Our Chron

Mickey Herskowitz is one of the better sports columnists to write for the Dreadful Chron, although that really isn't saying much. Herskowitz today decides to tackle the upcoming Red River shootout. And it wouldn't be a terrible column if it weren't so obvious that Herskowitz really hasn't paid much attention to the game in, say, about 30 years.

He writes:

To add fuel to the inferno, the teams have not been ranked this high in the national polls (Oklahoma second, Texas third) since 1963. ... That year, the Sooners were No. 1, and the Horns second.

Mickey, Mickey. They were ranked 1-2 in 1984 in at least one poll. Welcome to the last 20 years!

He goes on:

But something is missing. The high-octane anger and personal slurs are missing. Perhaps the difference is that Oklahoma no longer stocks its roster with an unreasonable number of the finest Texas imports -- all-world recruits such as Jack Mildren, Greg Pruitt, Joe Washington and Brian Bosworth.

There is not the same level of trash-talking of the Bosworth era, but surely Trent Smith's comments were very Boz-like. And OU still recruits heavily in Texas -- surely Herskowitz hasn't missed an All-American candidate by the name of Tommie Harris?

And there's more:

But the most obvious reason the rivalry has turned almost civil is probably the fact that one team or the other, or both, slumbered for roughly 10 years. Yes, Oklahoma has won a national title recently, and Texas is contending for one, but the rage has not yet caught up with the reality.

What in the hell is this fool talking about? This game is a huge "hate game" even when one team is down (or both of 'em, for that matter). And even Herskowitz doesn't seem to believe what he just wrote, because he follows it with this: "In any case, this is still the week Dallas braces for all year." Not bad for a civil, almost dead, rivalry, huh Mickey? Does the Chron even bother to edit this crap? He then goes on to reminisce about the good old days of Barry Switzer and Darrel Royal. And the column just ends. Abruptly. No real conclusion. Kind of fitting for a rambling column with no real point and lots of factual errors, I guess.

Michael Murphy's column isn't much better. Everyone in Texas knows that Mack Brown inexplicably did not play Cedric Benson last year in the OU game. And a lot of UT whiners have used that as an excuse why Oklahoma beat them. This isn't really news. Unless, of course, you're Michael Murphy (who also breaks out the verb "spectating" in this column) and you write for the Dreadful Chron. Meanwhile, the real news was broken by Craig Bohls over at the American-Statesman, who reports that Cedric Benson may be hindered in the game because of a lingering turf toe injury. Who knows if UT didn't put that info out in an attempt to deceive OU coaches, but you wouldn't know about it at all if you live in Houston and the Dreadful Chron is your sources of Big 12 news.

In a city that has so many Big 12 fans, the coverage of the conference by Houston's (mis)Leading Information Source is just terrible. Along with the rest of their coverage.

(10/11/02 Update) A story from David Barron explains that OU continues to import talent from Texas, directly contradicting the Herskowitz story described above. Does anyone bother to edit the Dreadful Chron?

Elsewhere, John Lopez writes: "You might not even have known of Benson's foot injury." Nope, not if you read the Dreadful Chron.

(10/11/02 Update 2) Since Mickey Herskowitz has apparently been snoozing the last few years (which he thinks have been "civil"), here's Jim Dent's take:

The Bob Stoops-Mack Brown rivalry has required less than three years to flower into this bed of thorns, much like the Barry Switzer versus Darrell Royal back in the '70s. Royal hated Switzer the same way a roadhouse man hates a Wall Street man.

[Posted at 22:01 CST on 10/10/02] [Link]