OU Tickets Seized

I read this weekend that federal authorities seized season tickets on the 45 yard line and four OU-Texas tickets from David Ray Gaddis, who owes the feds $309,000. The tickets were then sold through a ticket broker for an undisclosed sum.

My question is, for how much? According to stubhub.com, one could sell those tickets easily for north of $750/seat, and probably closer to $1k per seat. The OU-Texas tickets (which would be really nice seats, assuming same priority as the 45 yard line seats) are worth at least $400 each.

We know that the government has exhibited great business acumen in the past. The Mustang Ranch, a legal brothel in Nevada and the largest of its kind, was seized by the feds initially in 1990. It was put up for auction - and sold for $1.49 million to the man they seized it from. In 1999, the feds seized the property again, while seeking restitution for a $16 million tax lien. The property sat padlocked for four years, then the Bureau of Land Management sold the property for $145,000. So, they got about 1% of their money back.

So, my question is, can we find out via the FOIA how much the feds got for the tickets? They should have easily recovered $4,000 from these tickets, which probably have a face value around half of that. With the feds long demonstrated business acumen, they probably swapped the tickets out for a Jason White autograph and tickets to the OSU / Grambling State contest.

Another interesting element here is that for the ticket holder to have secured four season tickets on the 45 yard line, the gent would have had to make a sizable donation to the Sooner Club. Clearly Mr. Gaddis hasn't bee focused on paying the federales back.

And some of you want the government to fix the banking, automobile and healthcare industries. Good luck with that.

USC Self Reports

In the wake of the Sooners reporting another minor violation to the NCAA, our sources on the west coast indicate USC has also self-reported some minor violations.

In their report, the Trojans disclose that a booster apparently left the keys to a million dollar home along with a pound of coke and four strippers outside QB Matt Barkley's dormitory room.

The Trojans contend that the booster left keys to the wrong home, that Corp is just moved into a rental flat near campus at market rates from the booster, who owns property adjacent to campus. The cocaine and strippers incident is not an infraction, as those items are readily available immediately off campus at all hours of the day to any student.

The NCAA has declined to comment, and only indicate they are reviewing the matter internally.

2009 Season by the Letter

A - Allen, Drew. Met his dad at the OU-Texas game last year. Will he play in 2009. If he does, it's probably not a good sign for the Sooners.
B - Bengals. OU plays it's first game ever against the Idaho State Bengals. And hopefully the last.
C - Cowboys Stadium. The Sooners play the first meaningful American football game in Cowboys Stadium.
D - Defensive line. With Alexander healthy all year, Granger and McCoy back, and Auston English healthy, as well as many others, this unit should dominate it's side of the ball.
E - Eldridge, Brody. He may be the best center we have. I hope that's Bob screwing with the media. You hate to waste an all-conference fullback like that.
F - Fightin Mormons. The Sooners are winless against the Cougars, with one butt kicking at the 1994 Copper Bowl. This game was Gary Gibbs last as a Sooner. The Sooners look to avenge that as well as the 1984 National Championship, where BYU went undefeated against powerhouses like a 6-6 Michigan squad, Utah State, Baylor and Tulsa. Don't even bring up the Orange Bowl.
G - Gresham, Jermaine. aka Keith Jackson, Jr. Likely to be a primary option for a relatively inexperienced receiving package for the Sooners.
H - Holiday Bowl. If the Sooners are in San Diego in December, it's been a disappointing season.
I - Injuries. Will DeMarco Murray stay healthy the entire year?
J - Jarboe, Josh. Budding rap star is third on the depth chart for the Troy Trojans as a redshirt freshman.
K - Kickoff coverage? Will it be any better this year? We got lots of practice at this last year, and never mastered it.
L - Longhorns. The Oct 17 matchup is a big 'un. The victor gets an inside track to a Big 12 South Division title, though the last two years victories have done nada for the Horns in that regard.
M - McCoy, Gerald. The leader of the defensive line.
N - Nebraska. A trip to Bugeater Stadium on Nov 7 could be the prequel to the Big 12 Championship game.
O - Offensive Line. If I were ranking stories I'm tired of reading this summer, it would be: 1) Brett Favre; 2) Michael Vick; 3) Oklahoma's offensive line.
P - Pooh. The nickname of Adron Tonnell, who we need a big year from in the WR position.
Q - Quentin Carter. A few more hits like this and he'll be a household name.
R - Ryan Reynolds. The most talked about knees since Jason White.
S - Sam Proctor. If Sam has a good year at the Strong Safety position, it could solidify the Sooner secondary.
T - Tulsa. The game where Bradford sets the career mark for passing yards by a Sooner QB.
U - The U. The Sooners travel to play the U in South Florida. Will the Sooners crush the Hurricanes? Or will the offensive staff shakeup launch the Canes into a new era?
V - Vanquish. What the Sooners will do to their foes this year.
W - Woody Glass, Mike Balogun's lawyer. His talents may be more important than Brandon Crow's.
X - x-wife. Former Sooner D-Coordinator Mike Stoops is headed to splitsville with the missus. Apparently coaching at Arizona is hard on a marriage.
Y - Young, Bill. The new Boone State d-coordinator could raise the intensity of the Bedlam series to an actual rivalry.
Z - Zero. The chance of me going to the Idaho State game.

Will Georgia Take Over Boone Pickens Stadium

interesting article on the lenghts Georgia fans go to get tickets to watch their Bulldogs play. We'll see how the Pokes represent themselves.

Eric Thunander Arrested

Saw today where former Sooner LB Eric Thunander was arrested for lewd acts with a child. It's a sad day. I'm terribly saddened for the girl and her family, and I pray that she can somehow overcome the emotional and physical scars.

Thunander wrote a book last year, Silent Thunder, that made me cry several times. Thunander is deaf, battles depression, was sexually abused as a child himself, and just grew up in an absolutely horribe environment.

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that he was able to stop the cycle. At least not yet.

Eric, our prayers are with you as well.

All 2009 Big 12 games predicted

I'm sure you were just sitting around today thinking, "wouldn't it be great if LandThieves would publish predictions for each game involving a Big 12 team"?

You weren't? Well, here it is anyway.

09-03
Iowa State defeats North Dakota State

09-05
Colorado defeats Colorado State
Baylor defeats Wake Forest
Nebraska defeats Florida Atlantic
Oklahoma defeats BYU
Texas defeats Louisiana-Monroe
Kansas defeats Northern Colorado
Georgia defeats Oklahoma State
Illinois defeats Missouri
Texas A&M defeats New Mexico
Texas Tech defeats North Dakota
Kansas State defeats Massachusetts

09-11
Toledo defeats Colorado

09-12
Iowa defeats Iowa State
Missouri defeats Bowling Green
Nebraska defeats Arkansas State
Oklahoma defeats Idaho State
Kansas State defeats Louisiana-Lafayette
Oklahoma State defeats Houston
Texas defeats Wyoming
Texas Tech defeats Rice
Kansas defeats UTEP

09-19
UCLA defeats Kansas State
Colorado defeats Wyoming
Missouri defeats Furman
Oklahoma State defeats Rice
Oklahoma defeats Tulsa
Baylor defeats Connecticutt
Virginia Tech defeats Nebraska
Kansas defeats Duke
Texas A&M defeats Utah State
Iowa State defeats Kent State
Texas defeats Texas Tech

09-25
Nevada defeats Missouri

09-26
Iowa State defeats Army
Nebraska defeats Louisiana-Lafayette
Oklahoma State defeats Grambling State
Baylor defeats Northwestern State
Texas defeats UTEP
Kansas defeats Southern Miss
Kansas State defeats Tennessee Tech
Texas A&M defeats UAB
Texas Tech defeats Houston

10-01
West Virginia defeats Colorado

10-03
Arkansas defeats Texas A&M
Iowa State defeats Kansas State
Baylor defeats Kent State
Oklahoma defeats Miami (FL)
Texas Tech defeats New Mexico

10-08
Nebraska defeats Missouri

10-10
Oklahoma defeats Baylor
Texas defeats Colorado
Kansas defeats Iowa State
Texas Tech defeats Kansas State
Oklahoma State defeats Texas A&M

10-17
Kansas defeats Colorado
Baylor defeats Iowa State
Nebraska defeats Texas Tech
Oklahoma State defeats Missouri
Texas defeats Oklahoma
Texas A&M defeats Kansas State

10-24
Texas defeats Missouri
Nebraska defeats Iowa State
Oklahoma State defeats Baylor
Oklahoma defeats Kansas
Colorado defeats Kansas State
Texas Tech defeats Texas A&M

10-31
Missouri defeats Colorado
Texas defeats Oklahoma State
Oklahoma defeats Kansas State
Nebraska defeats Baylor
Texas Tech defeats Kansas
Texas A&M defeats Iowa State

11-07
Texas A&M defeats Colorado
Oklahoma State defeats Iowa State
Baylor defeats Missouri
Oklahoma defeats Nebraska
Texas defeats Central Florida
Kansas defeats Kansas State

11-14
Colorado defeats Iowa State
Oklahoma State defeats Texas Tech
Oklahoma defeats Texas A&M
Texas defeats Baylor
Nebraska defeats Kansas
Missouri defeats Kansas State
11-19
Oklahoma State defeats Colorado

11-21
Missouri defeats Iowa State
Nebraska defeats Kansas State
Texas defeats Kansas
Texas Tech defeats Oklahoma
Baylor defeats Texas A&M

11-26
Texas defeats Texas A&M

11-27
Nebraska defeats Colorado

11-28
Oklahoma defeats Oklahoma State
Texas Tech defeats Baylor
Kansas defeats Missouri

Big 12 Championship Game
Texas beats Nebraska

Where's the Baylor Gear

Took an afternoon field trip to the PGA Superstore in Plano, TX today. It's quite the place (I think I had the same feeling that my girls has when I took the to American Girl Place). They have an entire wall devoted to various collegiate apparel. You can get Virginia Tech gear, Auburn gear, TCU gear (surprise!), OU gear, Boone State gear, Duke gear, They had Iowa State stuff (?), Red Raider stuff, Cash Machine U stuff. Nebraska? check. Kansas? Check.

Baylor? No check. Nada.

They even had North Texas stuff. Seriously. Have you even seen anyone wear North Texas gear with pride? Or even without pride. I didn't even know North Texas licensed their stuff. Figured they stopped when Hayden Fry and Mean Joe Greene left town in the early 70s. But nope, you can get it at the PGA superstore.

But Baylor? Nah. The store's in the middle of Plano, TX, home of Six Flags over Jesus (aka Prestonwood Baptist) and several other immense Baptist churches, and the good folks at the PGA superstore don't want to waste the wallspace with little Baylor Bear headcovers, puttercovers, etc, ballmarkers, etc.

I don't know who to be disgusted with...the Baylor faithful, for not buying enough of their stuff to create a market, or the PGA superstore folks who thumb their nose at Art Briles, Reverend Rob and the rest of the Bears.

Will the Fish Eaters win 10 games

Yes, but because of a painfully easy schedule. Let’s take a look at the Irish schedule, which I've broken out into Wins, Winnable, Losable and Losses:

• Scheduled wins: Nevada, Navy, Washington, Washington State
• Winnable: Michigan State, Connecticut, at Stanford, at Pittsburgh
• Losable: at Michigan (1-4 in their last five in Ann Arbor), at Purdue (Irish 2-4 at West Lafayette since Holtz retired), Boston College (0-6 since 2001),
• Losses you can count on: Southern California

The Irish are taking some heat in some media outposts for their easy schedule. However, let’s face it, it’s not the Irish’s fault that Michigan is at an unprecedented valley in their football history, or that Washington and Washington State are also at unusually low lows. Charlie Weis did not transform into Bill Snyder.

To heck with history though, let’s just be realistic. Nevada’s probably the team most likely to win a conference championship of the Irish foes, and they have to go through Boise State to do that. Purdue, Michigan and Michigan State trail Ohio State, Illinois and Penn State in the Big 10, and perhaps Iowa as well. Washington and Washington State will be the bottom dwellers of the Pac 10. Stanford is in the middle third of the Pac 10 at best. Connecticut will be a middle of the road Big East team. Pittsburgh is a contender for the Big East title. BC will be a contender for the ACC title. Navy’s beaten Notre Dame once since Roger Stauback left the academy.

Let’s presume my breakdown is correct. The Irish have 4 lock wins and a lock loss against the Trojans. Let’s presume they go 3-1 in the winnable games. To get to 10-2 in the regular season, they’ve got to go 3-0 through Michigan, Purdue and BC? I don’t think that’s likely. Alternatively, they’ve probably got a better shot of going 4-0 through MSU, UConn, Stanford and Pitt.A 10-2 record will likely get the traditionally overrated Irish in a BCS bowl game, where they will get pasted by someone. Alternatively, a 9-3 regular season record will get them to a middle tier bowl game, where they have a much better chance of winning.

Either way, I think they end up 10-3. For more coverage of the Irish, check out http://www.onefootdown.com/.

Book found in UT Bookstore

Balogun Haiku

'Noles watch Sooners play
Bobby drops colostomy bag
School rats on Sooners

My pharmaceutical idea

If a drugmaker wants to make money, they should come up with a drug that makes your wife want to have sex with you after you've watched golf for five hours. It would sell even better than Cialis and Viagra.

The LandThieves Preseason Top 10

Here's the LandThieves Preseason Top 10

1. Florida - the Gators return their all-world defense, tons of speed on offense and Thom Brennaman's man-crush as QB.
2. USC - some point to a new QB, a new LB corps and a trip to Columbus as roadblocks for the Trojans. Pete Carroll's Trojans last loss to a non-conference foe on the road - 2001. That and the soft Pac-10 give the Men of Troy the nod over the Horns.
3. Texas - If USC stumbles against some spare Pacific northwest team, the Horns will be there.
4. Oklahoma - Did you know Sam Bradford has four new O-linemen? I heard a rumor.
5. Alabama - Southlake Carroll Dragon Greg McElroy takes the helm for the Tide, and Terrence Codu returns on the D side. Stoops and Saban have been swapping stories on how to stop Florida. We'll see if it works.
6. Ohio State - a couple of slip ups and we can see THE Ohio State University challenge the Sooners mark for most BCS Championship games lost.
7. LSU - Les Miles' team has tons of talent, and won't lose 5 games this year.
8. TCU - didja notice pollsters never have non-BCS teams ranked high in their preseason polls. I'm a rebel. TCU is always well coached, has Sheriff Dillard returning and Justin Fuentes on staff. What more could you ask for? The Lizards have two BCS teams on their schedule, but run of the mill squads in Clemson and Virginia. Bad enough to be beaten, good enough to help the computer polls. Win those two road games and beat the Fightin Mormons on the road, and they just need to not screw up the game against SMU.
9. Penn State - JoePa continues to distance himself from Bobby Bowden, regardless of what the NCAA says.
10. Virginia Tech - I hardly know anything about this team, but refuse to acknowledge that Boone State is a top 10 team, or that Houston Nutt could coach a top-10 team.

The End is Near

Got my Sports Illustrated in the mail today. Today is a big day in Poke history. Why, do you ask? It's the first time the Oklahoma State Cowboys made it on the cover of SI. Ever.

Let's hope it's a cover jinx.

To add to my misery, my ESPN The Magazine showed up today as well. Cover? My Little Pony.

I'll take the end of year covers over the beginning of year covers.

Big 12 Preview - Travis County Jail

It pains me to write this, but I have the Horns going 12-0 this year. The difference between the Horns and the Sooners for this year: returning offensive linemen and receivers, and Will Muschamp. My Little Pony is the likely Heisman winner this year. A couple of weeks ago, the DMN predicted the Big 12 South would be a 3 way tie again, with Boone State, OU and UT being the co-champions. It was an interesting story line, but not probable. If my prediction of returning o-line and receivers makes the difference in the Red River Rivalry game, then it means the Horns have to lose to someone else in Big 12 play. They’ve lost to the Pokes ONCE since the end of World War II, in 1997. The Horns fired their coach at the end of that year. Mack has lost two conference games in Austin in 11 seasons, so it’s unlikely to happen there. Looking at the Horns road games, they get Baylor in Waco (Mack is undefeated against Baylor); Oklahoma State (ditto); Missouri (ditto); and Texas A&M (Aggies are 2-3 at home against Mack). Unless Colt has another injury, I don’t see this happening. So if UT makes it through the murderous Louisiana-Monroe/Wyoming/UTEP non-conference schedule, wins out at home and beats OU, the table is set for another undefeated season. If not, look for a lot of crying in Austin.

Big 12 Preview - Sooners

Oklahoma – the Sooners only return one offensive lineman starter this year, and also lose Iglesias and Johnson from the receiving corps. Sam Bradford probably won’t get 50 TDs this year, but I’m sure he’ll have an excellent year. To show you how good Sam is, and how the passing record book is still emerging in Norman, in the second game of his junior year, Sam wilI pass Jason White, who got a Ph D in kinesiology while playing seven years, as the career leader in passing yards. Four more TDs and he’s also the career TD passing leader.

I expect the Sooners to run more frequently this year, to take pressure off the green o-line and feature the strengths of one of the better running back tandems in football , Chris Browne and DeMarco Murray. Gresham returns as an all-world TE, and Mossis Madu, Adron Tonnell and Ryan Broyles should provide some fireworks from the outside. On the defense, the Sooners return a fabulous d-line, and a LB corp with Keenan Clayton, Travis Lewis and Ryan Reynolds should be much improved this year. The key questions on the defense are: 1) will DeMarcus Granger stay healthy’ 2) will the dominance of the d-line and LBs compensate for the inexperienced safeties, and 3) what game does Ryan Reynolds blow a knee. The Sooners will miss Lendy Holmes in the defensive backfield, and the inexperience of the safeties and offensive linemen will probably hurt the Sooners in the losses in Dallas to the Longhorns and to the Dust Pirates in Lubbock, and they'll end up second in the Big 12 South. The good news to that is we can play a lesser team in the BCS like the Horns normally do, and win a bowl game.

Here’s hoping I’m wrong, and that we have another successful season, with a Big 12 Championship.

Big 12 Preview - Dust Pirates

In case you’re wondering if TT is going to have a dropoff in the passing game with Harrell and Crabtree's departure, here’s some interesting tidbits for you:

Kliff Kingsbury threw for 5,017 yards and 45 TDs in his senior year with the Red Raiders. The Red Raiders went 9-5 in 2002.BJ Symons succeed K-squared and threw for 5,883 yards and 52 TDs. TT went 8-5 in 2003. Sonny Cumbie succeeded Symons and threw for 4,742 yards and 32 TDs. TT went 8-4 in 2004. Cody Hodges followed Cubmine and threw for 4,197 yards and 31 TDs. TT went 9-3 in 2005. Harrell followed Hodges and threw for 4,555 yards and 38 TDs his sophomore year. TT went 8-5 in 2006.

What all this means is that Harrell has left for the UFL, but you can still expect 35 TDs and 4000+ yards from the next TT QB. And the Red Raiders will win 8-9 games. Unlikely to repeat the magic of last year’s W against Texas, but they’re much more likely to beat OU in Lubbock (won their last two against OU in Lubbock). I have the Dust pirates going 9-3 in the regular season, with their losses coming on the road against Texas, Nebraska and Boone State.

All this to say that Leach and the Red Raiders should have confidence this year won't be a big dropoff in Lubbock.

Big 12 Preview - Boone State

Oklahoma State – It's been an interesting offseason for the Pokes.First of all, Holder suspends the building program because Boone's investments have gone in the crapper; then the Pokes start getting a lot of coverage as a team to watch this year…they tie Ole Miss for the “sleeper picked so much to be a sleeper so they’re really not a sleeper”.

Zac Robinson is back for his senior year, and Dez Bryant returns as a junior. Coach Hair Gel is going to call is own plays again this year, and the Pokes added alumnus Bill Young as defensive coordinator this year. Young also coached for the Sooners during the Blake era, but was let go as Blake “brought his own people in”. Young was d-coordinator under Shamangino at Kansas during their resurgence, and is well-respected in the game. It remains to be seen whether that will translate into success for the Pokes; they haven’t had good defenses there since – well, I can’t remember when. Probably when Jimmy Johnson was coach.

Boone’s boys start off the year hosting Georgia, who will be solid, but lost Stafford and Moreno to the NFL this off-season. It will be the first non-conference game against a BCS foe in Stillwater since 2002. If they pull off the W (it would be the first non-conf W against BCS conf foe since a 1998 W vs Miss St), they’ll be poised to be 7-0 and hosting Texas. I don’t see them beating the Dawgs or the Horns, nor the Sooners at home, so it’ll be 9-3 and on to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl.

Education: If Cowboys go 9-3 in the regular season and win their bowl game, it will be the first time the Pokes finished with fewer than 4 losses since 1988. Gundy would finish the season with 37 wins, and rank as the 3rd winningest head coach in the 109 year history of the program.

Big 12 Preview - Baylor

Art Briles and Robert Griffin return for their second season in Waco, and they’ve also added Coppell stud Tyler DeLoach to the roster this year. Bruce Feldman had a nice article in ESPN the Magazine about the Baylor resurgence, and I can't figure out how to link to it. Defensive stalwarts Pawelek and Lake return on the defensive side for another year of Bear excellence. I see the Bears finishing 7-5 this year for their first winning record since 1995 and first trip to a bowl game since 1994. The Bears will win their four non-conference games, then go 1-3 in their next four against OU, Iowa State, Boone State and the Bugeaters. The Bears will then beat Mizzou, scare Texas before falling, beat the Aggies in College Station (this first Bear W in College Station since 1984) and then lose to the Dust Pirates at Cowboy Stadium to end the regular season. The big news at the season finale will be either a) Bear fans in shock that parking at Cowboys Stadium costs more than a ticket at Floyd Casey, and b) they made a home game an away game by allowing all the DFW based Tech alumni easy access to a Red Raider game.

The problem for the Bears will be they will be participating in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, where the Baylor fans will hit the casinos and hope not to be noticed by their Baptist brethren. It’ll look like Halloween in with all the people wearing Art Briles masks. The last time a group of people were so excited to be in Shreveport was 1999, when the Sooners went there in the first year of Stoops reign.

Briles' focus on fundamentals will be the key to the Bears resurgence this year.

Big 12 Preview - Cash Machine U

I would imagine some Aggie fans are ready to name the stadium after RC Slocum. RC lost 37 games while winning 84 in the final 10 years of his 14 year career. In the six seasons since, the Aggies have gone 36-37. The Aggies have the erratic-to-date Sherrod Johnson at QB, and there’s no Wrecking Crew for the time being. The only thing that’s wrecked is the bowl hopes of the Aggie faithful. Coach Sherman may turn this thing around, but how long will it take? Last year, Baylor was picked last in the conference by all but one voter. This year, it’s the Aggies in that slot. I’m projecting a 6-6 record for Cash Machine U, with the Ags losing to Arkansas, and going o-fer against the Big 12 South. Aggies our proud of their history, and it’s a great university. They won’t look back fondly upon this era.

Now, you readers get to pick the footall poster for the Aggies this year. Click through to the website to vote for Pressure, Tradition, or History