KEEP YOUR WORD COACH

**Remember that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month (thus the pink blog). Please do whatever you can to contribute to finding a cure for this terrible disease that affects so many.**

The one skill that separates good college football coaches from great college football coaches is their ability to recruit. Great players can make average coaches look much better than they actually are (i.e. Larry Coker during his Miami run), and average players can make great coaches look average (i.e. Steve Spurrier at South Carolina). College coaches are willing to do any and everything to get these great players to play for them. For instance, I am yet to figure out how Ron Zook can consistently get great players to play for him. Some coaches bend the rules to get recruits on campus, while other coaches flat out break the rules to get recruits on campus. There are even those who play by the rules. No matter what approach they take, success in big-time college recruiting comes down to one skill. The ability to make an 18 year old kid feel like he is an athletic god, and convincing his parents that you will take care of him as if he was your own son, make sure he gets a great education, and do your best to help him get to the next level in life, whether he intends to play in the NFL or be one of the remaining 94,328 (whatever that commercial says) players that will go pro in something else. I am not going to sit here and call all college coaches liars, but I am sure that they some interesting things to players, parents, and high school coaches to convince them that their university is the right place for them.

In Saturday's game against the Texas Longhorns, Oklahoma quarterback (and reigning Heisman Trophy winner) Sam Bradford was knocked out of the game for the second time this season with an injury to his throwing shoulder. The first shoulder injury caused Bradford to miss three games, and it is thought that this injury is similar to the first one. For those of you who don’t fully understand the significance of an injury to a quarterback’s throwing shoulder, I will try my best to explain. I want to make it clear that I am not a medical doctor nor am I a football coach, but I think I can explain this one. The quarterback is the player on the football team who is responsible for throwing the ball. You throw the ball with you arm, and the shoulder is the second most important part of the arm (behind the elbow) when it comes to throwing a ball. To make a long story short, Bradford is one serious shoulder injury away from throwing like Chad Pennington. No disrespect to Pennington, who gets more out of a dollar store water pistol arm than any quarterback in NFL history, but being compared to Chad Pennington will definitely have an adverse affect on Bradford’s draft prospects. In my very knowledgeable opinion, he is on track to become the next quarterback of the St. Louis Rams. (That’s my fancy way of saying that he will be the first pick in the 2010 NFL draft.) While most players would dread being drafted by a franchise in such disarray, the $40+ million in guaranteed money that the first pick will receive, should do a lot to make St. Louis look like a wonderful place to play football.

With so much at stake for Bradford, It is now time for Bob Stoops to put the player’s physical and financial health ahead of his desire to win games this season. I am sure that Bob Stoops made the same empty promises to Bradford’s parents that he has to every other star player that he has recruited. But now, it is time for Stoops to be a man of his word, and SHUT DOWN BRADFORD FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SEASON!!!!

Oklahoma is currently 3-3 on the season and 1-1 in the conference, with that loss coming to Texas (who would own the tie-breaker if they finished with the same conference record). Therefore, it is safe to say that they will not be playing for the national championship this season, and their chances of playing for the conference championship are essentially dead as well. That being said, it is clear that they really don’t have anything to play for, except pride, which is a responsibility that your backup quarterback should be able to handle. Truth be told, if they were undefeated and ranked 1st in the nation, I would still feel as though it would be irresponsible for Stoops to allow Bradford back on the field.

Bradford is twenty-two years old, and is obviously going to want to get back on the field as soon as possible. If he comes out and says that he wants to shut it down for the season to protect his draft status, college football fans and the college football media are going to bash him repeatedly for being “selfish” and for “thinking about himself more than the program.” Which is why, he should continue to rehab as hard as possible and say all of the “right” things about wanting to get back on the field with his teammates and win games for Oklahoma (blah, blah, blah). Bob Stoops on the other had should be the responsible adult who protects the kid from himself by making sure that he never plays another down as a college football player. It is the job of Stoops to make sure that everyone sees the big picture, and realize that he must do what is best for Sam Bradford the person, and not the Oklahoma football program that will still be there long after Bradford is gone.

Truthfully, I don’t believe that college football programs or the NCAA really cares about what is in the best interest of their student athletes. The only thing that they really care about is money. With Bradford on the field, Oklahoma would definitely get more media exposure (which would help recruiting). They would also win more games, and play in a third tier bowl game, instead of a fourth tier bowl game (more money for the school). Bob Stoops would also get to increase his career wins. Basically, everyone EXCEPT BRADFORD has something to gain from him risking a career altering or ending injury, and continuing to play.

Now is the time for Bob Stoops to step up and show future recruits that he really does have their best interest in mind and will always do what is best for them long-term, even if it hurts the short-term future of his program. Whether he is man enough to do it remains to be seen. All I know is that Sam Bradford is one shoulder injury away from becoming Chad Pennington, and it would be a shame if he suffers that hit on a college football field before he ever gets to cash in on all of his talent and potential. Stoops, DO THE RIGHT THING & SIT THE KID!!!! The future of the Rams is in your hands.

AND NOW FOR MY BALLER AND SCRUB OF THE WEEK!

BALLER: Mark Ingram (Running Back - University of Alabama) - Although I despise Nick Saban, I absolutely love to watch the University of Alabama football team. Simply put, THEY PLAY THE GAME THE WAY IT SHOULD BE PLAYED! They play clean, hard, and with BAD INTENTIONS!!!! The ring leader on their offense is running back Mark Ingram. Ingram earns Baller Status for his 24 carry 246 yard performance against South Carolina. For those of you who aren't very good at math, that's a whopping 10.3 YARDS PER CARRY! He also had a touchdown. HE IS A BAD MAN!!!!

SCRUB: Rush Limbaugh (REJECTED Owner of the St. Louis Rams) - Rush, you being my Scrub of the Week has nothing to do with your political beliefs. This is America, and you have the right to be either Democrat, Republican, Independent, Any Combination of Them, or Neither. That is your business. However, the reason that you are my Scrub of the Week is because you actually tried to become a part owner of a team in a league that is nearly 70% African-American after you have made numerous racial and prejudice statements about African-Americans and black NFL players over the years. Are you serious? This isn't a politcal blog, so I won't get into Limbaugh's infamous quotes. Let's just say he isn't the type of person who needs to own a team that is mostly made up of African-Americans. Nothing good can come from that situation.