Oklahoma State receiver Justin Blackmon, one of the nation’s elite offensive weapons, will address the media after Oklahoma State’s practice today. He’ll be joined by OSU coach Mike Gundy, who has to decide whether to suspend Blackmon for Saturday’s important Big 12 game at Kansas State.
Blackmon (81)
I’m not sure why Blackmon feels the need to address the media, but in so doing it feels as if the Cowboys are trying to smooth over the situation that got him arrested for DUI in a Dallas suburb Monday night and make the case that he should not be suspended.
This isn’t an easy call for Gundy. Then again, it is.
Suspending Blackmon, which is the right thing to do, would take away one of the team’s biggest threats before what could be a defining road game against the Wildcats.
Does OSU have a better chance to beat Kansas State with Blackmon? Of course, that’s a no-brainer.
Can OSU still beat K-State without Blackmon? That’s one of the questions Gundy is undoubtedly asking himself as he mulls this thing over.
There are mitigating circumstances here, none of which bode well for Blackmon.
He was pulled over at 3:45 a.m. on a school night. He was driving 92 mph in a 60 mph zone. And the officer who pulled him over thought he smelled alcohol, which is enough to make an arrest in Texas.
Gundy said Tuesday he was waiting for more facts before making a decision on Blackmon’s punishment, if indeed there is any.
But aren’t there already enough facts even without knowing everything about Blackmon’s alcohol consumption or lack thereof?
He was going 32 miles per hour over the speed limit at almost 4 a.m. after going to the Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants game, which had ended more than five hours earlier. If I’m forced to make a guess and what he and his buddies were doing in that interim time, I’m going to guess they were up to no good.
Blackmon pulled a real bonehead move here. OSU, even after a 10-point loss to Nebraska on Saturday in Stillwater, is still in position to win the Big 12 South. That’s a good football team in Stillwater with a multitude of offensive weapons.
To win the South, though, OSU can’t afford many more missteps. Kansas State provides a huge challenge.
Gundy probably will make his decision known later today. It sounds like he’s looking for a way to keep Blackmon in the game when the right move – for the player and the program – would be to make him watch Saturday’s game on his television.
* If it’s Brett Favre, there must be drama. And the latest involves his injured ankle which may or may not cause him to miss Sunday’s game at New England.
Bosom buddies
Don’t you think that in private moments the Minnesota Vikings are wishing they had never brought Favre back for the 2010 season?
Already, he and Minnesota coach Brad Childress are clashing. Childress had the audacity to make some negative comments about Favre’s decision making after he threw three interceptions in the Vikings’ loss at Green Bay on Sunday night.
Childress has been chided in some corners for making public comments that shed a bad light on Favre, but I say more power to him. Favre did make some bad decisions in that game. Childress is the coach. On most teams, there is a pecking order in which the head coach has more clout that the quarterback.
But the Vikings are not most teams.
I think Childress would be well-served to play Tavaris Jackson at quarterback Sunday and give Favre some time to heal. Maybe Jackson would give the Vikings the kind of jolt they haven’t yet gotten from Favre. Face it, he hasn’t been close to the same quarterback he was a year ago, when he helped Minnesota reach the NFC championship game. At some point, the athlete of a professional athlete breaks down. That point could well be now for Favre.
* The highly-anticipated season opener of the Miami Heat against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night did not live up to its hype.
It never had a chance.
The Heat looked like a bunch of individuals; the Celtics played like a team. Makes sense, since Boston’s core players have been together for a while now and the Heat’s newcomers, LeBron James and Chris Bosh specifically, are still learning how to play with one another.
I enjoyed watching Miami struggle and perhaps the Heat isn’t as much of a lock to win the Eastern Conference championship as I thought. But it’s just one game. They’ll figure things out. Trust me, Miami will be heard from.
* Cliff Lee has been invincible in the postseason, which is why most of the experts are picking the Texas Rangers to beat the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.
I can’t begrudge that; the Rangers are a very good team and Lee is on a different level than every other pitcher right now.
Since this Series is so close to call, and because I view the Rangers and Giants as evenly-matched, I’m relying on a gut feeling to make my prediction as to which team wins the Series.
I’m taking the Giants because of their overall pitching – starting and bullpen – and because they get the first two games at home.
I think San Francisco and two-time defending National League Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum beat Lee and the Rangers tonight. Lee can’t win every postseason game he pitches, can he?
Lincecum's locks
Lincecum is more than a worthy opponent, although I sure would like the guy a lot more if he’d get his hair cut. I mean, who likes that hair? I was in my 20s once and I’m sure old guys like me asked the same question. It sure seems like it has more relevance now, though.
I like the Giants to score a couple of runs against Lee in the first two or three innings, get seven strong innings from Lincecum and turn things over to a solid bullpen to win tonight and eventually win the Series in seven games.
My Facebook Friend
Flossie Alexander
I don’t know Flossie, but I don’t know most of my Facebook friends. Which is one of the great things about Facebook. Friends are most often not friends and sometimes even not acquaintances. But I’m impressed with anyone who can lose 165 pounds and go on
Flossie
to help others in their battles against weight, which is what Flossie Alexander has done. Here’s what she had to say about our Facebook relationship:
“I am a pretty big sports fan from high school all the way up to professional sports, so I read your column regularly but I don’t always agree with what it says, which is what brought us to be Facebook friends. At the end of high school football season last year, you had some interestingly negative things to say about high school football which I thought was totally off base and I looked you up on Faceboook and THERE YOU WERE! So, I friended you and told you what I thought about it. I never got a reply from it, though. (I usually reply, honest-BL)
“I am a nationally recognized weight loss coach living here in Wichita. I travel to all parts of the country doing healthy-living lifestyle motivational speaking seminars. I have been on the cover of FIRST for Women Magazine, in the Wichita Eagle several times, on national radio, local TV, and have appeared in a national weight loss book. I recently was on “It’s All Good” with Sierra Scott and will be doing a spot on an Atlanta radio station in November.
“My website is http://www.youcannowcoaching.com where you can find a bio on me as well.”