The Wednesday Show Prep

Buckeyes Upset by Oklahoma

Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield ran onto the field at Ohio Stadium just moments after the Sooners beat the Ohio State Buckeyes, celebrating the upset win with a lap around the stadium before planting the OU flag into midfield.

Mayfield later apologized for the flag planting, calling it the culmination of "an emotional game" and not intended to be a disrespectful act. 

But why not? College football rivalries, at their core, are meant to be somewhat disrespectful. 

Ask any college kid at Duke or North Carolina when the Blue Devils and Tar Heels meet for a basketball game.

The idea that this rivalry is different, because these teams don't have an annual ritual game, is irrelevant. College sports carry with them an enormous sense of tradition, of splendor and of some more grandiose purpose than anything we see at the professional level.

A part of me wishes Mayfield hadn't apologized for the act. Whether he was pressured into doing so is something I don't know, but there should be a level of animosity when tradition-rich sports programs meet. 

It's one of the few things still remaining in college athletics that make them - in my mind - far more entertaining than their corporate-funded, archaic-rule entrenched professional counterparts. 

National Championship Rose Bowl: USC v Texas

Speaking of tradition, and of rivalries.

This weekend in college football, USC and Texas will meet for the first time since that fateful night at the Rose Bowl on Januaary 4, 2006.

For those counting (yes, I'm one of them), this weekend's meeting has been 4,273 days in the making.

And don't think for a moment that anyone's truly forgotten... 

To give you an idea how long it's been since that epic game for the national championship, 4th ranked Trojans starting quarterback Sam Darnold was all of 8 years old when that game took place.

No matter. The players, the staffs, the atmosphere may have changed for both universities have changed and shifted dramatically since that fateful night.

There is still a part of me that wishes both Pete Carroll and Mack Brown were roaming the sidelines this weekend, or at least taking part in the coin toss.

And maybe for a moment, I'll forget about that stupid lateral from Reggie Bush in the opening moments of the second quarter which - in my mind - was the real game-changing moment.

Now here's the ridiculous moment of the week.... so far.

Let me say for the record, I'm not a fan of the ESPN SportsCenter at Six show, or whatever the hell it's called with Michael Smith and Jemele Hill.

I'm just not that interested in hearing their take on things. After hearing myself blabber on incessantly, along with the assorted other voices that I listen to and watch on a regular basis, I think I've got enough opinions mixed with facts to satisfy even the most rabid consumer of sports news and highlight packages.

I was disappointed to learn more about the tweets sent out by Hill this week, insisting that people who voted for POTUS, as well as POTUS himself, represent a faction of people who are - in her words - white supremacists. 

ESPN is distancing itself from those comments. The network released a statement Tuesday saying Hill's views did not reflect those of the network. 

Which is fine, but this is the same network that suspended Stephen A. Smith when he decided to victim-shame Janay Palmer for her role in the now-infamous beatdown she suffered when attacked by Ray Rice, at that time a running back for the Baltimore Ravens.

Smith, you'll recall, said the following on an episode of that disaster of a show called "First Take".

Accountability is a really important thing.

Attempting to shame a victim for her part in being beaten by a man is worthy of suspension.

And if you, as the head of a multi-platform television and entertainment network truly believe that, then I'd imagine calling millions of your consumers, whether on television, internet, radio, or publications, should also consider that these same consumers deserve a least a modicum of your respect.

I'm not suggesting Hill be fired, I'm not suggesting the woman lose her job.

But if your intent as an employer is to hold those accountable to a higher standard, then the people at the so-called worldwide leader have a responsibility to not infuriate a large number of your audience (i.e., your consumers) by lumping them into a group of hate-mongers.

Plenty of smart, well-minded people voted for POTUS. 

They have jobs, families, responsibilities to their homes, communities and the people around them.

They also have money.

And I know I'd be pissed off right now if she just gets to rant away on Twitter without some sort of reprimand aside from the obligatory "oops, we goofed, we're real sorry" comment.  

We've got a lot to do this morning on FIRST SPORTS. 

We'll chat with Bob Brzybylo from Sooners Illustrated about the Baker Mayfield incident as well as the important win by the Sooners over Ohio State.

We'll talk FedEx Cup Playoffs with Ryan Ballengee from Golf News Net.

We'll recap a busy night in Major League Baseball, preview some NFL action... and yes, we've got the Fox Flush this morning, in which we eliminate two teams from Super Bowl contention. 

It's all coming up this morning at 9am ET, across the country on the I Heart Radio app at the website or locally on the radio dial at AM1340/93.9FM.

You're welcome, America!


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content