Breaking News out of Norman

According to ESPN, Jeff Capel has been fired as Oklahoma basketball coach!

Billy Gillispie to Tech?

New Tech AD Kirby Hocutt has already met with Billy Gillispie about the  head coaching position for the basketball team. Chancellor Kent Hance and President Guy Bailey have scheduled a meeting with Gillispie. More to come as the story develops.

Chris Johnson to NFL Owners: " Boy they need to let me kno what's gonna happen with this NFL lockout cause if they do ima join the us track team."

Chris Johnson ran a 4.24 forty yard dash as a senior at the NFL combine. It is the fastest forty ever recorded at an NFL combine. Chris Johnson expressed his desire to "try out" for the U.S. track team if there is an NFL work stoppage through his twitter account on March 9th, 2011. Running the fastest forty time of any football player at an NFL combine is one thing but running against the best sprinters in the world is a whole different thing. Isn't it? According to ESPN's "Sports Science" Chris Johnson's 40 yard dash was faster than Usain Bolt's first forty yards (sprinters usually reach top speed between 50-60 yds) of his world record 100 meter dash. I have heard the argument that football speed and track speed are two different things and that is true, but if Chris Johnson has enough God given ability to run faster than Bolt did the first forty yards of his world record 100 meter dash, then we're not talking about just any fast football player. Why shouldn't Chris Johnson give it a shot if the NFL has a work stoppage? Bob Hayes won an Olympic gold medal in the 100 yard dash in 1964, set the world record in  and won a Super Bowl championship with the Dallas Cowboys in 1972. Willie Gault won a gold medal on the 1984 Olympic 400 meter sprint relay team and later won a Super Bowl championship on one of the greatest teams in NFL history. The 1985 Chicago Bears. Like Johnson, Hayes and Gault were football players that had enough speed to compete on a world class level. Chris Johnson knows where his living should be made. All he is saying is let him know what's going. If there isn't going to be a season he would like to explore his options. Just like any of us would if the company we worked for told us we didn't have a job because they had decided to shut down shop for a  year. I hope we are watching Chris Johnson run for the Tennessee Titans next year, but if they don't play ball let's see what Johnson can do on the track. We will need something to watch besides Charlie Sheen.

Check out Johnson's 4.24 forty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cY0Gag11Wk

Wikipedia
Yahoo Sports

Texas Tech Basketball coach Pat Knight fired?

Story out of Lubbock Texas: Sources have told Chris Level that Pat Knight has been fired! The season that started with high expectations and a lot of experienced seniors has ended abruptly for Pat Knight. A blow up in a press conference last week which Knight hinted his time in Lubbock was coming to end, has apparently come to pass. A 13-18  (5-11 conference) record by a team that was expected to contend in the Big 12 race seems to have brought an end to coaching tenure at Texas Tech. It is unclear if Knight will coach the Red Raiders when the Red Raiders play the number 6 seed Missouri Tigers this Wednesday.

Footbal 101 for Women- Scoring Part 3 of 10 By Kim Rogers

Ladies, do you try to watch football but find you have no clue what is going on?  You’ve heard of touchdowns and field goals, but do you know how they are made and how many points they each bring?  Help is here as this column was designed to give you a better understanding.
Touchdown
To score a touchdown, one team must take the football into the opposite end zone. This can be done by having a player run the football forward into the end zone. It can also be done when a receiver catches a pass in the end zone or catches the ball prior to the end zone and runs it in.  This would still be considered a "passing" touchdown as opposed to a "rushing" touchdown.
A touchdown is worth six points. The scoring team is also awarded the opportunity for an extra point or a two-point conversion.  Afterwards, the team scoring the touchdown kicks off to the opposing team.
Touchdowns are usually scored by the offense. However, the defense can also score a touchdown if they have recovered a fumble or an interception and return it to the opposing end zone. Special teams can score a touchdown on a kickoff or punt return, or on a return after a missed or blocked field goal attempt or blocked punt.
Extra point
This is played immediately after a touchdown during which the scoring team is allowed to attempt to score an extra one point by kicking or two points by touchdown.  An extra point is also referred to as a conversion, point after touchdown (sometimes abbreviated as PAT), or point after.  If the kick goes through the uprights, the team gets an additional one point for their touchdown, bringing their total for that score from six points to seven.
Two-point conversion
In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run a play from close to the opponent's goal line and advance the ball across the goal line in the same manner as if they were scoring a touchdown. If the team succeeds, it earns two additional points on top of the six points for the touchdown. If the team fails, no additional points are scored. In either case, the team proceeds to a kickoff.  The ability to score a two-point conversion was added to NCAA football in 1958 and the NFL in 1994.
Field goal
A field goal must pass "through the uprights," a 10 feet crossbar with upright posts that are 18 feet 6 inches apart.  A missed field goal is said to be "no good."  If it misses to the kicker's left it is referred to as "wide left" and conversely "wide right" if it misses to the kicker's right. It may also be described as being "short" if it does not have the distance to go through the uprights.
Safety 
A safety is a type of score worth two points where a team not in possession of the football can score points. A safety may occur in a variety of ways, most commonly when an opponent in possession of the football is tackled in his own end zone.  An official signals a safety by holding his hands above his head, palms touching.
A safety is by far the least common type of score.  No NFL team has ever recorded more than four in one season. Safeties usually occur when the offense starts a play close to its own end zone. In such cases, offenses tend to run very conservative, low-risk plays to avoid a safety.
Free kick
After a safety, the team that gave up the points kicks off to the other team from its own 20-yard line.  The kicking team has the option of employing a punt or a drop kick, and a punt is the most commonly chosen option.  Unlike the kickoff, a kicking tee may not be used.

Now that you have a better understanding how touchdowns and field goals are scored, watching football will be so much more fun – trust me!
Source: Wikipedia

Article reprinted from g3girls.com

http://www.g3girls.com/sports/100-football-101-uniform-numbers.html

Dave Duerson: A Sad End to a Great Life

If you were a football fan in the mid 80's chances are you knew who Dave Duerson was. He played defensive back for the '85 bears who won Super Bowl XX and is recognized as one of the greatest teams in NFL history. He later won another Super Bowl with the Giants in Super Bowl XXV. In 1986 he set an NFL record for most sacks by a defensive back, (7) and had the record until 2005. When I had heard he had killed himself by shooting himself in the chest so his brain would be spared for studies of long term affects of head trauma and that he had sent a text to family members right before he did it with instructions. I knew I wanted to find out what I could and write about it. While I was researching I came upon an article in DeadSpin  by Rob Trucks who had actually interviewed Duerson three months before his death and Rob does a good job of showing the readers where Dave Duerson's head was in November of 2010. Since Rob Trucks actually interviewed him how can I do the story justice by given you my spin on second hand knowledge? I cannot so hear you go. An interview with the late Dave Duerson as told to Rob Trucks.




http://deadspin.com/#!5767609/you-have-to-accept-my-pain-an-interview-with-dave-duerson-three-months-before-his-suicide


Source: Wikipedia

Football 101 - Uniform Numbers by Kim Rogers

Ladies, all players wear uniforms [jerseys] with numbers, so learning the numbering system will make it much easier to follow what’s happening on the field, therefore taking another step in fully understanding the great game of football. 
The NFL adopted a jersey-numbering system in 1973 where each position corresponds to a range of numbers. 
Covering the full range 1 to 99, the numbers are displayed on both the front and back of the jersey, on both shoulders, and often on the helmet.  The numbers worn on the sleeve or shoulder are known as "TV numbers" so the TV analyst can quickly identify the player for the broadcast.
Below is the numbering system the NFL has used since 1973:
1 - 19 are worn by quarterbacks, kickers, and punters. Since 2004, wide receivers are also allowed to wear numbers between 10 and 19 if they choose, even if a number from 80 through 89 is available.
20 - 49 are worn by running backs, tight ends (40-49, when an 80-89 number is unavailable), cornerbacks and safeties.
50 - 59 are worn by linebackers, defensive linemen and offensive linemen.
60 - 79 are worn by members of both the offensive line (the tackles, guards and centers) and defensive line (the defensive ends, defensive tackles or nose guard).
80 - 89 are worn by wide receivers and tight ends.
90 - 99 are worn by linebackers and defensive linemen. 
0 - 00 are no longer used, though they were issued in the NFL before the number standardization in 1973.
The NFL numbering system is based on a player's primary position. If a player changes primary positions during his career, he does not usually have to change his number unless he changes from an eligible receiver to ineligible or vice versa.
In preseason games, when teams have expanded rosters, players may wear numbers that are outside of the above rules. When the final 53-player roster is established, they are reissued numbers within the guidelines.
Players have often asked the NFL for an exception to the numbering system rule. In 2006, New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush requested to keep the number 5 he wore in college. His request was declined, and he was assigned number 25 by the team.  Former Seattle Seahawks linebacker Brian Bosworth wore number #44 in college for the University of Oklahoma and wore that number during the 1987 preseason with the Seahawks. He took the NFL to court for the right to wear #44, but he lost and had to switch to #55.
So now I hope you have a better understanding of the NFL numbering system for uniform jerseys.
Source: Wikipedia

Article reprinted from g3girls.com

http://www.g3girls.com/sports/100-football-101-uniform-numbers.html