Thursday, November 13, 2008

SI Letter Writers Make Me Laugh Sometimes

I had to get this in this week because I read the "Letters" section of Sports Illustrated this week and while there are often ones that can be mocked, I just loved one in particular.

After Texas beat Oklahoma in a 45-35 shootout on October 11, SI ran a cover story on Colt McCoy. Now, I'm not McCoy promoter, but the kid is indeed pretty good. The subhead on the SI cover said "Grit and cowbells take down Oklahoma." I'm not even sure what that means, but whatever. Now, the letter:

The critical factor in Texas's win over Oklahoma was not the Longhorn "grit" or the "cowbells" that you mention, and certainly not Colt McCoy outplaying quarterback Sam Bradford. It was the devastating injury to Sooners linebacker Ryan Reynolds. That was the deciding moment in the game and the major reason the Oklahoma defense was unable to stop the Longhorns.

Incredibly -- and you'll never believe this -- the dude who wrote it (John P. Ross) is from...wait for it... Edmond, Oklahoma. Shocker, I know.

I love how angry these hayseeds get. Sometimes it leads to fans killing one another, as happened in Alabama last weekend. Other times, letter-writers might write in and admit they're biased but still point out something like Reynolds' knee injury. But not John P. Ross of Edmond, Oklahoma. No, John P is not here to offer his opinion, but rather to tell you -- factually -- why the game went the way it did.

You see, it's not possible that Colt McCoy is better than Sam Bradford (who threw two picks in the game -- just sayin'). The main reason this game went as it did was because, in the third quarter, an OU linebacker got hurt.

You see, because, otherwise, Ryan Reynolds would have been flying all over the place, batting down passes, tackling rushers and blocking kicks.

I guess I just think it's funny that this clown thinks that if a linebacker hadn't gotten hurt with a quarter and a half left to play, this shootout would have ended differently and that that's clear to anyone who knows anything.

What do you bet John P is in his mid-40s, has a house fully decorated in Sooner red, and has no idea where the classrooms are at OU?

5 comments:

Jeff Seemann said...

What? You doubt the wisdom of the man?

Hell, I KNOW for a fact that Ohio State would have won the 2006 National Championship if Ted Ginn hadn't been hurt on the first play!

(I will now wait for 45 seconds, allowing just enough time for boilerdowd's head to implode and write something as if he thinks I'm serious)

boilerdowd said...

No sweat...I don't take anything you say seriously!!

Jeff Seemann said...

lol....nice response.

dozer8589 said...

I think John P made perfect sense - injuries can change the outcome of games and entire seasons.

Just this week, Coach Tiller said that the foundation for this year's skidmark of a season is all the injuries to the offensive line last spring.

Plang said...

J - why do you have to dump on this man? Maybe the only bright spot in his entire life is OU football, and you have to poop all over it.

I would bet money that he knows where the classrooms are at OU - he has to drive past them to get to his favorite parking area for home games. That, and one of them is open on Saturdays and he can use the can on his way back to his car...