Monday, September 7, 2009

Is Oklahoma's Season Finished?

With Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford going down to a shoulder injury Saturday night, the big sports debate of the day is whether or not Oklahoma’s season is finished. Bradford suffered a sprain of his AC joint in his shoulder and was scheduled to undergo an MRI to find out the extent of the damage. This type of injury can keep someone out for at least 2-4 weeks, but in Bradford’s case, it could be longer because of the stress he would put on his shoulder throwing the football. Team doctors said on Sunday that they will continue to look at Bradford’s shoulder over the holiday weekend and there are a number of rehab options that could be done. At this point, there is no specific timetable for his return. So does this injury totally ruin Oklahoma’s season? To a certain extent, I think it does.

The injury itself already cost Oklahoma the game against BYU. Pollsters do take injuries into account, but without question, this loss stings. Oklahoma is now at a huge disadvantage in the chase to make it to the BCS Championship Game. The Sooners have lost their star player and leader and they now have to find another way to hang on and win some football games. Oklahoma does have two fairly easy games coming up. Idaho State and Tulsa will be traveling to Oklahoma to play them and the Sooners should be able to win both of those games. They will need their defense to remain outstanding just like it was against BYU. The Sooners also need their running game to produce and carry the load to help QB Landry Jones. Jones looked pretty much lost in the 2nd half against BYU, and he does not look like he can drive the Sooners down the field with his arm to put points on the board. The offensive line will also need to quickly gel because they are Oklahoma’s biggest weakness. Bradford was only hit 43 times last season and on the drive that ended with his injury, Bradford was hit 3 times alone. The unit will have to improve, or it could be a longer season for Oklahoma than many anticipated.

A bigger test for Oklahoma will come on October 3rd when they travel to Miami. Miami will play their first game against Florida State tonight, so it remains to be seen just how good the Hurricanes will be. But without question, Miami is improving and if they look good, a Sooners team without Bradford could be ripe for an upset when they travel down to Florida to face them. As of right now, it appears that Bradford would be able to make it back on the field by the time Oklahoma faces Texas on October 17th. This was expected to be the deciding game between the two teams in the Big 12 South, but now it takes on a much different look. Without Bradford, the Sooners would have no shot to win that game. But even if Bradford is back by then, how good will he be? Just coming out of camp and only getting one half worth of work, I am thinking Bradford could still be rusty and trying to develop a rhythm with the offense. I would expect Texas and QB Colt McCoy to be in top form by the time this game occurs, so even with a healthy Bradford, I now believe that Texas will be a big favorite to win this game.

The only chance Oklahoma has right now to even come close to the BCS Title game would be for them to run the table and win every single game and then hope that every other team out there suffers one loss. Oklahoma would have to look impressive in beating Texas and then they would have to regain an air of dominance by the time the end of the season rolls around. Even if they accomplish all of this, they still might get shut out of the title game. They still have an opportunity to make a BCS Bowl game, but that could be on shaky ground at this point.

With the way the offensive line looked last night and depending on how severe Bradford’s injury is, I think the Sooners will most likely lose at least one more game this season. Another loss would be devastating and it would kill any hopes of a BCS game. Oklahoma will still have to travel to Kansas and Nebraska and those will be tough games that they could lose. If Oklahoma State is the real deal this year and their defense improves, they could beat Oklahoma in the last game of the regular season. The uphill climb for Oklahoma to make it back to the National Championship game this year has now turned into a mountain. Bradford’s injury will cost him a shot at repeating as the Heisman Trophy winner and it may just cost Oklahoma a great season. Good is not good enough when it comes to Oklahoma football, but it might be all they can hope for now.

Today is Labor Day here in the United States, so I hope that everyone has a safe and relaxing day. As always, tons of things happening in the world of sports, so let’s take a look at what went down on Sunday.

The Game’s Quick Hits

#8 Mississippi 45, Memphis 14 – The score of this game does not indicate how close it was. Mississippi had a great deal of trouble hitting their stride and they did not look like the #8 team in the country until the 4th quarter. The Rebels were able to eventually wear down Memphis and overcome a subpar performance from star QB Jevan Snead. The running game and defense of Mississippi carried the team to victory. They were only up 17-7 heading into the 4th quarter. Memphis was driving and had a chance to get closer until they failed on a 4th and short play. From there, Mississippi turned on the jets and beat down Memphis until the final whistle. After the opening weekend, it seems as though Alabama has the inside track to win the SEC West. But remember, this was the opening weekend and there is a great deal more football to be played. There is no doubt that Snead will be better and there are some great SEC Conference games to come.

- Sunday got off to a surprising start as the New England Patriots traded defensive lineman Richard Seymour to the Oakland Raiders for a 2011 first round draft pick. Seymour is only 29 years old, is a 5 time Pro Bowler, and matched his career high in sacks last season, which makes this a very curious move. Obviously, Seymour still seems to have a great deal left in the tank, so I have no idea why the Patriots made this move. Seymour had become an anchor of the Patriots’ defense and to just deal him away for a draft pick in ’11 does not seem that smart. Maybe the Patriots see some bad things coming and they felt Seymour’s production would fall off really soon, but there is no evidence yet to support that. However, he is in the last year of his contract and will be crossing the age of 30, so maybe it is a calculated and smart gamble by New England. The Raiders get immediate help for their defense, but this has to really suck for Seymour. He goes from a team that will be making a run at the Super Bowl to a team that will barely make a run at staying out of the basement of the AFC West. The Raiders will still be a bad team this year and now the question will become: does the loss of Seymour have any ill effect on the Patriots? A healthy Tom Brady all year might be able to compensate nicely for any defensive drop off, so we will just have to see how it plays out.

- San Diego Chargers LB Shawne Merriman was arrested early Sunday on suspicion of choking and restraining his girlfriend, reality TV “star” Tila Tequila. Tequila was taken to the hospital while Merriman was arrested and charged with battery and false imprisonment. Wow, I wonder if Merriman was drinking too much tequila or maybe just ate the worm and started acting the fool. Obviously, this is an unwanted and unneeded distraction, especially when Merriman should be focusing on returning to top form after missing last season with an injury. I will not speculate or comment on what might have went down, but only say that it is disgusting if he did in fact choke and restrain her. There is no excuse for a man to physically assault a woman. This is just another case of piss poor judgment and I would not be surprised if Roger Goodell looked into this and suspended Merriman for a game or two. San Diego should have no trouble winning the AFC West, but this type of attention and situation is not what the team needs with one week until opening day.

- Recently fired offensive coordinator Turk Schonert took at shot at the Buffalo Bills and Coach Dick Jauron after he was fired on Friday with this choice quote he offered during a phone interview with Buffalo TV station WIVB: “He wants a 'Pop Warner' offense. He limited me in formations, and limited me in plays. He's been on my back all offseason." Damn, that is some great stuff. You have to love a team imploding and being in turmoil even before the season starts. I am wondering if it will even be much of a spectacle this year if WR Terrell Owens blows up after what has happened already. The Bills look like they are falling apart and will end up being pretty bad this year.

- Seattle Mariners OF Ichiro Suzuki became the second fastest player to reach 2,000 career hits on Sunday. He hit a double for his 2,000th hit and he did it in his 1,402nd major league game. Counting his hit total from his playing days in Japan, Ichiro has 3,278 hits in his baseball career. Without question, Ichiro is one of the best pure hitters the game has ever seen and he will certainly be a future Hall of Famer. He will get to the 200 hit plateau for the 9th consecutive year as well, which would be a new MLB record.

- Once again, the conditions were perfect for scoring at the Deutsche Bank Championship and Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson could do nothing but watch as they struggled to find their games and made no charge on moving day. Woods and Mickelson both shot rounds of 1-over par 72 as they both moved backwards and fell out of contention. The course was slightly tougher on Sunday, but Steve Stricker, Retief Goosen, and Sean O’Hair navigated things just fine and they enter the final round tied for the lead at 13-under par. It should be a great finish as there are a dozen players within 3 shots of the lead. As I stated yesterday, Tiger is just not dialed in here and I predicted he would not be moving up to challenge for the win. He now needs to try and fix his inconsistent play if he hopes to win the FedEx Cup. Steve Stricker continues to look great and he is making a real charge to win the Cup. Stricker hit an amazing second shot with his hybrid club to within 5 feet and he drained the eagle putt on 18 to put him in a tie for the lead. A victory Monday will put him atop the FedEx Cup standings. Tiger usually rises to the occasion, so it would not shock me at all if he is able to find his game and win the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup. He won’t be winning today however.

- Sources indicate that suspended Oregon RB LeGarrette Blount made a phone call to Boise State coach Chris Petersen on Saturday to apologize for his actions and he was also able to apologize to Byron Hout, the Boise State player who Blount punched at the end of the Oregon/Boise State game Thursday night. It is good to hear that Blount has taken the first step to deal with this situation and hopefully will be able to benefit from it. It is a sad situation because Blount not only lost the rest of his college career, but he might have also lost his chance to make the NFL. It is a good lesson to others that you can not lose your cool and you need to always act in a respectful manner, especially when it comes to athletic competition. Hopefully Blount can work to become a better person from all this.

- Reports indicate that Allen Iverson has a face-to-face meeting with executives from the Memphis Grizzlies scheduled for Monday as the two sides seem to be coming closer to an agreement. Memphis is the only team that has actively pursued Iverson this offseason and it seems like it will be his last option. There is no doubt that Iverson is starting to enter the twilight of his career and he needs to accept the fact that he is going to have to come off the bench now. He is not getting any younger, but he still has something to offer to the game. Iverson has been one of the greatest players and scorers the past decade in the NBA, but his time in the sun is dwindling. Iverson should have been looking to get a championship ring and tried to sign with a contender and just accept the reality that his skills are starting to diminish at 34. But I guess every athlete has to cope with this and I hope Iverson can find some peace with it all and not turn into a distraction if he does go to the Grizzles, or anywhere else for that matter.

- U.S. Open Update: Well is seems as though with all the excitement of college football on Saturday, I missed noticing that women’s #1 Dinara Safina was bounced from the tournament. Wow, what a shocker. I was all over that and said there would be no way she would win the tournament. Kudos to me on that. The #3 seed on the women’s side, Venus Williams, was also upset on Sunday afternoon as unseeded Kim Clijsters beat her 6-0, 0-6, 6-4. Clijsters is making her return to the game after a two year absence and she seems to be in good form and is now a dangerous threat. Number 2 seed Serena Williams is now the highest seed left and she is still looking for a test as she easily beat #22 seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-0. On the men’s side, #3 seed Rafael Nadal needed to take a 10 minute injury timeout to have his abdominals worked on, but he was still able to beat #32 seed Nicolas Almargo in straight sets to move into the 4th round. No other significant upsets occurred as the men hit the round of 16.

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