that outcome.

The chaaaaaaaaaaain keeps up together!

josh, i hadn’t thought about it, but that does resemble the way i imagine that the average ag thinks. good point.

Yeh, that shit is priceless! What is it from? I Googled it but to no avail.

At least we know the majority of these articles don’t make it out of Oklahoma or College Station, and half the people there can’t read anyway so the damage is minimal.

Boo hoo, boo hoo, people don’t like us. Guess what? People will fall all over themselves for a Cinderella, but they don’t like it when the elite win. Start to embrace the hate. It’s a good hate. You’re doing something right if they hate you for being good.

ohcrap said: …The problem with the Big 12 is that there is only one other big fish in this pond, and that fish is not even that great (OU). The SEC, B1G and Pac are stable because they have several big fish which check each other and actually have some worth to them.

The Big 12 never lacked big fish (UT, OU, NU, medium fish A&M). The Big Ten worked just fine with only two big fish (UM, OSU). The problem is the ridiculous amount of in-fighting that overrode any joke of cooperation in the Big 12. The kids couldn’t get along.

Sportswriters are the dumbest people in the world paid to write. Following sports and asking the same tired questions every year hardly makes them smarter over the duration of their careers. It’s not surprising that many like a good guy-bad guy narrative because it is just about all they can handle.

This guy’s case about somehow Texas being to blame for OU’s inability to execute their plan to change conferences doesn’t even make sense on its surface. The notion of Texas running a conference where all schools have a vote is equally absurd. The absurdity expands to surrealism if you review the number of times OU voted with Texas (as did A&M) in light of their new claim that they are being bullied.

Everything Texas has done has been in the daylight. Objections rose to high school games on LHN because the decision to do so was made public in advance. Texas and ESPN responded to criticism and submitted to the vote of the conference and the NCAA.

This schoolyard narrative is idiotic but, sadly, also typical among the lame-brained.

Yeh:

If no one else will acknowledge it, I will. That was the funniest thing I have read in a while. Thanks for injecting a little humor (albeit way off topic) into the conversation.

As for Oklahoma and the rest of this so called conference; get over it! Texas has the power and will get its way and be catered to by those who want to do business. The reason we seem to get our way is that we deliver the money. Without Texas in this conference, everyone else would be making B East money and Oklahoma would be scrounging ways to bleed a little extra cash out of the conference split.

To anyone who thinks that Texas was saved by the Big Eight, why do you think the B8 made the agreement they did? They were limited in their cash flow and potential for future growth by the limited size of their individual states and national appeal. So everyone suck it up. One day (probably when the LHN reaches its potential), you’ll get your wish of being free of UT. Then you all can sit around a figure out how you’ll balance your athletic budgets with Conference USA money.

I take a slightly different view of this whole mess. Every fan of another school wants to point to the equal revenue sharing in the SEC (which by now we all know is a myth) as to why it is so stable. I think it has more to do with the fact that there are 3 very strong teams, as opposed to just 1 (or 2 if you want to include OU, which in terms of football is certainly the case). In the Big 12, everyone can point the finger at Texas. In the SEC, the balance with Bama, Florida, LSU takes the heat off of any of those teams individually.

So the problem with the Big 12 is that one of the very large schools, with tons of alumi and a huge fanbase, hasn’t been carrying its weight for the last decade. Instead of being one of the leaders of the conference, they’ve embraced the role of the victim. In terms of natural and geographic advantages, a trio of UT, OU and A&M SHOULD be able to match up with Florida, Bama and LSU. However we all know that one of those 6 is not like the others.

The other side of this is that the have-nots in the SEC don’t seem to be a bunch of whiny bitches, nor do they seem eager to bite the hand that feeds them. I haven’t heard a peep about Ole Miss leaving the SEC because of Florida’s deal with Fox.

The comments on that post are hilarious. It seems pretty universal that most people involved with this, including those in the media don’t fully grasp the issues.
1. This mess involving Oklahoma has nothing to do with equal revenue sharing. They’ve always been against that.
2. No program will share Tier 3 TV revenue. Another item OU has consistently been against (hence the near unanimous vote against a conference network every time it’s come up).
3. The PAC wouldn’t take the Oklahoma Schools without Texas. Indicating that Boren overstepped, and then was caught flat footed when there was no offer from the PAC.
4. Point number 3 was likely forced by OU boosters and money types who were caught off guard by the sheer dollars involved in the LHN (300MM but likely closer to 1B).
5. It’s easier to resort to blah blah blah Texas sucks than to make any effort to understand the facts or the agency that their own school played in the cited reasons for the B12’s instability.
6. The posters are delusional if they think an offer to the B1G is forthcoming, they’re overlooking that if OU is a stretch academically, their tether to OSU is an absolute nonstarter. I don’t believe they have no options. They could easily join the ACC or the SEC—but that doesn’t change the fact that a) they need the RRS to effectively recruit Texas and b) competitively/culturally/business-wise the B12 is their BEST option.
7. If Boren wasn’t a complete dumbass and had stayed on the reservation they likely would have saved face and would look like smart/savvy stewards who saved the conference for everyone’s benefit. Instead, they look subjugated to Texas will.

glad you guys enjoyed that little item, too. it really tickled me. i think somebody emailed it to me, but it didn’t go exactly like this. i reworded parts of it to where i liked it a little better.

definitely a different perspective and one that would appeal to those of who were addicted to gary larsen for so many years.

FIFY…

Is it too much to hope that, if we’re UO’s “problem”, then they get out of the conference like the
faggots from Collie Station. No one in the conference would miss you at all.

We invite you to leave for anywhere else but here, Gooners.

The cat poster-hysterical- and its so-o-o- timely! All ithat keeps running through my mind is “I Shoulda Loved Ya” (Narada Michael Walden)-but again- ppl only misinterpret . Where’s Chris Brown & Pink when you need "em!

Damn Longhorns made me spill my coffee again!

Yah, but the difference is, in spite of the hyperbole, the health care rationing still is a fact.

That’s all I’m going to say about it.

Too bad health care rationing already takes place w/ private insurance.

You shouldn’t have said anything about it.

No politics

yeh, thanks for the cat chronicles tidbit, gave me a good laugh.

Nick, I certainly see your point and feel that way from a purely personal perspective. But I believe you can take some comfort that, if and when we are looking for our next move, the decisions will be made not by the media, but by those who actually know the facts.

We’ve kept out of the public forefront during this and the shenanigans last year for a good reason. While you could argue that we have little to lose by crying bullshit at the top of our lungs, there’s not a lot to be gained by it either, IMO. In doing so, we’d be taking a swipe at OU and others in the Big 12 or at least that’s how it would be portrayed. As such, it would only be used by the retards in the media and the Borens of the world as another example of why we are a bad partner. Sitting back and letting others make fools of themselves hasn’t hurt us at all in the ultimate outcomes. Like you and the rest of us, I know there’s a lot of unadulterated bullshit out there that we could take a shot at. The question is, what would we really gain? At least at this juncture, I think our Admin thinks not enough, and I’ll go along with them based on what I’ve seen and heard so far even if it hurts.

I dislike conspiracy theories ( they can do alot of damage) .

 
No politics

No problem, except you are always tossing out typical Debtocrat snarks here and then crying “No politics!” whenever somebody shoots back.

Practice what you preach and it doesn’t get started.

Anyway, it is 3:55 and OU still sux.

Boren got serious grief from a handful of the bigger Cigars in Norman about ‘always playing second fiddle to Texas’. SERIOUS GRIEF. As in ‘our inkwells are going to run dry and we will write no more checks’ level serious. So, in addtion to spending over $1,000,000 in redesigning their logo, Boren authorizes a double secret survey to find out if anyone would buy a Sooner Network. The answer was, for okies, depressing. Unable to use that as salve for the Cigars, The Toupee called Joe in, fired him for these purposes, and announced a strategy to go to the Pac 12. Of course, the Pac 12 responded by saying the equivalent of “huh? What? Oh, yeah. I guess if you WERE the only girl left on a deserted island I might date you” and Toupee wound up with egg on his fat face.

No one complains about getting the short end of the stick in the SEC because they’re in the SEC. Money helps shut people up.

Big 12 money =/= SEC money, though.

No problem, except you are always tossing out typical Debtocrat snarks here and then crying "No politics!" whenever somebody shoots back.

Practice what you preach and it doesn’t get started.

I was merely responding to a false factual assertion.

I don’t expect you to understand.

“Debtocrat?” Really?

What a maroon.