University of Oklahoma Athletics
Mossman: Tough Year?
May 20, 2010 | Athletics
 Mossman Prophecies |
May 20, 2010 | Mossman Archive |
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Not long ago, just before one of our athletics contests, an impartial observer said to me, "Good luck, you guys could use a break this year."
The inference was that Oklahoma Athletics has been through a tough stretch. I sat there stunned, wondering how my vantage point could be so much different than his.
Right off the top, let me confirm that I understand the stature of football and men's basketball in college athletics, and I get it that some people, probably a lot of people, measure a year based solely on how those two programs perform.
I understand too how the sport of football is judged at OU. Championships have been so much a part of our reality they have become our expectation. All of that, I promise, is crystal clear to me.
But, let's just talk for a minute about just how "tough" this year has been.
A football program ravaged by injuries, some of which befell players considered among the greatest in Sooner history, rallied to finish 8-5 and concluded its year with back-to-back wins over ranked opponents, the last of which came in a bowl game.
The Oklahoma standard? Of course not. Devastation? Hardly.
Then there's a rather lengthy list of other successes this school year that tell a rather familiar story.
• Women's Basketball: There was a second straight Final Four for the Sooners. The team was ranked No. 3 in the final coaches' poll.
• Baseball: Currently ranked No. 15 nationally.
• Cross Country (Men): Finished No. 12 nationally.
• Gymnastics (Men): Won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship, the equivalent of the Big 12 for that sport, and finished third nationally.
• Gymnastics (Women): Won the Big 12 championship and finished No. 2 nationally.
• Softball: Currently ranked No. 11 after winning the Big 12 title.
• Tennis (Men): Ranked No. 20, this program just secured its first-ever trip to the national tournament.
• Indoor Track and Field (men): Won Big 12 Championship, finished No. 14 nationally.
• Outdoor Track and Field (men): Just finished No. 2 in the Big 12 and is currently ranked No. 10 nationally.
• Outdoor Track and Field (women): Currently ranked No. 4 in the nation.
• Rowing: Finished second in the Big 12 in just its second year as a program.
• Wrestling: Finished No. 5 nationally.
And, just for good measure, in the fall semester, OU had its highest-ever grade point average among student-athletes. Nearly 600 of them combined to average a grade point average of 3.01.
Look, like I said earlier, I understand the backdrop for those who would view this year as a bummer. And if you're one of those who chooses to evaluate an athletics program using those parameters, so be it.
For everyone else, at a time when parity exists at a higher level than perhaps any other time in the last 50 years, it's probably worth taking a moment to appreciate just how good we've got it.
| Related Links: OU No. 12 in Latest Directors' Cup Standings |
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