The Morning Fade – 1.24.11

Remember when OSU used to be on this list?

Helsley on Travis Ford’s daunting task – “Ford has proved to be a fix-it man, repairing flawed squads midstream each of the past two seasons, navigating a path to the NCAA Tournament each time. Still, this might be Ford’s most difficult fix yet. There’s no James Anderson to strap the Pokes on his back.” But there is a JPO/Markel combo that can provide 3/4 to 4/5 of what Obi + James brought to the table. To me, it’s all about what the big men do.

Jimmie Tramel with a Ray Penn interview and a few hoops thoughts – Awkward timing on the Penn bit considering he basically hasn’t played in the last 60 minutes. Tramel does make some good points on the foul situation though: “In the last two road games, OSU players committed 56 fouls and sent opponents to the free throw line 75 times. Still want to know why the Cowboys haven’t won a game on an enemy campus this season?”

We won’t always cover wrestling as in-depth as some people would like but OSU did win its 999th match in school history over Iowa St. yesterday.

Orie Lemon played well in the Shrine Game – “The West’s best effort on defense came from Oklahoma State linebacker Orie Lemon, who finished with eight tackles. He said he will let his play speak for itself regarding the future. ‘I put it all in God’s hands and I’ll let him do his will,’ Lemon said. ‘Wherever he takes me, that’s where I’m going.'”

Rush the Court has OSU as one of their last four in – …and I have no idea how.

Ubben weighs in on the OC search – “If Gundy wants to be bold, bringing in a hungry Mike Leach would put Oklahoma State on the front of a whole lot of newspapers and put a whole lot of eyes on the Cowboys for 2011. It might pose a few problems, and it would likely be a one-year fix that would force him to find another coordinator without Weeden and likely Blackmon for 2012, but goodness, that would be fun to watch.”

Remember the Ten Articles
Berry Tramel with a great piece about the fallen Cowboy – “Holden, a renowned Oklahoma sculptor, pulled out a piece of paper and, Birdwell says, within a minute or two sketched out what you see today in Gallagher-Iba Arena. A kneeling bronze cowboy, hat in hand and laid on the ground.” The end of this article is staggering, a must-read for anybody this week.

Tulsa World on the Wednesday night Remember the Ten ceremony – I texted my friend yesterday and told him I’m glad I can’t be there because I would be an absolute basket-case when Desmond comes out to speak.

Jimmie Tramel had a great one-on-one with Eddie about the plane crash – Eddie: “I tell you what. I don’t get over to the arena that often anymore, but when I went over there, like the other night, I walked over there and I looked at that memorial and it brings back (memories).”

Zane Fleming helped OSU revamp its travel policies – “Knowing student athletes are safer now when they travel because he and others served on the task force makes Fleming feel good. ‘Anytime you get someone with the university overseeing that, no question it’s safer,’ he said, adding that he and Weiberg brought a different perspective to the committee. ‘It’s good for us to know they were going to change. With something tragic, it’s good to think something comes from it.'”

Chatmon with a short post on Jared Weiberg – “And even ten years later, the crash remains in the forefront of [his brother’s] mind. ‘Time flies,’ he said. ‘Because it seems like it was yesterday that it happened.'”

Jimmie Tramel interviews the Williams bros. (Victor and Andre), Jason Keep, Fred Jonzen, Antoine Broxsie, and I-Mac in this long piece for the Tulsa world. I don’t think I can or should add anything beyond what all those guys expressed.

Check back later today for some videos and commentary from Outside the Lines yesterday. We’ll be running Remember the Ten stuff all week in honor of the 10th anniversary.