OU, right now

My buddy George has asked me more than once which team I root for the most – the NY Yankees or OU Sooners.

It’s difficult to say. Depends on whether it’s baseball season or football season, I guess. I can recall the season Tommy McDonald played running back for the Sooners and I can also recall the season Mickey Mantle won the Triple Crown, so, it must have been in the mid-1950s when I started rooting for both. I have all my OU memorabilia in the living room and all my Yankees memorabilia in the office, so it’s no secret, really. I don’t mind admitting both are my favorites.

Of course, for a while the Yankees were already into the baseball playoffs when football season started. Since the Yankees didn’t make the baseball playoffs this year, I’ve probably concentrated on the Sooners a little more. Which brings us to the BCS football rankings. It seems there will always be the question of which team is ranked at the top, until we have some sort of playoff system. Right?

Well, this season it’s currently Alabama at the top, followed by Texas, Oklahoma and Florida, 1-2-3-4. Now, George is a big Longhorn fan and I’m still a big Sooners fan. We’ve had discussions, especially since Texas won the game at the Cotton Bowl earlier this year, dropping OU from the No.1 spot and making Texas No.1. Since then, Texas lost to Texas Tech and, as most of you know, unless you’ve been under a rock somewhere, OU just absolutely manhandled Texas Tech this past weekend. I felt great about it afterwards, then the BCS ranking came out Sunday and it was, like I said, Alabama-Texas-Oklahoma. I really thought it would be Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida and Texas. That’s neither here or there. OU, Texas and Texas Tech are tied atop of the Big XII standings, each with one game remaining.

OU has Oklahoma State, Texas has Texas A&M and Tech has Baylor. All three should win, but then that raises the question of which team is No.1 in the South Division and plays Missouri for the Big XII title in early December. Of course, George and I see it differently. He wants Texas to be in the title game and I want OU to be in it.

It’s a real dilemma.

Note: I’ve been fortunate to meet Mickey Mantle and interview him several times. I’ve also met Bud Wilkinson, the great Oklahoma coach when Tommy McDonald played, and interviewed him, too, but it was in a locker room situation, when he later coached the St. Louis Cardinals. Both are considered highlights in my professional life.