It’s March, and only just now have I finally figured out why OU freshman Tiny Gallon’s name bothers me.
A gallon is a unit of measurement. It is standard. There is no large or small gallon. There are only pints, quarts, cups, etc. If it were any size other than 128 ounces, it would be something else!
Whew. Glad I got that sorted out. I hate to go all “does not compute” on you, but something just kind of tickled the back of my brain whenever I heard or read his name. I swear I’m not a robot. Just logical.
A gallon is a gallon is a gallon.
Anyway, while looking up Gallon’s info on OU’s Web site (6-foot-9, 296, if you are interested), I noticed the headline for tonight’s Big Monday OU-Texas matchup that said “Sooners Go For Sweep of Texas Monday Night”. Wow. I’d forgotten about that, an 80-71 win over the then-No. 9 Longhorns in Norman three Saturdays ago.
I’m pretty sure a 13-15 OU team that has lost six straight and a spiraling Texas team that might not be ranked later today was not what ESPN had in mind when it planned its Big Monday schedule many months ago.
OSU-Kansas
Pretty impressive win for OSU over Kansas over the weekend. Not a whole lot to say, really. A decent team caught a really good team on an off day. Plus, the rowdiness of Gallagher-Iba was totally throwback. Hopefully the students there now will see how much better the atmosphere is when they care about the team. (It helps when your team is beating a top-ranked conference opponent into the ground, but hey. Whatever works.)
"The rowdiest arena in the country."
Despite the score, I had a hard time getting into the game. I kept thinking OSU would play them hard for a half, then come out after halftime shooting poorly or Kansas would wake up and realize they’re the No. 1 team in the country.
Also, I kept flipping back to CNN to make sure Hawaii hadn’t been destroyed by a tsunami. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to visit Hawaii, and I was legitimately concerned that a tidal wave was about to annihilate it. Thankfully, the whole tsunami thing seemed to have been a scare. I know I sound like a dork, but I was pretty relieved when nothing happened.
It’s awful to see and read about the devastation caused by the 8.8 earthquake in Chile though. (On an unrelated note, I think Texans should feel a special kinship with Chile because their flags are so similar.)
USA-Canada
I still am sort of in shock that the U.S. took silver today. Partly because I didn’t think they had much of a chance going into the Olympics, and partly because once they tied the game with seconds left, I thought they might steal the win.
I’m pretty proud of the Americans for fighting to the end. Canada looked strong all game. I didn’t get to watch all of it, but the parts I did see did not look promising. The Americans’ power play was pitiful. It’s really frustrating to watch a team with a man advantage stumble like that. They kept dumping the puck into the corner, then Canada would easily recover and clear. Finally they got one going when someone carried it in. Geez, about time.
I thought the U.S. looked tired for most of the game, except at the end of regulation and the beginning of overtime, when they were going on pure adrenaline. After about five minutes of OT, the Americans just looked a step behind and sluggish.
I’m a little happy for Canada. I guess I lack that killer instinct of a winner that says “step on their throats!” I would have absolutely loved to have seen my country win another gold, but clearly this game meant more to our northern neighbors. And how fitting that legend-in-the-making Sidney Crosby scored the game-winner.
I think a U.S. gold would have been good for the NHL, but the game got so much hype and press that I don’t think it makes a big difference that the Americans won silver. All I know is that it got people who don’t normally watch hockey watching it, which is a good thing.
