Old Tiger
08-05-2007, 08:34 PM
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
8/4/2007
NORMAN -- Perhaps Dennis Franchione is still pouting that Bob Stoops beat him out for the Oklahoma job he coveted. Or maybe Franchione has conceded that Texas A&M's going to fire him in a few months. And then there's that 77-0 whipsawing the Sooners put on the Aggies in 2003, which left Franchione in tears. (tears???BWAHAHAHA you've got to be kidding me)
For whatever curious reason, Franchione decided to fire a verbal shot Wednesday at the OU program. It's a shot I guarantee you will be heard around the Sooner football coaching offices often between now and when the two teams meet Nov. 3 on Owen Field.
The Houston Chronicle reported that Franchione, while speaking to the Hous ton Touchdown Club and breaking down the Big 12's South Division race, couldn't resist jabbing the Sooners when he talked about their uncertainty at quarterback.
"That may be the only question they have . . . other than what jobs they are going to work this year," Franchione said. "That is a joke; I couldn't resist."
Franchione's "joke" was in reference to Stoops kicking two players off the team last summer when he learned they had accepted money for work not completed at a Norman car dealership.
Starting sophomore quarterback Rhett Bomar was one of them.
Stoops' drastic action not only created an immediate problem for OU, it meant the Sooners would enter the 2007 season with three inexperienced quarterbacks.
Stoops declined to fire back at Franchione on Friday, the day OU conducted its annual media day. Well, he sort of declined.
Strongly emphasizing that he was not addressing any one coach, Stoops said: "There are a lot of people who have a lot to say when they don't have a Big 12 championship to talk about."
Stoops, of course, overcame the loss of Bomar and an injury to All-American tailback Adrian Peterson to win his fourth Big 12 title in eight seasons at OU. During that stretch, he is 7-1 against A&M and 4-0 against Franchione, including that 77-point win that Franchione later told Sports Illustrated reduced him to tears.
And before any Aggie fans start firing off angry e-mails denying that Franchione wanted the OU job, they should consider this: When John Blake was fired after the 1998 season, Franchione telephoned me to ask if I would write columns pushing him for the job. He made a similar request to at least one Oklahoma City sportscaster.
Franchione has never won the South Division of the Big 12, let alone a league title. The Aggies have finished no higher than third in the South in his four seasons, which is why Franchione is on the hot seat.
"There are some guys talking about, 'If this happened in this game, and this happened in that game,' in like three or four games, they'd be Big 12 champions," said Stoops, again stressing that he was talking in the plural. "Who had more happen to them last season than us?"
8/4/2007
NORMAN -- Perhaps Dennis Franchione is still pouting that Bob Stoops beat him out for the Oklahoma job he coveted. Or maybe Franchione has conceded that Texas A&M's going to fire him in a few months. And then there's that 77-0 whipsawing the Sooners put on the Aggies in 2003, which left Franchione in tears. (tears???BWAHAHAHA you've got to be kidding me)
For whatever curious reason, Franchione decided to fire a verbal shot Wednesday at the OU program. It's a shot I guarantee you will be heard around the Sooner football coaching offices often between now and when the two teams meet Nov. 3 on Owen Field.
The Houston Chronicle reported that Franchione, while speaking to the Hous ton Touchdown Club and breaking down the Big 12's South Division race, couldn't resist jabbing the Sooners when he talked about their uncertainty at quarterback.
"That may be the only question they have . . . other than what jobs they are going to work this year," Franchione said. "That is a joke; I couldn't resist."
Franchione's "joke" was in reference to Stoops kicking two players off the team last summer when he learned they had accepted money for work not completed at a Norman car dealership.
Starting sophomore quarterback Rhett Bomar was one of them.
Stoops' drastic action not only created an immediate problem for OU, it meant the Sooners would enter the 2007 season with three inexperienced quarterbacks.
Stoops declined to fire back at Franchione on Friday, the day OU conducted its annual media day. Well, he sort of declined.
Strongly emphasizing that he was not addressing any one coach, Stoops said: "There are a lot of people who have a lot to say when they don't have a Big 12 championship to talk about."
Stoops, of course, overcame the loss of Bomar and an injury to All-American tailback Adrian Peterson to win his fourth Big 12 title in eight seasons at OU. During that stretch, he is 7-1 against A&M and 4-0 against Franchione, including that 77-point win that Franchione later told Sports Illustrated reduced him to tears.
And before any Aggie fans start firing off angry e-mails denying that Franchione wanted the OU job, they should consider this: When John Blake was fired after the 1998 season, Franchione telephoned me to ask if I would write columns pushing him for the job. He made a similar request to at least one Oklahoma City sportscaster.
Franchione has never won the South Division of the Big 12, let alone a league title. The Aggies have finished no higher than third in the South in his four seasons, which is why Franchione is on the hot seat.
"There are some guys talking about, 'If this happened in this game, and this happened in that game,' in like three or four games, they'd be Big 12 champions," said Stoops, again stressing that he was talking in the plural. "Who had more happen to them last season than us?"