Ford Country

A few words on Oklahoma State's hiring of Travis Ford. It's a decent hire. No more no less. Let's be honest, no one will confuse Ford with Bill Self in these parts. At least Ford has pedigree. He comes from the Rick Pitino tree. OSU could have done worse.

The problem is the lack of a big name. When you start off looking at Bill Self, mention names such as Larry Brown, Billy Gillespie; Ford is hard to swallow. He seems like an energetic fellow but what are we to except? Perhaps Phil Jackson for T Boone's ducketts?

Ford trucks into Stillwater with lofty goals. Something superior than a) finish .500 in conference play and b) secure NIT berths.

Time will tell. It has to be a letdown to Poke fans. And the ones who are pumped up already, those are your diehard fans. Bless'em.

I listened to the majority of the presser on a local sports talk show . . . bzzz. Two interesting items stuck out to me.

First, the Tulsa media outlets muscled the city's sports reporters around. More poignant questions if you will.

Second, this quote. "He's 38 years of age and youth is a huge asset in coaching and a great asset in recruiting." OSU AD Mike Holder gets credit for this gem.

Open question - What's the obsession with OSU coaches and ages? "I'm 40!" "He's 38!"

Also, how is 'age and youth' an asset much less a 'huge' asset? I think Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Izzo just threw up in their mouths a little bit.

Cowboy fever, can you feel it?

MIaSEWG

It's the new game that's sweeping the nation! Well, it's engulfed the imagination of the state. Actually, I'm just hoping a few people in Tulsa enjoy it. Here goes.

I'll toss out a word. A word not commonly used in our daily vernacular. What's the point of this game? No clue. However, it should be mildly informative and slightly entertaining.

On to the "Mildly informative and slightly entertaining word game."

Pitinoesque -- Oklahoma State hired Travis Ford to coach its basketball team. He runs a very Pitinoesque program. Fast, in-your-face and unafraid to launch 3-pointers. Watch out Jeff Capel and crew.

Grabass -- Todd Graham, Tulsa's head football coach, runs a tight ship. He is uber-intense on the field. The players better hope he doesn't catch them grabassing between drills.

Nonetheless -- The Tulsa Drillers are a few games under .500 as of this writing. Nonetheless, they lead the North Division. Texas League baseball, feel the excitement.

Exquisite -- The Drillers and the city's self-imposed deadline is inching closer. Where ever the Drillers land, I'm guessing the new ballpark will be exquisite. With JenksLand looking increasingly overbuilt, our money is with the Drillers going downtown.

Melancholy -- The 66ers lost their final three home games of the season. The attendance figures were mysteriously missing from the final box scores. Next year the squad will play in Bixby. Neither the Tulsa fans nor the 66ers organization feel melancholy about this relocation. We hope they pack the house in Bixby. We'll miss you.

Flatulence -- It's a terrible idea to criticize Tiger Woods for not winning the Masters Golf tournament. Especially when you are sitting on the couch, eating chips, drinking beer and suffering from an acute case of flatulence.

Earth shattering -- (I cheated on this one--two words) Let's just say when a filthy rich carpetbagger from Texas purchases an NBA team from Seattle, it's not earth shattering news when he decides to relocate the team closer to home.

Cialis -- Suffice it to say I'm so excited about getting the NBA franchise in Oklahoma that I won't need Cialis for a long time.

Discombobulated -- At times this year the Tulsa Oilers looked discombobulated on the ice. A new coach (Dan Hodge) and a new playing surface (BOK Center) are likely to cure what ails our men of ice.

Extracurricular -- Arkansas running back Darren McFadden is a versatile player. He'll be a millionaire by Saturday afternoon thanks to the NFL Draft. He has a long career ahead of him if he keeps the extracurricular affairs to a minimum.

Chuck - Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door. Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding. Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open. There is no 'Ctrl' button on Chuck Norris's computer. Chuck Norris is always in control.

Jeet Kun Do -- You will probably get your ass kicked in a MMA bout if you only train in Jeet Kun Do. You better be well rounded and familiar with all disciplines.

Irony -- Allan Green called out a top super middleweight contender, Jeff Lacy. Green implied Lacy fears a face-to-face encounter with "Sweetness" in the ring. Green, as you may recall, no showed an ESPN date back in February. Irony?

Panther -- Paula "The Pink Panther" Creamer was the last of the LPGA's top 10 in the world to sign up for the Tulsa swing. Whew! Better late than never. Is it creepy for a 33-year-old married sports writer with kids to have a crush on a 21-year-old female golfer? I'm just asking for a friend of mine. Really! Forget it. Let's move on.

Polygamous-sect -- Guys, keep your women and children from joining random polygamous-sects in Texas. Nothing good ever comes from it. Yeah, nothing about sports here just wanted to use polygamous-sect in a sentence. Besides, have you noticed all the women in the compound look the same?

Mullets -- NASCAR or NHL game in Canada? Where would you find a greater array of mullets?

Vacation -- I'm on vacation and you're not. Don't worry. I left behind several nice pieces for the coming weeks I know you'll enjoy. Of course one centers on the ladies of the LPGA.

Outta -- I'm outta here!