Chooooooooooke-lahoma
With less than 6 minutes remaining the Mountaineers of West Virginia are dominating the Oklahoma Sooners 48 - 28. A win would not only be a huge upset (for instance only 17 of the 90 entrants in the bowl pool picked WVU and over 84% of the voters in the ESPN Bowl Mania challange picked the Sooners, with an average confidence of 24.5 out of 32) but the first win of the bowl season for a team playing with an interim coach. Oklahoma is looking at another loss in the Arizona desert, although not nearly as exciting as last years to Boise State. And its been a messy game too, 21 penalties so far and 225 penalty yards between the two teams, a dubious Fiesta Bowl record.
Oh and one more thing, the next time someone complains about USC only playing one song I'm going to tell them to watch an Oklahoma game, that stupid Sooner ditty is ridiculous.
UPDATE:
Final score 48-28 WVU, congrats to the Mountaineers. If West Virginia is smart they'll hire interim coach Bill Stewart right after the game. He got this team to play for him when no one else believed in them.
I'm wondering - if LSU beats tOSU but doesn't look impressive doing so, does WVU now have a case for a split poll decision? This was a serious thrashing of a legit powerhouse. Seems to me that they have a better case than USC or UGA.
Posted by: Jim Hu | Jan 3, 2008 12:19:01 AM
Hmmm, lets see now, two of the biggest predicted wins in Bowl Season turned out completely opposite of what they were supposed to. Can we stop complaining now about matchups like USC/Illinois or Hawaii/Georgia? Yes it turned out that both were not ideal matchups, but then neither were Florida/Michigan or WVU/Oklahoma, the team nearly EVERYONE thought would dominate instead got dominated. If we listened to the naysayers we would NEVER have seen Boise State/Oklahoma last year and WVU never would have had the chance to show how good they were. The Bowls are FINE. Every year there will be hits, every year there will be misses.
Posted by: David K. | Jan 3, 2008 2:43:22 AM
I agree somewhat about the Oklahoma band David. I was watching the game with my dad, and at the start of the game he said, "I like their fight song." About five minutes into the game, he said, "Do they ever shut up?"
Still, I'll take that over "Conquest" any day. But I have to say, the most annoying band award goes to the Florida State band and their tomahawk chop. When I went to the FSU game at ND a few years ago, it was the first time I'd ever wished the USC band was there instead.
Posted by: Lisa | Jan 3, 2008 2:44:51 AM
Woo-hoo, OU sucks. 4 straight BCS losses. Death to Boomer Sooner.
Posted by: | Jan 3, 2008 3:35:12 AM
Heh, its a good thing you and I never hooked up Lisa, cause not only do I love Tribute to Troy (the song they play all the time, conquest is different) but my high school mascot was the Tomahawks and we did the Chop at every game multiple times in high school. My music alone would have driven you to kill me ;-)
Posted by: David K. | Jan 3, 2008 4:03:22 AM
Little known fact: "Boomer Sooner" was a song that was stolen from Yale's song "Boola boola" and from UNC's "I'm a Tar Heel Born" (but not the first part of the song, "Hark the Sound," which is in fact Kellerman's Anthem from Dirty Dancing). In attempt to prove to my husband last night that an entire verse of the song really was just "Oklahoma" repeated over and over, I discovered these little tidbits.
Posted by: NDLauren | Jan 3, 2008 9:28:11 AM
And WVU winning last night has propelled me in the standings ;)
Posted by: Trisha | Jan 3, 2008 9:34:04 AM
I live in the heart of Sooner contry and the excuses are already flying. "We didnt have our best defensive players"...blah, blah, blah.
I hate the Loser Sooners. A 20 point loss brings a smile to my face.
Posted by: alphadog | Jan 3, 2008 9:39:29 AM
A sucky end to a bizarre season.
Posted by: Mad Max, Esquire | Jan 3, 2008 10:23:56 AM
"which is in fact Kellerman's Anthem from Dirty Dancing"
Which is in fact Cornell University's alma mater (as well as that of dozens of other schools). Which is in fact a mid 19th century ballad called "Annie Lisle."
Posted by: Brian Foster | Jan 3, 2008 10:26:18 AM
Also, this seems like a good time to point out, once again, that "The Victors" was plagiarized from a late 19th century march called "The Spirit of Liberty." The trios of each are virtually identical, such that it leaves no possibility that they were independently derived.
Posted by: Brian Foster | Jan 3, 2008 10:40:34 AM
"If West Virginia is smart they'll hire interim coach Bill Stewart right after the game. He got this team to play for him when no one else believed in them."
Uh -- take it from me. Just because you coach your team to a bowl game victory after your former boss departs for a better job, doesn't mean you in fact can handle being a head coach.
I'm not saying Stewart can't do it -- I'm just saying the win last night doesn't prove anything about whether he can or can't.
Posted by: Bobby Williams | Jan 3, 2008 11:10:31 AM
They gave him the job. Hope things go well for him... from what I saw of him after the game last night, I'm already giving him the title of Nicest and Most Pleasant Head Coach in America.
Posted by: C. Bassett | Jan 3, 2008 2:47:04 PM
"Nicest and Most Pleasant Head Coach in America."
They said stuff like that about me too. And how I was a "player's coach" and a great guy and so so nice.
Then I lost control of my team.
Now I'm unemployed.
Posted by: Bobby Williams | Jan 3, 2008 3:45:00 PM
How does West Virginia have a case for an AP National Title? They're currently ranked #11 and they got completely dominated in their last regular season game by a crappy Pitt team At home!!! SC lost with their QB out with a broken hand and most of their O-line out with injuries... 3 months ago!
Bruinsnation is floating some rumor about Ryan Mallet leaving Michigan and transferring to UCLA. Is there any truth to this? And why in the world would this guy transfer to UCLA or all places?!?
Posted by: Sandy Underpants | Jan 3, 2008 6:41:23 PM
Speaking of coaching moves, Davie, it looks like your wish for Dewayne Walker to come to the Northwest has not been granted--he is staying at UCLA on Neuweasel's staff. I was thinking he might have gone up north to help a brother out, but it looks like he is taking the better job security.
Who's next?
Posted by: Wobbly H | Jan 3, 2008 8:02:00 PM
Not sure, although there is talk of promoting Tormey from within, which might not be a bad choice, but I think Walker was definitely worth going for. I can understand his desire to stay in one place awhile longer though, so I'm not too surprised.
Posted by: David K. | Jan 3, 2008 8:04:23 PM
P.S. Mostly I'm dissapointed that I don't have Andrew sending me free beverages now
Posted by: David K. | Jan 3, 2008 8:06:26 PM
Sandy, USC didn't win with their QB out, they lost with their QB PLAYING with a broken finger. The point about a National Title hope for WVU (which i don't think would happen) is that they beat a team everyone was sure would decimate them, and yes they had the loss to Pitt, but thats still better than SC's loss to Stanford. I think WVU has the better case of the two schools based on resume, i don't think either of them have a chance in reality.
Posted by: David K. | Jan 3, 2008 8:19:47 PM
I think WVU made a mistake by hiring Stewart. I heard he was fired from VMI for making a racial slur and I agree with the above poster that said they didn't think one bowl win as an interim coach was enough to justify giving him the head job. Time will tell and certainly WVU has a lot farther to fall than potentially go up from where they stand now.
Posted by: Andrew H | Jan 3, 2008 10:24:43 PM