Pacman
June 28, 2008
Manny Pacquiao is one of the famous boxer of this time. In the Philippines he was even considered hero for winning all his fights. The good thing whenever he got a fight the criminal rate in the country was always zero. No records of crime was being done. Another was there was no traffic in the long road of EDSA. Like today, Sunday June 27,2008 here in the Philippines, many Filipinos were waiting on his fight with David Diaz. All eyes were on the television waiting and cheering for their hero. Even President Gloria Arroyo was thankful to Manny Pacquiao for putting so much pride in Filipino nation. Manny is really a good boxer and as he says before in an interview, “if its only possible to have a fight everyday just to avoid the criminals in doing bad then he’s willing to fight”. What a heroic act of him if it will happen. Goodluck on you fight Manny! Do make a new record again.
Purcey has learned his lesson
June 27, 2008
Former Oklahoma pitcher David Purcey has learned plenty in his two big league starts this season, including when to push himself and when to throttle back.
He was back at Triple-A Syracuse by the following morning but with a lesson learned. For each spot start, Toronto made it clear he wasn’t going to stay, a fact that made the experience harder.
“It’s more of a comfort to know that if you do well, you have a spot in the rotation,” he said. “For me it was spot starts and I was just overthrowing, trying to do too much.”
Purcey hasn’t been called up since, but he’s getting closer to sticking around when the next opportunity comes. He was a first-round pick in 2004 and has steadily developed his pitches since leaving OU.
“In college it was basically a fastball and a curve,” he said. “Since then I’ve developed a slider and a changeup. That’s sometimes hard for fans to see, but I know I’m a much better player now.”
Purcey is 6-6 with a 2.96 ERA and 93 strikeouts for Syracuse this season. Like most Triple-A players, he has no clue when his next big league shot might come.
“We’ve got five starters that are pitching pretty well,” he said. “It’s out of my hands. I know when it does happen I’ll be more comfortable. I know less is more for me, and as long as I go out and do my job it’ll work out.”
•Kozma enjoyed All-Star game: Former Owasso shortstop Pete Kozma played in the Midwest League All-Star game last week. Kozma is in his second year in the Cardinals’ farm system and is hitting .324 this month.
“When you get a chance to play in something like that it shows that other people are seeing you develop and recognizing it,” he said. “It was a thrill to get to be around some of the guys drafted the same year as me and to see how they’re coming along.”
•Towles struggling: This time a year ago, Houston catching prospect J.R. Towles was a nearing his major league debut, during which he hit .375 with one homer in 40 at bats. Big things were expected as this season started, but Towles hit just .145 and was sent down June 6. He missed three of Round Rock’s four games with the RedHawks this week and is hitting .234.
“I’ve been struggling a little bit trying to get my mechanics in,” Towles said.
“I’m thinking about getting my swing down. When I get that down they told me they would be up there. I had a lot of different people telling me different things. Not that they were wrong, but it was kind of mental overload.”
The above article was originally posted here.
Kids take home some ‘Adrian moments’ after a day at Norman camp
June 27, 2008
NORMAN — No way was Adrian Peterson going to let this happen.
He spotted the boy across the field, sitting cross-legged by himself, his head pointed toward the grass.
“What are you doing over here by yourself?” Peterson asked.
The 7-year-old raised his knee and unveiled a solid brown bruise. Peterson bent down, put his big hand on the kid’s head, looked him in the tear-filled eyes and told him what his father always said to him when he had a football bruise.
“You’ve got be tough,” he said.
When Adrian Peterson tells you to be tough, you better do it. The boy stood up, dusted the grass from his shorts and jogged to the field.
“Man, kids are pretty funny,” Peterson said with a smile.
The former Oklahoma running back’s football camp in Norman this week is his first as an NFL player, but Peterson already knows exactly what to do.
The day is littered with moments — little happenings that each of the 375 Adrian Peterson wannabes will remember for a long time.
One kid got to try and tackle AD. Peterson picked him up, put him on his shoulder and ran around. Lots of kids caught passes from the Minnesota Viking. Almost everybody got high fives.
“It was awesome!” said 9-year-old Austin Hix of Jonesboro, Ark.
“When I got to shake his hand, it was so cool,” said 13-year old Seaton Noblitt of Mangum.
“Really, really fun,” said 11-year old Dylan Bryce of Saginaw, Texas.
Just down the street is the place where Peterson gave all he could on Saturdays. He misses that.
And that’s why he came back for the camp in Norman.
“You hear about a lot of guys who have camps and show up for an hour and then sneak out,” said Nelson Peterson, Adrian’s dad. “But he is such a generous person, and he’s so grateful. He’s here from start to finish.”
Adrian tries to answer each of their high-five requests, tries to pose for every mother holding up a camera phone. He tries to just be a kid — Peterson just wears shorts and a T-shirt and a big smile.
“These guys are so young, and they have a lot to learn,” Adrian said. “I didn’t get to do anything quite like this when I was a kid. They hang on every word I say. I’m just trying to be a good role model for them.”
The above article was originally posted her.
Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione named APR group chairman
June 27, 2008
Joe Castiglione, vice president for intercollegiate athletics programs and director of athletics at the University of Oklahoma, has been appointed by NCAA President Myles Brand to chair the Football Academic Progress Rate (APR) Working Group to review the academic progress rate as it pertains to Division I football student-athletes. APR just concluded its fourth year as the measuring device relative to academic performance. “This is an interesting, important and timely initiative” Castiglione said. “Dr. Brand has assembled a dynamic group of intercollegiate leaders to review the program and I feel privileged to be involved in the process. “The NCAA’s academic reform package consists of enhanced academic standards, improved measurements of academic success and consequences for the academic performance of teams. This is an appropriate time to examine the impact this effort has had on the sport of football.” OU President David L. Boren said, “This well deserved recognition of Joe Castiglione is also an affirmation that the University of Oklahoma is playing a leading role nationally in setting high standards for intercollegiate athletics.” Castiglione said the group, which consists of presidents, chancellors, conference commissioners, faculty athletics representatives, athletics directors and head football coaches, already has split into sub-committees to begin the work. (SoonerSports PR)
Oklahoma limits businesses to employing 5 Sooners at a time
June 27, 2008
NORMAN, Okla. (AP)—Oklahoma has banned any business from employing more than five Sooners athletes at the same time as part of its response to NCAA violations that occurred when three football players took pay for work they had not done at a car dealership.
In a series of compliance changes intended to bring more thorough monitoring of athletes’ employment, even those that do not have a job are required to fill out a form stating their status.
The changes were outlined to the NCAA in the university’s annual compliance report required following major violations by the football and men’s basketball programs. The Associated Press obtained the report Tuesday through an open records request.
Oklahoma subjected itself to an external audit by The Compliance Group in February 2007 and subsequently updated its student-athlete employment policy.
Athletes who wish to seek a job must now fill out employment registration forms and have them signed by their coaches before turning them in to the compliance department. Compliance officials then check with the coach to verify the signature and then work with the employer to ensure that NCAA rules are followed.
The Sooners were stripped of two scholarships after the NCAA ruled that quarterback Rhett Bomar, offensive lineman J.D. Quinn and walk-on Jermaine Hardison had taken pay for work they did not perform at the Big Red Sports and Imports car dealership in Norman. Bomar and Quinn were kicked off the team in August 2006, and by then Hardison had already been dismissed for an unrelated violation of team rules.
Oklahoma reported to the NCAA that it started periodic spot checks of athletes’ employers last year and even monitors Big Red Sports and Imports, where athletes are prohibited from working.
In its investigation, the NCAA blamed Oklahoma for failing to collect gross earning statements for 12 football players who had informed the university that they were employed by Big Red in the summer of 2005. The new employment registration form authorizes employers to release earnings information to the school, and the university provides employers with gross earnings information forms and self-addressed, stamped envelopes to return them to the school.
Oklahoma also informed the NCAA that it has expanded its full-time compliance staff from three to eight workers and also has two part-time staff members. As a result, the annual compliance budget has grown to $1.2 million.
Oklahoma also plans to perform an annual audit of its compliance procedures until at least 2010, when its NCAA probation is set to expire.
Some thing about Cricket
June 22, 2008
The cricket is very much similar to the base-ball game. There are so many similarities as well as differences to make it a unique game.
This is also a team game consist of 11 players in each team The game is play by wooden bat and a very hard round ball .The ground set up is also very much similar to the base ball game where one player through ball and the other player hit but the difference is that there are only two bats men appear in a ground at a time. There is pitch where bats men stand on the extreme ends and also change places to make runs after hitting balls.
Cricket is getting popular every day. England, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka west Indies are popular teams . The biggest tournament of Cricket is World –cup. All the teams love to participate and want to become world champions.
There are different type of matches are played. one day match , three day test match while one day mach is most popular. The match depends upon avers and each over has 6 balls.
The cricket is monitor by referees ,called umpires . Right now there are three umpires in a match. One umpire stand where a player through ball, other umpire stand in a field while third umpire sit out side the ground in front of television. Third umpire only interfere when there is any confusion.
There are so much to tell but only advise is to watch the game instead of reading the details.
The New Class Checks In
June 22, 2008
NORMAN, Okla. — Two additions to the University of Oklahoma women’s basketball program arrived on campus this week.
Freshmen Whitney Hand and Jasmine Hartman enrolled in June intersession and began classes Monday, allowing them to participate in upcoming preseason workouts with the team.
Hand, a 6-1 shooting guard from Fort Worth, Texas, and Hartman, a 5-10 point guard from Bellaire, Texas, give the Sooners more talented depth. All 12 players from the 2007-08 squad return for 2008-09.
Hand averaged 25 points, 13 rebounds and six assists while leading Liberty Christian School (Argyle, Texas) to back-to-back TAPPS Class 5A state championships. She was named a high school All-American by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.
Hartman led the nation in assists while piloting Bellaire High School to a regional quarterfinal appearance in the state tournament. Under Hartman’s direction, Bellaire collected a 36-2 record and spent most of the season ranked in the top 10 of the USA Today Preps Rankings.
As well as attending their first college classes, the duo spent the first few days in Norman undergoing OU’s student-athlete orientation process.
The above article was originally posted here.
Former Sooner standout dies at 76
June 22, 2008
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — — Tom Catlin, a standout football player at the University of Oklahoma in the 1950s and former defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, has died. Catlin was 76.
Catlin died Saturday at a hospice facility in Seattle, Wash., from complications stemming from a recent surgery, said his brother, Charles Catlin of Broken Arrow.
Catlin played center and linebacker at OU from 1950-1952 after earning All-State accolades in 1949 as a senior at Ponca City High School.
A member of OU’s 1950 squad that won the national championship under head coach Bud Wilkinson, Catlin was named all-conference three times and was co-captain with quarterback Eddie Crowder during his senior year.
Bison add one.
Oklahoma Baptist University has added Wichita Falls High School standout Santana Torres to the 2008-09 squad.
Torres will run the 400-meters and relay events for the Lady Bison. She holds school records in the 800 and 1,600 relays and qualified for regionals in the 400 her senior season.
Torres also is a four-time regional qualifier in the 400 and 800 and a three-time regional qualifier in the 1,600. She was named Most Outstanding Athlete at WFHS.
The above article was originally posted here.
Board of Regents to review Budke’s contact
June 22, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — — Oklahoma State women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke could receive another raise after guiding the Cowgirls to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament for only the second time in school history.
Meeting in Oklahoma City on Friday, the Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents approved an agenda item allowing university President Burns Hargis and athletic director Mike Holder “to execute any contractual adjustments to talent and personal services contract” for Budke.
Contacted by e-mail, Holder said “I have no additional information at this time” about any potential changes to Budke’s contract.
Under his current contract, Budke receives $335,000 annually in guaranteed money, including a base salary of $160,000. He received a $100,000 raise in 2007 after the Cowgirls went 20-11 and reached the NCAA tournament for the first time in 11 years. Budke’s contract also was extended through June 2012.
Budke also has incentives for the team’s performance in conference play and the postseason. He received a bonus of one month’s base salary plus $10,000 after the Cowgirls made it to the NCAA tournament’s round of 16, where they lost to Louisiana State. Oklahoma State’s only other trip to the regional semifinals came in 1991.
Hargis said after the regents’ meeting that he didn’t know if another extension or a new contract for Budke was being negotiated.
“We’re real proud of coach Budke,” Hargis said. “He did a great job.
“Coach Budke is going to have a lot of opportunities to go a lot of places and compensation will be an important factor in whether he stays or not.”
Oklahoma State went 27-8 last season. Budke is 53-41 in three seasons with the Cowgirls after going 80-16 in three seasons at Louisiana Tech. He earlier won four national junior college titles as the coach at Trinity Valley (Texas).
The above article was originally posted here.
Line newcomers could provide big boost for McLoud
June 22, 2008
SHAWNEE, Okla. — After watching his youthful offensive line perform at a recent University of Central Oklahoma football team camp, McLoud head coach Eric Cardin discovered three new reasons to be excited.
“I thought we did pretty well at the camp,” Cardin said. “We have three new offensive line starters and they held their own. As a team, we held our own.”
Slated to receive their first fulltime starts along the offensive front are seniors Sampson Morgan and Eric Orr. Joining them as a newcomer starter will be junior James Johnson.
That threesome will hopefully add to the talent pool of returning offensive line starters Chaz Mattocks and Connor Akin.
Mattocks, a senior, has grown into an imposing 6-foot-4, 290-pounder and Cardin says college coaches have taken notice.
“UCO is already interested in him,” Cardin said. “Chaz is just one of those late bloomers who really started coming on last year.”
If the offensive line prospers and stays healthy, McLoud should be in good shape because it has some excellent skill-position players, notably tailback Cody Phipps.
Phipps, after rushing for more than 1,700 yards as a sophomore, was highly touted entering last year’s junior campaign. But a high ankle sprain relegated him to only about five games.
That injury really showed in the production department as he was limited to about 600 yards on the ground in 2007.
Cardin will also have the returning services of senior quarterback Wayland Moore. “He is really a young senior at just 16,” Cardin said.
McLoud will compete in a July 7-on-7 passing league at Jones. Star Spencer will also be involved in the competition.
The Redskins will launch their 2008 campaign Sept. 5 at Harrah. The Redskins’ other two non-district opponents will be Class 3A squads Perkins (Sept. 12) and Blanchard (Sept. 19). The Redskins picked up Blanchard after Seminole moved to Class 4A and was assigned to the same district as McLoud.
The above article was originally posted here.
