The Matt and Matt Show

Due to complications last week, I couldn't make the inaugural Matt and Matt Show. I'm currently in the mountains of Colorado, and cell phone reception may complicate things even more.

However, I will be live with Matt over at Crimson and Cream Machine, whether it be on air, like its supposed to work, or interactive with chat and email.

Some good news about the show: If you send us an email regarding the show, you are entered into a give-away through walldaddy.com.

The contest is simple: if we read your email live, you win a free OU poster. It's a very nice deal. So, if you guys have any suggestions for us, leave a comment or send me an email at thesoonerschooner@gmail.com. Any input is definitely appreciated.

In case you don't know about the show, download and listen to last week's episode, found on the small player up on the right-hand side of my blog.

Boomer!

Enemy Loser Q&A, Part II

Here is the second installment of my Q&A with Bobby and the guys over at WVMountaineerSports.com. We'll be shooting questions and answers back and forth almost daily leading up to the Fiesta Bowl.

SS: What do the Mountaineers mean to the state of West Virginia?

WVMS: Well, as you can see from the past couple of days, quite a lot. Much like OK, we have no pro team in our state so the Mountaineers are the closest thing it. I would say that the majority of people from WV either went to WVU or have a family member that went there, so the ties that bind us to the school are very very tight.

Our football team is a source of pride that West Virginians really wrap themselves around. It's (usually) one of the more positive things we can talk about when we tell people we are from WV. Good football program. Even people that go to Marshall are WVU fans deep down. They may not admit but they are. We are Marshall my ass. WVU is and will always be the #1 program in the state. You can go anywhere in the state and find people talking WVU football, even in the summer.

Like I said earlier, you can really tell from the fallout of Rich Rodriguez leaving just how much the team means to us. People are so upset, it's amazing. I know I am. We feel like our brother just stabbed us in the back. One of our own you know. Just check the site and read the boards to see our reactions. The emotions range from tears to violence. This is going to be a really hard one for us to get over, but as always, we will come out of this and push on because We Are Mountaineers and our love of the team will win over our love of just one coach.

Check out their site WVMountaineerSports.com for West Virginia news and notes, as well as my responses to their various questions.

A Little Friendly Interrogation with the Enemy, Part I

I'll be trading questions with the guys over at WVMountaineerSports.com leading up to the Fiesta Bowl game against West Virginia. We'll post a few questions a day, just getting familiar with the opponent at first and then delving into the issues of the X's and O's as the game looms. Here is the first question:

SS: What is a Mountaineer?

WVMS: From the Wikipedia:

Mountaineering is the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains. It is also sometimes known as alpinism, particularly in Europe. While it began as an all-out attempt to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains, it has branched into specializations addressing different aspects of mountains and may now be said to consist of three aspects: rock-craft, snow-craft and skiing, depending on whether the route chosen is over rock, snow or ice. All require great athletic and technical ability, and experience is also a very important part of the matter.

The above definition sums up what it means to be a Mountaineer. The “all-out attempt to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains” embodies the spirit of anyone who calls themselves a Mountaineer. Whether it be fighting through the adversity of losing several strong teams from the Big East, replacing a coaching legend (Don Nehlen), coming back from a near loss to Louisville in 2005, or fighting their way through a tough schedule after a heartbreaker to USF this year, the WVU Mountaineers and their fans understand adversity. Just like a Mountaineer visits the peaks and valleys of exploring the unknown, a true Mountaineer fan has lived the emotional rollercoaster of their love for WVU, be it football, basketball or even the difficult issues that the rifle and track teams had to deal with.

Beyond sports, West Virginia, and the Mountaineers within, take time to enjoy our state. From the ski slopes in the east, to the riverboats on the west, hunting, fishing, white water rafting… the list goes on. We have a nearly self-contained Division II athletic conference (WVIAC) and several branches of WVU and Marshall across the land. We have two (usually) outstanding college football teams that have both competed on the national stage.

My high school history professor said, “WV is the most northern of southern states, the most southern of the northern states, the most eastern of the western states, and the most western of the eastern states.” Regardless where you go in the United States, you’ll never find people friendlier than those Mountaineers from WV. It’s called, “Almost Heaven” for a reason.

As you can see, being a Mountaineer is more about allegiance to one school, it’s about enjoying life, living in the surrounds, and always looking up to the next peak.

As our Motto states: Mountaineers are always free.

Well, there you have it. Check out their site here for my responses, as well as coverage from the Rich Rodriguez fiasco.

What is Going On in this World???

Well, it's been over a week now since my last post. I didn't realize I've been out of it for that long until now. There's been too much stuff going on so I've had to stay away. But I'm back and ready for action.

Rich Rodriguez won't be coaching the West Virginia Mountaineers next year. Or the year after. Hell, he won't even be coaching them in the FIESTA BOWL!

What?!?

Oh, he's going to Michigan? Les Miles isn't? Wow. I know, I know, I'm surprised too.

But what surprises me the most is the fact that Rodriguez won't even be going to Arizona with the team. Lloyd Carr, the retiring Michigan coach, is coaching Michigan in their bowl game, so why doesn't Rodriguez stay with UWV until then? I guess the easiest answer is recruiting, and it's really the only logical one.

What is illogical is leaving all those kids over there that have looked up to Rodriguez, respected Rodriguez, learned from Rodriguez, and practically look in Rodriguez as a mentor and family member. After all, isn't college football all about the new friends and family you create? Well, the Mountaineers' father just decided to move to Las Vegas and marry a stripper. Ok, Ann Arbor to adopt Ryan Mallet. But everyone in Mountaineerland needs to be mad at Rodriguez like he just left for a stripper. Or worse.

Imagine Bob Stoops coming on air tonight and announcing his move to, say, Georgia. Everyone would go WHAT?!? THE?!? HELL?!?!! and proceed to rip down every memento they have about Stoops.

I can't even imagine what these kids are thinking. Who is going to lead them against the Sooners? I really feel bad for them in this case. I believe the Sooners were going to take down the Mountaineers, but now, only God knows what's going to happen in this one. It would be like the US taking on a general-less China. We know our troops are stronger and will prevail, but it would be a slaughter if China had no direction in battle.

More to come on this story later.

Let's Go Bowling! - Week 1

The first week of the Bowl season kicks us off with six not-so-amazing bowls. Sure, UCLA, BYU, and Boise State are featured, but they haven't done much this year. I'm never too excited about the first week of bowling anyhow. The bowl season really doesn't pick up for me until the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl, which comes a little early than I think it should. ESPN probably works it back into the 2nd week to boost ratings, preventing it from being aired late 3rd week where it deserves to be played.

But here are the games for the first week:

San Diego County Credit Union Pionsettia Bowl - San Diego
Thursday, December 20th - 9:00 ET, ESPN
Utah vs. Navy

I really don't know anything about these teams. The only thing I've heard out of Utah this year is their drubbing of UCLA in the 3rd game of the season, this being after Utah already lost two games. Two other games of note I see on Utah's schedule are a W at Louisville and another W at TCU. I'd count those as confident wins for a team like Utah. Navy's big game this year was obviously that EPIC win over Notre Dame that ended that ungodly streak. Oh, and that other one with North Texas that set some sort of scoring record. I guess you could say this is a pretty interesting match-up, just based on what these offenses can do on paper.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl - New Orleans
Friday, December 21st - 8:00 ET, ESPN
Memphis vs. Florida Atlantic

Once again, my knowledge about these teams isn’t too hot. As a matter of fact, I really don’t know anything about any of these teams in this first week (don’t even get me started about Boise State). I do know this much—Florida Atlantic is going bowling for the first time, fresh off a share of a conference championship. I’d say that’s a good season for a relatively new program that hasn’t had any success lately. Memphis returns to the Bowl scene for the fourth time since 2003. They are 4-1 in bowl games, reaching back to the days of Memphis State College.

Papajohns.com Bowl - Birmingham
Saturday, December 22nd - 1:00 ET, ESPN2
Southern Miss vs. Cincinnati

I’ve seen Southern Miss play on TV this year against Boise, and I really wasn’t too impressed. Southern Miss lost to lowly Rice, but did beat a competitive East Carolina team. Cincy has had a dream season so far. If you told me before the season that Cincy was the 22^nd best team in the country, I probably would have laughed. But they’re good, and they’re rolling. Three of the past four games, they have played top 25 teams and gone 2-1, the lone loss coming in a close one to West Virginia. Southern Miss may be overmatched for this one.

New Mexico Bowl – Albuquerque
Saturday, December 22^nd – 4:30 ET, ESPN
Nevada vs. New Mexico

I saw Nevada play Boise State and Hawai’i this year, and lets just say this—their offense is pretty exciting. QB Colin Kaepernick took a hold of the pistol offense and really helped bring it to a pretty formidable attack. New Mexico’s offense isn’t too bad either, scoring under 20 only once. NM also has a few quality wins under their belt at Arizona, at Wyoming, and against Air Force and Colorado State. This match-up can be intriguing for the two mid-major state schools.

Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl – Las Vegas
Saturday, December 22^nd – 8:00 ET, ESPN
UCLA vs. BYU

UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl? You wouldn’t have guessed that before the season when UCLA was ranked #14 in the country. Well, a few self destructions against teams like Notre Dame and Utah later, UCLA sits here in a match-up with a pretty good BYU squad. UCLA is sliding after a loss to USC and a firing of their head coach. BYU, on the other hand, is a hot team, coming into the game ranked #19. I’m not sure if UCLA has enough left in the tank to compete with a good BYU squad.

Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl – Honolulu
Sunday, December 23^rd – 8:00 ET, ESPN
Boise State vs. East Carolina

While I yawned through the first five games, this game has potential. I only got to see East Carolina once this year against Virginia Tech, and I was actually pretty impressed for most of the game. However, looking over the rest of the season, the Pirates defense looked more suspect than it did in that VT game. At the same time, ECU is a pretty good squad. They just might match up decently well with the Boise State Broncos with a very strong Ian Johnson. Boise State boasts a good record, but really lost to the only two strong opponents it played all year. This match-up is definitely the best of the first week and could very well prove to be very exciting.

I’ll come out with my Bowl Games of Interest just before these games start with my predictions for these. Every week I’ll start off with a preview of the weekly games, followed by my preditions.

Let's Get This Baby Rollin'

It's official:

The Matt and Matt Show will kick off Thursday, December 13th, LIVE at 9:30 pm CT.

Here is Matt from Crimson and Cream Machine's coverage.

We will continue to air Live every Thursday at 9:30 pm CT, talking all things Sooners. This coming week, we'll cover a wide range of topics to start the ball rolling. Please leave feedback if you have any ideas for topics that you would like to hear us talk about.

Also, if you miss the airing of the show live, you can listen or download the show to your podcasts on iTunes.

I really think you guys are going to like this.

Please leave feedback! Thanks.

Boomer!

The All-Important Question These Days

It seems like today America is more concerned about who will win the Heisman rather than who will win the National Championship. The Heisman Trophy has become an icon in sports that probably has surpassed the expectations of many. The Heisman is more debated over the season than the National Championship is. Sure, there are the votes and the polls for rankings, but there is always an argument about who is having a better season, QB A from State or HB B from College? The tide changes as soon as someone doesn't score a TD in a game or throws a single INT. It even changes when someone's team loses a single game.

Am I caught up in all of this?

Of course I am! Who isn't? I know that if I was named the best college football player in the country in the given year, I would feel like the President of the United States. I would feel like Bill Gates did after his first billion. I would feel like Cuba Gooding, Jr. did after he scored that touchdown against Dallas in Jerry McGuire. But I'm not a good college football player. I don't even play

But I do vote!

This year I got my first opportunity to state my opinion on the Heisman in a Heisman poll. The guys over at Mizzourah hosted a panel of ten blogs that submitted their top 5. Sure, this has no effect on who goes to New York, but it gives us something to talk about and a feeling of inclusion. Perhaps I do understand how Cuba feels...

Here is how the votes turned out, on a points scale.
And here is how I voted:
1. Darren McFadden, HB - Arkansas
I think he is the best player in the nation no doubt, and the NFL scouts out there agree.
2. Tim Tebow, QB - Florida
Timmy became the first college football player in D-1A (insert FBS here) to throw 20 TDs and run for 20 TDs in the same season. Something you cannot ignore. The only thing that hurts him I feel is the system he runs. Put him in say, OU's offense. He probably wouldn't have 5 TDs on the ground this year.
3. Chase Daniel, QB - Missouri
Would have won if not for a sub-par performance in the Big XII Championship game. OU shut him down, limiting his yardage and scrambling ability while preventing him from throwing a TD pass. Other than that game, he lit it up all year, executing the spread offense to a T. He probably should be the front-runner next year, along with Tebow.
4. Pat White, QB - West Virginia
Another spread offense type a guy, but he has been more of a run-first kind of guy. He is the leading rusher on his West Virginia squad that is very lethal. He also has 12 TDs and only 4 INTs on the year. His importance really showed when he dislocated his thumb in that Pittsburgh game.
5. Dennis Dixon, QB - Oregon
Yet another spread offense guy, but a pass-first one. Dixon was my front runner until he got hurt. The timing of his injury was terrible, as it was against a good Arizona squad at the beginning of the last stretch of the season. Oregon went on to lose, Dixon was lost in the mix, and now he barely gets any credit. Oregon then lost their final two games, being shut out by UCLA and losing to Oregon State in OT. The lack of Dixon was the reason, and there is no doubt in my mind. Had he not been injured, he'd be my #1. It's too bad that an injury that can ruin a career can hurt so bad in the Heisman voting.

Well, there you have it. That's how I feel.

Now the real voters didn't feel the same. Here are the top 4 candidates, released today, heading to New York:
Darren McFadden, RB - Arkansas
Tim Tebow, QB - Florida
Colt Brennan, QB - Hawai'i
Chase Daniel, QB - Missouri
Is it just me, or are there usually 5 going to New York? I don't know.

Weekly Internet Radio Show?

Matt over at Crimson and Cream Machine and I have been talking recently about kicking off a weekly internet radio show.

Basically, Matt and I would co-host an online radio show through NowLive.com, a site I'm not yet entirely familiar with, but it seems pretty awesome.

Matt and I would phone in and stay on as co-hosts, and you, the blogger surfer / Sooner fan / Sooner lover, can call in with questions, input, and thoughts. You can also email topics, IM, and the like. Basically, it's a way for Matt and I to interact with our readers in a new way.

We would also preview opponents with guests from loser blogs. Matt has talked two bloggers from two separate West Virginia blogs about being guests on upcoming shows before the Fiesta Bowl (assuming all goes according to plan and we get this kicked off fairly soon).

You, once again the blog surfer / Sooner fan / Sooner lover (or Sooner hater for that matter), could also have input by emailing topics you would like us to discuss to either Matt or me prior to the show. What better way to have your thoughts and questions answered than through a live internet show with two of the best Sooner minds around? Ok we aren't perfect, but we're close.

So what do you guys think?

Good idea?

Bad idea?

Would you be a contributer to our cause and send emails, IMs, and even call in every once in a while? I think Matt really got something started that has huge potential, but we need your help. After all, you are the reason we do this. We just want more reasons to love our job! Help us out!

In Reality, The Sooners Dominated the Tigers

Crimson and Cream Machine has this sweeeeeet animated drive chart, courtesy of the guys at Rocky Top Talk.

It pretty much just shows how much OU dominated Missouri on the field, especially in the second half. From what I saw, Missouri started off strong, winning the battle for starting field position. OU then grabbed the momentum after its first touchdown, starting on the 30 yard line and 50 yard line on their next two possessions, respectively. Missouri, on the other hand, started on the 14 and the 16 in its last two possessions before the half.
In the second half, Missouri never started beyond their own 25 yard line, and crossed OU's 20 only once, resulting in 3 points. OU managed to score three touchdowns and a field goal in the second half on reasonable drives, including one 7-yard drive.

Bottom line: OU won convincingly. This was no fluke blowout (especially in the second half).

OU vs. WVU in Fiesta Bowl

Well, amidst all this BCS hoopla that's been going on, I haven't even really mentioned the fact that OU will play the West Virginia Mountaineers in the BCS Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. This will only be the third time OU and WVU have faced off. The Sooners lead the all-time series 2-1.

At first look, this game looks disappointing. Some people feel that OU deserved a shot at the National Championship, and they actually very nearly got it. I have an inner feeling that tells me we deserved it over Ohio State, especially after beating the #1 team in the country very handily in our conference championship, something the Buckeyes know nothing about. West Virginia, on the other hand, is coming off of arguably the worst loss and embarrassment in school history. Their bid to the NC game was theirs for the taking, and they let the completely over-matched 4-7 Pittsburgh Panthers come into their house and give them a beating. The score of 13-9 doesn't exactly say "a beating," but the game definitely was. There were several very questionable calls that went West Virginia's way on very pivotal play, including two different touchdown plays and one huge first down conversion. Needless to say, West Virginia got spanked.

But when it comes down to it, a. OU didn't make it to the NC and b. West Virginia is a very good team. Actually, they're an excellent team. Pat White is a very strong Heisman candidate, and Noel Devine and Steve Slaton are lethal backs. Rich Rodriguez is an excellent coach and his spread offense can score points in bunches, especially in bowl games (See 2006 Sugar Bowl vs. Georgia). They definitely have the potential to put up huge numbers, and they can run with OU's offense. Their defense is a little suspect, especially after watching LeSean McCoy absolutely pound WVU's front seven. He carried the ball 38 times for 148 yards, some promising stats for OU's backs. If Chris Brown and Allen Patrick can split carries, OU can easily amass huge yardage. And if DeMarco Murray can make it back, which is highly doubtful, that will add a huge spark.

Basically, there is a lot to worry about.

I'll get into more detail as the game gets closer.

Until then,
Boomer!

AP Rocks

Adrian Peterson = AP

But many have / still call him AD, which stands for All Day.

Why? Because he works his ass off all day, every day. He never quits.

This is evident in his return from a torn LCL. In his first game back, he rushed for 116 yards on 7.7 yards per carry and 2 touchdowns. He sparked Minnesota to a rout of the Detroit Lions.

Simply. Amazing.

Tommy Tuberville is an Idiot

I stumbled upon this link while reading various Georgia blogs.

Apparently, Tommy Tuberville hates Georgia so much that he proceeded to do this.

Why? What an ass.

By the way, Georgia writers on the whole seem saddened but not mad about their bid to the Sugar Bowl. There was obviously optimism for the National Championship over there in the Peach State, but they seem to be accepting their fate. They are, however, disappointed and pissed about playing Hawai'i, citing OU-Boise State several times and the "lose-lose" situation. I don't want to play Hawai'i either. They suck. It really is a lose-lose for Georgia. Best of luck to them.