With the shortage of DL, I was looking at last seasons recruiting class. Bledsoe was suppose to be a stud player from Kansas. I noticed that he was suspended for the season and 8 games of next season for using PED's.
Amani Bledsoe
- Thread starter coeSooner81
- Start date
Ya I think that was a few weeks ago when that news broke.
Players come and go all the time, so that does not bother me. But I do agree that the "other issues," mostly injuries, has been a big problem for our defense this year. That, and Mike Stoops.
I'm not a Mike Stoops booster and wasn't happy when he came back to OU. But, in his defense, I will say that you take as many of your starters off of any FBS defense as Mike has lost this year and it is bound to hurt their effectiveness. I read quite a few of OU message boards. What I see is just a feeding frenzy by spoiled fans. No matter how the OU defense plays a large number of OU internet fans are going to post negatively.
"Other issues" and injuries are more a part of sports today than ever before.
Just during Stoops' time at Oklahoma, we have seen players:
Suffer career ending injuries.
Get caught for having bogus jobs.
Shoplifting.
Committing "academic fraud".
Assaulting women.
Using PED's.
Being murdered after committing to OU.
Too many players are derailed nowadays....everywhere.
Injuries cannot be helped as they are a byproduct of the game. But bad behavior is another issue with much more to come, especially when considering that there are no zero tolerance measures on behavior enacted from the moment a player is first contacted during recruiting.
College athletes are sacred cows on campus just as they've been throughout high school. Some react to this preferential treatment badly. With freedom, there should be responsibility.....but that's just me being "old school", harping on anything that involves discipline, civility, honesty or sportsmanship.
Just during Stoops' time at Oklahoma, we have seen players:
Suffer career ending injuries.
Get caught for having bogus jobs.
Shoplifting.
Committing "academic fraud".
Assaulting women.
Using PED's.
Being murdered after committing to OU.
Too many players are derailed nowadays....everywhere.
Injuries cannot be helped as they are a byproduct of the game. But bad behavior is another issue with much more to come, especially when considering that there are no zero tolerance measures on behavior enacted from the moment a player is first contacted during recruiting.
College athletes are sacred cows on campus just as they've been throughout high school. Some react to this preferential treatment badly. With freedom, there should be responsibility.....but that's just me being "old school", harping on anything that involves discipline, civility, honesty or sportsmanship.
Lots of truth in this post. I admit to participating in the Mike bashing, and I believe that has been mostly warranted, especially early in the year when everyone was playing. Lately, though, he's got the termites holding hands to keep the roof from falling in...... and I think he's doing a pretty good job of it.
I've done some Mike/Defense bashing for fun... but for the most part supportive. Considering that the team is 7-0 since the 1-2 start and with injuries and departures mostly on defense. Maybe Mike hasnt done that bad of a job after all.... We just need to keep applying the gum and sticky tape to hold it together a few more games.