Has The Red River Rivalry Lost Its Luster?—The Lady's Friday Links (10/1)

There isn't going to be a match-up between Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford (there barely was one to speak of last season). The days of Adrian Peterson and Ricky Williams have gone to the wayside. Vince Young ran his way into the record books and out of Austin, what seems like, an eon ago. What you have left are two teams with marginal stars and questionable marketing appeal—unless you live in Norman or Austin. So, it seems valid to ask the question: Is the 2010 version of the Red River Rivalry really all that big of a deal?

Appalachian State University is thinking about leaving the FCS for the FBS ranks. Apparently, after beating Michigan a few years back, and running all over the teams in their own league, they feel pretty good about their chances of being successful. Good for them. That said, the last legitimate FBS team they faced was LSU in 2008—that didn't exactly go well (41-13).

Trey Burton had one very big game against the Kentucky Wildcats and, already, people are comparing him to No. 15 (former Gator QB, Tim Tebow). Easy media hounds, this kid hasn't proven anything yet—except that he can run it in against a mediocre SEC defense. Give him some time to do something bigger before you go raising that pedestal to unreachable heights.

The Big Ten is done expanding...unless Notre Dame comes calling, then they might be open to changing that stance.

That move that Boise State made to become a part of the Mountain West is looking more and more like a moot point. Utah already exited to the Pac-10, BYU is looking for it's indepence, and now TCU is considering jumping to the Big East—hmmm, seems to me, Boise should have just stayed where it was—the Mountain West is looking more and more like the WAC to me.

Ole Miss will play South Alabama in 2017...wow, talk about your compelling match-ups.  Of course, the way Ole Miss is trending, SOuth Alabama could actually be the better team by that time—just saying.

At 4-0 now, some national media are starting to jump on the NC State bandwagon. That likely means they will now fold like a house of cards and become irrelevant by Monday—starting with a loss to
Virginia Tech on Saturday. Hope not, but, this is certainly not a good sign.

Is it time to place a cap on bowl invitations?

Are the Florida Gators bait for or baiting the Alabama Crimson Tide this week?

Coach Mark Richt has ties to Colorado.

Cool video of the week:

This is a little outside of the sports realm, but, my brother is trying his hand at film making. The video below is the third in a web series he created, along with a buddy, called "The Idea Men". Give it a look, and, if you like what you see, check out the first two eps at their YouTube site—BasementBoysPictures

Okay, that's my shameless plug for the week :)

Will The Oklahoma Sooners Be Better Than The Texas Longhorns in 2010?

Don't look now, but the Boomer Sooner Bandwagon has reemerged!


Last season, the Sooner train took a long pit stop in the land of "what the heck just happened?!"  They not only lost their starting quarterback, Sam Bradford, to injury but they also lost their playmaking tight end as well—Jermaine Gresham.


2009 was looking like a bonafide disaster but, when you consider how bad it could have been, the Sooners actually did pretty well for themselves—considering. They ended the season 8-5 and gave Sooner fans hope that 2010 could be a whole lot better.

2010 is looking bright for Bob Stoops so far and at least one national expert feels they are already the No. 1 team in the nation—Phil Steele. Now, that may seem a lofty leap to make for a team that still has some holes to fill, but I am sure the Sooner fans will be happy just to see them back near the top of the heap in the country.


For a more in-depth preview, see the video below:




...Well, at least the locals have some perspective, right?

However, you can't blame Steele for thinking the way he does as the Sooners do have plenty of talent returning in a conference that is more than winnable for them this year.  The only teams that can feasibly challenge them for the Big 12 this season are Texas and Nebraska. Texas has question marks after the departure of both Jordan Shipley and Colt McCoy and Nebraska won't play Oklahoma this year.


The folks at ESPN seem to think Gilbert will be good for Texas but give the slight edge to Oklahoma in the QB department because of their receiving personnel and the experience Landry Jones acquired last season as the full-time starter:




One thing is for certain, the "Red River Rivalry", scheduled for October 2nd, should be a lot more interesting this season and, for the first time in a long while, I can't say for sure that the Longhorns are going to come out on top. 

Be it Cincinnati or St. Louis, for Terrell Owens, The Result Will Be The Same

Multiple media outlets are reporting that former Buffalo Bills receiver, Terrell Owens, could land in St. Louis. The Rams are said to be "aggressively pursuing" him at this time, and a deal could possibly be made between the two entities within the next 48 to 72 hours.

My opinion of Terrell Owens and his immature antics have already been made clear and, in light of this newest information, I have to say that if the Rams or the Bengals were to sign him, they would both be making a huge mistake.

Both Cincinnati (a team with a penchant for adding reclamation projects) and St. Louis (a team that is currently stuck in rebuild mode) may have space for a guy with Owens skills but is he really worth the headache and the potential setback he could hand their respective quarterbacks?

Sam Bradford will be a rookie in 2010 and he will have his hands full attempting to build chemistry with his new teammates.

Furthermore, he will face hiccups along the way as he deals with running a new offensive system in a league where the defenses can, and often have, eaten newbies like him for breakfast—do you really want to add in the catastrophe that can be "T.O."?

After all, Owens is no longer the game-changer he once was and to throw a young, inexperienced, and ill-equipped Sam Bradford into a situation where he is forced to contend with the personality that is "T.O.", in his rookie season, seems like a lot to ask because despite what anyone might say about Terrell Owens, he is not a team player.

As for the Bengals, Carson Palmer seems to be back on track and he already has a couple of receivers on the Bengals roster who make him a happy man when airing out the football—one of them is named Ochocinco (AKA, Chad Johnson).

Can Johnson and Owens truly exist on the same football field without one or the other caving in to prima-donna behavior?

In my opinion, the only place that Owens truly belongs, at this point, is on the unemployment line. He's just too negative a personality for any team to handle.

Is he talented? Yes, without question.

Does he have the ability to make a team better? Maybe. Maybe not.

Is he worth the trouble anymore?  Not really.

If either of these franchises are smart, they will do what every other team this offseason has done where Owens is concerned—pass.

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• Sources: St. Louis Rams very interested in signing Terrell Owens (ballhype.com)
• Terrell Owens 'Very Close' to Deal with Bengals (ballhype.com)

Sam Bradford Could Earn $50 Million Based On His...Potential—Huh?

Sam Bradford was the No. 1 pick in the 2010 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. He is now entitled to guaranteed monies in the neighborhood of $45+ million—more than Matthew Stafford received last season from the Detroit Lions as their No. 1 pick.

My first question is, why?

Bradford sustained an injury in the first game of the 2009 college football season and, basically, missed the year.  Yet, he's guaranteed to make $45+ million as a pro player?...Wow, that's a nice gig if you can get it.

First of all, I don't blame Sam Bradford for taking the money, but I can understand a proven veteran player who will feel upset as a result. Bradford may be full of potential but, as my mother always said, "potential means you ain't done squat, yet."

Bradford will be a rookie on a team that is in rebuild mode but commanding that kind of a price tag on your skills means that your learning curve just got shorter. No matter what state the Rams are in at this time, Bradford will be looked upon as the savior and, as such, will be expected to produce big results  within the next season or two.

Is that fair to Bradford? No, but it comes with the job and the money. Just ask Reggie Bush how hefty his burden was coming into New Orleans after the tragedy of Katrina. Or, better still (and a little less dramatic), ask Matthew Stafford what he's expected to do in season two with the Lions—they expect better than eight wins in 2010.

No excuses. 

However, if there were a more reasonable system in place for paying the unproven rookie, players like Sam Bradford, Matthew Stafford, JaMarcus Russell, and Mario Williams would be less savior than table-setter. Even more, the passion and the work-ethic to prove their worth would be greater—possibly translating into more-focused play on the field.  

For example, Sam Bradford's contract would likely look like this: 3-years, $8.5 million with around $4 million guaranteed—sounds like a bargain, right? Perhaps Bradford's agent wouldn't be nearly as happy with his cut, but in my opinion, it's high time the agents stopped becoming the focal point of the negotiation.

Let's get back to the dollars and sense of it all: if it doesn't make sense, don't spend the dollars. Period.

Some might say, well, what if Bradford comes in and blows people out of the water (leading the Rams to the playoffs in his first two years as a starter)? At that point, you have a situation where the Rams will be placed into a bidding war for his services—they could lose him to a team with deeper pockets.

Look at what happened in Cleveland with LeBron James!

That's a good point, but, you have to take into account your relationship with that player as well. If he sees the opportunity to continue with the franchise that drafted him as a positive thing (i.e. they are bringing in the right personnel and making the proper adjustments around him to help him maintain his success), then the likelihood of him bolting is minimal.

It's a calculated risk but it's a risk worth taking when you consider the sheer number of players selected in the Top 10 who don't pan out.

The downside of this is that as the picks get higher, the guys outside of the Top 15 will stand to make even less money than they do now. However, that also means that some early-entry players from the NCAA ranks could decide to stick around a little longer to increase their draft stock.

As a college football, fan, I see little wrong with that scenario. One more year of Knowshon Moreno and Matthew Stafford would have been nice for Georgia in 2009—just saying.

In the end, though, there is plenty to be discussed and lots to consider when making a change as big as this one would be. However, the fact remains, it's time for a NFL Rookie Wage scale to be put into place—pay needs to start reflecting play instead of potential.

Nuff' said.