Big 12 North #4 - Colorado

I feel like this Buffs fan is going to need this finger again this year. The Buffs showed improvement in 2007- including an upset over the Sooners. Dan Hawkins is staking his Colorado coaching era on his son Cody as QB. Having a coach’s child involved in the program at Colorado is a long-standing tradition, dating back to the late 80s when Sal Aunese knocked up Coach McCartney’s daughter. McCartney won a national championship a couple of years later. We’ll see how Hawkins approach turns out.

Jason White Seeks Return to Gridiron

by Senior Editor Joe Huff
Norman, OK (LTP) - Sources close to both parties indicate that Sooner great Jason White has indicated he wishes to come out of retirement and return to the gridiron in 2008.

A person close to the situation spoke with Coach Bob Stoops earlier today about Jason’s desire to return to the Sooners. The Sooners were very pleased with how Sam Bradford performed last year, and are hesitant to disrupt Bradford’s continued development by welcoming the legend back to the program. White has been out of football for several yeas now, and the Sooners offense has evolved around quarterbacks that can get from the couch to the refrigerator without aid from a roommate or spouse. Coach Stoops is on vacation, and intends to speak with Jason when he returns.

Several media outlets reported Jason sent a text message to athletic director Joe Castiglione this weekend expressing interest in coming back.

White would not respond to numerous interview requests for this story. Many close to the situation say he looking to improve upon his legacy. Although the Sooner fought back from debilitating injuries to both knees, and holds most Sooner passing records, many Sooners are quick to forget about his Oklahoma pedigree, the Heisman trophy and gritty determination. Those same fans are quick to remember his 0-2 record in BCS national championship games, capped off with a three interception, two touchdown performance in a 55-19 loss in the 2005 Orange Bowl.

Jason has completed an application for job as window washer at Big Red Sports and Imports, which is a formality in the process for Sooner footballers to be reinstated to the program. Big Red Sports and Imports indicated an application was provided to the Sooner legend, but receptionist Jarrod Reese indicated it has not been returned to the Human Resources department for consideration.

If Jason is to take this pivotal step toward his return, the Sooners will be faced with a public relations and strategic dilemma. Their options appear to be: a) clear room in the graduate program for Jason to pursue his PhD in kinesiology, where his thesis would be. “Knees, Overrated”; b) discourage White from pursuing his doctorate; c) release him from his scholarship, which would free Jason up to pursue his PhD at another university.

One of the Sooners biggest fears is that should they release him he would return to the field as an Oklahoma State Cowboy, taking advantage of the new athletic facility funded by corporate raider Boone Pickens.

One unconventional scenario the Sooners are rumored to be considering is bailing Jamelle Holieway out of jail in Eufaula, bringing him to Norman to dine with Jason, and getting both of them arrested. Some Sooner insiders believe this would be enough to discourage Jason from returning to the program for a seventh year.

College football writer N. Somnia contributed to this report.

Iowa State Poster Results

In an overwhelming vote, Effort wins over Loyalty. As a result, this poster is the motivational poster for 2008 for the Iowa State Cyclones. I would like to offer my congratulations to the opossum for winning this award, but I believe he is unavailable for comment.

Big 12 North #5 - Kansas State

Today we resume our Big 12 preview in motivational poster form. our projection for 5th in the Big 12 North is Willie and Friends - better known to many was the Kansas State Wildcats. Ron Prince returns. Josh Freeman returns. Jordy Nelson does not. Unfortunately for K State fans, Terrence Newman, Darren Sproles and Mark Simoneau are not walking through that door, either. Willie and Friends have been pretty inconsistent the past couple of years, and I see a 5th place finish in their near future. They need all the support they can get. As does this fan.

Swift Justice Demanded

I returned from the promised land today, retrieved the DMN, and went to "the library" to expel the remnants of the delicious fried pie I had on the way back. Mr. Ted Philmon of Richardson sounded off in the DMN that since Phil Loadholt was arrested for DUI last week, Stoops needed to act in a similar manner as Mack Brown did last year and suspend him for three games.

I didn't recall Mack acting swiftly on the the drinking charges, so I decided to do a little research.

Jun 1, Henry Melton arrested on DUI charge
Jun 9, Robert Joseph arrested for two misdemeanors. Joseph suspended indefinitely.
Jul 28, Sergio Kindle arrested on DWI charge
Aug 3, Dre Jones arrested, Robert Joseph turns himself in for aggravated robbery charge stemming from Jul 27 incident.
Aug 3, Jones suspended definitely. I think Joseph was also placed on "double secret probation" at this point since he was already suspended indefinitely.
Aug 5, Brown suspends Melton and Kindle for three games.

So, in summation, Henry Melton was arrested on a DUI charge on Jun 1st and suspended for same on August 5. At first, I figured Mack probably couldn't act on such activity in the summer, since summer contact with the student- athletes is limited. Plus, Mack might have been backpacking across Houston with Vince Young, and unavailable to suspend Mr. Melton.

However, one week later, the Horns were able to promptly suspend Robert Joseph for two misdemeanors.

On Jul 28, Sergio Kindle was arrested for DWI and Mack did nothing until Aug 5. Maybe he was on a summer cruise? No, on Aug 3, he was available to suspend Andre Jones as a result of his aggravated robbery charge.

Now, according to my calculations, if Bob is going to follow Mack's lead, he must wait for a couple of misdemeanors, another drinking and driving charge and two teammates working together on an aggravated robbery before invoking swift justice. Hopefully it will take longer than two months for the Sooners to accumulate that many charges.

To Mack's credit, his swift actions on the DWI and DUI were effective, as no other Longhorns were charged with DUI for the remainder of the year.

Big 12 Previews, LandThieves Style

This year's previews will not feature "facts" or "statistics". You can get those on sundaymorningqb.com or spend $10 or so on Phil Steele, Athlon's or Street and Smith. If you want "features" you can wait for SI's preview.


We here at LandThieves will be doing previews with a motivational poster we've devised for the program. Occasionally, we'll submit the motivational poster to you, the reader (s?) to vote on.


For example, our first preview is for Iowa State. I project them to finish sixth in the Big 12 North. I thought about picking them seventh. I can't name a single player on Iowa State roster, and I'm too tired to research it. I think Bret Meyer completed his doctoral thesis on "Frustrating Your Head Coach, A Tutorial" and has moved on. Dwayne Crutchfield and Sage Rosensels are gone, too. Had I watched the game where the cyclones nearly beat the Sooners, I might be able to name an Iowa Stater.



Now, on to the Iowa State motivational poster. In researching good pics that either made me think of Iowa State or included Cyclone fans, I came up with these two.

Loyalty - I just felt for this guy. It seemed like a bad use of perfectly good body paint.

Effort - my step-mother-in-law rehabilitates opossums. She sometimes spends months rehabbing a rodent that has an average life span of 18 months. Seems to me like that typifies Iowa State. You can play football there, make some progress and go 6-6 or 7-5, but eventually Kansas, Missouri, Colorado or Nebraska (depending upon the season) is going to crush you.

I'm torn between the two. Cast your vote, and we'll proceed with the rest of our predictions when I come back from the promised land on Sunday.

Watermelon's Medicinal Qualities

Reveille VII's avoiding the heat and reading the news, and has an interesting opinon on Watermelon and Viagara. Be sure and check it out over your holiday weekend.