Pasha Jackson Journal Entry No. 13

This is the 13th installment of the Pasha Jackson journal. Thanks for all the great questions. Remember to email me your questions or comments using the link at the end of my journal.

Pasha Jackson
Journal Entry No. 13 (Dec. 5, 2003)
The couple days off last week were great and that made coming back to conditioning on Sunday a little rough but it was good to get back into the swing of things. On Thanksgiving I just went over to a bunch of friend's houses and ate and relaxed. I had stuff to do and it was nice to have a break to get some things done, like washing the car and getting some homework done. The bad thing about my holiday was going to three houses and not having to eat like you have three stomachs. I ate a lot of turkey but loved it.

Once we got back into action, we returned to focusing hard on the task at hand, and that is taking care of Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship on Saturday. Kansas State is a good team in just about every aspect of the Big 12. If we are number one in a category then they are number two and vice-versa. We are neck and neck with these guys and there are a lot of reasons for it. They play good special teams and are blocking more kicks than anyone in the league. And of course they have old No. 43 (Sproles) and Roberson on offense. Those guys are like two of the same and if Sproles could throw, they would be carbon copies of each other. They are both very elusive and strong runners. They are not the biggest guys but they hit the holes hard. They run a multi-dimensional offense with the option and that will be tough to defend. Kansas State is a really competitive team and on Saturday both teams are going to get at it. The Wildcats are solid on both sides of the ball but I have no doubt in our ability to go out onto that field and give them all we got!

Now it's time to answer some of the questions from the fans, don't forget to keep emailing me more of your thoughts and I'll try to tackle them in next week's journal entry. Here is the first of a couple:

Hi Pasha, my name is Tommy and I have never played a down of organized football, soccer is my first love. However, I always play with my friends on intramural teams and they tell me should try and walk-on at the University of Arizona because apparently I have the talent. I know talent is not everything, but I was wondering if you could give me your advice on the situation.
- Tommy from Tucson, Arizona

With you having the background and skills in soccer, if you can transfer that over into kicking a football then go for it. If you are fast, athletic and kick a ball, then you can do very well for yourself with walking on to a team. A lot of kickers walk on or are recruited as walk-ons, so go for it. That is if you want to be a kicker, if you are just hungry for contact then give it a shot too. You never know unless you try and you may regret never putting forth that effort.

Pasha:
I heard that Brandon Everage is the only Sooner who doesn't need arms to play, why is that?
- Doug from Edmond, Okla.

That guy is straight up like an urban samurai. He is a guy that has dealt with various bumps and bruises and his head is so hard he can straight up knock you down with it. He'll spear you or head butt you and put you on your back just like that! That is a tough guy and he is not afraid to hit.

Pasha, I am 15 and a freshman in high school and I love football. I would love to play at the college level and especially for OU. So I have two questions. First, if I would like to play the defensive line, how tall would I need to be? Also, how much conditioning do you guys do during the season?
- Taylor from Lawton, Okla.

There is no protocol height for playing the d-line. You can get guys that are 5-10 and 300 pounds and act like a bowling ball in the middle as a force. But typically you would want to look at 6-3 to 6-5 for an end and maybe a little shorter like 6-1 for a tackle. That is the range and sometimes you get freaks that are taller and sometimes shorter.

We do an immense amount of conditioning during the season, definitely not as much as we do during the summer. That conditioning coupled with practice keeps you in really good shape. And we lift weights every other day and after practice there is extra conditioning. There is no doubt that we do are fair share!

Well its time to go, I hope to see everyone up in K.C., BOOMER SOONER!

Pasha

- #53 Pasha Jackson

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