Internet lies bug Stoops

By John Shinn
The Norman Transcript

July 24, 2008 01:09 am

— KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops made no bones about where he sits when it comes to the fictitious Internet story a Nebraska fan posted about Sooner quarterbacks Sam Bradford and Landry Jones.
“You have to start making people hold them to it,” Stoops said when asked about the fan being sued by The Oklahoman over the mock story.
The Texas man used The Oklahoman’s Web site masthead and posted a story using one of the paper’s reporters as the author. The story said the OU quarterbacks had been arrested on drug charges.
OU center Jon Cooper said he understood from the moment he heard about it that it had to be a joke.
“I just laughed. I think my mom sent it to me in an e-mail,” Cooper said. “If you know either one of those guys, you know it was hilarious because it was the farthest thing from the truth.”
The internet is becoming a bigger medium for sports fans. In Kansas City, there were nearly as many Web sites represented as newspapers.
Stoops said the power of the internet is something that must be controlled in a better manner.
“I think the way to police it is people don’t read it or don’t give it any validity unless it’s one of you guys and you’ve got your name on it and you can stand by your story,” he said.

Bradford’s team
OU will enter preseason practices with a proven starting quarterback in Sam Bradford. It is the first time since Jason White’s senior season in 2004 the position won’t be up for grabs in August.
Cooper said Bradford has taken a bigger role in the leading the offense since last season ended.
“As a quarterback, he has to take control,” he said. “I noticed it more at the end of last season and it carried over to this spring and this summer. He’s controlling the huddle and getting everyone’s attention.”

On the mend
Running back DeMarco Murray is coming off knee surgery, but Stoops expects the sophomore to be full go when practice beings.
“He’s recovered well, when I’ve seen him coming in the training room and rehabbing his knee, he says it feels great,” the coach said. “So according to him and our trainers, everything is on schedule and he looks great.”
Murray averaged 6.0 yards per carry and scored 13 touchdowns last season. He missed the final three games after suffering a knee injury in the final minutes of the Texas Tech game.
With Allen Patrick gone, Murray figures to be the featured back in OU’s offense this season.
“We have to get him the ball,” Stoops said. “Not only run him, but passing the ball as well. He’s got great hands. We’re expecting great things from him.”

No-huddle advancing
The Sooners began implementing a no-huddle offense in the spring. Wide receiver Manuel Johnson said players worked on it throughout offseason workouts as well.
“We hit it hard in the 7-on-7s to try and make it second nature to us,” he said. “That’s going to help us out also. Everything we did was with that in mind.”

Ready for challenge
Baylor coach Art Briles knew he would have to fight an uphill battle when he accepted the job. His own daughter even told him he shouldn’t leave Houston to coach the Bears.
But he justified it this way.
“I like to walk down paths nobody else wants to walk down,” Briles said. “To me, with our recruits, our coaches and our fans, I want pioneers. I want people that are not afraid to step out there and go. It’s easy to walk down a path that’s clear and pristine and you know it’s just perfect. Our path’s not that way.”
The Bears, who went 3-9 and winless in the Big 12 Conference last season, haven’t been to a bowl game since 1994 and have never won more than three conference games in a Big 12 season.
Briles has a formula to change the futile record.
“We’ve got to notch a couple victories that make people look at the paper twice and say: That happened?” he said. “We’ve got to do something that’s unexpected then you earn a little credibility and then you get respect and then you have an opportunity to get bowl level and win the championship.”
Of course, Guy Morriss was thinking the same thing until he was fired after last season.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com