Dancing with Sports

There is currently a logjam of sports vying for our entertainment dollars. What to do, where to go, who to root for? More importantly, will Heather Mills single leggedly kick her way to a victory? Tulsa -- we need answers.

The Oilers season is over and they came up just shy of a postseason berth. Again. Could the Oilers be sandbagging? Perhaps they are waiting for the new arena to open so they can win a CHL title in front of 18,000 screaming Tulsans. Perhaps.

The 66ers wrap up their second season this Friday night. They travel to Idaho to take on the... ah... fugetaboutit. They missed the playoffs again also.

One of the bright spots for the 66ers, Will Conroy, signed a contract with the Los Angeles Clippers for the second time this season.

Conroy played in the 2007 D-League All-Star game. As much as I'd like to see him and his superior court vision return to Tulsa next year. I really hope he sticks with the Clips or another NBA team. He deserves it.

The Talons throttled the Everett Hawks two weeks ago to kickoff their season. A 61-30 shellacking bodes well for another season of wall-to-wall football in the Convention Center.

The first game witnessed Josh 'Bam Bam' Blankenship out duel Ben Bowling. Blankenship picked up precisely where he left off two seasons ago.

A five touchdown performance puts all af2 teams on alert. The Talons also experimented with a different facet of the game. They played solid defense. A novelty item for arena ball indeed.

This Sat., April 14 they host the Amarillo Dusters. The Dusters are a division foe.

Boys of Winter?

The Drillers finally got their season underway last Friday night. The Thursday night opener was cancel due to SNOW. April snow flurries bring May, what, igloos??? What happened to the showers and flower? And global warming?

The Drillers went on to get swept in their opening home stand. If you missed the first weekend, fear not. There are 70 home games for you to enjoy this season.

The Colorado Rockies and Drillers have the opportunity they have been waiting for. The St. Louis Cardinals are off to a horrific start.

The Red Birds' pitching staff is inferior to most and outside of Albert Puljos, they have very little offensive pop.

Who knows, Tulsa's fan base and media coverage may shift ever so slightly toward the Rockies and Drillers. We just need the Cardinals to sink in the standings.

Maybe the Drillers will be able to offer ticket packages based on their own merits. Visit HYPERLINK "http://www.tulsadrillers.com"; www.tulsadrillers.com for more details.

You will find a 'unique' Drillers multi-ticket package centering around the Cardinals Double A team from Springfield. This strikes me as crazy but I guess that's why I am not in marketing.

Unique indeed.

How many of you watch "Dancing with the Stars"? Please, don't be embarrassed -- you are not alone. America is fascinated with this strange ballroom dancing phenomenon.

The numbers do not lie. ABC averaged a 9.9 rating/16 share, beating out CBS' 8.9/14 share. What was CBS airing at the time? The NCAA National Basketball Championship game.

What does this have to do with a sports column? Glad you asked. The ORU baseball team reminds me of this year's version of the uber-popular pseudo-reality hit show.

In years past, the superior "stars" rose to the top almost immediately. The weeks leading up to the finale were fodder.

Viewers had a pretty good idea who would make it to the finals. In other words, the level of competition was average at best.

Fast-forward to this year. There are five legitimate threats to win the dancing contest. None of these five would be considered an upset.

The Golden Eagles early season schedule can relate. The opponents are a virtual who's who in college baseball. It takes some real chutzpa to put together this kind of non-conference schedule.

TCU, Baylor, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, California, Wichita State, Long Beach State and Oklahoma State. I guess the Yankees and Red Sox weren't available this year.

So far they have played well but the record is hovering around the .500 mark. No worries as the conference schedule gets underway against Southern Utah on April 20 at J.L. Johnson Stadium, 81st and Lewis.

A year ago the Eagles reached the Super Regional. Two nail biting loses to the Clemson Tigers stopped them just short of a trip to Omaha and the College World Series.

Skipper Rob Walton is in his fourth year leading ORU. He is undoubtedly one of the top managers in the collegiate ranks. Hyperbole? I think not.

Right-handed pitcher Chris Ashman is back for his senior season. In '06 he pitched his way to a remarkable 10-1 record with a miniscule 2.17 ERA.

His rocky start to this season is not indicative of his abilities. It is more a credit to him taking on the top pitcher from the top teams in the nation.

The guy leading the way so far is RHP Chance Chapman. He saw most of his duty out of the bullpen a year ago. This season, as a starter, he fired out to a 3-1 start with an infinitesimal 1.43 ERA. That's good folks.

Jake Kahaulelio came up with huge hits in last year's postseason. So far so good this season. He seems to have picked up right where he left off. He's leading the team with a batting average over .300 to date.

The Golden Eagles could use a little more production from big man Chad Rothford. At 6-5 250, he is a Big Man. He banged out 13 homeruns a year ago but also batted for a .322 average. A great all-around hitter.

He is still knocking the long ball this season but his .214 BA must improve. He is not alone. The exceptionally difficult schedule is contributing to lower than expected numbers.

However, if the team wants to make another run at Omaha, they better get used to playing the top teams in the nation.

If not, they'll look a lot like Billy Ray Cyrus trying to do the Tango... with a mullet.