Nike Slogans that Didn't make the Cut

With the new NIke uniforms, we also get slogans cleverly created by Nike. First of all, the "stake our claim" bit with the Sooners is lame. We got to thinking what slogans didn't make the cut?

Florida: We miss Dan Mullen.
Virginia Tech: haud offensus? Haud forsit! (translation: Latin for No offense? No problem!)
TCU: Stop tailgating and get in the stadium.
Ohio State: Winless vs the SEC since 1989.
Florida State: Coach needs his bran. Now!
Texas: I'm not as think as you drunk I am.
LSU: Jarrett Lee sous le vent c'est notre quarterback a nouveau? (translation: French for Jarrett Lee is our quarterback again?)
Miami: Larry Coker won a champsionship? Seriously.
Oklahoma: Please accept this loaner car as a token or our appreciation.

Staking our Claim to the Wrong Place

As part of the nike jersey whoring, Nike and OU have partnered to sell you this handy shirt. Order here. Here's my beef with the shirt. It shows the Sooners "staking our claim" to Texas with a flag over the city of Lubbock.

I mean no disrespect to the Dust Pirates, but when the Sooners talk about Texas colleges and beating them in football, it's a) Univ of Texas; b) Texas A&M; c) Texas Tech. To a Sooner, Tech is that cousin that's kinda quirky and lovable. That date is not circled on the schedule. Texas is. If Nebraska's on the schedule, that's circled. OSU is circled. Texas A&M is circled (great band). Texas Tech is not.

However, I'm sure the issue here is that Texas Tech Football is affiliated with UnderArmour, not Texas. The Nike marketing folks weren't going to insult the Horns by allowing that flag to be staked closer to Austin, TX.

Weis Fired, Stoops Hired?

Reading today that Weis may be canned from Notre Dame and that Stoops is a leading candidate, is interested, etc. Several thoughts come to mind.

1. First of all, No! I have no desire to see anyone else coaching the Sooners right now. I received an email on this today while I was playing golf. I shared the rumor with the other gents in the group. The Texas grad in the group said, "I'll personally donate to Notre Dame to get Bob Stoops out of the Big 12. I can probably find some other Longhorn fans that will do the same." I think that says alot.
2. Second, I doubt this. Agents contribute to speculation by facilitating or not denying when question arise. Why would an agent categorically deny something like this? Playing along can get their client an extension, a stay bonus, a raise, or all of the above. Recruiting a college coach is done through recruiting firms and the coaches agents. My perception is that an actual interview between head coach candidate and hiring person(s) is fairly late in the process. Furthermore, Stoops counseled Urban Meyer a few years ago about how staying in Florida allowed him to recruit in-state almost exclusively, while he'd be travelling all over the country recruiting for Notre Dame. Stoops has three children, though I believe they are approaching teen years (when you become stupid as a parent).
3. Third, this could be true. Some have criticized Stoops this year for having a down year, like you're supposed to lose four o-linemen and two receivers, have your QB and best offensive threat lose the season to injury and not miss a beat. These folks are not rational. I'm sure there are some idiots in Southern California that are ready for Pete Carroll to step down after a three loss season also. The Head Visor may have had enough, and ready for a different fan base to badger his when he fails to meet over-inflated expectations.

Obviously, we'll be monitoring the situation closely.

The Case for Keenum

Since the Sooners have more wounded than a M*A*S*H* episode, we're now going to cover Case Keenum, LandThieves choice for Player of the Year.

Many people would dismiss Keenum because he plays in Conference USA, so he "doesn't play the schedule" that some of his peers play. Actually, courtesy of the Cougars playing 3 BCS automatic qualifiers in non-conference competition.

Case Keenum vs Miss State in Starkville: 39-52-434, 4 TDs, 2 Ints; 3-13 rushing, 0 TDs
Tim Tebow vs Miss State in Starkville: 12-22-127, 0 TDs, 2 Ints; 22-88 rushing, 1 TDs

Case Keenum vs Oklahoma State in Stillwater: 32-46-366, 3 TDs, 1 Int; 5-16 rushing, 1 TD
Colt McCoy vs Oklahoma State in Austin: 16-21-171, 1 TD, 0 Int; 11-34 rushing, 0 TDs

Case Keenum vs Texas Tech in Houston: 38-58-435, 1 TD, 1 Int; 8-27 rushing, 1 TD
Colt McCoy vs Texas Tech in Austin: 24-34-205, 1 TD, 2 Ints; 8-5 rushing, 0 TDs

Tebow has passed for 1531 yards this year and run for 578, for a combined total of 2109. Keenum has accomplished that yardage total in five games on four separate occasions. There is only one five game stretch to date that Keenum has not met that mark in passing yards alone. In their game against common foes, Keenum outgained Tebow by 219 yards and accounted for three more TDs.

McCoy has passed for 2447 yards, 17 TDs and 9 picks to date. Keenum has thrown for 3815 yards, 28 TDs and 5 picks. In their two games against common opponents, McCoy was 40-55-376 yards with 2 TDs and 2 picks. Keenum was 70-104-801 yards with 4TDs, 2 picks and 2 rushing TDs. Sure, Keenum threw nearly twice the number of passes, but his yards per attempt was almost 8, while McCoy's ypa was less than 7.

The Gloves

Here is a pic of the Nike Pro Combat gloves. Seems like the somewhere it should say, "Insert Ball Here". (HT: Friends of the Program"

New Nike Uniforms for OU

Info's been trickling out this week, but nothing official from Nike yet. However, the fine folks at Friends of the Program have uncovered the new Nike Uniforms. I took the liberty of grabbing the photos off the site. Here's the Sooner uni.

My first reaction is that Nike stole the creative design of the Penn State Nittany Lions and changed the blue to crimson, and added a stripe on the shoulder. Wow. Big thumbs down.

Now, let's take a look at the Va Tech unis. As you can see, these are wildly different. First of all, they have no stripe on the sleeve. Second, there are more stripes on the helmet. Finally, there numbers have some trim elements that the Sooners don't have.

Sadly for Virginia Tech, this is an improvement over the normal ugly--- uniforms they normally wear.

What I don't understand is why the uniforms have to be so alike? Is it because OU is playing like an ACC school this year?

The Fraudulent Unbeatens - Cincinnati

Today we're going to look at Cincinnati, one of the unbeatens that I believe is fraudulent. First look at their schedule to date.

• Rutgers - 6-2 against the 126 ranked schedule. It's really tough to identify Rutgers signature win. Is it Howard? Florida International? Maryland at 2-7? Texas Southern? Army at 3-6? Or Connecticutt at 4-5?
• Southwest Missouri - 1-aa team. 1-7 this year, with a win against Quincy. I thought he was dead.
• Oregon State - the best W on the Bearcats schedule to date. The Beavers are 5-3, and have played one of the tougher schedules in the country.
• Fresno State - a 5-3 team with losses against Boise, Cincy and Wisconsin. Hard to identify their premier win...is it Hawaii? San Jose State? New Mexico State? Utah State? UC Davis?
• Miami (OH) - the ChickenHawks are 1-9 this year.
• South Florida - 6-2 following the Bill Snyder school of non-conference scheduling. They played Wofford, Western Kentucky and Charleston Southern to start the year. They have beaten West Virginia.
• Louisville - 3-5, with signature wins against Indiana State, Southern Miss and Arkansas State.
• Syracuse - the 'Cuse is so bad their starting QB hadn't played FB in four years. That's like using your tight end for a guard. They are 3-5, with wins against Northwestern (who's apparently good enough to knock with Iowa from the unbeaten ranks), Maine and Akron.
• Connecticut - the Huskies are probably the top four win team in the country. They've had a DB killed at a school function, and their five losses have been by a combined 15 points. UConn even had the guts to play two automatic qualifying non conference games this year.

So, after this review, Is it news that they are undefeated? Or is it that they one their one big non-conference game, then have mowed through a mediocre conference?

On the other hand, their second string QB rocks. Zach Callaros has completed 76% of his passes, averages 12 yard per pass, has a 10-1 TD-Int ratio and runs for 6+ yards per carry. If he played for Florida, he would be a Heisman candidate. Of course, the Florida O-coordinator appears to be the Dean Smith of football.

We'll find out about this team in the next three weeks, as their schedule has ended up being pretty backloaded, with West Virginia, Illinois, and Pitt in these last three games.

Prediction: 11-1