Saturday, July 28, 2007

New Ratings for Dirty Programs

Three or so weeks ago, Mike Freeman, a columnist on sportsline.com, rated the Sooners #3 in the nation at cheating, behind SEC powerhouses Alabama and Auburn. There were a couple of problems with this story 1) Mr. Freeman didn't exactly give much analysis as to how he got to his top 10, other than a brief narrative and; 2) Mr. Freeman is quite familiar with cheating to get ahead. I'm not sure if this means he is an authority on lying, or serves to further discredit his journalism.

Yesterday, we have Pete Halliday at AOL Fanhouse ranking the 10 dirtiest programs. In this new ranking, he actually has identified a mathematical rankings. In this scoring model, the Sooners are ranked #2, behind the Texas Tech Red Raiders. This is just another example of the officials screwing the Sooners, as I'm sure that call at the goal line in Lubbock a couple of years ago vaulted Dust University ahead of us. Seriously, if you review the scoring, Halliday actually ignores recruiting in his analysis, because you can't control "rogue boosters", but you get points in the scoring model for lacking institutional control, which is how you control rogue boosters. This makes as much sense as those computer models in the BCS system that have to ignore margin of victory.

So, who do you believe? The sportswriters who have us at #3, or the computers, who have us at #2. It's a shame we don't have a playoff so these things can be settled on the field.

For a different sort of rankings, I refer you to the fabulous folks at Everyday Should be Saturday, who have a little contest called the Fulmer Cup, in which programs get points for various criminal transgressions. Presently, Oklahoma isn't even in the Top 10 on that board. Personally, I'm disappointed the Sooners continue to have some challenges in the compliance area, but proud of the good ol' alma mater that we're staying off the police blotter, for the most part.

I'm sure we'll see someone else's rankings soon, let's hope they can get recruiting, academic fraud, text messaging, criminal activity rolled into one. A "Phil Steele wannabe" with a law degree, a computer and lots of spare time. There's got to be an unemployed lawyer out there that could help.

Surely we will get extra points for naming our athletic teams after a group of cheats.

1 comment:

The Closet Fashionista said...

Finally got a chance to read through everything - thanks for cracking me up. Especially loved the Mangino pic and Uwe's famous kick. The interviews were pretty funny, too. And what a freaking moron Freeman is.