soonerdudes

Summer is drawing to a close, and that can only mean one thing. But since Oklahoma finds itself without a representative in this year’s WNBA Playoffs, we turn our attention instead to the Oklahoma Football Sooners. Yes friends, it’s that time of year when the heartland is buzzing about the annual Preseason Dudey Awards, the most prestigious honor known to Sooner Nation.

The results have been tallied, and we can honestly tell you that this year’s vote was the closest in Dudeys history. Dreams will be come true, hearts will be broken and recounts will be demanded. You don’t want to miss a moment of the action. So sit back, relax and enjoy the 2010 Preseason Dudey Awards (brought to you by Miller Light, Levi’s and 3M Scotch Brand Household Scissors).

Sam Bradford Award: Best Offensive Player

Ryan Broyles

Honorable Mention: Demarco Murray

Lee Roy Selmon Award: Best Defensive Player

Jeremy Beal

Honorable Mention: Travis Lewis

Bud Wilkinson Award: Outstanding Coach

Josh Heupel

Honorable Mention: Jackie Shipp

Adrian Peterson Award: Outstanding Freshman

Kenny Stills

Honorable Mention: Tony Jefferson, Brennan Clay

Brian Bosworth Award: Most Swagger

Travis Lewis

Honorable Mention: Ronnell Lewis

Quentin Griffin Award: Underrated player

Jonathan Nelson

Honorable Mention: Landry Jones

Game Ball Award: 2010 MVP

Demarcro Murray

Honorable Mention: Ryan Broyles

OCU Award: Rising Star

Tom Wort

Honorable Mention: Demontre Hurst

Most to Prove

Landry Jones

Honorable Mention: Donald Stephenson, Dejuan Miller

Marcus Dupree Award: Prized 2011 Recruit

Trey Metoyer

Honorabe Mention: Brandon Williams, Jordan Phillips

OU GQ Award: Sharpest in His Uni

Dejuan Miller

Honorable Mention: Ronnell Lewis, Travis Lewis

Best Game Day Libation

Miller Light

Honorable Mention: Coors Lights, Screwdrivers for 11 AM kickoff

Best ESPN Talking Head

Dari Nowkhah

Honorable Mention: Desmond Howard, None

Best Texas State Fair Menu Item

Fried Beer (This one wasn’t close)

Honorable Mention: Fried Bacon

Best Place to Watch Outside Norman

Cotton Bowl

Honorable Mention: Your Sooner Man Cave

Best Off-Season Pastime

OKC Thunder Basketball

Honorable Mention: Waiting for football, Embarrassing Yourself on the Golf Course

Facebook Warrior

Brennan Clay

Honorable Mention: The Sooner Dudes

Best Game Day Fashion Decision

Jorts

Honorable Mention: Jersey T-Shirt

Most Hated Man in Sooner Nation

Mack Brown

Honorable Mention: Tim Tebow

Most Respected Program

Alabama

Honorable Mention: Nebraska, Duke

Miller Light Award: Most Fun to Have a Beer With

The King

Honorable Mention: Billy Sims, Capital Sooner

Stadium We’d Most Like to Visit

The Big House

Honorable Mention: Neyland Stadium, Bryant-Denny Stadium

Best Timeless Tradition

Cotton Bowl Split Down the Middle

Honorable Mention: “Play Like A Champion Today”

Best Mascot (Other than Boomer and Sooner)

The Stanford Tree

Honorable Mention: Starsky

Best Fight Song (Other than Boomer Sooner)

Hail to the Victors

Honorable Mention: The Aggie War Hymn, Anchors Away

Best Tailgating Spot

Lindsey Street

Honorable Mention: Parking Lot Northeast of the Stadium

Best Tailgate Activity

12 Oz. Curls

Honorable Mention: Cornhole

Best Pregame Spot on Campus

Old O’Connell’s

Honorable Mention: Louie’s

Team that is Owed the Most Payback

Texas

Honorable Mention: USC, LSU, Florida

Help the Dudes get back their “ness” by following them on Facebook.

Sooner \ˈsü-nər\ – “a person settling on land in the early West before its official opening to settlement in order to gain the prior claim allowed by law to the first settler after official opening”

Dude \ˈdüd also ˈdyüd\ – “a stylish, fastidious person”

Sooner Dude \ˈsü-nər ˈdüd\ – “An explosive, stylish, fastidious, committed, unrelenting fan of the University of Oklahoma Football Program, that never cared that the original ‘Sooners’ may have been cheaters.”

It seems just like yesterday when two band nerds extraordinaire — from E-town, what! — hopped into a black GMC suburban and headed to Norman for a football game.  Cap’s landline rang, his mom answered (cell phones? are you kidding me this was 1998).  On the other end was the Buck inviting Cap to his first game in Norman.  The rest is history as they say.

Here we are over a decade later, and one thing hasn’t changed — our love for the Sooners.  Sure CapitolSooner dresses better than the Buck and SchoonerPhil.  Yes, CapitolSooner has brought the Buck on the verge of tears during their online PS3 battles of NCAA 2011.  But every day of every year we talk about the Oklahoma Sooners.  We scour the message boards and every media source available on planet earth for tidbits about our favorite team.  Sometimes it borders on the insane and creepy (just look at how many facebook friends one of us has with committed recruits and current players on the team).

Look at me, I digress.  So what is a Sooner Dude really?  We are really just a few guys who want to talk about their favorite football team.  We hope to make you laugh.  And make you reminisce on Sooner glories and memories of yesteryear.  More importantly, we  intend look good while doing it.  You don’t believe me?  Check out last year’s gameday attire for the OU/Texas game!

We love your comments — except for the ones trying to sell us viagra, come on we are in our 20s!  And encourage you to visit us frequently, as we are ready to prepare you for the upcoming season with lots of good info and laughs surrounding this year’s team.  Next up, fear the ‘stache…
- I’m CapitolSooner and I approve this message

Speculation:  Best served SOONER rather than later

Ladies and gentlemen … Boys and girls … Sooners and losers …

The time has come for you to develop some fortitude—yes, the kind that is in your “downtown.”  It’s August, and as a fan you have one job to do: Speculate!

I’m not talking about the kind of predictions that you make after hours of research. Those don’t count.  Don’t watch game tape from last year.  Trust me, I believe you when you say that you are an expert of defensive schemes and it really would be unfair for you to provide your analysis.  Don’t read Phil Steele’s prediction of the ’09 season.  Definitely don’t go to ESPN, foxsports.com, cnnsi.com, or any other sports publication.  In fact, stick to the boards where speculation has been turned into a science for your info.  You think I’m joking but I am dead serious!  When ILUVSOONERSDIEUTERIS or ADSHOULDAWUNDAHYSMAN28 posts on the boards that he/she heard that Bradford (aka the Big Easy) once threw a football over them mountains (est. distance of 10km), you send out an email to all your friends and tell them that, without a doubt, Bradford is going to double his production from last year. That’s right folks, Sam’s going for over 9400 yds. of production this year.

Why, you ask?  Because it’s August, baby!  It’s the time of year that you cannot be held accountable for anything you say.  What fun is it to predict that the Sooners are going to win the big 12 championship 10 games into the season, anyway?  The way I see it, the best part about college football is setting lofty goals for your respective team.  It’s the endless conversations we have about our favorite teams and the young men that make them up that makes the season so fun.  So get started early.  And just like a good political conversation, disputing the probable goals for your team is best when you are completely clueless—it frustrates your opponent and leaves them in a cloud of confusion and anger that doesn’t wash off for days, maybe even weeks.  Just make sure you believe what you say without a reasonable doubt. Make sure you yell when people tell you that you are wrong—I mean it, really get mad, because it’s more fun that way.

I asked the dudes to make a bold prediction for this year.  Schooner Phil and The Buck didn’t disappoint.  Their statements are as lofty as ever.  I know in my heart they believe our Sooners will achieve greatness this year, I mean we do this every year.   In fact, my boys are probably stopping strangers on the DC metro to inform them that this year’s Sooner team is better than most NFL teams, and that we would only lose to the patriots if Belichick brought his army of spies.

So after 10 minutes of solid thinking, without any true analysis and definitely without any reservation, I present you the Sooner Dudes Cold Hard Facts for August:

SchoonerPhil:  “OU wins number 8.  Period”

The Buck:  “Oklahoma will achieve a decisive victory in the 2009 Red River Rivalry and the Sooners’ defense will hold the Longhorns to under 20 points. Texas will lose a second regular season game to Oklahoma State and miss out on the Big XII Championship Game. The Sooners will bring home their fourth consecutive Big XII title.”

CapitolSooner:  “Austin English will be our best defensive linemen.  He is back and healthy and at this juncture only one thing can stop him and that is zero-gravity:  without being overly scientific the lack of gravity would neutralize his superior manimal instincts and strength.”

There you have it.  A national title, a conference title, and the resurrection of a lost hero.  And until proven otherwise, these are the cold hard facts about Sooner Football.  Man, I love August!

The Sooner Dudes would like to add our condolences to the Tisdale family and Sooner Nation for the loss of Wayman Tisdale yesterday.  Also, thanks to Kings of Leon for honoring Tisdale last night on The Tonight Show (Tisdale’s #23 is displayed on the drummer’s bass drum below the OU logo in “KOL.”)  Tisdale is a Sooner legend and will be missed by all.  RIP, Wayman, and Boomer Sooner.

We all know that Mike Leach is special.  Some call him a mad scientist.  Some call him a genius.  I call him straight crazy.  Don’t believe me?  Watch this:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxBsXzvENpo]

First of all, good ole Leach recommends a steakhouse that serves very little salad.  Seriously, Mike?  Do it cause she doesn’t like it?  That motto might work against opposing defenses, but no means no when it comes to the ladies Mr. Leach.

This got me thinking though, which Big 12 coach would I most likely use as a wingman on one of those explosive CapSooner nites in Chicago.  Without further ado, I present to you the Top 3 Big 12 Wingmen:

Number 1: Bob Stoops

Number 2: Gary Pinkel

Number 3: Mike Gundy

There were other options like good ole Mack (I don’t need to explain why I would never hangout with this man) or Leach (personally, I just don’t believe in trading computer schemes, or whatever us young kids do these days Mike).

Who would you put in your top 3?

Everyone knows that CapitolSooner is a sucker for President-Elect Obama.  He loves him!  In fact, it wasn’t more than two weeks ago that BuckyB challenged this Sooner Dude to pick between an Obama victory and Schooner MNC (see below for more details on MNC). I crumbled under the pressure.  The truth is I advocate for the President-elect as a citizen, not a SoonerDude.

CapSooner has studied this man since he lived in Washington, DC, reading both of his books and countless news stories about the President-Elect’s work as an community organizer, a state legislator and a state senator.  CapSooner thinks the world of this man and was part of the countless who screamed it’s time for CHANGE.  Well, this SoonerDude was greatly saddened to find out that his idol wasn’t perfect after all (Hey, everyone makes a mistake):

So by now you are either laughing a little bit, crying because you just saw a picture of the President-Elect with a saxeT jersey, or foaming at the mouth because you don’t like socialists.  Just please refrain from posting stupid and insensitive comments on your Facebook profile;  It doesn’t represent yourself or your school very well.

“So why all the suspense, CapSooner?” you might be asking yourself.  Why are you trying to stir up the pot on the peaceful SoonerDudes blog?  Because I am running for president!  That’s right, SURPRISE.  CapitolSooner is running for office with the following slogan:  Hope. Action. Change.

Yep, I stole it right from the Obama campaign and I don’t even feel bad.  I’ve got the election fever, and feel it’s time for me to replace Myles Brand.  His administration has been incompetent for many, many years, producing the current comical football system – the BCS.  In fact, the college football championship game winner is correctly termed the Mythical National Champion (MNC) in some circles because it just flat out doesn’t make sense how this champion is crowned.  Mr. Brand and his colleagues are letting money destroy the integrity of our favorite sport and it’s time that the people stand-up and elect leadership that can bring the change that will change, change itself.

Nevermind, that there is no public election for the position folks.  Stand for something pure and good, and together let us stop the NCAA from continually ruining college football.  Let us all unite to tell the NCAA:

1. No, it is not okay to let a Big 10 team into the championship game that has not beating a single respectable team (Iowa and Mr. Ferentz, America thanks you for saving the BCS once again).
2. We will not allow this bowl culture of fear mongering and deceipt keep us from seeking a true national champion (read this page for examples: all kinds of nonsense here – slippery slopes??)
3. The winner and the loser of the OU-saxeT game should both receive automatic bids to the NCAA college football playoff if (a) saxeT finishes in the top 2 in the polls AND manages to beat OU that particular year, (b) saxeT finishes first in the polls AND somehow beats OU that year, or (c) if miraculously OU loses to saxeT.
4. The Big 10, Pac-10, Moutain West, and MAC should collectively allowed one team in the playoffs to be determined by a coin-toss or a game of rock-paper-scissors between each conference’s champion.
5. The SEC and Big 12 should receive automatic bids for the conference champion and the team with the second best record in the conference.  This is America, we reward excellence.
6. Last and most importantly, no officiating crews from the Pac-10 will be used under any circumstances in these playoffs.

I am CapitolSooner and I approve this message.  Oh and so does the president-elect:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndx3ifpIn7o]

Make No Excuses, Play like a Champion.

Sooner nation, don’t be frightened by what the future has in store for us.  There is nothing scary about the next month of football.  The same can’t be said for the kid below:

The way I see it Sooner Nation there is one thing we can do this month.  Apply rule number 76 mercilessly and hope for the “devastating” upsets around the country:

So Go Tech, Go Arkansas State (seriously Alabama?!?!?), UF-UGA please tie, and most importantly…

BOOMER!!

The Bears aren’t going to pose any real threat to the Oklahoma Sooners this upcoming Saturday.  In fact, I am afraid the Bears are going to get the full wrath of a special Sooner team that is looking to use Saturday’s matchup as a springboard for the RRS coming up in just 8 days.  For me however this game signifies a great deal more than another game against an over-matched opponent.  Do we truly realize how far this team has come along in a few years.  Does this sound familiar?

“Lying in a stadium tunnel, Juaquin Iglesias had no way to celebrate his touchdown catch in double overtime. He just knew he’d put his Oklahoma Sooners in position for a victory.

Iglesias caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from R**** B***** to lift Oklahoma to a 37-30 win Saturday night against Baylor and maintain the Sooners’ perfect record in the series.”

I can’t help but shudder at many of the words in the quote above.  For starters it mentions the quarterback that I refuse to ever address by name.  I called him the next Elway several years ago and cursed him for his mishaps, but here we are 3 years later with the best pro-style quarterback in Sooner history.  So thank you nameless quarterback for allowing Sam Bradford to step in and shine for this new generation of Sooners.  Secondly, we beat baylor by only one touchdown, and in double overtime no less!

“It was a good win,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. “Any win is a good win.”

Now contrast that to Stoops’ comments about the possibility of being ranked number 1 following the TCU game:

“I don’t have any thoughts about that, not at all,” Stoops said. “You’ll have to talk to somebody else about that.”

Typical Stoops, it’s why we all love him.

As a fan it was tough to swallow a 7 point win over Baylor in double OT three years ago, because it was an indicator of what kind of season we were having.  It was a rebuilding year that helped a group of young men (Iglesias, Manny “Man” Johnson, Nick Harris, Lendy Holmes … just to name a few) take a giant step towards reestablishing OU football as a traditional powerhouse.  It was baptism by fire, and a then young team saw itself battle for a victory without AD.  If only that team knew what was to follow the next year because some kid was pulling a no-show job at the local car dealership like he was a member of the Soprano crew.

Fast forward three years and the thought of playing “Baylor in a close one” sounds ridiculous, right?  Well it is Sooner fans, so enjoy the weekend scrimmage and start making preperations for another ridiculous weekend in Dallas.

That is the question, call it a dilemma, for Sooner fans Saturday when Texas plays Colorado in Boulder, a game with enormous impications on the Red River Shootout.  Read BuckyB and CapitolSooner’s discussion on Saturday’s game between the Horns and Buffs (Click to enlarge):

Leave us your comments and let us know if you’ll be pulling for the Burnt Orange this week.

Boomer Sooner.