OU Hits SeaWorld After Second Practice

SAN DIEGO -- OU completed its second day of bowl practice in California and finished with a trip to SeaWorld on Saturday in San Diego.

The Sooners left the team hotel in the morning en route to the practice facilities at San Diego State University. The trip up Mission Valley Freeway took the bus convoy past Qualcomm Statium, the site of Oklahoma's Holiday Bowl game with Oregon on December 29.

The weather in San Diego started off cool with heavy fog rolling off the Pacific. But the sun warmed things up considerably by practice time.

After a two-hour session in shells, Coach Stoops wrapped up with conditioning drills.

Photos - Sooners Hit Practice Fields in San Diego

"We treated this like a Monday practice," explained Stoops. "We did the things we're used to doing with our Monday routine. Of course, we're much further along, but we worked on the same parts of the game plan that we do on Mondays."

Coach was asked about the contributions of the freshman class during 2005. "I had hoped that there would be some good production from them," said Stoops. "We expected them to be good. I felt this was an exceptional class in maturity and ability. Obviously, with some of our positions being thin, we expected them to play early."

A light lunch followed and the team boarded the buses for SeaWorld and some down time after all the bowl preparations.

Players had the opportunity to interact with dolphins at one exhibit. Seniors Dusty Dvoracek, Bubba Moses, Eric Bassey, Kelvin Chaisson and Davin Joseph threw footballs into the water and watched as the dolphins jumped on command.

Photos - Team Visits SeaWorld

A crowd of players soon gathered and pushed closer to the water. It didn't take long for a few unlucky participants to get the inevitable splash from the tanks. Jason Carter and Adrian Peterson ended up ringing out their shirts to laughter from the ranks.

The team then returned to the hotel and official activities came to an end to allow players to celebrate Christmas eve.

  Bowl Practice No. 2 in San Diego
  Stoops Talks Freshmen Contributions After Practice
  Rhett Bomar & Garrett Hartley Share Christmas Thoughts
  Sooners Visit SeaWorld, Dolphins & Shamu

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The third bowl practice in San Diego is slated at 2:15 p.m. for Christmas Day followed by a special dinner and service in the evening.

"After practice, we'll return to the hotel and have a Christmas party for everyone," said Stoops. "We'll have dinner and probably a visit from Santa Claus. We'll have a church service lined up and give everyone the option of attending a service of their choice."

This marks Oklahoma's first bowl trip during Christmas since 1999. Senior linebacker Zach Latimer offered that the Sooners usually don't get the New Years holiday off but will this season. "I'd rather have Christmas off, but it's fine," said Latimer. "As long as we win the bowl game, it'll all be worth it.

"I've got a big family so we normally eat a lot for Christmas. My Dad smokes a turkey and ham and we work it over. But it's cool, we'll still have the same thing when I get back -- it'll just be a little delayed."

I'm sure that everyone is thinking about family at home tonight. Boomer Sooner and Merry Christmas to everyone from the team in San Diego.

- Jason

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SoonerSports.com director Jason Matheson will post daily reports from San Diego as the team prepares for the 2005 Pacific Life Holiday Bowl. Follow the Sooners with exclusive reports, interviews, photo galleries, audio and video features here at SoonerSports.com

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OU Hits SeaWorld After Second Practice

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